Week 9, extra credit.

The Monday night game is done, so it's time to check out my final pick: Steelers 28 @ Broncos 10: Steelers win which takes me to 8-5 for the week, drawn with last week. Not bad, but not great either. Which kind of sums up the day that the Broncos had and in particular Kyle Orton. 23/38 for 221 yards is pretty impressive. However, 3 INT's is not. Especially when Steelers safety Tyrone Carter returns one of his two for a TD. Roethlisberger was 21/29, for 233 yards. Crucially though he only threw one pick compared to 3 TDs. That, coupled with a great game from Rashard Mendenhall (22 carries, 155 yards) pretty much sealed the deal. And as I have some time to spare, let's just run back through the rest of the games from week 9: Redskins 17 @ Falcons 31: The injury to Jason Campbell plus Clinton Portis's concussion are worrying news for the Redskins. One high point however was the play of Ladell Betts. The 30 year old RB picked up 70 yards and a TD off 15 carries, but the main thing is he looked strong running with the ball. Unfortunately for the Redskins their D looked terrible when tackling. I repeat, terrible. No wonder Michael Turner got 166 yards and 2 TD's off just 18 carries. Cardinals 41 @ Bears 21: How do you bounce back from throwing 5 INT's? Easy, throw 5 TD's!! Which is just what Kurt Warner did against a bad Bears team. Most intriguing though was the Cards ground game, which produced a combined 182 yds off 31 plays. On the opposite side, Cutlers pass numbers were ridiculously good. Trouble is, their run game is appallingly bad right now. Ravens 7 @ Bengals 17: Neither team really lit things up offensively, but for the second time this year the Ravens gave up 100 yards rushing to Cedric Benson. In a tight game that proved decisive, as the Bengals secondary shut down Flacco and the much vaunted (at least this season) Ravens pass attack. Disappointed to see Ray Rice only get 12 carries to Flaccos 32 passes, though his 8 catches for 87 yards contributed well. Rice looks like a player that might just explode into stardom in the next few years. Texans 17 @ Colts 20: Houston fans rejoice. Ok, so you lost. But hey, you're in a very good place as a team right now. The amount of offense being generated is good, which means next years draft can be a bit more defense heavy, and if they find a sparkling pass rusher in there to help draw double teams away from Mario Williams, then it's all good news. As for the Colts, they look mean. Real mean. I like the way that they get Addai involved in the pass game as well, as he's a great player. And just for fun I noticed this comment from NFL analyst Bucky Brooks on the NFL.com box analysis; "The Colts used a surprising 'air-it-out' approach in the first half to get off to a quick start". Surprising to whom exactly? Your honor, the defence for why this blog is necessary rests it's case.... Chiefs 21 @ Jaguars 24: The Chiefs have a new toy in WR Chris Chambers, which may just help to draw some of the coverage away from Dwayne Bowe. All they need now is to find a rushing attack from somewhere. The Jaguars meanwhile lent on Jones-Drew and it paid off for them. Rookie Rashad Jennings also got 2 carries and picked up a TD to finish a nice run. With him to complement Jones-Drew, that could turn out to be a solid backfield pair that might draw some more 8 man fronts and give Garrard some throwing room. Dolphins 17 @ Patriots 27: Brady put up over 300 yards passing (again) as the Pats beat the Dolphins (again) in a contest that ended a lot closer than many people (including me) thought it would. Was funny to see Pat White running the option play, including a pitch to Ricky Williams for a 15 yard TD, bearing in mind that every NFL analyst that's ever lived swears that the Option would never work in the Pros because Defences are too fast (White also took one carry himself for 33 yards). Random irritations? The 'phins (fins?), not using the excellent Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams enough to run the ball from traditional sets. And while I remember, the Dolphins not using Patrick Cobbs (who was injured for the season in week 5) enough. He's basically been playing third string in his time at Miami, despite the fact that every time he's come on in the past for both the Dolphins and the Patriots (who originally drafted him), he's been fantastic. Look for someone to take him off their hands next year. Packers 28 @ Buccaneers 38: Holy crap. Green Bay has serious protection issues. Serious issues. But it's not all doom and gloom. The reality is that if they just ran a few more 5 step routes and asked Rodgers not to hold onto the ball so long they would actually have possibly one of the most dangerous passing attacks in the league. Their receivers are still some of the best for picking up Y.A.C. If their QB was Kurt Warner, they'd be on fire. But he's not, so they're not. As for the Bucs' they finally pick up a win. Josh Freeman looked impressive, so maybe Tampa has a future ahead of them as well. Panthers 20 @ Saints 30: In case I hadn't mentioned it over the last few weeks, I hate them Panthers. They're still chucking the rock 30 times a game while Williams gets just 21 carries. 5 fumbles is also not a good stat (two by Delhomme). And their defense ties Washington this week for worst tacklers. There were also times when Saints receivers were catching the ball, tucking it in anticipation of a big hit.. then looking surprised when they realised there was no-one near them yet. The Saints did well, but they still don't look like a match for some of the best teams out there. So far this season they've played (& beaten), in order; The Lions, The Eagles (who were missing McNabb), The Bills, The Jets, The Giants (who've been abysmal this season against any half decent opposition), The Dolphins (who essentially took the game in the the 1st half and then kindly handed it back to the Saints in the second half), The Falcons (1 missed penalty away from a tie), and the Panthers (blurgh!!). Next they have the Rams and the Bucs (holy sh*%), but then it starts to get interesting. The Patriots in week 12 & the Cowboys