2009 Game Reviews
NFL Week 6
by Jody Jamieson
22/10/2009
 
Texans 28 Bengals 17
 
Bengals in boring loss shocker! This really wasnt the way I expected this one to go. I expected another cardiac game in where it comes down to the last seconds yet again, but Houston did a good job of never letting the Bengals take control at home. Cincinnati have been fabulous at shutting down #1 receivers this season, so it was ominous that the Texans got the ball on their first play to Andre Johnson, who burst down the field for 58 yards. Johnson finished with 8 catches for 135 yards. Who leads the NFL in touchdown passes? Drew Brees who had 9 in his first two games? Tom Brady who just completely embarrassed the Titans? Peyton Manning whos on his way to another MVP season? Ill bet Matt Schaub wasnt one of the first 7 or 8 names that popped into your head but he currently leads the way with 14. He had 4 touchdowns and a pick on Sunday to go with his 392 passing yards. Owen Daniels (2) Steve Slaton and Jacoby Jones had the touchdown passes. Palmer had a nice enough game under center (23/35 259 yards 1TD 1INT) but the offense couldnt stay on schedule due to a lack of a running game. After gashing the Bengals, Cedric Benson was somehow shut down by the Texans, gaining only 44 yards on 16 carries. Benson did have a 10 yard TD run to go with Laveraneus Coles TD reception, but the Bengals never found a way to move the ball consistently.
 
Antwan Odom benefitted from a game against Green Bay to boost his sack total, but is going to be a huge miss for the Bengals. He went out with an Achilles injury and is done for 2009.
 
Lions 0 Packers 26
 
Its a good thing that Detroit is on a bye next week. Their offense has been good this season despite their defense being unable to get off the field for the most part. This however was a complete disaster. Daunte Culpepper and Drew Stanton combined for a dreadful line. 11/25 for 105 yards and 3 picks. Throw in 5 combined sacks and an 0-10 third down efficiency number, and its no surprise that they Lions were shut out in this one.
 
The game was completely out of reach by half time as the Packers held a 23-0 lead. Jason Jones and John Kuhn had TD grabs in the first quarter before 3 second quarter field goals by Mason Crosby killed it off. Crosby was good from 26 yards in the 3rd quarter to complete the scoring.
 
For all that Detroits offense was a disaster and Aaron Rodgers torched their secondary, the Lions defense were left dealing with numerous short fields and did a decent job allowing the Packers to only score 1 TD in 5 redzone trips. Julian Peterson meanwhile had a huge game with 10 tackles, 2.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles. Chad Clifton got injured again, and if he missed more time, expect Rodgers to get the David Carr treatment for a while longer. Donald Driver has his 596th catch of his Green Bay career in the first quarter, which set a new Packers record.
 
Rams 20 Jaguars 23 (OT)
 
Its really unbelievable that Jacksonville couldnt win this game in regulation. St Louis did a nice job of rushing the passer and stopping the run in the first half while Jacksonville did a nice job of turning the ball over in the redzone. Maurice Jones-Drew had a redzone fumble and then David Garrard threw a costly interception deep in Rams territory. Add in the soon to be mentioned third Jags turnover and it makes a little sense, but they dominated this game from start to finish and should have won comfortably. Jones-Drew eventually picked things up in the second half and finished with 178 all purpose yards and 3 touchdowns.
 
At 13-10 the Rams had a great chance to get a defensive stop but the refs harshly called pass interference on James Laurinitis. They got revenge for the call though after Garrard threw a ridiculously dangerous pass to Maurice Jones-Drew and Leonard Little picked it off and gave the Rams a 17-13 lead. I had Jacksonville to cover as 9.5 point favourites, so you could imagine my despair the second the ball left Garrards hands as it was absolutely obvious what was about to happen. Jones-Drew score his third TD with 3 minutes left, but the Rams drove down to tie the game on a field goal. Jacksonville werent going to be denied in overtime. They won the toss and put together a 13 play 7 minute drive that culminated in the game winning 36 yard field goal by Josh Scobee. Mike Sims-Walker and his 3 feet (check the Week 4 review if you dont get the reference) returned from suspension and had 9 catches for 120 yards. Torry Holt also went over 100 yards in his first game against St Louis after 10 great years with the team.
 
