Indianapolis 21, San Diego 23
November 13, 2007
It would be difficult to say that the Chargers did not deserve a victory against the Colts yesterday because on several levels San Diego put out a very respectable effort. You could point to any one of a number of times in which a remarkable play by San Diego had stopped an Indianapolis drive or set up a Chargers scoring opportunity. Those examples are spread fairly evenly among the Chargers defense and their special teams. And what about the Chargers offense you may ask? The Chargers had less than 200 yards of total offense and Philip Rivers threw for only 86 yards with 2 interceptions. I didn’t mention his touchdowns because there weren’t any. Well, as I said it would be difficult to say that it was an undeserved win for San Diego – but not impossible.
Indianapolis (7-1) at San Diego (4-4)
November 10, 2007
Indianapolis Colts Defense
15th Ranked against the Run
3rd Ranked against the Pass
Indianapolis Colts Offense
7th Ranked in Rushing
8th Ranked in Passing
San Diego Chargers Defense
22nd Ranked against the Run
24th Ranked against the Pass
San Diego Chargers Offense
14th Ranked in Rushing
22nd Ranked in Passing
San Diego has a hard tackling linebacker in Stephen Cooper, and the Chargers have had great success stopping the run this year. At least they did before running into (or rather being run into) by Vikings rookie running back Adrian Peterson. Before the Vikings game last week, San Diego had the 7th ranked defense against the run and now they’re ranked number 22. But one game doth not a run defense make, or in this case unmake. The Patriots had a similarly ranked run defense when they played the Colts last week and they were quite successful at stopping Indy running back Joseph Addai on several critical second half drives. Nevertheless Addai did have good rushing yardage on the day and good receiving yardage too, most of that coming on a swing pass from Manning that was designed to gain just enough yardage for a first down.
Jacksonville (5-3) at Tennessee (6-2)
November 10, 2007
Jacksonville Jaguars Defense
16th Ranked against the Run
26th Ranked against the Pass
Jacksonville Jaguars Offense
5th Ranked in Rushing
25th Ranked in Passing
Tennessee Titans Defense
1st Ranked against the Run
12th Ranked against the Pass
Tennessee Titans Offense
3rd Ranked in Rushing
31st Ranked in Passing
If any team in the NFL exemplifies the old maxim that good defense and a solid running attack wins games, it’s this years Titans. Of course, they really don’t have much other choice in the matter. Tennessee is marginally better at throwing the football than the San Francisco 49ers but that’s not saying much. You can look at the top 40 receivers in the game and check against receptions, yardage and touchdowns; you will not find a single receiver from the Titans on the list. Tennessee has 15 touchdowns this year which in itself is puzzling for a team that is 6-2 but what’s more difficult to believe is that only 3 of them have gone to Titans receivers.
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Philadelphia (3-5) at Washington (5-3)
November 9, 2007
Philadelphia Eagles Defense
7th Ranked against the Run
21st Ranked against the Pass
Philadelphia Eagles Offense
14th Ranked in Rushing
11th Ranked in Passing
Washington Redskins Defense
9th Ranked against the Run
18th Ranked against the Pass
Washington Redskins Offense
9th Ranked in Rushing
26th Ranked in Passing
The importance of this game has little to do with the Eagles. The die hard Philly fans (are there any?) might be dreaming of the comeback kids’ performance last season when backup QB Jeff Garcia took the Eagles to a 5-0 run down the stretch, captured the division title and earned a playoff spot, but those of us here on planet earth would probably take a more realistic view of things. No, the story here is Washington, and whether they can muster enough success to stay alive in a conference that has two divisions in which the leader is 7-1 and the second place club is 6-2 (NFC East Cowboys/Giants, and NFC North Green Bay/Detroit). The fact that the Redskins have a better record than any team in either the NFC South or the NFC West won’t matter a lick if they can’t challenge the Giants or Lions for a Wild Card berth. Right now the Giants are a better target because Detroit will probably smack the Cardinals around pretty good this weekend.
