Chargers 21-13 over the Broncos: Well the underwhelming Chargers finally won a game after it looked like they would fire Coach Mike McCoy. After coming off a mistake-filled loss at Oakland, and earlier in the season lost three games in which they led at the 2-minute warning. 1. The offense only really showed up for one TD pass from QB Phillip Rivers as the rest of the offense came from field goals by kicker Josh Lambo. 2. Two losses in a row for the Broncos because of lackluster play at QB either in rookie Paxton Lynch or starter Trevor Siemian who had one TD pass but under 200 yards, with the offense only putting up 2 field goals by kicker Brandon McManus for the rest of the points. 3. The defense can’t win you every game by keeping them under 20 like they did before. You need to score more than 13 points to win even with an elite defense.
Bills 45-16 over the 49ers: The Bills have won four in a row with offense- who would have thought of that after firing the offensive coordinator? 1. RB LeSean McCoy had 3 TDS and 140 yards, QB Tyrod Taylor who some left for dead after the first two weeks (including me) had 2 TDS and 9 overall for the season. It was sweet revenge for McCoy by beating his former Coach Chip Kelly who had traded him away to the Bills. 2. The backup RB Mike Gillislee had another TD and Taylor had 60 rushing yards as Buffalo completely ran all over the 49ers. 3. In QB Colin Kaepernick’s return as the starter he was underwhelming with only 1 TD and under 200 yards. But he did lead his team in rushing yards which is embarrassing for them since they actually have a good RB in Carlos Hyde. 4. WR Torrey Smith caught the lone TD pass for San Francisco showing people he is still in the league.
Redskins 27-20 over the Eagles: 1. Washington won their 4th straight running all over the so called vaunted defense of the Eagles. They put up 493 yards offense with RB Matt Jones rushing for 135 yards and 1 TD, while QB Kirk Cousins had 2 TD passes. 2. While Washington’s defense showed up sacking rookie QB Carson Wentz five times limiting him to 0 TDS and under 200 yards. 3. Philadelphia only scored touchdowns on an interception return TD and kick return TD. 4. Guess who is still in the league? TE Vernon Davis, he caught one of the 2 TDS for Washington. Remember how good he was in San Francisco? That seems like history.
Titans 28-23 over the Browns: In a battle of two teams going nowhere the team with the franchise QB came out on top which was the first time they’ve won consecutive games since the end of the 2013 season, and it matched last year’s win total. 1. QB Marcus Mariota had 3 TD passes and over 280 yards. While RB DeMarco Murray had another rushing TD and TE Anthony Fasano had a TD pass proving he is still in the league. 2. The only bright spot for the Browns was the Swiss army knife man himself Terrelle Pryor who had 2 TDS.
Giants 27-23 over the Ravens: In the 700th win in franchise history the Giants broke a three game losing streak. 1. QB Eli Manning had over 400 yards and 3 TD passes two of them going to WR Odell Beckham JR who had over 200 yards receiving. 2. The lone bright spot for Baltimore was RB Terrence West who had 2 rushing TDS. 3. Without Justin Tucker’s three fields the game wouldn’t have even been this close as the Giants defense stopped the final pass of the game knocking it down in the end zone.
Saints 41-38 over the Panthers: It would normally be an upset but the way Carolina has played all year, it was just a game with no defense that resulted in a shootout with them losing again. The game was decided on a game winning field goal. 1. QB Drew Brees led his team to victory in another shootout with over 460 yards and 4 TD passes. 2. Despite the high scoring nature of the game RB Mark Ingram was quiet with only 51 yards. The players who stole the show were the wide receivers and tight ends. WR Brandon Cooks had over 170 yards receiving with 1TD as rookie WR Michael Thomas had 1 TD, with backup TE Josh hill catching one for a touchdown. The other receiving TD was to TE Coby Fleener but the surprising thing was he had a rushing TD. 3. The best thing for Carolina was the return of staring RB Jonathan Stewart who had 2 TDS. Yes QB Cam Newton had 3 combined TDS but he also had one pick and couldn’t get enough points to beat a bad Saints defense.
Jaguars 17-16 over the Bears: 1. Well the Bears defense let them down again! Back to back weeks they gave up the game late as they let both Andrew Luck last week and this week Blake Bortles throw a go ahead TD pass. The defense did have one interception, 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles but just couldn’t stop them at the end. 2. The offense put up 389 of total offense and they still came up short. Brian Hoyer has looked as the QB for Chicago but he had 0 TD’s passed for having a 300+ yard game and having both WRs in Alshon Jeffrey and Cameron Meredith put up 93 and 113 respectively. 3. RB Jordan Howard was the reason Bears scored as he had one TD.