The Rams are 0 for their last 16. Could that be a sign of things to come in 2009?
 
Ravens 31 Vikings 33
 
I'm a believer that Brett Favre will be at his best in Minnesota if his main goal is to not screw up rather than make things happen. He has such a good cast around him that gunslinger Brett can put his bullets away and focus on being solid and letting the team win the game. Against Baltimore though he had a really good game going 21/29 for 278 yards and 3TDs, as Sidney Rice exploded for 6 catches for 176 yards. One of my big concerns with Favre was coming in so late hed have to rapport with his receivers, and while that might still ring true with some of his targets, Favre to Rice has been pretty potent. The Vikes had a 14-0 lead early when Visanthe Shiancoe and Bernard Berrian caught Favre passes. Baltimore got very little going, but did get on the board as the half expired on a field goal by Steven Hauschka. Ray Rice replied for the Ravens before 2 field goals and Shiancoes second TD of the day looked to have ended it. 27-10 with 10 minutes to go? Game over.
 
Well it should have been game over, but Joe Flacco is for real and was a Hauschka kick away from getting the win. First Mark Clayton went up the ladder and made a nice catch to cut the lead to 10, and after a Vikings field goal the Ray Rice Show began. First he caught a short Flacco pass and broke tackles for a 63 yard gain before Flacco to Mason cut the deficit further. The next drive finished with a 33 yard run where Rice went in completely untouched to give Baltimore an improbable lead. Favre responded with a downfield heave to Sidney Rice which set up the field goal that gave Minnesota the lead back, but Baltimore drove down yet again and set up Hauschka from 44 yards, but he missed wide left and the Vikings moved to 6-0 while after a 3-0 start themselves, Baltimore had dropped three in a row to move back to .500. After going 3 years without a 100 yard rusher, the Ravens defense allowed Adrian Peterson to be the second back in as many weeks after Cedric Benson to rack up triple digits on them.
 
Giants 27 Saints 48
 
Despite the fact that this ended up a blowout because the Giants defense was completely inept, Eli Manning must have wondered what might have been in this one. While Im not going to criticise him for not bailing out defense that got completely embarrassed for 60 minutes, New York had chances to keep the game close and didnt take them. They had to settle for 3 points when he missed a wide open Steve Smith on 3rd down on a certain touchdown pass. Manning was then strip sacked at the end of the first half which allowed the Saints to put another 7 points on the board. Eli also scrambled marvellously on 4th down pass and threw a TD, but it was negated for holding. While their offensive miscues werent what cost them the game, maybe they could have still been balanced on offense if theyd kept it close. I like Eli a lot, but the Giants arent going to win a lot of football games when they have to go pass crazy.
 
Troy Aikman is an analyst I like, but he seems to be good for a completely ludicrous comment every week. Jeremy Shockey could end up going down as the best tight end of all time. Excuse me?! Right now hes the third best tight end in his own division behind Tony Gonzalez and Kellen Winslow. Come back when he ever gets close to the conversation as to who is the best tight end in the league. Shockey was a man possessed in this game though who genuinely looked like he may get ejected after every play as he went bananas numerous times. This was a huge game for Shockey against his old club. Its almost as if he holds a vendetta against them because he didnt play in Super Bowl XLII despite the fact he had a broken leg and was hobbling around on crutches. Shockey had 4 catches for 37 yards and an early touchdown that put the Saints 14-0 up.
 
Marques Colston, Lance Moore and Robert Meachem caught TD passes from Drew Brees. Mike Bell and Reggie Bush and Heath Evans scored on the ground to complete the rout. Ahmad Bradshaw scored on the ground for the Giants while Mario Manningham and Hakeem Nicks had TD grabs from Manning and David Carr respectively. David Carr has managed to get into so many games this year its actually worth talking about his stat line. Carr is 15/24 for 172 yards with 1 TD. Expect someone to take a gamble and start Carr in 2010.
 