Minnesota 35, San Diego 17
November 8, 2007
When looking at running back stats, sometimes you need to double check your figures to make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Like checking to make sure you take the ‘bye’ week into account so you don’t compare one players stats over eight games with another candidate who has played nine. But with Minnesota’s star rookie running back Adrian Peterson such an exercise is totally pointless because you can look at any stat you want and it will change nothing. Sorting the data any way you want; total yards, yards per game, yards per attempt, number of rushing touchdowns – it all leads to the same place. At this moment and by a huge margin Adrian Peterson is the best running back in the NFL, period. And it doesn’t look as though his moment is about to be over anytime soon.
Denver 7, Detroit 44
November 7, 2007
Denver starting quarterback Jay Cutler was sacked early in the 2nd quarter and left the game with pain in his lower leg, and although an MRI the next day showed that his leg was not broken, the same could not be said of either the Broncos offense or their defense. That the Lions could rush for 130 yards was to be expected given Denver’s record as the worst team in the league against the run, but the Broncos attempt at stopping completions by Detroit quarterback John Kitna and company was more like the performance you would expect from the leagues 6th worst pass defense rather than the 6th best. Kitna completed 16 of 31 passes for 252 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions.
New England 24, Indianapolis 20
November 7, 2007
“This was just a football game against the Colts,” says Patriots coach Bill Belichick. “That’s all it was.” And he was absolutely right. For what was hyped as “Super Bowl 41.5” the pre-game buildup to the meeting between these two unbeaten clubs far outstripped the action that eventually took place on the field. Nevertheless it was a decent game, even if the Colts did play below their potential. And what this game showed if nothing else, is that the Patriots are not unbeatable by a long shot; that consistent and intense pressure applied by the defensive line combined with a mistake free offense is no less a recipe for success against New England than it is against any other football team. What it also showed however is that the Patriots today are a much different team from just one year ago, and that the difference is very simply the fact that the acquisition of a receiving corps, the foundation of which is wide receiver Randy Moss, has completed their arsenal of offensive tools.
Jags Newbie QB Faces a Hot Brees
November 2, 2007
Jacksonville (5-2) at New Orleans (3-4)
At first glance, you would think that Jacksonville is the only real story in this matchup. They are in the unenviable position of sharing a division with a Colts club that is blasting through the season with a 7-0 record, and sharing a conference with the astounding Patriots who have run to 8-0 and rewritten a substantial portion of the record books. All things considered the Jaguars have held it together pretty well. They are only one of 3 teams in the AFC with a 5-2 record which ties them for third place in the conference; only their AFC South division rivals the Titans, and the AFC North Steelers have equaled that mark. Read more
Titans Slightly Less Battered than Carolina
November 1, 2007
Carolina (4-3) at Tennessee (5-2)
This will be an important game for both the Panthers and the Titans. At 4-3 Carolina knows that their chances of having a record good enough to earn them a wild card for the playoffs is mighty slim if they haven’t even taken first place in their division. That means they will need to win the NFC South to have any meaningful shot at post season play. It’s not an unrealistic goal; they aren’t in as poor a division as, say the NFC West where the lackluster Seattle Sleepwalks wallow in mediocrity, but Carolina’s division rivals Tampa Bay and New Orleans are still both hovering around .500 as are the Panthers so the opportunity to stay in the race is still there. It probably can’t be done with a loss to the Titans however – Drew Brees is putting up some big passing numbers for the Saints and Jeff Garcia is a capable veteran for the Buccaneers who will probably dispatch Arizona this weekend. For their part the Titans can’t afford to drop a single game. It might be an uphill battle to beat the streaking Colts for a divisional title but Tennessee is in good position if they keep up the current pace to guarantee themselves a wild card spot at the very least – in the entire AFC only the Jaguars have as good a record as the Titans among teams that are not division leaders.
