Football,f1 motorsports,NBA,Premier League

It’s hard not to think that the Giants are the worst team in the NFC East after their most recent performance against the Colts. They were thoroughly dominated in all facets of the game. Their offense was inept and their defense, although they had some moments, simply could not stop Andrew Luck, who by the third quarter had four touchdowns and over 350 yards. Granted, Prince Amukamara was injured early in the game and might be gone for the rest of the season with a torn biceps.

On a night where Giants fans were exuberant for the Hall of Fame ring ceremony for Michael Strahan, the home side did absolutely nothing to take advantage of a crowd that was revved up during pre-game.

This was not a particularly pretty game. The Colts dominated, but they looked rather pedestrian on offense at times. Andrew Luck completed 54 percent of his passes and misfired on a lot of throws. His offensive line (particularly his center and guards) also blew multiple blitz pickups  (the Giants blitzed Luck 29 times, but he had an amazing 81.6 QBR against pressure. Manning saw 31 pressures and had an awful QBR of 29). But, when pressured, as Luck usual was, he was terrific. Eli Manning, was not.

Here’s ESPN’s breakdown of quarterbacks against the blitz on Monday. 

Both teams were terrible on third downs The Giants were three for 13, while the Colts were five for 15. The GMen only averaged 3.6 yards per carry only because Peyton Hillis and Michael Cox combined for three carries and 33 yards. One of the telling plays was Coby Fleener catching a 21 yard pass from Luck where it appeared he did not complete the process of the catch, as the ball was moving as he headed to the ground. The side judge called it a catch but it was surely subject for a review. Tom Coughlin had a hard time getting the challenge flag out of his sock (I kid you not), so consequently, Andrew Luck quick-snapped and threw a beautiful 32 yard touchdown to Fleener. The rest was history. The Giants never recovered.

The Colts had their way not only because they were the better team, but they completely out-coached the lifeless Giants. The only players to show up for the Giants and have meaningful games were Robert Ayers Jr. and Odell Beckham Jr. Ayers was a beast with six quarterback hits on Manning. Unfortunately, he could not get a sack and Luck burned him and the Giants because of that. Beckham, continues to show that he will be an absolute star in the league. He finished with seven catches for 147 yards.

Here are the three things we learned from the Colts-Giants matchup.

1. Ben McAdoo’s play-calling is atrocious

There was much excite for McAdoo coming from a great offense in Green Bay. Having been the quarterback coach for Aaron Rodgers, it was only fair to assume he would ‘fix’ Eli Manning and the sputtering Giants offense. Those aspirations were dumbfounded and have completely disappeared. McAdoo continued to go to the run with very little success, against the Colts, just like he did two weeks ago against Dallas. The Giants had little success running the football and even less on first and second down, where McAdoo often ran useless back-to-back inside runs with the plodding Andre Williams. It meant situations where they consistently had to deal with third and long situations. Manning had a nice statistical game only due to the soft zones the Colts were playing as it was garbage time. The Colts took out most of their defensive starters in the middle of the fourth quarter.  For the first three quarters, there was no rhythm nor continuity with this sputtering offense.

Manning also had a hard time hitting his targets. According to ESPN Stats Inc., Manning overthrew his intended receiver 11 times. Poor accuracy has continued to plague him and today, he was not bailed out by his receiver.

Jon Gruden also alluded many times that the Colts were playing their typical press-man coverage on the Giants receivers. McAdoo rarely called plays with motion or movement for his receivers, nor did he call for any bunch or trips formations, plays that gave the Colts numerous problems last week as Ben Roethlisberger destroyed their passing defense.

He also continued to put Preston Parker into the game, who could not connect whatsoever with Eli Manning dropping passes and running the wrong routes. McAdoo failed to use Larry Donnell properly except for his late touchdown where he was split out wide against , in any one-on-one situations. The Colts have struggled at times against tight ends this season and Donnell should have been used more out wide to create mismatches.

McAdoo and the Giants are privy to enough data to realize that Eli Manning has been awful on deep throws, as he’s only completed four of 26 passes that travel 20 or more yards in the air. That is atrocious and yet, they went 0 for 7 in the game and continued to try and fire deep. Manning has been terrible over the last two seasons on deep throws. Time to stop dialing them up.

McAdoo looks in over his head as a first-year offensive coordinator for the Giants. Eli Manning has not progressed well and the Giants offense has still not clicked consistently. It is starting to look like Aaron Rodgers is the cure to the supposed “mastery” that McAdoo possessed.

2. Vontae Davis has been a top-flight corner this season

Vontae Davis has had his best season as a pro  and should be considered among the best corners in the league. Pro Football Focus has Davis with a quarterback rating against of 37 on passes intended to him.  

NFL Media’s Jeff Darlington tweeted this during the game: “Davis has been targeted 33 times, allowing 15 catches. 45.5 percent of passes caught — that’s 3rd best in NFL.”Those are elite level numbers from a corner who was always on the cusp of becoming a top-flight player, but never has been able to completely put it together until this season.

He is a pure pressing corner who you can leave on an island. With the loss of Robert Mathis, the Colts have relied on Davis to provide the type of coverage that can mask a team not having an elite pass rush. They are also blitzing more this season having They are also blitzing more this season having done so on 39.1% of opponent dropbacks this season.

He was not shadowing one particular player, but any receiver that was on the left side of the formation had their hands full with Davis. Odell Beckham Jr. had the best game of any Giants wide receiver and his big gain of 59 yards and subsequent catches of 11 and 14 yards were against Greg Toler. We saw how badly the Steelers dismantled the Colts pass defense last week as Davis was taken out of the game due to injury. Against the Giants, the Colts proved that their pass defense can be dominant.

3. The Giants are out of the NFC East Race and virtually done from playoff contention

Since 1990, only seven of 135 teams that have started 3-5 ended up making the playoffs. This year, the Giants have already lost games to the Eagles and Cowboys and are 3-5. In contrast, the Eagles are 6-2 and the Cowboys are 6-3.

Barring an epic collapse, the Giants have no chance at winning the NFC East and a Wild Card spot is virtually an impossible task with teams like the Seahawks, Lions and the 2nd place NFC East team vying for two Wildcard spots. They have lost the likes of Victor Cruz, Prince Amukamara and Jon Beason for the season. Players such as Jason Pierre-Paul have not stepped up in areas where the Giants have needed them, most notably in the pass rush.

Their next eight games are: @Seattle, vs. San Francisco, vs. Dallas, @Jacksonville (who can pressure the quarterback), @Tennessee, vs. Washington, @St.Louis, vs.Philadelphia.

At best that is a 5-3 record and they would finish 8-8. Remember how the Cardinals at 11-5 did not make the playoffs last year. There is no way this Giants team is going 8-0 or even 7-1 in the next eight contests.

The Giants have not cleaned up their poor running game and sputtering passing offense and injuries have done them in as well. Looking at the playoffs contenders at this moment, what exactly can pundits say the Giants do well or close to better than any other team? Dallas and Philadelphia run the ball very well. Arizona blitzes the crap out of teams and stop the run like gangbusters. The Lions rush the passer like no tomorrow and the Packers and Seahawks (who they play next week) have elite quarterbacks. The Giants should worry soon about getting more of their young players work as their season is virtually done.

It’s hard not to think that the Giants are the worst team in the NFC East after their most recent performance against the Colts. They were thoroughly dominated in all facets of the game. Their offense was inept and their defense, although they had some moments, simply could not stop Andrew Luck, who by the third quarter had four touchdowns and over 350 yards. Granted, Prince Amukamara was injured early in the game and might be gone for the rest of the season with a torn biceps.

On a night where Giants fans were exuberant for the Hall of Fame ring ceremony for Michael Strahan, the home side did absolutely nothing to take advantage of a crowd that was revved up during pre-game.

This was not a particularly pretty game. The Colts dominated, but they looked rather pedestrian on offense at times. Andrew Luck completed 54 percent of his passes and misfired on a lot of throws. His offensive line (particularly his center and guards) also blew multiple blitz pickups  (the Giants blitzed Luck 29 times, but he had an amazing 81.6 QBR against pressure. Manning saw 31 pressures and had an awful QBR of 29). But, when pressured, as Luck usual was, he was terrific. Eli Manning, was not.

