NFL Week 5 Results

There were some very competitive games in week 5 of the NFL with only a couple of blowouts.  Drew Brees broke a long standing record for games with a TD and led New Orleans to their first win.  Green Bay dropped to 2-3 with a loss to the Colts and the Fins got a win after a couple of heartbreaking losses.  We are doing a little bit better on our picks as we usually do in October.  We will be back later in the week with the most current odds from America’s Bookie and a short preview of the games in week 6. 

Thursday October 4, 2012

Arizona Cardinals 3     St. Louis Rams 17

St. Louis handed Arizona their first loss of the season Sunday and once again proved that this young team might just make some noise this season.  It was definitely the defense that deserves the credit in this one as QB Sam Bradford only completed 7 passes.  Kevin Kolb has got to be feeling some bumps and bruises as the Rams sacked him 9 times in the contest.  It was not a terribly exciting game as the Cardinals actually outgained the Rams 282-242 total yards but Arizona just wasn’t able to score.  It was a good win for the Rams but they are going to have to amp it up on offense to have long term success.

Sunday October 7, 2012

Cleveland Browns 27     NY Giants 41

New York spotted Cleveland a 14-0 quick lead in the first quarter but caught up quickly and never looked back.  Ahmad Bradshaw fumbled on his first touch of the game leading to a Cleveland touchdown but after that he turned in the best performance of his career with 200 yards.  Manning to Cruz was working very well also as the duo connected on 3 TD passes.  Brandon Weeden didn’t have a bad game but the 2 interceptions didn’t help and he finished with a passer rating of 84.  Trent Richardson rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown but in the end Cleveland finds themselves at 0-5 for first time since returning to the NFL in 1999.

Green Bay Packers 27    Indianapolis Colts 30

Green Bay just isn’t the powerhouse that they were last season and the Colts are not as bad as some expected and still seem to expect this year.  There was some extra motivation as the Colts were playing this one for Coach Chuck Pagano who is battling leukemia.  Andrew Luck had a solid afternoon with Reggie Wayne as his primary target.  Wayne had 13 receptions for 212 yards and a TD.  Luck still makes mistakes but he is young.  He was sacked 4 times and threw a pick but he is coming along.  Indy just hung in there when down 27-20 with 4:30 left in the game.  It wasn’t a bad game for the Packers but they are not that fearsome unit of 2011.

Philadelphia Eagles 14      Pittsburgh Steelers 16

It looked like the Eagles were going to pull off another one of those slim victories on Sunday but the Steelers hung in there and pulled out the late win.  Ben Roethlisberger led Pittsburgh on a 64 yard drive during the final 6:33 and Shaun Suisham kicked the game winning 34 yard field goal as time ran out.  Vick had 2 fumbles with 1 being a crucial one on the goal line.  After watching the QB through the years you have to begin to wonder if the style that thrills fans ends up hurting his team in the long run.  This was a good win for the Steelers.  Look for them to get back on track and be a force in the AFC.

Atlanta Falcons 24     Washington Redskins 17

To me this was a very impressive win for the Falcons to improve to 5-0.  It’s too early to call them a great team but this is the kind of game that great teams have.  They were definitely off their game on offense and looked like they were headed for their first loss but a 17 point 4^th quarter helped the dirty birds to stay unbeaten.   Robert Griffin II took a brutal, but legal, hit that knocked him out of the game leaving it in the hands of backup Kirk Cousins.  He played ok as the backup but Matt Ryan got on track to lead Atlanta to the win.  Ryan completed 34 of 52 passes for 345 yards and 2 TDs.  I like this team more each week.  Finding a way to win when you are having an off day is what makes championship teams.

Baltimore Ravens 9      Kansas City Chiefs 6

Talk about a defensive battle!  The only scoring in this one was field goals and the Ravens just happened to have 1 more than the struggling 1-4 Chiefs.  Jamaal Charles, once again, was the only bright spot as KC is looking to have a long season.  He rushed 30 times for 140 yards and they just have to find a way to turn his production into points.  Matt Cassel had 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles before going down to a head injury in the 4^th quarter.  Not very classy with the fans applauding but you can definitely understand their frustrations.  Not much going on with Baltimore’s offense either although Ray Rice picked up 102 yards on 17 rushes. 

