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Hi Folks, Joe PS - These reports will be available online at the Footballguys.com website later on today in a much better looking format. I'm just sending to you now as I know many of you want these just as soon as they're finished. ************************************** Joe Bryant Thanks to Footballguys recap writers: Andrew Abouzeid, Mike Anderson, Michael
Bartlett, Bill Brown, Michael Brown, Christopher Clark, Timothy Creech, Cathy
Fazio, Bradley Gabbard, Cory Gilbert, Chris Gilman, Anoop Jalan, Alex Knapik,
Jeff Lewis, Scott Martin, John Matthes, Doug Mobley, David Oleyar, Jeff Pasquino,
Greg Porzucek, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Jeff Siedsma, Dave Teller, Chris
Thomas, Dave Thompson, Rob Umberger, Mark Westmyer, George Willock, and Todd
Young Washington Redskins 13 at Chicago Bears 10 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Washington Redskins Clinton Portis carried the ball 36 times, the second highest total of his career, en route to 171 rushing yards on the day and the hands down MVP of the Redskins' offense. Portis looked a lot more comfortable in running behind his new offensive line, quickly hitting the holes and looking much more like the back we saw in Denver over the past two seasons. Six of his carries in the game went for more than 10 yards apiece. Mark Brunell struggled badly for the second consecutive game, completing only 8 of his 22 passes and managing just 95 passing yards. Brunell was intercepted once, when his pass was deflected by a defensive lineman, and threw one touchdown to Rod Gardner on a blown coverage play. The touchdown aside, however, Laveranues Coles continued to be Brunell's favorite target, with 9 of his 22 passes thrown towards Coles. No Redskins' receiver was able to post big numbers in the game, with Coles leading the team with 52 yards on 4 catches. Rod Gardner had an 18-yard touchdown catch, but caught only one other pass in the game for 20 total yards. Rookie tight end Chris Cooley was held without a catch. Defensively, the Redskins excelled, holding Chicago to 160 net yards of offense and only 3 offensive points. Washington had 4 sacks and an interception in the game. Chicago Bears Thomas Jones was the Bears' leading rusher and receiver in the game, gaining 119 total yards from scrimmage, an astounding 74% of the Bears' offense. While his line struggled to give him consistent running room, Jones looked great when given a chance to accelerate out of the backfield. Jones totaled 97 yards on the ground on 24 carries, while Anthony Thomas had just one carry in the game, for 1 yard. Jonathan Quinn got his second consecutive start for the injured Rex Grossman, and looked terrible. Quinn faced a lot of pressure throughout the game from the Redskins' defense, and when he did have time to get a throw off, it was often well off target and sometimes thrown into very tight coverage. In all, Quinn managed just 65 yards on 10 of 22 passing, and was intercepted late in the game while trying to mount a comeback on fourth and 15. Jones led all Bears' receivers with 22 yards, with Bobby Wade leading the wideouts with 4 catches for 17 yards. David Terrell was held to only 1 reception for 10 yards. Chicago's wide receivers struggled throughout the game to find space in the Redskins' secondary. The defense kept Chicago in the game, led by Jerry Azumah's 70 yard touchdown return of an interception. The Bears added a sack of Mark Brunell, but were completely unable to stop Clinton Portis and the rushing attack. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Washington Redskins QB: Mark Brunell (8-22-95, 1 TD, 1 INT, 5-17 rushing) failed to reach 100 passing yards for the second consecutive game, and the third time this season. This was due in part to the success of Clinton Portis and the running game, but Brunell's 36% completion mark shows that it was not simply the game plan which limited his success. At any rate, with the team clinging to a 3 point lead, Brunell did not attempt a single pass in the fourth quarter, running the ball all four times in which he dropped back in the final period. The Bears did create some pressure on him, and the secondary played inspired ball, but Brunell did nothing to distinguish himself in this game at all. His one interception was not his fault, however, as defensive lineman Mike Brown got a hand on the ball as Brunell was releasing it, creating an easy pick which Jerry Azumah ran back 70 yards for a touchdown. RB: Clinton Portis (36-171 rushing, 1-11 receiving on 1 target) had his finest outing as a Washington Redskin, ripping off gains of 5 yards or more with frightening regularity. For the game, 6 of Portis' 36 carries went for more than 10 yards. While the Redskins' run blocking was outstanding, Portis himself created a lot of yards with quick cutbacks and powerful running, breaking a number of tackles in the game. Portis was twice shaken up in the game, once after suffering two blows to the back of his head on the same play, and again later after Brian Urlacher tackled him by the facemask. Portis was able to return to the game on both occasions, and ran as strongly as ever. As is the norm in Washington's offense, Portis was pulled from the game on obvious passing downs. Ladell Betts (6-30 rushing, 0-0 receiving on 1 target) was used as the third down back in Joe Gibbs' offense, and also as Clinton Portis' primary backup. WR: Laveranues Coles (4-52 receiving on 9 targets) was once again Mark Brunell's primary target in the game, accounting for more than half of the Redskins' total receiving yards. However, with Brunell struggling to complete his throws and the Redskins finally abandoning the pass to play clock management, Coles' statistics suffered. Rod Gardner (2-20, 1 TD receiving on 7 targets) found himself completely alone in the back of the end zone when Brian Urlacher set up his zone coverage too shallow. Brunell lofted the ball to Gardner for an easy 18 yard touchdown play. Aside from that one play, however, Gardner's day was frustrating, as he was able to catch only one other pass for 2 yards. Brunell's interception was officially scored as a target for Gardner, but as the pass was deflected inches away from Brunell's hand, it is difficult to say whether or not it was intended for Gardner. Taylor Jacobs (0-0 receiving on 1 target) was again used as the third receiver in Washington's sets, and targeted once on a deep route down the sideline. While Jacobs had a step on his defender, the pass was overthrown and incomplete. TE: Walter Rasby (1-12 receiving on 2 targets) is quietly having the best receiving season of his career thus far, but is still a far cry from being a fantasy factor. Chris Cooley (0-0 receiving on 1 target) was the starter at H-back, but did not have a catch in the game. Cooley was the first read on the play which resulted in Rod Gardner's touchdown, but was well covered on the play. K: Ola Kimrin (1 XP, 2-2 FG) was signed by the team earlier in the week to cover for the injured John Hall, and was successful on the first 3 kicks of his NFL career, including a 41-yard field goal. Pass Defense: Rookie safety Sean Taylor notched two career firsts in this game, picking up his first NFL sack and later coming down with a key interception to seal the win for the Redskins. In all, Washington sacked Bears' quarterback Jonathan Quinn four times, including two by defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin on back to back plays late in the game. For the second straight game, this combination of pressure on the quarterback and solid play by the secondary limited an opposing team to fewer than 100 passing yards, a pitiful 65 yards this week. Cornerback Fred Smoot had a fine game, but was shaken up early in the game after making a tackle on a wide receiver screen. Smoot left the field holding his left arm awkwardly, but later returned to action and made three more tackles. Run Defense: Washington allowed 126 rushing yards in the game, but 23 of those came on a scramble by quarterback Jonathan Quinn with just 1 second remaining in the first half. For the most part, the Redskins were able to contain running back Thomas Jones, although Jones had a few good runs including one for 18 yards in the fourth quarter to bring his average up to 4.25 yards per carry. Cornelius Griffin had a huge game, notching 7 tackles and an assist in addition to his two sacks. Chicago Bears QB: Jonathan Quinn (10-22-65, 1 INT, 2-32 rushing) had a terrible game filling in for the injured Rex Grossman, struggling to hit his receivers when they were open and trying to force the ball into double, and sometimes triple, coverage. While Quinn had to deal with a tremendous amount of pressure in the pocket, and his receivers were facing a very good secondary this week, his performance against Washington may actually have had some Bears fans wishing for Kordell Stewart. Quinn's interception came on a desperation throw on fourth and 15 with just 25 seconds remaining in the game, but the reason the team was stuck in that down and yardage was because Quinn allowed himself to be sacked on consecutive plays earlier. Quinn did display some good scrambling ability, although 23 of his rushing yards came on a play with 1 second remaining in the first half. RB: Thomas Jones (24-97 rushing, 2-22 receiving on 4 targets) ran very well when his offensive line could open up holes for him, which was not very often in the game. Jones played a key part in Chicago's only scoring drive of the afternoon, gaining 13 tough yards on 6 carries and adding a 14-yard reception on the drive, which ended with a field goal. On the preceding drive, Jones carried the ball on 6 consecutive plays, gaining 38 yards. In fact, for the game Jones led all Bears in receiving yards and was responsible for 119 of the Bears' 160 total net yards, showing just how integral a part of the offense he has become. Anthony Thomas (1-1 rushing) was not a factor in the game. Bryan Johnson (1-1 receiving on 1 target) is the Bears' starting fullback. WR: Bobby Wade (4-17 receiving on 8 targets, 1 for -4 rushing) really did lead all Bears' wide receivers with 17 yards on the day. He and the rest of the Chicago wideouts simply looked overmatched by Fred Smooth, Shawn Springs, and the rest of the Washington secondary. David Terrell (1-10 receiving on 4 targets) struggled to get open all day long, and when he finally did beat rookie safety Sean Taylor on a deep sideline pattern, the pass was badly under thrown, allowing Taylor time to get back into the play and break the throw up. Justin Gage (1-9 receiving on 1 target) is a player that the Bears' coaching staff says they need to get more involved in the offense, but still had only the one target today. Bernard Berrian (1-6 receiving on 1 target) had his third career reception, but was primarily utilized as a kick return specialist. TE: Desmond Clark (0-0 receiving on 2 targets) started the game at tight end, but was unable to record a reception. K: Paul Edinger (1 XP, 1-1 FG) was successful on a 46-yard field goal attempt. Pass Defense: Jerry Azumah saw his first action of the season after being sidelined with an injury, and came up big with an interception returned for a touchdown in the game. However, while the Bears were able to get some pressure on Mark Brunell in the game, Brian Urlacher had their only sack of the game, and Brunell's lack of success was due as much to his own inaccuracy passing as to the Bears' defensive game plan. Defensive end Alex Brown had a fine game, getting penetration into the pocket on several plays and deflecting the pass which Azumah wound up intercepting. The secondary did a good job in covering Washington's talented wide receivers, but could have been beaten on several occasions had Brunell's passes been on target. Rushing Defense: The Bears were woefully inconsistent defending the run, allowing 171 yards on 36 carries to Clinton Portis, and giving up 30 more on 6 carries to his primary backup, Ladell Betts. While Chicago was by no means dominated along the line of scrimmage, the Redskins' offensive line definitely got the better of them on most running plays. Defensive end Adewale Ogunleye left the field after having his left foot stepped on, but no further update was offered. Carolina Panthers 8 at Philadelphia Eagles 30 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Carolina Panthers RB Stephen Davis returned to the lineup after arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Davis ran well on the day and looked strong, as he gained 66 yards on 15 carries and also added a 10-yard reception. QB Jake Delhomme had a game that he'd rather forget, throwing four interceptions and just one touchdown. Delhomme took a vicious hit in the pocket, but he stayed in the game. Delhomme was forced to go to the air as the Panthers fell behind quickly and trailed the entire game. He threw three second half interceptions, which led to 10 points for Philadelphia as the Eagles extended their lead to 23-0. The only question left was whether the Panthers would get on the scoreboard. Carolina narrowly managed to escape being shutout as Delhomme hit WR Muhsin Muhammad for a meaningless touchdown with under three minutes left in the game. Muhammad did have a milestone catch, as he caught his 500th career reception in the first quarter. Muhammad added five more catches as he continued to re-write the Carolina record book as he holds the all-time career receiver record for the Panthers. RB DeShaun Foster was inactive, as his broken collarbone from last week's game against Denver will keep him out of action for 6-12 weeks. Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles were in total control of this game, and they extended their record to 5-0 for the first time since 1981. The Eagles have never trailed at the end of a quarter all season, and they are just one of two teams in the past 35 years that have won their first five games by at least 10 points (1999 St. Louis Rams). The only suspense in this contest quickly became whether Carolina would be shutout, something that the Eagles have not done to an opponent in almost eight years. Philadelphia set the tone for this game from the outset. On the opening kickoff, KR J.R. Reed broke off a career best 66-yard return to set up the Eagles in Carolina territory. The big play became a theme for Philadelphia, who had four plays for 50+ yards on the day. Before today's action, Philadelphia had just three total plays of that length all season, and all had been in the first two weeks. WR Terrell Owens caught two passes for over 50 yards each in the first half and had all of his 123 receiving yards before halftime. In the first quarter, Owens caught a deep ball for 53 yards that set up the Eagles for their first touchdown. Later in the second quarter, Owens caught a ball across the middle for a 51-yard catch-and-run that helped the Eagles extend their lead to 13-0. The Eagles took over the game with their defense, hoping to record their first shutout since December 1996. Philadelphia intercepted three passes from Carolina QB Jake Delhomme, returning one of them for a 64-yard touchdown by Lito Sheppard. This was Philadelphia's fourth 50+ yard play of the game, and sealed the fate of Carolina as they fell behind the Eagles 23-0. Despite Owens' strong performance, neither QB Donovan McNabb nor RB Brian Westbrook had significant numbers. McNabb failed to throw for a touchdown for the first time this season, and Westbrook was only able to record a score, his first of the year, late in the fourth quarter after the game had been decided. Until that point, Westbrook had 22 yards rushing and 26 yards receiving. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Carolina Panthers QB: Jake Delhomme (24-42-205, 1 TD, 4 INT, 1-2 rushing) Delhomme was nothing special in the first half, going 10-16-82 with an interception. Once Carolina fell behind, Delhomme had no choice but to take to the air for much of the second half, but had little success. Philadelphia's aggressive pass defense put the pressure on Delhomme and forced three 2nd half interceptions. The first two turnovers led directly to 10 Philadelphia points, putting the game out of reach. The final interception was a prayer to the end zone with just seconds left in the game. RB: Stephen Davis (15-66 rushing, 1-10 receiving on 1 target) returned to the
Carolina backfield after undergoing surgery to his knee. Davis carried the ball
effectively, averaging over 4 yards a carry. However, due to Carolina falling
behind 13-0 by halftime and needing to play catch-up all game, Davis and the
entire Panther running game was not featured prominently in the second half. Nick Goings (4-27 rushing, 5-40 receiving on 6 targets) was the least used running back for Carolina, but when Goings did get a carry he was quite effective. As with Hoover, he was forced into duty with the injuries to both Davis and RB DeShaun Foster last week, so he was used to a heavier-than-usual workload. Goings contributed more to the passing game in the second half, picking up both a 21 and a 14 yard reception in the fourth quarter. WR: Muhsin Muhammad (6-48, 1 TD receiving on 9 targets) was hardly in the mood to celebrate a milestone, but he did record his 500th career reception on his first catch of the game. Muhammad, Carolina's all-time career receiver, was the most targeted receiver. Muhammad scored the only Carolina touchdown of the game late in the fourth quarter, long after the outcome had been decided. Keary Colbert (2-39 receiving on 7 targets, 1 2-point conversion reception) followed up his career day from last week with a much weaker performance. Colbert caught just 2 passes, one of which was the longest pass for Carolina on the day, 30 yards in the opening quarter. Aside from that and his 9-yard catch in the fourth quarter, Colbert contributed very little. He did get 2 bonus points by catching the 2-point conversion after Muhammad's touchdown. Colbert dropped two of his targeted passes. Ricky Proehl (2-17 receiving on 5 targets) had just two catches, a 7-yarder in the second quarter and a 10-yard catch in the fourth. Proehl was also the official intended target on the last Carolina offensive play, a deep ball that was thrown up for grabs in the Philadelphia end zone and was intercepted. Proehl had no play on the ball. TE: Kris Mangum (4-28 receiving on 8 targets) had four catches, three of which were for less than 10 yards. Mangum was the most targeted TE for Carolina, and two of his targets were intercepted by the Eagles. Mangum was featured prominently in Carolina's passing game, recording the second-most targets of any receiver. Michael Gaines (1-2 receiving on 2 targets) had just one catch for two yards, and was not a factor in the game. Mike Seidman (1-14 receiving on 1 target) had one catch for 14 yards in the final quarter, and was not a factor in the game. K: John Kasay had no scoring opportunities, as Carolina went for two after their only score. Pass Defense: QB Donovan McNabb had a solid first half, producing 179 yards
and setting up two scores with two long passes to WR Terrell Owens. Once the
lead was established by Philadelphia, the Eagles grew quite conservative and
kept the ball mostly on the ground. As a result, McNabb did not throw for a
touchdown nor did he produce much after halftime. Carolina did not force McNabb
to make mistakes, failing to get much of a pass rush and recording only one
sack. The lone interception by the secondary came on the opening play of the
fourth quarter as McNabb under threw TE LJ Smith on one of the few occasions
that he was forced from the pocket. Philadelphia Eagles QB: Donovan McNabb (14-26-209, 1 INT, 3-6 rushing) had his most modest performance of the season, failing to throw a touchdown for the first game all year, but McNabb was not called upon to win this game. McNabb hit WR Terrell Owens early for two big plays in the first half, which set up the Eagles to take the lead at 13-0 at halftime. At that point, McNabb was 9-18-179, so he had a very good first half as far as yardage. In the second half, the emphasis was on the running game and managing the clock, so the Eagles kept the passing game very conservative. All of McNabb's completions after halftime were for less than 10 yards. McNabb's only miscue, an interception on the first play in the fourth quarter, was a pass under thrown towards TE LJ Smith. This was only McNabb's second interception on the season. RB: Brian Westbrook (13-64 rushing, 1 TD, 4-26 receiving on 5 targets) had amassed just 46 all-purpose yards until late in the game where he broke a 42-yard touchdown carry. Westbrook kept looking to turn the corner on his carries, rather than take the ball up between the tackles. The speedy Carolina defense prevented him from getting the corner, and Westbrook often found himself pinned down in the backfield. Westbrook finished with 4 of his 13 carries for a loss. Westbrook almost got the first touchdown for Philadelphia as he caught a pass inside the 5 after he lined up in the slot. Westbrook was quickly tackled down at the Carolina 1, and then Dorsey Levens got the touchdown two plays later. Dorsey Levens (4-11 rushing, 1 TD, 0-1 receiving on 1 target) replaced Westbrook in a goal line situation, and he was given a chance to score his first touchdown of the year. Levens succeeded, scoring from 1 yard out. Levens gave Westbrook brief breathers throughout the game, averaging a carry each quarter. Reno Mahe (1-24 receiving on 1 target) had one catch for 24 yards and a first down in the second quarter. Mahe also was in position to returning punts, although he never had a return. Josh Parry (0-0 receiving on 2 targets) was given the opportunity to make two catches out of the backfield in the second quarter, but he dropped both passes. Parry is filling in for the injured FB Jon Ritchie. WR: Terrell Owens (4-123 receiving on 6 targets) was McNabb's favorite target
once again, much as he has been all season. However, for the first time all
year, Owens did not score a touchdown. Owens did have two big plays in the first
half, both for over 50 yards. Owens caught a 53-yard deep ball in the first
quarter that set up the Eagles' first score. Owens later contributed a 51-yard
reception on a catch and run down the seam of the Panthers' secondary. Owens
was also targeted on the first scoring drive on a high floating pass in the
back of the end zone, but he was double-covered and had no realistic play on
the ball. All of Owens' production came before halftime. Freddie Mitchell (0-0 receiving on 1 target) was only targeted once, and that ball was thrown way out of bounds by a scrambling McNabb. Greg Lewis (1-9 receiving on 1 target) caught one lone pass in the third quarter
for 9 yards and a first down. L.J. Smith (0-0 receiving on 2 targets) saw two balls thrown towards him, but neither were catchable. The first pass was well over his head, and the second was a deep ball that was under thrown by McNabb that went for his only interception on the day. It is notable that Smith was targeted for a long pass. Mike Bartrum (0-0 receiving on 1 target), the third TE for the Eagles, was again targeted in the end zone during a goal-line possession. However, the ball was not catchable as it was deflected by a defender and directed behind Bartrum. K: David Akers (3-3 XP, 3-3 FG) connected on all his attempts, making field goals of 48, 34, and 43 yards. Akers also performed a surprise onside kick to start the second half, which the Eagles did recover. Pass Defense: The Eagles were able to pin their ears back in the second half and come after Panther QB Jake Delhomme. Down 13-0 at the half, Carolina came out throwing but with little success. Philadelphia added three interceptions in the second half to their totals, finishing with four for the game. More importantly, the turnovers from the passing game led to 10 more points for the Eagles which put the game out of reach. Lito Sheppard, who had two of the four interceptions, ran back the first one for a 64-yard score. Roderick Hood and Dhani Jones had the two other picks. Once the outcome of the game was decided, only then was Carolina able to produce a scoring drive for their only points of the game. Carolina was able to score their only points in the final three minutes. Rush Defense: Carolina was running the ball well in the first half, with RB Stephen Davis and both FBs Brad Hoover and Nick Goings averaging over 4 yards a carry or more. Had the game been closer, Carolina's effectiveness on the ground against Philadelphia could have been more of a factor. However, the score dictated the play calling for Carolina, and they were forced early in the second half to emphasize the pass in spite of the success of the running game. Miami Dolphins 13 at Buffalo Bills 20 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Miami Dolphins The Dolphins offense played as advertised, horrible. Even though the Dolphins had a half-decent 2nd quarter, Jay Fiedler's interception that was for a touchdown in the 1st quarter set the tempo for the game. The Dolphins offensive line allowed 5 sacks, but they did show some nice improvement from previous weeks, especially in run-blocking. Rookie Vernon Carey played especially well for the majority of the game, and looked better than most of the veteran starters on the Dolphins line. RB Sammy Morris was the story for the Dolphins rushing for 81 yards on 12 carries in just the first half against his former team. Morris displayed great vision finding the holes, followed his blockers well, and broke tackles that even Bills players were surprised by. He did slow down in the second half though, running the ball just 6 times for a miserable 10 yards. For the fourth time this season Randy McMichael led his team in receptions and receiving yards, and is slowly becoming a leader for this offense. With Fiedler giving up a TD, the Miami defense held the Bills to 1 TD and 2 FGs. They allowed Drew Bledsoe to throw for 212 yards. Buffalo Bills Drew Bledsoe played surprisingly well. With a much better performance by his offensive line, Bledsoe piled up 212 yards and a touchdown against the league's best pass defense. The Bills' only offensive touchdown came in the 3rd quarter on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Drew Bledsoe to Mark Campbell. Eric Moulds also had an outstanding game even without a score, tallying up 99 yards on 5 receptions. The Bills also protected the ball very well. They had no interceptions and no fumbles. Willis McGahee piled up an impressive 111 yards on 26 carries in his first career start and looked outstanding. McGahee had a tough task going against one of the best defenses in the league, and he responded strongly. The Bills' defense played a huge role with an interception by Takeo Spikes that was returned all the way for a touchdown. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Miami Dolphins QB: Jay Fiedler (12-23-136, 1 TD, 1 INT, 1-10 rushing) Jay Fiedler leads the league in turnovers and has only played 3 and a half games. Jay Fiedler did a little bit better Sunday with only 1 INT, and did throw a TD pass, but he was his usual mediocre self. The majority of his throws were short, and there were at least 3 other occasions where a Bills player had a shot at an interception. RB: Sammy Morris (18-91 rushing, 2-28 receiving on 2 targets) Sammy Morris played surprisingly well in the first half. Morris ran for only 10 yards in the second half on 6 carries. WR: Derrius Thompson (1-24 on 3 targets) Derrius Thompson only had one pass thrown to him that was catchable and that was the 24-yard TD catch. Chris Chambers (3-23 on 6 targets, 1-3 rushing) Fiedler under or overthrew Chambers 3 times, Chambers didn't drop anything that was catchable. Chambers also attempted a reverse but didn't get much. Marty Booker (1-10 on 3 targets) Booker only made 1 reception for 10 yards. TE: Randy McMichael (3-34 on 5 targets) Randy McMichael led his team in receptions and yards for the fourth time this year. McMichael is slowly becoming a leader for this struggling offense. He works hard to get open and then makes the most of what the Dolphins QBs throw him. K: Matt Bryant (1 XP, 2-2 FG) Did a nice job of filling in for the injured Olindo Mare. Wes Welker got a break this week. Rush Defense: Allowed 111 yards from Willis McGahee. Joe Burns added another 22 yards. They were adequate but not as strong against McGahee as you would have expected. Pass Defense: Very sloppy day for the NFL's best pass defense. Allowing Drew Bledsoe to throw for 212 yards in windy conditions is a concern. The defense is the one aspect of the Dolphin's game that has been positive. They can't afford to start slipping there as well. Buffalo Bills QB: Drew Bledsoe (15-28-212, 1 TD) Surprise surprise, even Bills fans were expecting yet another poor performance by Bledsoe. Instead, he threw for 212 yards in treacherous wind and against the NFL's best pass defense. He appeared calm and poised. He also did not throw and interception and was only sacked once. RB: Willis McGahee (26-111 rushing, 3-31 receiving on 5 targets) McGahee had a tremendous week in his first NFL start. He did not appear tentative as he hit the holes hard. McGahee did leave the game briefly as he looked to have possibly injured his knee. The TV broadcast immediately went to video of his devastating knee injury while in college. However McGahee shook it off and was right back on the field. After the game, he spoke about Travis Henry still being the starter and that he was the backup but this will be a situation that bears close watch. WR: Eric Moulds (5-99 receiving on 7 targets) Eric Moulds had one drop but still had a very solid game, even without a score. Lee Evans (2-32 receiving on 7 targets) Bledsoe wanted to get Lee Evans involved. Evans had 2 shots at touchdowns, one was a deep pass that was slightly overthrown, and one was a play where Evans easily beat Sam Madison but Evans just dropped it. Evans worked hard to get separation but he couldn't produce the numbers. Josh Reed (1-14 receiving on 3 targets) Josh Reed has been criticized the past few weeks and his stats show nothing to silence the critics. TE: Mark Campbell (4-36 receiving on 6 targets, 1 TD) Campbell scored the only offensive touchdown for the Bills, with his 5-yard reception in the 3rd quarter. With 6 targets, he was obviously a factor in the game plan. K: Ryan Lindell (2 XPs, 2-3 FG) His only miss was into the wind. Rush Defense: Started slow in the first half, but was outstanding in the second half. They shut down Sammy Morris after halftime. Pass Defense: Takeo Spikes' interception return for a touchdown essentially won the game for the Bills. Fiedler was held to 136 yards. Granted, this is Miami but that's still solid. Pittsburgh Steelers 24 at Dallas Cowboys 20 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh ground attack was strong yet again, particularly in the red zone. Duce Staley had another fine game, posting 106 combined rushing and receiving yards, but once again, it was Jerome Bettis who got the TD. Bettis continues to get the goal line carries, but Staley received a couple of carries inside the 5-yard line. Coach Bill Cowher had said last week that Bettis' continued use inside the 5 was primarily due to Staley's relative unfamiliarity with the short yardage offense, and the fact that Staley was not immediately replaced in that area of the field may bear this out. The Steelers leaned on the run late in the game when driving for the winning score, and they were not let down. The run blocking continues to be excellent. Ben Roethlisberger took yet another step forward in this game. Completing over 80% of his passes without a turnover for the second straight week, he continues to show tremendous poise and decision-making ability. On one play, he avoided three defenders in the backfield, escaped a sure sack, and flipped a backhand pass to Jay Riemersma for a first down. Roethlisberger passed for two TDs in the game, while making only one poor throw, as he continues to prove that he is the real deal. He played with a knee bruise suffered early in the game. Defensively, the Steelers tightened up when it counted most. James Farrior, who had a monster game with 2 sacks and forced 3 fumbles, jarred the ball loose with 2:30 to go. Kimo von Oelhoffen recovered the fumble and rambled to the Dallas 25-yard line, setting up the game-winning TD. The Steelers, playing much of the game without corner Chad Scott, who was injured in the contest, were a little shaky at times in pass coverage. Scott and Russell Stuvaints both dropped sure interceptions, sustaining drives on which Dallas eventually scored. Dallas Cowboys The Cowboys enjoyed some early success on the ground through end arounds and misdirection plays. They were able to keep the Steelers' defense on their heels with the threat of the reverse, and were able to consistently move the ball. Richie Anderson scored virtually untouched on a 21-yard first quarter scamper, but the run game wore down as the game progressed. The Cowboys were unable to run for first downs late in the game to kill the clock, and it was this failure that ultimately led to their demise. Vinny Testaverde played a strong game until late in the fourth quarter. He threw for nearly 300 yards without an interception, but a critical fumble late in the game cost the Cowboys a win. Facing a 3rd down with just over two minutes left and a 3-point lead, Testaverde dropped back to pass and put the ball on the ground under pressure from Farrior. This led directly to the game-winning TD. His last-ditch attempt to pull the game out ended with an incomplete pass into the Steelers' end zone. Testaverde targeted Terry Glenn and Keyshawn Johnson heavily throughout. The Cowboys' defense was decent through most of the game. With an assist from some bad offensive penalties in the second half, the Cowboys were able to control the entire third quarter defensively, repeatedly shutting down the Pittsburgh offense. They were, however, unable to hold the Steelers in check when it counted most, as Pittsburgh was able to push 25 yards for the go-ahead TD in the final two minutes. They also failed to garner any turnovers. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Pittsburgh Steelers QB: Ben Roethlisberger (21-25-193, 2 TD, 2-8 rushing) Roethlisberger was outstanding again this week. He played a very controlled game, and didn't force plays when they weren't there. His one bad pass came in the third quarter when he horribly under threw a wide-open Plaxico Burress, who would have walked into the end zone had the pass been on target. Aside from this, Roethlisberger was deadly accurate and again showed great mobility. He was able to roll out of trouble and make positive yardage on a number of seemingly doomed plays. Roethlisberger suffered a knee contusion in the second quarter and played with a slight limp throughout the remainder of the game, but suffered no ill effects production-wise. RB: Duce Staley (18-93 rushing, 2-13 receiving on 2 targets) Staley looked strong yet again. He was forced to sit out one series in the second quarter with a slight ankle sprain, but bounced back strong thereafter. Staley is proving extremely adept at running with patience, waiting for holes to develop, and exploiting them with force. He had runs of 8 and 23 yards called back on holding penalties, keeping him from recording a 5th straight 100-yard game. He is finally starting to see more looks in the passing game as well. He had his shots at the goal line but could not produce. Jerome Bettis (5-8 rushing, 1 TD) Bettis continues to get the goal line carries. Rather than being inserted as soon as the Steelers crossed the 5 yard line, though, he was put into the game in true goal line situations only. His 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter was the difference in the game. Dan Kreider (1-5 rushing) Kreider received his semi-annual carry in this one, and picked up 5. WR: Hines Ward (9-76 receiving on 11 targets) Ward was heavily targeted in the second half. Coach Bill Cowher gave QB Ben Roethlisberger a gentle chiding at halftime, saying that the rookie was trying to get too greedy down the field. He responded by firing often to Ward in the second half, as the Steelers offset an effective ground game with a number of completions on quick outs. Ward did have one uncharacteristic drop, but was his sure-handed self the rest of the game. Plaxico Burress (3-48 receiving, 1 TD on 5 targets) Burress got most of his looks early in the game. He did draw 2 pass interference penalties in addition to his 3 catches. As mentioned, Burress again came close to having a monster game. Terrence Newman fell trying to keep up with Burress down the field on one 3rd quarter play, and Burress was twenty yards in the clear, but Roethlisberger's pass fell short. Burress added to the highlight reel with an outstanding deep catch pulling the ball in with one hand. Antwaan Randle El (1-11 receiving on 1 target, 3-11 rushing) Randle El was relatively quiet. The Steelers inserted him at quarterback for a single play, on which he took the snap in the shotgun and ran a designed draw for 5 yards. TE: Jay Riemersma (2-4 receiving on 2 targets) Riemersma provided a nice safety valve when Roethlisberger was forced to scramble. It was on such plays that he got both of his receptions. Jerame Tuman (4-21 receiving, 1 TD on 5 targets) Tuman scored on a 7-yard pass from Roethlisberger in the fourth quarter, and nearly scored again, but tripped on his way to the goal line. K: Jeff Reed (3 XP, 1-1 FG) Reed drilled his only attempt, a 51-yarder in the second quarter. Pass Defense: The pass defense surrendered 284 yards and did not intercept a pass. They did manage to avoid interference penalties for the most part, but also dropped two easy INTs. The Steelers sacked Testaverde 5 times in the contest, and the pressure caused the turnover that won the game. An uneven but ultimately acceptable performance, as they locked down when it counted most. Rush Defense: The Steelers run defense was pretty solid, and got more effective as the game progressed. They allowed a 13 yard run on a reverse to Keyshawn Johnson and Richie Anderson's 21 yard score on the opening drive, but surrendered only 66 yards the rest of the way. Dallas Cowboys QB: Vinny Testaverde (23-36-284, 1 TD, 1 fumble lost) Testaverde played a pretty nice game for the most part. He was very accurate throwing quick intermediate routes, and made a number of fine throws to the sidelines, as the Cowboys' offense was able to pick up 21 first downs in the game. He fumbled after a sack late in the game which gave Pittsburgh the opportunity to win. RB: Richie Anderson (6-54 rushing, 1 TD, 3-18 receiving on 5 targets) Anderson was clearly the Cowboys' best back in this game. In addition to averaging 9 yards per carry and scoring the 21-yard TD, he also received 5 targets out of the backfield. Anderson showed excellent quickness and change of direction ability. He tore off a run of 18 yards on a 3rd and 17 in the second quarter which kept the drive alive and led to a game-tying FG. Eddie George (10-28 rushing, 1-4 receiving on 1 target) George pulled off a 9-yard run early in the game. That's the good news. The bad news is that his other 9 carries resulted in a net gain of 19 yards. He simply has lost a step getting to the line, and the Cowboys are not going to be able to move the ball effectively on the ground if George continues to get the bulk of the carries. ReShard Lee (2 for -3 rushing) Lee did nothing in this game. WR: Terry Glenn (7-140 receiving on 10 targets, 1 for -3 rushing) Glenn had an excellent game for the Cowboys. He pulled down a number of tough catches, and was able to make things happen after grabbing the ball. He also had one long catch ruled incomplete after replays showed he landed out of bounds. Glenn was the recipient of basically every long ball thrown on the day, and appears to have emerged as Dallas' primary deep threat. His 48 yard grab in the third quarter set up Dallas' second TD. Keyshawn Johnson (6-61 receiving, 1 TD on 10 targets, 1-13 rushing) Johnson made a couple of really nice catches in this game, including a 22-yard TD on which he pulled the ball down in the back of the end zone and managed to get both feet in bounds. He continues to be heavily targeted by Testaverde, and also was utilized in the run game, gaining 13 yards on an end-around. Antonio Bryant (1-22 receiving on 2 targets) Bryant made a nice catch on a 22-yard sideline pattern, but was otherwise quiet. Dedric Ward (1-11 rushing) Ward received no targets in the passing game, but picked up 11 on a well-executed reverse. TE: Jason Witten (5-39 receiving on 6 targets) Witten played a significant role in the Cowboys' passing attack, particularly on third downs. Testaverde seems to look to him frequently on 3rd and 5-10 yards. K: Billy Cundiff (2 XP, 2-2 FG) Cundiff hit from 39 and 47 yards. Pass Defense: The Cowboys' pass defense played off the Steelers' receivers much of the game. They seemed willing to concede the underneath route while guarding against the long ball. To his credit, Ben Roethlisberger took what he was given, and was able to complete 84% of his passes. For this reason alone, the Cowboys secondary would likely consider this a sub-par effort. Rush Defense: The Cowboys' run defense was adequate, but not spectacular. The Steelers were able to chalk up 117 yards on 27 carries and were able to assert themselves on the ground late. The Steelers showed run on their final short TD drive, but the Dallas D-line was handled by the Steelers' offensive line, and the Steelers were able to run the clock down and punch it in. Houston Texans 20 at Tennessee Titans 10 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Houston Texans Domanick Davis returned to a starting role, but was ineffective before leaving early in the second quarter with a bruised thigh. Jonathan Wells replaced Davis and filled in strongly scoring the game clinching touchdown with just under 5 minutes remaining in the game. David Carr showed no signs of the foot problem that caused him to miss some practice time this week. He did have one interception early, but other than that played mistake free football leading the Texans to their first ever win over Tennessee. Jabar Gaffney gave defenses another receiver to worry about when playing Houston. Carr seemed very confident in Gaffney lofting several passes up in his direction that Gaffney made plays on. The lone TD through the air was a result of a tremendous adjustment by Gaffney. Carr threw what looked like a pick only to have Gaffney break back inside and make the catch for the TD. Three of his targets also came on 3rd down, further evidence of the confidence Carr has in him. Andre Johnson was shut down most of the game by the Titans. Two of his four catches were on screen passes evident of the blanket coverage Johnson deserves. Defensively the Texans played great football. They intercepted McNair 4 times, two of which were on tipped balls, and not only held the NFL's second leading rusher to 52 yards, but also knocked him out of the game on a tremendous hit on a screen pass. They only managed one sack, but until the game was out of reach, they had held Tennessee to only about 160 yards of total offense. The prevent defense late in the game allowed McNair to pad his passing yards by about 70 before throwing his final interception and sealing the game for Houston. Tennessee Titans Chris Brown was held in check then knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury. Brown caught his only pass of the game and after five yards was hit hard by Jamie Sharper and did not return. Antowain Smith replaced Brown and was a non factor. Steve McNair managed to throw the ball 41 times. He was a victim of some Drew Bennett drops, but all in all, leading this offense to only 10 points against Houston's defense has to be considered a failure. He did come up with some timely scrambles for third down conversions. Half of his four interceptions weren't completely his fault, but on the Houston 4 with 2 minutes left in the game is no time for a QB of his experience to throw a pick that closed the door on the Titans comeback. For what it's worth, his second down pass, to Mason just prior to this pick was almost intercepted as well. Derrick Mason was the most reliable target on the day which isn't saying much for this group. There were at least 4 catchable balls dropped all of which ended up killing drives. The receivers seemed to have trouble finding open space as many of the completions seemed to be on 10 yard outs. Defensively, Tennessee actually played pretty good. Only two of Houston's 35 rushes went for more than 10 yards,13 was the longest. They also held Andre Johnson in check as well. They did force Carr into some questionable quick throws with their blitz, but the Houston receivers were able to make the plays and the Titan secondary didn't. Two sacks, a fumble and an interception were the extent of their defensive stats for the day. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Houston Texans QB: David Carr (16-26-266, 1TD, 1 Int, 1 Fumble lost) played another solid game. He made good decisions and good throws. His one fault is that he favors Andre Johnson a bit too much. He did get all his receivers involved, but Johnson still had twice as many targets as any other receiver. Carr did have one good scramble for a 1st down, but he does not look like he favors running at all. All in all, a great victory on the road against a division opponent speaks volumes about Carr's leadership. RB: Jonathan Wells (22-73, 1TD rushing, 1-4 receiving on 1 target) ended up getting the majority of Houston's carries. It was hit or miss for Wells as 14 of his carries went for 3 yards or less. This was the rule and not the exception for Houston on the ground. Wells did have the game clinching TD on the ground a nice 4 yard run right up the middle to seal the game. Domanick Davis (10-25 rushing, 0-0 receiving on 1 target) had one good carry of 10 yards, but the 9 others went for no more than 4 yards. Davis really had nowhere to run and neither did Wells. Tennessee really focused on making Carr throw the ball. Davis left the game with a thigh bruise. WR: Andre Johnson (4-66 receiving on 11 targets) had a pretty quiet follow up to his monster game last week. Two of his four catches were WR screen passes that he turned into 12 yard gains. Jabar Gaffney (5-85, 1TD receiving on 6 targets) was a pleasant surprise to Houston fans giving them something other than Johnson to cheer about. Gaffney made several plays on the ball catching what amounted to jump balls thrown by Carr. His TD was a great adjustment on the pass. Corey Bradford (2-65 receiving on 2 targets) made an excellent diving catch on an early bomb from Carr that covered 47 yards (for the longest play of the game), but only managed 2 targets and was a non factor. Derick Armstrong (3-37 on 5 targets) did manage to distance himself as Carr's third option. TE: Billy Miller (1-9 on 1 target) was a non factor all day catching his only
pass. Tennessee Titans QB: Steve McNair (19-41-210, 1TD, 4 Int, 4-33 rushing) had a miserable day throwing the ball. He wasn't helped out by at least 4 drops, but he'll take most of the blame himself. His offensive line did give him lots of time to throw as Houston wasn't able to muster much of a rush. For most of the day, the only options open to McNair were the underneath routes. His longest pass covered only 22 yards and most of that was made after the catch by Mason. His only bright spot was his scrambling ability twice rushing for 1st downs out of the pocket. Two of his interceptions were on tipped balls, but the other two were on bad throws. On the first, he threw the ball straight to Glenn on what may have been a bad route. RB: Chris Brown (13-52 rushing, 1-5 receiving on 1 target) was hit or miss also. He had 3 long carries (7, 10 and 16) but also had 8 carries for 3 yards or less. He continues to be a non factor in catching the ball (only 1 target) and most importantly injured his shoulder on his only catch. It didn't appear all that serious as he was rotating it on the sideline, and was described as a brachial plexus injury. Antowain Smith (4-16 rushing, 1-5 receiving on 1 target) filled in, but by then the Titans were playing catch up and weren't able to pound him the ball. WR: Derrick Mason (5-74 receiving on 11 targets) was the most targeted receiver, but may still be feeling the effects of his ankle sprain on Monday night. All of his targets were on short to medium routes. Drew Bennett (5-59, 1 TD receiving on 10 targets) Drew Bennett was constantly getting open deep. Problem is he couldn't hang on to the ball. Half of Bennett's targets were right at 20 yard throws. With Tyrone Calico out for the season, Bennett is really the only other legitimate option for McNair. Eddie Berlin (4-50 receiving on 8 targets) was the only other WR with a target. He was a frequent target late with 4 targets in the 4th quarter. TE: Shad Meier was inactive due to an emergency appendectomy. Ben Troupe (2-12 receiving on 3 targets) Troupe made his first start. He was quiet catching 2 passes for 12 yards on 3 targets. K: Gary Anderson (1-1 XP, 1-1 FG) Anderson's made a 40-yard field goal attempt. Pass Defense: The Titans did a good job of getting some pressure on Carr coming up with 2 sacks and a fumble. They also had an early interception, but with the game on the line, Carr was able to play mistake free. Rush Defense: This was the best unit on the field for Tennessee. Houston mostly had to settle for short or no gains all day. Davis had an early 10 yard run on a draw and Wells had a 13 yard carry late while running out the clock. Other than those two runs, the Titans gave up little or nothing. Denver Broncos 31 at Oakland Raiders 3 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Denver Broncos The Broncos started slowly with their first possession ending in a punt and the next ending with an interception. After that point however, the Broncos offense was golden, driving for four touchdowns and a field goal in their next 5 possessions. Jake Plummer looked sharp following his one interception, throwing for 189 yards and three scores. Tight end Jeb Putzier led the Denver receiving corps with 3 receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown. After a huge game last week, Reuben Droughns got the start at running back this week and did not disappoint. Droughns rushed for a 4.6 yard per carry average on 38 carries, 176 yards, and a touchdown. Tatum Bell (6 carries for 25 yards) and Quentin Griffin (4 carries for 16 yards) saw limited action. The NFL's number one defense showed their stuff with 4 sacks and an interception
while holding the Raiders to only 3 points. Denver's defense only yielded 31
yards on the ground and 136 yards through the air - only allowing nine first
downs. The Raiders looked simply overmatched by the Denver defense. Kerry Collins drew continual boos throughout the day from the Oakland crowd as he completed 15 of 31 attempts for 136 yards. Oakland was forced to punt seven times, and turned the ball over twice - on an interception and a fumble. Amos Zereoue carried the ball 15 times and was held to a meager 34 yards. The rest of the Raider ground attack came on one play from Ronald Curry who lost yardage. There were no gems among the receiving corps either; tight end Courtney Anderson led the Raiders in yardage with 34 yards on two catches. Perhaps the only thing worse than the Oakland offense was the Oakland defense. The secondary was torched for a 12 yard touchdown, a 10 yard touchdown, and a 31 yard touchdown. The front seven allowed Droughns, who started the year as a second string fullback, to rush for 176 yards and a touchdown. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Denver Broncos QB: Jake Plummer (11-20-190, 3 TD, 1 INT, 1-15 rushing) Other than one early interception Jake Plummer ran a very efficient offense that controlled the clock for almost thirty-seven minutes of the game, and managed 25 first downs. Plummer's long touchdown of the day came on a 31 yard strike to Ashley Lelie. RB: Reuben Droughns (38-176, 1 TD rushing, 1-4 receiving on 2 targets) After a huge week last week while Griffin was out with an ankle injury, Droughns was given the start and the bulk of the carries this week. Droughns seems to be another successful product of the Denver running system. He ran just as hard as he did last week and just as effectively. It doesn't necessarily translate into on field production, but he seems to have an attitude just as positive as his statistics. Tatum Bell (6-25 rushing) Tatum Bell was brought in during the fourth quarter to finish out the game for Droughns (not because he was injured - just because he had 38 carries). The rookie did a fine job closing out the game with over 4 yards per carry, Quentin Griffin (4-16 rushing) Griffin, who up until last week was the number one running back, helped Bell close out the game. Griffin is returning from an ankle injury, but it looks like Denver may stick with Droughns who seems to have the hot hand. Griffin opened the game as the kick off returner. WR: Ashley Lelie (2-45, 1 TD receiving on 3 targets) Lelie led the wide receivers in receptions and yardage; he also caught a 31 yard touchdown toss. Lelie is starting to become a force for the Broncos after struggling his first two years in the league. Darius Watts (1-28 receiving on 1 target) The rookie receiver has drawn a lot of praise from the Bronco's coaching staff; he came through for a nice gain when Jake Plummer threw his way today. Rod Smith (1-24 receiving on 5 targets, 2-22 rushing) Rod Smith doesn't seem to be the weapon he has been for Denver the past several years. On one of his rushing attempts it was actually a play designed for him to throw deep for Lelie, but with Lelie covered he just tucked the ball and ran. TE: Jeb Putzier (3-52, 1 TD receiving on 4 targets) Putzier was the leading receiver for Denver, and pulled in a 12 yard touchdown. Dwayne Carswell (2-30, 1 TD receiving on 3 targets) Carswell also contributed to the Broncos victory with a touchdown. With the retirement of Shannon Sharpe, it seems Denver will continue to use multiple tight ends to fill the void. Patrick Hape (1-7 receiving on 3 targets) Hape had his share of looks today in comparison to the other tight ends, but was much less of a factor than Putzier or Carswell. K: Jason Elam (4 XP, 1/1 FG) Elam hit his only field goal attempt of the day for 33 yards. Pass Defense: The Denver secondary essentially shut down the Oakland pass offense; Collins was held to 136 yards and no touchdowns Rush Defense: The rush defense for the Broncos stopped the Raider's Amos Zereoue cold - limiting him to 34 yards on the ground. Oakland Raiders QB: Kerry Collins (15-31-136, 