How was the Bears-Lions game that entertaining? Even though both teams are not going anywhere near the playoffs, they did have a compelling shootout in one of the early games.
Denver and Cleveland had a great contest also. Any guesses on how that one turned out, given one team is cursed?
Lots to get to so step back as we tally up the winners and losers from week six.
Grown Man of the Week: Cam Newton makes few friends with his over the top TD celebrations, yet he deserved to celebrate Sunday after bringing his Panthers back against Seattle. Cam had back to back fourth quarter touchdown drives that put Carolina ahead in the end, 27-23. Seattle continued their bad habit of giving up leads in the fourth, but to be fair nothing was given. This lead was taken from them by Newton.
NFL Child of the Week: The NFL Rules Committee. Is there no one that can simplify the ruling on what a catch is and is not? This rule has become an issue almost every single week, and fans are sick of it. Catches have not been judged consistently because no one can tell us what a freaking catch is! Golden Tate’s bobbled catch and pick ended up being ruled a real catch even though there was no difference in the “football move” or amount of time he held the ball compared to Devonta Freeman last week or Calvin Johnson a couple years back.
Winner: Being an interim head coach in the NFL is not easy. It sucks in fact. Usually, you are there as just a placeholder until management can find a better option at the end of the year. Being in charge of an underachieving team is no fun either. That said, Dan Campbell had a nice debut with Miami. They rolled over Tennessee and showed why more was expected from this team. A hot start is typical for an interim head coach. Sustaining that effort from the guys is the hard part once another loss happens.
Loser: The Kansas City Chiefs lost their offense when Jamaal Charles went down for the year with a knee injury. The Chiefs were a pitiful offensive display on Sunday, scoring 10 points in a loss to Minnesota. Alex Smith can’t throw, and the fill in running backs gained 57 total rushing yards. The only offense for KC came from Travis Kelce with 88 receiving yards, but no touchdowns.
Winner: Ben Watson went off on Thursday NIght Football, racking ten catches against the formerly undefeated Falcons. Brees went to Watson anytime he needed 12.7 yards. Now according to one skeptical Falcons fan, they are likely to go 5-11 the rest of the way. Not what I want to hear.
Loser: Peyton Manning. Denver continues to rely on their defense with old #18 and his arm now being sponsored by Ramen Noodles. Denver’s defense and special teams are outscoring the offense on the year. The Broncos stayed undefeated against Cleveland, but Peyton was not an asset once again.
Winner: Ricardo Lockett of the Seahawks had the catch of the day on a flea-flicker TD. He snatched the ball away from the DB like a health conscious parent yanking an ice cream away from a fat kid.
Loser: Emmanuel Sanders. Know the clock situation! You can’t just run to the end zone to soak up the glory of a big catch when your team has no timeouts and needs to spike the ball. Again his team got the “W” but he looked clownish in the process.
Winner: DeAndre Hopkins and his Texans who got a much needed win against slump busting Jacksonville. Hopkins is being fed more than any receiver in the League, and he’s making those targets count. Hopkins had ten catches on 15 targets, and Hoyer hit him for two scores.
Loser: Sammy Watkins hurt his ankle against the Bengals and did not return to the game. The Bills receiver made noise this past week about not getting enough balls thrown his way and now his status for next week is up in the air.
Winner: Chris Ivory is proving to be a workhorse for the Jets. Racking up 146 yards for another big day, Ivory helped the Jets to a win over Washington. When he goes well, the Jets win. When he is not getting off, there’s too much pressure on Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Loser: The Colts. To the Patriots. Shocking? Clearly not.
Winner: Tom Brady in this so called “revenge game” against Indianapolis. Brady can’t push his desire to win above where it always is, even against the team that got the DeflateGate debacle started. The revenge factor was just amped up by the media, as if fans need extra incentive to watch the defending Super Bowl Champs.
Loser: The Legion of Boom arguing over who let Greg Olsen score at the end of the game. The cracks are starting to become bigger in this Super Bowl regular. Contract issues, lack of offense, Lynch injuries, and now on the field bickering. Hard to stay on top ain’t it fellas?
Winner: Andy Dalton ended the game against Buffalo with a 118.6 passer rating. More importantly the Cincinnati quarterback has led his Bengals to a 6-0 record.
Loser: Ryan Mallett can get comfortable on the bench. He will be there for a while with Brian Hoyer throwing three touchdown passes against Jacksonville. Hoyer gives the Texans an actual chance to win and I have no idea how Mallett got the starting nod from this coaching staff to start the season.