Week 7 seemed to have a lot of comebacks to varying degrees in several NFL games. Three of the remaining unbeatens were off, having bye weeks, while two others put their undefeated records on the line in home games.And there was a battle for first place in the NFC East late yesterday afternoon between the visiting Dallas Cowboys, and the New York Giants.
Let's take a look:
New England 30, NY Jets 23 - The Patriots remained unbeaten, improving their record to 6-0, by downing the tough, 4-1 Jets at Foxboro. For New England, this is the best start in franchise history since that epic undefeated run in 2007, when the Pats remained unbeaten all the way to the Super Bowl, before losing to the Giants in the final minute of that championship. The Patriots and Jets went back and forth, but New England began to take over, predictably, in the second half. The Jets were trying to hold them off, when Brady found Gronk in the end zone to essentially ice it. Have to wonder what happened there for New York, because that was a very costly mistake. Still, the Jets are strong at 4-2 as they head into Oakland next weekend, while the Pats are in action early against Miami on Thursday.
Carolina 27, Philadelphia 16 - The Panthers, too, remained unbeaten. They did so by holding off the Eagles, who played fairly tough last night, but ultimately came up empty. Cam Newton had a forgettable night, throwing three interceptions, but the Panthers stayed hot and undefeated behind a tough defense and an offense that did enough to win. Next up for them is a Monday Night contest against Indianapolis.
(London) Jacksonville 34, Buffalo 31 - The Bills nearly mounted an amazing comeback that surely would have ranked second in franchise history only to the historical comeback in the 1992-93 season, when the Bills came back from being down by 32 points to beat the Oilers in the AFC Wildcard Game. In London, Buffalo was down 27-3 in the second quarter, when the Jaguars just absolutely exploded for a whole bunch of points in an amazingly short time. But the Bills battled back and, in the fourth quarter, it looked like they were about to complete a similarly epic comeback. Down 27-16, a deep pass by E.J. Manuel was completed to Marcus Easley cut it to 27-23. The jaguars offense looked horrid afterwards, and Blake Bortles threw an ill-advised pass that was intercepted by Corey Graham and returned for a touchdown that seemed to put the Bills in a position to win. However, the Jaguars offense redeemed itself on the next possession, and drove all the way down the field, ending with Bortles this time finding Allen Hurns n the corner of the end zone to take the lead. The Jax defense made it stand, and secured the back and forth win for the Jaguars, earning the franchise only their second win of the season. This one was fun to watch!
NY Giants 27, Dallas 20 - The G-Men took back sole possession of first place, which they lost after that hugely disappointing loss in Philly. But the Giants survived a tough, back and forth contest against the 'Boys and, in so doing, improved their record to 4-3. The Cowboys, in the meantime, dropped their fourth straight contest, and have not pulled off a win since the injury to Tony Romo. In the meantime, the Eagles also lost at Carolina, while Washington won, which means that the Giants are one game ahead of Washington and Philly, and now 2 1/2 games ahead of the Cowboys in the NFC East.
Washington 31, Tampa Bay 30 - Washington was the one team that mounted an enormous comeback and managed to complete it by holding on for the win. Tampa Bay raced out to a huge 24-0 lead, only to eventually lose the game. It was the biggest comeback victory in the history of the Washington franchise. In the meantime, the Bucs defense said that the collapse was on them. Whatever happened, it was indicative of the type of season that both teams are going through, with Washington being counted out early and then surprising many by playing well, while for Tampa, this was a tremendously promising start, only to see a very typical, if seemingly unlikely, collapse.
Miami 44, Houston 26 - For the second time this season, the Texans allowed another team to gain a ridiculously huge lead in the first half against them, and then scored some garbage time points to make the contest look slightly more respectable. Perhaps an even greater source of concern for Houston is the injury to Arian Foster, their star running back, who has been injury plagued the last few seasons or so. As for the Dolphins, they seem to be roaring back to life since the switch at coach. Another solid performance for the Dolphins.
St. Louis 24, Cleveland 6 - Nothing unexpected here. The Browns simply could not match up to the Rams in St. Louis, and the Rams just kind of wore down their weaker opponents, grinding out a decisive win. Cleveland is, once again, struggling, while the Rams are playing fairly well, having earned another tough victory.
Oakland 37, San Diego 29 - This game was not nearly as close as the score would suggest, although the Chargers did mount something of a comeback. The Raiders took it to San Diego early, overwhelming them, and taking a 30-6 lead into the half, and then adding another touchdown in the third quarter, before the Chargers scored some points of their own to make this game look a lot more respectable. But trust me, the Chargers really were never in this thing.
Kansas City 23, Pittsburgh 13 - The Steelers surprised many by playing as well as they were playing for the last several weeks after losing their starting quarterback. But yesterday, hey themselves were surprised by the Kansas City Chiefs, a team who's season seemed to be spiraling out of control. Kansas City had a strong home stand, stunning the Steelers and earning only their second win of the season, and the first since week one.
Atlanta 10, Tennessee 7 - Speaking of teams who have not won since week one, the Titans dropped their fifth straight. The Falcons won to raise their record to 6-1, although this was an ugly win where, once again, they showed little to none of their full offensive potential. Still, this is the kind of game that Atlanta would likely have lost last season, and it is a testament to the improvements and moves to increase the team's toughness that they managed to win this kind of a contest.
New Orleans 27, Indianapolis 21 - Another team with a weak record exploding early, gaining a big lead, only to watch the other team mount a strong comeback. Still, the Colts were not really ever in this one, despite making it a lot closer. The Saints more or less had this one throughout, and held off the Colts for a huge and much needed road win to keep their flickering hopes for this season alive.
Minnesota 28, Detroit 19 - Another big lead early by a weak team, this time the Detroit Lions, and another big comeback by the stronger team, although Minnesota, to their credit, sealed the deal and earned the come from behind victory. The Lions were up 14-3 after the first quarter, but the Vikings came on strong and tightened it up in the second quarter before eventually taking over in the second half to earn a tough divisional road win and complete the season sweep of the reeling Lions.
Thursday Night - Seattle 20, San Franciso 3 - Finally, the Seahawks looked like the franchise that dominated the NFC in the past two seasons before this one. Their defense looked stellar, not allowing much of anything by San Francisco's offense, while the 'Hawks offense put up enough points to earn a comfortable win. They did not explode for points, but earned more than enough to win this contest. Is this the beginning of the real Seahawks finally showing up this season? Or was this a one time thing? They go to Dallas next, and we'll find out a bit more then.
Tonight, the Arizona Cardinals will host the Baltimore Ravens, who have suffered through a hugely disappointing season to this point. One bright spot for the Ravens is that their best game was played at night before a national audience in Pittsburgh earlier this season. For Arizona, this game is basically a must win to remain fairly comfortably ahead of both Seattle and St. Louis, particularly given that both teams won this past week.
I already mentioned who the undefeated Patriots and Panthers will be playing next weekend. But the other three unbeatens will also be in action. The Bengals will travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers, while the Broncos and Packers will themselves match up against on another in Denver, in an exciting game between two unbeaten, 6-0 teams!
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