Week 4

Browns 27, Steelers 24

This game started for the Steelers about as good as they could have hoped.  Their opening drive was a good one as they kept the ball for a LONG time, and capped that off with a TD.  The Browns, however went three and out on theirs.  Then things changed quite a bit.  Watson got things going with WRs Boston and Concepcion and RB Judkins had one of his better games of the season.  Watson threw for 181 yards and the Browns were up 21-7 at the half.  Steelers had communication issues to say it politely on both sides of the ball and things were really out of sync.  They got a good break in the second half when they turned a Watson interception into 7 points.  The Browns kicked a FG, and then on the next Steelers possession - Rogers hooked up with Metcalf and they converted the 2-pt and it was a 24/24 game.  Watson didn't have a whole lot of time on the clock, but he made the most of it with a nice passes to Jeudy and Fannin to set up the winning 56-yard FG by Smyzt.  What a great name for a kicker..

Colts 30, Commanders 13

Slept through the first quarter of this one for sure.  I don't do Sunday's before 9 or so.  By the time I tuned in, Mariotta was already out of this game with a bum knee, and Athan (not a typo) Kaliakmanis was playing QB for the Commanders.  To his credit - he didn't stink.  His one interception did result in a Colt TD, but after that he played pretty well all things considered.  Colts QB Jones did not - especially in the first half.  He threw a really bad int as he was pressured in the pocket, sack / fumble and was very inaccurate in the first half.  The Colts didn't use Taylor as much as they usually do, but fixed that in the second half.  With a better running game a couple decent drives by the Colts, they were able to beat the Commanders as Athan and the 'Ders offense was just a bit too inconsistent to maintain drives.  Athan did have a couple nice bombs, including a 47-yarder to Burks, but it wasn't enough.  I will be interesting to see if Daniels will be available for next week, but if not - Athan seems to be a solid replacement, and with a full week of prep - may be able to keep them competetive. 

Patriots 29, Bills 26

Huh.. Well - that confirms it - Drake Maye IS right-handed.  THAT's the guy that was in the running for MVP last year.  There was also a Romeo Doubs sighting as that guy caught his first TD of the season to get the game started in the right direction for the Pats.  Maye unfortunately had a stip-sack fumble, and a coach Vrabel penalty set the Bills up for another Allen rushing TD.  It was a 3-pt game at half time, and the Pats were able to take the lead with a Maye to Chism pass in the fourth quarter.  Allen had a shot to get his team in scoring position, but he threw an interception that stopped their final drive.  Really nice win for the Pats, and another head-scratcher for the Bills.  Losing this one at home will probably come back to bite them in the rear come playoff time.

Bears 23, Jets 12

The offensive juggernaut that is the Chicago Bears had more first downs than the Jets had offensive possessions.  Don't have to add a whole lot other than that stat.  Bears offense had a great day.  Bagent got the start after an extra week off concussion protocol.  He had a solid day throwing for 268 yards.  No TDs, and unfortunately an interception - which happened to be the first interception for the NY Football Jets in 637 days.  The Jets D surrendered almost 500 yards of offense and Bears RBs Monangai and Swift rushed for a little over 200 combined yards and Monangai had 2 TDs.  Geno had a rough day with only a little over a 100 yards, and one TD.  Rough day for the Jets.

Giants 36, Cardinals 24

Giants players were a bit miffed that the Cards were favored in this one.  It wasn't by much, but they were at home.  They didn't get off to a good start as Brissett connected with Harrison, Jr. for  the games initial TD.  This led to a 14-3 lead early on.  The Giants put up a FG, and picked off Brissett to stop that drive.   The Giants scored on their next 2 possessions.  The second taking advantage of another Brissett interception.  Winston hit Nabors on a very nice 25-yarder, this gave  the Giants a 5-pt lead.  Jameis went Jameis and threw an interception late in the second quarter which the Cards converted to a FG for the lead at half-time.  There was more of the same in the second half as Winston threw his second interception which the Cards converted to a TD.  Good Jameis showed up again and threw a nice TD pass to Johnson.  The fourth quarter got very interesting at the end as the Giants converted a FG to go up by six.  The Cardinals got the ball back and were close.  Unfortnately, Brissett's pass on the Giants 4went to the defense as  Banks picked it off and raced for a 98-yard pick six for the final score of the game.  Interesting note in this one.  Cardinal TE McBride got into a "conversation" with a back judge.  Pretty clear that the official was telling him "Fudge you".  Ref got suspended.  Interesting game all around.

Cowboys 34, Texans 30

Kinda surprising that these two teams came in with a combined record of 1 -5.  CJ and the rest of that Houston offense hasn't been great - but he took advantage of having his favorite WR back in the line up as he connected with Collins for an early TD.  The teams traded FGs throughout the first half, and the Texans had a nice 16-6 lead.  However, the Texans needed a couple more TDs and they also needed an answer for Cee Dee Lamb.  He blew up the second half with an amazing performance.  Crazy how the Texans just didn't have an answer to slow him down.  CD finished the afternoon with 189 yards and one TD.  Dak was sharp, actually got a couple passes to Pickens for a change, and Williams rushed for 3 TDs.  The Texans did manage to score a TD late in the fourth quarter to retake the lead 30-27.  Dak and the Cowboys got the ball back, and this week they finished things themselves.  Dak hit CD for his TD which put them up for good.  Texans did have a couple shots at a Hail Mary, but Dallas D held up.  Exciting game.

Jags 22, Bengals 17

You would think that keeping the Jags to only 22 points would be plenty for the Bengals to pull off the win.  Unfortnately for them it was not.  Really tough game for the Bengals as both their top WRs went out with injuries.  Chase went out after a nasty one two combo.  He was the victim of a really bad facemask, and then got popped to the turf very hard.  His head bounced pretty good and he'll be in protocol for a while.  I was just glad he got up and seemed to be relatively OK as that facemask looked bad.  His neck really got yanked.  Tee Higgins also went out in this game with a groin injury late in the fourth.  Not sure how serious that is.  Burrow had a rough game too, as he threw two interceptions.  Bengals were still in the game though as Lawrence and the Jags couldn't really get things going.  They couldn't get out of their own way with a bunch of penalties that called a TD called back, and then had to settle for a FG.  The Jags managed to get the lead, and had to give the ball back to Burrow.  He was able to get to the red zone, but on 4th and 10, he got the ball to Brown who only got 9 yards.  The Jags took over on downs and closed out the game.  Not a great performance by the Jags, but they look like a really strong team this year.

Rams 24, Eagles 20

Oof, Eagles..  Man..  Convert a 3rd down already, damn. 0 - 12?  That's a team record you didn't want to have.  Bad offensive performance for sure - they had a net passing of -5 or something ridiculous in the 2nd half.  It really didn't help matters that Saquon went out early in the first quarter with what looks to be a hammy.  Somehow, though they led this game for 3 quarters.  The Eagles took advantage of a couple Stafford interceptions and a great punt return.  That punt return turned into a TD as Cooper made a great catch over the DB.  Stafford's second int turned into a TD for the Eagles just before halftime.  The Rams finally got things going in the second half.  Stafford was very happy to have Puka back for this game.  He had a pretty good afternoon with 125 yards.  The Rams took advantage of an Eagles penalty for a score and then made them  punt (again).  Stafford finished things off with a TD pass to Williams for the win.  Rams coach was very happy - first win for them in Philly.

Ravens 24, Titans 18

The first half of this game was all about Jackson.  He was as the old timers used to say "en fuego".  He threw for over 200 yards in the first half.  He threw 2 TDs, Henry ran for one and the Ravens had a very nich 24-7 lead at half.  It was a laugher.  Unfortunately, Jackson's day was over just before halftime.  He got his ankle twisted and was done for the day.  He left the stadium in a walking boot.  Huntley game in for Jackson in the second half, but wasn't able to really get anything going.  The Titans scored a FG and a very late TD to make this somewhat respectable, but this game was pretty much over at the half.

Packers 17, Bucs 14

Man, this was an ugly one.  With Mayfield out, the Bucs started an undrafted Jalon Daniels at QB.  He had a rough one, throwing two interceptions which both led to Packer points.  He was able to put together a decent early drive  which was capped by a 2 yard run by Tucker to tie things up.  The Packers turned his 2nd interception into a FG  and went to halftime up by 3.  Packers scored on a TD pass to Kraft to go up by 10, and the Bucs answered with a TD pass to Gainwell.  The Bucs had their chances as they intercepted Love, but they were unable to convert to points; actualy couldn't convert to a first down.  The Packers took over on downs for the win.  Not a pretty one by any means - but the Packers will take it for sure.  

Chiefs 30, Raiders 27

Oh man.. Look the hell out.  These Raiders might be pretty good.  Hate saying that.  This was good game.  Unfortunately, both teams can't lose so it is what it is.  This was a very unique game - in NFL history no two 3-0 teams have played each other where both teams had lost 10 or more games in the previous season.  Both teams got off to good starts as they traded TDs  Cousins and Mahomes both threw early TDs.  The teams traded FGs in the 2nd and 3rd quarter and while leading 13-10 - the Raiders went for it on 4th and 2, and blew it.  They were well inside FG range, and this would cost them.  The game was still 13-10 going into the fourth when things blew up.  Both QBs got hot, and this thing turned into a shootout.  The turning point was a Raider fumble that resulted in a KC TD which would be the difference.  The Raiders did have a shot late.  They had the ball, but not much time and the Cheifs were able to hold on for the W.  Cousins  had over 300 yards, and Bowers had another good game with 86 yards and a TD.  Walker had a huge night for the Chiefs with 177 yards an 2 TDs.  He's been fantastic for the Chiefs.  This was  a surprisingly good game.  Raiders showed a lot in a tough loss.  

Vikings 15, Dolphins 10

No TDs, no problem.  Vikes just kick FGs.  Score was pretty close -but the Vikes pretty much dominated this one.  They won time of possession by 20 minutes, and outgained the 'Fins by 150 yards and Miami QB Willis had fewer than 10 completions.  They just didn't put the ball in the end zone.  Guess you have to give Miami's defense a bit of credit for that.  Vikings D smothered Willis all day.  The 'Fins did get one big play from Gordon who convered a long run for a TD, but that was it.  Somehow the Vikings are undefeated.

49'ers 24, Broncos 14

What?  The Broncos started out SLOW?  No shit.  I'm so tired of this from the Broncos.  And you can't blame the new OC Webb.  This has been a 3 year issue for them, and it is not improving.  If there is a dumb mistake, bad penalty, missed block, missed hole, missed read to put you in 2nd and 8 or worse - the Broncos will do it in the first half.  It's so frustrating.  Can't imagine what it's like in the locker room.  Fortunately, they have a great defense.  Bronco D played their butts off Sunday, but they couldn't hold up forever.  Super slow game as it was a 3-3 tie at half-time, as both defenses were holding.  The game turned on a bad play by a usually sure handed Bronco - Mims.  He got tied up during a punt return and managed to lose the football.  The Niners quickly turned that into 7 for the lead.  Broncos answered with a FG, but the Niners answered with another TD.  The Broncos finally had something going and put together a really nice drive as Nix hit Waddle for a TD, and they converted  the 2-pt to pull within 3.  The Broncos lost 3 starters in this game and the 2 on defense really hurt.  Both starting corners were out as the Niners faced a 3rd and long.  Kittle caught a quick pass, and he took it to the house.  The Broncos had time and the ball, but the drive stalled with Lutz missing a 52-yard FG which killed their chances.  Tough loss for the Broncos, but they gotta start games better. 

Seahawks 30, Chargers 23

This one got off to a very interesting start as both QBs started their first drives with interceptions.  Herbert on his second, Darnold on his first.  That was the first 3 plays of the game.  The Chargers were able to convert Darnolds into a FG. Later in the first quarter, Darnold got back on track with a nice pass to Wilson for 23 yards.  'Hawks played pretty cleanly after Darnold's first int, but the Chargers did not.  Their receivers had the drops, and Herbert threw another int.  He was 5-14 and 2 interceptions in the third quarter, it was pretty ugly.  The 'Hawks capitalized on all of their mistakes, and grew their lead to 27-6.  Charger WR McConkey was also knocked out of the game.  The Chargers finally got some decent breaks in the fourth quarter to make  things interesting.  They connected on a couple fourth down plays, as Herbert put a couple nice drives together for a TD, and then they kicked a FG on first down to pull within 7 and save time.  They lost some time as the 'Hawks got a freebie first down on a penalty, but did get the ball back.  A strip-sack fumble killed any chances of a full comeback.  Tough loss as they fall to 0-4.

Panthers 32, Lions 26

This was the first home prime-time Sunday night game in over 20 years.  They made the most of it.  Brice Young's performance was really impressive, especially when you remember they benched him a couple years ago.  He looked like he just wasn't going to make it.  He was great Sunday night, throwing for over 300 yards and 2 TDs.  WR McMillan had close to 200 of those yards, and the running game got going as Hubbard rushed for over a hundred with 2 TDs.   Lions were staying close throughout,  Goff threw for just a shade over 400 yards and a TD, and Williams and TeSlaa each had 100 yards or so.  Gibbs didn't have a huge night -but he did rush for a TD.  The Panthers pulled ahead by multiple scores late in the third quarter and would keep the lead.  The Lions scored a late TD to get within 6, but the Panthers were able to kill enough clock and keep the ball for the win.  This NFC South division will not by won this season by a .500 team.