This was the result many expected from this game, but it did not play out anywhere near the way we all thought it would. For starters, the Seahawks were exposed on offense. Outside of the monster 80 yard touchdown from Russell Wilson to Golden Tate, Seattle did nothing on offense. Their first touchdown came after Richard Sherman had returned an interception 38 yards to the St. Louis 26 yard line and then there was that quick strike. Take away that touchdown and this team would have put up just 55 yards on offense. As it stands, they had 135 on the game. The fact that the Rams were able to sack Wilson seven times helped eat away that yardage that they could have had on offense. Of course, when you only hold the ball for 21:51, you are often not going to put up a lot of yards. How did the Rams control the clock so well you ask? Well, they were able to run the ball very well. They rushed for 199 yards on the game, Zac Stacy himself trucking for 134 yards on 26 carries, Though they did run the ball like champs, the inability of this team to pound it into the end zone is alarming. St. Louis still does not have a rushing touchdown on the season, at this, the half-way mark of the season. In fact, the nine points you see all came on field goals; three kicked by Greg Zeurlein. He missed another one which really costed the team because if he had made the 50-yarder then that final drive of the game would have only required a field goal for the Rams to take the lead. Anyways, in the end it is the Seahawks who go to 7-1. They own the best record in the NFC and they take on the team with the worst record in the NFC (Tampa Bay, 0-7) next week at home. The Rams will host the Titans next week in what will probably be an emotional game when Rams’ head coach Jeff Fisher takes tangles with his former team in which he spent 16 years with.
Category Archives: Week 8, 2013 Season
Week 8 of the 2013 Season
Week 8: Arizona Cardinals 27, Atlanta Falcons 13- Post Game Thoughts
When the Cardinals hired Bruce Arians as the head coach, this is what they thought the offense would look like under his and Harold Goodwin’s wings. The team racked up 348 yards in total, including an impressive 154 on the ground from Andre Ellington. A strong running game is something that this team has been lobbying for for the longest time and they may have finally found a guy they can feed the ball to in the backfield. Although, I will need to see Ellington keep this up before I can put my full trust in him; we’ve seen outbursts from Beanie Wells in the past couple of years for the Cards and he was never able to fully shoulder the load. Anyways, four interceptions of Matt Ryan certainly helped the Arizona cause here as well. Ryan was forced into throwing the ball 61 times and to have 301 yards on 31 completions, it shows that this Cardinal defense was able to keep the plays in front of them and rally to the ball, a trademark of any good defense. The longest pass play on the day was 25 yards to Harry Douglas, so that is pretty good. Also, for the second week in a row Tony Gonzalez was held in check; he only caught three balls for 26 yards. Atlanta is going to need to find somebody other than Harry Douglas to step up in the absence of Roddy White and Julio Jones. It is clear that this defense is not good enough to help this team win a game when the offense struggles. It is hard to win in Arizona this year though as the Cardinals have been able to drop three of their four opponents in the desert (Carolina and Detroit, two teams over .500 were the other two teams to fall). 4-4 is a respectable record for Arizona and those wins over the Panthers and Lions could play a huge role in determining seeding for the playoffs. If this team wants to be in position to make a run, they will need to play better away from home and they have some winnable games on the road coming up, so this is a team that is worth watching as we plunge into the second half of the 2013 season.
Week 8: Oakland Raiders 21, Pittsburgh Steelers 18- Post Game Thoughts
Is it fair to say that this Steelers’ defense is pretty darn good? They would have completely shut the Raiders down on offense if you took away the 93 yard touchdown dash from quarterback Terrelle Pryor on the first play from scrimmage. This was the longest run from a quarterback in NFL history and it helped pad the stats for the Raiders, a team who ran for 197 yards in the game. But, if you take away that touchdown run, they would have run for only 104 yards on the day and accumulated only 186 yards on the day. Plus the Steelers probably would have won the game, but funky things happen in the NFL and that is why it is a beautiful thing to watch. It is worth noting that Pittsburgh shut out the Raiders in the second half and were almost able to pull off a massive comeback win as they scored 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to make this a game once again. They failed to recover the onside kick and Oakland was able to run the clock out. Now the Raiders are 3-4 and are getting ready to face a sputtering Eagles team at home next week. Terrelle Pryor has not lost a home start in his career as he is 3-0 in games played in front of the “Black Hole”. Plus, as an additional little nugget, he has run for 7.06 yards per carry in his career, the highest by any runner in the league this year with at least 50 attempts. For the Steelers, this was a game they had to have and with a 2-5 record they may be too far out of it to push for a playoff spot. Their only hope is to run the table within the division and gun for a wild card spot. Otherwise the 2-5 hole may be one that is impossible for them to climb out of.