Miami Dolphins 17     Cincinnati Bengals 13

Miami held on to the lead yesterday and finally finished off a game for the win.  An interception by Reshad Jones at midfield with 1:22 left sealed the deal.  This was a crucial game for the Dolphins and might be the spark to turn the team around.  After 2 heartbreaking losses in a row they could have either crumbled or fought themselves back into the season.  Reggie Bush isn’t putting up the kind of numbers that he was last year but he grinded it out for 48 yards and a touchdown.  Daniel Thomas also punched it in for a score and Ryan Tannehill had a steady performance, let’s say a B-.  It was an off day for Cincy QB Andy Dalton who had a passer rating of 63.5 and 2 interceptions.  His line allowed 3 sacks and was hurried a fair amount.  Miami still has a long way to go and will need to improve for this to be a successful season, but they can breathe a little sigh of relief after getting the win.

Chicago Bears 41      Jacksonville Jaguars 3

Although Jacksonville didn’t do anything offensively on the afternoon, this one didn’t get ugly until an explosive 28 point 4^th quarter by the Bears.  Jay Cutler had a good afternoon completing 23 of 39 passes for 292 yards and 2 TDs.  The defense definitely did their thing again, holding Maurice Jones-Drew to just 56 yards on 12 rushes.  You can’t get too excited with a win over the Jaguars but the Bears are looking more and more like they are for real this year and might just be a contender in the NFC.

Seattle Seahawks 16     Carolina Panthers 12

It was another great effort by the Seahawk defense to lead Seattle to their third win.  The defense was much needed as Seahawk QB Russell Wilson tossed a couple of 3^rd quarter interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.  He redeemed himself somewhat by throwing a 13 yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate for the go ahead score.  The defense harassed Cam Newton all afternoon and limited Carolina to just 190 yards.  The Panthers now find themselves at 1-4 and close just doesn’t cut it anymore.  They don’t seem to be making the move forward that we thought they would this year.

Buffalo Bills 3     San Francisco 49ers 45

I’m not terribly surprised but the Bills look about as bad as last season.  This is the second week in a row that the Niners have feasted on the AFC East.  There isn’t too much to say about this one as it was all San Francisco as the score suggests.  QB Alex Smith had an almost flawless day passing for 303 yards, 3 touchdowns and a QB rating of 156.  Fitzpatrick countered with a rating of 57.5.  Things don’t get easier for Buffalo as they play Arizona, New England and Houston in 3 of their next 4 games.  It is shaping up as a long season for the Bills.

Denver Broncos 21     New England Patriots 31

Tom Brady won the battle of the superstar quarterbacks as New England is starting to get back on track and look more like expected going into the season.  Actually Peyton won the statistical battle but I’m sure Brady will take the win over stats anytime.  Manning was 31 of 44 for 345 yards and 3 touchdowns while Brady was 23 of 31 for 223 yards and a TD.  Brady was running a no huddle offense for a lot of the game which helped greatly as he lead 4 drives of 80+ yards.  There were turnovers on both sides, Manning sparked a bit of a comeback but in the end the Patriots were definitely the better team.

Tennessee Titans 7     Minnesota Vikings 30

The Vikings improved to a surprising 4-1 and Tennessee dropped to a disappointing 1-4.  Minnesota is a solid team so I’m really not that surprised and the Titans are looking more and more like one of the worst teams in the league.  Give Percy Harvin a lot of the credit for this win as he caught 8 passes for 108 yards and a touchdown and also rushed the ball for a score.  Adrian Peterson seems to be having no problem with the knee as he rushed for 88 yards on 17 carries.  Tennessee needs to figure out something fast as this is turning into an embarrassing season for the Titans who aren’t even looking competitive.

San Diego Chargers 24     New Orleans Saints 31

Talk about needing a win, who would have figured it would be week 5 before the Saints won a game?  Drew Brees broke Johnny Unitas’ record of throwing a TD pass in his 48^th straight game and had a big performance with 370 yards and 4 touchdowns.  The Chargers led after 3 quarters but a 10 point 4^th quarter got a much needed win for the Saints.  Philip Rivers was looking good for 3 quarters.  He passed for 354 yards and 2 TDs but had 2 costly turnovers in the 4^th quarter.  The Saints are still a very good team.  Remember that they were in it in all 4 of their losses and if they could even have gotten 2 of those wins the situation would be much different.  I still wouldn’t count out this team just yet.

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