Ravens win to stay alive, and the Bengals slip again

Article by Gordon Dedman

After a torturous season that had produced only two wins, Joe Flacco led the Ravens to a third, but at what price? The season ending injury he suffered makes him the headline man of the weekend in the division as Baltimore now seek to complete 2015 without their star quarterback.

Flacco’s streak of 122 consecutive starts, which was the fifth-longest in NFL history, will come to an end next week.

St. Louis Rams at Baltimore Ravens

Case Keenum made a rare start in the NFL when the Rams decided to go with him as their quarterback replacing Nick Foles, who had started the previous nine games.

Baltimore missed a 51-yard field goal in the first quarter providing St. Louis good field position. Aided by a pass interference infraction that placed the ball on their opponents 10, the Rams Todd Gurley finished for the Rams with a 1-yard touchdown run.

 

In a bad tempered game that saw the Ravens give up 137 yards in penalties, putting points on the board was always going to prove difficult. For Baltimore, when Justin Forsett went off with a fractured arm in the first quarter, it became even more challenging.

The Rams led 13-3 going into the final period, but the Ravens defense stepped up and after a Gurley fumble, Flacco seized the opportunity to reduce the deficit with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Kamar Aiken. On their next possession, the Ravens tied the game with Justin Tucker’s 20-yard field goal.

With the likelihood of overtime looming, Keenum fumbled for the third time, presenting Flacco the chance to get into field goal range for Tucker to kick a 47-yard field goal to win the game 16-13.

For Baltimore, the loss of their quarterback spells big trouble. His experience had helped his team through a difficult season and without him, Forsett and Steve Smith, they surely will be looking at a high draft pick.

After the game, it emerged that Keenum suffered a concussion and it may have contributed to his final fumble that potentially cost his team the game. The fact that Keenum wasn’t taken out of the game will be a point for concern.

Cincinnati Bengals at Arizona Cardinals

Like two heavyweight boxers slugging it out, the Bengals and Cardinals exchanged blows during four rounds of fifteen minutes.

Cardinals Carson Palmer was hoping to prove a point against his former team, but with two interceptions in the first quarter, he handed the initial momentum to Cincinnati. While Palmer struggled in the first half, the Bengals created twice as many offensive yards as their opponents while building a 14-7 lead.

When Palmer eventually found his feet, he redressed his failings with some superb pinpoint passes, including a touchdown completion to rookie J.J. Nelson of 64 yards. In a wild third quarter, Palmer threw three touchdown passes while the Bengals were on the canvas producing minus one yard of offense.

Finding themselves on the ropes and 14-28 behind, the Bengals showed their character by fighting back in the final period to tie the game with just over a minute remaining. Using their hurry up offense to good effect, Palmer led his team into winning field goal range before an unusual penalty reduced the distance of the field goal attempt.

Cincinnati were penalised for unsportsmanlike conduct for simulating signals, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis called it a "phantom call," but television clearly showed some verbals from his defense.

Cardinals Chandler Catanzaro’s field goal from 32 yards gave Arizona the knockout blow and both teams now sit with 8-2 records. Palmer also edged the points verdict, finishing with a rating of 111.2, compared to Dalton’s 99.8.

Bengals look to get back on track against a known foe

Article by Gordon Dedman

Cincinnati Bengals (8-1) at Arizona Cardinals (7-2)

The game will see Carson Palmer, who spent eight years with the Bengals, facing the not so new kid on the block Andy Dalton, who took over from Palmer when he left Cincinnati under a cloud, failing to turn up for training camp.

There is still acrimony regarding Palmer quitting on the Bengals and this game could become a real gritty battle as the revitalised Cardinals quarterback tries to prove a point.

 

Adding spice to the game is Arizona’s coach Bruce Arians. The former Steelers offensive coordinator posted an 11-5 record last season with the Cardinals. Those eleven wins tied a Cardinals franchise record for the most wins in a season and Arians would love to improve on that record.

The Bengals were unlikely to go through the season unbeaten and this game will show how effective they are in rebounding from last week’s defeat. They have escaped a few close games with wins, but for the first time this season, Dalton did not throw a touchdown pass, contributing to the loss. He will need to be on top of his game if the Bengals are to get back on track.

Arizona has the top ranked offense in the NFL and last week beat division rivals the Seattle Seahawks to take a three game lead over last year’s AFC representative in the Super Bowl. Palmer can use his experience to guide the Cardinals to a win.

