Saints 52 Â Giants 49
Yes, that is an accurate score. We knew the Saints didn’t have an all-world defense, but now it’s obvious that NY has one that’s a little worse than New Orleans.
The Giants got a big game from Odell Beckham, and Eli threw for six touchdowns. Most games that would be enough, but Drew Brees was absolutely ablaze, throwing seven touchdowns.
NO got the win with a last second field goal that was set up by Brees marching down the field with ease at the end.
There were 63 first downs in this game and over 1000 yards combined. An incredible game to watch for fantasy fanatics and most casual sports fans. Defensive gurus were not impressed.
Eye-popping stat: 614 total yards by the Saints.
Fantasy Carnage: Drew Brees and take your pick from any Saints receiver.
Bengals 16 Steelers 10
Cincinnati survived two fourth quarter interceptions by their red headed QB to come out of this divisional rivalry still unbeaten.
Pittsburgh lost more than an important division game. They will be without Le’Veon Bell for the rest of the year. Bell went down with a severe MCL tear in this game.
Pittsburgh has had very little time with all three of their most important pieces on the field this year.
Andy Dalton didn’t have his best game of the year, but AJ Green bailed his QB out with a great game of his own. The Bengals offensive line had been solid all year, yet let Dalton get harassed much of this contest.
Bell’s backup DeAngelo Williams is no slouch, but there is a big fall off from what Bell brings to the Steelers offense.
Eye-popping stat: AJ Green 11 catches on 17 targets.
Fantasy carnage: AJ Green on DFS.
Seahawks 13 Cowboys 12
Any doubt Russell Wilson was going to set his Seattle boys up for the winning TD when they were down 12-10? Nope. Wilson took his offense on a 16 play march to get a shot at an easy FG that gave them the win.
Matt Cassel was not awful with his legs for Dallas, but his arm was pretty impotent. He makes Peyton look like an arm wrestling champion. The Boys had four net yards in the fourth quarter so don’t look for any late game heroics until Romo returns.
Any Romo haters want to apologize? Dallas is not going to win until he comes back, which will be too late.
Seattle’s O-line showed improvement in this game and kept Wilson unsacked for the game after allowing a league high total coming into this match up.
Eye-popping stat: 97 yards passing for Cassel
Fantasy carnage: It was 12-13 so….Dan Bailey, Dallas’ kicker.
Falcons 20 Bucs 23
Link to full recap. I may have been too hard on Ryan. Maybe.
Chief 45 Lions 10
The Lions can go ahead and start that search for a new head coach. They made KC look like the Patriots in this game at Wembley Stadium.
Matt Stafford’s big game last time out was an aberration, and the Lions are said to be paring down the offense even further for next week. What is Stafford’s IQ?
Alex Smith torched the Lions defensive unit for 78 yards rushing, and Charcandrick West got near 100 himself as he continues in relief of Jamaal Charles.
England is planning an embargo on Detroit for future NFL games over in their neck of the woods
Eye-popping stat: Smith nearly outgained the entire Lions’ group of runners.
Fantasy carnage: Alex Smith was a great value in daily leagues.
Ravens 29 Chargers 26
This game didn’t mean a whole hell of a lot. We have two teams going nowhere, but it was significant in that Steve Smith went down with an Achilles Tendon tear. This game could be the last we see of the future Hall of Famer who played the game with as big a chip on his shoulder as any player I have personally watched.
I’d like to see him back, but he has done enough. No need to go through another year of pain. The guy was already playing with microfractures in his back, yet was fourth in yards in the NFL at the time he went down versus SD.
The Chargers are only relevant in the world of fantasy play, and the Ravens will have to lean on Justin Forsett even more the rest of the way.
Eye-popping stat: Keenan Allen’s low avg. of 7 yards a catch in this game.
Fantasy carnage: Flacco and his kicker, which is all the Ravens can afford now with the QB’s 100 mil contract.
Vikings 23 Bears 20
Don’t look now but the Vikings are on a three-game tear and are 5-2. They haven’t beaten any great teams or even a good one yet, but they are what their record says they are.
It took a late FG at the end to get Minnesota over Chicago in this game. Jay Cutler didn’t play bad and has been decent since his return from injury. Matt Forte left the game hurt and did not return.
Stefon Diggs didn’t make the most of his 12 targets but still caught six balls for 95 yards and a TD. This guy should have been active from the opening game for the Vikes. Maybe their record would be even better at this point.
There is talk of Chicago trading away Jay Cutler since this season is a wash. I doubt any team would want his inflated contract, though.
Eye-popping stat: Alshon Jeffery’s ten catches for 116 yards.
Fantasy carnage: Jeffrey DFS.
