Shuffling the Numbers/Receiving

With the close of the 2008 regular season, we will take the next few days to look inside the numbers generated by the league’s 32 teams over the 256-game schedule.

Today the focus is on the receivers.

INDIVIDUAL NUMBERS

Houston’s Andre Johnson (right)  was the league’s leading receiver in both catches (115) and yards (1,575). Johnson finished ahead of the second place receivers in receptions (New England’s Wes Welker with 111) and yards (Denver’s Brandon Marshall with 1,265 yards.)

While the NFC dominated the list of top rushers, it was the AFC that dominated the list of top receivers, but the other conference led the way in receiving yardage. Seven of the top 10 in receptions were from the AFC, but six of the top 10 in yardage were from the NFC.

The NFC’s leading receiver was Larry Fitzgerald of Arizona, with 96 catches for 1,431 yards.

Here’s the top 10 in receiving yardage:

Shuffling the Numbers/Rushing

With the close of the 2008 regular season, we will take the next few days to look inside the numbers generated by the league’s 32 teams over the 256-game schedule.

Today, we zero in on the running game.

INDIVIDUAL NUMBERS

Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson dethroned LaDainian Tomlinson as the league’s best runner in 2008.

Tomlinson had led the league for the previous two seasons. But his injury filled season knocked him out of the top spot and he fell all the way to No. 10.

Peterson finished with 1,760 yards on 363 carries. That was an improvement on his rookie season when he ran for 1,341 yards on 238 carries. That gives him 3,101 yards in two seasons; he’s the fifth back in NFL history to run for more than 3,000 yards in his first two seasons.

He finished 61 yards ahead of Atlanta’s Michael Turner (right), who finished with 1,699 yards while leading the league in carries with 376.

The top four rushers were from the NFC: Peterson, Turner, DeAngelo Williams of Carolina (1,515) and Washington’s Clinton Portis (1,487). The AFC’s leading rusher for the ‘08 season was Thomas Jones of the New York Jets with 1,312 yards.

TEAM NUMBERS

The top running team in the NFL for the ‘08 season was the New York Giants. They averaged 157.4 rushing yards per game. The worst running team in the most recent season was the Arizona Cardinals. They averaged 73.6 rushing yards per game.

Wildcard Weekend Game Four

“Hey, it’s win or go home.”

Spoken like a true veteran. But the speaker was still a relative youngster, the key figure in wildcard weekend’s fourth and final matchup: 23-year old Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.

With an NFL career of just 30 games, Peterson will be the focal point of the Philadelphia defensive efforts, as the Eagles go on the road and try to use their post-season experience to beat the Vikings.

Game-time is 3:30 p.m. from the Metrodome and will be on FOX.

“This year he is more patient, he will hit it inside and then bounce it,” Eagles veteran safety Brian Dawkins said of Peterson. “I think that’s the thing that you see more so than anything. You can bottle him up for three straight quarters and all of a sudden if you get out of your gap in that fourth quarter, he can gash you for a couple of long big runs.”

There has been a lot of talk this week in both the Twin Cities and the City of Brotherly Love about Peterson and his fumbling. He led all running backs in the league with nine fumbles, with six of those coming in December. Vikings opponents were clearly trying to pry the ball loose.

“I’ve just got to do my job and keep the ball high and tight,” Peterson said.

If the Eagles try too many tackles aimed at ripping the ball loose, they may forget to make the tackle and Peterson can make them pay with his speed.

“Eventually you can hit a home run on these guys,” Peterson said. “But they play solid football up front with the front four and linebackers. It’s going to be a tough game.”

Peterson says he’s looking forward to going against an Eagles defense that frequently sends an extra player into the pass rush. The downside to all that blitzing? It leaves one less defender to keep a running back from scoring should he make it past the front line.

Wildcard Weekend Game Three

“There was a culture change that had to take place here, just with everybody in the building, to be quite honest with you. It wasn’t just the players. It was everybody.”

Today’s wildcard Sunday quiz is this: which rookie head coach said the above? Was it Baltimore’s John Harbaugh? Or was it Tony Sparano (right) of Miami?

The answer is Sparano of the Dolphins, but it easily could have been Harbaugh. Both men took over teams that needed a real facelift, not so much just o n the roster but in attitude. Both provided that in their first seasons as NFL head coaches.

The teams meet today at Dolphin Stadium. Kickoff is noon on CBS.

The Dolphins are coming off that 1-15 season and their 11-5 season is one of the greatest one-year turnarounds in NFL history. The Ravens were 5-11 last year and had tuned out the Brian Billick coaching staff. They turned it around with an 11-5 record this year.

Besides new coaches, the key for both teams was new quarterbacks. The Ravens grabbed Joe Flacco in the first round of the draft. The Dolphins signed Chad Pennington after he was released back in August by the New York Jets. Pennington won the league’s Comeback Player of the Year Award, but he wasn’t sure what he was walking into when he signed.

“As far as the end result, I really didn’t know,” Pennington said. “I don’t think our team really knew. We were kind of surfing through this thing one week at a time and learning more and more about ourselves each day, as individuals as well as teammates.”

They’ve learned enough to win five consecutive games and nine of their last 10.

Wildcard Weekend/Game Two

It was the last day of November and the San Diego Chargers were 4-8.

Quarterback Philip Rivers walked into the quarterbacks meeting room at the Chargers facility and wrote on the white board “8-8 will be enough. Book it.”

Rivers proved to be very good at predicting and backed it up with playing. That’s why the Chargers are hosting the Indianapolis Colts in Saturday’s wildcard game No. 2 at Qualcomm Stadium.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. on NBC

“He’s the main reason why we’re at this position right now,” RB LaDainian Tomlinson said of his quarterback. “He’s played well all season long, and we’ve just been riding his back, and he’s been carrying us.”

In the four-game stretch after his prediction, Rivers completed 80 of his 121 passes for 1,054 yards and 11 touchdowns while being intercepted one time. Rivers’ passer rating was 120.3, second only to Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning’s 130.8 rating over that span.

Manning is on the other side tonight, and as far as Rivers is concerned there’s no question how quarterbacks should be judged.

“Wins are the measure, and the playoffs,” he said. “I would much rather make a run in the playoffs than go 14-2 and get knocked out in the first round. I don’t know about struggling and going 8-8 and finding a way to get in the playoffs, but I’d much rather do well in the playoffs.”

Rivers is young enough that he served as a camp counselor in 2003 at the quarterback camp of Manning, who at that point had completed his fifth season and won his first MVP award. Rivers was then and now is a fan of Manning.

“I don’t know if star-struck is the word, but he was certainly one of my favorites,” Rivers said. “Just this year, watching him hit his first 17 against Jacksonville, shoot, I’m not ashamed to say I’d rewind and look at his good throws.”

Manning admires Rivers as well.

Wildcard Weekend/Game One

OK, if you had these two teams picked back in August for a wildcard game in the 2008 playoffs, go to the head of the class.

The Atlanta Falcons, just 4-12 the season before are in Glendale, Arizona to face the Cardinals in what is a historic day in the desert: the team’s first home game in the playoffs. That’s ever. Twenty-four years after leaving St. Louis, the football RedBirds are in the playoffs for only the second time. That first trip was back in 1998, when Jake Plummer led them to a victory in Dallas and then lost at Minnesota.

Kickoff is 3:30 p.m. Central on NBC.

Neither one of these teams brings a great deal of post-season experience into the building for today’s game. One spot where there’s a difference is at quarterback, where Arizona has former Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner taking the snaps and Atlanta has rookie of the year Matt Ryan.

“It feels good to be back in there and have a chance at doing something special,” Warner said this week. “But I also know there’s a whole bunch of work we have to do as an organization, as a team, if we want to accomplish more than what we’ve accomplished at this point.”

More on what the Cardinals have accomplished just ahead.

Although his efficiency and production have dropped in the last month, Ryan has had a remarkable first season, completing 61.1 percent of his passes, with 16 TDs and 11 INTs.

Teammate Lawyer Milloy sees a lot of similarities between Ryan and a former teammate in New England, Tom Brady.

NFL Sunday Review #15

The Chargers one-point victory over the Chiefs wasn’t the only close game in the NFL on Sunday.

