Covenant of the Gridiron 10.15.07: NFL Week 6 Breakdown
Posted by Derek Robbins on 10.15.2007
New NFL Columnist Derek Robbins breaks down week 6 of NFL action. Did the Patriots and the Cowboys live up to expectations? Did the Rams or Dolphins FINALLY get wins? Will the Saints? Who do I think are the best teams in the league? Find out here!
Why hello there! My name is Derek Robbins and I am the new Monday Morning columnist around these parts. This article is replacing the "Monday Morning Hangover column", so if you're looking for that, well...you're in the right place!
Well, before I get started breaking down the week, allow me to introduce myself briefly:
As mentioned, my name is Derek...I am currently striving to major in journalism at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. I'm a huge baseball fan (on top of the whole football thing) and my team of choice is the woeful Chicago Cubs. As for my football team of choice? Hah, well, I imagine you'll come to know it soon enough. Here's a protip: They have a bye-week.
That'll do for an introduction, now...let's break down the week that was!
Week in Review
Minnesota Vikings 34 at Chicago Bears 31
The Chicago Bears are having quite the dramatic season! It appears they are going into the gutter...and under new starting quarterback Brian Griese, they manage to beat un-defeated and division leading Greenbay on the road. SO, going back home to beat up on a pretty poor Viking team would prove to be an easy task, right? Wrong. Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate Adrian Peterson brutilized the once vaunted Bears defense to the tune of 224 yards and three touchdowns. All of this on 20 carries. Minnesota also managed to turn the ball over a total number of ZERO times. The Vikings! The Bears Defense! Despite all of this, the Bears had the score tied at 31-31 (After an impressive 81 yard TD pass to Devin Hester from Brian Griese who was 26 for 45 on the day with two touchdowns and three interceptions). Too bad for Chicago, Ryan Longwell knows how to kick. He nailed one from 55 yards to end the game. The Bears continue to struggle, and the Vikings get a nice inter-divisional win. What can be taken from this game? The Bears are still pretty inconsistant. Even when their offense doesn't do terrible, their defense lets them down. The Vikings are still not a great team, but Adrian Peterson is having a fantastic year and is most certainly on his way to Offensive Rookie of the year.
Miami Dolphins 31 at Cleveland Browns 41
The Dolphins have yet to win a game this season, could the break through against a...surprising (Can you really call a 2-3 team surprising? I guess since they were considered to be among the worst of the worst after week 1 you can.) Cleveland Browns team? In short, no. Cleveland jumped out to an 24-3 lead and Miami could never quite bounce back from it.They got close though, after a one yard run from Cleo Lemon they trailed only 27-24. (Lemon had four total touchdowns on the day, two passing. He also had two INTs). Cleveland answered back with a touchdown pass from Derek Anderson to Braylon Edwards to put the nail in the Dolphin's coffin. This was a franchise record ninth straight loss for Miami. Cleveland is 3-3. That's great! Now if the Cleveland Indians could only get three more wins...I'd be a happy man. Can't the Browns just transfer their wins to the Tribe? (I can't stand the Red Sox. I can't emphasize this enough.) What can be taken from this game? It appears that Cleveland is improving while Miami is still...well...in turmoil. Cleo Lemon had a good day, but they'll need more consistancy if they ever wish to win a game...let alone be good again.
Washington Redskins 14 at. Green Bay Packers 17
The Packers bounce back from a rough loss to Chicago by beating a pretty good Washington team. In victory, Brett Favre set the career record for most interceptions (Hey! Where is the celebration for that?) and looked bad doing it. (19/37 0 TD, 2 INT) Really, the Packers won without the aid of the pass? They're a team built on the pass! In my opinion, Washington blew this game. They neutralized Greenbay's offense for the most part, but then something big happened...and that was a key play where Charles Woodson returned a fumble 57 yards for a touchdownon on a Santana Moss fumble. The Packers squeaked one out and improve to a surprising 5-1. The Redskins - despite blowing a game that they probably should have won - are 3-2 and are still in good position in the NFC.
