Article:2009 Week 6: Talkin' NFL Football

Week 6 of the NFL season was a week of special teams scoring and some very huge offensive output. Both franchise and league records were set.


 * When Matt Schaub of the Houston Texans is on, he is an extremely good quarterback.  Against the Bengals, he was on.   Once the Bengals DE Antwan Odom went down with a torn Achilles, Schaub was able to take his time with the Bengals secondary.  The result was a 28/40 day for 382/4/1 and a 28-17 victory.


 * It was another historic day at Lambeau Field.  The unheralded Donald Driver became the Packers' all time leader in receptions passing the mark of 595 set by the great Sterling Sharpe.  Driver finished with 7/107 as the Packers had an easy day in a 26-0 shut-out of the Lions.  The Lions never really threatened in this game as the Packers jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter and the only Lions third down conversion came on a Nick Barnett penalty in the fourth.

*The Jaguars beat the Rams 23-20 in overtime. This is the sixteenth straight defeat for the Rams dating back to last year. Are the Rams worse than the Lions?


 * The start of the fourth quarter of the Vikings-Ravens game had the Vikings in the lead 27-10.  The end of the quarter found the Vikings watching as Ravens kicker Steven Hauschka missed a 44-yard field goal with no time left preserving the 33-31 Vikings victory.  The talent of the Zvikings may be undone by the poor decisions of Brad Childress.  Trailing 30-31 with little time left, he shutdown the offense and settled for the field goal.  This gave the Ravens, a team that had already scored 21 points in the quarter, two minutes and only needing 3 points to win.


 * The New York Giants, a team that relies on their front four to provide defensive pressure, were undone by the offensive line of the New Orleans Saints.  The Saints gave Drew Brees ample time and he proceeded to pick apart the Giants defense in the 48-27 win.  The other story of the season for the Saints is the defense.  Gregg Williams has them playing at a very high level.  I admit I may have been wrong earlier this year.  I think I overrated that Giants defense.  The Saints are a force this season.

Watch for a Saints-Vikings NFC title game folks. Barring injury, coaching stupidity, or old men fading in December, it is very possible.


 * The Steelers 27-14 victory over the Browns was an uneventful AFC North match-up.  The most interesting thing I noticed is that the Browns have decided to eliminate the standard quarterback position entirely.  Josh Cribbs, the only Browns weapon, lined up in shotgun 14 times.  He even threw an interception.


 * Carolina is another team that has decided to eliminate the quarterback.  With the likes of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart in the backfield can you blame them?  A one yard run by DeAngelo Williams with 29 seconds left lifted the Panthers over the Buccanners 28-21.  The run capped a 267 yard rushing day for the Panthers.


 * In some non-news, Jim Zorn has been stripped of his play calling responsibilities as the Redskins were only able to muster 6 points in the 14-6 loss to the previously winless Kansas city Chiefs.  All four Redskin losses have provided the first victories of the season for their opponents.


 * Are their calls for Kevin Kolb yet?  The Philadelphia Eagles choked on cupcake as they lost to the Oakland Raiders 14-6.  For some reason, the Philly coaching staff called 46 passes and only 14 rushes.  This is in spite of averaging 4.8 yards per carry.


 * The Seattle Smurf secondary was no match for the tall receivers of the Cardinals.  The Cardinals beat the Seahawks and their 12th man 27-3.  The 'Hawks Lofa Tatupu left the game with a torn pectoral muscle.


 * Tom Brady set an NFL record with five touchdown passes in the second quarter alone.  The Titan defense was no match for the juggernaut Patriot offense.  The Patriots were able to pretty much do anything they wanted in the 59-0 beatdown at snowy Gillette Stadium.  0-6 is a sad swan song for Jeff Fisher.


 * The Buffalo Bills injury riddled secondary tied a franchise record with six interceptions in the 16-13 victory over the Jets.  After a fast 3-0 start, three straight defeats finds the Jets at .500.  They played a good game but were unable to overcome the mistakes of their rookie quarterback.  Even Mike Greenberg is wondering if it's time for the bench.  Is Sanchez holding the competitive team back?

To add injury to insult, the Jets' DT Kris Jenkins was lost for the season. *Matt Forte continues to struggle in a second season in the NFL. Forte's dismal 23 yards on 15 carries never really threatened the Falcons. In addition, he had two fumbles with one lost. As a result of this poor performance, the Falcons were able to drop seven or eight men into coverage. Jay Cutler finished the day with two interceptions in 43 pass attempts. The Forte lost fumble and one of the Cutler interceptions were both in the red zone. In case you haven't figured it out, the Falcons beat the Bears, 21-14. *Eddie Royal! Eddie Royal! Darren Sproles! 21 special teams points provided a ton of excitement in the Monday night match-up. Denver remains undefeated as they beat the chargers 34-23. As Bear fans know, all Kyle Orton does is win games.