Far from it; eight of 14 games were decided by five points or less. Houston and San Diego won by one point, Atlanta and Seattle won by three, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville and the New York Jets by four and Miami by five points.

After everything shakes out, there are two big games coming up next Sunday on top of each conference: Pittsburgh at Tennessee and Carolina at the New York Giants.

The Steelers wrapped up the AFC North with their victory over Baltimore (left) 13-9. “Boy, we have an excited football team in that room next door,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said just outside his locker room. “Rightfully so. That was a ridiculously tough football game.”

Now, the Steelers (11-3) get to go on the road again, traveling to Tennessee to play the Titans (12-2). Houston was able to beat Tennessee 13-12 on Sunday, as the Titans appeared to be resting after clinching their AFC South title last week.

“Hopefully we’ll be up for the challenge and guys will come back from vacation,” Titans LB Keith Bulluck said of this coming weekend’s game against Pittsburgh. “I think we were on vacation this week, knowing we got a bye and whatever other good stuff happened for us last week. But I know as a team we need to get our heads out of our (expletive) and come out and play football. Pittsburgh is playing for way more than us next week.”

Carolina pushed its record to 11-3 with a 30-10 victory over Denver, while the Giants are 11-3 after falling Sunday night to Dallas 20-8. Those two teams will play on Sunday night in the Meadowlands.

Playoffs Picture NFC: Three Weeks Left

Carolina’s big victory on Monday night over Tampa Bay put them on top of the NFC South with three weeks to play and it makes them a real challenger for home-field advantage in the conference.

If the Panthers get through this week and the New York Giants do the same, then they face off on Dec. 21 in a head-to-head battle that should all but settle the home-field question. That game has been moved to Sunday night by the NFL as part of the flex schedule format.

The Giants and Arizona Cardinals claimed spots in the playoffs this past Sunday. New York stumbled in despite their loss to Philadelphia thanks to Dallas losing at Pittsburgh. The Cardinals beat the Rams and won their first ever NFC West division title.

There remain eight teams with legitimate shots at the NFC playoffs, with Washington and New Orleans hovering outside the circle.

AFC Post-Season Picture: Three Weeks Left

One of the six slots in the AFC tournament was filled on Sunday when the Tennessee Titans clinched the AFC South division title.

With a victory over the Chiefs, the Denver Broncos are just one victory away from wrapping up the AFC West, such as it is.

The Pittsburgh Steelers control the steering wheel in the AFC North, but face a big game this Sunday in Baltimore. It’s the third leg of a four-game battle march. They beat New England and Dallas, face the Ravens, and then next week it’s Tennessee.

The AFC East is a three-team race, with the Jets holding a precarious edge with three games to go.

Here’s how it breaks down.

AFC

Sunday Review: Week #14

It was quite a Sunday in Glendale, Arizona.

For the first time in a decade, the Arizona Cardinals are going to the playoffs.

That came down with their 34-10 victory over the St. Louis Rams which clinched the NFC West title.

“My coach was like, ‘Act like you’ve been there before, act like you’ve been there before,”‘ Cardinals DT Darnell Dockett
(left) said after the game. “I said, ‘Coach, I ain’t been there before. I don’t know how to act right now’.”

Long one of the league’s doormat franchises, it’s the first division title for the Cardinals since they won the NFC East in 1975. That’s when they were still the St. Louis Cardinals of course. They’ve never won the NFC West title.

Better yet, they haven’t had a home game in the playoffs since they were the Chicago Cardinals. The last time it happened was the 1947 NFL Championship Game when they beat the Philadelphia Eagles 28-21.

By winning the division title, they are assured of at least one home game in the playoffs.

The players knew enough about celebrating to dump a bucket of ice water on Ken Whisenhunt, who is in his second season as coach.

“It was pretty cold,” Whisenhunt said. “I was excited to get a bath. That’s one of the things I guess as a coach you dream about.”

Other noteable outcomes from Sunday:

NFL Sunday Review 11/30

How crazy did November end in the NFL?

Follow along, if you can.

A weekend ago, Bills beat the Chiefs by 23 points, the Raiders crushed the Broncos, while the Jets knocked off the previously unbeaten Titans.