in week 15 (though that's December so we can't count on Romo yet). Other than that their schedule is pretty easy (Redskins, Falcons, Bucs, Panthers). So there's a good chance they might go 14-2..... then crash out when they play a decent team in the playoffs. Lions 20 @ Seahawks 32: 5 interceptions will not help rookie Matthew Staffords confidence. He just needs to dust himself down and strike that week off as a learning exercise. The fact that the Lions asked him to throw 42 times really doesn't help. Which is why Seahawks fans should also be worried. Hasselbeck threw 51 times. That's not good. Come December when it gets all wet and windy, that will lead to turnovers. Chargers 21 @ Giants 20: I'm a little annoyed that I lost this pick. Watching the film, turns out the Giants muffed the hold on a field goal. Complete that and it's 21-23 and I'm 9-4!! Still, 'grats to the Chargers. And while the Giants pass rush is disappearing rapidly, the Chargers pass rush is just starting to fire up. The Giants now go into a bye week with a lot to think about. They need to find their previously excellent rushing attack once more (for me this is the most frustrating thing in the NFL right now) and they need to work on their coverage schemes. They can bounce back. And the Chargers can still catch the Broncos. Titans 34 @ 49'ers 27: Probably the biggest thing that Vince Young has added to the Titans offense is to draw attention, whether warranted or not, away from Chris Johnson. Anytime you do that, you give the Titans a chance. On the other side of the field, Alex Smith threw 3 picks. But to be fair, a lot of that had to do with butter fingered receivers. Smith has been good. He's played well and is staring to lead this team offensively. But he needs help. And that means giving Pro bowl caliber running back Frank Gore more than just 15 carries (83 yds and 1 TD). Smith threw 45 times on Sunday. He's good, but he's not that good. Cowboys 20 @ Eagles 16: I had the pleasure of watching this one. I might as well have just gone to bed. It was nothing special. There are a few things that came out of the game which are worth noting. A) Eagles Head coach Andy Reid is drawing a lot of criticism for challenging the ball placement on two plays. Now to be fair, those decisions are not really in his hands. There are other people, usually in the press box, who watch the replays on a monitor and then tell him over the radio whether he should challenge or not. The mistakes are on them, not Coach Reid. B) Roy Williams bitched and moaned this week that he was still the number 1 guy in Dallas and that he wasn't getting favourable treatment from Romo. This week he got 5 catches (and a few more thrown his way) as Romo appeared to deliberately overlook other people in favour of Williams. That's not good. The Cowboys biggest threat at the moment is Miles Austin, who finally had one thrown his way in the 4th quarter.... and which he took for a 49 yard TD. If Romo is that easily swayed by pressure in the media, then bad things will happen for Dallas. C) When the Eagles are rushing as much as you and doing so for more yards, you have to worry. Marion Barber is a beast at RB, but he needs more carries. Right, that's the recap done. I think it's time for this weeks extra credit: Rashard Mendenhall (Steelers) -- 22 carries for 155 yards. Helps take the pressure off the QB and gives the Steelers a solid 4 minute offense to close out games. Troy Polamalu (Steelers) -- Made an important stop in the Broncos backfield, then comes right back on the next play for an interception. Brian Orakpo (Redskins) -- On a Redskins D that routinely fails to show up, registering 2 sacks is worth a mention. Good play by the rookie. Jonathan Babineaux (Falcons) -- 9 tackles & 2.5 sacks. Leading the Falcons D, and boy do they need it. Kurt Warner (Cardinals) -- You cant throw 5 TD passes and not make the list. Especially not when you threw 5 INTs the week before. Great comeback. Cedric Benson (Bengals) -- 117 yds wasn't the best tally among RB on the day. But against the Ravens each of those yards is more difficult to get. Benson will be key to Bengals playoff hopes this season. Andre Caldwell (Bengals) -- 3 catches for 15 yds and a TD? What's he doing here? He's the guy they go to when they need a clutch play. Jonathan Joseph & Leon Hall (Bengals) -- 2 INT's between them, but more importantly they shut down 'Air Flacco' this week. Matt Leinart (Cardinals) -- Came off the bench for 1 play and threw a pick. The reason Warners career has been so long and why he wasn't benched coming into this weeks game. Clint Session (Colts) -- 13 tackles, 1 INT. Big day on defence for the Colts. Mike Sims-Walker (Jaguars) -- 6 catches, 147 yards, 1 TD. The fact that he plays for the Jags makes that even more impressive. Randy Moss (Patriots) -- Said to Sims-Walker "anything you can do, I can do.... exactly the same" see above for his stats this week. Tracey Porter (Saints) -- 7 tackles and 2 forced fumbles. Still the real power behind the Saints secondary. Matthew Stafford (Lions) -- Was the best player on the field for the Seahawks. Darren Sproles (Chargers) -- For not bitching to the media that he's better than Tomlinson and deserves the starting job at RB, even though both are true. Cortland Finnegan (Titans) -- Returned recently from injury. Made 7 tackles, 1 assist and 2 INT's against the 49'ers. Patrick Crayton (Cowboys) -- 2 catches, 74 yards. 'nuff said. Miles Austin (Cowboys) -- Had to wait till the 4th to get a reception, then took it for 49 yards to the house. Maybe that will shut Roy Williams up. Marion Barber (Cowboys) -- For having the patience & professionalism not to follow the usual Dallas trend and starting bitching to the cameras when your talent goes unused for a bit. I'd trade for this guy. Ellis Hobbs (Eagles) -- Returned a kickoff for a touchdown only to have it scrubbed by a flag. Shame. The guy has awesome speed. Right, that's all the credit I can dish out for one night. Don't forget to spread the word if you enjoy the blog. I dunno, get on Facebook or Twitter or something. 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