Week 9 was a thrilling one for the NFL, lots of high scoring, some great divisional storylines and some great road wins for a few teams who were not fancied by many pundits.
Lets start off with the Monday night match up, where Chicago rode into Philadelphia and in a stellar fourth quarter comeback, behind the gun arm of Jay Cutler the Eagles had their wings clipped again. The Bears scored 10 unanswered points in the final quarter, as the Bears defence matched up against the running part of Michael Vick's game, Vick was unable to extend plays and when he had to hurry and chase the game after the Bears took the lead, the Eagles could not make a hit. The Bears won 30-24, going to 5-3 still in the hunt behind the perfect Packers (8-0) and the Lions (6-2), in the NFC North. It sets up a tantalising week 10 matchup as the Lions visit the Bears in a match full of wildcard ramifications. As for the Eagles they are 3-5, and behind the better Giants - still they have a chance of getting the wildcard but they cannot afford another loss this week or for the next three games I would suggest. The hype team has met the hyperbole, and the Bears supplied the pin to pop the hot air balloon of hype.
The Sunday night matchup was the week 1 rematch between AFC North rivals Steelers and Ravens. In Week 1, Baltimore convincingly beat up Pittsburgh. Since then, the Ravens have stumbled and stuttered, whilst the Steelers have returned to form culminating with the impressive defeat of the Patriots last week. Many predicted that the Steelers would do much of the same, keep Flacco off the field and keep Rice quiet on the run; get a lead and make Flacco make mistakes.
The Ravens though came up big as Flacco led a 92 yard drive in the closing minutes connecting with Tommie Smith in the endzone for the go-ahead lead as the Ravens became triumphant 23-20 owning a season sweep over their rivals and becoming 6-2 ahead of the Steelers 6-3 and sharing a tie with the Bengals(6-2)
Those Bengals again won, although this time it was Andy Dalton and not the vaunted D as the rookie threw for 3TDs this weeks as they beat the Titans (4-4) 24-17.
The Giants rode into Foxboro and upset the Patriots 24-20, in a mad last quarter were 31 points were scored, Eli Manning led a final second TD drive for his 5th final quarter comeback win of the season. Four turnovers by the Patriots did not help matters, nor the still struggling defence that could not get a stop on Manning's vital drive also the lack of a down the field receiving target (like Moss) means defences know Brady will look for Welker or Branch underneath. Brady still threw for 342 yards (3TD) which means you will always be in the game, but the over-reliance on him is coming back to haunt the Patriots. The Patriots are suddenly sliding and have lost two games back-to-back for the first time in five years, and first loss at home for 20 regular season games. They need to run the ball more and not rely so much on a Brady that will soon have another bad day like he did at Buffalo.
Kudos though for the Giants who are quitely going about their business and now 6-2 leading the NFC East and coupled with the Eagles loss they now have a two game lead over the Cowboys (4-4) who the Giants will not fear. The Giants are legit and will want to be avoided in the NFC playoffs.
And next for the Patriots is away at the Jets (5-3), who were victorious at Buffalo (5-3) as the Jets defence forced 3 turnovers for a 27-11 win which included near 38mins of ball possession for Sanchez who was 20-28 and 230 yards. The Bills needed to win to be considered legit, but unfortunately the Jets are just turning the corner.
Other notes:
Tim Tebow led the Broncos to their 2nd win out of 3 beating the Raiders on the road 38-24, a mixture of playcalling and solid showing by a returning Willis McGahee (20 carries, 163yds, 2TDs) and the inspiration of Tebow who threw better and ran well, whilst the Raiders look lost all of a sudden.
The Packers march on continuing their undefeated season thus far, beating the Chargers 45-38 in a shootout between Aaron Rodgers (247yds, 4TDs) and Philip Rivers (385yds, 4TDs); but slowly there are questions arising with the Packers pass defense but for two more interceptions by Rivers the sorry Chargers might have won this game. Instead the Packers are perfect whilst SD are 4-4 in a division they should be walking.
The Suck for Luck sweepstakes are over, the Dolphins won their first game of the season 31-3 over the Chiefs on the road aswell. The Colts remain winless losing to a professional Falcons unit 31-7, they have winnable games remaining on the schedule but the Dolphins have also, yet the question about Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck on the same roster can be asked.
The Saints got revenge for their loss to Tampa by defeating them 27-16 in the Superdome, Josh Freeman outthrew Drew Brees but the utilisation of the rush attack and his arm led to a vital victory, the Saints are 6-3, the Bucs 4-4 and falling out of the NFC wildcard picture.
The 49ers rise to 7-1 and their schedule looks handsome now. They did the job against the tough Redskins (3-5), with defence coming to the fore. Alex Smith is managing the offence making few mistakes (17-24, 200yds, 1TD) and is helped by another 100+ rushing display from Frank Gore in a 17-11 win.
