Week 7 round up

Week 7 round up time. Kind of a little late, but... tough: Cincinnati Bengals 32 @ Atlanta Falcons 39: The Bengals and the Falcons had an odd one, trading points by quarter instead of the usual "you score, I score". Matt Ryan was 24/33 for 299 yards, 3 TDs and an INT. Roddy White was the biggest winner with 11 catches for 201 yards and 2 TDs. Even Michael Turner got in on the act with 23 carries for 121 yards and 2 TDs. But it's not like the Bengals didn't try. Carson Palmer tried to shake off some of the criticism of him by coming up with 36/50 for 412 yards and 3 TDs. That including giving WRs Chad Ochocinco and Jordan Shipley (watch list) 100+ yards receiving games. Even Terrell Owens came close with 88. But it wasn't to be. Two forced fumbles from Falcons LB Curtis Lofton, and two sacks from DE John Abraham were rare defensive highlights in a game dominated by offense. Pittsburgh Steelers 23 @ Miami Dolphins 22: An efficient day from Ben Roethlisberger (19/27, 302 yards, TD) was enough to see off the Dolphins. There seems to be a lot of controversy surrounding The touchdown-that-was-then-ruled-a-fumble but ended up being recovered by the Steelers who then kicked the field goal, but I don't see much else that could have been done from the refs perspective. As always in a game like this, much of the best play came from the defensive side. Dolphins safety Yeremiah Bell continues to impress with a sack and a forced fumble, with fellow safety Chris Clemons also getting a half sack and two more forced fumbles. Overall though, a forgettable game. Buffalo Bills @ Baltimore Ravens: So; 29/43, 374 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs. Against the Ravens. I wonder if Ryan Fitzpatrick will get tagged as "mediocre" again this week? He took receivers Lee Evans and Steve Johnson both over 100 yards, and even tossed 3 TDs to Evans. But his defense.... not so good. The Ravens D was (in a way). Ed Reed made his return to the line up and marked it with two interceptions and a forced fumble. Then we come to Ray Lewis; 14 tackles, a sack and then a critical forced fumble in over time. Ravens are looking dangerous as they keep finding ways to win, albeit by the skin of their teeth. Jacksonville Jaguars 20 @ Kansas City Chiefs 42: You know your bad when the Chiefs are putting 40 points on you. And I don't even mean that in the sense that the Chiefs were bad last year. I mean it in the sense that the Chiefs this year have been bad offensively. If you're giving up 40+ points to this offense, then there are some serious, gaping holes in your line. Thomas Jones went out for the Chiefs and proved he still had it with 20 carries for 125 yards and a TD. Jamaal Charles put on another. Then Dwayne Bowe -- yes, that Dwayne Bowe -- caught 2 touchdowns, including a fantastic slip between two defenders before working his way back past them and into the end zone. But again, defense was critical. For the Jaguars their one sack is not good enough. I though Tyson Alualu (watch list) was going to be playing defensive end this year, so I'm sad to see his skills being under utilized. The Chiefs meanwhile are squeezing every last drop of value out of their guys. Rookie Safety Eric Berry (watch list) got himself an interception and a forced fumble. LB Tamba Hali got another sack. And then the highly, highly under rated LB Derrick Johnson got a pick 6 that was the beginning of the end for Jacksonville. Cleveland Browns 30 @ New Orleans 17: Just digest these numbers for a second; 37/56, 356 yards, 2 TDs and 4 INTs. Does that really sound like Drew Brees to you? And 56 passes? Even for the Saints that is insanely high. Two passes in particular were costly. With the Browns struggling mightily on offense, the Saints gifted the Browns 14 points when LB David Bowens took two interceptions back for touchdowns. Even Scott Fujita, formerly of the Saints dug the boot it, leading his team in tackles with 10, plus a sack and a huge red zone interception of his own. Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints? Uh... Cleveland? At least they can spell properly. Washington Redskins 17 @ Chicago Bears 14: Why can't I stop looking and laughing at the stat of 4 INTs next to Jay Cutlers name? It's just a farce now in Chicago. If they're not giving up 10 sacks then they're giving up 4 plus 4 interceptions. Now I'm sorry, I know JaMarcus Russell was bad, but Jay Cutler is worse. This is a big time bust. Given the hype around Cutler since his drafting, the expensive trade that brought him to Chicago and now what has been one of the most spectacular meltdowns I've ever seen, Cutler needs that bust sign hung around his neck. Even the Bears defense couldn't bail them. Five forced fumbles wasn't enough to off set the four sacks, including two from Brian Orakpo, plus the four interceptions by DeAngelo Hall who had a great game. San Francisco 49ers 20 @ Carolina Panthers 23: I don't even wanna talk about it. St. Louis Rams 17 