New Orleans Saints beat Cincinnati Bengals 34-30: The Bengals almost shocked the NFL by squeaking by the Saints, until they followed their theme for the year and found a way to lose. Despite two TDs from RB Cedric Benson and a decent day for QB Carson Palmer (23-of-33, 249 yards, 1 TD 0 INTs), Cincy couldn’t manage the clock on a final drive with less than a minute to go in the game. New Orleans started slow with only 10 pts in the first half but turned it around with two 4th Q TDs from Drew Brees–one each to Colston and Meacham.
Kansas City Chiefs beat Denver Broncos 10-6: Another ugly AFC West battle saw the Broncos fail to score a TD while QB Kyle Orton completed only nine passes out of 28 throws. Only three points were put on the board the entire second half when Matt Prater kicked his second FG of the day for Denver. Neither team scored a running TD despite big days from Knowshon Moreno (161 yds.) and Jamaal Charles (116 yds.) Matt Cassel threw for the only TD of the game on a two-yard strike to Leonard Pope in the first quarter.
Jacksonville Jags top Tennessee Titans 17-6: For the second week in a row, Chris Johnson didn’t smell the end zone and the Titans continued their offensive slide into oblivion. Tennessee started Kerry Collins who still looks injured. He was 14-of-32 with two picks and no TDs on the day despite being sacked only once. The Jags did enough with Mo Jo Drew clawing out 186 yards on the ground and QB David Garrard finding pay dirt for one TD. The Jags’ D held the Titans to a total of 220 offensive yards.
Minnesota Vikings over Buffalo Bills 38-14: Two wins in a row for the Vikes and interim head coach Leslie Frazier. This one came off the arm of QB Tavaris Jackson after Brett Favre was knocked out of the game early with a shoulder injury. Sidney Rice is officially back with two TDs and hello again to Adrian Peterson who scored three times. The Bills turned the ball over five times and scored only one offensive TD that came in 4th Q garbage time. Ryan Fitzpatrick had his worst day in weeks going 15-of-25 for 158 yards, one TD and one interception while Jackson threw three INTs in a winning effort.
Green Bay Packers beat San Francisco 49ers 34-16: Aaron Rodgers played pitch and catch with Greg Jennings again as the two connected for two TDs on 122 yards through the air. The Pack may have found a runner in James Starks who gained 73 yards on 18 attempts. The 49ers limited mistakes to one TO but went three-and-out so often they only possessed the ball 22 minutes on the day. The highlight for San Fran was a Troy Smith-Vernon Davis TD hook up that covered 66 yards.
Cleveland Browns squeak past Miami Dolphins 13-10: The Browns continued their mid-season win spurt to climb to 5-7 by continuing a bad habit for Miami this season – another home loss. The Dolphins’ turned the ball over three times, all off the arm of QB Chad Henne who returned to the lineup with a 37.8 QB rating performance (16-of-32, 174 yds. 1 TD). Despite the worst day in memory for Browns’ RB Peyton Hillis that totaled 57 yards and 0 TDs, QB Jake Delhomme (yes…that Jake Delhomme) threw for one TD on 24-of-34 passing for 217 yards on the day.
Chicago Bears over Detroit Lions 24-20: Lions’ third-string QB Drew Stanton acquitted himself admirably as he ran for one TD and threw for another on 16-of-24 passing for 178 yards and no picks. Unfortunately for Detroit, Jay Cutler was just a bit better, connecting on 21 of 26 passes without a pick. Cutler’s lone TD throw went to Brandon Manumaleuna in the 4th Q. After that the Bears D shut down the Lions for a close but decisive win.
New York Giants blow out Washington Redskins 31-7: The Giants’ WR’s are all banged up except for Mario Manningham. He was covered all day and NY had to go to its running game, which provided all four of the team’s TDs. Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs each scored twice. While Donovan McNabb threw for big yards without much success, Eli Manning had a rough outing (15-of-25 for 161 yds; 1 INT but with the Skins unable to stop the run, he walked away with the win.
Dallas Cowboys down Indianapolis Colts 38-35 in OT: Cue the “Twilight Zone” theme…Four picks of Peyton Manning; two were pick-sixes gave Dallas its third win in four games under interim coach Jason Garrett. Dallas, who lost Dez Bryant for the season to a fractured ankle, gained more than 200 yards on the ground with Tashard Choice returning to the lineup and picking up 100 of those. That took pressure off QB Jon Kitna who had an efficient day going 18-of-26 for 167 yards one TD and 0 INTs. Manning has been picked at least three times in the last three games. He got no run support as the Colts were held to just 40 total yards on the ground, although at the goal line Javarris James punched in two scores. There was a lot of head shaking going on under the helmet of No. 18 when there were multiple incidents of miscommunication between the QB and his WRs. The Colts fall to 6-6, that is not a typo, 6-6 for the year.
Oakland Raiders beat rival San Diego Chargers 28-13: The Raiders scored early and often in the first half as they went into half-time leading 21-3. The Chargers D could not stop Oakland when it counted. In the 4th Q, with San Diego within one score, they allowed the Raiders to score on a 62 yd. drive that took almost 5 minutes off the clock to put the game out of reach. Philip Rivers managed only one TD on 23-of-39 passing for 280 yards and one INT. Oakland scored three TDs on the ground, with QB Jason Campbell adding one through the air. The Raiders won both games against the Chargers this season, tying the teams at 6-6 in the AFC West.
Atlanta Falcons top Tampa Bay Bucs 28-24: Matt Ryan led his team on the road to a fourth quarter TD and challenged young Josh Freeman to follow suit. The Bucs QB tried but was picked on a final drive and the Falcons ran out the clock to seal the win. The scored see-sawed until the final quarter when Atlanta scored twice and held the Bucs scoreless for the final 10 minutes of the game. Atlanta’s Michael Turner ran for 88 yards and a score and LeGarrette Blount scored once for the Bucs on 103 yards on the ground. The Falcons climb to 10-2 for the best record in the NFC.
Seattle Seahawks top Carolina Panthers 31-14: Down 14-3 at the half, the Seahawks rode the legs of Marshawn Lynch, who found the end zone three times. Add that to pick-six given up by Panthers QB Jimmy Clausen and you’ve got a beat down when Carolina had hope they could pull one out in Seattle. The Panthers’ RBs, Jonathan Stewart and Mike Goodson scored all of their team’s points on the day and Matt Hasselbeck, despite having a lousy day (17-of-30, 0 TDs 2 INTs), took the “W” and moved on. With the win, Seattle climbs to 6-6 as it keeps pace with the Rams at the top of the NFC West.
St. Louis Rams beat Arizona Cardinals 19-6: The Cards are dismal no matter how you cut it. Without a good QB, they are powerless to move the football into the red zone, never mind the end zone. The embattled Derek Anderson played until Cards’ head coach Ken Wisenhunt couldn’t stand what he saw any longer. He was 7-of-20 with one INT. In came Max Hall for a series. He promptly got picked after going 1-of-3 for 10 yards. Backup to the backup, John Skelton was a bit better, 3-of-6 for 45 yards, but Arizona seemed to be going in reverse. The Rams ran Steven Jackson for the only TD of the game and finished with 115 yards, 102 of those on the ground.
Used with permission of the author.
Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.
Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC