Category: Fantasy Football (Page 172 of 324)

Don’t talk about “Favre magic” – Brett was brutal Sunday

Brett FavrePlay by play announcers and casual football analysts will probably wax poetically about how Brett Favre sprinkled a little late-game magic Sunday to the beat the Chiefs at the Meadow Lands. But despite throwing for 290 yards and two touchdowns (including the game winner to Laveranues Coles with only a minute remaining in the game to give NY a 28-24 win), the fact of the matter is that Brett was brutal and nearly cost his team a win.

Pundits and fans alike love to talk about Favre’s gunslinger mentality and how he takes risks in order to seek big rewards. But that wasn’t the case Sunday against Kansas City. He threw three costly, dumb interceptions including one that was returned for a 91-yard touchdown by Brandon Flowers that gave KC a 24-21 lead with less than eight minutes remaining in the game.

Yes, he did lead the Jets on a 6-play, 46-yard drive to win the game. But all Favre did with the drive was save his own skin and Coles had to make an incredible one-handed catch on an otherwise poorly thrown ball.

I realize Brett has been criticized before because of his reckless play, but it just seems that he’s been untouchable since he was traded to New York. Had the Jets lost today, one would hope that he would have been criticized like every other quarterback had they been intercepted three times by a one-win Kansas City team playing with rookie corners. But I doubt it. (Not to mention Tyler Thigpen outplayed him as he threw for 280 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.)

Cowboys far from back on track, but win over Bucs huge

Cowboys-BucsThe Dallas Cowboys are far from being an elite team in the NFC, but their 13-9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday was nevertheless big after weeks of poor play.

Brad Johnson wasn’t very impressive (he missed open receivers the entire game), but unlike the loss to the Rams last week, he didn’t turn the ball over and thus, allowed the defense to win the game. And his touchdown pass to newcomer Roy Williams before the half proved to be the difference in the end at least in terms of the score.

Speaking of the Dallas defense, they deserve a ton of credit for finally rising to the challenge this week. They’ve been rightfully hammered by the media due to their poor play, but they forced Tampa to settle for field goals on multiple occasions throughout the game. They also came up with a huge fourth down stop when Jeff Garcia had driven the Bucs into scoring range with under a minute to go.

Forget Tony Romo – he’ll be back soon and he’ll obviously he’ll provide a huge boost to the offense. What the Cowboys really need is a defensive effort similar to the one they got today. If they do, there’s no reason to think that Dallas won’t be legitimate Super Bowl contenders again soon.

Cardinals choke away opportunity to make statement

Kurt WarnerMany have been waiting for the Arizona Cardinals to emerge as true playoff contenders for years. And after starting the season 4-2, the NFC West finally looks like Cards’ to lose, especially with the Seahawks struggling.

But in order for Arizona to take the next step, pundits have often said that they have to play better on the road. What a better way to prove that they’ve arrived this season than to beat the Panthers in Carolina on Sunday?

After building a 17-3 lead early in the third quarter, the Cards choked on applesauce and allowed the Panthers to come from behind for a 27-23 win. Kurt Warner once again lit up the stat sheet throwing for 381 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw a costly interception (not all his fault as the ball was thrown high, but tipped by a receiver), which Carolina turned into a field goal.

‘Zona still might be the team to beat in the NFC West with the rest of the division looking incredibly suspect, but they need to start winning games away from the desert. Even if they do make the postseason, how are they going to make a deep run if they can’t win on the road?

Refs blow crucial call in Falcons-Eagles game

Falcons-EaglesIt wasn’t anywhere near as crucial as Ed Hochuli’s gaff in the Broncos-Chargers game earlier this season, but the refs blew another call Sunday, this one costing the Falcons a chance to possibly drive for a late score and beat the Eagles.

The 27-14 final suggests that Philadelphia soundly handled Atlanta, but it doesn’t provide the full story. Rookie QB Matt Ryan connected with Roddy White for his second touchdown pass of the game to cut the Eagles’ lead to 20-14 with just under four minutes remaining in the game.

After forcing Philly to go three and out on their next possession, the Falcons were set to get the ball back with just over two minutes left and no timeouts. But after returner Adam Jennings let a punt bounce at his feet, the refs called a muff and awarded the Eagles the ball at that spot. Replays clearly showed that the ball never touched Jennings but because the Falcons had used all of their timeouts, they couldn’t review it. Brian Westbrook (who had a huge day coming back from injury) then broke off a 39-yard touchdown run to put the game away.

Granted, Atlanta might not have scored anyway, but they never got the opportunity either. And it seems that more than ever, refs are way too flag-happy and it has cost teams chances to win ballgames. Earlier in this game, Trent Cole was flagged for a 15-yard personal foul penalty for a hit on Ryan that couldn’t have been a worse call. Cole hit him square and it wasn’t head-to-head or malicious at all.

I hate to talk about blown calls because they happen to every team every week. But they’ve seemed especially bad this year and it looks like they’ll continue throughout the season.

Chad Pennington has been solid for young Dolphins

Chad PenningtonThe knock on Chad Pennington his entire career is that he has a noodle-arm and can’t complete passes over 15 yards. But in the Dolphins impressive 25-16 win over the Bills on Sunday, Pennington proved that there is something attached to his right shoulder.

Pennington completed 22 of 30 passes for 314 yards and a touchdown against an underrated Buffalo defense and his 46-yard pass to Ted Ginn on the first play of the game set up a Anthony Fasano touchdown to put Miami up 7-0.

I was definitely skeptical of the Pennington signing in the offseason because I felt the Dolphins weren’t giving their young signal callers a chance to compete. But Pennington has been great for a young Miami squad and at 3-4 they’re certainly in the playoff hunt in the AFC, albeit a long shot.

The Bills really blew an opportunity to stay ahead of the Patriots in the AFC East. Trailing 17-16 at the start of the fourth quarter, Trent Edwards was intercepted, which Miami eventually turned into a field goal. On their next possession, Edwards fumbled and although Miami didn’t turn the turnover into points, they pinned the Bills at their own three-yard line and then sacked Edwards for a safety. Then down 25-16 with less than four minutes to play, Robert Royal fumbled, which allowed the Dolphins to run out the clock.

This was a disappointing step back for a Bills team that was building momentum after beating the Chargers last week.

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