Jordan’s Serial: NFL 2013 Week 6 Takeaways
A third of the way through the regular season and we are down to just two unbeaten teams. One will be seen by some as a shock to be that way, the other were nearly shocked out of their immense start to 2013.
The Kansas City Chiefs will look to pour further misery on the Houston Texans this week and improve their record to 7-0, and their AFC West counterparts the Denver Broncos have a Sunday Night date with a Colts team that is now a mystery.
Here’s how Week 6 in the 2013 NFL season played out.
GIANTS 21 BEARS 27
It’s hard to gauge exactly where Chicago are at right now, after losing their way a little they had a chance to regain some lost form against this year’s surprise woeful team the New York Giants. True to form the Giants looked to throw away the game early, Eli Manning dishing out a pick 6 on the first NY drive. They stuck around though, the Bears winning but not completely convincing. They have another NFC East test this week and if they should get past the Redskins they could see their season back on track.
PACKERS 19 RAVENS 17
This game was an intriguing one because neither team has really lived up to its billing so far. Yes Green Bay are winning games but not with the big scores and numbers we have come to expect, at the end of the day though they are putting up W’s and that’s what it’s all about. After being blown away on opening night the Baltimore defence has stiffened and will look to their offence to try and win games for them. For some reason it’s just not happening at the moment. Flacco maybe playing a touch too conservative. The Ravens though are still very much a team to watch.
BENGALS 27 BILLS 24
If Buffalo could just get over the hump and see a game out they would be very dangerous. They had to come from behind in this one and they have another new hero in backup QB Thad Lewis. The youngster in the game because of Manuel being out stirred the Bills enough and forced overtime with a great touchdown throw in the closing moments. Cincinnati could at this point have folded but on this day they were made of slightly sterner stuff and their good side come out. This win shows that they are a strong team and even when momentum swings against them they can dig keep enough. Still both remain playoff hopefuls though.
LIONS 31 BROWNS 17
Cleveland went into this one with hopes of a four game win streak, imagine that! No, neither could Detroit. After strong wins under the guidance of Brian Hoyer, the Browns were forced – by injury to Hoyer – to bring back Weeden. This ultimately proved their undoing. A drive to try and tie up the game was lost when he was picked off. Detroit will see this as a good win on the road and keeps them very much in the thick of things in the NFC North.
RAMS 38 TEXANS 13
When it’s going wrong, it goes completely wrong. The Houston crowd – get this – actually cheered when their QB Matt Schaub had to leave the game hurt. That’s how bad it’s been and how bad the Texans fans were on this occasion. Starting the season with exceptionally high hopes Houston are now looking at a ruined season, one that at this stage can be saved, but also at this stage unlikely to be. St. Louis are a team that can still make a run, they are far from spectacular, even though this win would suggest otherwise, and if they get their noses above .500 will only get more confident.
PANTHERS 35 VIKINGS 10
A game played under the cloud of Adrian Peterson’s personal issues, should he have played given what had happened just 48 hours before hand? That’s another debate. The fact that he did play and was a non-factor is something that Minnesota will look upon with disappointment. Coming off the bye week after their London win, the Vikings could have been thinking another win against Carolina and the tide would turn on the season, instead the Panthers come out and completely dominated. Cam Newton had one of those days that had fans purring, finally showing that he could be back to his rookie season best.
RAIDERS 7 CHIEFS 24
Oakland opened the scoring. That’s about it from their point of view. OK, so that is being a little harsh, they did hold the Chiefs for large portions of the game, and it was only late on that Kansas City started to move away on the scoreboard. This was another typical Chiefs win. I would have struggled to say that sentence in the last couple of years. This however is a new breed of Chiefs and they are doing it with style and no fuss. If it wasn’t for a certain QB in the same division they have someone who in my opinion is having an MVP type year. Jamal Charles got another 100 yards from scrimmage game, and you get the feeling that as long as he’s going the Chiefs will be too.
STEELERS 19 JETS 7
It’s been a long time coming. Well, six weeks to be exact, five if you take off the bye, but Pittsburgh have finally got off the mark. A bruising ugly game between two teams that would have wished for better things come this stage of the season. The New York Jets will see this one as a chance missed, the AFC East is as open as its been for many a year and playing a winless team would have had their eyes lit up. This is the Jets though and they tend to implode at the worst moment. Mike Tomlin will see this as a building block for his ageing team, and maybe will still see a chink of light at the end of a very long tunnel.
EAGLES 31 BUCCANEERS 20
Nick Foles is causing a problem for Philadelphia coach Chip Kelly. His organised low key play has emphasised the fact that he is a legit starter, but the Eagles offence is totally geared up for Michael Vick. All the time Vick is out injured and Foles keeps winning how can you change it around? A nice problem to have though as you sit on top the East albeit a tied lead. Going on to Tampa Bay, well there is a power shift happening and it isn’t pretty. The Buccs are actually starting to challenge the Jaguars as the worst team in football right now. No, seriously. Come back to me when their offence wakes up. Just six points in the whole second halves of play this year. Not getting it done.
JAGUARS 19 BRONCOS 35
This is the reason I made the above statement. Jacksonville came to play on Sunday and confounded everyone. Here we all were, expecting Denver to put up at least 50 points, maybe even push for 60. Instead, at the half it was just 14-12 and everyone was thinking upset. Hey, the Jaguars could have even been ahead had they not botched a field gaol attempt. Eventually things calmed down and the Broncos found their legs and form. There was no danger of running up the score as both defences played hard. Denver will be glad they had an off day against the Jags, otherwise they would not still be unbeaten.
TITANS 13 SEAHAWKS 20
Getting the job done. At this point Seattle is all about this. They have pulled out the big plays and scores when they’ve needed to this year (49ers remember?) but largely they have gone about their winning without shouting loudly. A hard-nosed Tennessee team was just the kind of test that the Seahawks needed. The AFC South team is a talented group this year and will grow big through the year, on Sunday they fell just short of what would have been seen as an upset but no real surprise at the same time. Seattle still the team to beat in the NFC…
SAINTS 27 PATRIOTS 30
…because New Orleans played too conservative against New England, especially down the stretch. If you want to be known as the best you have to put the best down. In this game we had two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks who were out to beat each other in a game of one-upmanship. New Orleans could and should have made a real statement here, they are back to their old ways, winning and dominating teams, but you got to put your rivals down, make them think and second guessing themselves. Instead we had another master-class in how to get the job done by Tom Brady. Over to you Drew Brees…
CARDINALS 20 49ERS 32
Slowly, slowly, San Francisco have picked up the pieces from the two losses suffered a month ago and now they look to be something like their old best. Although they are not yet firing on all cylinders, that of course can be a good thing, why peak now when you can peak in January and February? Something tells me they are protecting Kaepernick a little, therefore the edgy, rawness has gone. Unleash him, let him play. Arizona, I felt, had a chance to upset the books here, they just need to be bigger and bolder on defence.
REDSKINS 16 COWBOYS 31
Dallas responded from their shoot-out loss last week with a subdued performance, I guess things had to calm down a little right? The game changed on two huge special teams returns by Dwayne Harris. He returned a punt all the way, and a kick-off virtually all the way. It was a spark in a dark affair. Washington couldn’t get much going on offence and even though last year’s Cowboys tormentor RG3 showed some brief glimpses of what made him so famous, it wasn’t enough. Wins against divisional opponents will be key to each team in the East this year, so far the Cowboys are 2-0.
COLTS 9 CHARGERS 19
San Diego did all the small things right in this one, resulting in long time consuming drives, ending in points and keeping Andrew Luck’s Indianapolis off the field. Philip Rivers was again very assured in his game and this win keeps the Chargers in the mix, their inconsistency could be their downfall in the end but as long as they are fighting, they could deliver a knock-out blow. This loss leaves us wondering which Colts team will show up every week. Stunning wins over the past few weeks has actually had some people suggesting Super Bowl, this however wasn’t even play-off worthy and they need to have a quick turnaround, next up is a return of a certain QB to town for one night only.