Here’s ESPN’s breakdown of quarterbacks against the blitz on Monday. 

Both teams were terrible on third downs The Giants were three for 13, while the Colts were five for 15. The GMen only averaged 3.6 yards per carry only because Peyton Hillis and Michael Cox combined for three carries and 33 yards. One of the telling plays was Coby Fleener catching a 21 yard pass from Luck where it appeared he did not complete the process of the catch, as the ball was moving as he headed to the ground. The side judge called it a catch but it was surely subject for a review. Tom Coughlin had a hard time getting the challenge flag out of his sock (I kid you not), so consequently, Andrew Luck quick-snapped and threw a beautiful 32 yard touchdown to Fleener. The rest was history. The Giants never recovered.

The Colts had their way not only because they were the better team, but they completely out-coached the lifeless Giants. The only players to show up for the Giants and have meaningful games were Robert Ayers Jr. and Odell Beckham Jr. Ayers was a beast with six quarterback hits on Manning. Unfortunately, he could not get a sack and Luck burned him and the Giants because of that. Beckham, continues to show that he will be an absolute star in the league. He finished with seven catches for 147 yards.

Here are the three things we learned from the Colts-Giants matchup.

1. Ben McAdoo’s play-calling is atrocious

There was much excite for McAdoo coming from a great offense in Green Bay. Having been the quarterback coach for Aaron Rodgers, it was only fair to assume he would ‘fix’ Eli Manning and the sputtering Giants offense. Those aspirations were dumbfounded and have completely disappeared. McAdoo continued to go to the run with very little success, against the Colts, just like he did two weeks ago against Dallas. The Giants had little success running the football and even less on first and second down, where McAdoo often ran useless back-to-back inside runs with the plodding Andre Williams. It meant situations where they consistently had to deal with third and long situations. Manning had a nice statistical game only due to the soft zones the Colts were playing as it was garbage time. The Colts took out most of their defensive starters in the middle of the fourth quarter.  For the first three quarters, there was no rhythm nor continuity with this sputtering offense.

Manning also had a hard time hitting his targets. According to ESPN Stats Inc., Manning overthrew his intended receiver 11 times. Poor accuracy has continued to plague him and today, he was not bailed out by his receiver.

Jon Gruden also alluded many times that the Colts were playing their typical press-man coverage on the Giants receivers. McAdoo rarely called plays with motion or movement for his receivers, nor did he call for any bunch or trips formations, plays that gave the Colts numerous problems last week as Ben Roethlisberger destroyed their passing defense.

He also continued to put Preston Parker into the game, who could not connect whatsoever with Eli Manning dropping passes and running the wrong routes. McAdoo failed to use Larry Donnell properly except for his late touchdown where he was split out wide against , in any one-on-one situations. The Colts have struggled at times against tight ends this season and Donnell should have been used more out wide to create mismatches.

McAdoo and the Giants are privy to enough data to realize that Eli Manning has been awful on deep throws, as he’s only completed four of 26 passes that travel 20 or more yards in the air. That is atrocious and yet, they went 0 for 7 in the game and continued to try and fire deep. Manning has been terrible over the last two seasons on deep throws. Time to stop dialing them up.

McAdoo looks in over his head as a first-year offensive coordinator for the Giants. Eli Manning has not progressed well and the Giants offense has still not clicked consistently. It is starting to look like Aaron Rodgers is the cure to the supposed “mastery” that McAdoo possessed.

2. Vontae Davis has been a top-flight corner this season

Vontae Davis has had his best season as a pro  and should be considered among the best corners in the league. Pro Football Focus has Davis with a quarterback rating against of 37 on passes intended to him.  

NFL Media’s Jeff Darlington tweeted this during the game: “Davis has been targeted 33 times, allowing 15 catches. 45.5 percent of passes caught — that’s 3rd best in NFL.”Those are elite level numbers from a corner who was always on the cusp of becoming a top-flight player, but never has been able to completely put it together until this season.

He is a pure pressing corner who you can leave on an island. With the loss of Robert Mathis, the Colts have relied on Davis to provide the type of coverage that can mask a team not having an elite pass rush. They are also blitzing more this season having They are also blitzing more this season having done so on 39.1% of opponent dropbacks this season.

He was not shadowing one particular player, but any receiver that was on the left side of the formation had their hands full with Davis. Odell Beckham Jr. had the best game of any Giants wide receiver and his big gain of 59 yards and subsequent catches of 11 and 14 yards were against Greg Toler. We saw how badly the Steelers dismantled the Colts pass defense last week as Davis was taken out of the game due to injury. Against the Giants, the Colts proved that their pass defense can be dominant.

3. The Giants are out of the NFC East Race and virtually done from playoff contention

Since 1990, only seven of 135 teams that have started 3-5 ended up making the playoffs. This year, the Giants have already lost games to the Eagles and Cowboys and are 3-5. In contrast, the Eagles are 6-2 and the Cowboys are 6-3.

Barring an epic collapse, the Giants have no chance at winning the NFC East and a Wild Card spot is virtually an impossible task with teams like the Seahawks, Lions and the 2nd place NFC East team vying for two Wildcard spots. They have lost the likes of Victor Cruz, Prince Amukamara and Jon Beason for the season. Players such as Jason Pierre-Paul have not stepped up in areas where the Giants have needed them, most notably in the pass rush.

Their next eight games are: @Seattle, vs. San Francisco, vs. Dallas, @Jacksonville (who can pressure the quarterback), @Tennessee, vs. Washington, @St.Louis, vs.Philadelphia.

At best that is a 5-3 record and they would finish 8-8. Remember how the Cardinals at 11-5 did not make the playoffs last year. There is no way this Giants team is going 8-0 or even 7-1 in the next eight contests.

The Giants have not cleaned up their poor running game and sputtering passing offense and injuries have done them in as well. Looking at the playoffs contenders at this moment, what exactly can pundits say the Giants do well or close to better than any other team? Dallas and Philadelphia run the ball very well. Arizona blitzes the crap out of teams and stop the run like gangbusters. The Lions rush the passer like no tomorrow and the Packers and Seahawks (who they play next week) have elite quarterbacks. The Giants should worry soon about getting more of their young players work as their season is virtually done.

Even though The 49ers were able to beat The Rams two weeks ago in a great rallying comeback, due to an off night for some key 49ers players, mixed with a great Rams defense and one bad fumble, The Rams came away with the win 13-10. The following are three things we learned from tonight's game.

1. Phil Dawson's missed field goal

With only seconds to go before the half, Dawson, who had already made a field goal earlier in the game, missed a crucial field goal just before the half from the 37 yard line. Phil Dawson, the veteran kicker was one of a few vital 49ers players who were having an off night.

2. The Rams Defense

Among the list of great defensive plays by the Rams tonight. #55 James Laurinaitis was not only able to sack Kaepernick, but also got the last posession of the ball by recovering Kaepernick's fumble. The defense was able to get a total of 8 sacks on Kaepernick tonight, and only allowed one touchdown and one field goal.

3. Colin Kaepernick Fumbles

Colin Kaepernick clearly had an off night as well. Among having a passing rating of 22/33 and rushing only 14 yards, Kaepernick also fumbled the ball three times. The last fumble being the most crucial, with only seconds left in the game, and the 49ers down by only a field goal. Last year alone Kaepernick only had 3 fumbles, and he rushed for an average of 32.8 yards a game. This was clearly not Kaepernick's night.

The Rams and the 49ers now both move on 4-5.

The Minnesota Vikings used some late-game heroics again Sunday, defeating the Washington Redskins 29-26. After trailing 10-0 late in the first half, a Captain Munerlyn interception turned the tide for Minnesota, allowing the Vikings to get on the board going into the locker room. For the third time in his career, running back Matt Asiata found the endzone three times in a single game for the Vikings. With Robert Griffin III returning to action, Jay Gruden's team showed flashes on offense, but inconsistency derailed Washington's hopes for back-to-back road victories.

Here are three things we learned from Sunday's game. 

