USA TODAY's Nate Davis looks at the superlatives for Week 5 of the NFL season:
Best tribute to fallen owner: A day after Raiders owner and patriarch Al Davis, 82, died, Oakland came from behind to prevail at Houston 25-20. S Michael Huff intercepted Texans QB Matt Schaub in the end zone on the final play to seal the win. Raiders coach Hue Jackson was overcome with emotion on the sideline (as was Davis' son, Mark, in a Reliant Stadium suite) following a win that elevated the team to 3-2.
Best leg: Raiders K Sebastian Janikowsi kicked three FGs of at least 50 yards in the win. He now has 28 from long range in his career.
Brady's bunch of wins: Patriots QB Tom Brady won his 30th consecutive regular-season home start in Sunday's 30-21 beating of the Jets. He has not tasted a non-postseason defeat in Foxborough since losing to the Jets on Nov. 12, 2006, though he has lost two playoff starts in the interim. His streak of consecutive games with at least two TD throws was snapped at 13, and he also threw his first regular-season red-zone INT at home.
Grounded and pounded: After denying a pregame report that their receivers were upset by the offensive playcalling, the Jets dropped to 2-3 -- and gained just 255 yards against what had been the league's worst defense. New England had allowed at least 448 yards in every game this season prior to Sunday.
Most costly reversal: Patriots WR Deion Branch appeared to fumble at the Jets' 2-yard line after catching a 4-yard pass from Brady in the third quarter. But officials overturned the ruling even though it appeared Branch was transferring the ball from one arm to another while on his knees before he was hit. After possession was restored to New England, Brady had plenty of time to find a wide-open Branch for a 2-yard TD on the next play and a 17-7 lead.
In the Nick of time: Bills ILB Nick Barnett picked off his second pass Sunday in spectacular fashion, gathering in a ball that Eagles WR Jason Avant seemed to have caught but was jarred loose by Bills CB Drayton Florence and into the arms of Barnett. Buffalo went on to run out the clock in a 31-24 victory.
The nightmare continues: Earlier in the game, Avant fumbled after a 35-yard gain in the third quarter, a turnover which subsequently staked the Bills to a 31-14 lead that proved insurmountable. The Eagles could've gotten the ball back after Barnett's second INT, but veteran Philadelphia DE Juqua Parker committed a neutral-zone infraction on fourth-and-1 (after Philly used its last timeout) with 1:23 to go from the Eagles 49-yard line -- the Bills almost surely would not have snapped the ball -- and killed any chance Philadelphia had of regaining possession and tying the game. QB Michael Vick was picked off a career-worst four times.
Worst onside kick: Trailing 21-7, the Eagles tried one to start the second half. The Bills recovered ... but it didn't count since the referees had not yet signaled for play to start.
Best rushing QB of all-time: Vick ran for 90 yards Sunday, giving him 4,948 for his career and surpassing former Eagle Randall Cunningham (4,928) for the all-time lead among quarterbacks.
Century club: Vick and Aaron Rodgers each threw threw their 100th career TD passes Sunday.
Best No. 4 wideout: Packers WR James Jones caught Rodgers' benchmark pass, a 70-yarder that proved to be the winning score in Green Bay's 25-14 win at Atlanta. Jones often gets lost in the shuffle behind WRs Greg Jennings, Donald Driver and Jordy Nelson -- not to mention TE Jermichael Finley -- but he bested them all yesterday with five catches for 140 yards plus the score.
Biggest coming-out party: The 49ers had been under the radar to some degree prior to Sunday despite their 3-1 ledger. They announced themselves as more than NFC West contenders with a 48-3 thrashing of the Buccaneers, a win which maintained their two-game divisional lead.
Biggest letdown: After winning 24-17 vs. a national audience on Monday Night Football in Week 4, the Bucs should've stayed home in Week 5 rather than waste the cross-country flight before getting flattened, losing DT Gerald McCoy (ankle) and matching the worst defeat in franchise history. The Bucs fell out of a first-place tie with the Saints in the NFC South.
Still streaking: Saints QB Drew Brees fired a TD pass in his 32nd consecutive game, leaving him four behind Brett Favre for the second-longest streak ever. Johnny Unitas has the longest one at 47 games. Brees' other TD on Sunday, a 6-yarder to Pierre Thomas with 50 seconds to go, vaulted New Orleans to a 30-27 win at the Panthers.
Worst display of sportsmanship: Saints S Roman Harper drilled Panthers WR Steve Smith -- late -- as he cruised into the end zone with a 54-yard TD reception from Cam Newton in the first quarter. A melee ensured with Smith locked onto the facemask of Saints S Malcolm Jenkins. Expect the NFL's fine coffers to be lined after this scene. Harper was penalized for a personal foul. No one was ejected.
Cam, no, Cam: Panthers RB DeAngelo Williams scored on a 69-yard pitchout, the first time Newton has not been involved with a Carolina offensive touchdown this season.
Worst regression: After throwing two INTs in the first four games, Giants QB Eli Manning served up three in Sunday's loss to the Seahawks. The final one came with New York driving for what would have been the go-ahead touchdown. But Brandon Browner swiped a Manning delivery that glanced off WR Victor Cruz's hands and returned it 94 yards to cement the 36-25 victory. Manning, who also lost a fumble to the Seahawks, led the NFL with 25 INTs in 2010.
Best relief appearance: Seahawks QB Charlie Whitehurst put Seattle in position to win by throwing a 27-yard TD pass to Doug Baldwin after relieving injured Tarvaris Jackson (pectoral injury). After a 1-3 start, many Seattle fans had been begging coach Pete Carroll to play Whitehurst.
Second-best relief appearance: Broncos QB Tim Tebow finally got to play quarterback this season -- much to the glee of Denver fans -- replacing ineffective Kyle Orton to start the second half with the team trailing 23-10. Tebow scored one TD on the ground and threw for another as the Broncos clawed back into the game. He nearly won the game on the last play, bobbing and weaving through the San Diego pass rush before firing a 29-yard pass to Matt Willis in the end zone. The ball was batted away just in front of Willis.
Best time for a career day: Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, playing on a bad foot and behind a fifth different O-line combination this season, tied a personal best with five TD passes vs. the Titans. He was only sacked once. The Pittsburgh running game also churned out 174 yards even though none of them came from Rashard Mendenhall.
Taking the Vikings by the horns: Minnesota RB Adrian Peterson motored for 122 yards and three TDs to give the Vikings their first win of the year, 34-10 vs. the Cardinals.
Best comeback: QB Matt Cassel threw four TD passes -- two apiece to Dwayne Bowe and Steve Breason -- as the Chiefs overcame a 24-7 hole to beat the Colts 28-24.
A Painter and a Waiter: Colts WR Pierre Garcon (which means "waiter" in French) has caught seven passes for 271 yards and all four Indianapolis TDs in the two games QB Curtis Painter has started.
Worst Cal-Stanford attempt: Trailing 23-20 on their final play, the Jaguars made a miserable attempt at the famous rugby-esque play Cal used to beat Stanford in 1982 ... except Jacksonville kept going backward. Rather than cover the rock and end the game, Bengals DT Geno Atkins decided to run it in for a 10-yard TD to give Cincinnati the final margin in its 30-20 triumph.
Worst punt: The 22-yard effort by Jacksonville's Matt Turk -- not to mention a 5-yard penalty on the Jags' coverage unit -- set the Bengals up at the Jaguars 23-yard line with 5:14 to go. Cincinnati scored the winning TD seven plays later.
sports football cricket golf baseball soccer sports news football news cricket news golf news
No comments:
Post a Comment