What can be taken from this? The Packers are for real. Teams with great futures pull out wins like this. Washington looks like a playoff team still, but they need to bounce back from this dissapointing loss in a big way.
Cincinnati Bengals 20 v. Kansas City 27
Man. You'd figure after a bye-week a team with as much talent as the Bengals could take on a team like the Chiefs? Nope! The Chiefs got out to a 20-7 lead and the Bengals could never quite bounce back. You can tell injuries have taken their toll with this team because Kansas City managed 354 total yards. Now, this isn't a great total...but for the Chiefs it is. In victory, Larry Johnson rushed for 119 yards with a touchdown and Damon Huard threw for 264 yards with two touchdowns. Also, Tony Gonzalez became the all-time leading touchdown leader for Tightends. Impressive! What can be taken from this? Cinci's injuries are too much for them. They have a ton of offensive talent along with one of the league's elite quarterbacks in Carson Palmer...but they appear to be going nowhere. Kansas City, inexplicably, is 3-3. They don't look too impressive, but KC is winning.
Philadelphia Eagle 16 at New York Jets
My friends sometimes poke fun at me for my apparent 'man crush' on Chad Pennington. I can't help it! I've always felt he gets just about no credit for how good he has been. This year though, Chad hasn't been so hot and it showed today as he was just 11 for 21 for 128 yards and an INT against a questionable Eagles team. Philaelphia lead through out, and the New York Jets just couldn't muster the offense to come back. McNabb improved over recent weeks by throwing for 278 yards and a touchdown, but if the Eagles wish to get back to their former glory, McNabb needs to play better. The Eagles are 8-0 all time against the Jets. What can we take from this game? While neither team is impressive, I feel that this was a nice little road win for the Eagles. The Jets, obviously, appear to be going nowhere. This will most assuredly be Chad Pennington's last year as a Jet. A shame.
Tennessee Titans 10 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13
While the Titans were expected to be competitive this year, the Bucs weren't...so on paper at the start of the season, this game may have looked like a laugher for the Titans. Not so. Now, to the Titan's credit Vince Young - who admitedly I am not a big fan of - was injured and taken out of the game. I don't know what it is about him, but it's almost like he gives his WHOLE team confidence and they just play better with him. More power to him. This was a defensive struggle with only three points scored in the first half. Jeff Garcia had a decent day, proving that this ex-niner, eagle, Lion, and Brown still has some life. To Kerry Collins's credit (The guy who replaced Young) he was not bad. He put up numbers pretty much equal to what Vince would have put up. There's just something intangible about VY that I have yet to discover. What can be taken from this game? The Bucs got a huge win over a good Titans team. They will probably win the NFC South. This loss doesn't mean much to the Titans. It just shows how important Vince is to the team. I'm telling you, I don't get it. Statistically, he is below average...but he just *WINS*.
Not a welcome sight to Tenn fans. Good news: He appears to be okay.
Houston Texans 17 at Jacksonville Jaguars 37
Houston had a promising start to the season, but it appears they aren't quite ready for prime time as the Jaguars proceeded to romp them. David Garrard - who I always assumed was like a better version of Byron Leftwich, and I guess the Jags did too as they released Leftwich in favor of him - threw for 221 yards and two touchdowns and STILL has yet to throw an INT. Seriously, if you had told me David Garrard wouldn't have thrown an INT six weeks in at the start of the season, I probably would have laughed in your face. Maurice Jones-Drew also had a good day, rushing for 125 yards and getting two TDs. Houston was in the game until the fourth quarter when Jones-Drew just took the game over. Matt Schaub wasn't bad at all, but...Houston's defense needs to step it up if they want to win. As good as Jacksonville looked today, they are by no means an offensive juggernaut. What can we take from this? - Jacksonville continues their surprising season. Houston is better than expected, but...they are a tad bit inconsistant.
St. Louis Rams 3 at Baltimore Ravens 22
Wow, the Rams are bad this year. I know that Bulger has been out and injured this year, but...who ever would have figured they were this bad? And since I live close to St. Louis, THIS WAS ONE OF THE THREE GAMES WE GOT. OH BOY. *cough* anyhow, even though Baltimore's record improved in impressive fashion, I'm not sold on them. They just...haven't been very consistant.I say that Pittsburgh is the best team in the division. The Rams are, uh, terrible.
What can we learn from this game - Nothing. The Rams might be worse than we thought, but...that's it.
Carolina Panthers 25 at Arizona Cardinals 10
The Cardinals, who have looked good all year versus the Panthers. An eternal enigma. Are they good? Are they bad? WHO KNOWS! So who wins this match? Well, when Carolina's starting QB was announced as Vinny Testaverde, I immediatley chalked this up as an Arizona win. Then...Kurt Warner went down and Tim Rattay came in. So, any advantage Arizona had in the QB position was nullified. Simple fact, the Panthers defense killed the Cards (five total turnovers. Three INTs by Rattay and a fumble by Warner and Larry Fitzgerald/ They also held them to 257 total yards) and Testaverde wasn't bad (206 yards and a TD). DeAngelo Williams running for 121 yards certainly didn't hurt either.
What we learned? If Warner is seriously hurt - it doesn't appear he is - the Cards could be in trouble. Their defense also needs to play better. The Panthers had a very solid road win this week. If I am correct, this is the widest margin of defeat by a pretty competitive Cardinals team this year.
Oakland Raiders 14 at San Diego Chargers 28
LaDainian Tomlinson had four touchdowns and 198 yards. He pretty much said: "Oh hey Chargers, we've had a crappy year so far. Time to fix it!" Rivers had another average game, and for the first time all year (In my mind, at least) the Raiders really didn't look very competitive. Despite his two INTs, Daunte Culpepper LOOKS like he's getting back to his Minnesota form. Will he ever be that good again? Doubt it. But does it help Oakland? Sure. San Diego's defense was steller today, keeping Oakland to 246 yards (only 53 on the ground!) Really, the most impressive thing Oakland did was Thomas Howard's INT return for a touchdown. Outside of that, it was...kind of a crumby day for a team on the upswing. San Diego needed to win this game though.
What did we learn from this game? San Diego is trying to bounce back from a slow start and doing it well. The Raiders, while upstart, need to find a way to produce more offense. Their defense ISN'T bad, but their offense kinda is.
New England Patriots 48 at Dallas Cowboys 27
After a pretty epic comeback last week against Buffalo, Dallas hosts one of the league's elite teams. How did they fair? Not well. Tom Brady threw a career high 5 touchdowns to four different receivers. That's what I like most about Brady...he spreads the ball around a lot. I wish more QBs did that, quite frankly. This game was pretty close for a while, but Dallas's defense just couldn't hold on anymore. This is the first time all year that Dallas has played a competent offense - the only other offense they played that had any semblance of being good, the NY Giants, put 35 up on them...and they didn't look too hot against them. Dallas has a very talented offense, but their defense NEEDS to play better if they have super bowl aspirations like so many think they do. As for the Patriots defense and their points allowed? Honestly, with an offense as high powered as the Patriots, I wouldn't be surprised if they half-assed this game. That's just my opinion though. What can we learn from this game Although Dallas is good, they absolutley NEED to get a better defensive gameplan going. They have benefited from a relatively easy schedule so far, so let's see what they can do against some of the better teams out there. New England, of course, stays hot as ever.
GAME IN PROGRESS: New Orleans 28 at Seattle 10.
Wow. If that score holds up and the Saints win as you're reading this Monday Morning...wow....Big upset in my mind as Seattle looked to be one of the NFC's better teams and the Saints looked more like the 'aints' coming into tonight's game. Reggie Bush - who I am not a fan of - had 88 yards at the half which is pretty good for him.
Tomorrow's Game: Giants at Falcons
Short and sweet - Giants'll win.
Anyhow, that's it for the week in review, let's go to the next section!