Week 8: Cincinnati Bengals 49, New York Jets 9- Post Game Thoughts
The top quarterbacks from the class of the 2011 draft are on fire right now (I’m talking about Cam Newton and Cincy’s Andy Dalton of course). Dalton is in the midst of the most impressive stretch of his career. He threw five touchdown passes this week and has passed for at least three touchdowns and 300 yards in his last three games. Those are elite numbers as far as I’m concerned. Speaking of elite numbers, did anybody see what wide receiver Marvin Jones did in this game? You may have missed it because Calvin Johnson is getting a lot of attention for his 329 yard receiving game this week, but to fill you in Jones caught four touchdown passes in this game. The four receiving touchdown plateau is one that has not been reached since 2007 and he became the first receiver in Bengal history to reach that mark. Of course, the Cincinnati defense deserves a lot of credit. They helped keep the Jets down to just three field goals in this game and they forced two Geno Smith interceptions. Plus, they only allowed one pass play of over 20 yards in this game. The 20+ yard pass play is something that has become a staple of this New York offense through the first eight weeks of the year and the Bengals did an excellent job taking that away. So, the Jets continue their pattern of a win and then a loss. If this holds steady, we can all expect Gang Green to look good in a win over the Saints next week, but we will get to that contest on Wednesday when I come out with my Week 9 predictions. Stay tuned.
Week 8: New Orleans Saints 35, Buffalo Bills 17- Post Game Thoughts
The Saints were in vintage form on Sunday as they trounced the Bills on the strength of Drew Brees’s five touchdown passes. New Orleans became the first team to hold Buffalo to less than 20 points on the season and they were completely dominant on offense, much like the good ol’ days that the Who Dat nation fondly remembers. Sure, they didn’t top the 400 yard mark in this game, but they didn’t need to. Brees tossed multiple touchdown passes with no picks for the third time this season as he now has 19 touchdown passes and only five interceptions all year. As a matter of a fact, he has thrown at least two touchdown passes in all but one game this year. I said it before and I’ll say it again: Peyton Manning is garnering all the attention for what he is doing in Denver, but Drew is having an incredible season in his own right. Now for the Bills, the absence of C.J. Spiller hindered their chances at winning this game and they had to rely on an inexperienced quarterback to trade points with an NFL great down in New Orleans; now that is tough sledding. I admire the will that Thaddeus Lewis has shown this season, but there is only so much he can do with limited weapons around him on the road against a top 5 NFL team. The Bills still remain a fun team to watch and their contest next week against the Chiefs is one that I look forward to covering.
Week 8: Kansas City Chiefs 23, Cleveland Browns 17- Post Game Thoughts
From the 0-8 Jaguars, we shift gears to cover the 8-0 Chiefs. On that note, it is hard to believe that each of those teams had the same pitiful record last season, but I digress. The Browns did hang tough with Kansas City in this game, but many of their opponents do. Only wins over the Giants and Raiders have been blowouts. Otherwise the Chiefs are playing some close games, but that is just their style. This works when you boast one of the strongest offenses in the whole league. It took the Browns until half-way through the three and a half minute mark in the second quarter to pick up their initial first down. After that, Jason Campbell hit Josh Gordon deep on a flea-flicker to bring the score to 13-7. The game went into the half with a score of 20-10 in favor of Kansas City. After that they just allowed their defense to close the game out. They only dropped Campbell once in this contest, but the coverage on the back end was pretty good. Above all else, this game showed me that the Chiefs can win a game when their defensive line is not in prime form, and that is how you can tell that their 8-0 record is legitimate. The Browns desperately need to find a running game to help out their quarterbacks. Jason Campbell played pretty well, but when a team runs for only 57 yards, it is no wonder you accumulate only 13 first downs and hold the ball for less than 24 minutes. I think that Cleveland would be a better team if they had a stronger contingent of running backs to feed the ball to.
Week 8: San Francisco 49ers 42, Jacksonville Jaguars 10- Post Game Thoughts
Our friends from across the pond witnessed the same thing that those of us in the United States have been seeing all year long: a decimation of the Jacksonville Jaguars. San Francisco didn’t do anything special. They just ran the ball down the Jags’ throat, as is their style of choice. San Fran pounded the rock 38 times to the tune of 5.8 yards per carry. This helped them convert six of their nine third down situations. Of those three failures, two of them were nullified because the Niners went for it on fourth down twice and got it both times. Simply put, the Jaguars could not get off the field. Their offense, in comparison, was only 4/14 on third down and 3/5 on fourth down. A team will destroy their opponent by 32 points if they can keep their drives going and prevent the adversary from continuing theirs. The only good thing that can be said about the Jaguars is that they only turned the ball over once and they did not surrender a sack to a stout 49er front four. Each team faces a BYE next week before they prepare for the Titans and Panthers respectively. It was yet another impressive win for the San Francisco 49ers as they continue to run their way through their opponents. And for the Jaguars, this is more of what they have become accustomed to experiencing for the last two seasons. Luckily they hit their BYE now so they can regroup and find a way to rebound from an ugly 0-8 start.
Week 8: New England Patriots 27, Miami Dolphins 17- Post Game Thoughts
These aren’t your father’s Patriots. In fact, they are the furthest thing from them but they do continue to win games and that is really all that matters in this league. I was a fan of how New England stuck with their running game in this contest; their backs ran it 33 times while Tom Brady only threw it 25 times. This is a far cry from last week when the Josh McDaniels called in 20 runs and 50 passes. Is it really any surprise that the Pats won this game and lost the previous one? I understand that a drop-off in offensive production for the Patriots has much to do with the lack of trusted weapons for Tom Brady to throw to, but for comparison’s sake, look at what Aaron Rodgers is doing with the Packers in a similar situation. He is piggy-backing on a strong running game and making precise throws in behind the linebackers. There is no reason why New England cannot do the same thing. They have a trio of solid running backs, much like Green Bay, as well as a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer at the quarterback position. My point is that there is no reason why the Pats have to be anemic on offense. They do have a better defense than do the Packers, so that can also help their cause. As for the Dolphins, they desperately need a win at home against the 6-2 Bengals on Thursday. They have seen their record slide from 3-0 to 3-4 and currently sit in third place in the AFC East. They held the Patriots to less than 60 yards of offense in the first half of this game and took a 17-3 lead into the half. This young team needs to learn how to close out a game, it’s as simple as that. Plus the offensive line needs to do a better job in protecting Ryan Tannehill. They let up another five sacks in this game and through eight weeks, Tannehill is the most sacked quarterback in the league. That is not a stat that you want to lead the league in.
Week 8: Detroit Lions 31, Dallas Cowboys 30- Post Game Thoughts
It would be impossible to give my thoughts on this game without stating the obvious: Calvin Johnson is a freaking animal. This dude is unstoppable. He missed a game back in Week 5 due to injury and did not do much upon his return in Week 6 against the Browns. Well, he made up for that lack of production and then some in this contest as he nearly broke the receiving record for a game with his 329 (falling seven yards shy of the mark set by Flipper Anderson in the 80’s). The Lions needed every one of those yards to defeat the Cowboys on Sunday as it took a last second quarterback dive my Matt Stafford over a pile of linemen to end this thrilling contest. That was a daring play call with only ten seconds remaining in the game with no time outs left. A failure to break the plane of the end zone would have resulted in an expiration of time, so the Lions went for broke on that play. Anyways, this was a great win for Detroit since it gives them five victories on the year and has sitting in second place in the NFC North (although they have the same amount of wins as the first place Packers). For the Cowboys, this was a tough one to lose. They had a golden opportunity to go up 2.5 games on the Eagles with a win on the road and they were unable to seal the deal at the end. Has this Dallas team turned the corner from a year ago? They lost a few of these types of games last year and it appears as if they are going to continue to lose many of their games at the last second. That must really suck. Meanwhile, these were the games that Detroit was losing last year but now they are finding a way to flip the script. I like the future prospects for this Lion team, but they have their work cut out for them if they are going to keep pace with the Packers in the north.