1 INT) Collins drew jeers form the Raider faithful for a good part of the day, as he and the hapless Oakland offense just couldn't seem to get anything going against Denver. Collins was hurried in to making bad decisions by the Denver pass rush while the secondary blanketed his receivers. RB: Amos Zereoue (15-34 rushing, 4-17 receiving on 6 targets) Zereoue was consistently shut down throughout the game, with his longest rush being 11 yards. Only twice was Zereoue able to rush for a first down. J.R. Redmond (1-8 receiving on 3 targets) A few passes were thrown Redmond's way, but he made no rushing attempts. Zack Crockett (1-0 receiving on 1 target) Crockett had no impact on the offense in this game. WR: Ronald Curry (2-25 receiving on 5 targets, 1- 3- rushing) Curry, much like every other member of the Oakland offense, had a lackluster day. Jerry Porter (3-21 receiving on 7 targets, 1 Fumble lost) Porter coughed up a critical red zone fumble at the end of the first half. This lost Oakland their best chance of the day at scoring a touchdown. Doug Gabriel (1-17 receiving on 2 targets) Gabriel was effectively shut out along with the rest of the offense. TE: Courtney Anderson (2-34 receiving on 2 targets) Anderson led the Raiders in reception yardage. That says a lot about the Raiders offense right there. Doug Jolley (1-14 receiving on 2 targets) Jolley saw a small amount of action in the struggling Oakland offense. K: Sebastian Janikowski (1/1 FG) Janikowski scored the only Raider points of the day with a 35 yard field goal. Pass Defense: The Oakland pass defense was ineffective as it gave up 3 touchdown passes to the Broncos. The lone bright spot of the secondary was strong safety Marques Anderson who had 14 tackles and an interception on the day. Rush Defense: The rush defense looked like a rusty gate while letting Denver rush for a net total of 253 yards. The "meat in the middle" (Warren Sapp and Ted Washington) was not a run stopping factor. Seattle Seahawks 20 at New England Patriots 30 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Seattle Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck's 50 passing attempts were the most he's thrown in a game since a week 17 victory in 2002 against the San Diego Chargers. Hasselbeck continues to show the same ability to move around in the pocket and keep his eyes down field, especially on third down. Of Seattle's 23 first downs, 18 of them came on completions from Hasselbeck. Neither of his two interceptions were poor choices, but more phenomenal plays by the Patriot defense. The Seattle defense was nowhere to be found in the first half allowing the Patriots to score four times on four first half possessions. However, they turned things around forcing two punts and two turnovers on the Patriots' first four possessions of the second half. New England Patriots RB Corey Dillon gave the Patriots a powerful running game. Combined with RB Kevin Faulk, the two gave New England a dangerous one-two punch against the Seahawks. Neither player showed any indication that their recent injuries hampered their performance. QB Tom Brady spread the ball around targeting nine different players. He appeared to favor WR David Patten and TE Daniel Graham. Brady looked their way as his first options as he went through his progressions. The Patriots ran their regular season winning streak to 17 games (20 if we include playoff games). For a while, late in the game, the streak appeared to be on shaky ground. The Seahawks, trailing 23-17, had a first down at the New England 13 with about 4 minutes left, but settled for a field goal and never threatened again. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Seattle Seahawks QB: Matt Hasselbeck (27-50-349 2 INT passing, 2 point pass) Hasselbeck came out throwing at the start of the game. Seattle called twelve pass plays compared to only five runs in the first quarter. Hasselbeck's first interception was tipped by DT Richard Seymour on a screen play set up for FB Mack Strong. Had the ball been completed, Strong had tons of open field with blockers in front of him. The second interception was intended for WR Darrell Jackson. Jackson didn't come back to the ball and CB Ty Law made a fantastic diving grab to pick it off. Making matters worse for Hasselbeck in the opening quarter was that Seattle had four 5-yard penalties that kept the Seahawks in long down and distance situations. RB: Shaun Alexander (16-77 TD rushing, 2-30 receiving on 4 targets) Alexander ran well in the game, but Seattle came out throwing on first down on nearly every series. On a third and one play in the first quarter Alexander was flagged for a false start that killed the drive. Alexander's touchdown came on a draw play from the 9-yard line that caught New England in a blitz. Alexander was able to easily scoot of the right side after the outside linebacker blew by him chasing QB Matt Hasselbeck. Alexander also had a great catch and run in the fourth quarter for 24 yards that set up Josh Brown's final field goal pulling Seattle to within 3 points. Maurice Morris (2-16 rushing, 1-7 receiving on 3 targets) Morris had his typical one carry early in the game (9 yards), and then didn't see much action. However, he was targeted on a deep ball down the sideline after coming out of the backfield. This is the third time Seattle has tried this specific play this season. On each occasion he was slightly overthrown by QB Matt Hasselbeck. Mack Strong (2-9 rushing, 3-10 receiving on 4 targets) Strong saw his normal workload in the game. He was the target on a screen play when QB Matt Hasselbeck threw his first interception. Had the ball been completed Strong might have run for a long way as he had open field and plenty of blockers in front of him. WR: Darrell Jackson (2-40 receiving on 10 targets) Jackson was "Ty-ed" up by the law in this game. CB Ty Law, that is. Jackson's one longer reception (37 yards) came on a defensive mix-up while the Patriots were in a zone and Jackson somehow got free behind it. QB Matt Hasselbeck's second interception came on a quick out to Jackson. Jackson didn't come back to the ball and allowed CB Ty Law to dive in front to pick it off. Jackson dropped an easy reception on a second and seven play that would have given Seattle some momentum immediately following a Patriot turnover. Instead, Seattle went three and out. Koren Robinson (9-150 receiving on 14 targets) Seattle made a concentrated effort to go after QB Tyrone Poole (knee injury) and his back up CB Asante Samuel. Robinson struggled early in the game, but rebounded with several great leaping catches. His three drops were nothing new, but it was obvious that head coach Mike Holmgren was quite disturbed by this. However, Seattle kept going back to him and he produced in the second half with six catches on seven targets. Robinson was twice targeted in the endzone. One play he could have made, although it would have been a difficult catch. The other play QB Matt Hasselbeck was late in getting the ball out. On a negative note, Robinson was flagged with a taunting penalty following a 31-yard reception down the sideline. Robinson was obviously excited after making a great play. He spiked / spun the ball in front of the CB as he got up and bounced away. The announcers in the game argued over whether or not it was worth a flag. Bobby Engram (3-35 receiving on 4 targets) This was a standard Bobby Engram game. Helped to move the sticks three times. However, Engram was targeted once on the goal line. QB Matt Hasselbeck put the ball out in front of Engram allowing the DB to slap it away instead of hitting his back shoulder. TE: Jerramy Stevens (4-50 receiving on 8 targets, 2 pt reception) Stevens saw his highest target total of his three year career. He also converted the two-point conversion following the Alexander touchdown, and was targeted several times inside the 10-yard line. Stevens is looking like a preferred option for Seattle in the red zone. Itula Mili (1-17 receiving on 2 targets) Both of Mili's targets came at the very end of the game. His lone reception came in what should be considered garbage time. K: Josh Brown (1-1 XP, 4-4 FG 33, 40, 28, 31) Brown was perfect in the game. However, Seattle burned an excessive amount of time getting Brown on the field to kick the fourth field goal pulling Seattle to within three points. Pass Defense: Seattle sacked QB Tom Brady only once in the game, but they put several hard hits on him through the second half. At least two of them were close to being late hits that could have drawn flags. Rookie safety Michael Boulware made two huge plays in the second half forcing a fumble (de-helmeting QB Tom Brady) and picking off a Brady pass to boot. Rush Defense: Seattle was unable to contain QB Corey Dillon. Dillon gained yardage in large chunks. Nine of Dillon's twenty-three carries went for at least six yards. The bulk of these yards came right up the gut. RB Kevin Faulk also had half of his carries go for at least six yards as well. New England Patriots QB: Tom Brady (19-30-231 1 TD 1 INT passing, 3-7 rushing 1 fumble lost) Brady wasn't dazzling in the first half, but he was efficient. He led the Patriots on scoring drives of 26, 21, 67, and 50 yards. Brady used the short passing game masterfully moving the sticks. His longest completion before the fourth quarter was only 19 yards to WR David Patten. Brady ran into some problems to open the second half. Their first two drives ended with a punt, followed by an interception and a fumble. Brady had all the time in the world on the interception. It was almost like he was getting bored in the pocket and just decided to eventually throw it. Brady was trying to scramble for a first down on the fumble. Had he slid, he wouldn't have made it. The hit he took from SS Michael Boulware was big one (removed his helmet). It would have been surprising had Brady not fumbled. RB: Corey Dillon (23-105 2 TD rushing, 2-6 receiving on 2 targets) Dillon looked strong and powerful easily breaking arm tackles. His 1-yard touchdown plunge came immediately after 7 and 8-yard runs in the redzone. His final carry of the game was the 9-yard touchdown that ended any chance of a Seattle comeback. Dillon showed absolutely no evidence of the foot injury that kept him out of practice and almost kept him out of the lineup this week. Kevin Faulk (6-21 rushing, 4-37 receiving on 5 targets) Faulk did a great job out of the backfield. Three of his receptions went for 10+ yards. One play that was set up as a screen pass was sniffed out by the defensive line and went for -1 yards. WR: David Patten (5-58 TD receiving on 8 targets, 1-5 rushing) Patten was QB Tom Brady's favorite target in the game. Patten scored his 6-yard touchdown when Brady hit him right at the line of scrimmage, and then Patten easily beat CB Ken Lucas one on one and scooted into the end zone. Patten was targeted four times in the fourth quarter as the Patriots continued to attack Seattle instead of play conservative. Patten dropped one on these that he should have caught. David Givens (1-17 receiving on 4 targets) Givens disappeared after catching his first target in the first quarter. He wasn't looked to again until the fourth quarter. SS Michael Boulware intercepted one of his targets. Givens didn't do a good job of working back to his quarterback. Brady was standing in the pocket for a very long time before he threw the interception. By not working back to Brady Givens allowed Boulware to cut in front of him for the pick. Bethel Johnson (1-48 receiving on 2 targets) After being made inactive last week for reasons head coach Bill Belichick wouldn't elaborate on, Johnson made the catch of the game on 3rd and long to ice the victory. One first down would put the game nearly out of reach, and QB Tom Brady rolled out to his left on the play. Johnson made an impressive diving 48-yard grab behind the DBs. His only other target came on a third down. Johnson dropped a catchable ball. TE: Daniel Graham (4-45 receiving on 6 targets) Graham was kept out of the endzone for the first time in weeks. He would have had five receptions, but one was called back by penalty on a 3rd down play that Graham would have converted into a new set of downs. Christian Fauria (0-0 receiving on 2 targets) Both of Fauria's targets came in the first half. He dropped his second target. K: Adam Vinatieri (3-3 XP, 3-3 FG 40, 39, 30) Perfect in the game. There was nothing of consequence to report. Pass Defense: CB Ty Law effectively removed WR Darrell Jackson from the game. He was able to blanket him by being physical at the line of scrimmage on some plays, then backing off on others making it difficult for Seattle to predict when they should try a double move on him. The pass rush dropped QB Matt Hasselbeck twice and hit him on just a few others. When they did flush Hasselbeck from the pocket they had a hard time keep him from still making plays. CB Tyrone Poole was thrown at time after time. He was seen on the sideline with ice strapped to his bad knee and was replaced by Asante Samuel. Rush Defense: Seattle chose to come out throwing and didn't really test the Patriots run defense early on. They held RB Shaun Alexander to only 21 yards at half time, but Alexander was utilized more late in the game when Seattle started to get on a roll. They were particularly vulnerable to draw plays when the sent their LBs on blitzes from the outside. Cincinnati Bengals 17 at Cleveland Browns 34 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Cincinnati Bengals The Bengals struggled to get things going in both the rushing and passing phases of the game against the Browns in the Battle of Ohio, and suffered their 4th defeat in 5 games, digging themselves a hole similar to the 1-4 start they got off to last year before finishing 8-8. The midweek surprise package from Chad Johnson to the Browns defenders served as motivation for the Cleveland Browns, who withstood multiple comeback attempts by the Bengals to post a 34-17 final score. Carson Palmer had limited opportunities to throw the ball deep into the Browns secondary, and found that his receivers (notably Chad Johnson and Kelley Washington) were dropping more passes thrown their way than catching them. Carson Palmer completed a lot of underneath and dump off passes in the fourth quarter to raise his stats to 20/36 for 148 yards with 1 TD and 1 Int, but could not be fingered for this loss, as he found too little time to throw the ball and saw everyone around him beating themselves with penalties and other dumb mistakes. After making the bold gesture, Chad Johnson finished with just 3 catches for 37 yards (10 targets). Peter Warrick was inactive for this game, and neither T.J. Houshmandzadeh (0 catches) nor Kelley Washington (2 catches for 18 yards) really filled the void in his absence. Playing from behind for much of the game, the Bengals saw their running opportunities limited, allowing for Rudi Johnson to only receive 16 carries for 57 yards. Chris Perry saw limited time in place of Rudi Johnson on a series in the 1st half, but was otherwise unused. Third down back Kenny Watson saw a great deal of action in the 4th quarter of this game, finishing with 5 catches and 28 yards on passes out of the backfield. Cleveland Browns The Browns offense as a whole had their best day statistically of the year under the operation of new offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie. Jeff Garcia capped the offense off by going 16/23 with 310 yards and 4 touchdowns, though he did throw 2 interceptions and lost 1 fumbled snap. With the benefit of a strong running game, Jeff Garcia had more time to throw and took advantage of his opportunities, though he continued to look more comfortable when given the opportunity to roll out and let his receivers create plays. The first of four passing touchdowns came on a 99 yard bomb from Jeff Garcia to Andre Davis, who had slipped behind the secondary, but stood as his only catch of the day, which kept him from reaching the century mark for the second week in a row. Running back Lee Suggs was however able to reach the 100 yard receiving mark on 5 catches, aided by a 59 yard touchdown pass in the 4th quarter. Dennis Northcutt contributed late in the game with a fantastic 46 yard catch as he was slipping in front of the defender, and finished with 2 catches for 59 yards on the night. Quincy Morgan doesn't have many receiving yards this season, but picked up his 3rd touchdown of the season, when a scrambling Garcia found him racing towards the end zone on a 10 yard connection. The Browns got a solid effort out of their tight end Aaron Shea (3 catches for 25 yards), who picked up a touchdown by making a great catch on a pass over his shoulder in the corner of the end zone. The running back situation over the long run may have become murkier as the result of this game, one in which William Green showed excellent power in knocking over defenders en route to a 115 yard rushing day on 25 carries. The burst and speed of Lee Suggs was less effective against the Bengals defense on this day, as Suggs finished with a terrible 13 carries and 19 yards, including one disputable lost fumble. This situation bears watching, however it appears Butch Davis will stick to what he's been saying and go with the hot hand. It's a good combination, as they offer different running styles. With the lead, Davis was able to work both backs into the game and both responded with 100+ yards of total offense. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Cincinnati Bengals QB: Carson Palmer (20-36-148, 1 TD, 1 Int) While Carson Palmer finished with a 55.6% completion percentage, much of his Palmer's stats were padded after the Bengals had fallen behind by two touchdowns late in the game, primarily dumping off the ball underneath to his running back or tight end. 80 of Palmer's 148 passing yards came in the 4th quarter, and he finished with just a mere 4.1 yards per passing attempt. Palmer did not make many bad decisions in this game, however was hampered by multiple dropped balls, and the fact that he was often facing 2nd and long or 3rd and long situations in which the Browns were expecting the pass. RB: Rudi Johnson (16-57 rushing, 1-0 receiving on 3 targets) When given the opportunity, Rudi Johnson broke through the holes, however he was limited when the Bengals fell behind initially by a 14-0 score, and later by 31-17and 34-17 deficits. Seven of Rudi Johnson's carries resulted in gains of 4 yards or more, but without ample opportunity Johnson was not able to build upon any success in the running game. RB: Kenny Watson (5-28 receiving on 6 targets) Kenny Watson took advantage of his role as the receiving back out of the backfield while the Browns gave the underneath pass in the 4th quarter, pulling in 5 balls, all for short yardage gains. RB: Chris Perry (2-1 rushing, 1-9 receiving on 1 target) Chris Perry was used to spell Rudi Johnson for one series in the second quarter, but was given very little room to run while he was out there. WR: Chad Johnson (3-37 receiving on 10 targets) After sending Pepto Bismol to each of the Browns cornerbacks this week (saying they'd have upset stomachs after facing him), it would certainly seem the Chad Johnson was the one who left this game feeling sick. CBS credited Chad Johnson with 3 drops, however there were 4-5 catchable balls that Chad Johnson failed to pull in, and there appeared to be frustration on the sidelines when the camera zoomed in on Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson trying to work through things. WR: Kelley Washington (2-18 receiving on 5 targets) Missing from the stats this week is a ball that Washington should have caught in the end zone for touchdown, however the referee keenly observed the ball pop out as he rolled over it. Washington pleaded with Marvin Lewis to challenge the play, however no challenge flag was thrown, much to the credit of the Bengals coaching staff, who recognized it was more important to save the challenge and the timeout. WR: Cliff Russell (1-21 receiving on 1 target) Cliff Russell served as the #4 receiver on the day, and also took over the kick return duties to lighten the load on TJ Houshmandzadeh, who was moved to the starting lineup. WR: TJ Houshmandzadeh (0 targets) With the injury to Peter Warrick, TJ Houshmandzadeh was moved to the starting lineup. However, he failed to respond, as he was not targeted at all during the game, just one game after he was the primary outlet of Carson Palmer and saw 15 looks against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 4. WR: Peter Warrick (Inactive, Did Not Play) The coaching staff and Peter Warrick have admitted that he has a shin injury that is slow to heal, however have not revealed the exact nature of the injury or an anticipated return date for Warrick. For the near future, this likely means more looks for TJ Houshmandzadeh and Kelley Washington, however may slow the development of Carson Palmer. TE: Matt Schobel (3-17 receiving on 3 targets, 1 TD) Matt Schobel was a favorite target of Carson Palmer's in the red zone. He collected a touchdown on a pass where he was left wide open as the Bengals mounted their comeback in the second quarter to tie the score at 14-14. TE: Tony Stewart (2-12 receiving on 6 targets) Tony Stewart saw a number of balls underneath as the game wound down. K: Shayne Graham (2 XP, 1-2 FG) Shayne Graham missed a 44 yard field wide left with the opportunity to close the score to 24-20 at the beginning of the 4th quarter. The swirling winds and cold weather (33 degree wind chill at game time) may have contributed to this. Pass Defense: The Bengals pass defense gave up 4 touchdowns, and let the Browns get behind them on multiple plays (Andre' Davis' 99 yard touchdown and Dennis Northcutt's 46 yard reception in the fourth quarter). By the end of the day, Jeff Garcia had put up 310 passing yards. On the bright side, they did come up with 2 interceptions, and picked up one sack. Rush Defense: The Bengals interior has been knocked off the ball all year long, and the linebackers and secondary have had great difficulty making tackles. This game was no exception, with William Green and Lee Suggs combining for 134 yards on 38 attempts, and gave up carries of 5 yards or more on 13 occasions, leading to many first downs and short yardage situations on 2nd and 3rd downs. Cleveland Browns QB: Jeff Garcia (16-23-310, 4 TD, 2 Int, 6-1 rushing, 1 fumble lost) Jeff Garcia had his best day statistically as a Cleveland Brown, however three turnovers put a cloud over his day. Garcia spread the ball around well, finding Andre Davis, Quincy Morgan, Lee Suggs and Aaron Shea for touchdowns, and in each case he had the opportunity to roll out of the pocket, creating the time to find the open receiver who had gotten behind the defense or had clearly beaten their defender. With a 13.5 yards per passing attempt average, Garcia led the Browns to victory with a 115.5 passer rating. Neither of his interceptions were pretty, and both could be contributed to poor passes by him. It is unclear whether the fumble on the snap exchange from Jeff Faine was his fault, however it was likely Garcia's fault when he tried to scoop the ball up and was unable to make the play, leading to a fumble recovery for a touchdown by the Bengals. RB: William Green (25-115 rushing, 1-0 receiving on 2 targets) William Green showed power in bowling over Bengals defenders and falling forward to lead the Browns rushing attack. William Green was the starting running back as he took the first snap, and he took advantage of his opportunities as he was able to run off plays of 12, 8, 26, 7, 9, 8, and 8 yards all in the first half on his way to a 115 yard rushing day. Green was utilized as the hot hand by Butch Davis in this RBBC situation. RB: Lee Suggs (13-19 rushing, 1 fumble lost, 5-100 receiving on 6 targets, 1 TD) While the stat sheet shows a fumble for Lee Suggs in Week 6, it was much more likely that the call was blown on the field, and that Suggs should have been ruled down, as the replay showed that the ball appeared to pop out well after Suggs had not one, but both knees down. Though there was no explanation by the referee, however one would suspect that the replays did not show indisputable evidence to overturn the call on the field. This fumble changed the momentum of this game, and the way that Green and Suggs were utilized within the flow of the game. From this point on, Suggs' carries were limited, however Butch Davis and crew still felt comfortable using Suggs in the passing game, and Suggs rewarded them with a 59 yard catch for a touchdown in which Suggs beat the linebacker around the corner and raced to the end zone en route to a 100 yard receiving day. RB: Terrelle Smith (1-2 rushing, 1-4 receiving on 1 target) Terrelle Smith did an excellent job of creating holes for William Green and Lee Suggs all afternoon long, especially considering that the Bengals stacked the box with 8 defenders with regularity throughout the game. WR: Andre Davis (1-99 receiving on 3 targets, 1 TD) After the Bengals pinned the Browns inside their own 1 yard line, the Browns came out firing, allowing Garcia to roll out and Andre Davis to get behind the Bengals secondary to catch a bomb from Garcia and sprint the rest of the way for the longest touchdown in Browns history. With just one additional yard, Davis had the opportunity to become the first Browns receiver since 1989 (Webster Slaughter) to finish with back-to-back 100 yard receiving games, however Garcia and Davis could not connect after this long touchdown. WR: Dennis Northcutt (2-59 receiving on 4 targets) Dennis Northcutt made the catch of the day in the fourth quarter to seal the victory when he was able to maintain his concentration as he was slipping to come up with a 46 yard reception. This key reception helped to make up for two catchable balls in which he had failed to make the reception earlier in the game. WR: Andre King (2-13 receiving on 2 targets) The fourth receiver in the Browns offense, King came up with 2 balls underneath in critical situations to extend Browns drives. WR: Quincy Morgan (1-10 receiving on 2 targets, 1 TD) Quincy Morgan continues to be utilized less than Andre Davis and Dennis Northcutt in this offense, however his presence as a red zone target in this offense continues to grow, as Morgan hauled in his 3rd reception on the season despite just 9 receptions. TE: Aaron Shea (3-25 receiving on 4 targets, 1 TD) Aaron Shea made a tremendous over the shoulder catch in the corner of the end zone to pick up a touchdown, and played a very good game as he continues to fill in for the injured Kellen Winslow. Hopefully Shea's luck is turning around, as he has been placed on IR at some point each of the last 4 seasons. K: Phil Dawson (4 XP, 2-2 FG) Dawson's consecutive made field goals streak continued this week as he made field goals of 22 and 33 yards, a streak dating back to October 19th, 2003. Pass Defense: The pass defense shut down Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson and company, limiting them to just 148 yards, despite the fact that Browns led most of the game and knew that the Bengals would be throwing the ball. The Browns limited the Bengals to mostly underneath throws, and forced Palmer to get rid of the ball quickly on numerous occasions, though they did not get any official sacks. Rush Defense: The Browns did not have to focus on shutting down the run, and consequently, Rudi Johnson put up very modest numbers against them, finishing with just 57 yards. The home team Cleveland Browns limited the Bengals to just 23:41 of possession time, and shut down the Bengals in just about every facet of the game, with all of the Bengals points coming directly off of Browns turnovers. Green Bay Packers 38 at Detroit Lions 10 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Green Bay Packers QB Brett Favre threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns and the Packers defense dominated the Detroit Lions after the 1st quarter as the Packers rebounded from their most embarrassing defeat in recent history to trounce the Lions. Green Bay drove 75 yards on their opening drive of the game, capped by Favre's 7-yard strike to wide-open WR Donald Driver. Driver would cap the scoring in the 4th quarter when he caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from RB Ahman Green. Leading receiver Javon Walker finished with just two catches, albeit for 62 yards. Midway through the 2nd quarter Walker took a shot to the ribs from Lions CB Chris Cash after stretching for an overthrown pass. Walker played on-and-off into the second half, but left for good with Green Bay in control of the game. The Packers blew the game open to start the 2nd half. Clinging to a 17-10 lead, S Darren Sharper intercepted a pass from Lions QB Joey Harrington and made a brilliant return for 36 yards and a touchdown. The Packers put the game away on their next drive, which was capped by a powerful 13-yard run by backup RB Najeh Davenport. Davenport played frequently, spelling starter Ahman Green. Green played well and, most importantly, did not fumble. Green rushed for 81 yards and threw a touchdown pass. Green Bay's much-maligned defense limited Detroit to 33 yards rushing on 16 carries. Detroit Lions Playing without injured WR Roy Williams, the Lions failed to establish any sustained offensive attack after the first quarter. QB Joey Harrington struggled throughout, finishing with just 101 passing yards. He did lead one nice scoring drive that culminated in a 28-yard touchdown pass to Az-Zahir Hakim, but that 1st quarter drive alone accounted for 63 percent of his passing yards on the day. Detroit's RBBC struggled. Artose Pinner, Shawn Bryson and Kevin Jones combined for 18 yards on 11 carries. The threesome plunged repeatedly into the middle of the Packers defensive line and found very little running room. Joey Harrington led the Lions rushing attack with 12 yards. WR Az-Zahir Hakim caught four passes for 49 yards, including the only scoring strike when he broke wide open and caught the ball at the Packers' 10-yard line and raced into the endzone. He took advantage of Packers rookie CB Ahmad Carroll early, but Harrington overthrew him twice. Hakim got nothing going after that. After Detroit scored to cut Green Bay's lead to 14-10, the Lions went three-and-out five straight times to end the game. The Lions defense managed no sacks or turnovers in the game, and broke down
midway through the 3rd quarter. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Green Bay Packers QB: Brett Favre (25-38-257, 2 TD, 0 INT, 2-(-2) rushing) was on fire from the beginning, setting the tone with a 5 for 5 performance on the Packers opening drive including the first touchdown pass of the game. In the 2nd quarter Favre hooked up with Tony Fisher on a 13-yard touchdown pass. Favre spread the ball around well, but had a good rhythm going with Donald Driver right from the beginning. His only flaw was exposing WR Javon Walker twice on slight overthrows over the middle. RB: Ahman Green (21-81 rushing, 3-3 receiving on 4 targets, 1-1-20 passing, 1 TD) got stronger as the game wore on. He never received a chance in the red zone, but did convert a 20-yard touchdown pass to Donald Driver to finish the scoring. Green took a pitch running left and threw left-handed to the corner of the endzone for the score. Najeh Davenport (10-62 rushing, 1 TD) ran hard in the second half, spelling Ahman Green. His 13-yard score was a powerful run down the left side, where he ran through three defenders. Between the two, the Packers managed to hold the ball for six minutes or more on all three 2nd half drives. WR: Donald Driver (9-110 receiving on 13 targets, 2 TD) produced nicely for a receiver corps without Robert Ferguson and also without Walker for much of the game. Driver caught four passes for first downs and two for touchdowns. He got wide open in the middle of the endzone for his first score, then out-leaped 'Dre Bly for the final touchdown. Javon Walker (2-62 receiving on 5 targets) got loose for a 50-yard reception in the second quarter, a deep ball thrown between two defenders on the right sideline. Midway through the 2nd quarter, Walker was hit by Chris Cash and suffered a rib injury. On the next drive, Favre again led him too far over the middle and Walker just avoided another big hit as the defender pulled up. Walker went to the locker room shortly thereafter, returning to start the 2nd half. He caught one pass in the 3rd quarter before leaving the game after Davenport's touchdown put Green Bay ahead by 21. Antonio Chatman (5-50 receiving on 9 targets) filled in capably for Robert Ferguson, acting as the possession receiver. Chatman also returned 3 punts for 32 yards. TE: Bubba Franks (3-19 receiving on 3 targets) was not a big factor, but caught every pass Favre threw him. K: Ryan Longwell (5XP, 1-1 FG) connected from 50 yards out as time expired in the first half. Pass Defense: The Packers pass defense looked like it was going to get torched early on, but CB Ahmad Carroll hung in there after early difficulties. S Darren Sharper turned the game around early in the 2nd half, when he intercepted Joey Harrington's 3rd down pass over the middle and returned it down the left sideline for the score. Sharper hurdled a couple would-be tacklers on his way to the score. Rush Defense: Green Bay run defense stood tall, allowing just 33 yards on the ground. Detroit was never able to get anything going on the ground. LB Nick Barnett racked up 6 tackles and a sack. Detroit Lions QB: Joey Harrington (12-23-101, 1 TD, 1 INT, 4-12 rushing) started off hot but quickly cooled down. He completed 4 passes for 63 yards on the Lions second drive, including a 28-yard dart to Hakim. He also showed poise on the Lions other scoring drive when he scrambled for 9 yards on 3rd down and put Detroit close enough for Jason Hanson's 50-yard FG. After that he was abysmal, including his poor decision to throw into triple coverage on Sharper's interception. He also overthrew Hakim twice in the second quarter, leading to stalled drives. Detroit managed just 3 plays on 8 of 11 drives in the game. RB: Artose Pinner (6-7 rushing, 2-29 receiving on 2 targets) was the top-performing RB by default and based mostly on his 26-yard screen pass in the 1st quarter. Like Jones and Bryson, Pinner got nothing going on the ground. Kevin Jones played although his meager production of 5 yards on 2 carries would seem to hint that he's not quite ready to be back in the lineup yet. Shawn Bryson wasn't any more productive with 6 yards on 3 carries. WR: Az-Zahir Hakim (4-49 receiving on 7 targets, 1 TD) scored from 28 yards out when he got wide open on the left sideline, caught the ball at the 10-yard line and ran into the endzone. He also had two missed opportunities on errant Harrington passes. He was non-existent after the early portion of the game; in fact he caught his final pass with more than 12 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. TE: Stephen Alexander (1-4 receiving on 3 targets) was a non-factor. K: Jason Hanson (1XP, 1-1 FG) made a 48-yard field goal late in the 2nd quarter to cut the Lions deficit to 14-10. Pass Defense: The Packers threw at will most of the game. The Lions managed little pressure and no sacks, while forcing no turnovers. Rush Defense: The Lions wore down in the second half as all the three-and-outs took their toll. Green Bay averaged 4.0 ypc, but held the ball for 6 minutes or more on all three of their 2nd half drives. Minnesota Vikings 38 at New Orleans Saints 31 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Minnesota Vikings Daunte Culpepper continued to stay red hot, throwing five touchdowns and recording his first 400 yard passing game. Culpepper has now thrown five touchdowns in three straight games. Culpepper could not be stopped in this game and the Vikings never punted. Culpepper's only miscue came on the Vikings first drive as he forced a throw to Marcus Robinson that was intercepted by CB Ashley Ambrose in the back of the end zone. Randy Moss strained his right hamstring in the second quarter and did not play the second half. Moss was going long when he got tangled up with Saints SS Jay Bellamy and fell down leading to a Culpepper interception. After the play, Moss laid on the field and signaled for help from the training staff. Moss had his hamstring wrapped and returned to the game on the next series, but was used only as a decoy. Moss returned from halftime in street clothes. Before getting injured Moss made a fantastic 43 yard touchdown catch, where he beat two defenders and managed to get two feet down in the back of the end zone for the score. Mewelde Moore posted very similar stats to last week, recording 109 yards rushing and 78 yards receiving. Moore was used on a lot of draws and screens. The Sunday Night announcing crew raved about how Moore was always falling forward when getting tackled, despite his size. Nate Burleson, Marcus Robinson and H-Back Jermaine Wiggins picked up the receiving slack for the injured Moss. Burleson chipped in with 134 receiving yards while Robinson and Wiggins pulled in two touchdowns a piece. Robinson's 1 yard touchdown on a fade route gave the Vikings a two touchdown cushion halfway through the fourth quarter. It was just the kind of play that Moss has made his bread and butter this season. New Orleans Saints Despite the addition of CB Mike McKenzie, the Saints could not stop, nor even slow the Vikings aerial attack. Even though the Vikings played without Randy Moss for the second half, the Saints defense gave up 605 yards of total offense to the Vikings. 417 of which came through the air. The Vikings never punted in this game. After pulling to within a touchdown with three minutes left in the game, the Saints defense desperately needed to force the Vikings to punt to get their offense another possession. They failed to do this as Culpepper easily completed an 11 yard strike to Nate Burleson on 3rd and 4, allowing the Vikings to run out the clock. There were two plays in this game that helped the Saints keep pace with the Vikings. Midway through the second quarter, the Saints seemed on the verge of getting blown out. They trailed 14-0, and the Vikings had driven into Saints territory. The ball was snapped behind Culpepper and there was a mad scramble for the ball. After several players from each team had touched the football, Saints SS Jay Bellamy was able to come up with the ball and lateraled it to CB Ashley Ambrose who rambled down to the Vikings 14 yard line. This lead to a Deuce McAllister touchdown and got the Saints back in the game. Down 28-14, special teamer Fred McAfee took a direct snap on a fake punt 53 yards. That play setup a New Orleans score. Joe Horn was clutch in this game. Of his seven receptions, six went for first downs. His other reception was a 7 yard touchdown that pulled the Saints to within a score just before the half. Donté Stallworth didn't have nearly as good of a game. Stallworth was only able to haul in 4 balls for 36 yards despite being targeted 14 times. Stallworth was plagued by drops throughout the game, dropping several catchable passes that stalled New Orleans drives. Deuce McAllister appeared to be on pace for a heavy workload, receiving 7 carries
