How bout them 5-0 Broncos

The pupil take takes down the teacher, as the Broncos come from behind to shock the Patriots and move to 5-0.  Kyle Orton threw for over 300 yards and Brandon Marshall hauled in two touchdowns in the 20-17 win.

McDaniels was fired up after the big win.

They shut down Randy Moss, only yielding one catch to him.  Moss ended up with as many interceptions as catches.

The loss for Belichick dropped him to 8-7 against his former assistants, a shocking stat.

Orton, whose record  as a starter is now 26-12, looked like Brady out there engineering drives of 90 and 98 yards in the second half to spur the comeback.  The Broncos also finally got Eddie Royal involved this week as Royal finished with 10 catches after coming into the game with 8 on the season.

Josh McDaniels has shut up the critics, including myself, who chastised the young coach in the pre season and it’s clear he is a great coach and has this Broncos team as an AFC contender.  They have a huge game next week against San Diego on Monday, in which they can seize control of the division.

The Broncos are definitely serious contenders in the AFC but one still has to winder whether if they’d be the Super Bowl front runners if Jay Cutler was still in town?

Don’t forget about the Bungals

Who what have thought the week one showdown pitting Cincinnati and Denver could loom large in the AFC playoff picture?

With another win, the Bengals sit alone atop the AFC North with wins away wins over Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

The real key for the Bengals though, has been Cedric Benson.  The rejuvenated back has been the centerpiece of the Bengal’s offense and has transformed the Bengals into a run first team.  Carson Palmer hasn’t been asked been asked to do too much and the 120 yard performance of Benson snapped the Ravens 39 game streak of not allowing a 100 yard rusher.

They have now won three games in a row all by three points and all against divisional opponents.  While they stand at 4-1 I’m still not completely sold on the Bengals.  They got a couple favorable calls late in the Raven’s game that extended their drive and Shayne Graham missed the overtime winner against Cleveland.

Undefeateds Roll

The Giants, Colts, and Vikings all rolled to easy victories this week to improve to 5-0.

The Giants absolutely embarrassed the Raiders and had David Carr in before halftime. For the first time this season JaMarcus Russell had a completion percentage over 60%.

Peyton Manning continued his aerial assault of opposing defenses in the Colts romping of the now 0-5 Titans. The Titans are a mess right now and we finally had a Vince Young sighting!

The Vikings continued their dominance and Jared Allen wrecked havoc all day long for Kyle Boller.  Also Brett Favre starts 5-0 for the first time in his career.

Falcons Roll

The 49ers came in riding high and got embarrassed at home against the Falcons.

The Falcons finally got Roddy White and Michael Turner going, as they combined for five touchdowns.

The 49ers still lead the NFC West but Seattle and Arizona are creeping behind them but they have a bye week to sort out things.

This one play signified the 45-10 defeat: Dre’ Bly  intercepted a pass while down 25 points and then proceeded to showboat down the sideline but was caught from behind and fumble.  Mike Singletary should have a nice talking with Bly, who didn’t apologize for the act after the game.

Browns Win

Derrick Anderson had possibly the worst game ever for a winning quarterback, completing only 2 passes

Dick Jauron may be fired by the time you read.  If he’s not gone this soon he’s all but sure to be gone at the end of the season.

Other Quick Notes

• Speaking of hot seats, none may be hotter than Jim Zorn’s.  Daniel Snyder reportedly met with Mike Shanahan to discuss the Redskins coaching job.  The ‘Skins also blew a 17-2 lead against the previously win less Panthers.
• The Cowboys got very lucky in their over time win over the Chiefs.  They didn’t deserve to win that game.  Don’t blame Tony Romo though, he played very well.
• Donovan McNabb came back and did not disappoint.  Also the Eagles may have found another offensive weapon in rookie Jeremy Maclin.

Now for this week’s awards:

Game Balls

1. Miles Austin

The Cowboys wide out in his first career start set franchise records that Terrell Owens and Michael Irvin didn’t achieve.  He hauled in 10 passes for 250 yards and 2 scores, including the game winner.

2. Cedric Benson

The comeback player of the year candidate had his best game of the season against the staunch Ravens defense.  In his 120 yard effort, he snapped a 39 game streak of running backs failing to reach the century mark against the Ravens.

3. Julius Peppers

The highly payed defensive end had not been producing this season before Sunday.  In a must win situation he delivered with two sacks, a forced fumble, and got great penetration on a play that resulted in a safety.

Lame Ducks

1. Randy Moss

Only one catch against the Broncos and now has 4 catches or less in three out of five games.  Tom Brady could be here as well, as he missed Moss a couple of time.

2. Chris Brown

The Texans goal line back got the twice on the one yard line with the Texans down seven with under a minute left and failed to come through.  He runs to high to be an effective goal line back or any kind of back.

Enjoy Mark Sanchez in prime time tonight against the Dolphins and this video of Josh McDaniels celebrating after the broncos victory.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Saints D is Legit

The Saints made Sanchez uncomfortable all game long.

The Saints offense is great but the Saints defense is the reason they beat the Jets on Sunday.  The defense has been the Achilles Heel for the Saints for years but they have stepped up this year.  Darren Sharper has been a beast in the secondary, especially on Sunday, and the addition of Greg Williams as defensive coordinator can not be forgotten as well.  The Saints are for real and look like a contender come January.

