Excitement, drama in NFL week four
Week three in the NFL saw a lot of close games and some blow-outs and served as a learning experience for fans – the Saint Louis Rams might be better than most thought and the Chicago Bears may not be as good as their record would suggest. After week four, there is only one team that remains undefeated, the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs had the fortune of having their bye week this week, allowing them to remain undefeated through four weeks. Here’s what’s on tap going into week four.
Battle in the trenches
One of the better games in week four was between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens. These were two hardnosed defenses just trying to hit something. Through week four, Pittsburgh was down to its fourth-string quarterback and was relying heavily on the play of its defense. But it was the Steelers defense that gave up the big play that eventually lost them the game, their first loss of the season. The Steelers seemed to have the game in hand when they stopped the Ravens on both third and fourth downfrom the Steelers’ two-yard line with around three minutes to go, but a holding call on the Steelers punt gave the Ravens favorable field positioning. On the Ravens’ drive, quarterback Joe Flacco took the offense down the field and hit wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh for a touchdown with 32 seconds remaining, giving the Ravens a 17-14 victory.
City of Brotherly Love
The City of Brotherly Love lived up to its nickname on Sunday, even if it was just for a moment. Washington Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb was the last name announced as the Redskins were introduced before the game. He was greeted by an overwhelming majority of cheers from the Philadelphia fans. The love-fest didn’t last long, however, as the cheers soon turned to boos when McNabb completed his first pass. The bigger story of the game may have been the injury to Eagles quarterback Michael Vick. Vick was crushed between two Redskin defenders on a play that didn’t even count due to a holding call. Reports are saying that Vick suffered a rib cartilage injury that will probably keep him out of next week’s game, meaning former starter Kevin Kolb may be back in the saddle for the team. In the end, McNabb got the upper hand in the game, with the Redskins coming out of Philadelphia with a win, 17-12.
Record setting half
The New York Giants sent Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler to an early shower. The Giants were able to sack Cutler nine times in the first half. On the final blow, Cutler suffered a concussion that kept him out of the second half of the game. The Bears believe that Cutler will be fine to play next week, however. The Giants ended the game with 10 total sacks and held the Bears offense to 110 total yards. The Giants gave the Bears their first loss of the season after beating them 17-3 on Sunday night.
Looking ahead
Week five will be a week of returns. Several high profile players serving four-game suspensions will be back in action for week five, most notably, Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger. But Roethlisberger will have to wait yet another week to start his season since the Steelers have their bye week this week – although he is eligible to practice with the team again. Other notable returns will be former Super Bowl MVP and new wide receiver for the New York Jets. Santonio Holmes. NFL defensive rookie of the year Brian Cushing will help the surging Houston Texans team with his return.
There are still four teams still looking for that first win in week five; the Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions and the Carolina Panthers.
Game to keep an eye on
The one game to keep an eye on for week five will be the Minnesota Vikings visiting the New York Jets. Brett Favre will be visiting one of his former teams. The air attack of the Vikings just has not been there this year and now they go up against a good Jets defense and maybe the best cornerback tandem in the league if Darrelle Revis returns this week. As much as Brett Favre likes to be the center of attention, the key matchup for the Vikings will be Adrian Peterson power-running against this strong Jets defense. Peterson can help take some of the pressure off Favre and the Viking receivers.
The Vikings are no slouch on defense, either. When the Jets are on offense, Sanchez has improved quite a bit this season but will need to be careful and not turn the ball over. At the same time, they need to take advantage of their new wide receiver duo of Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards. Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson has found a time machine, running like he is 20 again. With all those weapons on the field, it should be interesting to see how the Vikings will defend the Jets. The key for the Vikings will be getting to Sanchez and trying to throw off his timing and rhythm while trying to contain the Jets ground attack. If anything, it should be fun to watch the Jets with all that star power on one team.
– jake.ipson@aggiemail.usu.com