Just when you think things might be getting back to normal in the crazy world of NFL, along comes a week of action that makes you think ‘did that really just happen’.
I start my week three round up deep in the heart of New Jersey at the Meadowlands Stadium as the 0 -2 New York Giants played host to the 2 – 0 Houston Texans. If you have watched both of these teams this season you will know why they have the win / loss records they had going into this game.
The game started in the usual fashion for the Giants as they had six plays but only moved the ball 13 yards down the field and the Giants faithful were buckling up for what seemed to be a bumpy journey ahead. Enter Ryan Fitzpatrick the journeyman quarterback who is tasked with leading the Texans this year.
During his career Fitzpatrick has had many highs but since his last purple spell at Buffalo a few years ago which led to a 40 million dollar plus contract, he just has not been the same. It seems to me that when you pay the big bucks some people just switch off as they think there work is done. I am sure that is not the case here but it sure does seem that way at times.
Apologies as I digress a little there, back to the game, the Texans first drive went seven plays down the field before the eighth play which saw an interception by Prince Amukamara. Things looked to be turning in the Giants favour until Larry Donnell fumbled a pass at the Houston four yard line which was then taken back 24 yards by Johnathan Joseph.
Both teams kept each quiet on both sides of the ball until finally, late in the second quarter, Eli Manning found Victor Cruz on a 26 yard touchdown pass for the Giants. On the Texans next drive Ryan Fitzpatrick was intercepted again, this time by Antrel Rolle who managed to tack the ball back to the Texans two yard line. Rashad Jennings was then able to punch the ball into the endzone giving the Giants a 14 – 0 lead at half time.
In the second half the Giants managed to extend their lead to 17 – 0 before the Texans started what looked like a game tying comeback getting the score back to 17 – 10. It was to be however for the Texans as they kept shooting themselves in the foot which included a penalty on one of the most obscene one handed catches you will see all season. Check out the highlight of it by clicking the picture below:
As I was saying the Giants managed to hold out for a win in the end thanks to some good defence and Ryan Fitzpatrick turnovers. This game taught me two things, firstly do not right of the Giants until the season is through and secondly Ryan Fitzpatrick is no longer a starting quarterback for any playoff hopeful team!
Now we move onto another game which featured two NFC East teams and that is the contest between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
This game was a true divisional match up featuring great plays and dirty late hits that have no place in the game. As we have a lot to cover this week I shall just let you watch the highlights of this game by clicking the picture below, but what I will say is that it was great to see DeSean Jackson pull the dirty bird celebration in front of the fans that cheered him so much season and saw fit to boo him on his return:
Before we take a moment to look at all the scores from week three I would just like to finish off by talking about the Thursday night game in Atlanta between the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
A little background for our rookie readers now, the Buccaneers and Falcons both play in the same division, the NFC South. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers currently lead the series between the two teams 21 – 20 however Tampa has not won in the Georgia dome since the 2012 season finale.
This season Tampa Bay also has a new head coach in Lovie Smith who used to be in charge of the Chicago Bears before being axed by them in 2012. The games recently between the Falcons and the Buccaneers have generally been high scoring affairs and this game was no different.
Tampa sent the opening kick-off 64 yards to the Atlanta one yard line where it was caught by the electric Devin Hester who took in back 29 yards to the Atlanta 30 yard line. Now also for the rookie readers, why do I call Devin Hester an electric kick returner, well the answer is simple, Hester is in his ninth year in the league and he now stands alone as the record holder for most punt / kick-off returns for a touchdown (20). As it happens the record setting return came in this game against the Buccaneers and you can see the highlight by clicking on his picture below:
As you can see from the score at the bottom of that last video it was more of a night to remember for Hester than it was Tampa Bay and whilst it was indeed high scoring, Tampa were on the wrong end of a 56 – 14 score line.
Here are all of the scores from the week three action with the exception of the Monday Night game to be played later today between the Chicago Bears and New York Jets:
Denver 20 vs 26 Seattle
Tampa Bay 14 vs 56 Atlanta
San Diego 22 vs 10 Buffalo
Tennessee 7 vs 33 Cincinnati
Baltimore 23 vs 21 Cleveland
Green Bay 7 vs 19 Detroit
Indianapolis 44 vs 17 Jacksonville
Oakland 9 vs 16 New England
Minnesota 9 vs 20 New Orleans
Houston 17 vs 30 New York Giants
Washington 34 vs 37 Philadelphia
Dallas 34 vs 31 St Louis
San Francisco 14 vs 23 Arizona
Kansas City 34 vs 15 Miami
Pittsburgh 37 vs 19 Carolina
To be played Monday 22nd September 2014
Chicago vs New York Jets
Denver 20 vs 26 Seattle
Tampa Bay 14 vs 56 Atlanta
San Diego 22 vs 10 Buffalo
Tennessee 7 vs 33 Cincinnati
Baltimore 23 vs 21 Cleveland
Green Bay 7 vs 19 Detroit
Indianapolis 44 vs 17 Jacksonville
Oakland 9 vs 16 New England
Minnesota 9 vs 20 New Orleans
Houston 17 vs 30 New York Giants
Washington 34 vs 37 Philadelphia
Dallas 34 vs 31 St Louis
San Francisco 14 vs 23 Arizona
Kansas City 34 vs 15 Miami
Pittsburgh 37 vs 19 Carolina
To be played Monday 22nd September 2014
Chicago vs New York Jets
As you can tell this week has been geared a bit more towards our rookie readers so that it helps you understand more about the big players and coaches around the league before you listen to our weekly podcast ‘Spitball’ which will be available later in the week.
Also for our rookies, during the week some must see / listens are the following:
NFL.COM can’t miss plays - http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-cant-miss-plays
The Shek Report - http://www.nfl.com/videos/the-shek-report
Dave Dameshek Football Podcast -http://davedameshek.nfl.com/category/podcast/
Those little beauties should keep you busy along with our own podcast ‘Spitball’ as previously mentioned which you can get to via the top menu.
NFL.COM can’t miss plays - http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-cant-miss-plays
The Shek Report - http://www.nfl.com/videos/the-shek-report
Dave Dameshek Football Podcast -http://davedameshek.nfl.com/category/podcast/
Those little beauties should keep you busy along with our own podcast ‘Spitball’ as previously mentioned which you can get to via the top menu.
Finally we finish this week we some incredibly tragic news and that is the untimely death of Rob Bironas, the former kicker of the Tennessee Titans who died in a single car accident on Saturday night. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Bironas family including his wife Rachel Bradshaw.
In memory of Bironas, please click the picture below to see one of his highlights which shows that even kickers can tackle:
In memory of Bironas, please click the picture below to see one of his highlights which shows that even kickers can tackle:
Until next time football fans, stay safe, take care and ‘Thanks for Stopping By’.