More storylines to come and we still have 8 weeks left of the season. Here are my playoff picks at the moment in seeding order:
AFC -Ravens, Texans, Jets, Chargers; Patriots, Steelers
NFC - Packers, 49ers, Giants, Saints; Falcons, Lions
Big picks I know as teams like Bills, Bengals, Eagles and Cowboys may miss out. But the season is still only halfway done, and I am never fully right.
Showing posts with label Michael Vick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Vick. Show all posts
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Thursday, 27 October 2011
NFL - Week 8 Picks
Well, week 7 was a bit of a mad week. The Jets came back from the dead; the Bucs and Bears put on a show in Wembley stadium; the Colts laid down on Sunday night and the Ravens did themselves no favours - best team in AFC, please, you have to be able to win at the Jaguars, who were up for it no doubt.
This week, the teams with the byes are: Atlanta, Chicago, Green Bay, Oakland, NY Jets and Tampa Bay
But what about this week; some boring matchups and one sided looking contests:
Cardinals @ Ravens - a very short week for the Ravens, but have to bounce back with a win at home to the feeble Cardinals.
Vikings @ Panthers - a battle of rookie QBs but the more established name of Newton will be too much of a force for Ponder and his Vikings.
Jaguars @ Texans - a great win fror the Jags, but the Texans have an amazing player in Arian Foster and homefield is the key in this division tussle
Dolphins @ Giants - the Giants will want to cement their supremacy atop the NFC East, the Dolphins should be 1-6, instead they are searching for a win.
Saints @ Rams - the schedule has been awful for the depleted Rams, and the Saints are back to form following a 62 point smash on the sorry Colts
Colts @ Titans - the Titans were shameful against the Texans, but if Hasselbeck can control the ball then a win for Tennessee here
Lions @ Broncos - because of Tebow this is closer to call and the Lions are lacking confidence after two straight losses;they have to find another dimension following the injury to Jahvid Best
Redskins @ Bills - the Bills are fresh off of a bye, expect them to put up some big numbers.
Bengals @ Seahawks - a solid defensive display from Cincy here for the W
Browns @ 49ers - San Fran are off a bye and fresh so good to go.
Patriots @ Steelers - last season i picked against my boys and they put on one of their best displays of the season, no way I am doing the same mistake again.
Cowboys @ Eagles - no way Murray can have as big a game as he did last week, Andy Reid has never lost a game following a bye (11-0) big game, home win
Chargers @ Chiefs - San Diego have to close out games, although the Chiefs have seemed to turn a corner. Closest game of the MNF season.
And how did I do last week:
Chargers @ Jets - 21-27 - I called it right though they left it late.
Bears @ Bucs - 24-18 - Josh Freeman needs to grow up
Redskins @ Panthers - 20-33 - Cam Newton continues to impress
Falcons @ Lions - 23-16 - No Best, no chance
Seahawks @ Browns - 3-6 - Worst game of the season
Broncos @ Dolphins - 18 -15(OT) "Tim Tebow returns to Florida, he leaves with a W"direct quote!!
Texans @ Titans - 41-7 - Embarassing display from the Titans. At home. After a bye.
Chiefs @ Raiders - 28-0 - I bet a lot of people called this wrong
Steelers @ Cardinals - 32-20 - Pittsburgh get the job done
Packers @ Vikings - 33-27 - Christian Ponder asked the most questions of the Pack since the Saints
Rams @ Cowboys - 7-34 - Huge rushing performance from Murray
Colts @ Saints - 7-62 - And I had the Colts to cover the 54 point difference
Ravens @ Jaguars (MNF) - 7-12 - Another awful performance in a weekend of bad football from Ravens
Week 7: 10-13
Total: 29-39
All the best and enjoy the American football, live coverage on Sky Sports 2 from 6pm Sunday evening. You can watch NFL action at Switch Bar, follow us on twitter @SwitchBarLondon
This week, the teams with the byes are: Atlanta, Chicago, Green Bay, Oakland, NY Jets and Tampa Bay
But what about this week; some boring matchups and one sided looking contests:
Cardinals @ Ravens - a very short week for the Ravens, but have to bounce back with a win at home to the feeble Cardinals.
Vikings @ Panthers - a battle of rookie QBs but the more established name of Newton will be too much of a force for Ponder and his Vikings.
Jaguars @ Texans - a great win fror the Jags, but the Texans have an amazing player in Arian Foster and homefield is the key in this division tussle
Dolphins @ Giants - the Giants will want to cement their supremacy atop the NFC East, the Dolphins should be 1-6, instead they are searching for a win.
