Chiefs 42-27 over the Patriots: 1. Well rookie RB Kareem Hunt stole the show after fumbling on his first run. After that he exploded for 246 combined all purpose yards with 1 rushing TD and 2 receiving TDS. This was all in place of the RB Spencer Ware who was lost for the season. 2. A supposed good defense of the Patriots let the Chiefs gain a combined 537 yards between rushing and receiving. 3. Kansas City’s defense didn’t let QB Tom Brady complete a TD pass while holding him under 300 yards which is hard to do. While on the other side of the ball QB Alex Smith wasn’t Mr. Check down as he was airing it out with 4 TD passes and threw for 368 yards. 4. A positive note for New England was that new RB Mike Gillislee had 3 rushing TDS, their only TDS of the game.
Bills 21-12 over the Jets: 1. The Bills defense harassed QB Josh McCown all game with two interceptions and one sack. They held the Jets to only 4 field goals total. 2. Despite Buffalo trading away lots of their veterans to tank like New York did the veterans showed up in this game. RB LeSean McCoy had 159 all purpose yards, while newly acquired FB Mike Tolbert scored a TD and so did the other veteran TE Charles Clay, who scored a TD. 3. The Jets defense did pick off Tyrod Taylor once and sacked him two times.
Falcons 23-17 over the Bears: Chicago did make it close with an impressive debut by the rookie RB Tarik Cohen but the team with the better QB and WRS prevailed in the end. 1. QB Matt Ryan threw for over 300 yards and hooking up with TE Austin Hooper with a TD while he had over 120 yards receiving. It helps having WR Julio Jones to take pressure off the defense to open space up for Hooper. 2. RBS Jordan Howard and Cohen stole the show for the Bears. Howard had one rushing TD and Cohen was the leading rushing and leading receiver with one receiving TD. With no WR options for QB Mike Glennon he has to get the RBS involved in the passing game. 3. RB Devonta Freeman was his usual self scoring the other TD for Atlanta.
Ravens 20-0 over the Bengals: 1. Man QB Andy Dalton didn’t have it; he got sacked five times two by OLB Terrell Suggs, threw four picks, fumbled it once and was 0-3 in the Red Zone. Credit can be given to Baltimore’s defense or blame to Dalton himself, or his offense line not giving him time to throw, which caused his five sacks rushing his throws all game that led to those picks. 2. Well QB Joe Flacco wasn’t perfect he did have one pick but he has his deep threat he needed in WR Jeremy Maclin who I said would help him out. Maclin had his one TD pass in the game. 3. The Ravens lost offseason acquisition pass catching RB Danny Woodhead who is out four weeks with a hamstring issue, but the lead RB Terrance West had a TD. So they only need to replace him in the passing game or as a backup. Buck Allen is the next man up or new RB Jeremy Langford could fill in.
Steelers 21-18 over the Browns: Cleveland showed some promise as you see by the score, the Steelers made some mistakes but still had control in the game. 1. WR Antonio Brown was his usual self running all over defenses and making spectacular catches raking up 182 yards, but it was TE Jesse James who had the 2 TDS Big Ben threw. 2. Pittsburgh had 7 sacks and one interception but the biggest play they had was a blocked punt that was recovered in the end zone for a TD. 3. The Browns had some positive plays as rookie QB DeShone Kizer had a QB rush in the red zone for a TD and threw for over 200 yards with TD pass to WR Corey Coleman. They even picked off Big Ben once, forced a fumble and successfully converted a two point conversion. 4. Bad news for the Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell left the game early with an injury. But rookie LB TJ Watt had an interception and 2 sacks in his debut even his older brother JJ Watt never did that before.
Lions 35-23 over the Cardinals: It looked like a blowout by the score but the Lions used 20 point surge in the 4th quarter that put them up by a lot. 1. QB Matthew Stafford was deservingly paid as he lead his team back from a deficit with 4 TD passes but he did have a pick six to the start the game, so the more good than bad. Rookie WR Kenny Golladay from Northern Illinois had 2 of those TD passes while lead WR Golden Tate had over 100 yards. 2. Detroit’s defense picked off QB Carson Palmer four times and forced two fumbles. 3. The biggest thing wasn’t the blown lead in the loss or Palmer looking terrible; it was lead RB David Johnson their best weapon being placed on the injured reserve following wrist surgery, which takes away any chance of a wild card berth. They did bring back RB Chris Johnson into the mix.
Jaguars 29-7 over the Texans: This game didn’t turn out as anyone would have thought. 1. The opposite happened as the Jaguars defense stymied the Texans offense making them bench their starting QB Tom Savage, who had two fumbles in favor of rookie QB Deshaun Watson. We all thought the Texans defense would hold the hapless Jaguars scoreless and prevent them from using their best weapon RB rookie Leonard Founette. If they were down early they would have to throw it every down with a bad QB. 2. QB Blake Bortles was pick free with 1 TD pass but the offense hero was Fournette who had 100 yards rushing with 1 TD and even had 24 yards receiving. 3. Jacksonville’s defense had 10 sacks with DE Calais Campbell having four on his own, one interception and 3 sacks two by DE Yannick Ngakoue. 4. You can’t blame Watson for his one pick, 1 TD pass game since he came into a lost game already. He did throw his lone TD pass to the lead WR DeAndre Hopkins. 5. Despite the win the Jaguars did lose in one way as lead WR Allen Robinson went on the injured reserve with a torn ACL.
