Bills at Jaguars (In London)

With the NFL doing another 9:30 AM kickoff (1PM for the locals in London), not to mention this being the first time an NFL game was only streamed online for audiences, there was a lot of innovation going into this game, even the Jaguars got in on the fun, scoring 2 defensive touchdowns en route to a thrilling 34-31 win. EJ Manuel once again started for the injured Tyrod Taylor, and things did not start well, having 3 turnovers in the second quarter, allowing the jags to open up a 27-3 lead, which was a 27-13 lead at the half. After no scoring in the third quarter, the Bills came back to score a field goal to start the fourth quarter, then the Bills came back and scored on a 58 yard touchdown pass from Manuel to Marcus Easley with 7:15 to go (and converted on the 2 point conversion). On the next drive for the Jags, there appeared to be a miscommunication between Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles and receiver Allen Robinson, as the pass was sailed deep, intercepted, and returned for a touchdown to give the Buffalo Bills an improbable lead. How would Bortles respond to a backbreaking turnover? He led his team on a 2 and a half minute drive resulting in a beautiful 31 yard touchdown to Allen Hurns, giving the Jaguars a 34-31 lead with 2 minutes left. With 57 seconds left, Manual needed to convert on a 4^th and 2, so the Bills call… a rollout to the left? The pass fell incomplete, jaguars win in London.

Buccaneers at Redskins

Kirk Cousins did what? In the first half of this game, it looked like the Buccaneers would dominate, leading 24-7, including a defensive touchdown following a Cousins fumble. Jameis Winston looked great overall, completing 21 of 29 passed for 297 yards and a pair of touchdowns, 8 of those completions went to Mike Evans for 164 yards, including a touchdown. Kirk Cousins, however, would not be denied, as he scored on an 8 yard touchdown run in the second quarter, then went on to throw 3 touchdowns in the second half, 2 of those going to tight end Jordan Reed, the last of which gave the Redskins the lead with 28 seconds left.

Falcons at Titans

Talk about close calls, the Falcons won the game 10-7, but against a 1-5 team in the Titans, this game should never have been a contest for the now 6-1 Falcons. They got the win, but in a very sloppy day for the Atlanta offense, Matt Ryan, normally a top 5 or top 10 quarterback, looked decidedly average in throwing 2 interceptions (1 of which should very much be credited to the Titans defense though). Devonta Freeman and the defense saved the day though, as Freeman went over 100 yards, while the defense intercepted Zach Mettenberger 2 times, including the one that ended the game. Credit to the Titans for playing a tough game, however, the Falcons by no means played well, and could have easily lost this game if they faced a healthy Marcus Mariota.

Saints at Colts

Speaking of sloppy play, it’s time to talk about the Indianapolis Colts, who have found ways to lose, against New England with the fake punt…. Thing, then getting shut out in the first half against the New Orleans Saints. Yes, the Saints defense managed to shut out an offense featuring Andrew Luck, TY Hilton, Andre Johnson, Frank Gore, and Donte Moncrief for an entire half. Drew Brees looked good against a porous Colts defense that, in Bart Scott’s words “Can’t stop a nosebleed”. The Colts would make this a game late, scoring 21 points in the second half, but still fell at home 27-21

Vikings at Lions

Early on, it appeared as if the lightbulb had gone off for the Detroit Lions, as they led 14-3 after the first quarter, by halftime that lead had become only 17-15, and the Lions would go on to lose the game 28-19 as Minnesota’s Teddy Bridgewater completed 25 of 35 passes for over 300 yards and 2 touchdowns. Adrian Peterson seemed to struggle for most of the day, as he had a 75 yard run, which was great, but he only had 23 yards on his 18 other carries. The Lions seem to be finding some form of offense, as both Eric Ebron and Megatron had touchdowns, while both surpassing the 80 yard mark on 5 catches. The ugly part of the game for the lions was the fact that the Vikings sacked Matthew Stafford 7 times on the day.

Steelers at Chiefs

The Steelers really miss Ben Roethlisberger right now…. Like REALLY miss him, as Landry Jones started at quarterback for Pittsburgh. The Chiefs though, REALLY miss Jamaal Charles and Jeremy Maclin, but the Chiefs at least had Charcandrick West to pick up the slack, as he had over 100 yards on the ground. Le’Veon Bell played very well, having over 100 yards himself, but only on 17 carries. It was surprising to see Bell not get over 20 carries with Landry Jones at QB. The good news for the Steelers, they should get their star quarterback back next week, the bad news, they lost the game 23-13

Browns at Rams

Can anyone stop Todd Gurley right now? Seriously, this guy looks well worth the number 10 overall pick in the draft, as he gained 128 yards on 19 carries with his first 2 career touchdowns. I’m aware that this was against the Browns, but Gurley is running like a man possessed right now. As for the Browns, Josh McCown had only 6 incompletions on 32 attempts, which is great, but McCown also appeared to injure his arm on the day, and Johnny Manziel came in to finish the game. Rams would win 24-6 to move to 3-3 and within a game and a half of the Arizona Cardinals.