Browns 14 Steelers 27
 
The Ben Roethlisberger debate will never ever end. We all know hes a good quarterback who comes into his own when they game is on the line, but how he managed to get sacked 3 times in a game Cleveland could barely get any pass rush going. However, Roethlisberger had a career day throwing for a gargantuan 417 yards as Cleveland couldnt come close to containing him. His two scoring passes went to Heath Miller and Hines Ward in the first quarter. Joshua Cribbs returned the kick-off after the Ward TD 98 yards to make it 14-7. Cribbs ended up playing a little quarterback in the Wildcat due to Derek Andersons ineffectiveness. Anderson was 9/24 for 122 yards with a score and a pick. Cribbs essentially took over at QB, but ended up throwing a pick to Troy Polamalu.
 
Cleveland actually got within 3 points in the 3rd quarter when Lawrence Vickers caught a one yard Anderson pass to make it 17-14, but Rashard Mendenhall went in from 2 yards and Jeff Reed kicked a field goal to seal a 13 point win.
 
Panthers 28 Buccaneers 21
 
I enjoyed this game more than I really should have. Carolinas stupidity allowed the game to stay close, but Josh Johnson fumbled 5 times to ruin any chance of a comeback. For spread betters this was a week where fumbles and futility stopped favoured teams covering on a few games, so at least Carolina covered. Jacksonville (turnovers), Minnesota (blowing a 27-10 lead with 10 minutes to go as 3 point favourites) and Pittsburgh (fumbles) were the chief favourites who let people down by making mistakes in games they should have covered.
 
Tampa had an early 7-0 lead on a Cadillac Williams 20 yard run, but DeAngelo Williams cancelled it out with a 20 yard run of his own. Carolina had a chance to score after Josh Johnson put the ball in the floor deep inside his own territory, but Jonathan Stewart returned the favour by fumbling at the 5 yard line. The Panthers also had a field goal blocked. All hell broke loose at the end of the first half as Dante Wesley wiped out Clifton Smith on a punt well before the ball got to him. Wesley was ejected from the game after the brawl subsided and has been suspended for next weeks game against Buffalo. Smith left the game with a concussion.
 
Carolina scored two quick touchdowns to begin the second half on a 1 yard catch by Jeff King (after a horrendous throw by Josh Johnson was picked by Thomas Davis) and a 26 yard run by Stewart, but 7th round pick Sammie Stroughter cut the deficit to 7 when he took the resulting kick-off back for a touchdown. Stroughter also paced Tampa Bay in receiving (3 catches for 65 yards) in by far the best game of his rookie season. Delhomme then made a huge mistake under pressure throwing over the middle into double coverage. The pass was predictably picked off by Tanard Jackson who returned it to the house. Williams and Stewart then took over on a 16 play drive (15 rushes, Delhomme threw one pass for 4 yards) which ended when DeAngelo Williams stuffed it in from a yard with 30 seconds to play to win the game.
 
Chiefs 14 Redskins 6
 
Jim Zorn finally figured out Secret Agent Campbells intentions and stuck him on the bench for his poor play. His panic move seemed to be inspired as Todd Collins hit Santana Moss for a 42 yard gain on his first pass. After that he was 5/13 for 33 yards. Collins did a nice job in 2007 in taking Washington to the playoffs after Campbell got injured, but this is unlikely to be a long term thing. Its been reported that Jim Zorn will not be calling offensive plays anymore as that responsibility has been passed onto Sherman Lewis. The phase out is still in full force. Its sad for the Redskins that this wasnt an entirely surprising loss, but after scraping past St Louis and Tampa Bay at home, they couldnt get past the Chiefs at FedExField. In these three home games they have scored a combined 31 points.
 