 

St. Louis Rams (4-5) at Baltimore Ravens (2-7)

The Rams will be striving to improve their record in the AFC West, while the Ravens will be attempting to restore some pride into their season. In a game that is “Much ado about nothing”, the Rams will want to continue their battle for the playoffs, and that might prove to be the difference.

The season ending injury to Steve Smith has thrown the spotlight onto Kamar Aiken who finds himself as the Ravens primary receiver. His NFL career has been an up and down roller coaster as he was cut six times before joining the Ravens’ practice squad during the 2013 season. Two years later, Aiken finally has the opportunity to make an impression.

The Ravens promoted former Browns running back Terrance West from their practice squad onto their roster while placing their veteran center Jeremy Zuttah on injured reserve. Zuttah will have surgery on a partially-torn pectoral muscle and joins fifteen other Ravens on IR.

Patriots stay unbeaten in dramatic finish; Bills and Dolphins edge wins

Article by Dean Wright

New England Patriots 27-26 New York Giants

 

Along with Bengals and Panthers, The Patriots entered into Week 10 undefeated and were facing an opposition in the New York Giants, who they have not beaten in play since 2008.

Although not a great game by the Patriots standards with them trailing by 10 points in the third quarter and trailing also twice within the fourth quarter, the Offense pushed and clawed to achieve a game winning field goal winning drive to make Stephen Gostkowski become the NFL’s leading kicker ahead of Adam Vinatieri.

The New York Giants fought well and looked good except for the final minutes of the game where they just could not close the game out.

Beckham Jnr was thought to have won the game for the Giants with a touchdown to make the score 29-24 with just over 2 minutes left to play, but Malcom Butler knocked the ball clear before Beckham could get both feet down to make a completed catch. Although at first it was ruled a touchdown, after review the judgement was overruled.

Even with Eli Manning hitting a career high 251 yards in the first half and the Giants being the dominant team for a good proportion of the game its was Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski who shone through after completing his longest career touchdown with a 76 yarder.

With a close but vital win for the Patriots there was still bad news in the form of  Julian Edelman who was taken off the field with a broken bone in his foot which will see him side lined for 6-8 weeks

 

Buffalo Bills 22-17 New York Jets

 

It was a game that Buffalo Coach Rex Ryan knew would be where all eyes were on him and his strategy as he faced his old team the New York Jets. Equally for Jets Coach Todd Bowles who was trying to show the old guard how it’s now done in New York.

All that being said it was not a very pretty game to watch with many dropped balls and fumbles and all in all some terrible play calls including Bills Punter Colton Schmidt’s missed catch while deep in their own half.

The Bills came out on top with their running game against a Jets weak defense. The Bills managed to rush 148 yards in the game and that is the most the Jets have given up all year.

Both teams looked a little shaky more times than they should have and even though both teams are still in the hunt for AFC playoff places it’s fair to say a lot of things need to improve. Rex Ryan took the win but it was in no way as dominant as he would have liked and it can be fair to say that Bowles either felt robbed or lucky that the gap in the win wasn’t bigger.

 

Miami Dolphins 20-19 Philadelphia Eagles

Eagle QB Sam Bradford was taken out of the game with a left arm injury which was later discovered to be a AC joint sprain halfway through the third quarter while the Eagles led the Dolphins 16-13 and the Eagles then failed to close the game out when replacement Mark Sanchez only gained small yardage and then threw an intercepted ball into heavy play with under five minutes to go. Also Sanchez disappointed when he failed to drive for a game winning field goal with enough time remaining on the clock.

The Dolphin's defence applied plenty of pressure to both Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez plus keeping Demarco Murray in check by limiting him to only 61 yards from 23 carries it was clear that the defence was the difference between the two teams.

The Dolphin’s Ndamukong Suh finally hit some good game numbers with eight tackles, three QB hits, three tackles for a loss and a sack which was praised by his team mates.

At 4-5 and only one game out of a playoff spot in the AFC, the Dolphin’s still need to improve offensively if they want to make the grade and give the fans what they have yearned for such a long time.

On a side note it was great to see Jay Ajayi back in action. With 48 yards gained in just 6 carries, it will be great to see what this young guy can bring to a team who is starting to get its sparkle back.

