Week 6 proved to have some great games on the schedule. The Lions fought back to save their season, for now. The Jet’s offense from Week 1 returned, Aaron Rodgers was unstoppable and the Cowboys handed the Ravens a win.
New York Jets 35, Indianapolis Colts 9
Let’s start with the Jets because I have been killing them over the last few weeks. I have to congratulate them on a game where everything seemed to go the way it was drawn up. Their running game had a huge day, which opened it up for Sanchez, who looked decent. Andrew Luck received nothing but praise last Monday for the way he beat the Packers but Rex Ryan’s defense made him look very much like a rookie yesterday. The Jets defense is centered around Darrelle Revis but give credit to Antonio Cromartie who is really trying to step up and fill the hole left by Revis.
Atlanta Falcons 23, Oakland Raiders 20
Maybe the Raiders aren’t as bad as I’ve been saying they were. I thought they’d travel to Atlanta and get blown out but they had a chance to win it. Matt Ryan didn’t have a great day for the second week in a row but battled to put them into a position to win it late in the 4th quarter. McFadden was having some kind of shoulder issue yesterday which is didn’t help the Raiders because 70 yards on 26 carries from your #1 isn’t going to get it done. Carson Palmer had a great day but the only thing people will remember yesterday is a late 4th quarter pick-six. I guess the one argument for Palmer is that the Falcons defense is tough, tough, tough.
Baltimore Ravens 31, Dallas Cowboys 29
As long as Jerry Jones continues to run the Dallas Cowboys, that team will continue to be a mess. They have talent, they should have won that game but because of Jerry’s constant meddling in the team, I don’t think the Cowboys have the right personnel on the side lines. Look, Garrett is a decent coach but he continues to make mistakes that an NFL coach shouldn’t make, especially when you’re in Year 3. He is terrible when it comes to clock management and that’s not a new thing yet keeps happening. Dez Bryant could have been a hero but he dropped the most important pass of the day, which in the end wouldn’t have mattered if Garrett knew how to manage a clock. I do think I gave Baltimore too much credit though and they aren’t as good as I thought. It will be interesting to see how long Lewis might be out and how much of a hole Webb’s injury creates.
Washington Redskins 38, Minnesota Vikings 26
Repeat after me.. The Washington Nationals?? Who are they?? Thanks to RGIII, the entire city of Washington has moved on from the collapse of their baseball team to the possibilities that RGIII is bringing to the Redskins. That guy has some wheels. To all the experts that said he wouldn’t be able to run the ball after last week, I guess he kind of showed you. I never thought 1 concussion would change the way a guy plays the game. Minnesota looked more like what I expected the Vikings to look like this year. Christian Ponder has thrown 4 picks over the last 2 games so asking him to throw 52 times yesterday is nothing short of crazy. I’m excited to see RGIII against the Giants next week.
New York Giants 26, San Francisco 49ers 3
The Giants put on a clinic for the rest of the NFL titled “How To Beat The 49ers.” So what did we learn? Take away the 49er’s ability to run the ball and they completely lose their identity on the field. Get them behind on the scoreboard and they aren’t a team that is able to make the right adjustments to battle back. Alex Smith was awful, like Tony Romo awful while Eli Manning was Eli Manning. For everyone who counted to Giants out in this one (including me)… hang your head in shame!! The Giants are the defending champs and showing the world that in order to win, we still have to beat them.
Seattle Seahawks 24, New England Patriots 23
When you look at the stats, Tom Brady had a decent day against the #1 defense in the league yet it feels like he had one of his worst games of the season. He made a few mistakes, missed a few receivers and botched two trips into the red-zone. Seahawks are proving that they are for real. Russell Wilson looks better with each passing week. He was lights-out to begin that game and showed great leadership at the end of that game. What a bomb to win the game!! Yes the Patriots are 3-3 but you do realize they’ve lost 3 games by four points combined?? I’m not ready to put another team next to AFC East Champion just yet.
Green Bay Packers 42, Houston Texans 24
Wait, I thought the Houston Texans were a very good defensive team? No way you can describe a defense that had 6 touchdowns thrown against it as good. Aaron Rodgers was just unstoppable and it looks like Jordy Nelson just might have woken up. Like I said in my previews last week, the Brian Cushing injury looks HUGE. The Texans had no answers for the Packers without Cushing in the lineup. Dumbest penalty of the day goes to Daniel Manning who was flagged for punching a Packers player at the bottom of the pile. That penalty helped extend the Packers drive in the third that blew this game wide open. With Minnesota coming back down to earth and the Packers looking like they might be waking up, HOLD EVERYTHING in the NFC North, we have ourselves a battle!! Houston needs to get through next week in order to get into their bye week where maybe they can figure out how to make up for the Cushing injury.
Detroit Lions 26, Philadelphia Eagles 23 (OT)
And finally the last game that caught my attention would be the Eagles collapse at home against the Lions. We’ve been waiting for the Stafford and Megatron show and they finally showed up yesterday to save the Lions. Stafford was struggling and Megatron was a non-factor until the fourth quarter where they scored 20 points in 15 minutes. Vick had a better game but threw a costly 4th quarter pick. The real story in Philly would be that offensive line. Vick seems to get hit on almost every passing play. For some reason the O-line can’t stop the defensive penetration. You’re not going to win if you don’t give Vick time or protection. I for one am tired of hearing Andy Reid get up there and “take responsibility” for each loss. He just says it for the sake of saying it. If he was taking responsibility, wouldn’t we see something change? Philly should be a team that has the rest of the NFC East chasing them but right now, they don’t even deserve to be a playoff team.
So what caught your eye yesterday?
