Wednesday Weekly Thoughts

It's Wednesday already which means the weekly NFL lineup of games begins...tomorrow??? That's right, the mediocre Bears and the even more mediocre 49ers will square off tomorrow night in the battle of two teams that are as middle of the pack as it gets. Chicago is probably the better team, though not by much, but the real story here is the NFL on Thursday! It's still over two weeks to Thanksgiving,and already the early week games are starting. The game might not be the best, but more NFL on TV=better.

Now let's take a quick look back at the week that was with a brief review of every game:
- Tampa Bay 38, Green Bay 28
The Bucs finally got a win at the Packers' expense thanks to some decent play from rookie QB Josh Freeman, and a few bad turnovers by the Packers. Somehow Green Bay is still in 2nd place in the division, but they are absolutely NOT a contender of sorts, and I doubt they will make the playoffs. Tampa can be happy they aren't going winless and that they seem to have found a QB for the future.
- Jacksonville 24, Kansas City 21
The Jaguars are .500, thanks to holding off a late Chiefs rally, and how they have won 4 games is beyond my comprehension. As for the Chiefs, they showed heart in the 4th quarter and didn't give up-- always nice to see from a team that is already playing for next year.
-Cincinnati 17, Baltimore, 7
The Bengals, with a dominating defensive performance, swept the Ravens and improved to 6-2 on the year with a 4-0 divisional record. Wow! Who saw that coming after 8 games? Certainly not myself, so I give mad props the Bengals now. If they can beat the Steelers on the road this week, they will be near locks to win the always-tough AFC North. Baltimore meanwhile does not have to panic quite yet, but they have very little margin of error here on out. They still have two games against the Steelers, a team that has owned them as of late. They still have to play the Undefeated Colts. Even their road games against the Packers could be a problem. With 4 losses at the midpoint they are by no means out of playoff contention, but they have virtually no shot at winning their division. They need to start playing better quickly, because after they destroy the Browns this week, their schedule gets real hard.
-Arizona 41, Chicago 21
The Cardinals are 4-0 on the road. Unfortunately if they win their division, they play the first game of the playoffs at home were they are 1-3. Still, the Cardinals can be dangerous as last years playoffs showed, and while inconsistent, they definitely can play good football. The Bears are 4-4 and like the Jaguars, this is a great mystery of the modern era. Just goes to show how awful the bottom teams in the league are this year.
-Atlanta 31, Washington 17
I officially hate the Redskins for playing so awful. They spend a fortune every year on big names in the off season and then are garbage when it counts. There two wins have come against some of the worst teams in the league (St. Louis and Tampa). They have yet to score more than 17 points in a game. Their defense is quite good and can keeps them from getting blown out, but for an offense with many quality players, they are nothing short of painful to watch. The Falcons looks like a 10-6 team which is what they will finish if they keep up the 5-3 pace. They beat the teams they are suppose to, but are still a step or two behind the real contenders.
-Indianapolis 20, Houston 17
The Texans outplayed the Colts in the second half but a late turnover and a missed FG doomed them. I was actually impressed with their ability to turn a 13-0 road deficit into a 17-13 lead, but they blew their chances to win the game. Serious contenders don't do that, which is why the Texans have little hope of becoming more than a one-and-done wild card team this year. Kris Brown obviously messed up by missing an easy 42 yard FG in a dome, but he did make a 56 yard one earlier so its unfair to blame him solely for his team's loss. The Colts have rolled through their first half of the season with just a few minor speed bumps and sit at 8-0. They have their flaws, but so does every team, and having Peyton Manning always helps. They are always a dangerous team and this year is no exception.
- New England 27, Miami 17
As a Patriots fan, I remember only too well the Dolphins stomping the Patriots in Foxborough last year when they introduced the wildcat. This year they unleashed a new wrinkle involving Pat White and had a decent amount of success early on, but there was one key difference between the 2008 and 2009 games: Tom Brady. Last year New England feel behind and Matt Cassel and the offense sputtered causing the defense to be on the field all day and get gashed by big play after big play. When the Dolphins capped off a 16 play, 10 minute drive to open the second half and take the league Tom Brady and Randy Moss were there to answer with a 71 yard quick-score. Also, the Patriot's faster and younger defense adjusted to the new wrinkles in the wildcat and played quite well after the first drive of the second half. It was not a blowout, but this win was still impressive and now the Patriots have a decent lead in the AFC East. The Dolphins are still a talented bunch who play everyone close, but they need a better passing game, and at 3-5, have practically no shot of even a wild card berth.
- Sand Diego 21, New York Giants 20
Good road win for the Chargers and at 5-3, they are right back in AFC West contention with Denver. Phillip Rivers played great with the game on the line, but the Giants really lost this one.They had first and goal from the 4 with a little over 3 minutes left and a 3 point lead. How do you blow that??? Guess they should have made more of an effort to score a game-clinching touchdown. The Giants have now lost 4 straight and look finished for the year.
-Seattle 32, Detroit 20
Detroit came out firing on all cylinders and got a 17-0 first quarter lead. Then they collapsed and Stafford, playing like a rookie, through 5 interceptions. The Lions are a very bad team and they are building for the future. The Seahawks do not look good either and even with the win, are crummy on the whole.
-New Orleans 30, Carolina 20
The Panthers played well early and still had a chance to win if not for a late fumble that the Saints recovered for a touchdown. The Saints look great at 8-0 because they keep showing poise down the stretch with their comeback wins. They are turning it over a lot and have trouble against the run, so sooner or later these weaknesses will haunt them, but for now they can enjoy being the best team in the NFC and possibly the NFL.
Dallas 20, Philadelphia 16
The Eagles are an inconsistent team and probably should have won this game. They didn't, but at 5-3, they are still not out of the NFC East race. The Cowboys are playing very well as of late, but winning in September, October, and November has never been their problem. They can be happy they have the division lead for now, and that they have a new star receiver in Miles Austin.
Pittsburgh 28, Denver 10
The Steelers entered the game playing very well and the Broncos did not. The result was a 18 point home loss for Denver in a game where they had no offense, only mustering 3 points (they had a defensive TD). The Broncos are in the middle of a brutal stretch of their schedule and it is showing. They need to right the ship quickly or else they will lose their division lead and maybe even their wild card spot. The Steelers head home for a monster game vs. the Bengals that could easily determine the winner in the AFC North.

Overall week 9 was a good one with quite a few exciting games and some excellent plays. Week 10 features a few huge games including New England @ Indy and Cincy @ Pittsburgh. I'll have a preview of that later on.