Week Nine
Week Nine's Big Games
Jacksonville (4-3) at Baltimore (5-2)
the Jags are free-falling, with two straight losses. The Ravens are playing strong and sticking close to the Steelers. This is another one the Jags need to win to turn things around.
New England (5-3) at Denver (4-4)
After that hard loss to the Ravens last week, the Broncos need a good win in a big way, especially with the Raiders threatening to run away with the AFC West. The Pats are themsleves trying to catch a seemingly unstoppable squad in the Bills.
New Orleans (4-4) at Tampa Bay (6-1)
This is a huge game in the NFC South. The Saints need to win to remind the Falcons and Buccs it ain't a two-team race for the division. But winning in Tampa is a tall order.
Pittsburgh (6-1) at Seattle (6-1)
Last week, the Steelers beat the Hawks' division mate, the Rams, at home, in the game of the week. This matchup might be this week's game of the week. Figure it to be a little tougher to pull off a win when you have to go on the road this time.
St. Louis (5-2) at San Francisco (5-3)
The Seahawks are on top right now, but the Rams and Niners are right on their tail. With the division leaders facing a tough test in the Steelers, this is a diamond opportunity for the winner of this game to get a step up and move in on Seattle.
Cincinnati at Arizona
At 1-6, the Bengals seem to be a very beatable team, especially at home. But, of course, with my team, no win is a certainty.
We started off strong and did all the scoring in the first half. We were up 10-0, courtesy of a Graham Bolvin FG and a 31-yard touchdown pass from Blake to Emmitt Smith.
As so often happens, though, the pendulum swung back in the second half.
Rudi Johnson pulled the Bengals within a FG when he ran in a score on the Bengals' opening drive of the second half. At the end of the quarter, the Bengals got that FG and tied it up at 10 apiece. And finally, after a whole game of offensive struggles for both teams, the Bengals finally got close enough to kick another FG with 2:11 left in the game. And that would prove to be the bitter difference,
13-10.
The most disappointing thing was that we didn't get blitzed to hell (just three sacks allowed), we didn't turn the ball over (0 turnovers to 2 by the Bengals), and we outgained them (304-278). Despite all that, we still came up short. This team really needs an infusion of "winning attitude", and it appears it ain't gonna come from Emmitt.
QB Blake: 19-for-39, 236 yd, 1 td, 0 int
RB Smith: 45 yd (2.5 ypc)
WR Johnson: 4 rec, 80 yd, 0 td
As I said, the line allowed three sacks, which isn't really all that great, but it's better than many of our early games. We struggled again to rush the ball, but I am guessing that is going to remain a problem for the rest of the season at least.
Marques Anderson stepped in for Dexter Jackson just fine, leading the team with 8 tackles, and Duane Starks got his third pick in three games since returning from his preseason injury.
Interestingly enough, Carson Palmer started for the Bengals. Apparently something happened to Jon Kitna since the last time I saw this team. Palmer played as predicted--like a rookie (18-33, 192 yd, 0 td, 2 int). But he scored in the most important stat--he got a win.
Other Games
Home Team in CAPS
BALTIMORE 39, Jacksonville 31: Figures. The Ravens finally meet an offense that can score on them, so their own offense finally wakes up to compensate. The two teams traded scores in the first half, and went to the locker room knotted up at 17. The Ravens took the initiative to start the second half, though, and took a 30-17 lead by the end of the third quarter. The Jags moved within six with an early fourth quarter score, but the Ravcens came right back with a long Jamal Lewis run for touchdown (44 yder) and Matt Stover put it out of reach with a FG shortly afterwards. The two teams put up 962 yards of total offense, but also turned the ball over 8 times, with 4 each. Bryon Leftwich had maybe his best day of throwing the ball (25-48, 408 yd, 2 td), but he also maybe had his worst (4 int). Jimmy Smith (11 rec, 235 yd) had a great day as his main target. The story of the day, though, was Jamal Lewis, who approached Corey Dillon's single-game rushing record with 243 rush yd. He also scored 2 td.