in the first quarter. However, after it appeared early on that the Saints defense
had no answer for Culpepper and the Vikings offense, the Saints abandoned the
run. McAllister only carried 11 times through the last three quarters. He did
manage to score two short touchdowns in this contest. The second touchdown was
a great second effort by McAllister spinning into the end zone after getting
stuffed trying to leap over the goal line. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Minnesota Vikings QB: Daunte Culpepper (26-37-425, 5 TD, 2 INT, 7-13 rushing) Culpepper looked
every bit as good as his stats would indicate recording his first 400 yard passing
game. Culpepper lobbed a 43 yard touchdown to Moss early in this game to give
the Vikings a two touchdown lead. When Moss got injured Culpepper didn't miss
a beat, throwing two touchdowns a piece to Marcus Robinson and Jermaine Wiggins.
Culpepper threw two interceptions, but only one was really his fault. On the
Vikings first drive, Culpepper was flushed from the pocket and forced a pass
to Marcus Robinson that was intercepted by CB Ashley Ambrose. Culpepper's second
interception came on the play that Randy Moss got injured. Moss ran into SS
Jay Bellamy and collapsed on the play. The ball sailed through the air to where
Moss should have been and CB Fakhir Brown easily intercepted it. Culpepper had
a fantastic scramble late in the game. He avoided a sack by DE Darren Howard
and scrambled down the left sideline. When LB James Allen approached, Culpepper
made a great spin move away from the sideline and Allen for the first down. Moe Williams (6-66 rushing, 1-13 receiving on 1 target) Moe Williams spelled Moore a bit in this contest, playing despite a leg injury that it is still bothering him. Williams 13 yard screen pass to the 2 yard line setup the Vikings first score. Williams received 2 carries inside the 10 yard line late in the game, but was unable to score. Williams rushing numbers are padded by a 49 yard gain that came as the Vikings were running out the clock. The Saints defense collapsed to the center of the line and Williams found daylight around the right side of the line, cutting back to midfield for the big gain. Michael Bennett (knee) and Onterrio Smith (suspension) did not play. WR: Randy Moss (2-89 receiving on 4 targets, 1 TD) Randy Moss' 43 yard touchdown in the first quarter prompted Paul McGuire to say, "I've not seen all of Moss's catches, but this might be the greatest he's ever done." On the play, Moss blew past one defender and put his hand in the air to call for the ball. He then streaked past the CB and dramatically de-accelerated in the end zone, managing to keep two feet inbounds for the score. Moss was targeted on a short fade route from two yards out, which has been his bread and butter this season. While he couldn't come down with the ball, the contact drew a defensive pass interference flag that setup the Vikings first touchdown. Moss gave Vikings fans a scare when he laid on the field and had to motion for the training staff after getting tangled up with Saints SS Jay Bellamy. On the play, Moss was going deep and ran right into Bellamy from behind almost tackling him. Moss strained his right hamstring on the play, but was able to get up and walk off the field on his own power. After getting the hamstring wrapped by the trainers, Moss came back to play the Vikings next drive. However, Moss was only used as a decoy. After halftime, Moss switched into street clothes and was shown cheering his teammates from the sideline. Nate Burleson (6-134 receiving on 9 targets) Burleson elevated his game after Randy Moss was injured. He made a great move spinning away from the defender down the sidelines for a big gain early in the game. Burleson was targeted twice in the end zone, but did not score. On the first target, Burleson made a sensational catch falling over backwards, but couldn't get his feet inbounds. The second target was a diving catch, but he couldn't get control of the ball as he hit the ground. Burleson's 1st down catch on 3rd and 4 late in the game allowed the Vikings to run out the clock. Marcus Robinson (4-32 receiving on 6 targets, 2 TD) Robinson used his size to come down with two short touchdowns. On the first, he caught the ball on a curl route in the end zone. His momentum carried him out of the end zone and he fumbled the ball while trying to get back in. However, it was clear that Robinson had possession of the ball before he left the end zone, and the play was not challenged by the Saints. (Though it was debated by the announcing team.) Robinson's second touchdown was an easy grab on a fade route, where he used his size advantage over the smaller defensive back to haul in the reception. It was just the kind of play that the Vikings usually feed to Moss. Kelly Campbell (1-23 receiving on 1 target) Kelly Campbell caught a big 1st down over the middle on his only reception of the game. TE: Jermaine Wiggins (5-56 receiving on 7 targets, 2 TD) H-Back Jermaine Wiggins played a larger than expected role in the Vikings offense, catching two touchdowns. On the first, Wiggins slipped undetected along the line of scrimmage and was uncovered for a 1 yard score early in the game. Wiggins second score came on a broken play as Culpepper found him scrambling out of the pocket. Wiggins broke out with an impromptu break-dance after his second score that was not pretty. Sean Berton started at tight end for the Vikings but was never targeted. K: Morten Anderson (5 XP, 1-1 FG) With all the touchdowns the Vikings scored, Anderson had an easy night kicking extra points. He drilled his only field goal attempt of the night from 39 yards. Pass Defense: The Vikings defense did a good job stopping Brooks and the Saints passing attack for most of the night, holding Brooks to 249 yards passing. Those are impressive numbers considering that the Saints abandoned the run early on and tallied 38 passing attempts. CB Antoine Winfield almost scored on a play where he jumped on a lazy throw intended for Ernie Conwell and returned it 56 yards before being tackled by Aaron Brooks. LB Keith Newman let a pass go right through his hands that should have been an interception. DE Kenechi Udeze made a great sack of Aaron Brooks dragging him down one handed. Rush Defense: The Vikings seemed to have a tough time containing Deuce McAllister early on, letting him break off several big gains. However, the Saints abandoned the run for the most part after the first quarter. McAllister got several goal line and short yardage carries, making it seem as if the Vikings D was able to contain him, but this was not the case. McAllister was able to take the ball in twice from just outside the goal line. New Orleans Saints QB: Aaron Brooks (22-38-249, 1 TD, 1 INT, 3-25 rushing, 1 TD) Brooks didn't play an awful game, as this loss can be chalked up to the Saints complete inability to stop Culpepper and the Vikings offense. However, while the Saints seem to have the necessary artillery to compete in a shootout with Minnesota, Brooks and the Saints were not up to the task. Brooks threw an ugly interception on the Saints second drive where he tried to get the ball to Ernie Conwell near the sideline at the two yard line, but didn't see CB Antoine Winfield. Winfield jumped the route and intercepted the ball. Brooks was able to chase Winfield down to save a touchdown, but gave up possession and 56 yards on the play. Brooks was stripped by DE Lance Johnstone to end a New Orleans possession. Brooks scrambled free for a five yard rushing score late in the fourth quarter to pull within a TD, but the Saints defense could not get them another offensive possession. RB: Deuce McAllister (18-78 rushing, 2 TD, 3-15 receiving on 4 targets) McAllister received the ball a lot early, but when it became obvious that the Saints would need to score quickly to keep pace with the Vikings, they used the run only sparingly. McAllister was able to score two short touchdowns. The 1st was a two yard run where he bulled it right up the middle. The 2nd came on a great second effort. McAllister attempted to leap over the pile from the goal line, but was hit by a defender and stopped. He landed on his feet and took the ball over the left side, spinning into the end zone for the score. Fred McAfee (1-53 rushing) McAfee ran 53 yards on a 4th and 3 on a fake punt to setup a New Orleans score. McAfee was just resigned by the Saints this week. Aaron Stecker (1-3 rushing, 1-9 receiving on 1 target) Stecker was used sparingly in this game to give McAllister a rest. WR: Joe Horn (7-65 receiving on 9 targets, 1 TD) Horn was targeted in short and intermediate yardage whenever the Saints needed a big play. Horn's catch on 4th and 4 late in the game, kept a New Orleans drive alive. Of his 7 receptions, six went for first downs and the other went for a touchdown. On the touchdown, Brooks locked in on Horn for the duration of the play and fired a laser beam just behind him. Horn fell to the ground as he pulled in the score. Horn showed no ill effects of his bruised knee as he was neither limping nor wincing. Jerome Pathon (4-92 receiving on 5 targets) Pathon was the leading receiver for the Saints despite only being targeted five times. Pathon's 36 yard grab with less than two minutes left in the first half setup a TD that pulled the Saints to within seven. Donté Stallworth (4-34 receiving on 14 targets) Stallworth had one of his worst performances in a Saints uniform on national television in this game. His first target bounced off his hands on a perfectly thrown ball to kill a New Orleans drive. This set the tone for Stallworth's evening. Stallworth dropped several other catchable balls, only managing to pull in 4 of his 14 targets. He was the Saints deep threat and was targeted on a bomb early on, but was unable to make the grab and pleaded with the officials for a pass interference flag that never came. Stallworth made a nice spin move to get close to the goal line late in the second half that setup Horn's TD. Stallworth was shaken up after he took a hard hit chasing a ball that hung in the air, but was able to return to the game on the next series. Michael Lewis (1-23 receiving on 2 targets) Lewis hauled in one reception on the night. TE: Boo Williams (0-0 receiving on 1 target) Williams started at tight end for the Saints, but couldn't manage a catch in this game. Ernie Conwell (2-11 receiving on 2 targets) Conwell was the intended target on Brook's interception. Conwell had a quiet evening, but was able to recover a Brooks fumble after he was sacked. K: John Carney (4 XP, 1-1 FG) John Carney hit his only attempt from 45 yards out. Pass Defense: Despite the addition of CB Mike McKenzie and the fact that Randy Moss did not play the second quarter, the Saints still gave up 417 yards passing. They could not stop Culpepper, with or without Randy Moss. The Saints defense was so ineffective that the Vikings did not punt in this game. DE Charles Grant and DE Darren Howard were each able to record a sack, but Culpepper was typically able to escape any New Orleans pressure. As a whole, the Saints completely failed in this aspect of the game. Rush Defense: Mewelde Moore found large holes to run through in this contest. Although the Vikings preferred to attack through the air, Moore still was able to average over 7 yards a carry. New Orleans continued to show why their rush defense ranks near the bottom of the league against the Vikings. Kansas City Chiefs 16 at Jacksonville Jaguars 22 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Kansas City Chiefs QB Trent Green produced a 300-yard day despite spending a lot of the game getting hit by the Jacksonville pass rush. Green was sacked six times and fumbled three times (losing one), but still managed to complete over two-thirds of his passes and throw two TDs. TE Tony Gonzalez rallied from a silent first half to catch six passes in the second half and factor in both Chiefs TDs. He caught a 24-yard pass in the end zone for Kansas City's first touchdown, and then delivered two key downfield blocks on KC's other TD, giving Priest Holmes more space en route to the end zone. RB Priest Holmes had a pedestrian day as a rusher, but his four receptions and 47 receiving yards got his yards from scrimmage total over 100, and found the end zone. WR Johnnie Morton caught a 52-yard pass in the first quarter on his way to a 111-yard receiving day, the first receiver to break 100 yards against Jacksonville this season. Morton's 9 targets matched the combined total of the other Chiefs WRs. Jacksonville Jaguars QB Byron Leftwich played through shoulder and ankle injuries to lead the Jaguars to victory. Leftwich spread the ball around efficiently; completing passes to nine different receivers, and strung together eight consecutive completions in the first half. Leftwich took a QB draw out of the shotgun for a 7-yard TD run, RB Fred Taylor helped an average rushing day with a 64-yard TD reception in the second quarter. Taylor struggled running out of the shotgun (which Jacksonville used often to protect Leftwich), but turned a 2-yard flat pass up the left sideline for a 64-yard score. WRs Cortez Hankton and Ernest Wilford both played a lot more than rookie WR
Reggie Williams. Hankton caught the game-winning TD pass, and Wilford's second
reception set up the winning score. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Kansas City Chiefs QB: Trent Green (23-33-315 passing, 2 TD, 1 INT, 0-0 rushing) spent most of the day dodging the Jaguars pass rush, but still managed to complete more than two-thirds of his passes and throw for over 300 yards. Green barely escaped sacks on both of his TD passes, evading the rush and rolling right to hit Tony Gonzalez in the end zone for his first score, and flipping the ball to Priest Holmes as his knee hit the ground, which Holmes turned into a 28-yard score. RB: Priest Holmes (19-75 rushing, 4-47 receiving on 6 targets, 1 TD) had trouble getting untracked in the first half, and never officially had a rush longer than 9 yards, though Holmes had a 25-yard run early in the 4th quarter called back on a holding penalty. Holmes's two biggest gains were on pass receptions - 15-yard screen pass in the first, and a 28-yard TD pass in the fourth. On Holmes's TD, Trent Green flipped the ball a few feet forward to Holmes to avoid a sack, then Holmes turned upfield and followed two key Tony Gonzalez blocks to find the end zone. Tony Richardson (1-1 rushing, 1-6 receiving on 1 target) played FB in 2-back sets. He was mostly used as lead blocker for Holmes, or a pass protector for Green. Derrick Blaylock (1-1 rushing, 1-2 receiving) saw most of his playing time on special teams. WR: Johnnie Morton (7-111 receiving on 9 targets) was targeted as much as the rest of the Chiefs receiving corps combined. The bulk of Morton's receiving yards came on a 52-yard catch in the first quarter, a deep post pattern that found Morton open when a safety bought a play-action fake. Morton was targeted once in the red zone, but the Chiefs only ran four plays inside the Jaguars' 20. Eddie Kennison (3-61 receiving on 6 targets) pulled in two of his receptions on the opening drive of the second half. Kennison was mostly targeted 10-15 yards downfield, and two of his missed targets could have been catches with a more accurate pass. Kennison was targeted once in the end zone and was open, but the ball was overthrown under heavy pressure. Dante Hall (1-7 receiving on 2 targets) was the primary kick returner, but was not a factor in the passing game. Chris Horn (0-0 receiving on 1 target) played a little in 3- and 4-WR sets.
