NFL Recap for Sunday, September 18

The second week of the NFL season for the year brought a lot of action on some fields, disappointing yawners on others, and some surprising moves from some surprising players.

Falcons 35, Eagles 31
The talk of the game in Atlanta yesterday was, from beginning to end, Michael Vick. Or rather, until nearly the end. When Vick took to the field at the Georgia Dome yesterday, the crowd promptly erupted into a chorus of “boos.” But is it because fans still hold his personal transgressions against him, or  because Vick has proven himself as still one of the best since his NFL return? It can’t be said from last night’s game, as Vick took a hard tackle late in the third that kept him out for the rest of the game.

Texans 23, Dolphins 13
The biggest story coming out of this game was Arian Foster or should we say, his replacement, Ben Tate? Tate took over for Foster last week after a hamstring injury kept Foster out of the game. Foster tried to come back this week but had to sit out the second half of the game and once again let Tate take the field, showing that even post-injury, Tate may just be the go-to RB for the Texans.

Broncos 24, Bengals 22
Even if it was no surprise that Denver took this one, it was a very close game and those are always the best ones to watch.  Perhaps it ended with such a close score because some of the Broncos’ best, including Brandon Lloyd, Champ Bailey, Elvis Dumervil, and Knowshon Moreno were out with injury.

Patriots 35, Chargers 21
Really, what’s the story here? Tom Brady has proven after winning three Super Bowls and breaking records that he’s the best quarterback in the league. This week he’s proven that once again after a dynamic performance against the Miami Dolphins last Monday night, and again against the Chargers yesterday.

Cowboys 27, 49ers 24
Another injury was the story of the game here after Tony Romo fractured a rib in the fourth quarter. Romo had played another solid game up until that point, but he wasn’t the only one. DeMarcus Ware, Jay Ratliff, and Jason Hatcher also had some big plays.

Jets 32, Jaguars 3
The Jets made it easy for any player on the Jaguars team this week. If you’re a Jag and you moved on the field, you were easily one of their best players on Sunday.

Steelers 24, Seahawks 0
Another game where one team just simply had to show up to win the game, the Steelers easily dominated the Seahawks in this week’s game.

Saints 30, Bears 13
How did the Saints pull out this win? Two ways. The first was by showing that making touchdowns will win the game over making field goals every single time; and that cutting Chicago’s Jay Cutler off at the knees is also critical when playing against the Bears.

Buccaneers 24, Vikings 20
Unfortunately it was Vikings’ head coach, Leslie Frazier that lost this game for them when he proved that teams are given timeouts for a reason.

Lions 48, Chiefs 3
With the announcement that Jamaal Charles was going to be the third player out with an ACL injury, it was pretty much known that the Chiefs were going to lose this one. Eric Berry and Tony Moeaki were the first to be out with the same injury.

Browns 27, Colts 19
With Peyton Manning out and a very narrowly spread TV audience, this game could have been dubbed “the game that didn’t happen,” and no one would have noticed. One of the slow ones and if you watched it, you probably missed more than if you hadn’t.

Redskins 22, Cardinals 21
Definitely one of the better games to watch this week, Rex Grossman didn’t play as strongly as he had in Week 1, but he still helped pull out a very marginal win against the Cardinals.

Titans 26, Ravens 13
More ‘boos’ were heard in Tennessee when once-fan-favorite Chris Johnson took to the field. Perhaps now that he’s the highest paid running back in the NFL, fans expect him to start acting like it. And even though the Titans pulled out the win, Johnson had a very tough week for the second week in a row.

Bills 38, Raiders 35
Sure, they were playing against the Raiders, but this win for the Bills is enough to give any fan hope that a good season is upon them. Of course, they’re the same fans holding their breath waiting for next week, when they’ll face the much stronger New England Patriots.

Packers 30, Panthers 23
Charles Woodson was the hero for the Packers yesterday, bringing not only dynamic coverage and the number of turnovers that he forced. It’s clear that Woodson is going to be in the Hall of Fame one day. The other question is, is he going to carry the Packers through the entire season?

Categorized in: NFL