Then on this Sunday, the Bills fall at home to the 49ers, scoring just three points and their kicker Rian Lindell hit the left upright from 20 and 40 yards (right). The Chiefs go on the road and beat a Raiders team that got 31 points the week before and had just 13 on this day. The Broncos went o n the road and beat the Jets by 17 points.

And the New York Giants keep rolling along. Despite the controversy hovering around the team with the problems faced by WR Plaxico Burress, the defending champs won again on the road, beating the Redskins 23-7 at FedEx Field.

It was a good Sunday for the visitors as the home team won just two of 12 games.

Other outcomes of note from Sunday:

- Pittsburgh went on the road and crushed the Patriots 33-10

- Cleveland lost another QB as Derek Anderson went down against Indianapolis with a knee injury and is done for the year.

- Indianapolis scored just 10 points, but won as they beat Cleveland 10-6.

NFL Sunday Review 11/23

And then there were none.

The New York Jets eliminated the last unbeaten team from the 2008 NFL season on Sunday with their victory over the Tennessee Titans 34-13 in Nashville.

And suddenly, the team that struggled to beat the Chiefs in the waning days of October is making itself a force in the AFC.

“I’m not going to sit here and say we’ve established ourselves as the best team in football,” Jets QB Brett Favre said. “I think we beat the best team in football today, definitely if you go by record and the way that they’ve played. They have been the best team in football.”

The Jets are now 8-3 and have won back-to-back tough road games at New England and now Tennessee. They have won five straight for the first time since October 2004 and seven of their last eight.

Other outcomes of note from Sunday:

- With starting running back Brandon Jacobs out with a knee injury, the New York Giants took to the air to win their sixth in a row, beating Arizona 37-29. QB Eli Manning completed 26 of 33 for 240 yards with no interceptions as the Giants moved to 10-1, tied for the best record in the NFL. “He just continues to do whatever has to be done to win a game,” said Giants coach Tom Coughlin said.

- The Raiders rose up and won a game on the road, beating Denver 31-10 in a game that they dominated.

- Indianapolis kept its chances for the wildcard alive with a last-play victory on the road in San Diego, 23-20. Adam Vinatieri nailed a 51-yard field goal as time expired in Qualcomm Stadium for the winning points.

- For the first time in his NFL career, Donovan McNabb was benched. It happened in Philadelphia’s 36-7 loss to Baltimore, as McNabb was replaced by Kevin Kolb. Eagles coach Andy Reid said he would decide Monday whether to start McNabb or Kolb in the Thanksgiving Night game against Arizona. “That will be a decision he will make. The thing I will do is I will continue to prepare as if I am the starter,” McNabb said. “I’ve been a part of this thing for 10 years. You have to have short-term memory in this league, be able to focus on who you’re playing and be able to move on.”   UPDATE: Reid announced Monday morning that McNabb will start against Arizona.

- Besides the Chiefs, there were three other teams that had five turnovers: Jacksonville, Philadelphia and Cleveland. All three lost their games by 18, 29 and 10 points.

NFL Sunday Review 11/16

Philadelphia QB Donovan McNabb didn’t even know it was possible that he could end up kissing his sister.

But that’s what McNabb and his Eagles teammates got on Sunday in Week No. 11 of the NFL season.

Ditto for the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Eagles and Bengals played to a 13-13 tie, the first in the NFL since the 2002 season and only the fifth tie score in the last 20 years of play (1989-2008).

No one was more surprised than McNabb (right) that it ended - 3 hours, 46 minutes after the opening kickoff – because the veteran quarterback thought it would keep going until someone scored, just like a playoff game.

“I didn’t know that,” said McNabb. “I’ve never been part of a tie. I never even knew it was in the rule book. I was looking forward to getting the opportunity to get out there and try to drive to win the game. But unfortunately with the rules, we settled with a tie.”

It was the first tied game since Nov. 10, 2002, when the Falcons and Steelers finished 34-34. These teams combined for 37 possessions that produced just a pair of touchdowns, one for each team. Combined they had 124 rushing yards.

“It almost feels like we lost because we were winning the majority of the game,” said Cincinnati WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh said. “It feels weird.”

Sunday’s highlight game was Tennessee’s visit to Jacksonville. The Titans won 24-14 to go 10-0 on the season. They became the 11th team in NFL history to start 10-0.

