Daily Archives: November 9, 2009

NFL Week 9 Recap

Another week in the books in the NFL season.  We are now officially half way through the regular season.  Every team has played eight games, except for the Giants and Texans who have played nine.  I’ll have my mid-season awards up later this week, but in the meantime here are my thoughts on week 9 in the NFL:

Undefeateds Hold On

How can you not love those creamsicle throwbacks?

Once again both the Colts and Saints were tested, but overcame obstacles and won.

The Colts got rather lucky in this game escaping because of a missed field by Kris Brown as time expired.  Peyton came out firing and threw 40 passes in the first half with Dallas Clark as the main beneficiary, catching 14 passes.  Matt Schaub was not able to take advantage of the depleted Colt’s secondary and tossed two picks.   Last week’s star, Ryan Moats, was a big disappointment for the Texans.  After receiving 16 carries he only delivered 34 yards and fumbled on the one-yard line into the end zone.

The Saints on the other hand remained perfect after not playing their best game for three weeks in a row.  The Saints got down early, but Carolina could not put them away settling for two short field goals.  The Panther did however expose a possible Achilles Heel for the Saints.  DeAngelo Williams ripped them up, as did Michael Turner last week.  That could prove to be a lingering problem for the Saints.

Giant Loss

The Giants lose once again, this time blowing a six-point lead with less than two minutes remaining.  The loss puts the Giants at 5-4 heading into their bye, on a four game losing streak.  The bye week will let get healthy but they need to get to what they do best; running the football and rushing the passer.  Brandon Jacobs simply isn’t getting enough touches and the trio of Osi, Tuck, and Kiwi need to start playing better.

One of the storylines of this game was the Eli-Rivers trade during the 2004 NFL Draft.  It must have been sweet for Phillip Rivers, who has gotten more than his share of flack, to get some revenge on the team traded him five years ago.  The end provided some poetic justice as the three players the chargers received in the Manning trade all played a vital role in the final minutes.  Rivers threw the game tying touchdown pass.  Nate Kaeding kicked the extra point to give the Chargers the lead.  Finally the game ended on a Shawne Merriman sack, his second of the day.

Bengals Maul Ravens

After looking rejuvenated last week in a dominating rout of the Broncos the Ravens came crashing back to Earth this week.  The loss puts them two games behind the Bengals and in reality three games because of the tiebreaker.  With one of the toughest remaining schedules it looks like the Ravens will be golfing in January.  After this win it’s now time to put the Bengals were they belong, among the AFC’s elite.  They play Pittsburgh next week and if the Steelers lose tonight a win next week would put the Bengals in the driver’s seat in the AFC North.

Cowboys Ridin’ High

The highly anticipated NFC East showdown came down to the wire but the Cowboys came out on top.  A hue win for the ‘Boys who vindicated their late season loss to the Eagles last year.  They are now in sole possession of first place and all of the naysayers of Tony Romo and Wade Phillips have suddenly disappeared.  It still all comes down to December for the Cowboys.  While this win is great they still need to prove they can win late in the season and in the playoffs.

Game Balls

Josh Freeman

It’s not often a quarterback completes 14 for 31 and winds up in the Game Ball section but Freeman was a different case.  In the throwback creamsicle uniforms (which were awesome by the way) his first start he passed for three touchdowns, leading a fourth quarter comeback and gave the Bucs their first win 11 games.

Kurt Warner

Redemption for Warner this week, who landed in the Lame Duck Section last week.  His five td passes tied a career high as the Cards picked up a huge win on the road.

Chris Johnson

Johnson ran for 135 yards and two scores leading the Titans to their second win a row.  He is a threat to score every time he touches the ball and had a 80 yard td called back.

Lame Ducks

Aaron Rodgers

Rodgers did account for three touchdowns but killed the Packers with his three interceptions.  He was also sacked six times, bringing his league leading total to 37.  While the Packers o-line isn’t great by any stretch, Rodgers has to take some blame for holding on to the ball too long.

Kris Brown

The usually reliable kicker missed a 42 yarder as time expired as the Texans failed to force overtime.  A crushing loss for the Texans, who now face an uphill battle to make the playoffs.

Stat of the Week:

The Buccaneers, who hadn’t scored more than 21 points in a game this season, tallied 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

Stat of the Week 2:

The defensive touchdown the Saints scored on Sunday marked their eighth defensive score of the season.  The Cleveland Brown on the other hand, have only scored five offensive touchdowns this entire season.

Quote of the Week:

Redskin’s cornerback, DeAngelo Hall, talking about Falcons coach Mike Smith after a late hit by LaRon Landry on Matt Ryan that resulted in a melee on the sideline:

“After that, coach Smith came over to me, talking (expletive) to me, saying they were going to kick my (butt).  I stay in Atlanta during the offseason, so if Mike Smith wants to see me, he can definitely find me.”

He went on to say:

“I’m going to get on the horn with commissioner Goodell and we’re going to figure out a way how to nip this in the bud.  It’s different with me coming in trying to break stuff up and as a strength coach, if you coming at me and you’re trying to get licks, that ain’t how you do things.”

Quote of the Week 2: