Packers and Lions lead, Bengals surprise, and Colts stumble
October 7, 2011
Filed under Sports
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We’re a quarter of the way through the 2011 NFL season, and some teams haven’t chalked up a win yet. (Those teams are the Indianapolis Colts, the Miami Dolphins, the St. Louis Rams and the Minnesota Vikings). Other teams are undefeated, and ironically they are in they same division. (The Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions are both leading the NFC North).
There were some games this last week that were shockers and others that you could have seen coming from a mile away.
Of course, you could have expected the Green Bay Packers to beat the Denver Broncos, but most fans were surprised by the 49-17 shellacking. Maybe Broncos Head Coach John Fox should listen to the “Tebow” chants coming from the fans or pay attention to the billboards that plead for the Broncos to “Start Tim Tebow.” If the Broncos don’t start Tebow soon, they are going to lose a lot of fans.
A surprise upset was the Cincinnati Bengals stunning the Buffalo Bills, 23-20. The Bengals drove down the field, and once again they relied on Mike Nugent’s leg. But their trust paid off because Nugent kicked the game-winning 43-yard field goal as time expired. The Bengals record improved to 2-2. QB Andy Dalton tossed for a career-best 298 yards and a touchdown, plus a rushing touchdown. Will the Bengals make a comeback effort to battle with the AFC North late in the season?
The Colts blew another halftime lead (10-7) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football. Do you remember the last Monday Night game the Colts and Buccaneers played? Well ,I do. In 2003, the Indianapolis Colts were down 21 points in the fourth quarter but rallied to beat the Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.
But that wasn’t the case this time. The Colts didn’t have Peyton Manning, their savior, and the Buccaneers took advantage. The Bucs came out of halftime and scored 10 unanswered points to tie the game at 17 all by the end of the 4th quarter. The Bucs scored the game-winning touchdown thanks to a LeGarrette Blount 35-yard touchdown. The Buccaneers now have a 3-1 record and are tied for 1st in the NFC South. The Colts are an embarrassing 0-4.
Some teams will be looking to make up some division ground this weekend as the bye weeks start. The Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, St. Louis Rams and the Washington Redskins will take a back seat to watch the other teams battle this week. Some of them deserve the time off, and for others, it couldn’t have come any sooner.
I went 11-5 last week with my picks last week, and I’m 41-23 on the year. With it being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I will give my winning picks in pink:
New Orleans Saints @ Carolina Panthers
Kansas City Chiefs @ Indianapolis Colts
Philadelphia Eagles @ Buffalo Bills
Seattle Seahawks @ New York Giants
Cincinnati Bengals @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Tennessee Titans @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Oakland Raiders @ Houston Texans
Arizona Cardinals @ Minnesota Vikings
Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ San Francisco 49ers
New York Jets @ New England Patriots
San Diego Chargers @ Denver Broncos
Green Bay Packers @ Atlanta Falcons
Chicago Bears @ Detroit Lions
Bye Week: Ravens, Browns, Cowboys, Dolphins, Rams and Redskins
This year in football has pretty much brought up a big point in my mind: With a few exceptions, it’s been a complete shift of power in the NFL. A lot of teams that were doing very, very well last year (Colts, for example) are doing terribly this year, and teams that weren’t exactly the best in the league (49ers, Lions) are doing very well.
Given, I am and always will be a Colts fan for life, given I was born and raised in Indianapolis (and there-arounds), but let’s just say that I’ll be a lot happier when Peyton Manning is back in the game.
Lions 5-0, baby!