Sharper picked Sanchez off twice and took the first interception all the way to the end zone. 99 yards is a very long way to run for a 33 year old, however Sharper looked like a rookie as he high stepped to 6 points.
Drew Brees continued his stellar start to the season. This week he showed the rest of the league how to pick apart the Jets much heralded defence. Brees didn’t pass for a touchdown however he controlled the Jets and allowed running back Pierre Thomas to run for 86 yards and a touchdown.
Over in Miami I’m wondering if T.O. is about to blow. He didn’t look very happy with Trent Edwards in the Buffalo Bills game against the Miami Dolphins.Last week Edwards failed to complete a pass to T.O. and this week the Bills quarterback was unable to keep off the turf. Edwards was sacked 6 times and intercepted 3 times in a game he will want to forget.
Most of the blame for this lost will have to go to the Bills coaches, as they only called 17 running plays in the game. On his return from suspension Marshawn Lynch only ran the ball 8 times for 4 yards.
The Bills are now 1-3 for the season and I believe they will need to use their running game to set up big plays to T.O. and Lee Evans.
Over in Washington can someone please tell Jason Campbell that he doesn’t have to arm to throw the deep ball passed Aqib Talib. I understand that he did it once to Santana Moss and I understand that the Skins won the game. But getting intercepted by the same corner back 3 times is not a mistake a 5 year pro should be making. If Campbell makes it till the end of the season as the Redskins starting quarterback I will be surprised.
For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this will go down as a game they should have won. Quarterback Josh Johnson playing in his first start showed both the reasons why head coach Raheem Morris benched Byron Leftwich and started with Johnson. Johnson looked good at times and ran the ball well but his arm strength must be a concern to coach Morris.
Dwight Freeney who? In Indianapolis the Colts put on a show against the Settle Seahawks. The Seahawks have arguably the best linebacker core in the NFL but were made to look like a pub team as Peyton Manning and the Colts moved to a 4-0 record for the season.Although Manning threw for over 300 yards again this week, he was helped by the Colts defence who was leaded by defensive end Robert Mathis who sacked the Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace 3 times in the game.
Wallace individually had a good game, posting numbers of 33 completions on 45 attempts for 257 yards, 1 touchdown and no interceptions. For a long time now the Colts are weaker against the run but the Seahawks couldn’t get this side of their game going. Running back Julius Jones only ran for 25 yards on 11 touches and former Colts legend Edgerrin James only ran the ball 4 times for 16 yards.
The Seahawks are now 1-3 and will need to pick up their performance if they want to keep up with the 49ers and Cardinals in their division. The Colts are undefeated this season and Manning looks like he wants to break every single season passing record this year, watch this space.
In the battle of Ohio the Browns showed that they are not the worst team in the league. The Cleveland Browns hosted their state rivals the Cincinnati Bengals and took the 2-1 Bengals all the way into overtime. Well it was the Bengals who took the Browns into overtime with a 4th quarter touchdown pass from Carson Palmer to Chad Ochocinco. Och only had 3 catches in the game but 2 of them were for touchdowns. The first will be high on Chad’s personal highlight reel.
Talking of the worst team in the NFL, the St Louis Rams were shut out again. To be honest I would prefer to talk about the 49ers.
Coach Singletary only asks his team to play hard and give 100% and boy are they doing that right now. The 49ers are clearly the best team in the NFC West and they are still without the services of first round draft pick Michael Crabtree.
One player who is now playing like the first round pick he was is Tight End Vernon Davis. Davis is even now a team captain and has come into his own this year with 3 touchdown receptions. Big V is the perfect blend of size, strength and speed and he is now showing the NFL that he could be a rival to Antonio Gates for the best Tight End in the NFL.
In Houston the Raiders showed yet again they will run the Rams close for the worst offence in the NFL. I love to say that the Texans played well but when you play the Raiders you only have to turn up it seems.
I know the Raiders have won a game this season but they really don’t look like they’ll be able to win another. Russell has no one to throw to in the passing game and they only used Michael Bush 3 times in the run game. Right that is enough Raiders bashing, time to be positive.
