Week 6 of the NFL provided plenty of surprises and classic endings. After their past two victories over the Eagles and Cowboys, the Redskins suffered a classic letdown in their home game against the lowly 0-4 Rams. After Washington fought back with 10 4th quarter points to take a 17-16 lead, Marc Bulger drove his team down the field and Josh Brown hit his 3rd FG of the day to seal the 19-17 victory as time expired. So much for Washington’s four game winning streak… The Skins, as well as the media, might have gotten a bit ahead of themselves with their lofty revised expectations for Zorn’s crew – some stating that they were the best in the league – and the reason being is that we found out Dallas isn’t nearly as good as most expected.
The Cowboys went into Arizona and played a terrible game. I haven’t heard the post game yet but I’m sure TO was whining for not getting the ball thrown his way enough. The Cards began this game with a KO return for a TD and ended it with a blocked punt in OT that was recovered for a TD, giving Arizona a 30-24 victory. The game shouldn’t have been so close but Dallas was aided by some horrific calls early on. Trailing 7-0 in the 1st quarter, Romo, who was harassed all day, was sacked and stripped of the ball which the Cards recovered at the 20. Only it didn’t count. The ref inexplicably blew the whistle and ruled him down, giving possession back to the Cowboys. On another play, with Romo in the end zone, he made a jerk of the body motion as he was sacked and the ball came loose, which the Cards recovered for a TD. However, after a review, the call was overturned as the ref rule in favor of the infamous “tuck” rule. I’m not sure what the league has to do with the refs – it’s been an issue for years now – but the officiating is getting worse and worse each year, and a lot of games are adversely affected because of it. If not for some high school tackling by Arizona late in the 4th, allowing Marion Barber to catch a short pass and run 70 yards for the TD, the game would’ve ended for Dallas with a 10-point loss. This team has a lot of problems: Wade Phillips is an average coach and they lack the continuity of a champion, and what was predicted before the season as a walk through to the NFC East Championship looks as if it’s going to be a dog fight for a wild card, between the Skins and perhaps the Eagles.
In Indianapolis, at least for one Sunday, the Colts of the past decade reappeared. Against a tough, stingy defense like the Ravens, Peyton’s line gave him time to pass, something it had been unable to do in the first five weeks of the season, and Manning torched Baltimore for 270+ yards and 3 TDs. He had a 4th called back on a questionable call. The defense, playing without standout Safety Bob Sanders, came up big today against rookie signal caller Joe Flacco and the Colts buried the Ravens 31-3.
It was much the same down in San Diego. In a game the Chargers had to win, they came out and played a strong game. Rivers from the get go was on fire, and took advantage of the Patriots short CBs by targeting and connecting with his big receivers early and often. The D played solidly as well making life miserable for Matt Cassel and Co., who really had no answer for the Chargers aggressive game plan. Although the score was 30-10, I wouldn’t necessarily jump to conclusions that it’ll be smooth sailing from here on out for SD. Matt Cassel is still only playing in his 4th game as a starter, so his less than stellar performance was to be expected playing in a hostile environment. And while Rivers was solid again this evening, Tomlinson was still pretty much shut down outside of two or three runs which netted 10 yards+. Until he gets going again and is consistently picking up 4 to 5 yards with some long runs sprinkled in there, it’s going to be a hot and cold season for this team. At least being .500 takes some heat off Turner in the papers this week.
Is a Brad Childress watch on yet? This guy is horrible. Supposedly a great offensive mind, it just shows you that it was Reid calling the plays in Philly when Childress served there as offensive coordinator. It took a very questionable call (late pass interference against Detroit CB Leigh Bodden) to get his team in range to kick the game winning FG and beat the lowly Lions 12-10, in a game at home, facing a 3rd string QB. The offensive plan was unimaginative and the game was a snoozer. I’d have to imagine he’s on a short leash with all of the money that the Vikings’ owner spent this past summer.
Lastly, it was truly a day of epic comebacks in the NFL. We’ve already discussed the finishes of the Redskins, Vikings and Cowboys, but there were others. After the Bears rallied furiously to take a 20-19 lead with a 11 seconds left in Atlanta, Matt Ryan, a very impressive rookie, threw a beautiful 30-yard pass to his receiver on the sideline with one second left. Jason Elam then nailed the 48 yard FG to give the Falcons a 22-20 win. In Houston, after Miami took a 28-23 lead with just under two minutes to play, Matt Schaub, helped by a great Andre Johnson catch on 4th down, took Houston down the field and ran the ball in from the 2 on 4th down. The Texans notched their 1st win of the season 29-28.
So, as week 6 winds down, I think we’ve learned a few things. While the NFC East is still the best division in football, anything can happen on any given Sunday and that’s exactly what happened today, and in the AFC, a few sleeping giants (Indy and SD) just might have awakened after stellar performances on their home turfs respectively.
