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.