He was targeted once on a ball that was overthrown by several steps. K: Lawrence Tynes had a disastrous fourth quarter. He logged the first missed PAT in the NFL this year after the Chiefs took the lead, then missed a 42-yard field goal then would have given Kansas City a five-point lead with less than 2:30 to play. Both kicks appeared to have solid snaps, holds, and blocking. Tynes just pushed the ball right both times. Pass Defense: conceded the underneath routes to take away the deep ball, yielding a high completion rate but few downfield catches. Tackling after the catch was a problem. The pass rush did come up with four sacks and injured Leftwich, but not badly enough to knock him out of the game. Rush Defense: contained Taylor as a rusher throughout the game. Jacksonville's run/pass play calling was balanced, but since they usually ran when Leftwich was under center, and usually threw when in the shotgun, the formations gave some indication to what was coming. Jacksonville Jaguars QB: Byron Leftwich (24-36-298 passing, 2 TD, 0 INT, 3-25 rushing 1 TD) spent most of the day in the shotgun formation, protecting his injuries and setting up quick throws. He spread the ball around, completing passes to nine different receivers in the first half alone. Despite playing hurt, Leftwich scored on a 7-yard run, a QB draw out of the shotgun. Five drops by receivers hurt Leftwich's numbers, the short passing game still effectively controlled the clock. RB: Fred Taylor (19-66 rushing, 3-71 receiving on 7 targets, 1 TD) had mediocre rushing totals, caused largely by Jacksonville tipping most of their running plays - if Leftwich lined up under center, they ran about 80% of the time. Taylor made up for his modest rushing totals with a 64-yard TD reception, a pass Taylor caught just two yards downfield and ran the rest of the way. Marc Edwards (0-0 rushing, 1-3 receiving on 1 target) did not play much, as the Jaguars used a single-back shotgun formation for most of the second half. He caught one pass. Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala (1-(-1) receiving on 1 target) played very little. He caught one pass, was tackled behind the line of scrimmage, was shaken up, and did not return. Greg Jones (1-10 rushing, 0 targets receiving) spelled Fred Taylor for two plays during a long Jaguars drive. WR: Jimmy Smith (7-91 receiving on 9 targets) led the balanced attack in targets with nine. While the ball was spread around most of the game, Smith was clearly the primary target in the fourth quarter, catching three passes on the game-winning drive. Troy Edwards (3-41 receiving on 3 targets) pulled down three receptions in the first half, but suffered a minor injury and did not play much in the second half. All three of his catches were for successful third-down conversions. Ernest Wilford (2-22 receiving on 5 targets) played in most 3-WR sets, and saw the field in a few 2-WR, 2-TE formations. He second catch set up the game-winning TD. Cortez Hankton (3-28 receiving on 3 targets) scored his first TD of his NFL career, pulling down a 14-yard catch for the winning TD. Hankton pulled down the catch at the end of a fade pattern in the end zone with CB Dexter McCleon all over him. Hankton was also a big contributor on punt coverage. Reggie Williams (0-0 receiving on 1 target, 1 2-point conversion) hardly played at all, but came on to catch a 2-point conversion in the last minute of the game, his only target. TE: Todd Yoder (1-25 receiving on 1 target) led the Jacksonville TEs in receiving yards with one catch. Yoder pulled down a 25-yard reception in the second quarter; on one of the few pass plays Jacksonville ran with Leftwich under center. Kyle Brady (3-18 receiving on 5 targets) caught three passes despite playing with a large splint on his right hand. He was not a threat to run after the catch, as his injured hand left him vulnerable. Brian Jones (0-0 receiving on 2 targets) dropped as many passes as Brady did, but did so without being hampered by a large splint on his right hand. He spent most of the day as a blocker. K: Josh Scobee missed a 51-yard FG late in the first half. He made both of his PATs. Pass Defense: the pass rush was the most impressive unit of either defense, sacking Green six times, forcing three fumbles, and constantly putting pressure on Green. However, the secondary had trouble converting that pressure into incompletions or interceptions - Jacksonville's only INT came on a last-second Hail Mary pass. Rush Defense: shut down Holmes in the first half, never gave up a double-digit gain, and did not give up a rushing TD. The Chiefs had to go to the air to gain big chunks of yardage. San Francisco 49ers 14 at New York Jets 22 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW San Francisco 49ers QB Tim Rattay played very well for nearly the entire game. Despite being under what was at times a lot of pressure, he stood tall in the pocket and made some good decisions and throws. But with the 49ers driving for a potential game-tying score, he was intercepted on a very poorly thrown ball. RB Kevan Barlow found the end zone, but he didn't find a ton of room to run. Barlow averaged a little less than four yards per carry, and wasn't featured much in the passing game. WR Brandon Lloyd had his second straight excellent game. This time, Lloyd hauled in 6 balls for 93 yards and a touchdown. It was telling that on nearly every important pass, Lloyd or Eric Johnson was the recipient of the target. New York Jets RB Curtis Martin continued his renaissance, going for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns on 25 carries. He was spelled more frequently by LaMont Jordan, who got a grand total of two carries on the afternoon. The best part for Martin owners is that, despite Jordan scoring a touchdown in the game, Martin was clearly still "the man" in short yardage situations. With WR Santana Moss out with a hamstring injury, the Jets chose more of a "spread the wealth" approach. QB Chad Pennington completed passes to nine different receivers, with none of them catching more than five passes. It was a group effort, and he just took whatever the Forty Niners were giving him without forcing it to any one guy in particular. The Jets defense rose to the occasion. After getting ripped up by Rattay in the first half, they held him in check in the second half. The Jets trailed 14-3 at halftime, but outscored San Francisco 19-0 in the second half, thanks mostly to timely sacks, excellent QB pressure, and yet another turnover created on defense when it mattered most. Of course, the turnover was more of a gift that Rattay dropped into the lap of LB Jonathan Vilma, but it was a turnover nonetheless. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW San Francisco 49ers QB: Tim Rattay (18-28-286, 1 touchdown, 1 interception passing, 2-11 rushing) seemed well on his way to another big statistical day early on. His receivers were always open, and each of his throws was better than the previous one. He hit everyone in stride perfectly, never more evident than on the Brandon Lloyd touchdown or the 65-yard completion to Arnaz Battle. The Battle reception featured a lot of yards after the catch, but it was Rattay's precision pass that put him in a position to catch it without missing a beat and run away from the defenders. Rattay lost some decent yardage on two drops, one by TE Eric Johnson and one by WR Brandon Lloyd that could have gone for a big gain. The touchdown pass to Lloyd was a breakdown in coverage by New York and he was wide open. On the Battle pass, it appeared as if Battle was going to turn a nice gain into a touchdown after breaking several tackles. But he was finally caught by New York at the 3-yard line, and one play later, Kevan Barlow took it in for a score. Rattay's afternoon started inauspiciously when his first pass of the game was intercepted and returned for a touchdown, but the play was nullified by an illegal contact penalty on New York. On one play, he was nearly picked by S John McGraw while attempting to complete a crossing route, and then the dagger for San Francisco was the interception he basically placed into the hands of LB Jonathan Vilma. Rattay thought he had Terry Jackson all alone for a dump-off, but Vilma was lurking and had the ball put right in his hands, which all but ended any hopes San Francisco had of winning. RB: Kevan Barlow (21-79-1 touchdown rushing, 1-9 receiving on 2 targets) provided enough for his fantasy owners by finding the end zone, but outside of that he wasn't too stellar. He seemed to always want to bounce plays outside rather than fight for the tough yards inside. And on the rare occasions when he would keep the ball between the tackles, he was usually stuffed for little or no gain. His touchdown plunge came following a long completion to Arnaz Battle, who was tackled at the 3-yard line. At one point, Barlow was down on the ground with an injury and the announcers made mention of his sprained AC joint (shoulder), but he remained in the game and showed no ill effects. Coach Dennis Erickson listed him with a shoulder injury after the game and he'll be evaluated Monday. WR: Brandon Lloyd (6-93-1 touchdown on 11 targets) is doing his best to prove the doubters wrong. He had a big game following his solid performance last week, and is clearly the #1 option on the 49ers. He was targeted on 11 of Rattay's 28 passes, including the big 33-yard touchdown. On that play, Lloyd was wide open as the Jets had a breakdown in coverage. That play wasn't even his most impressive of the day, however. He had a catch prior to that in which the ball was thrown slightly behind him. Most receivers don't even get a hand on it, but Lloyd readjusted his body and came down with an incredible catch. He's got tremendous hands when he's focused, but a costly drop over the middle when he tried to run too soon probably cost him around 20 yards. Arnaz Battle (2-87 on 2 targets, 1-0 rushing) was unheard from outside of three of the biggest plays of the day, though he was heard from for different reasons. The first was a play over the middle on which Battle took the reception up the right sideline for some serious yards after the catch. He made a number of people miss, and was finally brought down at the Jets' 3-yard line. His other catch came on the last 49ers offensive play of the day, a desperation pass in which they tried to lateral to one another. Battle had a costly play with San Francisco in field goal range when he fumbled a handoff from Rattay, pushing the Niners well out of field goal range. Cedric Wilson (3-56 on 4 targets) and Curtis Conway (1-5 on 1 target) weren't targeted nearly as much as Lloyd, and each player's impact was minimal for fantasy purposes. TE: Eric Johnson (4-24 on 7 targets) seemed to be bothered by his ribs a little more than in recent weeks. His first target of the game was a drop, and seemed directly related to worrying about extending his arms and taking a shot to the ribs. Johnson's targets increased as the game went on, but it was nowhere near the show he put on last week. K: Todd Peterson (0-0 FG, 2 XP) made his only two extra point attempts on the day. Pass Defense: With Santana Moss out for New York, one would think life would be much easier for the 49ers defensive backs. But all the absence of Moss meant was that Pennington would be spreading the ball around more than usual. They allowed Pennington 222 yards in the air on 30 pass attempts, though they managed to keep the big play in check for the most part. The Niners seemed to have a lot of trouble getting anywhere near Pennington, and it was no shock to see that he wasn't intercepted or sacked (or even came close to either) at any point in the game. CB Ahmed Plummer suffered a thigh strain and was replaced in the lineup by Jimmy Williams, who the Jets promptly threw at the next several plays. Run Defense: We could just say non-existent, but we need to go more in depth than that. The fact was, Curtis Martin had a field day out there. He carried another 25 times for 111 yards and 2 touchdowns, and even LaMont Jordan got into the act, going for 25 yards and a score on his two carries. The 49ers run defense came up small at the most crucial time, also, as the Jets were able to tack on a late touchdown on the ground with Martin to turn what was a one-point lead into an eight-point lead. New York Jets QB: Chad Pennington (20-30, 222 yards passing, 4-18 rushing) had one of those classic "manage the offense" type of games that we fantasy owners despise so much. He didn't score because the Jets focus was on running the football in close. Pennington did complete passes to 9 different receivers and was apparently responsible for really firing the team up during halftime. But fantasy-wise, his numbers didn't get it done. He was much better in the second half than in the first, and did crack 200 passing yards again. He had a close call on two separate fronts. First, he came up grabbing his hand following a hard tackle on which his full weight seemed to land on his right (throwing) hand, but he was alright. He also had a close call as far as a touchdown when he completed a pass to Anthony Becht who was then tackled inside the 1-yard line. Had Becht managed to extend his arms, he would have been able to score. Of course, had he extended his arms, he opens himself up to the possibility of fumbling so that perhaps explains why he chose to keep the hands in close. Pennington was almost intercepted on a deep ball intended for Wayne Chrebet, and there was a misread. Chrebet broke out, the ball went down the middle, and two 49ers defensive backs went up for it midfield. The collision bumped each of them off the ball and it fell harmlessly incomplete. RB: Curtis Martin (25-111-2 touchdowns rushing, 3-20 receiving on 5 targets). There was talk during the week that the Jets wanted to try and involve LaMont Jordan in the offense a little more so as to not wear down Martin. Well, Martin got another 25 carries and Jordan saw 2 carries. It is clear to anyone that Martin is the every-down back for New York, as evidenced by the fact that he remained in on the goal line carry even though they apparently want to work Jordan into the mix. If he isn't going to get those carries, then which ones will he get? Martin moved into eighth place on the all-time rushing yardage list. His last carry of the game was a fantastic 9-yard touchdown run that he powered in past the Niner defense to all but seal the victory for New York. LaMont Jordan (2-25-1 touchdown rushing, 1-6 receiving on 1 target) expected to see more carries in this game, and he did get 2 of them. Fortunately for him, he came in just as the Jets were into the red zone and he took one in for a touchdown from 17 for the Jets' first touchdown of the game, and looked pretty good in doing so. But those were the only meaningful carries he saw all game long. Despite both of New York's starting guards (Pete Kendall and Brandon Moore) not playing in the game, they had very few problems running on the 49ers. WR: Justin McCareins (3-56 receiving on 6 targets) was the primary target for Chad Pennington, though his name was