It was a game of field goals as Mr Irrelevant Ryan Succop was 4/4 from the field. The Chiefs led 12-6 when with under a minute to play Todd Collins had 95 yards to go. He held onto the ball to try and make a big play but was sacked in the endzone by Tamba Hali to end it.
 
Eagles 9 Raiders 13
 
You know a game is bad when a completely irrelevant (if slightly entertaining) pigeon was the most interesting thing about the afternoon. Seeing the bird flying down the field with the kick off team was pretty funny. However, there are no truths to the rumours that Al Davis had the pigeon in on Monday to time its 40 yard fly.
 
JaMarcus Russell had a huge miss in this one. Oakland went for it on 4th and 1 from the Eagles 40 early in the second half, and Louis Murphy didnt have a defender within 20 yards of him. Luckily for the Eagles he under threw him and Philly got the ball back on downs. Without question though this was Russells best game of the season and Im not just saying that because hes been dreadful. He actually did a good impression of an NFL quarterback. He was getting chased a lot but evaded the pressure and then made good decisions with the ball. For once I didnt get to start a review talking about how awful he is. I hope this continues. Oakland took a 7-3 lead on a long pass over the middle to tight end Zach Miller. Miller then broke a few tackles and was aided by two brilliant blocks by rookie Louis Murphy on his way to an 86 yard touchdown. It should have been 14-3 when Donovan McNabb tossed a pick-six to Stanford Routt, but the play was brought back on a very shady pass interference call. Sebastian Janikowski kicked two field goals and Akers was 3/5 from the field which wasnt enough to get the Eagles back into it.
 
I've always been a believer that fantasy football has made some people dumber. Thats why youre seeing clamouring for Kevin Kolb in some circles. Unfortunately, you cant pick offensive linemen in fantasy football so no-one bothers to understand that McNabb had no chance yesterday with the problems up front. King Dunlap was a clear downgrade when he came in for the injured Jason Peters and the pocket collapsed all day. It also doesnt help McNabb that Andy Reid has about 2 or 3 games a season when he refuses to establish the run and gets his QB killed, which was a shame as when they actually did run the ball it was effective. Reid really needs to learn to adjust and keep trying to run even when its not working to make the defense at least respect it. As a wise man once said You cant keep making the same mistakes and then expect a different result. Those who witnessed the Bengals tie and the game @ Washington last year will know exactly what I mean. Theres absolutely no need to pass on every down when youre never down by more than 7 points. Its idiotic.
 
Oh, and Darrius Heyward-Bey had no catches, but you could probably have guessed that anyway. Time for this weeks impromptu Top Fives as we find the 5 most amusing players with more catches or receiving yards than DHB. He currently has 2 catches for 36 yards.
 
1. Mike Tolbert (Chargers BACKUP FULLBACK) - 2 catches, 40 yards.
2. Jared Cook (Titans 4th tight end, 3rd round pick) 5 catches, 38 yards.
3. Leonard Weaver (Eagles fullback) 6 catches, 34 yards, 1 TD.
4. Kellen Davis (Bears 3rd tight end) 7 catches, 58 yards, 2 TD.
5. Spencer Havner (Packers LINEBACKER) 2 catches, 30 yards. May not be more, but similar production here is hilarious.
 
Cardinals 27 Seahawks 3
 
Arizona showed that they can have a little versatility on offense, holding the ball on their first possession for almost 11 minutes before a Kurt Warner fade pass to Larry Fitzgerald gave the Cards a 7-0 lead. Neil Rackers then tried a surprise onside kick that somehow was recovered by Arizona despite travelling 40 yards before it was touched. Tim Hightower went in from 2 yards. It was 17/3 at halftime after a strip sack of Matt Hasselbeck set up a short field for the Cards, while a fake punt pass to John Carlson for 42 yards set up the Seahawks only score of the game. Warner then found Steve Breaston in the 3rd quarter before Rackers added his second field goal to finish off the scoring.
 