The day’s most unusual outcome came at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, when the Steelers beat San Diego 11-10. It was the first time an NFL game finished with that score. Only, it should not have finished with that score.

Troy Polamalu returned an errant lateral 12 yards for an apparent touchdown on the final play of the game, but the outcome was overturned on review — it was called an illegal forward pass — and the 11-10 final was restored.

After the game, referee Scott Green said the officials realized afterward the touchdown should have counted, though it wouldn’t have affected the result.

A Mid-Season Look At The NFL

The league has reached the midway point. Everybody team has played at least eight of their 16 scheduled games. When Baltimore, Dallas, Tampa Bay and Washington get through their bye this week, every team will be at nine games and counting down towards the push to the playoffs.

As things have fallen so far, there are two teams on top of the league: Tennessee (8-0) and the New York Giants (7-1).

There are seven teams at the bottom of the league: Detroit (0-8), Cincinnati (1-8), the Chiefs (1-7), Oakland (2-6), Seattle (2-6), St. Louis (2-6) and San Francisco (2-6).

The other 23 teams are bunched in the middle from six victories to three.

Remarkably, the Chiefs are not eliminated from anything in the AFC West, which remains the worst division in the league. They are just three games behind Denver with eight games to play, including one against the Broncos. The same is true in the league’s second worst division, where the Arizona Cardinals lead at 5-3 and Seattle, San Francisco and St. Louis are all just three games behind.

What are the Titans chances of going unbeaten? Well, LenDale White (right) and the rest of that Tennessee squad has challenges the next two weeks at Chicago and at Jacksonville. Then things look pretty good until the final two games of the year, when they host Pittsburgh and then finish the season in Indianapolis.

What are the Lions chances of going winless? Pretty good, although they have five of their last eight at Ford Field. This weekend may be their only real shot at a victory as they host Jacksonville.

Here are the best games to watch over the next eight weeks:

NFL Sunday Review #9

After Sunday’s action in the NFL, there remains one unbeaten team: the Tennessee Titans, who had to go to overtime to beat Green Bay 19-16 and move their record to 8-0.

And there is now just one winless team, the Detroit Lions, after they lost 27-23 to the Chicago Bears.

That’s due to a nice victory for the Cincinnati Bengals 21-19 over Jacksonville.

The Bengals are now 1-8.

“We were 0-8, but I think we’re a good 0-8 team, if that’s possible,” said Bengals WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh. “I was just telling them (his teammates): Are we going to the playoffs? Probably not. But we’re all men and play with pride. Basically, play with pride and let’s try to make this thing look somewhat respectable.”

For one day, Bengals and respectable could be used in the same sentence.

They now join the Chiefs as the only other one victory team in the league.

Here are some other performances and events from Sunday No. 9 of the 2008 NFL season:

NFL Review: Week #8

He has to be the most valuable player in the National Football League.

And, the Tennessee Titans have to be the best team in the league.

That’s the results from the eighth weekend of NFL play that finished up Monday night with Tennessee beating Indianapolis 31-21.  The Titans won the game in come-back-fashion and at 7-0 remain the only unbeaten team in the league.

The Titans are proving they are not a pretender.

When the Philadelphia Eagles have Brian Westbrook, they are a contender in any season. When he’s down with injury, which seems to happen on a regular basis, the Eagles are an ordinary offensive team.

Coming back on Sunday from missing two of the last three games because of broken ribs, Westbrook returned to his All-Pro form and rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns as part of a dynamic all-around effort, and the Eagles beat the Atlanta Falcons 27-14.

“He was dialed up,” Philly coach Andy Reid said of Westbrook.

Besides the 167 rushing yards, Westbrook also caught six passes for 42 yards. That totaled out to 28 offensive touches for 209 yards.

“It feels good to be back,” he said. “My ankle held up pretty well. My ribs held up pretty well. Things went well for me.”

There was the sprained ankle, which kept him out of the game against the Bears, and then the fractured ribs, which occurred on the first possession of the Redskins game and sidelined him for the 49ers game. Until Sunday, he had played little more than two games while healthy. As a result the Eagles offense had been very inconsistent.

