Tuesday 27 September 2011
Week Three
1st Down
Wow did that just happen? This is something I said to myself a lot this week. It was either a result that was raising my eyebrow like the great one or some of the outstanding catches made.
I'm sure you've all guessed by now what result got me saying that, yes surprise, surprise I was talking about my beloved Bills again. You can't blame me though, it has been over 7 years and a run stretching 15 games since we beat the Patriots and on Sunday with a last gasp field goal we sealed an epic victory 34 - 31.
This win was sweet for so many reasons including the above, I mean how many times does Brady get picked 4 times in a game! I shall leave my rambling there on this win but suffice to say there was many a Bills party Sunday night!
There was a few other things that got me watching replays in awe, starting with this amazing catch from Dwayne Bowe http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-fantasy/09000d5d8228ec53/QB-Cassel-to-WR-Bowe-4-yd-pass-TD. This was just an amazing show of body control and composure to make sure his second foot comes down in bounds.
Here are some more amazing catches from Sunday, check out these top 5 catches from Sunday http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-countdowns/09000d5d82293cbc/Top-5-catches-Week-3
Wow watching those has just reminded me of some more rookie history that we saw this week. Troy Smith of the Ravens first three career catches going for TD's setting a new NFL record. I think his speed is just simply phenomenal and with Joe Flacco playing like this and Ray 'do you really think you can stop me' Rice, the Ravens should go really far this year.
I have to add this one as well having just seen it again, here is how not to tackle folks http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-fantasy/09000d5d822896ec/QB-Manning-to-WR-Cruz-74-yd-pass-TD
Anyway I think that's enough highlight reels for now, on with more of my NFL Sunday.
2nd Down
On Sunday I was given two games to watch by Sky Sports which were the Giants vs Eagles and Packers vs Bears. Coverage started with the Giants game and to be honest I found it rather underwhelming to start with so I thought I'd check out NFL Redzone which is our other option on Sundays.
I absolutely loved it, when I first started this blog, I thought it would be impossible to get a feel for all the weeks action as it happened. Turns out I was wrong, not only do you get all the Redzone action as it happens but they randomly keep you in every game for a few minutes, just enough to see who's playing well and who to drop from my fantasy team!
Don't get me wrong when there is either a mouth watering game on or my beloved Bills I will be knee deep it that action but it's a good alternative for slow developing games.
As I was watching Redzone, it turns out I was wrong about the Giants game as well this week. Eli Manning ended up throwing for 254 YDS and 4 TD'S as the Giants ran out 29 - 16 winners against the Eagles.
Wow did that just happen I said again, I know the Eagles have been hit and miss this season but I didn't expect Vick to end up with a suspected broken hand and the Giants to win this one.
This leads me to a question I have for you and the man which is my new question master EJ. If the Giants hadn't traded Manning for Rivers after the 2004 draft, would they have won more Superbowls with Rivers under centre?
3rd Down
So this brings me to the rest of the action, let's start with the Oakland Raiders. Man did they beat up the Jets this week or what? Lots of physical D and how many personal fouls, too many to count that's for sure!
It seems this worked though as Oakland took what was a tight game and blew them away in the second half to come out on top 34 - 24 winners. The Vikes continued their early season race to get the first pick in next years draft as they managed to throw away yet another lead to Detroit losing 26 - 23. Detroit are now 3 - 0 would you believe!
Interesting stat for you, 76% of teams that start 3 - 0 make the play-offs, will Detroit and Buffalo be a part of that or the 24% that doesn't make it?
How about the Jacksonville vs Carolina game this week, wow it was literally like watching water polo at one stage but that didn't stop young Blaine Gabbert from throwing this TD pass http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-fantasy/09000d5d8228b0a9/QB-Gabbert-to-WR-Thomas-36-yd-pass-TD
Before I finish off the rest of the results I feel a special mention is in order for the Bucs and Seahawks this week. Great wins for them in week 3 16 - 13 and 13 - 10 respectively. I like many others except those within their organisations had written them off for this year but they both proved 'Any Given Sunday' anything can happen, let's hope they can build on these results going into next week.