Week 8: New York Giants 15, Philadelphia Eagles 7- Post Game Recap
Each of the teams involved in this game duplicated their performances from a week ago as the Eagles and Giants tied a bow on their season series on Sunday with a 15-7 New York victory. Philly did almost nothing on offense for a majority of the first half and then were inconsistent late as they were shut down at home for the second straight week at home. Meanwhile the Giants defense showed up for the second straight week and smothered the high-flying Philadelphia offense. New York did not turn the ball over, they dominated the time of possession and Eli Manning was kept on two feet for most of the game, which is always key. Big Blue was able to establish something of a running game and they did just enough to keep some of their drives sustained. The Giants’ defense pitched a shutout for a second consecutive week with their special teams unit allowing the lone opponent score. Besides the special teams error, the G-Men played a pretty darn good game.
While the offense fell flat again for Chip Kelly and the Eagles, the defense did do a good job in limiting the Giants to just 15 points (five Josh Brown field goals, a career high for him). They held the Giants out of the end zone for the first time in this rivalry since the 2008 divisional round. Coverage on the back end did an awesome job blanketing the New York receivers. A lot of this effort was in vain as the defensive line failed to mount pressure on Eli Manning for most of the game. Although there is not much a pass rush can do when the quarterback is getting the ball out of their hand early. Kevin Gilbride called a very good game on offense. The balance between the run and the pass was decent (31 runs to 40 passes). Of those 40 passes, 33 were underneath (under 15 yards down the field), this showing that the plan on offense was to control the ball and the clock, which also worked as the Giants dominated the time of possession by holding the ball for nearly 40 minutes.
The only negatives that could be drawn from the Giants’ side was the fact that they did not look very good in the red zone (something they have struggled with all year long), and they were not very disciplined in terms of penalties (they were flagged 11 times for 92 yards). Clearly special teams continues to be an issue for this team, but if their defense can play like it did today then you may be able to turn a blind eye as long as it is not costing them games. Steve Weatherford also did a masterful job punting (when the ball was not snapped over his head that is). He downed three of his five punts inside the 20, including two inside the 10.
The Eagles really missed out on a lot of opportunities in this game, and the play-calling/decision-making from Chip Kelly could have been a lot better. Michael Vick was yanked from the game early because his hamstring was acting up once again. After that, Matt Barkley took over and did some nice things initially on offense. There was a drive at the end of the first half that saw the Eagles take the ball all the way down to the New York two yard line. This came after a Jason Avant 14 yard reception and a questionable decision to call time out with 1:14 left. From the two yard line, the better option would have been to hand the ball off to LeSean McCoy a couple of times and see if he can carve his way into the end zone. Instead, Kelly had Barkley throw the ball and the rookie out of USC held on to the ball for too long, took a sack, and lost a grip on it. The fumble was recovered by the Giants Jacquian Williams, thus putting an end to one of the only promising drives of the afternoon. There was another instance where the Eagles could have sent out Alex Henery for a 50-yard field goal attempt, one that would have made the game 12-3 at the time. Instead of doing this with 9:20 to go in the third quarter Chip Kelly decides to go for it on a fourth and ten (and the team failed). Lastly, the decision to onside kick the ball at the end of the game (after Najee Good recovered a loose ball for a touchdown on a high snap from Zak DeOssie) was very questionable. There was still better than four minutes remaining and the Eagles still had one time out (plus the two minute warning). The team may have been better off kicking the ball deep in that situation and trusting their defense, a unit that has played well as of late.
So the Giants and Eagles split the season series for the third year in a row. The Giants still have a pulse in the 2013 season as a 2-6 record is not an impossible hill for them to climb. Meanwhile, Philly just cannot buy a win at home. They have lost ten straight game, including dropping four straight within the division at the Linc. They are now 2-2 within the division, which could be worse and since the Cowboys lost to Detroit on Sunday (meaning they still remain one game out of first place). Philly draws a trip to Oakland next week in a game that could be much closer than many expect. Things are getting tighter in the NFC East with the result of this game, and although none of the teams within the division are over .500 there is still a chance to witness some exciting football between these four teams down the stretch.
Football Frenzy 