The seventh Sunday of the NFL yields fewer surprises

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The Bears really do have talent, but displayed once again that they’re not ready for prime time.  Two special play touchdowns led the Patriots to a 38-31 win over the Bears.  The Bears compounded their frustration when Mitch Trubisky hit Kevin White with a 54 yard Hail Mary on the last play of the game.  White was stopped on the 1 yard line.  That’s been the Bears season in a nutshell.  The Bears are at 3-3 and should be 5-1.  As for the Patriots, they just find a way to win.  

And this week the Patriots did it this way.....

For Tom Brady it was another day at the office, throwing for 277 yards and three TDs.  Recently acquired WR, Josh Gordon looks to be settling in well with the Patriots, catching four passes for 100 yards, but the big plays for the Patriots were on special teams.

Cordarrelle Patterson ran a kickoff back 95 yards for one TD, and Kyle Van Noy returned a block 29 yards for another score.  While the Patriots special teams generally go unnoticed, they took front and center Sunday.  Rob Gronkowski missed the game, but ultimately the Pats just found another way to get things done.

Not quite their, AFC version

The NFC has the Bears.  The AFC has its counterpart to the Bears, the Browns.  The Browns are young and talented and also still haven’t quite figured out how to win.  Their 26-23 overtime loss to the Buccaneers is an example of that.  The Bucs won the game on a 59 yard field goal by Chandler Catanzaro.  Earlier Cantanzaro had missed a potential game winning field goal from 40 yards out as the fourth quarter ended.

The Browns shot themselves in the foot with 14 penalties for 114 yards.  The Bucs also hurt themselves by committing four turnovers.  Jameis Winston threw for 365 yards and two TDs, but also threw two picks.  Surprisingly, Winston ran for another 55 yards and a touchdown.  

Almost

The Chargers and Titans got NFL Sunday started with their contest in London.  In a game that surprised me by how close it was.  The Chargers hung on to win 20-19.  The Titans scored on a one yard TD pass from Marcus Mariotta to Luke Stocker with 31 second left in the game to draw to within 20-19.  The Titans then went for the 2 point conversion, but Marcus Mariotta’s pass was broken up in the end zone.

For Chargers QB, Philip Rivers, it was another ho hum 306 yard, two TD day.  The Chargers are now at 5-2 and in good position for a playoff slot.

Oh yea, the game has four quarters

The Eagles seemed to be cruising for a victory until the Carolina Panthers exploded for 21 points in the fourth quarter to steal a 21-17 win.  Really old guy and legendary pass rusher, Julius Peppers sacked Carson Wentz at the Panthers 14 yard line on fourth down, forcing a fumble, to seal the victory.  The Eagles have sputtered to a 3-4 record while the Panthers have seemed sluggish, but sit at 4-2.

Cousins is hooked on a Thielen

As expected, the Vikings rolled over the Jets 37-17.  Jets rookie QB, Sam Darnold, had a rough day, going 17/42 with 206 yards, one TD and three interceptions.   Kirk Cousins was efficient, going 25/40 for 240 yards and two TDs.  Adam Thielen was his most productive receiver, catching 9 passes good for 110 yards and a TD.  Thielen has caught passes for over 100 yards in his last seven games, making him the fifth recover in HFL history to accomplish that.

Is that a Lions running game I see?

A few interesting things were going on in the Lions 32-21 win over the Dolphins.  First of all, Lions RB, Kerryon Johnson ran for 158 yards on 19 carries.  Included in that total was a 71 yard run.  That is the longest Lions run from scrimmage since 2011.  They also amassed 258 rushing yards, their most in 21 seasons.  Matthew Stafford wasn’t shabby either.  He went 18/22 for 217 yards and two TDs. 

Brock Osweiler put up nice passing numbers for the Dolphins, passing for 239 yards and two TDs.  Kenyan Drake broke off a 54 yard TD run to make the game competitive, but the injury plagued Dolphins fell to 4-3.

Bills don't have any Luck

Simply put, the Colts have a QB and the Bills don’t.  That was painfully evident the Colts 37-5 win over the Bills.  Andrew Luck threw for only 156 yards, but included in that was four TDs.  The reason Luck had so relatively few yards in the air was the Colts ran for 220 yards.  Marlon Mack led the way with 120 yards on 19 carries.

Derek Anderson who recently found his way off the street and behind the Bills center started in place of Nathan Peterman.  The results weren’t surprising.  Anderson threw three interceptions, which, while not quite Peterman-esque, was still pretty bad.

Speaking of teams without a quarterback...

Speaking of teams without QBs, the Jaguars lost to the Texans 20-7.  The Jags finally benched QB, Blake Bortles in favor of Cody Kessler.  Bortles was benched after two fumbles.  Jaguars head coach, Doug Marrone, said the Jags’ QB job was up for grabs.  Much like the ball when Bortles touches it.

DeShaun Watson didn’t have big numbers have big numbers, but didn’t get the daylights beat out of him for a change.  Lamar Miller ran for 100 yards and a TD.  DeAndre Hopkins also did his thing, making a brilliant one handed catch for 31 yards, as well as hauling in a TD pass.  All in all, it was enough for a solid Texans win.

Ravens Tuckered out

In one of the most surprising quirks of the season thus far, the Ravens lost to the Saints 24-23 when Ravens kicker, Justin Tucker, missed an extra point after the Ravens had scored on a 14 yard pass from Joe Flacco to John Brown.  There were 24 seconds left on the clock when Flacco connected with Brown.  Tucker then missed the extra point for the first time in his career.  Previously he had converted 222 consecutive extra points.

The Ravens generally kept the high powered Saints offense in check until Drew Brees led the Saints to 17 fourth quarter points. Both Flacco and Brees threw for two TDs and no picks.  

And the Strange Call of the Week Award goes to....

Speaking off strange stuff involving the kicking game, the Cowboys lost to the Redskins 20-17 after Cowboys long snapper, L. P. Ladoceur was called for a snap infraction.  The penalty meant that Dallas field goal kicker, Brett Maher’s potential game tying field goal was from 52 yards out instead of 47.  The kick hit the left upright and was no good.

Neither offense was particularly good.  Cowboys QB, Dak Prescott threw for 273 yards and one TD, but lost two fumbles.  One of those fumbles was returned one yard for a score by Preston Smith.

George Allen would have loved A. P.

Most of the Redskins offense came from Adrian Peterson who ran for 99 yards on 24 carries.  The win ups the Redskins record to 4-2 while the Cowboys are now at 3-4.

That was predictable

The Rams figured to roll over the 49ers Sunday and that’s exactly what happened.  The final score was 39-10.  The key to the game was four 49ers turnovers.  The 49ers also had a punt block.  The Rams also sacked Niners QB, C. J. Beathard seven times.

The Rams put up 331 yards of total offense and would have more, but they kept running into the end zone.  Todd Gurley had 86 yards from scrimmage, but found the end zone three times.  Jared Goff threw for “only” 202 yards, and two TDs.  Ultimately, the Rams route to victory was a little different, but the destination was the same.

Turns out it was Rambo vs. Barney Fife

The Bengals – Chiefs matchup figured to be a real offensive shootout, but only one team brought any ammunition.  The Bengals went Barney Fife in their 45-10 loss to the Chiefs.  Bengals QB, Andy Dalton, threw for only 148 yards in the loss.  Meanwhile, Patrick Mahomes had, what for him seems to be a typical night.  He threw for 358 yards and four touchdowns.

From a purely entertainment standpoint, the Chiefs are easily the most fun team in football to watch.  Will that translate to a Super Bowl?  We’ll see.