Here's a recap of all this weeks results:-
New England 31 – 34 Buffalo
Jacksonville 10 – 16 Carolina
San Francisco 13 – 8 Cincinnati
Miami 16 – 17 Cleveland
Detroit 26 – 23 Minnesota
Houston 33 – 40 New Orleans
New York Giants 29 – 16 Philadelphia
Denver 14 – 17 Tennessee
New York Jets 24 – 34 Oakland
Kansas City 17 – 20 San Diego
Baltimore 37 – 7 St Louis
Green Bay 27 – 17 Chicago
Arizona 10 – 13 Seattle
Atlanta 13 – 16 Tampa Bay
Pittsburgh 23 – 20 Indianapolis
Washington 16 – 18 Dallas
4th Down
As you can see from above, quite a few teams stepped up this week whilst others slide further behind. I was asked this week by Justin if I think Detroit are the real deal?
Well I have to say they may be 3 – 0 but they have had a pretty easy schedule with the Bucs, Chiefs and Vikes. Lets not get too carried away just yet as they really struggled until late on against the Vikings and I feel against the good teams they may struggle. If they are better than 4 – 2 after week 6 when they have played the Cowboys, Bears and 49ers then I will start to consider them as contenders this year.
Justin has been kind enough to ask me a few more questions the pick of which is below:-
Who is the MVP so far:-
Despite a loss this week against the Bills, I say Tom Brady. He was only about 20yds away from becoming the first QB to throw over 400yds in three straight games.
Who are the next big QB's to look for:-
Firstly I say keep and eye on Colt McCoy at the Browns, he has shown that if he is getting time in the pocket he can put it on the money and brought them back in the 4th quarter to beat the Dolphins with a TD to Massaquoi.
Also I'm a big fan of Mark Sanchez, even though he plays for a team I hate with an absolute passion, he has led the Jets to the conference game in his first two seasons and that takes a lot of talent.
Lastly I have to say to keep an eye on our golden boy Mr Fitzpatrick, if we can keep him healthy, he is on fire at the moment and I think he could be our starter for the next few years and proved this week he can get it done with the game on the line.
Some great questions, please keep them coming buddy.
Before my final thoughts on this week, I would like to squeeze in a couple of questions from EJ:-
With the lack of off season workouts and physical therapy have I noticed a decrease in team chemistry and increase in player injuries?
This is great question, In my mind there is absolutely no substitute as far as team bonding goes for spending time on the field making plays whether it be mini camps or pre season. Lets face it this is the time where if your a rookie your looking to show the vets you've got what it takes and that you deserve their respect. It's also the only way to learn schemes and as it's all good on paper but until you're on that field you don't know how it plays out.
I think this week in particular we have seen more plays from defences across the league as players are getting used to new systems and the play makers are a lot more comfortable and fit now they have the game time under their belts.
With regards to the injuries, I think the same applies, there is no way of knowing how much strain your body can take until you get yourself up to match fitness and the only way to do that is too play. I think the first team players would benefit from more playing time in the pre-season for sharpness and to get the body used to the speed of the game.
I'll finish up this week with this last question from EJ, which 3 players will keep up their torrid pace and who will fall from football graceland?
My three who will remain on fire are Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers and Ray Rice.
My three to fall are Cam Newton, Andre Johnson and LeSean McCoy.
I would like to say a big thank you to EJ and Justin for their questions, please keep them coming and also a big thank you to my readers, I hope you enjoy my take on the NFL as much as I enjoy writing it.
So another week down and I am so pumped again for next week, finally this week we have seen the defences show they are here to play after taking a few weeks to warm up and also that no matter what you think should happen in the NFL, it doesn't always go to plan!
Until next week guys and girls, go Bills and 'Thanks for stopping by'
Tuesday 20 September 2011
Week Two
1st Down
TOM BRADY, it seems appropriate for me to start this week by mentioning this great QB. He is without a doubt unstoppable at the moment and if he keeps up this form for the rest of the season, these are the numbers he will have posted come the end of week 17;-
COMP - 504 ATT - 704 COMP% - 72% YDS - 7520 TD's - 56
These stats to me are just unreal, I mean it's the kind of thing you get playing Madden on Rookie!