called less and less as the game went on. He had the Jets' biggest play of the game, a 27-yard gain, but his big gains were way too few and far between. Wayne Chrebet (1-25 receiving on 6 targets) didn't do much with any of his targets. The Jets had no trouble finding him on the field, as evidenced by the 6 targets. But they did have trouble getting him the ball, as evidenced by his one reception. Chrebet was targeted in the end zone once in the game, and was looked to in big spots, but didn't make many plays. TE: Anthony Becht (4-47 receiving on 5 targets) regained his role as the primary pass-catching tight end in this offense, if only for this game. Becht wasn't heard from much in the early going, but was looked to consistently in the second half by Pennington. His stats could have looked even better, but he lost 17 receiving yards after one of his receptions was called back due to penalty. He also almost scored a touchdown, but following a nice catch and run, he short-armed the end zone. Had he extended for the stripe, he probably would've scored. But he kept the ball tucked in close, presumably to avoid fumbling, and was tackled just inside the 1-yard line. K: Doug Brien (1-1 FG, 2 XP) made all of his kicks. Due to some curious decision-making by Herman Edwards, Brien didn't attempt an extra point on either of the Jets' last two touchdowns, instead opting for 2-point conversion attempts each time (both failed). By all accounts, the Jets should have kicked the first extra point on the first score, which would have then enabled them to kick it on the second score. So Brien lost out on two extra point attempts due to some poor management by Edwards. Pass Defense: In the first half, they were lit up for nearly 200 passing yards by Tim Rattay and company. Included in that was a 33-yard touchdown to Brandon Lloyd on which he was wide open after a defensive breakdown. And another big play was the long completion to Arnaz Battle, featuring a host of shoddy tackling attempts by New York. In the second half, they adjusted well to the 49ers passing offense and managed to get a ton of pressure on Tim Rattay. That very pressure was the likely reason Jonathan Vilma was able to come up with the key interception late in the contest. Rattay had nowhere to throw the football, and the pressure flushed him up towards the line. He thought he had RB Terry Jackson as a check-off, but Vilma was right next to him for the pick. Had Rattay had more time, he likely would've seen Vilma lurking. Earlier, S Jon McGraw nearly had an interception on a crossing route but had the ball knocked from his grasp. Run Defense: Kevan Barlow didn't find much room to run at all against New York. Of course, the Niners have had trouble with their offensive line all season long, and it's not like New York was living in the San Francisco backfield all day, but they did a fine job in stuffing the 49ers when they needed to. San Diego Chargers 20 at Atlanta Falcons 21 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW San Diego Chargers QB Drew Brees was very effective against a tough Falcon's defense. Brees was able to overcome an awful first drive, in which he lost his #1 wide receiver Reche Caldwell to a knee injury and had a tipped pass intercepted. Brees played solidly, making smart decisions and controlling the time of possession. After an Atlanta turnover late in the second quarter, Brees hit WR Eric Parker for a 17-yard TD strike to put San Diego ahead 14-7 at halftime. After two quick TD scores by the Falcons on back-to-back drives early in the fourth quarter made it 21-17 Atlanta, Brees attempted a comeback. He led the offense down to the Atlanta 10, but had to settle for a 28-yard field goal to bring the Chargers within 1. Brees never touched the ball again as the Falcons chewed up the last six minutes on the clock. Whether it was the lingering effects of his groin injury or a stiff Falcon's defense, RB LaDainian Tomlinson was never able to get on track. He was held to a meager 2.78 yards per carry average, totaling 64 yards on 23 carries. Tomlinson did score the Charger's first TD, leaping into the end zone on a fourth and inches carry. With the early exit of Reche Caldwell, WR Eric Parker came up big hauling in 6 catches for 76 yards and a 17-yard TD grab. TE Antonio Gates continued to be Brees' go-to-guy as he compiled 80 yards on 6 receptions. Parker and Gates each had 8 targets in the game. The Charger's defense contained QB Michael Vick and stifled him for the first 45 minutes of the game. Through three quarters Vick looked awful, going 7-16 for 88 yards passing and 2-7 rushing. But the San Diego defense had a major let down as they allowed Vick to engineer back-to-back TD drives early in the fourth quarter. With their team only trailing by 1 point with 6 minutes left in the game, the defense was unable to stop Atlanta's offense and the Charger's offense never got back on the field. Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Vick heard some boos from the home crowd as he looked dreadful and completely out-of-sync in the West Coast offense through the first three quarters. Aside from his first TD pass in four games, a 19-yard strike down the middle to his TE Alge Crumpler, Vick was shut down by the Chargers' defense. Trailing 17-7 at the start of the fourth quarter, Vick flipped the switch and used his athletic ability to lead the offense on consecutive TD scoring drives. Vick scampered 14 yards untouched around the left side for the rushing TD and followed that up on the next drive with a perfectly thrown 32-yard TD pass to WR Dez White on a slant and go route. With San Diego out of time outs and trailing by just 1 with 6 minutes left in the game, Vick deftly maneuvered the offense down the field and killed the clock. RB Warrick Dunn was completely bottled up only garnering 13 yards on 5 carries. RB T.J. Duckett replaced the ineffective Dunn late in the first quarter and ran over tacklers, but lost a fumble on his third carry. The Falcons went back to Dunn to open the third quarter, but he had just 2 touches for 2 yards in the second half. Duckett replaced Dunn again midway through the third quarter and finished out the game. Duckett ended up grinding out 45 yards on 11 carries. TE Alge Crumpler caught all 4 balls thrown his direction for 54 yards and a nice, juggling 19-yard TD catch. WR Peerless Price led all Atlanta receivers with 67 yards receiving on 2 receptions. Price's diving catch of 50 yards started the Falcon's comeback. Although he only had two catches, Price was targeted 7 times by Vick. The Atlanta defense did a nice job of staying at home and kept LaDainian Tomlinson in check. Although they only sacked QB Drew Brees once, they defensive line was able to put decent pressure on him throughout the game. The Falcons' defense kept Atlanta in the game, keeping the score close and allowing Vick and the offense to explode in the fourth quarter. After Atlanta had gone ahead 21-17 in the fourth quarter, the defense stiffened and preserved the victory only allowing a field goal by the Chargers on their last drive. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW San Diego Chargers QB: Drew Brees (23-31-227, 1 TD, 1 Int, 1-4 rushing) played remarkably well despite losing his leading receiver and with the complete absence on a rushing attack. Brees had a pass intercepted when his intended receiver, Eric Parker, fell down. Luckily for Brees, Atlanta was offsides and the interception nullified. However, four plays later Brees had a pass tipped at the line and intercepted. Late in the second quarter, Brees led the Chargers' offense on 15 play, 67- yard drive that lasted 9:06 and culminated with a Tomlinson 1-yard TD run. After Vick threw an INT trying to get the Falcons in field goal position before the end of the first half, Brees delivered a perfectly thrown ball over the top for a 17-yard TD pass to Eric Parker with 24 seconds left in the half. Brees did a nice job of protecting the lead in the third quarter, playing a game of field possession and keeping the ball out of Vick's hands. After falling behind 21-17, Brees drove the offense down the field, but the drive stalled at the Falcons 10 and the Chargers settled for a field goal. The San Diego defense was unable to get the ball back to give Brees and the offense another shot at the comeback. RB: LaDainian Tomlinson (23-64 rushing, 1 TD, 4-16 receiving on 6 targets) was smothered by the Falcons' defense all game. Tomlinson was gang tackled and even when he released out of the backfield for pass routes, defenders blanketed him. He had three catches for 23 yards taken away by penalties. Tomlinson scored his only TD late in the second quarter to pull the Chargers even at 7-7. He leapt high over the line for his 1-yard TD plunge on a 4th and inches play. Jesse Chatman (3-12 rushing) received his only touches late in the third quarter and was not a factor in the game. FB Lorenzo Neal (1-1 rushing, 2-1 receiving on 4 targets) was not a factor in the game. WR: Eric Parker (6-76 receiving on 8 targets, 1 TD) did an admirable job of
filling in after Reche Caldwell went down with a knee injury on the first drive
on the game. Parker was able to hurt the Falcons secondary by using his speed
and precise routes to get open across the middle and on the sidelines. He scored
a 17-yard TD in the corner of the end zone at the end of the first half by losing
his defender with a shifty stop and go route. If Caldwell misses any significant
amount of playing time with the injury, Parker looks to become the #1 wide receiver
option for Brees. Reche Caldwell (1-9 receiving on 1 targets, 1-12 rushing) looked to be heavily involved in the offensive game plan as he ran a reverse for 12 yards and caught a 9-yard pass on the next play in the Chargers' first drive. Unfortunately, at the end of the pass play Caldwell injured his knee and was carted off the field and did not return. The seriousness of the injury was not known. Tim Dwight (2-2 rushing) carried the ball twice on end arounds, but was greeted rudely both times by a swarming Atlanta defense. TE: Antonio Gates (6-80 receiving on 8 targets) continues to be Brees' favorite target when he needs to make a completion. Gates has excellent size and good speed for a big man, which makes him a difficult match up for defenses. Gates amassed 4 of his catches for 66 yards in the second half. Justin Peelle (1-8 receiving on 1 target) caught his only pass early in the first quarter and was not targeted again in the game. K: Rookie Nate Kaeding (2 XP, 2-2 FG) converted on both his field goal attempts from 53 and 28 yards to stay a perfect 9 for 9 to start his career. Kaeding's 53-yard field goal was a career long and would have been good from at least 60 yards. Pass Defense: For 3 quarters the Chargers' defense owned Vick and allowed him just 95 yards of offensive production. CB Drayton Florence easily intercepted Vick's pass late in the second quarter after Vick stared down his receiver the whole way. The pass defense applied good pressure on Vick and sacked him 3 times. The secondary did a nice job of containing Falcons receivers until they were beaten badly for long hitters in the fourth quarter. The secondary was unable to stop Vick and the Falcons' offense on their last drive as they ran off the last six minutes of the game. Rush Defense: The San Diego rush defense was outstanding, smothering Dunn and allowing him just 13 yards on 5 carries. They were equally tough against Vick, holding him to just 7 yards on 2 carries through the first three quarters. Their only hiccup came early in the fourth quarter when San Diego allowed Vick to break containment for an easy 14-yard TD run. Atlanta Falcons QB: Michael Vick (12-21-218, 2 TD, 1 Int, 9-35 rushing, 1 TD) was horrible
for the first three quarters, looking indecisive and constantly missing open
receivers. His only bright came early in the second quarter when he rifled a
pass down the middle to his TE Alge Crumpler for 19-yard TD strike. It was Vick's
first TD pass in four games. After the Chargers had tied the score at 7 late
in the second quarter, Vick had his ill-advised pass intercepted and it directly
led to a San Diego TD with just seconds to go before halftime. With Vick and
the Atlanta offense showing little signs of life, he suddenly caught fire in
the beginning of the fourth quarter and led the offense on back-to-back TD drives
using first his feet and then his arm. When he hit WR Dez White for a 32-yard,
game winning TD pass in the fourth quarter, it became Vick's first 2 TD passing
game this season. Vick showed great poise in the Falcons' last drive moving
the offense at will and running out the clock. Warrick Dunn (5-13 rushing, 2 targets) had trouble getting past the defensive line and was held to a measly 2.60-yard per carry average. Dunn started the game and was replaced by Duckett late in the first quarter. Atlanta opened the third quarter with Dunn, but was again replaced after he managed just 2 yards on 2 carries. On the second play of the third quarter, Dunn had a nice 8-yard run nullified by an offensive holding penalty. FB Justin Griffith (2-31 receiving on 2 targets) continues to be Vick's favorite
target when he runs the naked bootleg to the left. Vick drew the defenders and
Griffith was wide open out in the flat. Griffith caught his second pass late
in the fourth quarter and rumbled 24 yards to help seal the victory. Peerless Price's (2-67 receiving on 7 targets) numbers suffered at the hands of Vick's inaccuracy. Although targeted 7 times, Price was only able to make two receptions in the game. Price's diving catch of 50 yards turned the tide of the game and helped set up Vick's 14-yard TD run. Brian Finneran (2-30 receiving on 2 targets) first catch of 26 yards was good for a third down conversion and helped set up Atlanta's first TD. TE: Alge Crumpler (4-54 receiving on 4 targets, 1 TD) made a terrific, juggling grab in the end zone for a 19-yard TD. Crumpler's 20-yard reception on the last Falcons' drive was instrumental in running out the clock and sealing the Charger's fate. Dwayne Blakley (1-4 receiving on 1 target) was not a factor in the game. K: Jay Feely (3 XP) did not have a field goal attempt in the game. Pass Defense: Although the Falcons gave up a TD pass late in the first half, they buckled down in the second half and only allowed the Chargers' offense two field goals. LB Keith Brooking intercepted a Brees pass off a tipped ball on the Chargers' first drive. This was just 3 plays after CB Kevin Mathis had his interception on Brees' first pass of the game called back because of a defensive offside penalty. The pass defense only recorded 1 sack on Brees, but they were in his face for most of the game. Rush Defense: The Falcons rush defense was tremendous holding San Diego to just 95 yards rushing for the game. Tomlinson was unable to break any long runs and was held to a paltry 64 yards on 23 carries. The defense turned back San Diego on their last drive of the game, allowing only a 28-yard field goal and maintaining the Falcons' late lead at 21-20. |
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