Derek's Top-5 Teams: Week 6!
1-) New England Patriots (6-0) - They look so good, I'm starting to believe they can go un-defeated this year. Wow.
2-)Indianapolis Colts (5-0) - Defending Superbowl champions at number two. Their offense and defense have been good all year.
3-)Pittsburgh Steelers (4-1) It appears that the Steelers are responding well to their new head coach.
4-) Greenbay Packers (5-1) I am NOT sold on Green Bay, but...this week's win was huge. It helps legitimize them in my eyes.
5-) Jacksonville Jaguars (4-1) As much as I *LOATHE* the Jags, they actually have looked like a legitimate playoff contender so far this year.
Tom Brady is pleased that his team is atop the list. I MEAN, WHO WOULDN'T WANT TO TOP SUCH A PRESTIGIOUS LIST.
*cough* anyways. Moving on...
Week's top performers
Offensive: Tony Gonzalez - Kansas City Chiefs. Now, I'm sure most of you were thinking I was going to go with six week MVP Tom Brady, but no! No! I am going with the man who broke the record. Sure, there were other people with more impressive weeks than he...but...he broke the TE TD record held by Shannon Sharpe. That's a pretty good week in my book. Big, big, big props to a sure-fire Hall-of-famer.
Defensive: Charles Woodson - Greenbay Packers. Without Woodson's CLUTCH fumble return...the Packers would have lost. To put it simply, it is my belief that Woodson won the game for the Pack this week. So, yeah, I think he had the most impact of any defensive player.
Special Teams: Ryan Longwell - Minnesota Vikings. HUGE Game winning kick for the Vikings over the Bears. 55 yards at Soldier field - the longest at said field - is not an easy task. Kudos to Longwell.
All around MVP: Tom Brady - New England Patriots. HAH. I couldn't resist. Tom had a career high 5 TDs against the Dallas Cowboys and was the key factor to them winning the way that they did. When you beat a team like Dallas as thoughorly as New England did, you deserve some props.
Props to Tony Gonzalez.
Looking ahead to next week
HERE IS THE SCHEDULE! Oh yeaaaaah. My prediction in Italics
Tennessee at Houston - If Vince is back, those crazy Titans will probably win this game. As much as the Texans have improved, they aren't quite at Tenn's level yet. Baltimore at Buffalo - The Bills aren't that good. 'nuff said.
Minnesota at Dallas - Hint: Dallas is going to obliterate Minnesota in this bounce back game. Tampa Bay at Detroit - Wow, Jeff Garcia vs. John Kitna. And neither one of them is QBing the Raiders! Now I never thought I would see this.
Arizona at Washington - A must win for Washington.
San Francisco at New York Giants - If Alex Smith is still out, I think the Giants win this one easily. Trent Dilfer just isn't...that good. He's a good backup, but you're in trouble if he's the starter.
Atlanta at New Orleans - I just went with the hometeam. Also, apparently New Orleans remembered that the sport they are playing is football tonight against Seattle. So...yeah, I'm confident in the Saints against this crumby Falcons team. New England at Miami - I think New England will win easily. Miami ALWAYS plays them tough though, so watch out for a possible upset here.
Kansas City at Oakland - KC is leading the AFC West. Wow.
NY Jets at Cincinnati - The Bengals SHOULD be able to win this one. But with how they've been this season, you just can never tell. Chicago at Philadelphia - I don't think the Eagles are that good.
St. Louis at Seattle - HAHAHAHA, oh wow. Good luck, Rams. Pittsburgh at Denver - I don't care how good Denver plays at Mile High. They have been the definition of mediocre this season.
Indy at Jacksonville - It's an upset special, but I have a feeling that Jacksonville is going to be UP for this game.
The Jags are running towards the playoffs.
Ho Ho, puns. Awesome.
WHOO. That'll do it for this week. I'm actually going to try to add more next week...so yeah. Please send me feedback at Desipiot@hotmail.com If you have any questions, comments, or just want to tell me how much I suck...drop me a line!