Texans at Dolphins

Dan Campbell seems to be a Dolphin whisperer, the last 2 weeks as head coach have seen his teams blow the doors off of the opposing teams before they knew what was happening. Ryan Tannehill set an NFL record for completions with 25 in a row (including last week) as he would finish 18 of 19 passing on the day for 282 yards and 4 touchdowns. Lamar Miller had 175 yards and a touchdown on only 14 carries. Miami fans, enjoy this one, this was your day…. Again. As the Dolphins had 4 touchdowns of over 50 yards in the first half. It looked like a game of Madden in the first half, if you put the computer player on rookie, and gave them the worst team (that might actually be Houston at this point. Texans fans…… It gets better, the draft is only a few months away

Jets at Patriots

The Jets always seem to play the Patriots tough, no matter the records, but on this occasion, 1^st place in the AFC East was on the line. The Jets came to play, and powered their way into the lead going into the 4^th quarter, however, the Pats responded by scoring 14 points in the final frame, to give them a 10 point lead with the Jets only responding with a field goal. The Jets drove down the field quickly, kicking another field goal to cut the lead to 7, went for the onside kick, got it thanks to Brandon Marshall, but after completing a pass over the middle, were unable to stop the clock before time expired, unable to get the Hail Mary pass off in time. Patriots win 30-23.

Raiders at Chargers

Derek Carr to Amari Cooper, that’s a call we will be hearing for a long time with the way these two are playing. I am dubbing them the “Bay Area Bros” right here, right now. Cooper had 133 yards and a touchdown on the day, one of 3 thrown by second year quarterback, Derek Carr. The Raiders dominated the Chargers early, taking a 30-6 lead into halftime, before scoring another touchdown in the 3^rd quarter to make it 37-6. Phillip Rivers and the Chargers would go on to make this look like a game late, scoring 23 unanswered points to cut the lead to 37-29, but this game was not anywhere near that close. Credit to the Chargers for continuing to fight, but this day belonged to the Raiders.

Cowboys at Giants

Talk about a revenge game. After the Giants blew a double digit lead in Dallas a few weeks ago, the Giants repaid the favor by beating Dallas at Met Life stadium by a score or 27-20. After the Cowboys tied the game late, former Cowboy Dwayne Harris returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to give the Giants the lead, and the Cowboys couldn’t mount another game-tying drive to keep pace. The Giants, in winning this game, put themselves in the driver’s seat in the NFC East (Not that it means much right now, with every team in striking distance of the 4-3 Giants). Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie had 2 interceptions on the night, including one that was returned for a touchdown.

Eagles at Panthers

I could talk about how bad the Eagles looked for most of the night, but that wouldn’t do justice to how good the Panthers were on this night. Cam Newton looked like Superman…. In a mine of Kryptonite, wearing a kryptonite suit…. You get the idea. The defense and running game were able to pick up the slack for Cam, as Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis stopped the Eagles outside runs in their tracks, Josh Norman shut down his side of the field, and Kawaan Short held up the interior run game. Good news for the Eagles is that Byron Maxwell got an interception on the night, and looked good overall, however, seeing left tackle Jason Peters get carted off had to make for an uneasy feeling for Eagle fans.

How did we get here?

Kansas City Royals: The Royals powered their way through the AL Central this season, winning their division by 12 games, came back to beat the Astros in 5 games, after being down 2-1 in the series, and down 6-2 going into the 8^th inning of game 4, which could have won the series for Houston. Then came Toronto, a seemingly unstoppable juggernaut, coming off a comeback of their own against the Texas Rangers, after being down 2-0, to get to the ALCS. The Royals would not be denied however, as they took the first two games of the series, only to watch the Blue Jays come back again to tie the series, it looked like Toronto was ready to surge into the 2015 Fall Classic, only to have their hopes crushed in the next two games, losing 14-2 in game 5, then the nail in the coffin with a 4-3 win in game 6.

New York Mets: How did the Mets get here? After starting the season 47-42, and trailing the nationals (48-39), the NL East seemed to be the Nationals to lose, and sure enough, they lost it. This was more of a case of the Mets taking it from them than the Nationals losing it, the New York Mets earned their way to the World Series, and they surged immensely in the second half, to the tune of a 43-30 record. After seeing large division leads disappear on them in the past, it was good to see them take the lead and hold it. As for their road in the playoffs, it was not easy by any stretch of the imagination, drawing the Dodgers in the first round, a team that seemed to have it all. None of that mattered when it came to crunch time, the Mets took game 1 on a stellar performance by Jacob DeGrom. Game 2 was a different story, as LA prevailed, but they awoke a sleeping giant on this night, when Chase Utley slid hard into second base, where he appeared to intentionally take out Ruben Tejada, breaking Tejada’s fibula in the process. The Mets have only lost 1 game since then: Game 4 of the NLDS. The Mets would go on to sweep the Cubs en route to an unlikely World Series berth.

Interesting stat of the series:

According to CBS, the odds of each team to win the World Series before the start of this season were the same for both teams: 28-1

Matchup to watch: The Mets power arms versus the Royals lineup

The Mets starters are a great group that any lineup could struggle with, however, let’s not forget that the Royals were 7^th in Major League Baseball with 724 runs this season, 3^rd in batting average (.269), and 11^th in on base percentage (.322), so this is a group that can definitely hit the ball. This is the matchup that will determine this series, the Mets will score a few runs, will the Royals be able to muster up enough offense to keep up?

