03 November 2013

Instant reactions: Week nine

My reactions from the ninth week of the NFL season. 

Miami 22, Cincinnati 20 (OT)
Just when the Bengals were a lock in my mind to be one of the two teams in the AFC Championship, they lose via the rare overtime safety. Not sure what to make of that. 

Tennessee 28, St. Louis 21
The Titans are finally back on track. And Chris Johnson had a Chris Johnson-like day for the first time in far too long.

Kansas City 23, Buffalo 13
The Chiefs keep rolling. Now they have a bye week to prepare for the game of the season at Denver, KC's first true test of 2013. 

Jets 26, New Orleans 20
The Jets got kicked bad last week. What more motivation did Rex Ryan need? Oh, wait...

Carolina 34, Atlanta 10
The Panthers certainly look like a playoff team right now. 

Dallas 27, Minnesota 23
Until they get this Freeman/Cassel/Ponder situation figured out, the Vikings are always a beatable team. 

Washington 30, San Diego 24 (OT)
After a slow start, the Redskins have put together a couple of solid games. 

Seattle 27, Tampa Bay 24 (OT)
They say the good teams find a way to win, and the losers find a way to lose. This game is the textbook example. 

Philadelphia 49, Oakland 20
So, the Chip Kelly offense works on the west coast, but nowhere else. 

Cleveland 24, Baltimore 18
The Cincinnati Bengals love that Cleveland is keeping them in charge of the AFC North. The rest of the division? Not so much. 

New England 55, Pittsburgh 31
Leading 41-31 with the ball and five minutes to go, you would think the Patriots would grind the ball and burn the clock. Nope, eighty yard bomb from Brady to Aaron Dobson. The Patriots have no dignity. 

Indianapolis 27, Houston 24
Leading 7-0 in the first quarter, Houston faced first-and-one inside the Colts' 20. Take the points while you're ahead, right? Nope, Ben Tate gets stuffed and Indy ends up with a three-point win. This one play, not Kubiak collapsing or Luck's fourth-quarter brilliance, was responsible for the game's result. 

Chicago 27, Green Bay 20
Things just got interesting among the league's oldest three-way rivalry. The NFC North is officially anyone's game. 

Clayton's fantasy update:
Fear The Llama continued its winning ways, using 20-point performances from Drew Brees, Stevan Ridley and Gio Bernard to cruise past Team Yandow and reach 5-4 on the season. 

The Romo No-mo Broncos had a bye week, meaning it was up to Andy Dalton (averaging 27 points over the last three weeks) and Golden Tate (coming off 21 points in week eight) to cover for Peyton and Demaryius. The two combined for eight points, and No-mo dropped a crucial game against division-leading Team Underwood. The orange M's stay in second place, but are now only half a game ahead of third-place Leningrad. A crucial match against the Red Army next week could determine who gets to play in the playoffs, and who will ride the consolation ladder. 

A special note on Richie Incognito
I saw an interview in which Dolphins linebacker Cameron Wake discusses several things NFL veterans will do to "initiate" rookies, so to speak. I agree that things like wacky haircuts, dinner bills and laundry duties are a part of any group's "welcome to the club" package, and that's completely OK. 

What's not OK is a veteran player basically demeaning a younger player in such insensitive terms as Incognito seems to have, and death threats, joking or otherwise, should be completely off-limits. 

This is the latest in a long, long line of issues over Richie Incognito's career. In my modest opinion, Mister Incognito needs a long break from football and, likely, some psychological help. 

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