Browns 20 Cardinals 34
Carson Palmer didn’t play perfectly, and he had the right opponent for that. Cleveland could not get over on Arizona even after taking the ball away four times.
Cleveland is going nowhere fast, and this game was one they should have won. McCown had a good game passing and led the team in rushing, which is a big problem. No wins are coming with him getting 18 yards to lead his team’s running efforts.
Arizona moves to an imperfect 6-2, but they are with the rest of the flawed top tier teams. There is just one perfect looking team, and they are led by Tom Brady.
Eye-popping stat: Two fumbles by Chris Johnson.
Fantasy carnage: Palmer is steady in year-long leagues. McCown is a good value in GPP play for his upside with a cheap price tag.
Texans 20 Titans 6
The Titans offensive line couldn’t protect Zach Mettenberger any better than Mariota. The backup was running for his life all game long.
Brian Hoyer was OK but not great in this one. He was enough against the powerless Titans offense, especially without Mariota in the lineup.
Tennessee has now lost 16/17 games going back to last year, and it’s not looking much better going forward.
Eye-popping stat: Zach Mettenberger sacked seven times.
Fantasy carnage: The Texans defense finally got a good fantasy score weeks after I traded them away. Thanks for nothing.
Rams 27 49ers 6
The 49ers are a mess and will be for the next five years at least. They let a great head coach leave and lost too many defensive players to be competitive.
Colin Kaepernick is doing them no favors either. He has no awareness and couldn’t even find his receiver that went completely uncovered on one specific play.
Todd Gurley fueled the Rams offensive machine again. The rookie beast has people calling him the best pure runner in the league. He is great, but we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves yet. Give him a little more time to evolve.
Gurley peeled off a 71 yard TD and totaled 146 yards, 13 from receptions.
The Niners lost Reggie Bush to a knee injury after he slipped on the outer edges of the field. The League needs to do something about the perimeter of these ball fields that are taking out their employees due to cleats slipping on a hard surface.
Eye-popping stat: 6.7 yards per carry for Gurley.
Fantasy carnage: Gurley either league type.
Raiders 34 Jets 20
The Raiders are playing football like they mean it. They rocked the Jets for 34 points, with David Carr accounting for four touchdown passes.
Latavius Murray ate up NY for 100 plus yards on the ground as well.
NY was in bad shape for a comeback with Geno Smith in for the injured Ryan Fitzpatrick. To be fair, Geno played decent until the last few minutes when he mismanaged the clock on a couple drives. Smith got hammered on the sideline in what looked like a truck on QB hit. He later went to the sidelines after another big hit in the pocket.
The Raiders got a big game from Michael Crabtree as he went over the century mark in receiving yards.
Eye-popping stat: Zero fumbles for both teams.
Fantasy carnage: David Carr.
Packers 10 Broncos 29
I would never have picked Peyton over Rodgers in this game. No one else in their right minds would have either.
Manning proved us all wrong, for one week at least. He outpaced Aaron Rodgers by 262 yards as Denver handed Green Bay their first loss of the year.
Manning was helped by 160 rushing yards from his backs, but he looked good the entire game after getting two weeks rest with a bye last week.
Rodgers never got going, and his lack of talent at receiver is hurting the Pack more every week. Denver’s strong defensive backfield totally dominated every route making Rodgers hold the ball too long too often.
Denver stays unblemished, and the Packers fall to 7-1
Eye-popping stat: 77 yards passing from Rodgers.
Fantasy carnage: Demaryius Thomas got off on DraftKings
Panthers 29 Colts 26
The weather was not fit for man nor beast, but it was perfect for the ugly sort of games that Cam Newton is used to winning. There were dropped passes and players sliding all over the place as heavy rain fell on the MNF game between Carolina and Indianapolis.
This one looked like it was going to be Carolina’s type of game as they led most of the way and even took a 17 point lead in the fourth quarter.
The Colts were not going away though and managed to rack up 17 in the fourth quarter with Andrew Luck showing a lot of toughness in the pocket with reports of damaged ribs since week three surfacing this week.
Indy had a close call on a reviewed catch on their last drive, and it moved them closer to get a field goal to force overtime on a rain-soaked night that also saw some repelling protesters at BOA Stadium.
In OT, the Colts got the first score on another field goal. Then the Panthers answered on their first drive but missed on a big pass to Ted Ginn Jr, which he dropped. So Carolina settled for three points to tie it again.
Andrew Luck ran out of luck when his pass was tipped then picked in Colts territory. Carolina proceeded to move the ball just close enough for Graham Gano to end the overtime contest with a 52 yard FG. Game over, Panthers still perfect if not pretty.
Eye-popping stat: Seven turnovers combined.
Fantasy carnage: Both kickers scored plenty and Cam was just OK.