Muscle Sport Magazine

NFL Week 7: Recap & Analysis – Tebow, Palmer Eras Begin in Denver, Oakland

Texans – 41, TITANS – 7

Believe it or not, this was actually a battle for first place in the AFC South and the shorthanded Texans blew the doors off of Tennessee. Only a half game separates the two still, but Houston is looking better and at 4-3, can ride RB Arian Foster to the division title in a golden opportunity season (see Indianapolis).

JETS – 27, Chargers – 21

Two consecutive wins following a three-game losing streak gives Jets fans reason to smile heading into the bye week. Especially when you factor in the following: they trailed by 11 at the half and got two important components of their offense going. WR Plaxico Burress had three touchdown receptions and RB Shonn Greene eclipsed 100 yards to lead the Jets (4-3) over a talented San Diego (4-2) squad.

Broncos – 18, DOLPHINS – 15

Tim Tebow returned to the state of his greatest accomplishments and the holy roller led Denver (2-4) to an exciting overtime comeback over still-winless Miami (0-6). Tony Sparano won’t go for two next time when he’s ahead in the game.

Falcons – 23, LIONS – 16

After coming out of the gate 5-0, Detroit has now dropped their last two, both at home. Atlanta (4-3) lives another day and should be able to use this quality win as a springboard to keep moving up. If Matt Stafford keeps getting banged up, the Lions will see another season end without a playoff berth.

edf_page_ad

PANTHERS – 33, Redskins – 20

Perhaps a sign of things to come for two teams going in different directions. Carolina improved to 2-5, but the long-term picture looks promising with rookie QB Cam Newton playing like a veteran. Washington (3-3) is falling back into the pack of the NFC East and will eventually be better off finding out of Beck is the answer. He probably is not.

Bears – 24, BUCCANEERS – 18

Another NFL game played in London and another ho-hum affair. Both teams come back to the US at 4-3 but Chicago looked strong, while Tampa Bay did not.

BROWNS – 6, Seahawks- 3

The worst game of the weekend. Not worth even going further than that.

Steelers – 32, CARDINALS – 20

Somehow, Pittsburgh is 5-2 and in first place. They have not played consistently and looked downright awful at times, but good teams find ways to win and that is the case here. That also rings true for Arizona, but the other way around. Bad teams always find a way to lose. How are those Kevin Kolb red jerseys selling now?

Chiefs- 28, RAIDERS – 0

Carson Palmer went from on his butt on the couch to on his back at Oakland, courtesy of a fired-up Kansas City (3-3) squad that smelled blood in the water. The old rivalry was totally one-sided on this day, but not too many expected to see Oakland’s new QB less than a week after he was acquired. He replaced an ineffective Kyle Boller, who didn’t have the same rusty excuse. All is not lost for 4-3 Oakland, who need to get Palmer acclimated with the playbook.

Packers- 33, VIKINGS- 27

Christian Ponder has taken over for Donovan McNabb and will be there for a long time if he continues to play the way he did on Sunday. Sure, Minnesota (1-6) lost the game to the undefeated defending Super Bowl champions, but Green Bay (7-0) was on the ropes a few times. That’s a lot more than most of their opponents this season can say.

COWBOYS – 34, Rams – 7

Look who’s back in the playoff hunt? Dallas (3-3) has hung tough all year and took advantage of a St. Louis (0-6) team that was the sexy preseason pick to win the weak NFC West. That’s not happening.

SAINTS – 62, Colts – 7

How the mighty have fallen. Indianapolis is 0-7 and on track to be in position to draft Andrew Luck. That will be an interesting scenario, depending on Peyton Manning’s health. New Orleans (5-2) made it look easy because it was.

JAGUARS – 12, Ravens – 7

The runner-up for the most boring game of Week 7, but it actually had an interesting fourth quarter. Baltimore (4-2) could not get anything going on offense and looked putrid trying to move the ball. Jacksonville (2-5) played with inspiration on the national stage and earned this win.

Photo by Bill Menzel

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *