Week Four in Review
By: Matt Harmon
San Francisco 49ers- 35 at St. Louis Rams- 11
Reviewing the Game:
Pittsburgh Steelers- 27 vs. Minnesota Vikings- 34
Reviewing the Game:
Baltimore Ravens- 20 at Buffalo Bills- 23
Reviewing the Game:
Cincinnati Bengals- 6 at Cleveland Browns- 17
Reviewing the Game:
Indianapolis Colts- 37 at Jacksonville Jaguars- 3
Reviewing the Game:
Seattle Seahawks (3-0) at Houston Texans (2-1)
Reviewing the Game:
Arizona Cardinals- 13 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers- 10
Reviewing the Game:
Chicago Bears- 32 at Detroit Lions- 40
Reviewing the Game:
New York Giants- 7 at Kansas City Chiefs- 31
Review of the Game:
New York Jets- 13 at Tennessee Titans- 38
Review of the Game:
Dallas Cowboys- 21 at San Diego Chargers- 30
Review of the Game:
Washington Redskins- 24 at Oakland Raiders- 14
Reviewing the Game:
Philadelphia Eagles- 20 at Denver Broncos- 52
Reviewing the Game:
New England Patriots- 30 at Atlanta Falcons- 23
Reviewing the Game:
Miami Dolphins- 17 at New Orleans Saints- 38
Reviewing the Game:
San Francisco 49ers- 35 at St. Louis Rams- 11
Reviewing the Game:
- The Rams, for the third straight week, showed their futility as the 49ers took control of this game and never relinquished that control. The 49ers got back to their roots by running the ball down the Rams’ throats with both Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter early and often. I am not ready to say the Niners are all the way back though; this game said more about how bad the Rams are than how good the 49ers are. If you spent anytime on Twitter during this game, you would have seen how just about everyone had something negative to say about quarterback, Sam Bradford. I never thought Bradford was a special prospect coming out of college, and he has simply not progressed at all since his rookie year. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer also took a lot of deserved heat. These two got a ton of help on the offensive line and at the skill positions, and yet they both seem incapable of elevating their production.
- Finnegan had another rough game trying to defend Boldin. Well, he one rough half, and then disappeared with what the team called a “thigh injury”. If you want my opinion, the team finally got fed up with their $50 million corner’s consistently poor play and sent him to the bench.
Pittsburgh Steelers- 27 vs. Minnesota Vikings- 34
Reviewing the Game:
- Despite their best offensive performance of the season, the Steelers lost the London matchup to the Vikings. Le’Veon Bell’s return certainly helped sustain a rushing attack and the passing game hit a few big plays, but it was ultimately the defense that let Pittsburgh down in this game. it was strange to see a Steelers team tackle so poorly, but that is exactly what transpired against Adrian Peterson and the Vikings. Another theme that is developing with this defense is their inability to garner turnovers, and that was especially shocking against a Matt Cassel led offense; which brings us to the Vikings. Cassel looked pretty competent as Christian Ponder’s replacement. He did not turn the ball over and actually got Greg Jennings involved on some big plays. He may have to be the quarterback going forward.
- Roethlisberger certainly threw for a ton of yards, and for the most part had a good game. However, on the last drive I tweeted out (@BackyardBanters) that the Steelers needed a vintage Big Ben game winning drive, and they almost got it. Once the team was in the red zone, Roethlisberger’s offensive line let him down, and he was strip-sacked to end the game. Ben is still great, but in this offense, and with this cast, he cannot take full advantage of these matchups.
Baltimore Ravens- 20 at Buffalo Bills- 23
Reviewing the Game:
- The take away for Baltimore is pretty simple in this game: they ran the ball all of nine times. Nine times people is not good enough when your passing game personnel is this bad. An old guy they singed off the couch, Dallas Clark, and a player who could not even make their final cuts, Tandon Doss, combined for eighteen targets. Those guys are bad players at this point, and you cannot win throwing them the ball that much. The Bills led throughout most of this game, but it was never so bad that the Ravens needed to completely abandon their running game and have Flacco throw fifty times; his five interceptions show what a poor idea that was. The Bills did just about the opposite as they ran the ball 55 times, and that was enough to overcome a number of mistakes by their rookie quarterback. The Bills are a better team than I thought, and they will be a tough out at home, but this game says more about who the Ravens are.