Prediction

Back to the Future was so close to getting this right, but the Cubs didn’t quite make it, however, I will go with the NL team in the New York Mets to win this series because their pitching staff will prove to be too much for the Royals offense, especially when the series is in New York. The weak spot is in the relief pitching, but the Mets have enough quality starters to throw out there, and should get more than enough innings out of them to relieve any pressure on the rest of the staff. DeGrom, Harvey, Colon, and Syndergaard, this is one of the best groups of starters across the majors, and I think they get it done. Mets win the series in 6 games.

Ravens at Cardinals

To say it’s been a rough start for the Ravens (1-5) this season would be a massive understatement, in fact, this has been the worst start for the Ravens in franchise history, not only has the record been a disappointment, but the defense has been as well. Tonight they have a chance to show the NFL that they are still a tough team that cannot be counted out by anyone by beating the host Arizona Cardinals (4-2). The Cardinals have been one of the most dynamic and fun teams to watch this season, featuring Carson Palmer throwing to a rejuvenated Larry Fitzgerald, an emerging star in John Brown, and a now healthy Michael Floyd make this a very bad matchup for the Ravens struggling pass defense.

What’s at stake?

For the Ravens: Pride, and a chance to catch up to the Browns

That’s right, the Baltimore Ravens currently trail the Cleveland Browns in the AFC North, which says everything you need to know about their season thus far. If this team wants any chance to get back to .500 by seasons end, they need to start with a win tonight, this is a Ravens team that still has Joe Flacco, Justin Forsett and Steve Smith, but not much else on offense, which has been a huge part of the problem: the Ravens don’t score many points, and because of their defense, they give up a lot of points.

For the Cardinals: Distance from the rest of the NFC West

The Cardinals need to keep their distance from the Rams and the Seahawks, with those two teams appearing to emerge, the Cards need to win the games they should win (Which they failed to do against Pittsburgh last week), including this one. The matchup is primed for a big Cardinals win, but so was their matchup with the Steelers. The Seahawks have a chance to figure it out this year, the Cardinals need to be ahead in the case that they find their winning formula again.

Fantasy Stars to Watch

Carson Palmer: With a bad defense and a great group of wide receivers to throw to, the stars are aligned for a huge game from Palmer, but funny things happen in primetime games. I see Carson Palmer’s stats looking something like this: 23 of 36 passing for 325 yards and 3 touchdowns with 1 interception

Justin Forsett: The Cardinals give up a little over 100 yards per game rushing, and the Ravens will be looking to run the ball early and often to keep the ball out of Carson Palmer’s hands. I see a stat line like this for Forsett: 19 carries for 73 yards to go with 3 catches for 19 yards with a touchdown

Larry Fitzgerald: The ageless wonder finally has a quarterback for the first time since Kurt Warner retired, and his numbers have been great with Palmer under center. Look for Fitz to get something like this: 7 catches for 88 yards

Steve Smith: speaking of ageless wonders, here’s Steve Smith, who has always been a fighter and not one to be told what he can and can’t do (Just ask Aqib Talib on that one “Ice up son”), as for his stats, look for something along the lines of 8 catches for 112 yards and a touchdown

John Brown: Second year player from Pittsburgh state who has emerged as a playmaker for the Cardinals, he had 10 catches for 196 yards last week, a repeat performance is possible, but 6 catches for 100 yards and a touchdown seems more likely.

Prediction:

This game could get very ugly, very fast, as the matchup does not favor the Ravens in any way, shape or form. The Cardinals pass offense could prove to be too much for Baltimore to handle, as the home crown goes home happy: 35-21 Cardinals win

Redskins at Jets

Believe it or not, the Redskins led this game 13-10 going into halftime, before the Jets remembered they had a guy named Chris Ivory in the backfield who rumbled his way to a 146 yard day on 20 carries, with a touchdown, as the Jets won this game 34-20. The Redskins looked awful on offense in the second half, especially when Kirk Cousins was forced to throw into the buzz saw that is the Jet defense. The highlight for the Redskins came late in the first when Cousins completed a touchdown to Pierre Garcon with Darrelle Revis covering Garcon on the play. For the Jets, Ivory was terrific, Brandon Marshall was terrific, and Ryan Fitzpatrick limited his mistakes (While adding an 18 yard touchdown run in the 3^rd quarter). The same could not be said for anyone on the Redskins offense, the defense, however had one bright spot: cornerback Bashaud Breeland, who had a spectacular interception on the day, and looked like a building block for that defense.

Cardinals at Steelers

Here’s good news and bad news for both teams in this game. For the Cardinals, the good news is that Carson Palmer threw for 421 yards, and John Brown had 196 yards receiving on 10 catches, the bad news is that all of those yards resulted in a grand total of 13 points in a loss. For the steelers, the good news is that they won the game 25-13, Landry Jones came in and threw 2 touchdowns to Martavis Bryant (who had 6 catches for 137 yards) and Chris Boswell attempted 4 field goals, connecting on all 4. The bad news is that the Steelers had to settle for 4 field goal attempts, and it appears as if Landry Jones will get the start next week while Big Ben continues to recover from his ankle injury.

