NFL WEEKLY ROUND-UP: Oakland Raid the Jaguars, Patriots Ground Jets, Manning Bowl and more from Gameweek 2

By Maldini S
  
It was a good week for NFL Football. It had many highly anticipated matches, and some great games as well. Let’s take at look at all NFL week two action, in this week’s NFL weekly round-up.

It was another successful outing for Peyton Manning’s Bronco side (via NJ.com)

Jets at Patriots

The New York Jets travelled this week to Foxborough, Massachusetts to take on the Pats. It was a very sloppy game for both teams, but the Patriots pulled of their second straight win of the season, beating the Jets 10 – 13 Patriots. Tom Brady hit rookie wide-receiver Aaron Dobson for a 39-yard touchdown on the first series, but it was all frustration after that as he completed 19 of 39 passes for 185 yards and that single TD to Dobson. The Patriots punted 11 times. 13 of Brady’s 19 completions went to veteran Julian Edelman. Obviously not their best night, but it will take time for Brady to jell with the rookie receivers. The Pats defense was good on the night though, seizing advantage of rookie QB Geno Smith. Smith completed 15 out of 35 passes for 214 yards, and 3 interceptions. He made many rookie mistakes which the Pats D capitalised on. The Jets running game was good, as Chris Ivory got 12 carries for 52 yards, and Bilal Powell had 13 carries for 48 yards and a touch-down. It was a much improved running game compared to week one, and to give credit where credit is due, the Jets’ O-line was outstanding. Overall a sloppy night for both teams, but as Edelman said for the Pats, two wins are two wins. 

The Patriots defeated the Jets 13 – 10 (Image Courtesy: CBS)

Browns at Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens defeated the Cleveland Browns 6 – 14 Ravens. It was a good one for the Ravens defense sacking Brandon Weeden five times, resulting in an a thumb injury that put him out of the game in the fourth quarter. The Ravens took the lead in the 3rd quarter from a touchdown from Bernard Pierce after trailing 6-0 in the first half. They then went up in the 4th quarter on a TD pass form Joe Flacco to rookie Marlon Brown. The Browns turned over the ball with three minutes left in the game and the Ravens ran down the clock. Ravens running back Ray Rice left the game early in the 4th quarter with a strained hip flexor. Brandon Weeden completed 21 of 33 passes for 227 yards and was replaced by Jason Campbell. Joe Flacco completed 22 of 33 for 211 yards. His wife gave birth to their second child, so congratulations on both wins!

Joe Flacco is a marquee Ravens player (Image Courtesy: ESPN)

Rams at Falcons

NFC south’s Atlanta Falcons took on the NFC West’s St. Louis Rams. The Falcons offense got hammered by a good Rams defense, but mainly tonight it was the Falcons bad O-line that showed up today. Player after player joined the injury list party in the locker room. Noticable injuries include Roddy White, and Steven Jackson after his TD catch on their opening drive. Jackson went out with a thigh injury and did not return. The Rams were down 21-0 after Osi Umenyiora returned an interception for 68 yards for a TD. With the Falcons ahead 24-3, the Rams then put up 2 short TD passes from Sam Bradford. The Falcons increased their lead to 31-17 with an 11 yard TD run from Jason Snelling. Tavon Austin then caught a TD pass for the Rams to end the game Rams 24 – 31 Falcons. Austin had 6 catches for 47 yards and two touchdowns. Sam Bradford was 32 for 55 on completions for 352 yards, 3TDs and an Interception. For the Falcons, Matt Ryan completed 33 for 43 attempts for 374 yards, 2 TDs and no interceptions, while Julio Jones was impressive with 182 yards and a touch-down. Another impressive performance was by Rams receiver Chris Givens, who had 5 receptions for 182 yards. Shaky match for Atlanta, but they pulled of the win with 5 injured starters. 

Rams battling with Falcons (Image Courtesy: StLouisRams.com)

Cowboys at Chiefs 

Andy Reid’s men took on the Dallas Cowboys. Wasn’t a bad match. Alex Smith threw for 223 yards and 2 TDs to get the Chiefs past the Cowboys. Cowboys QB Tony Romo completed 30 for 42 with 298 yards, 1 TD, 0 Interception (Rare). Dez Bryan was on fire! Great performance by him racking up 9 receptions for 141 yards and a touch-down. The Chiefs weren’t too impressive win as Andy Reid’s Kansas city men go 2-0. 