- Smith posted the huge game I knew he would with five catches for 166 yards and a score. He beat Rodgers for the touchdown and burned the equally overmatched, Aaron Williams, for a 74-yard reception. Smith is about the only good thing the Ravens have in their passing attack right now, and they need to find more ways to get him the ball instead of bums like Doss and the decrepit Dallas Clark.
Cincinnati Bengals- 6 at Cleveland Browns- 17
Reviewing the Game:
- The feel good story around the Browns continued for another week. In this game Brian Hoyer was not just solid he was pretty darn good. Hoyer is exactly the type of guy you want coming off the bench; he knows his two studs are Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron and he is not afraid to pull the trigger going to either of those guys. Hoyer should keep this job for the foreseeable future. Don’t look now, but on the back of an outstanding defense, the Browns are in first place in their division, so much for that tank job. For the Bengals, this story was al too familiar. Their defense does not allow too many points, but their quarterback let them down, and it al came down to my “Matchup to Watch” for this game…
- Stud corner, Joe Haden, had an absolute monstrous game as he blanketed A.J. Green all day long. Green is still an elite player, and got seven catches, but only averaged 7.3 yards per reception. Just as I predicted, Andy Dalton showed an inability to move the offense, or get his other weapons involved, when A.J. Green is limited. I know I harp on it all the time, but it is just so obvious Dalton is holding this team back, and at this point, he may even be a liability.
Indianapolis Colts- 37 at Jacksonville Jaguars- 3
Reviewing the Game:
- We do not have to spend too much time discussing this one. The Colts looked like a top ten team in dismantling their hopeless division rivals on the road. Andrew Luck and the offense mechanically moved up and down the field, and their defense was great against a poor offense. The only concern here was that Trent Richardson had yet another dull outing. The Jaguars are bad, and Blaine Gabbert is still the worst starting quarterback in the NFL. He spent al ay throwing interceptions and being scared in the pocket. The coaches say they will stick with him, but he’s certainly not going to get any better.
- Fleener finally had himself a nice outing with five catches for 77 yards and a 31-yard touchdown. Fleener has all the athleticism and size in the world, and now he just needs to do this against better teams.
Seattle Seahawks (3-0) at Houston Texans (2-1)
Reviewing the Game:
- The whole media world was ready to post about how the Seahawks are not an elite team because they are not the same team on the road after the Texans physically dominated them on Sunday, myself included. However, despite being up 20-3, Houston squandered the lead mostly because of two turnovers by their offense. Ben Tate fumbled the ball, but the more egregious error was a terrible pick-six that Matt Schaub tossed up to Richard Sherman on one of the worst play call/throw combination I have ever seen since I began watching football. That mistake took the game to overtime and the always clutch Russell Wilson did the rest. It is unfortunate that an inexcusable error by Houston’s quarterback and head coach spoiled a completely dominating effort by the Texans defense. J.J. Watt and company completely man handled a Seahawks offense that had three starters missing on the line.
- While we are bashing the Texans offense, this matchup provides us an opportunity to continue to do so. For the past few years we have seen the Texans and Matt Schuab rely too heavily on just Andre Johnson and Arian Foster, but for most of this season they had gotten out of that habit. However, if you look at the stat line, you can see they reverted to their old ways in this game. Consequently, DeAndre Hopkins only posted two catches for a mere 27 yards.