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18: Tampa had one sack. One. They struggled to complete over 50% of their passes. But they completed one when it counted and that's all that matters. Rams RB Steven Jackson had another 100+ yard day on the ground which now makes him the Rams all time leading rusher, but it was a small positive to take from a game that otherwise fizzled out from the Rams perspective. Philadelphia Eagles 19 @ Tennessee Titans 37: Yards are great but touchdowns are better. Remember this Kevin Kolb. Kolb went 26/48 but could muster just one touchdown compared to Kerry Collins who put up just 17/31, but had 3 TDs to his name, all thrown to Kenny Britt. Britt finished with 7 catches for an eye popping 225 yards and 3 TDs. Cap the Titans scoring with a Cortland Finnegan interception return for a TD and you have yourself a 37-19 ball game. I just don't get the Eagles defense. They had 3 sacks, including one for Trent Cole and one for safety Quintin Mikell, who also came up with an interception and a fumble. But somehow the Eagles continue to get burned deep on a fairly routine basis. Arizona Cardinals 10 @ Seattle Seahawks 22: Boy do those Cardinals look awful. Two fumbles on special teams is bad enough. Then you look at the QBs and you see 8/17 plus 4/16 for a combined 12/33. Seriously? The defense tried, but even 5 sacks wasn't enough to help this team. Marshawn Lynch got a steady diet of carries with 24 for 89 yards, but again it's the defense that needs to get some love. DE Chris Clemons ut up another sack and a forced fumble, while rookie Earl Thomas came up with yet another interception in his first year. New England Patriots 23 @ San Diego Chargers 20: I love watching the Chargers play. It's freakin' hilarious. Watching them stack up yards and then absolutely bomb out due to silly errors. But this game has also proved quite annoying. Already there is another "should Belichick have gone for it on fourth down?" debate. Naturally the stats people who tend to support the view that all coaches should go for it more on 4th down (of course you would.... when you're not there on the sideline on game day and your butts not the one in the firing line), have been adamant that Bill made the right choice. But the reality is that Belichick and the Patriots were about 3 or so inches from heading to over time. And this is what I love about the stat freaks/game theorists etc. When it all goes bad they accuse people like me of harping on the negatives and only looking at a few instances, yet shout triumphantly themselves when these risky decisions occasionally pay off and try to use that as proof they were right. Three inches. That -- and a gust of wind -- are all that separated Belichick from another public crucifixion. Oakland Raiders 59 @ Denver Broncos 14: Holy.... you know what. Darren McFadden; 16 carries, 165 yards, 3 TDs. Then tack on another 31 yards and another TD from 2 catches and what you have is a career day my friends. The Broncos were made to look average by a Raiders team on fire. They even got sacks! Kamerion Wimbley, Tommy Kelly and Richard Seymour soloed, while Trevor Scott and Rolando McClain shared another. Now just like the AFC West has been blown wide open once more. They're even putting up a fight (excluding Kansas) with the NFC West for the worst division in football. Minnesota Vikings 24 @ Green Bay Packers 28: Lets not pretend for even a second that the Vikings were unlucky to lose this one. Favre made some seriously stupid mistakes along the way, some that led to interceptions. In the fourth quarter, when the Vikings needed Randy Moss the most, the guy disappeared into obscurity. His run blocking was terrible all night. At the end he wasn't even running to find space in the passing game. It was just poor. In the mean time Aaron Rodgers was struggling to hook up with his receivers as a number of miscommunications' took place, but ultimately the Packers did enough to win, including a pick six from LB Desmond Bishop. New York Giants 41 @ Dallas Cowboys 35: So you've just picked off Eli Manning twice and taken a 10 point lead. Then rookie Dez Bryant returns a punt 93 yards for a TD. You've got to be smiling and thinking "we have this one down, as long as we keep tight and keep going". Err, not quite as it turns out. With the injury to Tony Romo, it meant the entry into the battle of Jon Kitna. Ultimately Kitna would find Dez Bryant for two touchdowns but by that point it was lost. Eli Manning had recovered to throw four touchdowns, RB Ahmad Bradshaw ripped off 126 yards from 24 carries, and even Brandon Jacobs got in on the action with 12 carries for 75 yards and a TD. The Cowboys on the other hand ran the ball just 13 times and converted a stellar 0/10 on 3rd downs. Man the Cowboys are in bad shape. After rocking to 8-6 for the week pick wise (as far as this season goes, that is rocking) I'm now 49-55 on the season. I smell a recovery on the cards. Have a great day everyone.