This week he added 423yds onto the 517yds from last week and another 3 TD's to make his total for the season 940yds and 7 TD's after just 2 games. The Chargers did not stand a chance this week although they put up a good fight ending up on the wrong end of a 35 – 21 defeat.
OK so now I have had my Tom Brady moment, this week has been amazing again with the theme of this week being the come backs following on from last weeks kick off / punt return week. This week saw 7 games by my reckoning that saw teams come from at least a 10 point deficit to end up victorious including my amazing Bills who were 21 – 3 down at half time against the Raiders. This one came down to a Fitzy touchdown pass to David Nelson with 14 seconds left on the clock and finished off by a Da'Norris Searcy interception with the last play of the game for us to run out 38 – 35 winners. Bills 2 – 0 and looking like they know how to win games, I had flashbacks of the Bengals game from last year where we rallied from behind to pick up the win.
The worst thing about how well the Pats and Brady are playing is that we have them visiting the Ralph next week and although we are picking up wins, we leaked a lot of points against the Raiders this week and I for one am very nervous about facing this on form team that we haven't beaten in over 7 years.
2nd Down
Lets take a look at some of the other come back wins from this week starting with the defending Superbowl champs Green Bay who surprisingly had to come back from 13 – 0 down against the Panthers led by Cam Newton. Newton recorded his second 400+yds game in a row. Not a bad way to start your career being in the company of Dan Marino and Phil Simms who have also thrown 400+yds in consecutive games.
After going down by 13 to start the game, the packers then exploded with 23 unanswered points with the pick of them being this 49yd strike to Greg Jennings http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-fantasy/09000d5d82259696/QB-Rodgers-to-WR-Jennings-49-yd-pass-TD. After the Packers fired in the 23 points this one was over with them winning 30 – 23.
Speaking of comebacks, how about Romo and the Cowboys this week against the 49ers. Romo went out early in the game to be replaced by Kitna due to a fractured rib only to come back into the game in the 4th quarter with his side trailing the 49ers 24 -14. Romo steps up and leads his team to two scoring drives with a touchdown to Miles Austin and completing 5 of 6 passes on the game tying field goal drive.
One final comeback to speak of this week and that's my good friend Mickey 'Big Dog' Hoggs Redskins. They like the Bills have managed to start out as 2 – 0 thanks to their win this week against the Cardinals. The Skins despite heading into the half 10 – 3 up managed to find themselves down by 8 points in the fourth quarter only for Grossman to pull a performance I didn't think he had in him out the bag with an 18yd pass to Santana Moss and a field goal drive following a missed two point conversion after their last score.
3rd Down
Ok so thats enough of the come back matches on with the remaining scores followed by some of my highlights and top performances from this week. The remaining scores from Week 2;-
Kansas 3 - 48 Detroit
Cleveland 27 - 19 Indianapolis
Tampa Bay 24 - 20 Minnesota
Chicago 13 - 30 New Orleans
Jacksonville 3 - 32 New York Jets
Seattle 0 - 24 Pittsburgh
Baltimore 13 - 26 Tennessee
Cincinnati 22 - 24 Denver
Houston 23 - 13 Miami
Philadelphia 31 - 35 Atlanta
St Louis 16 - 28 New York Giants
As you can see from the above there were a few surprises as well this week with the Titans beating the Ravens on the back of their dissection of Pittsburgh last week. I for one was also surprised that the Falcons were able to come out on top of the Eagles, would they have been able to had Vick not left the game is my question for you folks?
Looks like despite having the same offence and defence minus Peyton Manning the colts are definitely going to struggle this year, will this open the door for Houston to pick up the division title this year?
Lets rock and roll onto some of my personal highlights from this week aside from the Bills late victory against Oakland!
Firstly I urge you all to check out this TD grab by Jackson against the Pats http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-fantasy/09000d5d8225d78e/QB-Rivers-to-WR-Jackson-26-yd-pass-TD. Despite being on the loosing side, I was very impressed with Jackson who picked up 172yds and 2 TD's.
Also this week Steve Smith continued his revival against the Packers thanks to Cam Newton with 156yds, although Smith didn't score he has great fantasy value and I really must remember to start him next week so that I don't lose by 0.4pts like this week, gutted.com!
Josh Freeman's performance this week was another highlight for me, this young QB managed to drag the Buccaneers back against the Vikes who took an early lead after the first half where McNabb actually looked like he belonged as a starter in the NFL. Thanks to Freeman and a great onside kick to shift momentum they managed to turn the deficit round and come out victorious.
4th Down
With the above in mind it brings me to a few questions I was asked following last week by EJ, starting with is McNabb washed up?
I am going to be a little bit cruel with my response on this one and say that yes I do believe he is more washed up than the oil on the gulf coast! With no production last week and this week when he looked to be back in the groove he soon fell out of it again, I think the Vikings need a young QB that they can bring in now to get the experience he needs so that they can push on next season.
Is the worst team in the league the Seahawks?
In one word, Yes!
Finally, Is it me or is the league valuing the QB as a passer with little focus/production from RB's?
There has been a huge increase in passing this season it seems with only a few teams having 100+yd rushers. Only your traditional running teams like Pittsburgh and Baltimore seem to have a nice balance between the two where as a lot of teams looking to improve their record have hunted out a QB this year, like Tennessee picking up Matt Hasselbeck and the Cardinals hoping Kolb will lead them back to the playoffs.
Some good questions there from EJ and I would love to hear more questions from you and my other readers this week. As usual I will raise and answer the questions in next weeks edition.
As a final thought this week, I would like to point you in the direction of some of my favourite weekly watches if you don't catch them already on NFL.com;-
Top 5 Weekly Catches http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-countdowns/09000d5d82260656/Top-5-catches-Week-2
All the scores from Sundays action in a minute marathon from Redzone http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-redzone-videos/09000d5d8225c129/Week-2-RedZone-recap
I am really loving the NFL more than ever this year and have even been able to meet some more fellow Bills fans thanks to #BillsMafia on Twitter. We Billeve this will be our year, how about you?
Week 2 is now in the history books and I'm already excited about next weeks action, Bring on the Pats and as always guys and girls 'Thanks for stopping by'.
TOM BRADY, it seems appropriate for me to start this week by mentioning this great QB. He is without a doubt unstoppable at the moment and if he keeps up this form for the rest of the season, these are the numbers he will have posted come the end of week 17;-
COMP - 504 ATT - 704 COMP% - 72% YDS - 7520 TD's - 56
These stats to me are just unreal, I mean it's the kind of thing you get playing Madden on Rookie!
This week he added 423yds onto the 517yds from last week and another 3 TD's to make his total for the season 940yds and 7 TD's after just 2 games. The Chargers did not stand a chance this week although they put up a good fight ending up on the wrong end of a 35 – 21 defeat.
OK so now I have had my Tom Brady moment, this week has been amazing again with the theme of this week being the come backs following on from last weeks kick off / punt return week. This week saw 7 games by my reckoning that saw teams come from at least a 10 point deficit to end up victorious including my amazing Bills who were 21 – 3 down at half time against the Raiders. This one came down to a Fitzy touchdown pass to David Nelson with 14 seconds left on the clock and finished off by a Da'Norris Searcy interception with the last play of the game for us to run out 38 – 35 winners. Bills 2 – 0 and looking like they know how to win games, I had flashbacks of the Bengals game from last year where we rallied from behind to pick up the win.
The worst thing about how well the Pats and Brady are playing is that we have them visiting the Ralph next week and although we are picking up wins, we leaked a lot of points against the Raiders this week and I for one am very nervous about facing this on form team that we haven't beaten in over 7 years.
2nd Down
Lets take a look at some of the other come back wins from this week starting with the defending Superbowl champs Green Bay who surprisingly had to come back from 13 – 0 down against the Panthers led by Cam Newton. Newton recorded his second 400+yds game in a row. Not a bad way to start your career being in the company of Dan Marino and Phil Simms who have also thrown 400+yds in consecutive games.