In Chicago the Lions were trying to win their second straight game of the season. The game turned out to be a game of 2 halves as the Lions held their own against the in form Bears. Not only did the Lions lose the game but they lost quarterback Matt Stafford in the 4th quarter to a dislocated right knee.
Yesterday the reports coming out of Detroit were that Stafford could be ready to start next week against the Steelers. Only time will tell on this story so I’d watch this space.
The Bears however move to a 3-1 record and after trading for Cutler in the off season they look like a much more balanced team. Now able to throw the ball on 4 and 1 near the goal line, the Bears have the ability to keep defences off balance in every situation.
In Denver, the Broncos moved to 4-0 with a win against the Dallas Cowboys. In the off season the Cowboys let go of T.O. in order to help the Tony Romo be the sole leader of the offence. This game shows me why that move was a mistake. Romo needed T.O. on the final drive of the game.
At the other end of the field the Broncos showed why premier number 1 receivers are at a premium and you should do all you can to hold onto them. Brandon Marshall has had his fair share of problems and run ins with Coach McDaniels but on Sunday night he showed why McDaniels didn’t just cut him loose. After the Broncos scored a field goal to tie the game at 10 each, the Broncos looked for Marshall. Marshall made a difficult catch then stayed on his feet and around and past the Cowboys defence for what turned out to be the game winning touchdown. If you haven’t seen this play yet, then find it and check it out.
Moving on to the Tennessee Titans, who went to Jacksonville looking for there first win of the season. Unfortunately David Garrad was up for the game. Quarterback Garrad threw for 323 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Jags never looked in danger of losing this game.
In the game that I said would be game if the week, we weren’t disappointed. In a game that went back and fourth, Tom Brady and the Patriots showed that they are still the team to look up to and the Ravens showed that they still have a little way to go before they can be considered Super Bowl champs.
Much will be made of the three errors wide out Mark Clayton made in the game but I’m surprised Joe Flacco wasn’t looking for Derrick Mason and Todd Heap as the game was on the line.
Having said that, losing 21-27 to the Pats could help the Ravens in the rest of the season. If the media and public pressure for success is now reduced even a little that could let Flacco and co get on with business.
On Sunday Night the San Diego Chargers welcomed back running back LT and the Pittsburgh Steelers were missing back Willie Parker. In the end it was another running back Rashard Mendenhall who proved the difference in this game. Mendenhall is in his second year from the University of Illinois and what a game he had on Sunday Night. He ran for 165 yards, 2 touchdowns on 29 attempts, he helped the Steelers eat up the clock at the end of the game with his downhill and full blooded running style. In the passing game he caught 2 pass for 26 yards, in what was a monster game for the young man.
The Chargers will know that they lost this game because they didn’t start playing until the second half by which time the Steelers had a commanding lead. But Steelers fans should still be worried that their team couldn’t close this game out in an easier fashion.
The Kansas City Chiefs hosted the New York Giants on Sunday and this was a game between the unbeaten Giants and the unable to win Chiefs.
The Giants were in command of this game from start to finish, leading 17-3 at half time. The Chiefs had a small rally at the end of the game.
This game against highlighted the emergent of Steve Smith and not the wide receiver from the Carolina Panthers. This is Steve Smith, born in Alaska and drafted in the second round by the Giants in 2007. Smith went to college at USC and now he has become Eli Manning’s favourite target. In this game Smith caught 11 passes for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns.
On Monday Night Football the Green Bay Packers visited Brett Favre, my apologies I meant the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings were undefeated going into this game but the Packers made a game of it. Favre however was the star of the show with 3 touchdown passes and 271 yard through the air. The game wasn’t all about Favre however, as defensive end Jared Allen picked up 4 and a half sacks in the game. One of which was for a safety late in the game.
Week 4 like the 3 weeks before, I think are proving that the NFL is the number one sport in American and the most entertain sport on TV anywhere in the world. I understand that the Premier League is heating up nicely but the NFL has total excitement and unpredictability each and every week.
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