Sanchez Less than Stellar

The Saints exposed Mark Sanchez for what he is, a rookie.  He did not look sharp yesterday, throwing three picks and losing yet another fumble.  Games like these are to be expected with a rookie quarterback.  He can’t play great every week.  One thing that has concerned me about Sanchez is his ball control.  Through three games he has fumbled five teams and has lost two of them.  It’s something Sanchez needs to work on before it becomes a big problem.

Pats are Back

It’s official the Pats are not done.  Back to back wins against two quality teams has cleared any doubt of a possible collapse.  The return of Wes Welker certainly helped Brady.  The Ravens could have easily won this game but they passed the ball 49 times compared to only 17 runs.  Flacco was good but Ray Rice ran for over 100 yards while only receiving 11 carries.  That’s not Raven football and they need to get back to running the football.

Titans are a different Team

The collapse in Nashville continues.  This team is a shell of the team it was last year.  The defensive has been horrid, in particular the secondary, which is now hampered by injuries.  New defensive coordinator Chuck Cecil is feeling the heat now.  He isn’t calling any blitzes, a stark comparison to former defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz.

Marshall came up big with his go ahead fourth quarter touchdown.

With the season now all but lost it is time to go to Vince Young.  I wrote about this in detail last week and a change needs to be made.  Jeff Fisher is still standing by Kerry Collins but with games coming up against the Colts and Patroits, a 0-6 start might do the trick.  The Titans need to find out what they have in Vince Young before this salary takes a big jump in the off season.

Are the Broncos for Real?

Even after starting 4-0 I still can’t tell if the Broncos are for real.  Their wins include Cincinnati on a fluke play, Cleveland, Oakland, and a suspect Cowboy team.  Whether or not they’re for real or not you can tell the Broncos players are buying into what Josh McDaniels is preaching.  Hey, even Brandon Marshall was all smiles after the game, embracing McDaniels with a big hug.  A lot of things seem to be forgotten when you win games. The real test come s in these next four weeks though as they face the Patriots, Chargers, Ravens, and Steelers, as tough a slate as you can ask for in the A.F.C.

The New Steve Smith

The New York Giant’s Steve Smith continued his abuse on opposing secondaries hauling in 11 passes for 131 yards and a score.  Through four games he leads the league in catches (34), yards (411), and touchdowns (4).  With teams focusing in on stopping the Giants running game Eli Manning and Smith are making them pay for it, and in a big way.  It might be time to start referring to him as Steve Smith and the Panther’s Steve Smith, as the other Steve Smith, through no fault of his own however just a combination of the emergence of Smith and the awful play of Delhomme.

Redskins Win, Barely

The Redskins had to overcome a 10 point half time deficit to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, arguably the worst team in football.   Campbell turned the ball over three times in the first half but played came out in the second half and played an inspired half of football.  He said after the game that at halftime he felt Jim Zorn’s job was in his hands , which he was right about, and he couldn’t let him down.  So Zorn and Campbell are safe for another week but have we ever seen a worse 2-2 team in the history of the NFL.

Romo Feeling the Heat

Another ugly start for Romo, who now has failed to pass for a touchdown in two straight games.  After what looked like a promising start to the season for Romo against the Bucs, he has looked like a different quarterback.  It’s clear that Romo misses T.O., and vice versa.  I think the Cowboy have figured out now Roy Williams isn’t a number one receiver, and it baffles me why they ever did in the first place.  Without a number one receiver defenses can double Jason Witten which cripples the Cowboys offense.  Luckily, they play Kansas City this week.

Now onto this week’s awards:

Game Balls

1. Peyton Manning

Manning may be having his best season to date so far and was stellar against the Seahawks.  He led the Colts to touchdowns on four out of their first five drives and passed for over 350 yards on the day.  Even while breaking in new receivers such as Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie one thing is certain; Peyton Manning is not slowing down.

2. Darren Sharper

The veteran safety picked off two Mark Sanchez passes as the Saints took down the previously unbeaten Jets.  He took his first pick 99 yards to the house to give the Saints a 10-0 lead and his second pick sealed the win.

3. The Pittsburgh Steelers O-Line

This is the type of performance the Steelers need out of their o-line.   They opened up holes all night and allowed Rashard Mendenhall to run for 165 yards and two touchdowns.

Lame Ducks (this will now be known as the JaMarcus Russell award from now on)

1. Mark Sacnhez

Sorry Mark but you didn’t deliver the good this weeks.  You showed poor decision making and stared down receivers far too often.  He’ll learn though, and hopefully won’t be back in this section.

2. Trent Edwards

Things are not going well in Buffalo.  Edwards was dreadful on Sunday throwing three picks, one of which was returned to the house.   The Bills were embarrassed by the Dolphins on Sunday.

3. Mark Clayton

Clayton had a decent stats day catching 5 for 45 but that doesn’t tell the story.  On a fourth down with under 2 minutes left Flacco threw for Clayton inside the Pats 10 yard line but the pass bounced off his shoulder pads.  He did the blame after the game but every receiver learns from a young age to catch the ball with your hands.

That does it for Week 4.  There’s Monday night Football tonight and i heard it’s a pretty good match up.