THE PURPLE PEOPLE EATERS ARE BACK

Minnesota's historic defensive line of the 1960's and 1970's was a force to be reckoned with. Mike Zimmer's current group of defensive linemen is doing a wonderful job of carrying the torch for the Vikings this year. After collecting five in Sunday's game, Minnesota now leads the league with 30 total sacks. NFC Defensive Player of the Month for October Everson Griffen is leading the charge with nine sacks. Griffen is proving to be money well spent for general manager Rick Spielman after signing a $42.5 million contract, with $20 million guaranteed over five seasons. After a disappointing rookie season, Sharrif Floyd has stepped up his performance, helping Minnesota's defense improve to number nine overall in the NFL. 

The Vikings' defense registered three sacks on three consecutive plays for the first time since 2003 against Arizona.

TEDDY BRIDGEWATER IS GETTING BETTER

After struggling mightily against Buffalo, Minnesota's young quarterback has put together quiet-yet-dependable performances the last two weeks. Bridgewater still struggles throwing the deep ball, but the rookie doesn't let those mistakes bother him, as he is able to keep his composure in the pocket and not suffer from getting too high or too low. After missing a wide open Greg Jennings and Cordarelle Patterson early, Bridgewater kept it together and led the Vikings down the field late in the first half following a Washington interception. Teddy finished the game 26-42 for 268 yards and a touchdown, and perhaps more importantly, zero turnovers. While the rookie needs to work on the timing and accuracy of his deep passes, Bridgewater's mental capacity appears to be untapped just a handful of starts into his career. 

DESEAN JACKSON IS THE BEST DEEP THREAT IN THE NFL

With the return of RGIII, Desean Jackson benefitted greatly Sunday, hauling in four receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown. The often volatile receiver has been impressive this season, topping 100 yards in five of Washington's games this season. Jackson averaged 30 yards per catch for the third time this season, and his speed is unmatched by most wide receivers in the league. With nine receptions of 40-plus yards this season, Jackson is the first Redskins player to reach that accomplishment since Santana Moss in 2005. Desean is the clear leader in the clubhouse for yards per catch, averaging a remarkable 21.8 yards per catch, the only receiver in the NFL above 20 yards. 

Minnesota and Washington both get a bye week in week 10. The Vikings will visit Chicago when they get back to action, a game the Vikings will need to win in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Redskins will host Tampa Bay in two weeks. Currently trailing division leader Philadelphia by 3.5 games, Washington's slim playoff hopes are hanging by a thread as the season hits the halfway point.

Yesterday's matchup featured two of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. Playing against one another for the 16th time, the game was largely one-sided. In control from essentially the very beginning, the Patriots defeated the Broncos 43-21 yesterday night.

Much like the game against the Bears, the Patriots outplayed the Broncos in practically every phase of the game. Just like in last year's regular season showdown, Tom Brady out-dueled Peyton Manning. Brady had 4 passing touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and a passer rating of 97.4; Manning, on the other hand, had a passer rating of just 80.9, along with 2 passing touchdowns and 2 interceptions. While Manning did accumulate 438 passing yards in this game, many of those yards came when the game was largely out of hand. The Broncos offense was limited to just 21 points in the game, and their run game was practically non-existent. One of the main surprises from the game was that the Patriots were able to largely shut down the Broncos' star tight end Julius Thomas, as he was limited to just 2 receptions for 33 yards and a touchdown. 

The Patriots head into their bye week on an extremely high note, as their offense has averaged more than 40 points over the past 5 games. The schedule after the bye doesn't get any easier, though, as the Patriots face six teams with winning records in their seven remaining games of the regular season (Colts, Packers, Lions, Chargers, Bills, and Dolphins). Nevertheless, their victory against the Broncos was a statement win for a team that many people had lost confidence in through the first four weeks of the regular season. 

Here are the main studs and duds from Sunday's game: 

STUDS:

1. Tom Brady 

The Patriots quarterback put together his fifth straight great performance. In addition to throwing 4 passing touchdowns and having a passer rating of 97.4, Brady had 333 passing yards and completed passes to 6 different receivers. The future Hall of Famer has been fantastic for the past five weeks, having thrown 18 touchdowns and just 1 interception in that span. 

2. Julian Edelman 

While he was his usual dominant self in the passing game (he finished the game with 9 receptions for 89 yards and 1 touchdown), his contributions as a punt returner made his performance even greater. His 84-yard punt return for a touchdown occurred roughly midway through the second quarter, and proved to be a major game-changer for the Patriots. It was Edelman's fourth punt return for a touchdown since he became a Patriot. 

3. Rob Gronkowski 

Gronkowski's performance in this game brought back many memories of the 2011 regular season, where the tight end was practically unstoppable. He was often too much for Broncos defenders to handle, as even star linebacker Von Miller couldn't prevent him from scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Right before that play, Gronkowski made a phenomenal one-handed catch with several Broncos defenders around him. This game was clear proof that when Gronkowski is fully healthy, the Patriots offense is extremely hard to defend. 

4. Patrick Chung 

Initially thought to serve as safety depth and contribute on special teams, Chung has surprisingly played very well for the Patriots so far this season. His strong season continued yesterday night, as he had 3 pass deflections and surrendered just four completions on 9 pass attempts for 52 yards and one touchdown (according to Pro Football Focus). Chung was also awarded a grade of +4.9 by Pro Football Focus. 

5. Run Defense 

Heading into this game, stopping the run had been a major issue for the Patriots defense. However, the run defense was fantastic versus Denver, as they limited the Broncos to just 43 rushing yards on 17 carries and a touchdown. 

6. Rob Ninkovich 

Once again showing his knack for big plays in big moments, Ninkovich intercepted an errant throw from Peyton Manning in the first half that proved to be a big momentum-changer. Showing great awareness on that play, Ninkovich's interception provided the Patriots' offense with a short field to work with, and they ended up scoring a touchdown just five plays later. 

DUDS: 

1. Running Game

Much like the Broncos' running game, the Patriots' running game was largely non-existent yesterday. While a lot of credit should go to the Broncos' stingy run defense, the Patriots' running still looked very flat, as the unit only mustered 66 rushing yards on 25 carries.  

2. Penalties 

A theme far too common in the first few games of this season, the Patriots committed an astounding 9 penalties in this game (3 of which came from cornerback Brandon Browner alone). The Patriots need to fix this issue during their bye week before they undergo the final stretch of the regular season. 

The New York Jets traveled to Arrowhead Stadium to play the Kansas City Chiefs.  No one expected the current incarnation of the Jets to win.  Expectations were met.  And still there were lessons to be learned.  Here are three things we learned  from the game.

3. The New York Jets front line got outplayed by the Kansas City Chiefs front seven

While the Jets season is in a tailspin, the bright spot was the defense, specifically the front seven.  Were they overrated, too much optimism? 

But at the end of the game it was the Chiefs' defense that was the bright shining spot.  Specifically linebacker Justin Houston.  Houston completed the game with four tackles.  More importantly, he also had two sacks.  Both sacks came at the expense of the elusive Michael Vick.  Those two sacks bring Houston's season total to 12 sacks.

2. There was an Eric Decker sighting

Was it the change of quarterback?  Decker was targeted 12 times.  He caught nine passes for 63 yards and one touchdown.  That's one more touchdown than he had in the last two weeks.  That was one less target than Percy Harvin.  It isn't gang-busters, but it is a start. 

1. Michael Vick is a viable option

When Michael Vick's head bounced off the ground in the fourth quarter, Jets nation whispered "I told you so".  But then after going through the NFL's concussion protocal, Vick returned.  He not only returned but he has been named the starter for next week's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

In the game Vick passes for 196 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions.  Yea, he is the better option.  Now if he can only stay healthy.

Follow me on Twitter@ neverenoughglt

It’s hard not to think that the Giants are the worst team in the NFC East after their most recent performance against the Colts. They were thoroughly dominated in all facets of the game. Their offense was inept and their defense, although they had some moments, simply could not stop Andrew Luck, who by the third quarter had four touchdowns and over 350 yards. Granted, Prince Amukamara was injured early in the game and might be gone for the rest of the season with a torn biceps.

On a night where Giants fans were exuberant for the Hall of Fame ring ceremony for Michael Strahan, the home side did absolutely nothing to take advantage of a crowd that was revved up during pre-game.

This was not a particularly pretty game. The Colts dominated, but they looked rather pedestrian on offense at times. Andrew Luck completed 54 percent of his passes and misfired on a lot of throws. His offensive line (particularly his center and guards) also blew multiple blitz pickups  (the Giants blitzed Luck 29 times, but he had an amazing 81.6 QBR against pressure. Manning saw 31 pressures and had an awful QBR of 29). But, when pressured, as Luck usual was, he was terrific. Eli Manning, was not.

Here’s ESPN’s breakdown of quarterbacks against the blitz on Monday. 

Both teams were terrible on third downs The Giants were three for 13, while the Colts were five for 15. The GMen only averaged 3.6 yards per carry only because Peyton Hillis and Michael Cox combined for three carries and 33 yards. One of the telling plays was Coby Fleener catching a 21 yard pass from Luck where it appeared he did not complete the process of the catch, as the ball was moving as he headed to the ground. The side judge called it a catch but it was surely subject for a review. Tom Coughlin had a hard time getting the challenge flag out of his sock (I kid you not), so consequently, Andrew Luck quick-snapped and threw a beautiful 32 yard touchdown to Fleener. The rest was history. The Giants never recovered.

The Colts had their way not only because they were the better team, but they completely out-coached the lifeless Giants. The only players to show up for the Giants and have meaningful games were Robert Ayers Jr. and Odell Beckham Jr. Ayers was a beast with six quarterback hits on Manning. Unfortunately, he could not get a sack and Luck burned him and the Giants because of that. Beckham, continues to show that he will be an absolute star in the league. He finished with seven catches for 147 yards.

Here are the three things we learned from the Colts-Giants matchup.

1. Ben McAdoo’s play-calling is atrocious

There was much excite for McAdoo coming from a great offense in Green Bay. Having been the quarterback coach for Aaron Rodgers, it was only fair to assume he would ‘fix’ Eli Manning and the sputtering Giants offense. Those aspirations were dumbfounded and have completely disappeared. McAdoo continued to go to the run with very little success, against the Colts, just like he did two weeks ago against Dallas. The Giants had little success running the football and even less on first and second down, where McAdoo often ran useless back-to-back inside runs with the plodding Andre Williams. It meant situations where they consistently had to deal with third and long situations. Manning had a nice statistical game only due to the soft zones the Colts were playing as it was garbage time. The Colts took out most of their defensive starters in the middle of the fourth quarter.  For the first three quarters, there was no rhythm nor continuity with this sputtering offense.

Manning also had a hard time hitting his targets. According to ESPN Stats Inc., Manning overthrew his intended receiver 11 times. Poor accuracy has continued to plague him and today, he was not bailed out by his receiver.

Jon Gruden also alluded many times that the Colts were playing their typical press-man coverage on the Giants receivers. McAdoo rarely called plays with motion or movement for his receivers, nor did he call for any bunch or trips formations, plays that gave the Colts numerous problems last week as Ben Roethlisberger destroyed their passing defense.

He also continued to put Preston Parker into the game, who could not connect whatsoever with Eli Manning dropping passes and running the wrong routes. McAdoo failed to use Larry Donnell properly except for his late touchdown where he was split out wide against , in any one-on-one situations. The Colts have struggled at times against tight ends this season and Donnell should have been used more out wide to create mismatches.

McAdoo and the Giants are privy to enough data to realize that Eli Manning has been awful on deep throws, as he’s only completed four of 26 passes that travel 20 or more yards in the air. That is atrocious and yet, they went 0 for 7 in the game and continued to try and fire deep. Manning has been terrible over the last two seasons on deep throws. Time to stop dialing them up.

McAdoo looks in over his head as a first-year offensive coordinator for the Giants. Eli Manning has not progressed well and the Giants offense has still not clicked consistently. It is starting to look like Aaron Rodgers is the cure to the supposed “mastery” that McAdoo possessed.

2. Vontae Davis has been a top-flight corner this season

Vontae Davis has had his best season as a pro  and should be considered among the best corners in the league. Pro Football Focus has Davis with a quarterback rating against of 37 on passes intended to him.  

NFL Media’s Jeff Darlington tweeted this during the game: “Davis has been targeted 33 times, allowing 15 catches. 45.5 percent of passes caught — that’s 3rd best in NFL.”Those are elite level numbers from a corner who was always on the cusp of becoming a top-flight player, but never has been able to completely put it together until this season.

He is a pure pressing corner who you can leave on an island. With the loss of Robert Mathis, the Colts have relied on Davis to provide the type of coverage that can mask a team not having an elite pass rush. They are also blitzing more this season having They are also blitzing more this season having done so on 39.1% of opponent dropbacks this season.

He was not shadowing one particular player, but any receiver that was on the left side of the formation had their hands full with Davis. Odell Beckham Jr. had the best game of any Giants wide receiver and his big gain of 59 yards and subsequent catches of 11 and 14 yards were against Greg Toler. We saw how badly the Steelers dismantled the Colts pass defense last week as Davis was taken out of the game due to injury. Against the Giants, the Colts proved that their pass defense can be dominant.

3. The Giants are out of the NFC East Race and virtually done from playoff contention

Since 1990, only seven of 135 teams that have started 3-5 ended up making the playoffs. This year, the Giants have already lost games to the Eagles and Cowboys and are 3-5. In contrast, the Eagles are 6-2 and the Cowboys are 6-3.

Barring an epic collapse, the Giants have no chance at winning the NFC East and a Wild Card spot is virtually an impossible task with teams like the Seahawks, Lions and the 2nd place NFC East team vying for two Wildcard spots. They have lost the likes of Victor Cruz, Prince Amukamara and Jon Beason for the season. Players such as Jason Pierre-Paul have not stepped up in areas where the Giants have needed them, most notably in the pass rush.

Their next eight games are: @Seattle, vs. San Francisco, vs. Dallas, @Jacksonville (who can pressure the quarterback), @Tennessee, vs. Washington, @St.Louis, vs.Philadelphia.

At best that is a 5-3 record and they would finish 8-8. Remember how the Cardinals at 11-5 did not make the playoffs last year. There is no way this Giants team is going 8-0 or even 7-1 in the next eight contests.

The Giants have not cleaned up their poor running game and sputtering passing offense and injuries have done them in as well. Looking at the playoffs contenders at this moment, what exactly can pundits say the Giants do well or close to better than any other team? Dallas and Philadelphia run the ball very well. Arizona blitzes the crap out of teams and stop the run like gangbusters. The Lions rush the passer like no tomorrow and the Packers and Seahawks (who they play next week) have elite quarterbacks. The Giants should worry soon about getting more of their young players work as their season is virtually done.

Even though The 49ers were able to beat The Rams two weeks ago in a great rallying comeback, due to an off night for some key 49ers players, mixed with a great Rams defense and one bad fumble, The Rams came away with the win 13-10. The following are three things we learned from tonight's game.

1. Phil Dawson's missed field goal

With only seconds to go before the half, Dawson, who had already made a field goal earlier in the game, missed a crucial field goal just before the half from the 37 yard line. Phil Dawson, the veteran kicker was one of a few vital 49ers players who were having an off night.

2. The Rams Defense

Among the list of great defensive plays by the Rams tonight. #55 James Laurinaitis was not only able to sack Kaepernick, but also got the last posession of the ball by recovering Kaepernick's fumble. The defense was able to get a total of 8 sacks on Kaepernick tonight, and only allowed one touchdown and one field goal.

3. Colin Kaepernick Fumbles

Colin Kaepernick clearly had an off night as well. Among having a passing rating of 22/33 and rushing only 14 yards, Kaepernick also fumbled the ball three times. The last fumble being the most crucial, with only seconds left in the game, and the 49ers down by only a field goal. Last year alone Kaepernick only had 3 fumbles, and he rushed for an average of 32.8 yards a game. This was clearly not Kaepernick's night.

The Rams and the 49ers now both move on 4-5.

The Minnesota Vikings used some late-game heroics again Sunday, defeating the Washington Redskins 29-26. After trailing 10-0 late in the first half, a Captain Munerlyn interception turned the tide for Minnesota, allowing the Vikings to get on the board going into the locker room. For the third time in his career, running back Matt Asiata found the endzone three times in a single game for the Vikings. With Robert Griffin III returning to action, Jay Gruden's team showed flashes on offense, but inconsistency derailed Washington's hopes for back-to-back road victories.

Here are three things we learned from Sunday's game. 

THE PURPLE PEOPLE EATERS ARE BACK

Minnesota's historic defensive line of the 1960's and 1970's was a force to be reckoned with. Mike Zimmer's current group of defensive linemen is doing a wonderful job of carrying the torch for the Vikings this year. After collecting five in Sunday's game, Minnesota now leads the league with 30 total sacks. NFC Defensive Player of the Month for October Everson Griffen is leading the charge with nine sacks. Griffen is proving to be money well spent for general manager Rick Spielman after signing a $42.5 million contract, with $20 million guaranteed over five seasons. After a disappointing rookie season, Sharrif Floyd has stepped up his performance, helping Minnesota's defense improve to number nine overall in the NFL. 

The Vikings' defense registered three sacks on three consecutive plays for the first time since 2003 against Arizona.

TEDDY BRIDGEWATER IS GETTING BETTER

After struggling mightily against Buffalo, Minnesota's young quarterback has put together quiet-yet-dependable performances the last two weeks. Bridgewater still struggles throwing the deep ball, but the rookie doesn't let those mistakes bother him, as he is able to keep his composure in the pocket and not suffer from getting too high or too low. After missing a wide open Greg Jennings and Cordarelle Patterson early, Bridgewater kept it together and led the Vikings down the field late in the first half following a Washington interception. Teddy finished the game 26-42 for 268 yards and a touchdown, and perhaps more importantly, zero turnovers. While the rookie needs to work on the timing and accuracy of his deep passes, Bridgewater's mental capacity appears to be untapped just a handful of starts into his career. 

DESEAN JACKSON IS THE BEST DEEP THREAT IN THE NFL

With the return of RGIII, Desean Jackson benefitted greatly Sunday, hauling in four receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown. The often volatile receiver has been impressive this season, topping 100 yards in five of Washington's games this season. Jackson averaged 30 yards per catch for the third time this season, and his speed is unmatched by most wide receivers in the league. With nine receptions of 40-plus yards this season, Jackson is the first Redskins player to reach that accomplishment since Santana Moss in 2005. Desean is the clear leader in the clubhouse for yards per catch, averaging a remarkable 21.8 yards per catch, the only receiver in the NFL above 20 yards. 

Minnesota and Washington both get a bye week in week 10. The Vikings will visit Chicago when they get back to action, a game the Vikings will need to win in order to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Redskins will host Tampa Bay in two weeks. Currently trailing division leader Philadelphia by 3.5 games, Washington's slim playoff hopes are hanging by a thread as the season hits the halfway point.

Yesterday's matchup featured two of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. Playing against one another for the 16th time, the game was largely one-sided. In control from essentially the very beginning, the Patriots defeated the Broncos 43-21 yesterday night.

Much like the game against the Bears, the Patriots outplayed the Broncos in practically every phase of the game. Just like in last year's regular season showdown, Tom Brady out-dueled Peyton Manning. Brady had 4 passing touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and a passer rating of 97.4; Manning, on the other hand, had a passer rating of just 80.9, along with 2 passing touchdowns and 2 interceptions. While Manning did accumulate 438 passing yards in this game, many of those yards came when the game was largely out of hand. The Broncos offense was limited to just 21 points in the game, and their run game was practically non-existent. One of the main surprises from the game was that the Patriots were able to largely shut down the Broncos' star tight end Julius Thomas, as he was limited to just 2 receptions for 33 yards and a touchdown. 

The Patriots head into their bye week on an extremely high note, as their offense has averaged more than 40 points over the past 5 games. The schedule after the bye doesn't get any easier, though, as the Patriots face six teams with winning records in their seven remaining games of the regular season (Colts, Packers, Lions, Chargers, Bills, and Dolphins). Nevertheless, their victory against the Broncos was a statement win for a team that many people had lost confidence in through the first four weeks of the regular season. 

Here are the main studs and duds from Sunday's game: 

STUDS:

1. Tom Brady 

The Patriots quarterback put together his fifth straight great performance. In addition to throwing 4 passing touchdowns and having a passer rating of 97.4, Brady had 333 passing yards and completed passes to 6 different receivers. The future Hall of Famer has been fantastic for the past five weeks, having thrown 18 touchdowns and just 1 interception in that span. 

2. Julian Edelman 

While he was his usual dominant self in the passing game (he finished the game with 9 receptions for 89 yards and 1 touchdown), his contributions as a punt returner made his performance even greater. His 84-yard punt return for a touchdown occurred roughly midway through the second quarter, and proved to be a major game-changer for the Patriots. It was Edelman's fourth punt return for a touchdown since he became a Patriot. 

3. Rob Gronkowski 

Gronkowski's performance in this game brought back many memories of the 2011 regular season, where the tight end was practically unstoppable. He was often too much for Broncos defenders to handle, as even star linebacker Von Miller couldn't prevent him from scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Right before that play, Gronkowski made a phenomenal one-handed catch with several Broncos defenders around him. This game was clear proof that when Gronkowski is fully healthy, the Patriots offense is extremely hard to defend. 

4. Patrick Chung 

Initially thought to serve as safety depth and contribute on special teams, Chung has surprisingly played very well for the Patriots so far this season. His strong season continued yesterday night, as he had 3 pass deflections and surrendered just four completions on 9 pass attempts for 52 yards and one touchdown (according to Pro Football Focus). Chung was also awarded a grade of +4.9 by Pro Football Focus. 

5. Run Defense 

Heading into this game, stopping the run had been a major issue for the Patriots defense. However, the run defense was fantastic versus Denver, as they limited the Broncos to just 43 rushing yards on 17 carries and a touchdown. 

6. Rob Ninkovich 

Once again showing his knack for big plays in big moments, Ninkovich intercepted an errant throw from Peyton Manning in the first half that proved to be a big momentum-changer. Showing great awareness on that play, Ninkovich's interception provided the Patriots' offense with a short field to work with, and they ended up scoring a touchdown just five plays later. 

DUDS: 

1. Running Game

Much like the Broncos' running game, the Patriots' running game was largely non-existent yesterday. While a lot of credit should go to the Broncos' stingy run defense, the Patriots' running still looked very flat, as the unit only mustered 66 rushing yards on 25 carries.  

2. Penalties 

A theme far too common in the first few games of this season, the Patriots committed an astounding 9 penalties in this game (3 of which came from cornerback Brandon Browner alone). The Patriots need to fix this issue during their bye week before they undergo the final stretch of the regular season. 

The New York Jets traveled to Arrowhead Stadium to play the Kansas City Chiefs.  No one expected the current incarnation of the Jets to win.  Expectations were met.  And still there were lessons to be learned.  Here are three things we learned  from the game.

3. The New York Jets front line got outplayed by the Kansas City Chiefs front seven

While the Jets season is in a tailspin, the bright spot was the defense, specifically the front seven.  Were they overrated, too much optimism? 

But at the end of the game it was the Chiefs' defense that was the bright shining spot.  Specifically linebacker Justin Houston.  Houston completed the game with four tackles.  More importantly, he also had two sacks.  Both sacks came at the expense of the elusive Michael Vick.  Those two sacks bring Houston's season total to 12 sacks.

2. There was an Eric Decker sighting

Was it the change of quarterback?  Decker was targeted 12 times.  He caught nine passes for 63 yards and one touchdown.  That's one more touchdown than he had in the last two weeks.  That was one less target than Percy Harvin.  It isn't gang-busters, but it is a start. 

1. Michael Vick is a viable option

When Michael Vick's head bounced off the ground in the fourth quarter, Jets nation whispered "I told you so".  But then after going through the NFL's concussion protocal, Vick returned.  He not only returned but he has been named the starter for next week's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

In the game Vick passes for 196 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions.  Yea, he is the better option.  Now if he can only stay healthy.

Follow me on Twitter@ neverenoughglt

It’s hard not to think that the Giants are the worst team in the NFC East after their most recent performance against the Colts. They were thoroughly dominated in all facets of the game. Their offense was inept and their defense, although they had some moments, simply could not stop Andrew Luck, who by the third quarter had four touchdowns and over 350 yards. Granted, Prince Amukamara was injured early in the game and might be gone for the rest of the season with a torn biceps.

On a night where Giants fans were exuberant for the Hall of Fame ring ceremony for Michael Strahan, the home side did absolutely nothing to take advantage of a crowd that was revved up during pre-game.