After going down by 13 to start the game, the packers then exploded with 23 unanswered points with the pick of them being this 49yd strike to Greg Jennings http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-fantasy/09000d5d82259696/QB-Rodgers-to-WR-Jennings-49-yd-pass-TD. After the Packers fired in the 23 points this one was over with them winning 30 – 23.
Speaking of comebacks, how about Romo and the Cowboys this week against the 49ers. Romo went out early in the game to be replaced by Kitna due to a fractured rib only to come back into the game in the 4th quarter with his side trailing the 49ers 24 -14. Romo steps up and leads his team to two scoring drives with a touchdown to Miles Austin and completing 5 of 6 passes on the game tying field goal drive.
One final comeback to speak of this week and that's my good friend Mickey 'Big Dog' Hoggs Redskins. They like the Bills have managed to start out as 2 – 0 thanks to their win this week against the Cardinals. The Skins despite heading into the half 10 – 3 up managed to find themselves down by 8 points in the fourth quarter only for Grossman to pull a performance I didn't think he had in him out the bag with an 18yd pass to Santana Moss and a field goal drive following a missed two point conversion after their last score.
3rd Down
Ok so thats enough of the come back matches on with the remaining scores followed by some of my highlights and top performances from this week. The remaining scores from Week 2;-
Kansas 3 - 48 Detroit
Cleveland 27 - 19 Indianapolis
Tampa Bay 24 - 20 Minnesota
Chicago 13 - 30 New Orleans
Jacksonville 3 - 32 New York Jets
Seattle 0 - 24 Pittsburgh
Baltimore 13 - 26 Tennessee
Cincinnati 22 - 24 Denver
Houston 23 - 13 Miami
Philadelphia 31 - 35 Atlanta
St Louis 16 - 28 New York Giants
As you can see from the above there were a few surprises as well this week with the Titans beating the Ravens on the back of their dissection of Pittsburgh last week. I for one was also surprised that the Falcons were able to come out on top of the Eagles, would they have been able to had Vick not left the game is my question for you folks?
Looks like despite having the same offence and defence minus Peyton Manning the colts are definitely going to struggle this year, will this open the door for Houston to pick up the division title this year?
Lets rock and roll onto some of my personal highlights from this week aside from the Bills late victory against Oakland!
Firstly I urge you all to check out this TD grab by Jackson against the Pats http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-fantasy/09000d5d8225d78e/QB-Rivers-to-WR-Jackson-26-yd-pass-TD. Despite being on the loosing side, I was very impressed with Jackson who picked up 172yds and 2 TD's.
Also this week Steve Smith continued his revival against the Packers thanks to Cam Newton with 156yds, although Smith didn't score he has great fantasy value and I really must remember to start him next week so that I don't lose by 0.4pts like this week, gutted.com!
Josh Freeman's performance this week was another highlight for me, this young QB managed to drag the Buccaneers back against the Vikes who took an early lead after the first half where McNabb actually looked like he belonged as a starter in the NFL. Thanks to Freeman and a great onside kick to shift momentum they managed to turn the deficit round and come out victorious.
4th Down
With the above in mind it brings me to a few questions I was asked following last week by EJ, starting with is McNabb washed up?
I am going to be a little bit cruel with my response on this one and say that yes I do believe he is more washed up than the oil on the gulf coast! With no production last week and this week when he looked to be back in the groove he soon fell out of it again, I think the Vikings need a young QB that they can bring in now to get the experience he needs so that they can push on next season.
Is the worst team in the league the Seahawks?
In one word, Yes!
Finally, Is it me or is the league valuing the QB as a passer with little focus/production from RB's?
There has been a huge increase in passing this season it seems with only a few teams having 100+yd rushers. Only your traditional running teams like Pittsburgh and Baltimore seem to have a nice balance between the two where as a lot of teams looking to improve their record have hunted out a QB this year, like Tennessee picking up Matt Hasselbeck and the Cardinals hoping Kolb will lead them back to the playoffs.
Some good questions there from EJ and I would love to hear more questions from you and my other readers this week. As usual I will raise and answer the questions in next weeks edition.