Steelers win a thiller but Big Ben struck down again

Article and photos by Gordon Dedman

With only two games being played in the division that saw Cincinnati beating Cleveland and Pittsburgh taking the win over Oakland, the headline man of the weekend can only be Antonio Brown who set franchise records with 17 catches for 284 yards, including one that set up his team's winning field goal.

 

Oakland Raiders at Pittsburgh Steelers

After a ding dong battle between the two old rivals, the Steelers victory came at a price as they lost their leader Ben Roethlisberger to injury for the second time this season.

 

Roethlisberger was the catalyst as Brown's 284 yards and De'Angelo Williams combined 225 yards created Steelers history with two players eclipsing 200 yards from scrimmage in the same game. 

When Coach Tomlin's gamble on a fourth and four on the Steelers first drive failed, the Raiders took advantage of the good field position presented to them. After a 44-yard run by Latavius Murray and a 22-yard touchdown completion by Michael Crabtree, Oakland took an early 7-0 lead to stir the home fans into full voice.

 

The teams then exchanged leads before the Steelers held a 21-14 half time advantage at the half on the back of two touchdowns from Williams and two field goals from Chris Boswell. But it was Brown's 180 receiving yards for the first thirty minutes that told the story as the Steelers quarterback and receiver had reignited their successful partnership again.

Oakland's quarterback Derek Carr led his team on a 90-yard scoring drive midway through the third quarter to tie the game. With the game all even as it entered the fourth period, both teams fought valiantly to force the win. 

A Williams run of 53 yards was the backbone of a Steelers touchdown drive that put them in front and an Oakland fumble on the ensuing kick off, recovered by Pittsburgh on their opponents six yard line, saw the Steelers increase their margin with rookie Jesse James' first touchdown catch in the NFL. 

As Oakland staged a comeback, the intensity increased with both teams turning the ball over and with Roethlisberger limping off with his injury. Carr and the Raiders kept their poise and with touchdowns from Jamize Olawale and Michael Crabtree made the game all-square at 35-35. 

With Steelers backup quarterback at the helm Landry Jones and 1:15 left on the clock, there were not as many fans as usual leaving early. Landry's lob of 57 yards to Brown, gave the receiver a franchise record and set the Steelers up for a game winning field goal.

 

After the game, Antonio Brown was asked if the franchise records supersede the win, he replied, “I’m extremely blessed. The most important thing is that we’re a team at the end of the day.” While Roethlisberger was absent with his previous injury, Brown had reportedly been making noises about the lack of passes going his way.

Roethlisberger registered his 40th 300+ passing yards game and past Baltimore Colts Johnny Unitas on the all-time passing list. The Steelers will find it difficult to replace him when he decides to retire.

Bengals get win number 8, can the Steelers keep pace against the Raiders?

Article and images by Gordon Dedman

Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals

Before the game, the stadium paid its tribute to the armed forces and that appeared appropriate as the Cincinnati army went on to pillage Cleveland. Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel was always under siege while the assured Andy Dalton eased his team into winning a battle that extended Cincinnati's streak to 8-0.

The harassed Manziel performed miracles in getting some of his passes off as the Bengals defense relentlessly chased him around the field. Despite their inferiority, the Browns were just about holding onto the Bengals shirt tails at the half when they were 10-14 behind.

The Bengals turned the screw in the second half, keeping the Browns scoreless as Cleveland managed only 32 yards of offense while Manziel felt the bruises of three sacks in the final period as the Bengals added seventeen points.

Dalton finished 21 of 27 for 234 yards with a passer rating of 139.8. His main weapon was Tyler Eifert who pulled in three touchdown catches to give him nine for the season, tying the club record for a tight end and confirming him as the leading touchdown scorer in the NFL for tight ends and receivers. 

After their 31-10 victory, receiver Marvin Jones said "It seems like every week it's a first-time-ever. It's all good. We've got to be 9-0 next and keep it moving." Jones topped the Bengals individual stats with 78 receiving yards.

 

Oakland Raiders (4-3) at Pittsburgh Steelers (4-4)

These two old foes may not remember the rivalry between the teams of the seventies when Coach Chuck Noll suggested there was a criminal elements in the Oakland team. And Oakland Coach John Madden never got over the most famous play in pro football - the Immaculate Reception, always suggesting that the play was illegal.

None of that history will make an effect on Sunday's game as both teams strive to improve on their mediocre records. Pittsburgh, smarting from their fourth quarter loss to the Bengals will need to be at their best against an Oakland team that have put together back to back wins to ease them above .500.