This was not a particularly pretty game. The Colts dominated, but they looked rather pedestrian on offense at times. Andrew Luck completed 54 percent of his passes and misfired on a lot of throws. His offensive line (particularly his center and guards) also blew multiple blitz pickups  (the Giants blitzed Luck 29 times, but he had an amazing 81.6 QBR against pressure. Manning saw 31 pressures and had an awful QBR of 29). But, when pressured, as Luck usual was, he was terrific. Eli Manning, was not.

Here’s ESPN’s breakdown of quarterbacks against the blitz on Monday. 

Both teams were terrible on third downs The Giants were three for 13, while the Colts were five for 15. The GMen only averaged 3.6 yards per carry only because Peyton Hillis and Michael Cox combined for three carries and 33 yards. One of the telling plays was Coby Fleener catching a 21 yard pass from Luck where it appeared he did not complete the process of the catch, as the ball was moving as he headed to the ground. The side judge called it a catch but it was surely subject for a review. Tom Coughlin had a hard time getting the challenge flag out of his sock (I kid you not), so consequently, Andrew Luck quick-snapped and threw a beautiful 32 yard touchdown to Fleener. The rest was history. The Giants never recovered.

The Colts had their way not only because they were the better team, but they completely out-coached the lifeless Giants. The only players to show up for the Giants and have meaningful games were Robert Ayers Jr. and Odell Beckham Jr. Ayers was a beast with six quarterback hits on Manning. Unfortunately, he could not get a sack and Luck burned him and the Giants because of that. Beckham, continues to show that he will be an absolute star in the league. He finished with seven catches for 147 yards.

Here are the three things we learned from the Colts-Giants matchup.

1. Ben McAdoo’s play-calling is atrocious

There was much excite for McAdoo coming from a great offense in Green Bay. Having been the quarterback coach for Aaron Rodgers, it was only fair to assume he would ‘fix’ Eli Manning and the sputtering Giants offense. Those aspirations were dumbfounded and have completely disappeared. McAdoo continued to go to the run with very little success, against the Colts, just like he did two weeks ago against Dallas. The Giants had little success running the football and even less on first and second down, where McAdoo often ran useless back-to-back inside runs with the plodding Andre Williams. It meant situations where they consistently had to deal with third and long situations. Manning had a nice statistical game only due to the soft zones the Colts were playing as it was garbage time. The Colts took out most of their defensive starters in the middle of the fourth quarter.  For the first three quarters, there was no rhythm nor continuity with this sputtering offense.

Manning also had a hard time hitting his targets. According to ESPN Stats Inc., Manning overthrew his intended receiver 11 times. Poor accuracy has continued to plague him and today, he was not bailed out by his receiver.

Jon Gruden also alluded many times that the Colts were playing their typical press-man coverage on the Giants receivers. McAdoo rarely called plays with motion or movement for his receivers, nor did he call for any bunch or trips formations, plays that gave the Colts numerous problems last week as Ben Roethlisberger destroyed their passing defense.

He also continued to put Preston Parker into the game, who could not connect whatsoever with Eli Manning dropping passes and running the wrong routes. McAdoo failed to use Larry Donnell properly except for his late touchdown where he was split out wide against , in any one-on-one situations. The Colts have struggled at times against tight ends this season and Donnell should have been used more out wide to create mismatches.

McAdoo and the Giants are privy to enough data to realize that Eli Manning has been awful on deep throws, as he’s only completed four of 26 passes that travel 20 or more yards in the air. That is atrocious and yet, they went 0 for 7 in the game and continued to try and fire deep. Manning has been terrible over the last two seasons on deep throws. Time to stop dialing them up.

McAdoo looks in over his head as a first-year offensive coordinator for the Giants. Eli Manning has not progressed well and the Giants offense has still not clicked consistently. It is starting to look like Aaron Rodgers is the cure to the supposed “mastery” that McAdoo possessed.

2. Vontae Davis has been a top-flight corner this season

Vontae Davis has had his best season as a pro  and should be considered among the best corners in the league. Pro Football Focus has Davis with a quarterback rating against of 37 on passes intended to him.  

NFL Media’s Jeff Darlington tweeted this during the game: “Davis has been targeted 33 times, allowing 15 catches. 45.5 percent of passes caught — that’s 3rd best in NFL.”Those are elite level numbers from a corner who was always on the cusp of becoming a top-flight player, but never has been able to completely put it together until this season.

He is a pure pressing corner who you can leave on an island. With the loss of Robert Mathis, the Colts have relied on Davis to provide the type of coverage that can mask a team not having an elite pass rush. They are also blitzing more this season having They are also blitzing more this season having done so on 39.1% of opponent dropbacks this season.

He was not shadowing one particular player, but any receiver that was on the left side of the formation had their hands full with Davis. Odell Beckham Jr. had the best game of any Giants wide receiver and his big gain of 59 yards and subsequent catches of 11 and 14 yards were against Greg Toler. We saw how badly the Steelers dismantled the Colts pass defense last week as Davis was taken out of the game due to injury. Against the Giants, the Colts proved that their pass defense can be dominant.

3. The Giants are out of the NFC East Race and virtually done from playoff contention

Since 1990, only seven of 135 teams that have started 3-5 ended up making the playoffs. This year, the Giants have already lost games to the Eagles and Cowboys and are 3-5. In contrast, the Eagles are 6-2 and the Cowboys are 6-3.

Barring an epic collapse, the Giants have no chance at winning the NFC East and a Wild Card spot is virtually an impossible task with teams like the Seahawks, Lions and the 2nd place NFC East team vying for two Wildcard spots. They have lost the likes of Victor Cruz, Prince Amukamara and Jon Beason for the season. Players such as Jason Pierre-Paul have not stepped up in areas where the Giants have needed them, most notably in the pass rush.

Their next eight games are: @Seattle, vs. San Francisco, vs. Dallas, @Jacksonville (who can pressure the quarterback), @Tennessee, vs. Washington, @St.Louis, vs.Philadelphia.

At best that is a 5-3 record and they would finish 8-8. Remember how the Cardinals at 11-5 did not make the playoffs last year. There is no way this Giants team is going 8-0 or even 7-1 in the next eight contests.

The Giants have not cleaned up their poor running game and sputtering passing offense and injuries have done them in as well. Looking at the playoffs contenders at this moment, what exactly can pundits say the Giants do well or close to better than any other team? Dallas and Philadelphia run the ball very well. Arizona blitzes the crap out of teams and stop the run like gangbusters. The Lions rush the passer like no tomorrow and the Packers and Seahawks (who they play next week) have elite quarterbacks. The Giants should worry soon about getting more of their young players work as their season is virtually done.

Despite starting quarterback Nick Foles leaving the game with a shoulder injury, the Philadelphia Eagles still managed to defeat the Houston Texans 31-21. The Eagles win, combined with the Dallas Cowboys loss to the Arizona Cardinals, puts the Eagles joint top of the NFC East. The Texans fall to 4-5 and 2^nd place in the AFC South.

It was an injury plagued game, with both squads suffering injuries to key players. As mentioned the Eagles lost Foles early in the game, and later on linebacker DeMeco Ryans was carted off the field with a lower body injury. The Texans lost both starting cornerbacks and the Eagles took immediate advantage putting together a scoring drive consisting of only pass plays, topped with a Jeremy Maclin touchdown grab.

More concerning for the Texans is the health of Arian Foster who after scoring a 56 yard receiving touchdown, left the field a few plays later and didn’t return.

Apart from injuries galore, what were the three main points from this game?

No.1: Mark Sanchez is still... Mark Sanchez.

Sanchez came in and guided the Eagles to a win, I can’t take that away from him. But the two interceptions should have been punished by the Texans. Jeremy Maclin had a game and a half with 158 yards and two touchdowns. Eagles fans should be hoping that Foles can return to the helm as soon as possible, because if the Texans’ backup corners can force turnovers imagine what a full strength defence could do.

No.2: DeAndre Hopkins is a legitimate No.2 receiver.

Well, today he looked like the Texans’ number one guy who also has Andre in his name. Hopkins caught six passes for 115 yards and one touchdown and accounted for over half of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s passing yards. I’ve had faith in Hopkins since he entered the league, his place on my fantasy team in both seasons shows this. In his last three games he has totalled 318 yards, and his four touchdowns have already doubled his total from last year.