Saints @ Rams - the schedule has been awful for the depleted Rams, and the Saints are back to form following a 62 point smash on the sorry Colts
Colts @ Titans - the Titans were shameful against the Texans, but if Hasselbeck can control the ball then a win for Tennessee here
Lions @ Broncos - because of Tebow this is closer to call and the Lions are lacking confidence after two straight losses;they have to find another dimension following the injury to Jahvid Best
Redskins @ Bills - the Bills are fresh off of a bye, expect them to put up some big numbers.
Bengals @ Seahawks - a solid defensive display from Cincy here for the W
Browns @ 49ers - San Fran are off a bye and fresh so good to go.
Patriots @ Steelers - last season i picked against my boys and they put on one of their best displays of the season, no way I am doing the same mistake again.
Cowboys @ Eagles - no way Murray can have as big a game as he did last week, Andy Reid has never lost a game following a bye (11-0) big game, home win
Chargers @ Chiefs - San Diego have to close out games, although the Chiefs have seemed to turn a corner. Closest game of the MNF season.
And how did I do last week:
Chargers @ Jets - 21-27 - I called it right though they left it late.
Bears @ Bucs - 24-18 - Josh Freeman needs to grow up
Redskins @ Panthers - 20-33 - Cam Newton continues to impress
Falcons @ Lions - 23-16 - No Best, no chance
Seahawks @ Browns - 3-6 - Worst game of the season
Broncos @ Dolphins - 18 -15(OT) "Tim Tebow returns to Florida, he leaves with a W"direct quote!!
Texans @ Titans - 41-7 - Embarassing display from the Titans. At home. After a bye.
Chiefs @ Raiders - 28-0 - I bet a lot of people called this wrong
Steelers @ Cardinals - 32-20 - Pittsburgh get the job done
Packers @ Vikings - 33-27 - Christian Ponder asked the most questions of the Pack since the Saints
Rams @ Cowboys - 7-34 - Huge rushing performance from Murray
Colts @ Saints - 7-62 - And I had the Colts to cover the 54 point difference
Ravens @ Jaguars (MNF) - 7-12 - Another awful performance in a weekend of bad football from Ravens
Week 7: 10-13
Total: 29-39
All the best and enjoy the American football, live coverage on Sky Sports 2 from 6pm Sunday evening. You can watch NFL action at Switch Bar, follow us on twitter @SwitchBarLondon
Monday, 26 September 2011
NFL - Week 3 Thoughts & Feelings
Going into week 3 of the NFL, there were many things starting to take place already. Already the worse teams were happy sitting at the bottom contemplating life for next year wishing the lock out had occured, yet seeing a silver lining in the form of Andrew Luck in the 2012 Draft. The better teams have set off like collective terraced houses on fire, Patriots (2-0), the champion Packers (2-0) and the Saints (1-1) although that one defeat came against the prevailing Pack on opening night and went to the last play of the game.
Surprises the Eagles are (1-1), shooting themselves in the foot at Atlanta last Sunday evening when victory was there for the taking. The fear I had about the Eagles was starting to come to fruition, hype can be a worrying aspect of any side and Michael Vick needs to be healthy and on the field of play for four full quarters.
Further surprises can be found by 2-0 sides the Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions. Whilst the first two names did turn some heads, I have not been surprised by the Lions success - the core for a solid defence has been in place for some time (and they still have Nick Fairley to return), they have a fully fit Matthew Stafford who did wonders with one arm, imagine what he can do with two and he has weapons. A beast wide out in Calvin Johnson, a solid running back in Jahvid Best coupled with the poise Stafford has shown, maybe the Lions can be the team to push the Packers in the NFC North instead of the Chicago Bears.
So going into the NFL's third week it was a bit surprising to find people thinking that things will follow their natural course. The Bills upset the Patriots at home 34-31 scoring off a last kick field goal breaking a 15 game losing streak and making a statement, Tom Brady still threw for 300+ yards but his four interceptions were costly. And for the second week running the Bills score with a last minute drive led by Ryan Fitzpatrick who is becoming a leader for the Chan Bailey led offense that is getting results. The Bills are for real, and the AFC East is now a three team race.
A three team race because the New York Jets lost in Oakland, a surprise to many but for me I called this one on the ESPN game 'Pigskin Pick'em' as I felt Oakland were on the wrong end of a shootout in Buffalo last week and did enough through the air and on the ground to worry a Jets defense that has to travel to the other side of the country. This seems an odd factor in the NFL, east teams hate travelling west and vice versa and so often the fact that teams are taken out of their comfort zone and go to a near enough foreign land does strange things to a professional athlete. They know the schedule so why does it happen?
Detroit won a game they might have lost last season, winning in OT in Minnesota so a big road win for the Lions but worries persist for the Vikings who again threw away a halftime lead and cannot seam to get their act together for 60 minutes, and once Peterson has had a good half the Lions blocked him up and their offence became stagnant as Stafford and company responded to go 3-0.
