A lot happened in Sunday’s grid iron battles. The Colts fell to 2-2 after a 59-yard field goal, Baltimore ended Pittsburgh’s undefeated run, and the Giants’ defense sacked Chicago’s offense. The action continues tonight as AFC East rivals face off in South Beach.
Sunday’s Results
- New York Jets-38
- Buffalo-14
- Cincinnati-20
- Cleveland-23
- Baltimore-17
- Pittsburgh-14
- Denver-26
- Tenessee-20
- Detroit-26
- Green Bay-28
- San Francisco-14
- Atlanta-16
- Carolina-14
- New Orleans-16
- Seattle-3
- St. Louis-20
- Indianapolis-28
- Jacksonville-31
- Houston-31
- Oakland-24
- Arizona-10
- San Diego-41
- Chicago-3
- New York Giants-17
Game of the Week Results
Call it revenge, or merely a bittersweet victory, but Donovan McNabb found his redemption after defeating his old team, the Philadelphia Eagles, as a Redskin, 17-12. Not only did the Eagles lose, but they lost their newly crowded starting quarterback, Michael Vick. In the NFC East divisional race, Washington prevented Philadelphia from taking a lead as both teams are now tied with the Giants at 2-2.
The night started off with the ‘Skins taking a 14-0 lead. Ryan Torain, who got the bulk of the work on the ground over Clinton Portis, ran over a defender on his way to the end zone on a 12 yard run. McNabb then found tight end Chris Cooley on a 31 yard touchdown pass. However, before the first quarter came to an end, Vick took off on one of his signature scrambles, juking out multiple defenders for a 20 yard run. At the one-yard, Vick was sandwiched between DeAngelo Hall and Kareem Moore. A play that would have ended with a first and goal on the one was not only called back on a penalty, but was Vick’s last play of the game. He was originally thought to have a broken rib, but MRI’s came back negative. Kevin Kolb assumed the role as QB, but only led the Eagles to two field goals until the fourth quarter. Down 17-6 with four minutes left, Kolb hit Brent Celek for a five yard touchdown, but missed the two point conversion. With time running out, down 17-12, the Eagles attempted a Hail Mary, which bounced off receiver Jason Avant’s hands before landing in Hall’s lap.
McNabb only completed eight passes in his return to Philly. He threw for a mere 125 yards, one touchdown, and one pick. Torain lead the team with 70 yards on the ground. Portis had 55 yards, and McNabb added another 39. Cooley caught two passes, one being the long touchdown. Surprisingly, our favorite defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth recorded four tackles. The Eagles finished the game with 353 total yards of offense, 60 more than Washington, but when a team substitutes touchdowns for field goals, their chances of winning are never good. Vick completed five passes in the first quarter before Kolb came was called from the bullpen. Kolb went 22-35 for 201 yards, a touchdown, and the meaningless interception on the Hail Mary attempt. Statistically, he didn’t perform bad, but the offense never found a rhythm. The Eagles’ running backs caught more passes than the receivers, especially Desean Jackson, who had three catches for only 19 yards. Nate Allen intercepted McNabb once, giving the rookie four on the year.
Monday Night Football
The New England Patriots migrate down south to face AFC East Rival Miami on Monday Night Football. Both teams are 2-1, putting the winner in a tie for first with the Jets. Miami hopes they can carve up the New England defense the same way Buffalo did last week. Tom Brady and the Patriots hope to turn around their luck in Sun Life Stadium. Under Brady, the Pats are 3-5 against the Dolphins in Miami.
The Dolphins are coming off a loss to the Jets, and hope to rebound and stay atop the division. Chad Henne threw for a career high 363 yards last week, and Brandon Marshall hauled in 166 of those yards. Their duo of running backs, Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, combined for 319 yards and only one touchdown so far this season. Defensively, the Dolphins are 9th in the league giving up only 17 points a game. Karlos Dansby has recorded 25 tackles and a sack. Cameron Wake leads the team with two sacks.
New England’s offense is first in points scored and seventh in yards per game. Brady has eight touchdowns and a 109.1 passer rating. “The Law Firm”, BenJarvus Green-Ellis leads the team with 139 yards and one touchdown. Danny Woodhead is also emerging in the absence of Kevin Faulk and Fred Taylor. Wes Welker hasn’t missed a step since receiving major knee surgery. He leads the team with 18 catches. Rookie tight end Aaron Hernandez has a team high 211 receiving yards. Randy Moss has three touchdown, but only nine catches. The New England defense is 29th in points allowed, and 27th in yards allowed.
I predict that Tom Brady and his passing offense will be too much for the Miami secondary to handle. Moss has yet to have an explosive game, and I don’t expect him to wait any longer. The Miami defense just doesn’t have enough to cover Moss, Welker, Hernandez, Brandon Tate, and Julian Edelman. If the Pats defense gets picked apart by Henne, both teams will light up the score board, but give Brady his 100th career victory.
Have NFL Splinters? Share them here.
The Dolphins ran the wildcat just one time last night? Is that offensive set becoming a thing of the past?
The Pats getting it done with special teams. More credit to Belichick – the guy knows this team has its weaknesses, but they figure out how to win games.
Dolphins just fired their special teams coach. That was swift !
Anyone see “old man” Jon Carney back kicking field goals for the Saints??? He was a college classmate of mine. He’s !#$@!%!& ancient !!! (But a great kicker). I guess he’s #3 on the all-time points scored list. Who are the top two???
Hahaha – what’s that saying about you? 🙂
Is it parity? Or mediocrity? Does the NFL have what they want? Three divisions (NFC East, North and West) have a combined losing record.
I saw that too about the Dolphins special teams coach. Geez…I guess that’s what happens when the opponent blocks two kicks and returns a kickoff 103 yards.