No.3: The Eagles need a full strength squad fast.

Coming into the stretch the Eagles have a tough schedule, they still have games to play against the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks. But more importantly, out of their last six games of the season, five are against divisional teams, including week 13 and 15 games against the Cowboys, with the current standings in the NFC East, these two games could be huge for either team. The loss of DeMeco Ryans is huge, hopefully his injury is nothing serious. If Foles misses a couple of weeks and is rushed back into action the Eagles could struggle.

Going into the next few weeks both the Eagles and Texans are in similar boats, hoping their injuries aren’t serious so both can make playoff pushes in their respective conferences. 

In most cases, an NFL team is what it record indicates. With only one win on the season and eight losses on the other side of the ledger, it’s hard to argue the team is nothing more than a young bunch of football players learning to play together as a team and win a few football games.

The Cincinnati Bengals are a team of seasoned veterans that allowed a rookie running back take the reins and run through the Jaguars defense on its way to a 33-23 win. While the score may not indicate the play by both teams, Jacksonville had fought its way back into the ballgame during the second half until a late interception by Blake Bortles did the Jaguars in.

Another rookie mistake.

Jeremy Hill pulled the Bengals through a game that was sloppy all-around and still in doubt until his big play. The rookie ran for a career-high 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns on Sunday, including a 60-yarder in the fourth quarter that helped the Cincinnati Bengals hold on for the win.

The Jaguars special teams unit did not help the team much on Sunday. A partially blocked punt led to a safety and a kick out of bounds following a touchdown by Jacksonville to cut the lead to 26-23 gave the Bengals the momentum they needed to seal the victory. Cincinnati started from their own 40 yard line on the final scoring drive. Andy Dalton handed the ball to the rookie, who ran up the middle for 60 yards to out the game away.

Dalton was not great in the game, as he threw for 233 yards and two interceptions but he managed the game when it counted, connecting with both Mohammed Sanu and AJ Green for touchdowns during the game.

Here are three things we learned from another Jaguars loss.

CLOSE, BUT NOT A WIN

Regardless of the late interception thrown by Blake Bortles, this is a game that was determined in the second quarter. According Jaguars.com, The Bengals turned a 3-0 deficit into a 12-3 lead. They did so because of the touchdown pass to Mohammed Sanu, but mostly because of the struggles of the Jaguars’ special teams. The tipped punt set up a 49-yard field goal drive and the blocked punt by Taylor Mays was good for a safety. When the Bengals scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half, they had 19 consecutive points and a 16-point lead they never fully relinquished.

ROBINSON HAD A GOOD GAME

The Jaguars used both Denard Robinson and Toby Gerhart o keep the Cincinnati running game off balance for the majority of the game.

Robinson just missed his third straight 100-yard game, gaining 94 yards and a score in the contest. The Jaguars used Gerhart effectively when they handed him the ball. He was also effective in the passing game, catching three passes for 49 yards. Allen Hurns was the highlight reel for the afternoon, hauling in seven passes for 112 yards and two scores on the afternoon.

GAME NOTES…

Bengals right tackle Andre Smith sprained his left ankle in the first half, returned before halftime but sat out the second half. Cornerback Leon Hall was being evaluated for a concussion in the second half. Hill missed a series in the first half after twisting his left knee. ... Jaguars guard Brandon Linder (shoulder), Josh Evans (shoulder) and linebacker Jeremiah George (sprained ankle) left the game and didn't return. ... Hill's 154 yards were the most by a Bengals running back since Cedric Benson ran for 198 yards in a 45-10 win over Chicago on Oct. 25, 2009. 

Even though The 49ers were able to beat The Rams two weeks ago in a great rallying comeback, due to an off night for some key 49ers players, mixed with a great Rams defense and one bad fumble, The Rams came away with the win 13-10. The following are three things we learned from tonight's game.

1. Phil Dawson's missed field goal

With only seconds to go before the half, Dawson, who had already made a field goal earlier in the game, missed a crucial field goal just before the half from the 37 yard line. Phil Dawson, the veteran kicker was one of a few vital 49ers players who were having an off night.

2. The Rams Defense

Among the list of great defensive plays by the Rams tonight. #55 James Laurinaitis was not only able to sack Kaepernick, but also got the last posession of the ball by recovering Kaepernick's fumble. The defense was able to get a total of 8 sacks on Kaepernick tonight, and only allowed one touchdown and one field goal.

3. Colin Kaepernick Fumbles

Colin Kaepernick clearly had an off night as well. Among having a passing rating of 22/33 and rushing only 14 yards, Kaepernick also fumbled the ball three times. The last fumble being the most crucial, with only seconds left in the game, and the 49ers down by only a field goal. Last year alone Kaepernick only had 3 fumbles, and he rushed for an average of 32.8 yards a game. This was clearly not Kaepernick's night.

The Rams and the 49ers now both move on 4-5.

Despite starting quarterback Nick Foles leaving the game with a shoulder injury, the Philadelphia Eagles still managed to defeat the Houston Texans 31-21. The Eagles win, combined with the Dallas Cowboys loss to the Arizona Cardinals, puts the Eagles joint top of the NFC East. The Texans fall to 4-5 and 2^nd place in the AFC South.

It was an injury plagued game, with both squads suffering injuries to key players. As mentioned the Eagles lost Foles early in the game, and later on linebacker DeMeco Ryans was carted off the field with a lower body injury. The Texans lost both starting cornerbacks and the Eagles took immediate advantage putting together a scoring drive consisting of only pass plays, topped with a Jeremy Maclin touchdown grab.

More concerning for the Texans is the health of Arian Foster who after scoring a 56 yard receiving touchdown, left the field a few plays later and didn’t return.

Apart from injuries galore, what were the three main points from this game?

No.1: Mark Sanchez is still... Mark Sanchez.

Sanchez came in and guided the Eagles to a win, I can’t take that away from him. But the two interceptions should have been punished by the Texans. Jeremy Maclin had a game and a half with 158 yards and two touchdowns. Eagles fans should be hoping that Foles can return to the helm as soon as possible, because if the Texans’ backup corners can force turnovers imagine what a full strength defence could do.

No.2: DeAndre Hopkins is a legitimate No.2 receiver.

Well, today he looked like the Texans’ number one guy who also has Andre in his name. Hopkins caught six passes for 115 yards and one touchdown and accounted for over half of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s passing yards. I’ve had faith in Hopkins since he entered the league, his place on my fantasy team in both seasons shows this. In his last three games he has totalled 318 yards, and his four touchdowns have already doubled his total from last year.

No.3: The Eagles need a full strength squad fast.

Coming into the stretch the Eagles have a tough schedule, they still have games to play against the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks. But more importantly, out of their last six games of the season, five are against divisional teams, including week 13 and 15 games against the Cowboys, with the current standings in the NFC East, these two games could be huge for either team. The loss of DeMeco Ryans is huge, hopefully his injury is nothing serious. If Foles misses a couple of weeks and is rushed back into action the Eagles could struggle.

Going into the next few weeks both the Eagles and Texans are in similar boats, hoping their injuries aren’t serious so both can make playoff pushes in their respective conferences. 

In most cases, an NFL team is what it record indicates. With only one win on the season and eight losses on the other side of the ledger, it’s hard to argue the team is nothing more than a young bunch of football players learning to play together as a team and win a few football games.

The Cincinnati Bengals are a team of seasoned veterans that allowed a rookie running back take the reins and run through the Jaguars defense on its way to a 33-23 win. While the score may not indicate the play by both teams, Jacksonville had fought its way back into the ballgame during the second half until a late interception by Blake Bortles did the Jaguars in.

Another rookie mistake.

Jeremy Hill pulled the Bengals through a game that was sloppy all-around and still in doubt until his big play. The rookie ran for a career-high 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns on Sunday, including a 60-yarder in the fourth quarter that helped the Cincinnati Bengals hold on for the win.

The Jaguars special teams unit did not help the team much on Sunday. A partially blocked punt led to a safety and a kick out of bounds following a touchdown by Jacksonville to cut the lead to 26-23 gave the Bengals the momentum they needed to seal the victory. Cincinnati started from their own 40 yard line on the final scoring drive. Andy Dalton handed the ball to the rookie, who ran up the middle for 60 yards to out the game away.

