San Francisco 34, NY Giants 24 - The Giants lost, but at least they looked good doing it by wearing their vintage uniforms of the 1980's and 1990's. The 49ers were able to produce a lot of points and always seemed to stay comfortably ahead in this one on what proved to be a beautiful autumn afternoon in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants fall to 2-7, while San Francisco improves to 6-3 on the year.. My pick: Accurate
Chicago 47, Cincinnati 42 - Of all the games played this weekend, this one felt like the wildest and most unpredictable. It seemed like a reasonably close game, albeit high-scoring. It was late in the fourth quarter, with the Bengals holding the ball and driving towards what felt like an inevitable score. They had reached the red zone. Then Flacco threw a pick six at the worst possible moment, giving Chicago a 41-27 lead with under five minutes to go in the game. Pretty much over, right? Except the next time that I saw an update to the score, the Bengals were winning, 42-41. What? How's that possible? They scored two touchdowns inside of the final two minutes, seemingly producing a very memorable fourth quarter comeback win. But then the Bears managed to top that with a touchdown of their very own, due mostly to awful defense and very poor attempts at tackling by the Bengals defense, which is rated the worst defense in the league. So Chicago pulls off an incredible win on the road in Cincy. What an incredible game! The Bears improve to 5-3 on the year with the win. Meanwhile, the Bengals lose again and fall to 3-6, closer and closer to irrelevance and seem on the verge of being knocked out of playoff contention. My pick: Accurate
Minnesota 27, Detroit 24 - Another game in which I just did not see this outcome. The Vikings simply looked awful, having dropped three of four. They also seemed to have fallen completely out of contention in the NFC North, with the Packers, Lions, and Bears all seemingly running out of the gate and off to fast starts. But then the Vikings manage to go on the road and earn a win at a very tough environment in the Motor City. In a back and forth affair through the first half, they managed to hang with the Lions, taking a 17-14 lead by halftime. Then they built a relatively commanding lead in the third quarter, never allowing the Lions to seriously get back in this one. Detroit had an opportunity to put the Vikings away this season, for all intents and purposes. Instead, Minnesota pulls off a huge win that saves their season (at least for now). Even better news for them, the Packers also lost. A solid win for Minnesota, who improve to 4-4, while the Lions fall to 5-3. My pick: Inaccurate
LA Chargers 27, Tennessee 20 - The Chargers flirted with what would have been a disastrous upset loss to the lowly Titans for much of the first half. It seemed that they had a surprisingly difficult time holding Tennessee off. Yet they kept plugging away, taking a 20-17 lead by halftime, and then scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter which almost put this game out of reach. The Titans scored a field goal to make in a one possession game, but that was as far as they got. The Chargers survive a relative scare in Tennessee to improve to 6-3 on the year. The Titans, meanwhile, fall to 1-8, one of the worst records in the league. My pick: Accurate
Pittsburgh 27, Indianapolis 20 - Despite the Colts having gotten off to a very fast 7-1 start to the season, I remained a little suspect of just how good they actually were. There have been a lot of teams who get off to very fast starts and look great, surprising the NFL and seemingly being the sleeper story of the year. Then at some point, reality hits, and the losses pile up. I am not saying that this scenario will play itself out in Indianapolis. All I am saying is that they did not feel as strong as that 7-1 start to the season would suggest. This was a wakeup call, and not just because they lost. It was the way that they lost. The Steelers defense made Daniel Jones look like he was the same quarterback from back in the Giants days, throwing three INT's. After Indy scored an early touchdown to go up 7-0, the Steelers took over the game, and it was 24-7 in the fourth before the Colts managed to get back on the score, indicating that the final score was not indicative of how lopsided this one actually was. Yes, the Colts put up some points late in the fourth to make it seem more respectable, but they never actually were in position to tie it, much less steal a win. They still have an impressive record at 7-2, but this felt like the kind of loss that knocks them back down to size a bit. The Steelers, meanwhile, improve to 5-3 and maintain a two game lead in the AFC North. My pick: Accurate
New England 24, Atlanta 23 - The Falcons proved much tougher than expected, forcing the Pats to have to survive a real scare. New England was flirting with this being a predictable blowout, taking a 21-7 lead in the second quarter. However, Atlanta scored a touchdown to pull to within seven. After the Pats scored a touchdown in the third quarter to go up 24-14, the Falcons scored a field goal and then a touchdown in the fourth quarter. But they missed a clearly crucial extra point, allowing New England to escape this one with a razor thin one-point win to improve to 7-2 with their sixth straight win. This loss drops the Falcons to 3-5. My pick: Accurate