As a final thought this week, I would like to point you in the direction of some of my favourite weekly watches if you don't catch them already on NFL.com;-
Top 5 Weekly Catches http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-countdowns/09000d5d82260656/Top-5-catches-Week-2
All the scores from Sundays action in a minute marathon from Redzone http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-redzone-videos/09000d5d8225c129/Week-2-RedZone-recap
I am really loving the NFL more than ever this year and have even been able to meet some more fellow Bills fans thanks to #BillsMafia on Twitter. We Billeve this will be our year, how about you?
Week 2 is now in the history books and I'm already excited about next weeks action, Bring on the Pats and as always guys and girls 'Thanks for stopping by'.
Tuesday 13 September 2011
Week One
1st Down
Firstly I would like to welcome you to my weekly NFL review. My aim
is to analyse the weeks events and provide my thoughts and opinions of
this great sport.
Let's dive into a couple of key offseason events. It seems you could not
watch any NFL this weekend without the mention of the lockout and as it
took so much time and media coverage to resolve, I say this, it happened its over, lets play some football!
I also have to mention the major rule change to kick-offs being highly
disputed at the moment. The NFL has decided to move the kick off spot
forward to the 35yd line and decrease the coverage run up to no more than
5yds from the kick. I will provide further thought on this later in
my conclusion.
Finally on the offseason, there have been many player moves including
Ochocinco & Haynesworth to the Pats, Asomugha and many more to the
Eagles and Lee Evans to the Ravens. Who do you think will have the
most impact for their new Franchise this season?
My money is on Ochocinco as with so many teams seeing his name and game planning against him, Wes Welker and the two tight ends Gronkowski and Hernandez will have so much space their guaranteed to have amazing seasons!
2nd Down
Now that's the offseason covered let's move swiftly on with the events
off week 1. I begin with Thursday nights season opener between the
Saints and Packers. The past two Superbowl champions battling it out
at Lambeau field. I really wasn't sure what to expect in this one with
a lack of training and a short pre season, although pre game my money
was on the Packers.
They certainly didn't let me down, they came out the blocks quicker than Usain Bolt at the Worlds, in the first quarter Aaron Rodgers looked like the Superbowl was yesterday throwing three TD's on their first 3 possessions with the Saints only managing a 46yd strike to Meachem.
This really set the tone for the match and as soon as the Saints came back
into the game, the Packers would answer straight back. Although this
one came down to the last play of the game there was only ever one winner,
the Green Bay Packers who took it 42 - 34. The highlight of this one
for me was certainly Cobb's 108yd kick off return, check out the
assist from Kuhn after Cobb gets hit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmc1yVmuXxk
After this one, I was so pumped and couldn't wait till Sunday for more
fuuuutttbbbaaaalll!
We fast forward now to Sunday and the first game on the schedule was
the Steelers at the Ravens. This divisional rivalry is always a mouth
watering prospect and this one was no different. I have never ever
seen the Steelers dominated like this, from start to finish, The
Ravens were all over them with Flacco strong and decisive at QB while
the defence was forcing turnovers left, right and centre.
An outstanding opening week for the Ravens as they ran out 35 - 7 winners
forcing 7 turnovers in the process. My highlight of this game was the
sneaky yet brilliant two point conversion from Koch of Baltimore.
The last game I got to see on Sunday was the Giants vs Redskins and all I can say about this one is well done Redskins finishing victorious with a 28 - 14 win. No real highlights to speak off on this one so let's move onto the rest of the games.
3rd Down
So onto the remaining matches and some outstanding individual
performances, none more so than Cam Newtons 417 passing yds in their
loss to the Cardinals. I feel I must also mention Steve Smiths 178yds and Two
TD's in the same game.
I've also done well to hold this one back until now but I must also mention my beloved Bills. Fitzpatrick throwing 4 TD's in what was a very well executed game against the Cheifs as we ran out 41 - 7 victors! #Billsmafia for life!
A couple of other stand outs for me were Tedd 'don't worry I got this one coach' Ginn Jr with his back to back returns against the Seahawks and not to be out done by the rookie Newton, Tom Brady's 517 yds and 4 TD's vs the Dolphins.
Lets round off the other games this week starting with Chicago's win against the Falcons 30 – 12. I honestly thought the Falcons would win this one as Jay Cutler isn’t my idea of a great QB and why Chicago bother is beyond me! Anyhow thanks to their always reliable defence they picked up the win.
Next up we have the battle of Ohio in the Bengals vs Browns, not much to report aside from a Bengals win 27 – 17. I honestly had the Browns down to win this one but hey ho maybe next time.
What can I say about this next game other than a total blowout as the Texans hung, drew and quartered the colts without Peyton Manning 34 – 7. Jaguars and Titans played out a close one with Chris Johnson getting limited downs as the Jaguars upset the Titans 16 – 14.
Philadelphia all stars otherwise known as the Eagles beat the Rams 31 – 13 showing they mean business this year. Here is the remaining results:-
Detroit 27 – 20 Tampa Bay
Carolina 21 – 28 Arizona
Minnesota 17 – 24 San Diego
Seattle 17 – 33 San Francisco
Dallas 24 – 27 New York Jets
New England 38 – 24 Miami
Oakland 23 – 20 Denver
With all the results in, my Ballhawk performance of the week goes to the Ravens defence who man handled Pittsburgh and proved the AFC North is certainly a two horse race this year.
4th Down
In conclusion, It has been a great week for the NFL with all the usual ups and downs, twists and turns reminding me how happy I am it's back and better than ever. The Bills are showing that we will be a force to be reckoned with this year. #BillsMafia 4 Life, its more than a hash tag, it's a way of life.
With regards to the new kick off rule, I for one am all in favour of a rule that makes our game safer and as proved this weekend it will produce some breathtaking returns! Check out these beauties:- Tedd Ginn Jr - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix9PIejFux8
Percy Harvin - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fBkVz8Bxq4
It certainly seems we are in for quality over quantity, who's with me??
I say again, I'm so happy NFL is back and would like to pose these questions to you:-
Was Cam Newtons Week 1 performance a flash in the pan?
Will the colts win a game without Peyton Manning?
Who will the Bills be playing in this years Superbowl?
Before I go, I have to give a special mention to Poland's third ever NFL player Sebastian Janikowski who banged in a 63 field goal this week against Denver. That was for you Bucki, hope you appreciate it.
I would love to here all your thoughts and opinions from this and every week, please feel free to drop me a comment or tweet me @adrimallows. I leave you with the parting words of Veronica Corningstone 'Thanks for Stopping By'
Firstly I would like to welcome you to my weekly NFL review. My aim
is to analyse the weeks events and provide my thoughts and opinions of
this great sport.
Let's dive into a couple of key offseason events. It seems you could not
watch any NFL this weekend without the mention of the lockout and as it
took so much time and media coverage to resolve, I say this, it happened its over, lets play some football!
I also have to mention the major rule change to kick-offs being highly
disputed at the moment. The NFL has decided to move the kick off spot
forward to the 35yd line and decrease the coverage run up to no more than
5yds from the kick. I will provide further thought on this later in
my conclusion.
Finally on the offseason, there have been many player moves including
Ochocinco & Haynesworth to the Pats, Asomugha and many more to the
Eagles and Lee Evans to the Ravens. Who do you think will have the
most impact for their new Franchise this season?
My money is on Ochocinco as with so many teams seeing his name and game planning against him, Wes Welker and the two tight ends Gronkowski and Hernandez will have so much space their guaranteed to have amazing seasons!
2nd Down
Now that's the offseason covered let's move swiftly on with the events
off week 1. I begin with Thursday nights season opener between the
Saints and Packers. The past two Superbowl champions battling it out
at Lambeau field. I really wasn't sure what to expect in this one with
a lack of training and a short pre season, although pre game my money
was on the Packers.
They certainly didn't let me down, they came out the blocks quicker than Usain Bolt at the Worlds, in the first quarter Aaron Rodgers looked like the Superbowl was yesterday throwing three TD's on their first 3 possessions with the Saints only managing a 46yd strike to Meachem.
This really set the tone for the match and as soon as the Saints came back
into the game, the Packers would answer straight back. Although this
one came down to the last play of the game there was only ever one winner,
the Green Bay Packers who took it 42 - 34. The highlight of this one
for me was certainly Cobb's 108yd kick off return, check out the
assist from Kuhn after Cobb gets hit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmc1yVmuXxk
After this one, I was so pumped and couldn't wait till Sunday for more
fuuuutttbbbaaaalll!
We fast forward now to Sunday and the first game on the schedule was
the Steelers at the Ravens. This divisional rivalry is always a mouth
watering prospect and this one was no different. I have never ever
seen the Steelers dominated like this, from start to finish, The
Ravens were all over them with Flacco strong and decisive at QB while
the defence was forcing turnovers left, right and centre.
An outstanding opening week for the Ravens as they ran out 35 - 7 winners
forcing 7 turnovers in the process. My highlight of this game was the
sneaky yet brilliant two point conversion from Koch of Baltimore.
The last game I got to see on Sunday was the Giants vs Redskins and all I can say about this one is well done Redskins finishing victorious with a 28 - 14 win. No real highlights to speak off on this one so let's move onto the rest of the games.
3rd Down
So onto the remaining matches and some outstanding individual
performances, none more so than Cam Newtons 417 passing yds in their
loss to the Cardinals. I feel I must also mention Steve Smiths 178yds and Two
TD's in the same game.
I've also done well to hold this one back until now but I must also mention my beloved Bills. Fitzpatrick throwing 4 TD's in what was a very well executed game against the Cheifs as we ran out 41 - 7 victors! #Billsmafia for life!
A couple of other stand outs for me were Tedd 'don't worry I got this one coach' Ginn Jr with his back to back returns against the Seahawks and not to be out done by the rookie Newton, Tom Brady's 517 yds and 4 TD's vs the Dolphins.
Lets round off the other games this week starting with Chicago's win against the Falcons 30 – 12. I honestly thought the Falcons would win this one as Jay Cutler isn’t my idea of a great QB and why Chicago bother is beyond me! Anyhow thanks to their always reliable defence they picked up the win.
Next up we have the battle of Ohio in the Bengals vs Browns, not much to report aside from a Bengals win 27 – 17. I honestly had the Browns down to win this one but hey ho maybe next time.
What can I say about this next game other than a total blowout as the Texans hung, drew and quartered the colts without Peyton Manning 34 – 7. Jaguars and Titans played out a close one with Chris Johnson getting limited downs as the Jaguars upset the Titans 16 – 14.
Philadelphia all stars otherwise known as the Eagles beat the Rams 31 – 13 showing they mean business this year. Here is the remaining results:-
Detroit 27 – 20 Tampa Bay
Carolina 21 – 28 Arizona
Minnesota 17 – 24 San Diego
Seattle 17 – 33 San Francisco
Dallas 24 – 27 New York Jets
New England 38 – 24 Miami
Oakland 23 – 20 Denver
With all the results in, my Ballhawk performance of the week goes to the Ravens defence who man handled Pittsburgh and proved the AFC North is certainly a two horse race this year.
4th Down
In conclusion, It has been a great week for the NFL with all the usual ups and downs, twists and turns reminding me how happy I am it's back and better than ever. The Bills are showing that we will be a force to be reckoned with this year. #BillsMafia 4 Life, its more than a hash tag, it's a way of life.
With regards to the new kick off rule, I for one am all in favour of a rule that makes our game safer and as proved this weekend it will produce some breathtaking returns! Check out these beauties:- Tedd Ginn Jr - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix9PIejFux8
Percy Harvin - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fBkVz8Bxq4
It certainly seems we are in for quality over quantity, who's with me??
I say again, I'm so happy NFL is back and would like to pose these questions to you:-
Was Cam Newtons Week 1 performance a flash in the pan?
Will the colts win a game without Peyton Manning?
Who will the Bills be playing in this years Superbowl?
Before I go, I have to give a special mention to Poland's third ever NFL player Sebastian Janikowski who banged in a 63 field goal this week against Denver. That was for you Bucki, hope you appreciate it.
I would love to here all your thoughts and opinions from this and every week, please feel free to drop me a comment or tweet me @adrimallows. I leave you with the parting words of Veronica Corningstone 'Thanks for Stopping By'
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