Arizona Cardinals- 13 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers- 10
Reviewing the Game:
- This game certainly was no dogfight between two strong teams. The Cardinals offense looked like they wanted no part in winning this game, as Carson Palmer was under siege all day and made his fair share of poor throws. Rashard Mendenhall also looked as mediocre as ever and fumbled the ball out of bounds to stop the clock when his team was trying to ice the game. Despite a solid first few drives, Mike Glennon just played too poorly to give his team a chance to win in the end. A fifty five percent completion percentage and two interceptions show he is not an improvement on Josh Freeman at this point. In a stellar matchup between two former Pitt Panthers, Larry Fitzgerald got the better of Revis to secure the game tying score, but Revis held his own as the Bucs let him shadow a number one wideout for the first time all year.
- In predictable fashion the Cardinals focused on shutting down Martin in order to make Glennon try to beat them. The Bucs tried their hardest to get him going by giving him 27 carries, but Dansby (led the team with nine tackles) and company kept him in check with only 45 yards.
Chicago Bears- 32 at Detroit Lions- 40
Reviewing the Game:
- Don’t let the final score fool you. The Lions had complete control of this game from the beginning, and never let up. Too often this Bears offense looked like the one from last year as the Lions on the back of Ndamukong Suh abused the offensive line and forced Jay Cutler into a ton of bad decisions. The shocking difference was that the Bears defense just looked plain bad and they could not garner any turnovers. The Lions continue to look like a reborn team with Reggie Bush on the field. He is simply having an amazing season that is reminiscent of his USC days. This was a step back for the Bears, but we may just look back at this game later in the season as the one where we started to consider the Lions a contending team.
- Here’s what I said in my preview “I would not be surprised if we see him use his size to grab a few balls over Slay”. Well, if you watch Jeffery’s touchdown catch from this game you would have seen him do exactly that. Jeffery also had an impressive 44-yard grad in between Glover Quinn and Chris Houston, and finished with five catches for 107 yards and the score. Unfortunately, none of this helped the Bears win.
New York Giants- 7 at Kansas City Chiefs- 31
Review of the Game:
- It was another week, another ugly performance by the Giants. You could legitimately make the argument that no one on this team is playing well except Victor Cruz who posted an impressive ten catches for 164 yards and a long score. Eli Manning had another turnover filled game and the defense was once again an embarrassment. Even the special teams decided to get in on the fun, allowing an 89-yard punt return touchdown to Dexter McCluster. The Chiefs are 4-0 and continue to play great defense. At least today tough they had a nice outing passing the ball as three pass catchers went over fifty yards and had touchdowns.
- Eli Manning once again had no time to throw in the pocket, though Houston did not have any sacks he was still a problem for Beatty. It was Tamba Hali on the other side who collected two sacks and abused rookie right tackle, Justin Pugh, all afternoon. Pass protection is just one of the many problems for the dreadful Giants right now.
New York Jets- 13 at Tennessee Titans- 38
Review of the Game:
- Despite a fine win over a division rival last week, the Jets came crashing back to Earth against the Titans. This week the offense was a complete train wreck, mostly because of Geno Smith’s four turnovers. The thing to remember here is that if you are measuring him by the pre-2012 rookie quarterback standard, Smith is playing at the level we basically used to assume was normal for a rookie. He has is flashes, but still makes too many ill-timed mistakes. What really stinks for the Titans is that Jake Locker had to be carted off with an injury late in this game, what was probably the best of his young career. This injury is the latest stall for Locker’s progress, and you have to wonder how this hurts the Titans going forward.
- After exploding back onto the scene last week, Holmes was totally kept in check in this game with just one catch on the day. McCourty and fellow starter Alterraun Verner, who snagged two interceptions, have greatly improved their level of play this year.
Dallas Cowboys- 21 at San Diego Chargers- 30
Review of the Game:
- The Cowboys seemed to have a commanding lead late in this game, but in typical Cowboys fashion they could not hold things together long enough to win. Their offense is just not the same sort of machine when DeMarco Murray does not have an elite day running the ball, but this unit still had a largely productive day. On the defensive side they should never allowed Phillip Rivers to pass for 401 yards and that is what sealed the deal. Starting cornerback Morris Claiborne looks like a bust. For the Chargers, Phillip Rivers had another outstanding day, aside from one interception where he was hit late. It has not been discussed enough, but outside of Peyton Manning, he may be having the best season of any quarterback out there. Rivers is also getting a ton of production out of a group of pass catchers most people did not even believe in.