Denver 18, Houston 15 - I predicted the Broncos to lose because it seemed they had some shaky wins where they just manage to pull off enough in the fourth quarter to squeak by. Also, the Texans are reaching that point in the year where they absolutely need to win and cannot afford any more losses. Houston seemed to have this game under control, building a 15-7 lead into the fourth quarter with five field goals. Give the Broncos defense a lot of credit for holding the Texans to just field goals and not allowing any touchdowns. Once Denver's offense came alive in the fourth quarter, they made it count. First a touchdown and a successful two-point conversion to tie the game, despite Houston having more or less dominated (except for the scoreboard) by that point. Then the Broncos managed to kick a field goal on the game's final play to steal yet another win. It is the sixth win in a row for Denver, as they improve to 7-2. Houston, meanwhile, falls to 3-5 on the year. My pick: Inaccurate
Carolina 16, Green Bay 13 - This game proved to be the big shocker for this weekend. Who could have expected that the inconsistent Panthers, coming off an embarrassing home loss in blowout fashion to the Bills. But they come back strong with a surprising - even a shocking - road win at Green Bay's Lambeau Field. It was a low-scoring affair, and like they did against Dallas, they put themselves in position for a field goal attempt on the game's final play to break a deadlock. Also like with the Dallas game, the field goal attempt was successful, and the Panthers earned a very impressive win. This likely qualifies as their most impressive win yet this season, as they improve to 5-4 on the year. The Packers, meanwhile, drop to 5-2-1 on the year. My pick: Inaccurate
LA Rams 34, New Orleans 10 - This went as expected. The Rams made short work of the lowly Saints, who just cannot catch a break this season. To their credit, the Saints did a halfway decent job of keeping the game relatively close through the first half. But the Rams completely took over the game in the second half, shutting New Orleans out the rest of the way. The Rams produced 438 yards and 30 first downs on offense while holding onto the ball for just under 44 minutes. Meanwhile their defense contained the Saints to just 224 yards and 10 first downs. The Rams win their third straight by handing New Orleans their fourth straight loss. The Rams improve to 6-2 on the year, while the Saints fall to 1-8.My pick: Accurate
Jacksonville 30, Las Vegas 29 - The Jaguars won, which was expected. However, this one proved to be much tougher than expected. It was a bit of a wild game, and also fairly even battle throughout, with several lead changes. Ultimately, this one went into overtime and was decided right at the end. Jacksonville placekicker Cam Little successfully converted a new NFL record 68-yard field goal just before the first half ended. Again, a wild game, but the Jaguars survived to improve to 5-3. . My pick: Accurate
Buffalo 28, Kansas City 21 - The Bills and Josh Allen certainly seem to know how to beat the Chiefs in the regular season. Let's hope that if these two teams meet again in January, they can find a way to beat KC again. The Bills defense was very tough, pressuring Mahomes and keeping him to under 50% completions in pass attempts, which was the first time anyone has managed to do that. On the other side, Josh Allen completed 23 of 26 for 273 yards and a touchdown. Buffalo earns themselves a solid win over a quality opponent, even though this was the first time that these two teams met under Mahomes and Allen when neither team was in first place in their division. Buffalo improves to 6-3 while KC falls to 5-4.. My pick: Accurate
Sunday Night Football: Seattle 38, Washington 14 - The Seahawks won, which I expected. But it was the way in which they won which proved truly impressive. They absolutely dominated Washington from beginning to end. Sam Darnold completed his first 17 passes of the game, including going a perfect 16 of 16 in the first half. Ultimately, he would complete 21 of 24 passes for 330 yards and four touchdowns, as well as one INT. The Seahawks were up 28-0 before the Commanders finally got on the scoreboard very late in the second quarter. But Seattle was up 31-7 by halftime, and just never looked back. With this win, Seattle improves to 6-2 on the year, while Washington falls to 3-6 with their fourth straight loss. As an aside, I enjoyed the old, throwback uniforms for both teams. Felt a little like the golden era of NFL football back in the 1980's and 1990's. Very enjoyable. My pick: Accurate
Monday Night Football: Arizona 27, Dallas 17 - Probably the second biggest upset this weekend, after the Panthers stunning the Packers. The Cardinals just looked like they couldn't win. And it is getting close to the point where a very bad stretch like that would threaten to eliminate them from playoff contention. To their credit, however, the Cardinals played their best. Their defense really clamped down on the Cowboys offense, containing it extremely well. The Cardinals just dominated from early on, and a Dallas rally towards the end of the game never really gained enough traction to be a serious run to steal a win. The Cardinals snap a five game skid and improve to 3-5 on the year. Dallas, meanwhile, falls to 3-5-1. My pick: Inaccurate
No comments:
Post a Comment