Brady throws for 153 yards and New England scores 41. Who would a thought?
Henne throws for 302 and Miami scores 14. Of course, three of Henne’s completions were to the wrong team.
Casey —
It says that YOU and I are also !#$@!%!& ancient !! 🙂
Oh, and you forgot to add that Randy Moss didn’t catch one ball in that game. Shut out. Who woulda thunk???
Too early to conclude anything about W-L records … but I hate to see that 4 TEAMS are still winless at this point.
Wow! How about the shots that Josh McDaniels and the Broncos are taking taking at the Jeff Fisher and the Titans. Orton: “They’re not tough. They’re cheap.”
McDaniels commented about the ten penalties : “You either coach it or allow it.”
Well, it’s easy to take verbal shots AFTER playing the game. Maybe the Titans will get a chance to respond on the field in the playoffs, maybe not.
Anyway, if I’m in an alley fight, I really don’t want Kyle Orton on my side.
HAHAHAHA…Helmet Sticker!
Without doing any research I believe Morton Anderson has the most career points. Talk about an ancient kicker, he played well into his 40’s. I think he last played with Atlanta. Correct me if I’m wrong.
At what point did “well into his 40’s” = “ancient?”
I missed that memo.
🙂
Didn’t Jan Stenerud kick well into his 40s??
Stenerud was 43 when he retired.
Guess he was ancient..
Guys … in “football years”, 40 is the equivalent of 80 in regular human years … that’s all. It’s kinda like the Dog Years thing except with a lower multiplier.
Wow – Moss back to the Vikings today.
Marshawn Lynch shipped to Seattle. CJ Spiller: you’re up!
Moss back to Vikes – all bets are off. With the Bears looking rather horrendous the other night, the balance has swung.
I was worried for the Bears WELL BEFORE this news with Moss. Just goes to show you how SLOOOOOOOOW the Bears are to do anything requiring quick thinking. Who needs Moss more than the Bears?? Nobody. Do you think they were even aware he could be had??? Nah.
Casey … G-men down here playing the Texans Sunday … wanna go?
Wally
I must have forgotten to tell you. We are flying in on Friday.
🙂
Lynch must be happy he is on a team with a much improved offensive line. If Russel Okung can stay healthy, maybe Lynch can jump start his career. I was really hoping Philly would have traded for him. There were rumors about it.
Moss back to Minnesota!? Can he and Brett get something going? Can’t wait to see how explosive the offense will be when Rice returns healthy.
It appears the Patriots can win without him. Aaron Hernandez, Julian Edelman, and Brandon Tate will have to play harder now that defenses only have to double Welker.
Casey —
Or are you really going to the Reds playoff game??
How did you know?
Duh … our wives are sisters. (Plus I’m totally in your head) 😉
So she’s taking it seriously? She told me absolutely not. My chances of scoring ducats are slim.
Heck … I’m not in Kelly’s head … I don’t know if she will let you go to the game. But if I figured since you’re gonna be in Cinci anyway, this is where “preparation meets opportunity”, right ??? You’re thinking … I really gotta get into that ballpark. 😉
Sooooo … given outlets like Stubhub and scalpers walking the streets, I’d say your chances of having the “opportunity ” to get ducats is quite high. The question is really: How much are you willing to pay for this ONCE IN A LIFETIME BUCKET LIST OPPORTUNITY?
Seriously, Casey, if you don’t give this the ol’ college try … then she’s forever wearin’ the pants as far as I’m concerned. Don’t let all us guys down!
I’ve already done some legwork for ya. Game 3 (Sunday) is yours for $175 per ticket on Stubhub. Once in a lifetime ….
How does Patrick Chung with a blocked field goal, a blocked punt and an interception for a TD – not get the AFC player of the week???
I am intrigued by the trade of Moss. The Patriots are obviously impressed with Brandon Tate enough to feel that they could trade Moss.
More importantly the Pats now have 8 picks in the first four rounds of next year’s draft. The Pats are already retooling – but if done well, these 8 picks could set them up for another dynasty run.
Casey – it is definitely one on the bucket list… See what you can get outside the ballpark. If the Reds are down 2-0, you might have scalpers looking to cut their losses.
Casey —
Smitty says you ought to leave Mom at the local convent so the 3 of you go to the Reds game Sunday. Boy … I wouldn’t let her know that he said that. She might go ballistic on him like that time she scolded you after the pillow fight down in the basement. Weren’t you grounded after that?? 🙂
Hahahahaha. yeah another incident where you caused the problem, and I got the flak. 🙂
What?? Me??? Nooooo …
😉
Wally — Dude… I don’t need the McCabes coming after me.. Knock it off. 🙂
Aw … okay, Smitty. Dang it … You’re ruining all my fun. 🙂
Anyway … we agree that Casey needs to get his butt into that ballpark on Sunday. Don’t let us down, Casey … we’re living vicariously through your opportunities. Let us know how much you enjoy watching a playoff game in person. We want photos! As proof 😉
The Pats traded Moss because they knew he wasn’t coming back next year and they wanted to get something for him. And he was beginning to develop the attitude that got him traded to the Pats in the first place. He usually does well when he gets sent to a new team, and from interviews, he seems happy to be back in Minnesota. It’s like playing Madden, having Favre, Peterson, and Moss on the same team.
How do you play Madden? 🙂 hahaha
It will be interesting watching those three.
What do we have for this week?
For this week, we have the Texans beating the Giants … I hope.
And we have the Bears at Carolina with an over/under of 5. That’s right … 5. We’re conceding the Panthers a field goal … the only question is will the Bears get their own field goal or a safety ??? Stay tuned.