Chargers at Eagles

The San Diego Chargers travelled to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles. It was a close one that came down to a field goal win. Entertaining match. Chip Kelly’s offense was good, but the Chargers were fighting. Michael Vick threw for 428 yards, 2 TDs and ran for one, but Phillip Rivers as well rode the Eagles defense finishing 36 for 47 for 419 yards, and the Chargers only had to punt once. It was a truly action packed one as both teams went back and forth. As mentioned, it ended with a field goal in a close and earned win.

Lions at Cardinals 

The Arizona Cardinals rallied a late win to defeat the Detroit Lions. Carson Palmer put on a good performance as he continues to build chemistry with his team. Lions QB Mathew Stattford had a great game with 24 of 26 passes for 278 yards and 2 TDs. Carson Palmer was 22 of 39 for 248 yards, with 1 TD, and 1 interception. Cardinals running back Rashard Mendenhall with a one yard TD ran with 2:03 left in the game gave the Cardinals the win.

The Cardinals embrace their win (Image Courtesy: ESPN)

Jaguars at Raiders

The Raiders put together a 19-9 win. The Raiders basically ran all over the Jags. Darren McFadden ran for 129 yard and Raiders QB Terrelle Pryor ran for 50 yard and threw for 126. The Raiders had one TD and 4  field goals to beat the Jags.

Panthers at the Bills

The Buffalo Bills defeated the Carolina Panthers 23 – 24 Bills. Rookie QB EJ Manuel has been doing good, and this win should be a good confidence boost for him. He led the Bills to a 4th quarter come back with 9 plays, 80 yds, taking only 1 minute and 35 seconds to get it done. He’s a smart and mature QB that brings a lot. Manuel on the night was 29 for 37 passes for 296 yards, and bounced back from an interception and losing a fumble. Cam Newton’s stats were good as always; 21 of 38 for 229 yards. CJ Spiller, Stevie Jonson, Greg Olsen and many others also has good stats. With the win, the Bills go 1-1 after the loss to New England. 

Buffalo came from behind to defeat Carolina (Image Courtesy: DemocratAndChronicle.com)

Broncos at Giants

Chris Ivory tallied 12 carries for 52 yards while Bilal Powell had 13 carries for 48 yards and a touchdown
Read more at http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2013/09/13/run-game-much-improved-for-new-york-jets-in-week-2/?IIqYlwgLgEJwt1MY.99

Chris Ivory tallied 12 carries for 52 yards while Bilal Powell had 13 carries for 48 yards and a touchdown
Read more at http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2013/09/13/run-game-much-improved-for-new-york-jets-in-week-2/?IIqYlwgLgEJwt1MY.99

In what was said to be the last ‘Manning Bowl’, Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos defeated his brother, Eli Manning and the New York Giants 41 – 23 at MetLife Stadium. Peyton threw two TD passes, but the first half of the game was a very sloppy one with numerous mistakes on the part of both teams. Giants now start the season 0 – 2, while the Broncos are on flying form with consecutive domination of the past two SuperBowl winners.

Brotherly embrace: Eli and Peyton Manning converse following the game (Image Courtesy: USA Today Sports)

Titans at Texans 
Houston Texans wide-receiver Deondre Hopkins finished the day with 7 receptions for 117 yards. QB Matt Schaub threw for 298 yards with 3 TDs, and 2 Interceptions. The most of important yards for both of them were the last 3 yards as Hopkins caught a 3 yard TD in over-time to give Houston a close 30-21 win over the Tennessee Titans. For Tennessee, Chris Johnson ran for an impressive 96 yards. QB Jake Locker threw for 148 yard and 2 TDs. Houston’s defense was good with Brian Cushing’s 11 tackles and 2 sacks, with J.J Watt assisting for 2 more sacks. Texans receiver Andre Johnson went out of the game with concussion, Tennessee’s Chris Johnson went out with an injury as well; both did not return. 

Vikings at Bears
The Chicago Bears got a last minute win over the Minnesota Vikings. Jay Cutler came through in the fourth quarter with a 16 yard TD pass to Martellus Bennet with 10 seconds left on the clock. Cutler threw for 290 yards, 3 TDs and 2 interceptions. Vikings QB Christian Ponder threw for 227 yard, 1 TD, and the same number or interceptions. Adrian Peterson ran for 100 yards, and Matt Forte ran for 90 yards. 

Vikings embrace after scoring (Image Courtesy: Gospel Herald)

Redskins at Packers
The Redskins faces the Packers in week 2. Packers rookie Eddie Lacy was out of the game on his 1st run with a concussion. The Packers thrived without him though in a 30-28 beating to the Redskins. Aaron Rodgers was incredible as always with 480 yards and 4 TDs. The Redskins put up 7 points in the 3rd quarter after trailing 24-0 by half, but they where met with another 14 points from Greenbay in that quarter. The Skins then racked up 13 points in the 4th quarter and none for Greenbay who had done enough to seal the win. RGIII seemed rusty. He went for 26 for 40 passes and 320 passing yards and an interception. Overall, the whole Redskins didn’t do their part, but RGIII tried.

49ers at Seahawks
49ers took on Seattle in what many are predicting to be the NFC Championship match. If it was a preview of the NFC match up, the Seahawks will surely be a problem for their Super Bowl opponents. It started off with a weather delay in Seattle where it rains… a lot. Should’ve known weather would cause trouble. Anyhow, after the weather delay which say the teams leave the field with 0 points a piece, the game came back and the Seahawks spelled out the word DOMINATED to the 49ers. They won with a not so super human performance from QB Russel Wilson as he only had 8 completions for 142 yards, 1 TD, and 1 interception. They didn’t worry though as running back Marshawn Lynch showed it was his turf as he ran for 98 yards and two touchdowns. Seattle’s defense more than dominated leading 9ers QB Colin Kaepernick to only throw for 127 yards, and running back Frank Gore getting just 16 yards. This was just absolutely not what fans are used to seeing them pick apart defenses. The 49ers had 5 turn-overs. This is a team proclaimed to have the best offensive line in the NFL, and Seattle skipped about them rolling over them. One mark out performance was by the man who loves to talk. Richard Sherman is known to have a big ego and we see his mouth move a lot. Tonight, he talked, and he more than backed his word up. He covered Anquan Boldin, who had 13 catches for 208 yards in week one, but this time only had 7 yards and as many catches from Kaepernick as Sherman did, one. Sherman modeled what people call a shut-down corner. He absolutely rode Boldin and put up a marvelous performance. Boldin got me only 0.70 fantasy points. Thanks a lot Sherman, but what a performance! Golden Tate was also great in punt returns. The Seahawks sent a message to the NFC by killing it’s champions from last year 29-3.

The teams set up for a play (Image Courtesy: 49ers.com)

Saints at Bucs
New Orleans Saints added a second win to the season defeating the Tampa Bay Bucs on Gareth Hartley’s winning field goal. It was another dramatic win for Drew Brees. The match was delayed 5 minutes into the 1st quarter with rain and lightning issues. It lasted for 69 minutes. New Orleans had the lead during the delay. As they returned, the 1st quarter ended 10-7 in favor for New Orleans with a scoreless 2nd quarter. In the second half, New Orleans started with 3 points in the 3rd quarter to TB’s 0. A the quarter on an interception from Brees to Bucs LB Mason Foster for 85 yards. This play lit up the game. In the end, it all came down to the last drive, seconds left. In a great comeback story, the Legendary Drew Brees pull backs, he fires to Jimmy Graham, then Darren Sproles, followed by a greatly precise pass for 32 yards to Marques Colston. The Bucs should’ve covered those three especially. It was a great drive, setting up Gareth Hartley to win it with a field gal. Brees threw for one touch-down, 322 yards, and he did throw for 2 interceptions, but Saints fans will fill he made up for the interceptions with the final drive. Jimmy Graham put up Madden like numbers, mostly in the first half. On the day he caught 10 passes for 202 yard including a 56 yard touch-down in the 1st quarter. The Saints running game wasn’t good though, and Tampa’s whole offense wasn’t either. 

Steelers at Bengals
The Bengals beat the Steelers 20-10 on Monday night football. The Steelers were bad. The offense let QB Ben Roethlisberger get destroyed with many hits to him. Their running game was awful. They go 0-2 so far and they have very much work to do before getting anywhere near a winning record. Troy Polamalu did try and make his presence felt. For the Bangals, the running was good, the defense attacked Big Ben, much to the credit of the Steelers O-line. Andy Dalton was alright utilizing his weapon in AJ Green. They did enough to pull up a win, and go 1-1.

Poised for battle.

That’s the recap of NFL week two. O-lines, and effectiveness on running were featured a lot. Quite a few comebacks and close wins were made. It was overall a good week that saw players like Aaron Rodgers, Deondre Hopkins and many more others shine. If I had to give a performance of the week, it would go to Richard Sherman who was very impressive with a powerful Seattle Seahawks. There always is more action available in the NFL, and next week’s action including Andy Reid’s return to Philadelphia with his Chiefs, The Rams vs the Cowboys, Colts at 49ers and many more good NFL match ups. That’s all for week 2 football in the National Football League.     



    

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