- Selvie had another sack today, and that brought his season total to three. Guess who he beat for that sack too…
Washington Redskins- 24 at Oakland Raiders- 14
Reviewing the Game:
- I would not get too excited about this game if I were a Redskins fan, because Matt Flynn is a terrible quarterback. Seriously, about anything you saw from the Redskins defense this week should be thrown in the trash, as the Raiders were without Terrelle Pryor, Darren McFadden, and Marcel Reese for all or most of this game. It should be noted just how well Pryor has been playing, because the Raiders looked like the potential 0-16 team from the preseason with Flynn behind center.
- Garcon came away with six catches for 59 yards and a short touchdown. He was not lined up much against Mike Jenkins, but the few times he was, he often got the better of him.
Philadelphia Eagles- 20 at Denver Broncos- 52
Reviewing the Game:
- Despite some thought that this could be a shootout, the talent level of these teams just aren’t close, and Denver broke the game open in the second half as they always do. The Eagles offense never found a real rhythm, and could not convert enough scoring opportunities to keep pace with the Broncos. The Eagles defense is terrible, and their offense is not living up to the hype. What more is there to say about the Broncos? Obviously Manning and his receivers are terrific, but this team can beat you in any way. Knowshon Moreno is running the ball well, their defense is playing terrific football (while missing their two best players), and Trindon Holiday seems good for a kick return score every other week.
- Once this game got out of hand, the Broncos were able to take the running attack out of the game, and McCoy finished with sixteen carries for 73 yards and a single catch for twenty-one more. My problem is that the Eagles ran the ball thirty-five times and McCoy received just over half of those. I understand you need to keep him fresh, but if your best player is not getting the ball enough, you will not beat this Broncos team.
New England Patriots- 30 at Atlanta Falcons- 23
Reviewing the Game:
- I was wrong; these teams are not evenly matched. Atlanta made things interesting at the end, but they showed most of the evening that they were too beat up and too thin to compete with a top ten team. Atlanta just does not look like they can be a playoff team right now. Something else I was wrong about, Tony Gonzalez is not done. Sure the separation from defenders is not always there, but he can still make incredible contested catches. The first three weeks were like his preseason, now he is ready to go. What is scary about the Patriots is that they are 4-0 but their best football is probably still ahead of them. We are seeing Kenbrell Thompkins getting comfortable after a great game Sunday night, and they will be getting Gronk and Amendola back soon. The only problem is the injury to Vince Wilfork. Look for a Rapid Reactions segment about that soon.
- As I mentioned in the picks, Bill Belichick prioritizes taking away the thing you do best on offense. Despite a nice stat line (six catches for 108 yards) Jones spent most of the day making little impact. In fact, a large chunk of his yardage came on one, late 49-yard reception. Everyone wants to credit Aqib Talib for shutting Jones down alone, and he was fantastic, but we have to remember most of the time Jones was shadowed over the top by, and even lined up opposite of, safety, Devin McCourty.
Miami Dolphins- 17 at New Orleans Saints- 38
Reviewing the Game:
- No one should kill the Dolphins for the loss. The Saints are a superior team and, along with Seattle and Denver, have one of the strongest home field advantages in the league. The Dolphins defense looked overmatched trying to cover clear mismatches Darren Sproles, and Jimmy Graham. Their defense is pretty good all around, and it is hard to kill them for getting burned by players everyone in the league struggles to defend. Drew Brees might be running the most impressive offense with the best weapons in the league this side of Denver. With this defense looking pretty ferocious, they have a case as the second best team in the NFC.
- One thing we can certainly take away from this game on the Dolphins side of things is that their pass protection is a clear liability. Cameron Jordan completely abused Tyson Clabo on his sack, and edge rushers like Junior Galette and Martez Wilson took turns making Jonathan Martin look silly. This looks to be a problem that will hold Miami back all season.