DENVER 20, New England 17: The Broncos needed this one, and they got it. It was a typical cold day in Denver's high air, where the game time temperature hovered just below freezing, although thankfully on a clear day. The Broncos put a lockdown on the Pats and led 13-0 going into the fourth quarter. The Pats got a couple big plays to turn things around, though, when Tom Brady hit Troy Brown for a 67-yd bomb for seven, and then S Eugene Wilson returned an interception 85 yd for another score. Toss in a FG, and all of a sudden, the Broncos were down 17-13 with 7 minutes left in the game. Jake Plummer took his sweet time, but in Elway-esque fashion he finally got the Broncos in close as the game neared the final whistle. With just 33 seconds left, Plummer hit Ed McCaffrey for 37 yards and the winning score. It was a just result when you consider the Broncos outgained the Patriots 392-215. Plummer (21-45, 284 yd, 2 td, 2 int) apparently saved his best for last, because he wasn't very good prior to the last few minutes of the fourth quarter. Rod Smith (9 rec, 145 yd, 1 td), however, is simply a force this year.
TAMPA BAY 26, New Orleans 6: How strange is this? The Broncos and Pats play under the sun, but in the cold, while the Buccs and Saints meet up in a warm, almost tropical, 88-degree rain storm. As it turns out, it was too difficult for the Saints to come into Tampa and beat the defending champs. Except for a field goal on each side of halftime, the Saints didn't really get anything going today. The Buccs limited them to just 146 yards of total offense. Aaron Brooks (16-43, 129 yd, 0 td, 1 int) was atrocious. Brad Johnson (22-36, 265 yd, 3 td, 0 int) continues to turn in a top notch season. The good news for the Saints? They are bound to see the roller coaster go back up soon after losing the last two.
Pittsburgh 37, SEATTLE 24: Maybe it doesn't matter if the Steelers play at home or on the road. They continue to just roll along. The Seahawks actually jumped out to the early lead, partially because of a nice 67-yd scoring run by Maurice Morris. The Seahawks went into the locker room up 17-3. The Steelers came to play in the second half, though. They ran off 34 unanswered points before the Seahawks scored a mercy touchdown at the end of the game. The Hawks fueled Pittsburgh's offense with 6 turnovers, including 4 Trent Dilfer interceptions. Jerome Bettis pounded away at the defense and got into triple digits again (125 yd, 1 td). Tommy Maddox (16-29, 210 yd, 2 td, 0 int) is showing skills he doesn't seem to have in real life. That ole X-factor?
St. Louis 34, SAN FRANCISCO 30: It's funny how often it seems like 6-6 halftime games turn into one of these above. That was the score when the two teams trotted out in the second half. 52 brutal points later, the Rams came out on top in a key road game. And it took last minute heroics to do it, with a final two minutes likely as exciting as you will see this season. The Niners jumped ahead in the third quarter on a interception return touchdown and a more conventional run for score to take a 20-6 lead into the fourth quarter. The Rams finally woke up when the teams switched directions, though, tying it up again by the nine-minute mark of the fourth quarter with two scores of their own. The Niners moved ahead on a 56-yard Owen Poachman FG (man, he has a leg in this game), and when they returned another interception for a score with 1:50 left in the game, it appeared to be in the bag. But nothing is ever over when the Rams' offense is involved. Kurt Warner, whose throws had led to two direct Niner scores, finally hooked up with his own man, finishing off a quick drive at 1: 08 with a 24-yd td pass to Dane Looker, and moving the Rams to being down 30-27. They got the ball back on offsides and drove dwon again, looking for a FG. But, surprise, backup running back Lamar Gordon broke through on a run and ran 29 yards for the winning score with just 29 seconds left in the game. And that's all she wrote. Warner (25-40, 314 yd, 3 td, 2 int) was generally on-target--you could say he threw 5 td today.
Terrell Owens and Tai Streets combined for 12 rec, 217 yd in a losing effort.
Carolina 24, HOUSTON 13
MINNESOTA 10, Green Bay 7
Indianapolis 31, MIAMI 3
NY Giants 24, NY JETS 14
DETROIT 35, Oakland 33
ATLANTA 30, Philadelphia 23
San Diego 34, CHICAGO 7
DALLAS 24, Washington 6
Injuries
Dexter Jackson remains out for next week, but at least Anderson has played well in his place, and will start again next week. I was hoping to finally get Jmes Hodgins--probably my most talented offensive player--back for next week's game, but he's slow in his healing process. We might see him the week after.
CR