Chiefs at Vikings

The Vikings found a way to win this game 16-10, despite a 2 interception game from Teddy Bridgewater and only 60 yards rushing from Adrian Peterson, but playing against the Chiefs without Jamaal Charles certainly makes that possible. At one point in this game, the chiefs had 7 straight punts before getting a field goal with 13 minutes left in the 4^th quarter. The Chiefs defense has enough talent to keep them in games, however, that defense hasn’t played up to its potential, and the offense is sputtering at best right now. Now sitting at 1-5, do questions start about Andy Reid’s job security?

Bengals at Bills

With Tyrod Taylor out due to a knee injury, EJ Manuel got his opportunity to start for the Bills against the 5-0 Bengals. How did he do? He completed 66.7% of his passes for263 yards and a touchdown (also added a rushing touchdown) in a losing effort. LeSean McCoy returned to the lineup and added 90 yards on 17 carries in a good overall offensive performance by the Bills. As for the Bengals, their offense rolled, as Andy Dalton (potential MVP Candidate at this point in the season) threw for 3 touchdowns in a 34-21 win. The Bengals have an embarrassment of riches at the skill positions, and look like they’re among the best teams in the AFC.

Bears at Lions

Congratulations to the Lions for getting their first win of the season, even if it came on the heels of a controversial play on Golden Tate’s touchdown grab late in the second quarter. In this battle of coaches who both took a careful approach, especially in overtime, turned this entertaining battle of division rivals into a metaphoric “I can be more conservative than you” battle between Jim Caldwell and John Fox. Both Matt Stafford and Jay Cutler looked good in this game, each throwing for over 350 yards, and leading their teams to 34 points each within regulation, with the Lions coming out on top 37-34.

Broncos at Browns

This Denver defense is legit, could you imagine how good the Broncos would be if they had their 2013 offense right now? It’s amazing how a team can go from an all-time great offense to an all-time great defense in just a matter of 2 years (4 defensive touchdowns this year alone.). The Browns gave the Broncos everything they could handle, especially with the Cleveland defense matching Denver’s defensive touchdown. 60 minutes was not enough to decide this one, as the teams were locked at 23. All seemed lost for the Broncos when Peyton Manning threw the last of his 3 interceptions, however, the defense forced a 3 and out of Josh McCown and the Browns offense, allowing Manning a chance to redeem himself for the early mistakes, leading Denver on a 13 play drive to set up a Brandon McManus field goal.

Texans at Jaguars

Brian Hoyer and Blake Bortles each threw for 3 touchdowns in this game, it helps that Hoyer had DeAndre Hopkins and Arian Foster and Bortles had Julius Thomas on the field. Neither of these football teams are world beaters, but it’s an important divisional game that could determine tiebreakers in the case that the Colts forget how to play football (That may have already happened, but more on that later). The Jaguars offense has potential, as long as they can limit the turnovers going forward, as for the defense, they have a lot of work to do. The Texans remembered that they had playmakers in Foster and Hopkins, going to them early and often in the 31-20 win.

Ravens at 49ers

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, this would have been a primetime game, Harbaugh versus Harbaugh, 2 great defenses, a reliable veteran against an exciting playmaker at QB and so on. The stakes were much lower this time than the last time these two teams met in a meaningful game (2^nd win of the season versus a super bowl title previously). The Ravens defense is among the worst they’ve had in franchise history. How bad is it? Colin Kaepernick had 340 yards and 2 touchdowns on the day. As for the Ravens, Joe Flacco had 343 yards of his own, but it wasn’t enough as the Ravens fell to 1-5 on the season, losing 25-20.

Patriots at Colts

Chuck Pagano, what are you even doing? Did you attempt to trick Bill Belichick? Al Michaels said it best “What in the world?” Why all the criticism? If you haven’t seen the fake punt the Colts attended, look up the highlights for this game and please leave a comment if you think you can figure out the logic behind the playcall. The Colts ended up losing the game, however, it was only by a touchdown this time around, 34-27 to be exact, unlike the previous few meetings, which were…. Ugly to say the least. I give the Colts a lot of credit for fighting hard and giving the Patriots everything they could handle, despite the fake punt. The Patriots are still the Patriots though, and seem to be rolling through the early part of their schedule, but with the Jets upcoming, we’ll get to see a real fight for supremacy in the AFC East.

Giants at Eagles

There was a terrific highlight in this game that I encourage everyone reading this blog to watch, because it was that good. It occurred just after the second quarter ended and….. wait, that was just the new Star Wars trailer being aired for the first time. Seriously folks, that was the highlight of this game, which turned out to be an ugly affair of 2 mediocre NFC East teams fighting it out for first place in a division where Kirk Cousins and Brandon Weeden have taken meaningful snaps this season. As for the game, the story was the Eagles defense swarming and overwhelming the Giants offense, as for the Giants, they had a fullback in at defensive end to rush the passer, and was the best pass rusher on the field for the G-men. The worse news for the Giants is that they looked great in the early goings, Eli Manning started 10-10 and was well on his way to leading the Giants to a 14-0 lead, until DeMeco Ryans stole the ball from Larry Donnell’s hands for an interception. The Eagles took over from there, scoring the rest of the game’s points, winning 27-7. One thing to note: DeMarco Murray ran for over 100 yards, the first time he’s done that as an Eagle.