Raiders 26-16 over the Titans: In a battle of young and up and coming, QBS Derek Carr had the better day with 2 TD passes compared to Marcus Mariota’s 0 TD passes. 1. It was mostly a field goal game with a total of 7. 2. The positive for the Titans they did force two fumbles and had two sacks, while Mariota had a rushing TD. 3. The Raiders stopped the good run game of Tennessee as DeMarco Murray had less than 50 yards and Derrick Henry had fewer than 30 yards.
Eagles 30-17 over the Redskins: 1. The Eagles dominated both sides of the ball. The defense picked of QB Kirk Cousins once, forced two fumbles, and four sacks. DT Fletcher Cox returned one of those fumbles for a TD. 2. QB Carson Wentz wasn’t perfect as he threw a pick six but he has over 300 yards passing, and 2 TDS with one going to newly acquired RB LeGarrette Blount. 3. QB Kirk Cousins did throw 1 TD pass to RB Chris Thompson, but when your QB is your leading rushing with 30 you are not going to win just from the two interceptions.
Rams 46-9 over the Colts: The Colts were expected to lose this game since they were playing without QB Andrew Luck. It was not a blowout. 1. The Rams great defense picked off backup QB Scott Tolzien two times for touchdowns that ultimately got him benched for third sting QB Jacoby Brissett, who later took a sack in the end zone for a safety. They also had 2 forced fumbles and four sacks 2. QB Jared Goff was facing a bad defense but it was a positive sign based on how poor his rookie season was, as he had over 300 yards with 1 TD pass to his rookie WR Cooper Kupp. Both of his RBS had rushing TDS, Todd Gurley and Malcolm Brown.
Packers 17-9 over the Seahawks: 1. QB Aaron Rodgers wasn’t perfect with an interception but he did have over 300 yards with 1 TD pass to WR Jordy Nelson. The other TD was by RB Ty Montgomery who just under 100 all purpose yards. 2. The Packers defense was all over QB Russell Wilson limiting him to less 160 yards passing, while sacking him four times and forcing a fumble. The offense line failed Wilson by not protecting him and to help establish a run game, as Wilson was the leading rusher which isn’t a good strategy for winning. RB Eddie Lacy in his return to Green Bay had a total of three yards. 3. Seattle settled for three field goals.
Panthers 23-3 over 49ers: 1. The Panther’s defense picked off QB Brian Hoyer once and sacked him four times, forced him to fumble one of the two they forced while holding RB Carlos Hyde to under 50 yards. 2. It was a four field goal game. Carolina held the 49ers to one field goal total. 3. QB Cam Newton had 2 TD passes but one pick with one of the TDS going to RB Jonathan Stewart.
Cowboys 19-3 over the Giants: 1. The Giants looked like a mess on offense without WR Odell Beckham Jr. QB Eli Manning threw one pick and only threw for 220 yards, as the Cowboys also forced a fumble as well. 2. It was a four field goal game. 3. The only TD of the game was TE Jason Witten who passed Hall of Famer WR Michael Irvin for most receiving yards in Cowboys history. 4. RB Ezekiel Elliot did play in this game as his suspension was under appeal. He finished with over 100 yards rushing in the game.
Vikings 29-19 over the Saints: 1. Usually QB Drew Brees is the star QB of the game but he was pedestrian with 1 TD pass and just under 300 yards passing. The star of the game was QB Sam Bradford winning offensive player of the week in NFC for his 3 TD pass, 346 yards passing performance. Two of those TDS went to WR Stefon Diggs, while the other went to TE Kyle Rudolph. The other WR Adam Thielen had over 150 yards receiving. Rookie RB Dalvin Cook had over 120 yards rushing who set the Vikings’ rookie debut rushing record, previously held by Adrian Peterson, who had 18 yards total like fellow RB Alvin Kamara and RB Mark Ingram who had 17. 2. It was a seven field goal game.
Broncos 24-21 over the Chargers: It was the debut for both coaches in Vance Joseph for Denver and Anthony Lynn for San Diego. 1. Both QBS did well as Phillip Rivers had 3 TDS but only had less than 200 yards while Trevor Siemian had 2 passing TDS and a rushing TD. They both threw interceptions. Both of Siemian’s TD passes were to WR Bennie Fowler but Rivers threw it around to both his top WRS in Keenan Allen, Travis Benjamin and his RB Melvin Gordon. 2. It came down to the Broncos missing a FG late and then Denver blocking the Chargers field goal attempt to tie it.
Miami VS Tampa Bay PPD