Dalton was not great in the game, as he threw for 233 yards and two interceptions but he managed the game when it counted, connecting with both Mohammed Sanu and AJ Green for touchdowns during the game.

Here are three things we learned from another Jaguars loss.

CLOSE, BUT NOT A WIN

Regardless of the late interception thrown by Blake Bortles, this is a game that was determined in the second quarter. According Jaguars.com, The Bengals turned a 3-0 deficit into a 12-3 lead. They did so because of the touchdown pass to Mohammed Sanu, but mostly because of the struggles of the Jaguars’ special teams. The tipped punt set up a 49-yard field goal drive and the blocked punt by Taylor Mays was good for a safety. When the Bengals scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half, they had 19 consecutive points and a 16-point lead they never fully relinquished.

ROBINSON HAD A GOOD GAME

The Jaguars used both Denard Robinson and Toby Gerhart o keep the Cincinnati running game off balance for the majority of the game.

Robinson just missed his third straight 100-yard game, gaining 94 yards and a score in the contest. The Jaguars used Gerhart effectively when they handed him the ball. He was also effective in the passing game, catching three passes for 49 yards. Allen Hurns was the highlight reel for the afternoon, hauling in seven passes for 112 yards and two scores on the afternoon.

GAME NOTES…

Bengals right tackle Andre Smith sprained his left ankle in the first half, returned before halftime but sat out the second half. Cornerback Leon Hall was being evaluated for a concussion in the second half. Hill missed a series in the first half after twisting his left knee. ... Jaguars guard Brandon Linder (shoulder), Josh Evans (shoulder) and linebacker Jeremiah George (sprained ankle) left the game and didn't return. ... Hill's 154 yards were the most by a Bengals running back since Cedric Benson ran for 198 yards in a 45-10 win over Chicago on Oct. 25, 2009. 

Even though The 49ers were able to beat The Rams two weeks ago in a great rallying comeback, due to an off night for some key 49ers players, mixed with a great Rams defense and one bad fumble, The Rams came away with the win 13-10. The following are three things we learned from tonight's game.

1. Phil Dawson's missed field goal

With only seconds to go before the half, Dawson, who had already made a field goal earlier in the game, missed a crucial field goal just before the half from the 37 yard line. Phil Dawson, the veteran kicker was one of a few vital 49ers players who were having an off night.

2. The Rams Defense

Among the list of great defensive plays by the Rams tonight. #55 James Laurinaitis was not only able to sack Kaepernick, but also got the last posession of the ball by recovering Kaepernick's fumble. The defense was able to get a total of 8 sacks on Kaepernick tonight, and only allowed one touchdown and one field goal.

3. Colin Kaepernick Fumbles

Colin Kaepernick clearly had an off night as well. Among having a passing rating of 22/33 and rushing only 14 yards, Kaepernick also fumbled the ball three times. The last fumble being the most crucial, with only seconds left in the game, and the 49ers down by only a field goal. Last year alone Kaepernick only had 3 fumbles, and he rushed for an average of 32.8 yards a game. This was clearly not Kaepernick's night.

The Rams and the 49ers now both move on 4-5.

Despite starting quarterback Nick Foles leaving the game with a shoulder injury, the Philadelphia Eagles still managed to defeat the Houston Texans 31-21. The Eagles win, combined with the Dallas Cowboys loss to the Arizona Cardinals, puts the Eagles joint top of the NFC East. The Texans fall to 4-5 and 2^nd place in the AFC South.

It was an injury plagued game, with both squads suffering injuries to key players. As mentioned the Eagles lost Foles early in the game, and later on linebacker DeMeco Ryans was carted off the field with a lower body injury. The Texans lost both starting cornerbacks and the Eagles took immediate advantage putting together a scoring drive consisting of only pass plays, topped with a Jeremy Maclin touchdown grab.

More concerning for the Texans is the health of Arian Foster who after scoring a 56 yard receiving touchdown, left the field a few plays later and didn’t return.

Apart from injuries galore, what were the three main points from this game?

No.1: Mark Sanchez is still... Mark Sanchez.

Sanchez came in and guided the Eagles to a win, I can’t take that away from him. But the two interceptions should have been punished by the Texans. Jeremy Maclin had a game and a half with 158 yards and two touchdowns. Eagles fans should be hoping that Foles can return to the helm as soon as possible, because if the Texans’ backup corners can force turnovers imagine what a full strength defence could do.

No.2: DeAndre Hopkins is a legitimate No.2 receiver.

Well, today he looked like the Texans’ number one guy who also has Andre in his name. Hopkins caught six passes for 115 yards and one touchdown and accounted for over half of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s passing yards. I’ve had faith in Hopkins since he entered the league, his place on my fantasy team in both seasons shows this. In his last three games he has totalled 318 yards, and his four touchdowns have already doubled his total from last year.

No.3: The Eagles need a full strength squad fast.

Coming into the stretch the Eagles have a tough schedule, they still have games to play against the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks. But more importantly, out of their last six games of the season, five are against divisional teams, including week 13 and 15 games against the Cowboys, with the current standings in the NFC East, these two games could be huge for either team. The loss of DeMeco Ryans is huge, hopefully his injury is nothing serious. If Foles misses a couple of weeks and is rushed back into action the Eagles could struggle.

Going into the next few weeks both the Eagles and Texans are in similar boats, hoping their injuries aren’t serious so both can make playoff pushes in their respective conferences. 

In most cases, an NFL team is what it record indicates. With only one win on the season and eight losses on the other side of the ledger, it’s hard to argue the team is nothing more than a young bunch of football players learning to play together as a team and win a few football games.

The Cincinnati Bengals are a team of seasoned veterans that allowed a rookie running back take the reins and run through the Jaguars defense on its way to a 33-23 win. While the score may not indicate the play by both teams, Jacksonville had fought its way back into the ballgame during the second half until a late interception by Blake Bortles did the Jaguars in.

Another rookie mistake.

Jeremy Hill pulled the Bengals through a game that was sloppy all-around and still in doubt until his big play. The rookie ran for a career-high 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns on Sunday, including a 60-yarder in the fourth quarter that helped the Cincinnati Bengals hold on for the win.

The Jaguars special teams unit did not help the team much on Sunday. A partially blocked punt led to a safety and a kick out of bounds following a touchdown by Jacksonville to cut the lead to 26-23 gave the Bengals the momentum they needed to seal the victory. Cincinnati started from their own 40 yard line on the final scoring drive. Andy Dalton handed the ball to the rookie, who ran up the middle for 60 yards to out the game away.

Dalton was not great in the game, as he threw for 233 yards and two interceptions but he managed the game when it counted, connecting with both Mohammed Sanu and AJ Green for touchdowns during the game.

Here are three things we learned from another Jaguars loss.

CLOSE, BUT NOT A WIN

Regardless of the late interception thrown by Blake Bortles, this is a game that was determined in the second quarter. According Jaguars.com, The Bengals turned a 3-0 deficit into a 12-3 lead. They did so because of the touchdown pass to Mohammed Sanu, but mostly because of the struggles of the Jaguars’ special teams. The tipped punt set up a 49-yard field goal drive and the blocked punt by Taylor Mays was good for a safety. When the Bengals scored a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half, they had 19 consecutive points and a 16-point lead they never fully relinquished.

ROBINSON HAD A GOOD GAME

The Jaguars used both Denard Robinson and Toby Gerhart o keep the Cincinnati running game off balance for the majority of the game.

Robinson just missed his third straight 100-yard game, gaining 94 yards and a score in the contest. The Jaguars used Gerhart effectively when they handed him the ball. He was also effective in the passing game, catching three passes for 49 yards. Allen Hurns was the highlight reel for the afternoon, hauling in seven passes for 112 yards and two scores on the afternoon.

GAME NOTES…

Bengals right tackle Andre Smith sprained his left ankle in the first half, returned before halftime but sat out the second half. Cornerback Leon Hall was being evaluated for a concussion in the second half. Hill missed a series in the first half after twisting his left knee. ... Jaguars guard Brandon Linder (shoulder), Josh Evans (shoulder) and linebacker Jeremiah George (sprained ankle) left the game and didn't return. ... Hill's 154 yards were the most by a Bengals running back since Cedric Benson ran for 198 yards in a 45-10 win over Chicago on Oct. 25, 2009.