Bears at Chiefs

Jay Cutler takes a lot of criticism, to say the least, so much so that it led tight end Martellus Bennett to deliver this gem: “They threw rocks at Jesus, & Jesus was an excellent guy who did a lot of awesome stuff.” Well, for this week, Cutler did some awesome stuff of his own, leading the Bears offense to score 12 points in the final quarter to take the lead and ultimately defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium. As for the Chiefs, losing to the Bears by a point (18-17) and dropping to 1-4 is bad enough, the worse news for them was the loss of Jamaal Charles to a torn ACL. Give credit to the whole Bears team for making the late rally to win this game, but this was a game the Chiefs badly needed to have any hope of a postseason march.

Seahawks at Bengals

Wow. It looked like balance had been brought to the force courtesy of Andy Dalton not playing well in a meaningful game and by the Legion of Boom coming together on a tough defensive effort. That is, until the 4^th quarter where, facing a 17 point deficit, the Bengals came roaring back to tie the game with some clutch stops on defense, along with some clever play calls (including that quarterback keeper by Dalton from about the 5 yard line, that was genius). Next thing we know, the game is in overtime, both teams get possessions with no extra scoring, but the Bengals would prevail in this one 27-24

Redskins at Falcons

Raise your hands if you thought any of the following would happen this season: 1. Devonta Freeman would lead the NFL in Touchdown runs and all-purpose yards, 2. The Falcons would hold the number 1 rushing offense in the NFL to 51 yards on 24 carries, 3. The Redskins would lead for most of the game, and that the Falcon defense would score the winning touchdown. Anyone? If anyone is raising their hands at this time, you’re either a liar or a visionary, and could use some help picking lottery numbers. Kirk Cousins actually outplayed Matt Ryan in this game… mostly (Granted, when you have a quarterback that has 3 turnovers as opposed to 2, it’s not much of a comparison). Matt Bryant appeared off from his usual stellar performances, as he was 2 for 4 on field goal attempts, and the hero of the day for Atlanta was Robert Alford, who returned the second Kirk Cousins interception for a touchdown.

Jaguars at Buccaneers

Who knew this would be one of the most exciting games of the week going in? Constant battle back and forth between two teams that, while not very good, were fighting hard to get the victory, Blake Bortles had 4 touchdown passes for the Jaguars while Doug Martin found the endzone 3 times for the Buccaneers. This game meant a lot to both teams, the Jaguars would actually be competing for the AFC South (don’t laugh too much, no one has been lighting it up in that division, they were also a missed field goal away from taking down the colts last week), as for the Bucs, this snapped an ugly losing streak at Raymond James Stadium that dates back to December 2013, 11 straight home losses, Tampa Bay was sent home happy this time around.

Saints at Eagles

After putting up 500+ yards on offense, and rolling in this game, it looks as if the Eagles are back and ready to contend…. That is, until you remember that this is a New Orleans Saints team that is last in the NFL in terms of yards allowed. That, and at halftime, this was a 10-7 ball game, and Sam Bradford threw 2 red-zone interceptions. The good news for Eagle fans is that Demarco Murray and Ryan Matthews got going, each had a touchdown and over 70 yards rushing, and cruised to a 39-17 victory. If they can sustain this success against the Giants next week, they’ll be back in the driver’s seat for the NFC East. As for the Saints, this loss drops them to 1-4 and into a major hole to catch up to both the undefeated Panthers and Falcons, in fact, they’re now a game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Drew Brees has been a great quarterback for a long time, but does he have enough left in the tank, and enough around him, to engineer a turnaround?

Browns at Ravens

1-13: That’s the Browns record against the Baltimore Ravens in their previous 14 matchups, their last win against the Ravens? 2013, before then: 2007, which also marks the last time the Browns won in Baltimore, by a score of 33-30 in overtime. The result this time: a 33-30 win… in overtime… That sounds familiar… nevermind, this game was all about Josh McCown, yeah, that’s right, the 36 year old was the star of the game, completing 36 of 51 passes for 457 yards, including a wild play where Gary Barnidge caught the ball between his legs, then secured it off of his posterior for an 18 yard touchdown. The Ravens were able to run the ball against the Browns defense, gashing them for 181 yards and 3 touchdowns, including 2 touchdown runs by Joe Flacco, but it wasn’t enough, as the game went to overtime. After the Ravens punted the ball away, McCown lead a drive that lasted over 7 minutes and ended with a Travis Coons field goal.

Rams at Packers

Aaron Rodgers threw not one, but two interceptions this week at Lambeau Field, the last time he threw an interception at home, Jeremy Lin was a rising star as a member of the New York Knicks, think about that. Rodgers did still throw for 241 yards and two touchdowns on the day, one to Ty Montgomery and James Jones each, as the Packers won 24-10. Nick Foles, not to be outdone by Rodgers, threw 4 interceptions to the Packer defense, including 2 inside the Packer 10 yard-line, and was sacked 3 times. The good news for the Rams is that Todd Gurley ran for 159 yards on 30 carries, and Tavon Austin scored another touchdown this week, and their defense is for real, despite the score.