Lions 31-28 over the Rams: Lions now have won two games in a row because of a go ahead field goal by Matt Prater and getting an interception by the defense. 1. Despite the loss QB Case Keenum looked good with 3 TD passes two going to WR Kenny Britt who was cut by the Titans for his troubles with the law, proved when he’s on the field can be an impact with over 130 yards. 2. QB Matthew Stafford threw 4 TD passes going to WRS Anquan Boldwin, Marvin Jones, Andre Roberts and Golden Tate who had 165 yards and finally showed up as he hasn’t played like a number one WR till this game.
Dolphins 30-15 over the Steelers: In the biggest upset of the week and biggest blow as well. 1. QB Ben Roethlisberger hurt his left knee and will be out at least one week after surgery to repair the meniscus as he didn’t look like himself with two interceptions and 1 TD. 2. The odd thing was WR Darrius Heyward-Bay had a rushing TD. 3. Even with RB Arian Foster back his two backups outshined him as they scored 3 TDS two going to Jay Ajayi. Even with the Steelers not able to score a lot the Dolphins settled for three field goals in this game.
Patriots 35-17 over the Bengals: 1. Tom Brady is 2-0 and in this game had 3 TD passes and 376 yards. 2. While TE Rob Gronkowski had over 160 yards with 1 TD and RB James White had 2 receiving TDS to go with RB LeGarrette Blunt who had a rushing TD. 2. Cincinnati’s vaunted defense hasn’t looked good at all this season and they only have two wins while the offense hasn’t been able to score more than 18 outside of the two wins. 3. WR Brandon LaFell got revenge VS New England his former team with a TD which was the team’s lone receiving TD.
Chiefs 26-10 over the Raiders: After getting blown out on national TV and a bye week Andy Reid’s team came out to play running all over the bad Raiders defense. 1. Reid is 15-2 after a bye week. 1. Both RBS Spencer Ware and Jamaal Charles each had a TD but it was Ware who had the career day with 131, a career high. Defensive lineman Dontari Poe had a big man rushing TD. 3. The defense showed up with one interception, one force fumble and two sacks. 4. WR Amari Copper had 119 yards receiving but wasn’t the one with the TD pass from QB Derrick Carr, it was Andre Holmes.
Seahawks 26-24 over the Falcons: 1. Kicker Steven Hauschka’s 44-yard field goal capped the 20th career fourth quarter or overtime comeback for QB Russell Wilson. 2. Atlanta’s top-ranked offense was stymied by the league’s best defense for a half till the comeback. They hit QB Matt Ryan 8 times and sacked him 3 times while holding the Falcons to only 86 yards in the 1st half which made the 2nd half look shocking. 3. Ryan got those 300+ yard and 3 TDS in the second half, to WR Mohamed Sanu, TE Levine Toilolo and Julio Jones who also had over 130 yards. 4. Seattle really won because RB Christine Michael scored both of their TDS.
Cowboys 30-16 over the Packers: 1. The Cowboys ran all over the Packers defense with rookie RB Ezekiel Elliot who had over 150 yards rushing, QB Dak Prescott had 3 TD passes, two going to WR Cole Beasley. 2. Dallas defense caused four turnovers. 3. The Packers did force two fumbles and one interception from Prescott. 4. It was a battle of field goals really between Mason Crosby and Dan Bailey as both had 3. 5. With Green Bay’s defense not showing up, it was on the offense to show up but they didn’t which is now a recurring issue all year with inconsistent play from QB Aaron Rodgers.
Texans 26-23 over the Colts: It was a close divisional game that went into overtime won by Nick Novak’s game winning field goal. 1. QB Brock Osweiler threw one pick but had two second half TDS one going to RB Lamar Miller, who also rushed for over 140 yards and 1 rushing TD. Meaning the offense finally showed up and this was without rookie stud WR Will Fuller who missed the game. 2. The Colts defense didn’t show up again putting the pressure on Andrew Luck to win it again as they blew the lead they had. Since Luck had an average to underwhelming game of one rushing TD and one touchdown pass with only 252 yards it wasn’t enough. 3. Well, the ageless wonder again named kicker Adam Vinatieri had another good game with 3 field goals.
Cardinals 28-3 over the Jets: Either the Cardinals are back or they faced a bad Jets team it’s been hard to tell the way Arizona has played all year, underwhelming with all that talent. 1. In his return from a concussion QB Carson Palmer had over 200 yards passing and one TD. But the person who was the star of the game was RB David Johnson again showing how consistent he is with 3 rushing TDS and 111 yards. 2. The Jets defense entered the game second in the NFL in rushing defense at 68 yards per game. They were outgained on the ground 171-33. So when your vaunted defense can’t score and with your offense having a nowhere QB play again, plus no successful passing game as they crowd the box with more men making it difficult for RB Matt Forte to do anything. The Jets have lost WR #2 Eric Decker to the injured reserve list for the year but they still should be able to score more than one field goal against a team who hasn’t played the way they should have played. Bottom line New York got embarrassed on national television.
Bye week: Vikings and Buccaneers