To suggest the result of a game can be decided on the birth of a baby is a tad over the top, but the heart of the Steelers defense might be missing if defensive end Cameron Heyward's wife gives birth. The Steelers may have to overcome his absence if as expected, the baby is born over the weekend.

 

One player doesn't make a team, but Ben is such an important part of the Steelers offense that his rustiness against the Bengals determined the outcome of the game with his three interceptions. 

The last time these two teams met in Oakland, I was in hospital with a collapsed lung. I urged the doctor to discharge me so I could watch the game. I succeeded with my mission, but arrived home to find the Steelers were already two touchdowns behind. 

Terrelle Pryor ran 93 yards on the first play from scrimmage after a fake hand off for the longest touchdown run by a quarterback. The Raiders never looked back as the Steelers failed to overcome that 14-0 deficit to lose 18-21.

Derek Carr is now the Raiders quarterback and last week threw four touchdown passes to achieve a 130.9 passer rating as Oakland beat the New York Jets 34-20.

“Confidence is huge,” confirmed Raiders Coach Jack Del Rio. As their new head coach, he has already overseen a team that this year has won more games than they managed for the whole of last season. “We just came in and rolled up our sleeves and got to work. It’s been a collective effort, a lot of good people pulling together.”

As with any given Sunday either team can win, but having watched the Steelers practice this week I have to take a resurgent Ben to lead his team to victory. 

TNF Preview - Can Manziel inflict a first loss in Cincy?

Article by Gordon Dedman

Cleveland Browns (2-6) at Cincinnati Bengals (7-0) 

 

This divisional game looks all over a stroll for the unbeaten Bengals as they go marching on. In front of a home crowd and facing a team that has lost three straight, this shouldn't provide any challenges for Andy Dalton, who has looked 

 

He struggled in his last game against the Steelers to make an impact and was assisted by his defense to force the win. The key for a Browns victory could be their 13 takeaways. The defense will need to support an offense that looks likely to be led by Johnny Manziel as Josh McCown is still suffering from a rib injury.

 

The last time Manziel faced the Bengals, he was making his debut and was overwhelmed in a 30-0 rout when he threw two interceptions. Since then, he has gained his first NFL win when he threw touchdown passes of 60 and 50 yards to Travis Benjamin. 

 

It will be interesting viewing, but unless Manziel can produce some magic, it should produce another Bengals win.

Broncos beat Packers, improve to 7-0 - Raiders stay in the hunt with win over Jets

Article by Mark Brown

 

Green Bay Packers 10 – 29 Denver Broncos 

Denver's Offense in heaven as they make it seven 

 

This week Peyton Manning was good, very good and for me proved that rather than being finished he could actually, now, be getting used to the new way of playing under Kubiak.  Manning chose this game to equal Brett Favre's record with his 180th regular season win. 

 

 

Playing in their famous alternate blue shirts from the 1997 Super Bowl win over the Packers Denver finally got both Defense and Offense working in tandem.  Manning threw for 340 yards going 21 of 29 and the bootleg that some experts have said Manning can't do worked just fine.  Although Manning didn't throw for a touchdown, actually neither quarterback did, he finally looked the five time MVP that we all know he is. 

On the other side of the ball Denver's defense, now the tightest in the league, managed to restrict the Packers to just 140 yards all game.  In fact this would have to go down as one of the worst games of Aaron Rodgers' career.  He was sacked three times and hit four times on the Green Bay's first drive. 

 

For Denver Ronnie Hillman got two touchdowns, CJ Anderson another and Demarius Thomas caught eight passes for 168 yards.  Green Bay just had no answer to the best defense in the league and their usually fast moving offense that had scored sixty six first quarter points previously looked somewhat ineffective. 

 

Green Bay's coach Mike McCarthy said after the game - " That's a humbling loss.  I haven't had my ass kicked like that for a long time.  Gary Kubiak had his team playing a lot faster than I had my team playing tonight and I don't feel good about how we performed" 

 

I for one am still smiling as this was one game that had me worried but if this performance is a yardstick for what the Broncos are capable of then I will say it now – Don't bet against them finishing the season unbeaten.  As far as the Super Bowl goes I will wait and see but if I could afford it I would be booking my tickets now. 

Next up for the Broncos the Colts on Sunday 8th November. 