Bills at Titans

Of all the games on the slate this week, the first half of this game was a total snooze-fest, a 3-0 advantage to the Titans, Tyrod Taylor of Buffalo was awful in the first half, but came back strong to bring the Bills back to win the game 14-13. Taylor led the Bills in rushing, and led his team to a victory without LeSean McCoy, Sammy Watkins, and Karlos Williams. The Titans on the other hand, had a great game plan early on, as they did shut out the Bills in the first half, however, the offense got to be too conservative in the second half, calling 10 run plays and a ton of short passes, not taking a lot of chances until the Bills defense knew it was coming, and intercepted Marcus Mariota with 1:32 remaining in the game, ending the Titans comeback bid.

Cardinals at Lions

If you’re a Lions fan, I’d turn away now, I give as much credit to the Cardinals for dominating this game as I do to the Lions for getting crushed. The Lions are a team (outside of Golden Tate) that lack heart, lack passion, and just don’t seem interested in playing for Jim Caldwell or anyone else on that coaching staff. Matthew Stafford looks terrified in the pocket, and doesn’t seem comfortable in the offense. The defense has no backbone, they didn’t even try to stop the Cardinals, they made Chris Johnson look like CJ2K once again, the Cardinals looked like an unstoppable juggernaut in this game (Mind you, the cardinals are a great team, they have a real chance to contend this year). Stafford was benched for Dan Orlovsky… yes, the same Dan Orlovsky that quarterbacked the 0-16 Lions back in 2008. This city’s fans deserve a better on-field product than this, after the promise they showed in week 1, and the near victory against Seattle last week, they seemed to be a team that could at least compete. This team is done, there is little positive to say about their performance this week.

Patriots at Cowboys

How do they do it? Every year it seems as if the Patriots come up with a new playmaker that takes the league by storm, whether it be for a week, a month, a year, there’s always something new, this year, it’s Dion Lewis. This guy seems to make someone miss every time he touches the ball, he was out of football last year until the Pats signed him to a futures contract. Against the Cowboys, he touched the ball 14 times, which resulted in 93 yards and a touchdown. As for the Cowboys, they desperately miss Tony Romo and Dez Bryant, and with Matt Cassel waiting in the wings, it may be time for Dallas to try something new, maybe with Christine Michael too. The Patriots are a terrific team, on a campaign for revenge, and that makes them dangerous going forward.

Broncos at Raiders

This Denver defense is legit, I’m not sure what Wade Phillips put in the Gatorade for these guys, but every week, they make a play to win the game for Denver, and this week was no different, as Chris Harris Jr. returned a Derek Carr interception 74 yards for a touchdown, their third defensive touchdown this season. Not only has the Denver defense scored 3 touchdown, but they’ve also accumulated 22 sacks and 14 turnovers in just 5 games. Peyton Manning appeared off, tossing 2 interceptions to 1998 draft classmate Charles Woodson (who had never intercepted Manning before), and failed to lead the Denver offense to a touchdown. The Manning-Kubiak marriage still appears to be rocky, but if they are able to mesh by seasons end, establish a ground game while playing to Manning’s strengths in the passing game, this team can be downright terrifying come playoff time. The Raiders, on the other hand, are a tough team to figure out, they have the potential to be a plucky wild-card type team, or they could be a 6 win team, depending on how they perform down the stretch.

49ers at Giants

Where did this Eli Manning come from? 41 of 54 passing for 441 yards and 3 touchdowns, including the game-winner with 21 seconds left to Larry Donnell in what became a crazy game in the second half. The Giant offense looked unstoppable in this 30-27 win, their third in a row after starting at 0-2. The 49ers deserve a ton of credit for the way they fought to win this game, scoring 21 points in the second half, and taking a 27-23 lead with 1:45 to go in the 4^th quarter on a Carlos Hyde plunge into the endzone from 2 yards out. Colin Kaepernick looked good, not great, completing 23 of 35 passes for 262 yards and 2 touchdowns. This team is playing hard for their coach, unfortunately, the offseason losses have just been too much for them to overcome, losing 4 straight games after a great win on Monday night to start the season. One noteworthy accomplishment in this game: this was Eli Manning’s 102^nd win, the most in team history.

Steelers at Chargers

What an ending to this game: Le’Veon Bell scoring on a 1-yard touchdown from the wildcat formation as time expired to send the Steelers (and a ton of their fans at the stadium) home happy with a final score of 24-20. This game could have been one of the most controversial of all in the last couple of years if not for the Steeler touchdown, as inexplicably, the clock ran off 18 seconds between a touchback and the first snap of the Steelers final drive. The NFL has since suspended the side judge, whose responsibility is to ensure the game clock is correct, but how can this be prevented going forward? This could have affected the outcome of a game, which should not happen under any circumstance. Mike Vick and the Steeler offense were struggling the entire night, until new offensive coordinator Ben Roethlisberger drew up a play that became a 72 yard touchdown pass from Vick to Markus Wheaton. Phillip Rivers, on the other hand, had a terrific performance, other than the interception thrown to Antwon Blake that was returned for a touchdown, as he threw for 365 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Starting next week, I will be resuming the Weekly Recaps, as well as publishing an article about my evaluation ofJameis Winston thus far in his rookie season based on what I’ve seen (I’m planning on doing one for Marcus Mariota as well). Without further ado, here are my fantasy football picks for this week:

The Starts

Leonard Hankerson – Hankerson has been emerging in Kyle Shanahan’s offense, and is facing his former team this week. This in normally a good combination for players to come out and perform well, not to mention that the Falcons will be at home this week. After Hankerson had a good week last week, posting 6 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown, I look for him to build on that performance against a suspect Washington secondary, as they will be focusing on stopping Julio Jones and Devonta Freeman, meaning that Hankerson will see a lot of 1-on-1 coverage.

