5: St. Louis Rams 34,
In St. Louis, the Rams continue to reverse their fortunes from the disappointments of last season when they went 0-5 in their first five games and stuffed the Packers.
The Packers had trouble with turnovers all day, giving four to the Rams. For the second straight week, an Ahman Green fumble allowed the other team to score, and the Packers fumbled two other times to go along with a Brett Favre pick.
The Rams had a good day from receiver Isaac Bruce who had nine catches for 129 yards, while his quarterback, Marc Bulger, threw 22 completions in 34 attempts for 247 yards and three scores. The Rams are now 4-2 and just one game back of the Seahawks.
4: Buffalo Bills 24,
In Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Bills managed to keep their winning streak going and rode running back Travis Henry’s 167 yards and two touchdowns in their defeat of the Redskins.
The Bills, once the recipient of criticism, are now above .500 and back in the race for the AFC East while the Redskins and Coach Steve Spurrier now have the negative attention turned towards them.
They have now lost four of five and can’t seem to protect Patrick Ramsey, who was hurt in Sunday’s game. Ramsey bruised his throwing elbow when sacked. Another bright spot for the Bills was the successor to Bills’ departed Peerless Price, receiver Josh Reed who had eight catches for 109 yards and a score.
3: Minnesota Vikings 28,
In Minneapolis, the Vikings remained perfect, defeating the Broncos mainly because of star wide receiver Randy Moss’ performance. Moss, who had 10 catches for 151 yards and a lateral to Moe Williams for a score, was the star of the game.
The Vikings’ defense also held up its end of the bargain, knocking backup quarterback Steve Beuerlein out of the game and also getting three picks.
Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper has still not thrown an interception this season while throwing for seven touchdowns, five of them to Moss.
2: Tennessee Titans 37,
In Adelphia Coliseum, the Titans ended the Panthers’ unbeaten streak at five, jumping out to a 20-0 lead and never looking back.
The Panthers, who had looked so resilient in last week’s come from behind win over the Indianapolis Colts, could not put together any offensive drives, mainly due to the fact that Panther quarterback Jake Delhomme could not pass the ball.
Delhomme ended with 362 yards passing and two touchdowns, but much of it came at the end of the game. Stephen Davis, the focal point for the Carolina offense, had just 20 yards on 11 carries.
1: New England Patriots 19,
The Patriots are now alone atop the AFC East with their dramatic win over the Dolphins in Miami. The Patriots ended a streak that of losing 13 straight games to the Dolphins in Miami in September and October.
The Dolphins had two separate chances to win on field goals from kicker Olindo Mare but could not convert on either one. One kick was blocked by Richard Seymour and the other one was missed wide right. Both kicks were on the dirt of the baseball infield, which had an effect.
The Patriots took advantage of the second missed kick when on the next play, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady tossed an 82 yard strike to receiver Troy Brown to win outright.
The Patriots keep finding ways to win despite the fact that they have nine starters from last season either gone or sitting because of injury.
Other Regional Action:
In East Rutherford, the Eagles didn’t need Donovan McNabb to defeat the New York Giants. Brian Westbrook’s 84 yard punt return gave the Eagles the lead and the victory.
New York Jets 19, Houston Texans 14
In Houston, the New York Jets had to come from behind to beat the expansion Texans. Vinny Testaverde led his team on a drive that started at his own 14 yard line with just 2:48 remaining to set up LaMont Jordan’s eight-yard touchdown run to beat the Texans. The Jets have now won two in a row after losing their first four.
Player of the Week: Travis Henry
Henry had everything this week when the Bills really needed it.
In a game that could have sent the team’s season in any direction, Henry answered the criticism with 167 yards rushing. He set the tone for a team that needed a win to stay alive in the race for the toughest division in football, the AFC East.
Henry also needed a good day for the sake of himself as there is already talk of Henry vacating his roster spot for rookie Willis McGahee. If Henry keeps playing like this, that conversation will soon die.
Disappointment of the Week:
In a game that the Panthers fell behind in early, Delhomme was not up to the challenge. His play exposed a glaring hole in the Panthers’ offense: a terrible pass attack. When the Titans stacked the box and held running back Davis to just 20 yards on offense, Delhomme was without a response.
His mediocre quarterbacking and leadership skills are not what this teams needs to be playing late in January. This team is on the brink and needs a good, not average, quarterback to key its run to the Super Bowl.
Watch out for: Randy McMichael
This is one of the most underrated tight ends. Coming from the same draft class as the class-less Jeremy Shockey, McMichael has made himself a key to Miami’s offense.
McMichael can also do his job without all of the distractions that Shockey comes with. With 104 yards receiving against a great Patriot defense, McMichael put his team in position to win. Even though their kicker didn’t pull through, keep watching for McMichael, even if you have to watch a little harder.
