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.
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.
Balanced Steeler Offense No Match for Bengals
October 31, 2007
Pittsburgh 24, Cincinnati 13
When you come to think of it, it’s really not all that surprising that a quarterback like Ben Roethlisberger could have the kind of day he had against the Bengals this past week. Sometimes we forget that NFL quarterbacks are Read more
Favre’s OT TD Breaks Broncos
October 30, 2007
Green Bay 19, Denver 13
It was just another chapter in the story of a prolific NFL passer who’s love for the game has kept him in it long enough to be practically a living legend. In what may well be the most exciting football game this year, Brett Favre took all of 4 seconds to score an overtime touchdown that left the record breaking Broncos home crowd of over 77,000 fans in stunned silence just scant minutes after they were jubilantly celebrating Denver kicker Jason Elam’s game tying field goal with just 3 seconds left in regulation time. On the first overtime play from scrimmage, and for the second time of the evening Favre dropped back and delivered the ball into the arms of a sprinting wide receiver in perfect stride for an 80 yard score. The touchdown ended both the game and the Packers 33 year old winless streak against the Broncos when playing in Denver. Read more
Lindell Boots Baltimore
October 25, 2007
Buffalo picked up their 2nd win off the foot of Rian Lindell. The Ravens drop to 4-3 going into the bye week with Kyle Boller still at the helm to give QB Steve McNair’s bad back a rest.
Buffalo may have gotten the win over the Ravens on Sunday but their offensive performance will definitely not strike fear into the hearts of their opponents. 12 of the Bills 19 points came on Rian Lindell field goals of 29, 26, 35 and 41 yards after their offense sputtered on four out of five scoring drives in the red zone. The single touchdown they did manage came primarily on the strength of a 54 yard bomb from rookie QB Trent Edwards to Lee Evans, the 4th year wide receiver from Wisconsin. That late third quarter pass set Buffalo up with a first down at the Ravens 17. Five plays later, running back Marshawn Lynch was finally able to take it across the goal line and give Buffalo a 19-7 lead.
Errors Sink Tampa Bay
October 24, 2007
Turnovers made all the difference in Detroit this week. Kitna and the Lions took the lead early over John Gruden’s Bucs and never let it slip out of their grasp.
It was a remarkably impressive performance. Jeff Garcia had 45 passing attempts and connected on 37 of them – better than 82% on the day. He spread the wealth around to numerous receivers although RB Earnest Graham was his favorite target collecting 13 catches for 99 yards. Veteran Ike Hilliard pocketed his share as well pulling in 9 passes for a gain of 92 yards, better than 10 yards per catch. Joey Galloway, BJ Askew, Jerramy Stevens and a few other assorted members of the cast rounded out the day as Garcia dished out 316 yards to seven different receivers, at one point in the first half reaching 18 completions in a row.
Giants Adequate in 4th Straight Win
October 18, 2007
Atlanta was way out of form on MNF this week and a competent Giants squad took advantage of the situation.
“I felt good throwing the ball,” Eli Manning said after this weeks MNF game against the Falcons. And for parts of the game (not the parts where he threw 2 interceptions and fumbled once) he looked pretty good throwing the ball as well. That’s a significant accomplishment for Manning who is often disrespected in the media for lacking that intangible “quarterback-like” presence. And it’s not like his numbers are bad – would you have guessed that he is ranked 8th in passing yardage and is 5th in the league with 11 touchdown passes? Or that both of those stats are better than his esteemed brother Peyton?
Chiefs (Sort Of) Division Leaders
October 17, 2007
Kansas City has pulled into a tie for first place in the AFC West. Well, when you’re in a division as crummy as theirs that’s the least you can do.
My mistake - I said earlier that when you play in a division as lousy as the AFC West (as the Chiefs do) the least you can do is win enough games to be in first place. But actually the least you can do is have a big fat zero in the win column like the Rams in the NFC West who are once again letting the Seattle Sleepwalks off the hook as Hasselbeck and company wander cluelessly into first place in the worst division in pro football. Oh sorry, we were talking about the KC game weren’t we? I do so love to bash Seattle.