Owen Daniels – Tight Ends have had their way with the Raiders defense this season, they are ranked dead last in terms of points allowed to the position this season. Martellus Bennett put up 11 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown last week with Jay Cutler at QB. Peyton Manning to Owen Daniels is a combination you’ll hear often on Sunday.

Jordan Matthews – Matthews hasn’t had a touchdown since week 2, I see that changing this week against the New Orleans Saints, as their defense has been nothing short of terrible this season, even with the regression of Sam Bradford, Matthews will be running open all day against the Saints. The only fear is that Brandon Browner might get called for defensive holding every play of the game (Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but who would be surprised by this?).

Justin Forsett – Before last week, Forsett seemed destined to be this season’s “One-Hit Wonder” award (which I will give out at the end of the season to a highly touted player coming off of 1 good year, only to come falling back to earth this year), but he got back on track against the Steelers to the tune of 150 yards. With the Cleveland Browns coming to town, I see Forsett having a great game against an awful Browns run defense.

Carson Palmer – 10 touchdowns through 4 weeks and a QB rating of 106.4 are great numbers, those are going to improve against a struggling Lions defense this week, who are surrendering over 270 yards per game to opposing quarterbacks, and are giving up 46% of third down conversions, I like Palmer to get lots of chances to throw to all of his weapons on offense.

The Sits

Matthew Stafford – The Cardinals defense gives up an average of 13 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, and on top of that, Stafford has struggled mightily to this point in the season. Even with Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate on the outside, Stafford hasn’t been able to put it all together, and should be on the bench for this game.

Alfred Morris – Sitting Morris against a team that gives up a ton of yards and points to opposing running backs? I must be crazy to sit him down this week, but here’s why I say sit him: The Falcons give up a ton of points to receiving backs, plodders like Morris, not so much. Lance Dunbar had a great game receiving, Joseph Randle started the game great, but I think Randle has more breakaway speed than Morris has ever had. Not to mention the Running back by committee approach in our nations capital, with Matt Jones and Chris Thompson eating into Morris’ snaps.

Amari Cooper – Cooper has been great the last few weeks, he’s put up good fantasy point totals, but I do not like his matchup this week, as the Raiders take on the Broncos. The Broncos have 18 sacks so far this season, they’ve averaging 4.5 per game, plus they have Aqib Talib to blanket opposing teams #1 receiver. Between Carr having no time to throw, and Cooper being covered by one of the best corners in the league, let him sit for a week.

Zach Ertz – Ertz has been the proverbial fantasy “tease” for years, many people drafting for the potential that exists for him to become a number 1 TE, however, he always seems to be stuck behind Brent Celek, as he is not as good of a blocker as Celek. I’d let this guy ride the bench until he actually shows it on the field, including this week against the Saints/

The Risks

All kickers – seriously though, did you see the number of missed field goals last week? Talk about a risk. If you don’t have one of the best in the league, it just seems like you’ve got a guy who’s gonna miss one (Which will be the difference between you winning and losing, of course)

Andy Dalton – as great as Dalton has been this season, and he’s been among the best quarterbacks in the league. he’s also going against the Seahawks this week, the good news for Dalton is that this game is in Cincinnati, and is during the day, so he could be in for a solid start, despite the legion of boom. This should be a fun matchup to watch, but it could be stressful if you decide to start Dalton (someone could trick him into thinking it’s a playoff game… yikes)

Sam Bradford – His confidence is shaky, and that’s always a scary thing for a quarterback, especially a quarterback who’s got a shaky offensive line, and a madman calling the plays. Yes, he is against the Saints this week, but I could see another mediocre performance from Bradford coming if the Eagles offensive line continues to struggle.

T.J. Yeldon – Yes, Yeldon is going against the Buccaneers this week, that’s the good news, the bad news is that he still plays for the Jaguars. Yeldon, despite the preseason hype, has yet to score a touchdown in the regular season, and is only averaging 3.7 yards per carry. That’s not what you want to see from a guy who’s been so highly touted this year. Could this be the week he puts together a good performance? Maybe, but the Jaguars seem to like proving me wrong (See Robinson, Allen for week 2)

Tennessee Titans Running Backs – who’s going to get the most carries and/or catches this week? Will it be Bishop Sankey? Dexter McCluster? Antonio Andrews? Eddie George? LenDale White? Who knows, if you’ve got a gut feeling on any of them, it’s going to present a massive risk to start any of them. You could get a Ryan Matthews type stat-line. 100+ or 0 yards are equally as likely with these guys.

This is a new segment I’m starting, to highlight certain players around the league on their performances, based on what I see, and I will try to get these up weekly, shining a spotlight for good, bad, or neutral reasons. We are fittingly going to start this segment with the first pick in this year’s NFL Draft: Jameis Winston, as I was at the Tampa Bay game this past weekend for their matchup against division rival Carolina.

How would Winston do against the fearsome Panthers defense? In short: not well. Winston appeared uncomfortable in the pocket for a majority of the game, throwing flat footed, or off balance to elude the pass rush, and he was picked off 4 times as a result, including a pick-six by Panther’s cornerback Josh Norman (1 of 2 interceptions he caught in the game. On the pick-six, Norman sat on the out route as Winston appeared to stare down the receiver, Brandon Meyers, on the play. Winston didn’t seem to be setting his feet on several occasions, and he also appeared to be staring down his receivers, this combination leads to a lot of interceptions. However, Winston also had some great throws on the day, and a couple of nice touchdown drives. The Bucs also had 2 drives that should have lead to field goals, but Kyle Brindza couldn’t connect on 2 of 3 field goals.

Despite the struggles with footwork and staring down his receivers, Winston does have a high ceiling as a quarterback in the NFL, as long as he can improve week to week, get more comfortable in Tampa Bays offense, he could be mentioned as one of the next generations great quarterbacks. Dirk Koetter is a good choice for an offensive coordinator for Winston’s development, as we saw in Atlanta with Matt Ryan, he can take a quarterback to the next level. There have been many players that have shown a ton of promise in their first four NFL games that turned out to be nothing more than a footnote in NFL history. Ryan Leaf won his first 2 starts, Cadillac Williams had 1100 yards in his rookie season, but never reached 850 yards again in his career. In short, there’s no way to know how great a player will be after 1 season, let alone 4 games, but there is a lot of potential in WInston, which should give Buccaneer fans hope going forward. The team needs to help him out though, he’s got a nice set of receivers in Vincent Jackson, Mike Evans, and Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, but Winston needs help on the offensive line so he has time to go through progressions. Doug Martin seems to be coming along as well and the oldest cliche in the book is “the quarterback’s best friend is the running game”, Winston could use a best friend like that. Based on what I’ve seen, Winston’s potential could carry him to become the next Ben Roethlisberger or the next Jay Cutler, but for now, he’s just Jameis.

I apologize for the lack of a week 3 recap, I’m on the road without a laptop, so all typing is getting done on my iPad for this week, but I will try to get out more content once I return from vacation next week. I thank you for your patience in the meantime. Without further ado, here’s this weeks recommendations.

Starts

Tyrod Taylor – a banged up New York Giants defense comes to town against a qb that’s been in the top 15 scoring in each week to start the season, and Taylor is the only bills quarterback since Jim Kelly to start the first 3 games with 7 touchdowns and a 70% completion percentage. I like Taylor to continue his good play this week.

Martellus Bennett – Even though Jimmy Clausen is still the quarterback for Chicago, Bennett should be in for a good week because the raiders are the worst team in the league at defending tight ends, they just gave up 100+ yards and a touchdown to Gary Barnidge last week, with Josh McCown starting got Cleveland.

Devonta Freeman – Where did that come from Devonta? Last week freeman had a monster game against the Cowboys, and if Atlanta gets a lead early, we could see Freeman get a ton of carries again. Houston’s defense, outside of JJ Watt can slow down the likes of Jamies Winston, but I don’t see this Atlanta team suffering the same fate, not to mention the mess the Texans have under center.

Amari Cooper – Cooper has been as good as advertised thus far in his young nfl career, putting up 2 one hundred yard games in the first 3 weeks of the season. Playing against the Bears this week certainly helps, they’ve been a train wreck thus far, and I see cooper taking advantage of a bad defense.

Sits

Todd Gurley – 9 yards. Gurley gained 9 yards in his debut last week against a mediocre steelers defense, and I don’t see that going any better against the cardinals, I think Gurley will be a good running back, just not this week.

Dolphins WRs – London game, these guys will be up extra early against an excellent jets defense, and Ryan Tannehill is struggling right now. This is a very bad combination for success for this group of wide receivers, even Rishard Matthews – master of garbage time

Alex Smith – He did it! Alex smith ended the streak of Games without a WR touchdown, however, I look for that streak to restart this week against a very good bengals defense, especially in Cincinnati, I don’t like his chances for a good game this week.

Risks

Ryan Matthews – will Demarco Murray play? Which Redskins team will show up? Which Ryan Matthews will show up? Too many questions to be a start, but after a great week last week, he could be figuring out his role in philly’s offense. If Murray is out, he might be worth the risk

Keenan Allen – Doesn’t this guy have 2 games with more than 12 catches this year? Yes he dit s, but he also had a 2 catch game where he fumbled in between those two great games. Allen also might be matched up on Joe Haden, who’s a great corner in this league. Allen could have a 12 catch game, like weeks 1 and 3, or he could have a 2 catch game that costs you a win. I’d bet on Allen, but it’s a major risk.

Eli Manning – with an offensive line that is crumbling around him, manning could be in for a classic stinker this week, as the buffalo bills pass rush is among the best in the league, as is their defense as a whole. With Rex Ryan calling that defense, manning could be in for a long day. Depending on other options, I would probably sit manning down this week, but he’s not a bad start most weeks.