 

 

New York Jets 20 – 34 Oakland Raiders 

Carr superb again as the Jets crash and burn 

 

Oakland quarterback Derek Carr threw for 333 yards and four touchdowns in this one and sometimes it is easy to forget that it wasn't that long ago that he was a somewhat inconsistent rookie.  The Raiders are now 4-3 and have a winning record for the first time since 2011 – largely thanks to, in my opinion, the superb Carr and if he has his way things will only improve after he told waiting reporters - "We want more.  We are not satisfied with we're .500.  We are not satisfied with that at all.  I'm not built that way." 

 

Latavius Murray ran for 113 yards, Andre Holmes caught two touchdown passes and Michael Crabtree had 102 receiving yards and a score.  Everything just seemed to click for Oakland as they exposed the Jets time and again.  Surprising really as the Jets' defense had been very resolute in the first six games. 

 

New York's Geno Smith threw for 265 yards and two touchdown passes of his own – not bad since it was his first action since being punched by teammate Ik Emenkpali but they just had no answers to an impressive Oakland offense and Carr in particular.  Oakland's defense also got in on the action though shutting down the Jets running game, restricting them to a paltry 17 yards on 15 carries. 

 

If only Oakland could shake off the inconsistency demons – with Carr in this kind of form who knows what they could achieve? 

Next up for the Raiders is the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday 8th November 

 

 

Detroit Lions 10 – 45 Kansas City Chiefs 

Wembley Stadium witnesses a thrashing as the International Series concludes for 2015 

 

If anybody wanted confirmation that American Football is big business here in the UK then they need look no further than the attendance figures for this one.  A whopping 83,624 turned up in force to watch this one at Wembley – it was just a shame that it turned out to be such a one sided affair. 

 

The unusually limp Lions just seemed to turn up and roll over for this one and the Chiefs ran out comfortable winners.  Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith looked comfortable and moved the ball around nicely and if anyone of the players were still suffering jet lag he wasn't one of them. 

 

I have already said in recent weeks that given time, Kansas under new head coach John Fox are going to be a force to be reckoned with and this just confirms my suspicions. I for one liked his philosophy at Denver and was somewhat sad to see him go.  The old saying goes "you can only beat what's in front of you" and although the Lions did not play well the Chiefs didn't just beat them they completely thrashed them. 

Some would argue that the Lions were just bad on the day – Matt Stafford was sacked an incredible seven times, three of which were in three consecutive plays in the second quarter and a string of errors on the ball mixed with some downright awful defending would certainly confirm that but I would like to think that just perhaps it was a bit of both.  That perhaps the Lions looked so bad because just maybe the Chiefs were that good. 

 

Chiefs RB Charcandrick West shined again here leading the team in rushing yards and any worries that the rookie wouldn't be able to fill injured Jamaal Charles' boots must surely be disappearing. 

Just how good the Chiefs are becoming we will all know soon enough given their next opponents, the date of which is already in my diary. 

Next up for the Chiefs is the Denver Broncos on Sunday 15th November 

 

San Diego Chargers 26 – 29 Baltimore Ravens 

Heartache again for the Chargers as Ravens finally see a game out to win in dying seconds 

 

Philip Rivers must be wondering what more he can do as the Chargers lose again for the third time in the games final play.  This was a record setting performance for Chargers quarterback Rivers as he went 28 of 37 for 301 yards – a franchise first fifth consecutive 300 yard game. 

Rivers told the waiting press after the game - "It's been tough losing this way again

.  Whatever the answer to the problem is – we haven't found the answer"  San Diego's losing streak this season has consisted of games that they have lost by margins as close as 4,7,8 and now 3 points as they just can't seem to score a touchdown in the fourth quarter. 

 

So as the Chargers sink further to the bottom of the division the Ravens are hoping this win might kick start their worst start to a season.  Joe Flacco went 25 of 37 for 319 yards and scored a touchdown after a neat 38 yard drive.  The down side for Baltimore was the loss of veteran Steve Smith for the season with an achilles injury and given that he has already said this would be his last season in the NFL it probably means we won's see him play again unless he has a change of heart. 

 

This was a real back and forth kind of game which ultimately ended in heartache again for the chargers and quite what they have to do to get over this alarming slump is anyone's guess but how they must be wishing for the end of the season to come quickly so they can go back to the drawing board.  The only glimmer of hope is they have the Bears next and in my opinion are more than capable of winning that one. 

Next up for the Chargers is the Chicago Bears on Tuesday 10th November