The injuries nagged him throughout the game, but Westbrook said, “those are things you have to play through.”

The Eagles hope that they can get in the NFC East race if Westbrook can stay healthy.

“We need to get on a run,” Westbrook said

A Look At The Middle of the Pack: Part 2

The NFL is heading into week No. 8 and teams are starting to take their spots on the league’s totem pole for 2008.

On top are the Tennessee Titans at 6-0, the only unbeaten team left. Right behind are Buffalo, Pittsburgh and the New York Giants, all with just one defeat.

At the bottom of the pole are Detroit and Cincinnati, still winless at this point. Just a hair ahead of them sits the Chiefs and Seattle, both with one victory.

As always, there are a knot of teams bunched up right in the middle. Specifically, we are looking at a dozen teams: those with at least three victories and at least three loses.

Here’s a look at second half of that group and what direction they might be taking on the NFL elevator over the next few weeks. We looked at the first half on Wednesday.

JACKSONVILLE (3-3)

GOOD: The good news for the Jaguars is that several key players who have been out injured are expected back after the bye week: C Brad Meester, S Reggie Nelson and G Chris Naeole. Special teams have kept them in the season so far, especially K Josh Scobee who has improved his accuracy and his kickoffs have gotten longer. RBs Maurice Jones-Drew (above) and Fred Taylor remain productive talents hindered by the offensive line injuries.

BAD: The Jaguars have only eight sacks or one every 24.5 passing plays. That’s the fourth-worst percentage in the league. That lack of pass rush is likely why Jacksonville has the worst third down defense in the league, as opponents convert 48.6 percent of the time.NFL. Defense needs more takeaways as well, getting just nine so far.

AHEAD: bye week, Cleveland, at Cincinnati, at Detroit, Tennessee.

COMMENT: “You can’t really name too many teams that have suffered as many blows as we’ve suffered. To go through all that and still be 3-3, we’ll take it and build off it.” Jags linebacker Mike Peterson.

A Look At The Middle Of the Pack-Part 1

The NFL is heading into week No. 8 and teams are starting to take their spots on the league’s totem pole for 2008.

On top are the Tennessee Titans at 6-0, the only unbeaten team left. Right behind are Buffalo, Pittsburgh and the New York Giants, all with just one defeat.

At the bottom of the pole are Detroit and Cincinnati, still winless at this point. Just a hair ahead of them sit the Chiefs and Seattle, both with one victory.

As always, there are a knot of teams bunched up right in the middle. Specifically, we are going to look at a dozen teams: those with at least three victories and at least three loses.

Within those parameters are some pretty powerful teams and a lot of football talent. Let’s break it down by conference:

• AFC: Denver, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, New York Jets and San Diego.
  
• NFC: Chicago, Dallas, Green Bay, Philadelphia, Minnesota and New Orleans.
  

Here’s a look at half of those teams and what direction they might be taking on the NFL elevator over the next few weeks. We’ll look at the other half-dozen on Thursday.

DENVER (4-3)

GOOD: The Broncos are one of the NFL’s most productive offenses, ranking fourth in yards per game and fifth in passing yards per game. Pass protection is very good for Jay Cutler (right) who has been up and down (12 TDs-7 INTs.)

BAD: Defense is killing Denver, as they rank among the league’s worst defensive units overall, against the pass and against the run. They have just seven takeaways. Overall, the Broncos are minus-nine on the turnover ratio.

AHEAD: bye week, Miami, at Cleveland, at Atlanta, Oakland.

COMMENT: “I’ve always got a nasty attitude. That’s just the way I play. But it’s not rubbing off on some people and I don’t like it. It’s getting very frustrating.”
Broncos CB Champ Bailey.

NFL Sunday Review 10/19

Things are pretty bad for the Chiefs defense these days, after giving up a club record in rushing yardage on Sunday to Tennessee.

A couple of guys who used to be part of that Chiefs defense had a better Sunday than most, especially LB Kawika Mitchell (right.)

Playing now for the Buffalo Bills, after winning a Super Bowl last year with the New York Giants, Mitchell had seven tackles, one sack, one interception, one tackle for minus yardage, one quarterback hurry and two passes defended against San Diego. The Bills won the game 23-14.