The Eagles as I suspected (though I did not pick it) lost at home to an Eli Manning led Giants side 29-16 which flatters the supposed 'Dream Team' as Manning threw 4 TDs and found weapons when he apparently had none. Michael Vick again did not last the game, this time suffering a suspected broken hand which may mean him missing next week's action which may not be all bad news. Vick's type of play and lack of cohesion means things like injuries are common place, and he is currently 1-6 dating back to last season.
The Chargers won again but unconvincingly in a division battle against the poor Chiefs, with Philip Rivers winning but throwing another two INTs - the Chargers are in danger of being sucked up into a proper division battle if the Raiders maintain their good form.
Monday Night Football this evening comes from Dallas (1-1) in their home opener against the Redskins (2-0), the Cowboys could have been 0-2 but for the intervention and inspiration of Tony Romo last week in San Francisco who came off the bench with a rib injury and punctured lung to win the game in OT. Unfortunately, his main weapon that day Miles Austin is not playing and Des Bryant remains doubtful, along with a 50% Felix Jones at running back so expect Jason Witten to be utilised whilst Rex Grossman continues his rising from the ashes and attempts to go 3-0 and sit atop the NFC East. Prediction; a low scoring encounter which may come down to a FG or maybe even OT - but the Redskins look more complete due to the injury setbacks the Cowboys are suffering.
Surprises the Eagles are (1-1), shooting themselves in the foot at Atlanta last Sunday evening when victory was there for the taking. The fear I had about the Eagles was starting to come to fruition, hype can be a worrying aspect of any side and Michael Vick needs to be healthy and on the field of play for four full quarters.
Further surprises can be found by 2-0 sides the Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions. Whilst the first two names did turn some heads, I have not been surprised by the Lions success - the core for a solid defence has been in place for some time (and they still have Nick Fairley to return), they have a fully fit Matthew Stafford who did wonders with one arm, imagine what he can do with two and he has weapons. A beast wide out in Calvin Johnson, a solid running back in Jahvid Best coupled with the poise Stafford has shown, maybe the Lions can be the team to push the Packers in the NFC North instead of the Chicago Bears.
So going into the NFL's third week it was a bit surprising to find people thinking that things will follow their natural course. The Bills upset the Patriots at home 34-31 scoring off a last kick field goal breaking a 15 game losing streak and making a statement, Tom Brady still threw for 300+ yards but his four interceptions were costly. And for the second week running the Bills score with a last minute drive led by Ryan Fitzpatrick who is becoming a leader for the Chan Bailey led offense that is getting results. The Bills are for real, and the AFC East is now a three team race.
A three team race because the New York Jets lost in Oakland, a surprise to many but for me I called this one on the ESPN game 'Pigskin Pick'em' as I felt Oakland were on the wrong end of a shootout in Buffalo last week and did enough through the air and on the ground to worry a Jets defense that has to travel to the other side of the country. This seems an odd factor in the NFL, east teams hate travelling west and vice versa and so often the fact that teams are taken out of their comfort zone and go to a near enough foreign land does strange things to a professional athlete. They know the schedule so why does it happen?
Detroit won a game they might have lost last season, winning in OT in Minnesota so a big road win for the Lions but worries persist for the Vikings who again threw away a halftime lead and cannot seam to get their act together for 60 minutes, and once Peterson has had a good half the Lions blocked him up and their offence became stagnant as Stafford and company responded to go 3-0.
The Eagles as I suspected (though I did not pick it) lost at home to an Eli Manning led Giants side 29-16 which flatters the supposed 'Dream Team' as Manning threw 4 TDs and found weapons when he apparently had none. Michael Vick again did not last the game, this time suffering a suspected broken hand which may mean him missing next week's action which may not be all bad news. Vick's type of play and lack of cohesion means things like injuries are common place, and he is currently 1-6 dating back to last season.
The Chargers won again but unconvincingly in a division battle against the poor Chiefs, with Philip Rivers winning but throwing another two INTs - the Chargers are in danger of being sucked up into a proper division battle if the Raiders maintain their good form.
Monday Night Football this evening comes from Dallas (1-1) in their home opener against the Redskins (2-0), the Cowboys could have been 0-2 but for the intervention and inspiration of Tony Romo last week in San Francisco who came off the bench with a rib injury and punctured lung to win the game in OT. Unfortunately, his main weapon that day Miles Austin is not playing and Des Bryant remains doubtful, along with a 50% Felix Jones at running back so expect Jason Witten to be utilised whilst Rex Grossman continues his rising from the ashes and attempts to go 3-0 and sit atop the NFC East. Prediction; a low scoring encounter which may come down to a FG or maybe even OT - but the Redskins look more complete due to the injury setbacks the Cowboys are suffering.
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