Thursday Night Football: Patriots 19 Buccaneers 14
Thanks to the dominance of the New England offense, as well as the horrible field goal kicking from Nick Folk, the Patriots were the better team, in this back and forth contest. Jameis Winston had a great game with 334 yds and a touchdown, but there were some things he could improve, such as his throwing accuracy. He overthrew a few passes to wide open receivers, which will improve over time.
Sunday:
Colts 26 49ers 23
This game between two mediocre teams went to OT, where old reliable, Adam Vinatieri nailed the 46-yard game winning field goal. This high scoring game was not a surprise, with these two defenses with bad secondary’s, playing each other. No one truly is a winner in this game.
Jets 17 Browns 14
The Jets somehow have 3 wins! They have the same record as the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills to lead the division. In this game against the not-so-great Cleveland Browns squad, QB Josh McCown threw for 194 yds, 2 TD and 1 INT. Deshone Kizer was benched in favor of Kevin Hogan, after a below average performance, as well.
Jaguars 30 Steelers 9
Is the end of Big Ben Roethlisberger? He threw for 5 INT against the deadly Jaguars defensive unit and the Steelers explosive offense only managed 9 points. Their defense wasn’t great either allowing for the Jaguars to score 30 points with Blake (Interception) Bortles as their QB. Let’s see if the Steelers bounce back from this embarrassing defeat.
Chargers 27 Giants 24
Man are the NY Giants the unluckiest football team in the world. In the same game, they lost 4 of their starting receivers to injury, two of which are now out for the year. These two also happen to be their best receivers in Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall. The positive to take away is that the Chargers finally got their first win and looking to build momentum.
Bengals 20 Bills 16
This was a rough awakening for a Bills team that was looking unstoppable, in the beginning of the season. The deadly duo of Andy Dalton and AJ Green got the better of this secondary, as Green got 189 receiving yards on 7 catches and 1 TD. QB Tyrod Taylor also didn’t have the best day with 116yd, 1TD, and 1 INT.
Panthers 27 Lions 24
Who is Ed Dickson? Many fantasy owners now know with his 175yd receiving day and are looking to pick him up in their leagues. The Panthers are looking like they are reaching their Super Bowl contending form from two years ago, as they were able to get the win over this very good Lions team.
Dolphins 16 Titans 10
This game was an interesting one for me. I was actually at the game, frying in 90+ degree weather, watching my team get the ugly win. While I am happy that we won, the offense was looking as putrid as the past two games, as they couldn’t run the ball nor move it across the field in that case. The defense was looking sharp though as they put points on the board and caused turnovers. Let’s hope that Jay Cutler listened to the fans chanting for him to be benched, and improves his play.
Eagles 34 Cardinals 7
How about the Philadelphia Eagles? As the weeks go on, they are looking more and more like contenders this season. Carson Wentz is having an incredible second year and the Philly defense is great. The aging Cardinals had no chance against this dominant and hot squad.
Ravens 30 Raiders 17
The loss of Derek Carr mixed with a bad defense was a recipe for disaster for the Oakland Raiders. They let a Ravens team with arguably the worst offense in the league put up 30 points and their own offense couldn’t do much. E.J. Manuel still needs to adjust to the temporary starting role, but the good news for Raiders fans, is that Carr could come back as soon as next week.
Seahawks 16 Rams 10
This intense battle between two division rivals, proved that both teams could compete for a playoff spot this year. The Rams were the worse of the two teams though, in part, to a performance by Jared Goff, that was reminiscent to that of last year, and a dropped TD catch by Cooper Kupp in the endzone. The Seahawks “Legion of Boom” played very well and are working to continue regaining their previous form from years ago. Despite the loss, the Rams look like a revamped and good squad under first year head coach, Sean McVay.
Packers 35 Cowboys 31
Aaron Rodgers in Jerryworld, almost as dominate if not equally as when he plays in Lambeau Field. This game was very similar to the NFL Divisional round playoff game these two teams played the season prior, as it was a back and forth affair, but late in the 4th quarter, Rodgers wins the game for the Packers. The Cowboys are in an odd place, as they are now 2-3 and just lost Ezekiel Elliott on suspension.
Chiefs 42 Texans 34
Kansas City is still demonstrating to the rest of the league, why they are the best. Their defense, while giving up 34 points, had a very good game, while the resurgence of Alex Smith is proving to be a huge asset on offense. Rookie, Kareem Hunt, is still continuing his run of dominance with yet another 100+ yard performance. There were positives on the Texans side, as well, as their rookie, Deshaun Watson, threw for 261 yds and 5 TDs. His adjustment to the NFL has been quick and seamless from college thus far, and is looking to continue his run of dominance en route to a playoff spot.
Monday Night Football: Vikings 20 Bears 17
This was most likely the worst game of the week. The two teams looked horrible out there, as Sam Bradford aggravated his injury that kept him out for almost a month and rookie, Mitch Trubisky, played very inconsistently, in his debut game. Case Keenum managed to get the win for his squad in this snooze fest and played relatively alright with an 140yd, 1 TD stat-line. Let’s see if Trubisky can get better and more adjusted, as the season goes on.