Things did not end up so good for Minnesota, as the Vikings lost to Chicago. But it wasn’t because of DE Jared Allen, who contributed six tackles, two sacks, four tackles for minus-yardage, two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.

Mitchell’s interception and forced a fumble came in the final four minutes and helped lift an injury-depleted defense.

“We’re building, that’s for sure,” Mitchell said. “It’s definitely a big win to get against a team like that, it means a lot to our team. I think we’re moving in the right direction.”

Now 5-1, Buffalo matched its best start since 1995, and came out of its bye week by bouncing back from a 41-17 loss to the Cardinals in Arizona.

Mitchell turned the game around by intercepting a pass from San Diego QB Philip Rivers a yard inside the end zone. Rivers was throwing for TE Antonio Gates. The turnover led to a 44-yard FG by Rian Lindell. That gave the Bills a 23-14 lead. On the Chargers’ next possession, Mitchell came from the left side and hit Rivers, forcing a fumble, which the Bills recovered to run out the clock.

NFL Sunday Review #6

On a NFL Sunday when five games were decided on the last play, it was the return to prominence of the Indianapolis Colts offense that draws the spotlight.

The Colts dominated the Baltimore Ravens 31-3 with an offensive performance they haven’t displayed all season. The Ravens come into the game as the NFL’s top defense overall, against the run and against the pass. Baltimore opponents were averaging less than 200 yards per game.

It was Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison who were back in synch. The two-time NFL MVP was hitting receivers in stride, beating Baltimore double coverage and controlling the tempo of the game at the line of scrimmage. Manning finished 19 for 27 for 271 yards and three TD passes. Those numbers could have been better, but the Colts shut down the passing game late with the big lead.

It was the Colts first victory in their new Lucas Oil Stadium, having lost both pre-season games and the first two regular season games.

Baltimore was simply overwhelmed. Their offense went nowhere, producing just 49 yards in nearly 2 1/2 quarters, while the defense watched Manning beat them every possible way. He burned Chris McAlister for a 67-yard TD pass to Harrison on the Colts’ second series. Manning then threw a perfect strike to Wayne for a 22-yard TD in the back of the end zone on the next series to make it 14-0 and the rout was on.

“We’ve just been a little off and not been as sharp as we need to,” Colts head coach Tony Dungy said. “We saw more of that sharpness today. I think it’s good for the young guys to see how I think we can play.”

NFL Sunday Review/Week #5

The fifth week of the NFL season is over and it’s now down to two unbeaten teams.

They are the defending champion New York Giants (4-0) and the Tennessee Titans (5-0).

The Giants hammered Seattle 44-6, and was the eighth straight victory for the Giants dating to last year’s playoffs. It gave the Super Bowl champions their best start since 1990, when they posted a 13-3 record and also won the NFL championship.

The Giants were led by QB Eli Manning and RB Brandon Jacobs (left), who made life miserable for the Seattle defense of Mike Holmgren

“Well, that was a good, old-fashioned, you know what,” Holmgren said after the 38-point defeat. “I believe we are a better football team than that, but the Giants really took it to us.”

The Titans have now won eight straight regular season games dating to last season and are 5-0 for the first time in franchise history. They were led in their come-from-behind victory by veteran QB Kerry Collins.

“I like how, with six minutes left, Kerry came in and commanded the game,” Tennessee linebacker Keith Bulluck said. “He showed his poise and his leadership qualities in that last drive when we scored. Being a 14-year vet, with all the things he’s done, I don’t care how much talent a young quarterback has, they don’t have that. They haven’t played enough games.”

Buffalo left the ranks of the unbeaten teams, falling to Arizona 41-17.

Sunday NFL Review No. 4

Things don’t get any easier for the Chiefs.

They were able to overcome a 3-0 Denver team, but coming up in their next two games – sandwiched around their bye week – are Carolina and Tennessee.

On Sunday, the Panthers beat Atlanta 24-9 and they are now 3-1 on the season. The Chiefs travel to Charlotte this coming Sunday. Then, they get a week off.

Tennessee, who the Chiefs will face at Arrowhead on October 19, went 4-0 for the first time in franchise history with their victory over Minnesota.