Warners longest completion of the day was a 22 yarder to Steve Breaston. His hip is clearly still hampering his ability to go deep, but his dink and dunk mentality has done him no harm this season. In this one Warner was 32-41 for 276 yards and 2 touchdowns with one pick. Matt Hasselbeck really struggled on the other side after torturing Jacksonville last week. He was 10/29 for 112 yards and an interception. His running game was no help, totalling a laughable 16 yards on 11 carries.
 
Titans 0 Patriots 59
 
I was talking to my good friend Iain Rodger during the Eagles game and ranting about how awful Philadelphia were. I should really know my audience. Iain is a Titans fan. He did sum it up brilliantly though when Kerry Collins managed to lose loads yards on a 4th down play. This is like Carry On NFLing. Its nice to know he can see the funny side even during a complete debacle. Even when Vince Young threw an interception he told me It worked out about a 9 yard gain. Thats our best passing play of the day.
 
Lots of incomprehensible things happened in this game. Losing 59-0 is unacceptable enough without conceding 59 points in the snow. What makes matters worse is that the Titans ran for 193 yards on 36 rushing plays. How do you do that and not only not score, but leave enough time on the clock for the opposition to score eight touchdowns? This game made no sense. Brady had 5 touchdown passes in the 2nd quarter which is a new record for TD passes in a single quarter of play. Perhaps hilariously of all Kerry Collins managed to rack up MINUS SEVEN YARDS of passing. How? Well he had a whopping 7 passing yards when on 4th and 10 he was about to be sacked after tripping so lobbed underhand to Nate Washington who was already running the wrong way. Washington then fumbled but recovered to turn the ball over on downs on what went down as a -22 yard pass.
 
Brady (29/34 380 yards 6TDs) was unstoppable. Randy Moss (3) Wes Welker (2) and Kevin Faulk caught the TD passes. Laurence Maroney and backup quarterback Brian Hoyer scored on the ground. Its now time to stop calling the Titans unlucky and recognise them for the mess theyre in. I wouldnt be calling for Jeff Fishers head, but there needs to be changes.
 
Bills 16 Jets 13 (OT)
 
All the talk after a 3-0 start by the Jets was of a potential Subway Series Super Bowl. Of course this was also all the rage last year when the Jets started 8-3, before dropping to 9-7 and missing the playoffs. Three losses later this time around and things dont look quite as rosy for the green half of New York. Mark Sanchez is struggling right now after a hot start, but even with his 5 interception game against Buffalo on Sunday the big news is that nose tackle Kris Jenkins is done for the year which is a monumental blow to the Jets. As for Sanchez he was 10/29 for 119 yards and those 5 picks. The best case I can make for him is that Jairus Byrd picked off two passes that Braylon Edwards should have caught, but it doesnt excuse an awful performance. Rex Ryan says hes going to tone down the offense a little to make it easier for his rookie QB and its probably not a bad idea.
 
Its inexplicable on a day the Jets ran for 300 yards that Sanchez could be so destructive as a passer. Thomas Jones (22-210-1) and Leon Washington (15-99-0) destroyed the Bills run defense. The Jets led 13-3 in this one but threw the lead away when at 13-6 Lee Evans made a catch over the middle and scampered past the safety for the touchdown. The Bills even had a chance to win it at the end of regulation but on a windy day Ryan Lindell sliced it wide right.
 
Overtime was so filled with gaffes its amazing this didnt end in a tie. A Thomas Jones run down to the 15 was negated by a hold. The resulting 50 yard field goal attempt fell apart on the hold and Steve Weatherford threw a pick. On the resulting Bills drive Ryan Fitzpatrick (in for an injured Trent Edwards) was picked off, but then Sanchez replied 3 plays later found a wide open Paul Posluszny. Pity Posluszny is a linebacker. The Bills finally figured it out and ran like crazy and set up the game winning field goal, nailed from 47 by Lindell. Just a crushing home loss for the Jets against a struggling Bills side. Sanchez now has 1 touchdowns and 8 interceptions in the Jets recent 0-3 skid.
 
Bears 14 Falcons 21
 
This was a weird game littered with fumbles, penalties and general scruffy play. Every good play seemed to be negated by a penalty. Every good drive seemed to end with a turnover. Lets focus on just some of the bizarre things that happened in no particular order:
 
1. Jay Cutler was the leading rusher. Cutler had 34 yards on the ground. Michael Turner (13-30-1) and Matt Forte (15-23-0) got nothing going all day.
2. Chicago had a chance to get off the field after getting a third down stop, but had 12 men on the punt return team giving Atlanta a fresh set of downs. Two plays later Ryan tossed an interception.
3. Hester shrugged off the defender on one play and was wide open. Unfortunately Cutler had already let go of the ball and overthrew him by about 10 yards under no pressure.
4. 4th and 1 with the game on the line? Orlando Pace false started.
5. Jay Cutler now has 7 interceptions on the season and somehow managed to throw 6 of them on Sunday Night Football.
6. The Bears fumbled on both interceptions of Matt Ryan, but luckily recovered both times.
7. Matt Forte had 2 career fumbles in 478 touches before a Chicago drive took them inside the 5 yard line of Atlanta. He then lost the ball on consecutive carries and lost the second fumble.
 
There are probably one or two other things Ive completely forgotten, but this was just a strange game. Johnny Knox opened the scoring on a beautiful pass over the shoulder by Cutler but Atlanta held a 14-7 half time lead when Roddy White broke away from 40 yards and then Ryan found Tony Gonzalez from 10 yards. The Bears tied it up when Cutler found Greg Olson for a 2 yard score, but Atlanta won it with 3 minutes left when Michael Turner rushed in from 5 yards. The Bears were faced with a 3rd and 25 when Cutler hit Earl Bennett for 24 yards. Pace false started as previously mentioned, and Cutler threw incomplete on 4th down.
 
Broncos 34 Chargers 23
 
I dont know how it keeps happening, but Denvers defense comes out after halftime and plays some of the best D Ive ever seen. Mike Nolan seemed overmatched as Head Coach of the 49ers, but as a defensive co-ordinator hes doing an amazing job. Denver didnt get round the edge when rushing the passer, but they did a marvellous job of blitzing up the middle and pushing the interior linemen into Philip Rivers kitchen. Other than the two Dumervil sacks all the pressure came up the middle and Rivers struggled to get his feet set all day.
 
San Diego had first and goal on the 5 but couldnt push the ball in and settled for 3. Eddie Royal made sure they paid for it by taking the resulting kickoff back for a touchdown and a 7-3 lead. Denver didnt blitz on the next Charger drive and Rivers picked them off, eventually finishing the drive off with a TD throw to Vincent Jackson. It was 14-13 when Scifres punted low and out kicked his coverage. This allowed Royal plenty of time to set up his blocks and return it for a touchdown. I guess Denver didnt learn the lesson they were teaching as Darren Sproles replied with a punt return touchdown of his own. San Diego led 20-17 at the half.
 
Nate Kaeding kicked a field goal to extend the lead to 6 but Denver went right down the field and Kyle Orton hit Tony Scheffler for a 19 yard TD in the corner of the endzone. It looked like Scheffler bobbled the ball but Norv Turner as usual was sleeping on the sideline so didnt bother to challenge. With Denver up 24-23 Rivers was strip sacked at midfield by Elvis Dumervil and the Broncos added another field goal. On the next Chargers drive it was Dumervil again who made the big play, sacking Rivers on 3rd and 14. Brandon Stokely then caught what was ruled a touchdown on the field. It looked a little shady so someone woke Norv up to finally throw the red flag. The lack of a goalline camera really ruined the challenge as it looked like Stokely wasnt in before being touched, but it was impossible to get conclusive evidence to change the call. San Diego attempted a late field goal with a view to an onside kick down by 8, but Kaeding missed. Denver are now 6-0 after I predicted they would struggle to go 3-13. The Denver running game is doing a nice job of keeping Kyle Orton in 3rd and manageable and Orton doesnt make mistakes when he doesnt have to force the issue.