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| Authored by Andrew Perna - 4th October, 2005 - 7:46 pm
 This weekend in the NFL was an eventful one. The Manning brothers played spectacularly, and carried their respective teams to empathic victories. All four of the remaining undefeated teams continued their unbeaten streaks, while Baltimore and Oakland earned their first wins of the season. The Patriots were beaten at home for the first time in almost three years, whilst the Saints won their first ?home game? in the Alamodome in San Antonio. Those were just some of memorable events from week four in the NFL - here is the complete list of highs and lows.
The Highest of Highs
The Super Manning Brothers
Peyton Manning and Indianapolis finally exploded for 31 points in their victory over the Titans, while Eli Manning and the Giants continued their offensive barrage scoring 44 points in their victory over the Rams. Peyton passed for 264 yards and threw four touchdowns, but was eclipsed by younger brother Eli who threw for 296 yards and four touchdowns. Eli appears to have gotten over the struggles of his rookie season, and is on his way to becoming one of the NFL?s elite quarterbacks. With the Manning brothers tearing through opposing defenses, could a ?Manning vs. Manning? Super Bowl be on the horizon?
Philadelphia Eagles
After having been down 17-0 before they could even blink, the Eagles came back and pulled off a dramatic victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Philadelphia outscored the Chiefs 24-7 in the second half on Sunday to improve to 3-1 on the season. The win came at a good time for the Eagles who were facing uncertainty due to the abdominal tear of quarterback Donovan McNabb, who played despite his injury. Also, the relationship between McNabb and receiver Terrell Owens is continues to improve ? Owens had 171 receiving yards and one touchdown. If McNabb can continue to play effectively through pain, and T.O. continues to behave, the future in Philadelphia will remain bright.
New Orleans Saints
The Saints won their first ?home game? in San Antonio on Sunday when they beat the struggling Buffalo Bills 19-7. After falling behind 7-0 in the first quarter, New Orleans scored the games final 19 points while shutting out the Buffalo offense through the remaining three quarters. The Saints improved their record to 2-2 largely due to the performance of running back Deuce McAllister who ran for 130 yards, and wide receiver Donte Stallworth who had 129 receiving yards in the victory.
The Drew Crew
Drew Brees and the San Diego Chargers did something that hadn?t been done since December of 2002 - they beat the New England Patriots at Foxboro?s Gillette Stadium. The New York Jets were the last team to accomplish that feat, in doing so the Chargers improved to 2-2 after opening the season with consecutive losses. Brees threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns against the battered Patriot defense. However, Brees wasn?t the only Charger who light up New England in the 41-17 victory, running back LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 168 yards and two touchdowns. Tomlinson has now scored a touchdown in 16 consecutive games, improving on his own NFL record.
Washington Redskins
The Redskins are now 3-0 following there win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Washington, who is still flying under the NFL radar, is atop the NFC East division. The Redskins are winning despite the absence of a potent offense, and running back Clinton Portis has yet to break out in Washington since he was acquired from Denver before the 2004 season. In week one of the season quarterback Patrick Ramsey was booed off the field. Since then Mark Brunell has stepped in and made Redskins forget all about the ugly 2004 season. The Redskins play has defending NFC champion Philadelphia looking up, and it appears that coach Joe Gibbs isn?t too old to win in the NFL today. They have won all three of their games, but have only outscored their opponents by a total of 6 points all season.
The Lowest of Lows
Joey Harrington
The Lions loss to undefeated Tampa Bay on Sunday showcased many of the problems Detroit may be dealing with for the rest of the season. Harrington threw for just 137 yards and zero touchdowns in the loss, and continued to show that he is incapable of effectively running the Lion defense. With Harrington unable to utilize the talent of wide receivers like Roy Williams, Charles Rogers, and Mike Williams, running back Kevin Jones is struggling as well. Jones ran for 38 yards and a touchdown against the Buccaneers.
Detroit fans can?t blame the Lion defense for their struggles. The Detroit defense bothered Tampa Bay quarterback Brian Griese all afternoon with their 3 interceptions, 3 sacks, and forced fumble. The Lions defense also held league-leading rusher Cadillac Williams to 13 yards on 11 attempts. The offense simply can?t score enough points for the Lions to win. Harrington led his team on a late fourth quarter drive that saw two touchdown passes ruled incomplete, and threw a fourth down pass over the head of an open Roy Williams. Will the Lions stick with Harrington until Jeff Garcia returns from injury or will they hand the ball to rookie Dan Orlovsky or will they look to free agency? Something must be done, cause as bas as the Lions are there isn?t much competition in their division and the playoffs are still a possibility.
New York Jets
In week three the Jets lost quarterback Chad Pennington for the season because of a right shoulder injury. That left New York with third-stringer Brooks Bollinger on Sunday when they faced the Baltimore Ravens. Back-up Jay Fiedler was also unavailable on Sunday due to a right shoulder injury. With Bollinger as their field general the Jets struggled on offense scoring 3 points and accumulating of a total of only 152 yards on offense. The Ravens, who have their own quarterback issues, started journeyman Anthony Wright on Sunday. Wright, who didn?t play in the NFL last season, led the Ravens to their first victory of the season. The Jets have now fallen to 1-3, and things won?t get any easier as they welcome Tampa Bay this weekend.
NFC North Division
The NFC North division is bad this season. How bad you ask? First of all, it?s the only division in the NFL in which all four teams are below .500. The division has a cumulative record of 3-10, with none of the four teams winning a game on the road in thus far. Another reason why the division is so bad? The Chicago Bears are tied for first place with the Detroit Lions. The Minnesota Vikings, who entered the season with Moss-less Super Bowl aspirations, are a dreary 1-3. The Green Bay Packers, with quarterback Brett Favre struggling, are winless through four games. Things have gotten so bad in Green Bay that Favre told the press he wouldn?t be surprised if he was benched in favor of rookie quarterback Aaron Rodgers before the season was over.
Chris Brown and the Titans
Last week I listed the possible suspension of Titans running back Travis Henry as a low for Henry, but a high for Chris Brown. In week four Brown was to be given the full Tennessee rushing load against the Indianapolis Colts, a team against which he averaged 128 yards in 2004. So, that meant in week four Brown was going to break out and leave Henry without a job, right? Wrong. Brown stunk up the RCA Dome with a miserable 31 yards on 10 attempts as the Colt defense shut down the Colorado graduate. The Titans had to Houston in week five, which should give Brown another chance to make a statement. If not, Jarrett Payton, the son of the late Walter Payton, may be ready to begin a legacy of his own.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers are 1-3, and in last place in the NFC west division. San Francisco lost the first NFL regular-season game ever played outside the United States, to the lowly Arizona Cardinals. The 49ers have the NFL lowest-ranked defense, while having one of the NFL?s worst offenses ? averaging a lowly 229.3 yards per game. Things won?t get any easier for the 49ers - their next four opponents are the Colts, Redskins, Buccaneers, and Giants. Those teams have a combined 14-1 record, so looks like the 49ers will be at the bottom of the NFC west for quite some time.
Andrew Perna may be reached at PacerPerspective@Yahoo.com. |