It was just two of the outcomes from the fourth NFL Sunday of the season. In other outcomes of note, Buffalo went 4-0 with a victory over St. Louis. Cleveland won its first game of the season, beating the now 0-4 Cincinnati Bengals. Houston and St. Louis both lost and also remain without a victory, along with a Detroit team that had the bye weekend.

NFL Sunday/Week #3

It happened in western New York for the first time in 16 years and in northern New Jersey for the first time since 2000. It’s starting good in Nashville for the first time since 1999. Out in Denver, they haven’t done it since 2003.

What we are talking about here are 3-0 teams and the number of undefeated teams in the NFL shrunk on the third Sunday of the 2008 NFL season.

New England bit the dust, losing at home to Miami. Arizona lost on the road at Washington. Pittsburgh fell across the state of Pennsylvania.

But there are five left: Denver, Buffalo, Tennessee, the New York Giants and Dallas.  And don’t forget Baltimore, as the Ravens are 2-0.

ALL Those At 0-2 Please Stand Up, Or Is It Stand Down?

The Chiefs are 0-2, tied with nine other teams with the worst record in the league at this point.

We know the reasons and problems surrounding the Chiefs and their bad start. Does that make them the worst team in the league, as some pundits have suggested?

Could be, but there are some other teams that have started just as ugly, and their on-field stories will challenge the Chiefs for the No. 32 spot. Others among the 10 teams at 0-2 were considered pre-season favorites for their division or a spot in the playoffs. They can still get there.

Let’s take a look at the rest of this motley 0-2 crew, and we’ll do it in alphabetical order:

NFL Sunday: Week #2

Now that’s guts.

Denver coach Mike Shanahan has two Super Bowl rings and a bushel of victories during his time with the Broncos.

Still, what he did Sunday night at Invesco Field will be remembered for many years.

With his team down 38-37 after scoring a late touchdown, Shanahan called for a two-point conversion play, rather than a PAT kick that would have sent the game into overtime.

QB Jay Cutler hit rookie WR Eddie Royal for the two-pointer that gave Denver a 39-38 victory over the Chargers.

“Sometimes you have to go with your gut,” Shanahan said after the game. “I just felt like it was a chance for us to put them away. I didn’t want to count on the coin flip. I wanted to do it then, and obviously it worked out.”

It was the third successful two-point attempt from a team going for the win instead of a tie in the waning seconds of a game since the two-point conversion was added in 1994, and the first since Tampa Bay beat Washington 36-35 on Mike Alstott’s run on Nov. 13, 2005

GOING FOR TWO AND VICTORY

Movement Continues in NFL

NFL teams have been very busy on the personnel front in the last 24 hours, so much so that a lot of teams can’t publish that opening week 53-man roster just yet.

There was the cut to 53, the waiver claims, the cuts to make room for the waiver claims, the practice squad signings and now the veterans who passed through waivers and the vested veterans who became immediate free agents are finding homes.

Rudi Johnson

In Detroit, the Lions reached an agreement with RB Rudi Johnson who was released by Cincinnati.  They will try to get him up to speed and ready for action this weekend.

The Chiefs travel to New England to face the Patriots who added veteran CB Deltha O’Neal, who was also released over the weekend by Cincinnati.

NFL Review/Pre-Season #4

You have to be careful what you take out of the NFL pre-season.

Can we expect the Detroit Lions to win the Super Bowl? They did finish the exhibition season as the only unbeaten team in the NFL with a 4-0 record.

Can we expect New England and Cleveland to have a coin flip for the No. 1 draft choice in the 2009 Draft? They finished the pre-season as the only teams in the league that did not win a game.

It doesn’t take long for things to change in the NFL when the games are for real. The Chiefs will see that when they travel to Foxboro to face the Patriots next Sunday. Detroit might be able to keep their streak going, since they open on the road at Atlanta. Cleveland hosts Dallas to start their season.

When it came to scoring points in the pre-season, the champ was Seattle, as the Seahawks threw up 103 points. Carolina had 99 points.

When it came to stopping points, Detroit allowed just 32 points, Miami gave up 41 and opponents scored 45 points against Tampa Bay.

On to the regular season! Here are some of the pre-season week No. 4 highlights: