Week 9: Guess Who's Back! Sunday Recap

You know when you are watching The Bachelorette and at the beginning almost all of the guys seem like a catch? They are all pretty good looking, relatively successful, and putting their best foot forward in order to get the girl. But after a the first 4-5 weeks you start to realize that there are about 3 guys who will dominate the show, about 6 guys who will intrigue the girl enough to keep them around, and the rest will spend their time lounging by the pool drinking margaritas and picking out their outfit for the rose ceremony. The NFL is a lot like The Bachelorette. Some teams are rising to the top, some are just on the fringe of making a big move, and some are just falling away. The upside of the NFL vs. The Bachelorette?Just as many cute guys but you don't have to watch them go on weird group dates, listen to their mom's talk about how special they are, or listen to the songs they wrote to try and land a record deal impress the girl.

- The Carolina Panthers are by no means the cream of the crop this season. But there is a key component of the team that makes me keep them around. That key component has been sucking it up lately so I have been too depressed to write about it. But this week he was back to his old self and I am happy to have a reason to search for pictures of him again. I, of course, am talking about my imaginary best friend, Cam Newton, and he couldn't have gotten his mojo back for a better game.The comparisons between Cam Newton and RG3 have been going on all season, so it was inevitable that all the talk before this game would be centered around last year's Rookie of the Year vs. This year's possible Rookie of the Year when the Carolina Panthers took on the Washington Redskins on Sunday. Aside: There might be a reason why girls shouldn't watch football. As a breed we can be a dangerous combination of emotional and unforgiving especially when we feel like one of our people has been attacked. So when I saw an interview where RG3 said that he would rather be compared to quarterback like Aaron Rodgers instead of Cam Newton because Rodgers had been winning,  I naturally saw red and now hate RG3. Rational? Of course not....but it's my right and privilege as a female to decide not to like someone for no reason at all, a character flaw that can get exhausting while watch a highly competitive and ego-charged sport. End of Aside. The Panther defense made life difficult for that little punk, RG3 by sacking him 4 times and holding him to only 53 rushing yards. Cam Newton completed 13 of 23 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 37 yards and had a rushing touchdown of his own. The 21-13 win over the Redskins breaks a 5 game losing streak for the Panthers. Weird Fact: While the win is good news for the Panthers it might be bad news for Obama because of a phenomenon known as the Redskins Rule. As far as superstitions go, this one is pretty specific, click the link to read all of its intricacies. It should be noted that the Redskins have not won the game before election day since 1992.

Good to have you and your smile back, Friend!

- It was a battle between rookie quarterbacks when Ryan Tannehill and the Miami Dolphins traveled to Indianapolis to take on Andrew Luck and the Colts. Both quarterbacks had impressive showings. Tannehill comleted 22 of 38 passes for 290 yards and a touchdown just a week after injuring his knee. Andrew Luck not only had an impressive game, he broke the aformentioned Cam Newton's single passing game record for a rookie with 433 passing yards and two touchdowns. A feat that was probably made even sweeter by the fact that Chuck Pagano, the Indianapolis Head Coach who has been out battling Leukemia, was in the coaches box for the first time since his diagnosis. The QBs traded scores back and forth but in the end it was Luck who led the Colts to the 20-23 win over the Dolphins in a pretty clean game that included 0 turnovers. "Impress Him" Facts: Going into Sunday's game the Dolphins were the best in the NFL when it came to stopping 3rd down conversions. That is until Andrew Luck converted 13 of 19 3rd down attempts. Luck also became the second QB in NFL history to have 4 games with 300+ passing yards in his rookie season. Who is the other one you ask? That would be Peyton Manning, the very same former Colts QB whose very large shoes Andrew Luck is trying to fill.

He may break records, but Luck's "coolness" factor needs some work

- Unless you live on Mars or just genuinely don't care about anyone else, you know that the northeast just got the poo kicked out of them by Superstorm Sandy. So the atmosphere in New Jersey was understandably emotional for the New York Giants vs. Pittsburgh Steelers game. Eli Manning and the Giants tried to provide a few hours of relief to those affected by the storm, but alas even the Great Eli Manning isnt immune to the weather and the Steelers pulled off a sloppy 24-20 win to break the Giants 4-game winning streak. At first, it seemed like the Steelers and maybe even the officials were going to throw the Giants a bone and just let them have the win. The Steelers inexpicably called a fake field goal attempt in the fourth quarter that would have tied the game but instead cost them a yard;  and the officials made some very weird calls against the Steelers that cost Pittsburgh 11 points. But the Steelers are not quitters and walked away with the win with the help of running back, Isaac Redman who had 147 rushing yards and the game winning touchdown. Don't forget to text "redcross" to 90999 to donate $10 to the storm's relief efforts, some people have just lost everything. "Impress Him" Fact: Both Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger were drafted in the first round of the 2004 draft. Eli was the Number One pick and was picked by the San Diego Chargers. Well little Eli didnt want to play in San Diego and made it very clear that he would not go. Meanwhile, Big Ben was all set to be picked by the Giants, until he heard it announced that the Giants were going tpo pick Philip Rivers and then trade with the Chargers to get Eli. Lucky for Ben, he was picked by the Steelers and as we know 8 years later, both quarterbacks are still with the teams who they started with. The 2004 draft is the only draft to produce 2 quarterbacks both with multiple Super Bowl wins.

Let's get this straight. He was picked #1, is an instant millionaire, and no one wants to smile?

- If you follow this blog at all you know that the Dallas Cowboys are a marked team this year. If QB, Tony Romo, has a bad game they lose. If Romo has a good game...they lose. There doesnt seem anything they can do to finish games. So when they went to the Georgia Dome to take on the undefeated Atlanta Falcons we had to know that even though they looked better than the Falcons in the first half...they would inevitably...let's say it together...Lose. During the first half of this game the Falcons seemed to be struggling. running back, Michael Turner couldnt get anything going (he had only 18 yards in the first half) and kicker, Matt Bryant missed 2 field goals. But something changed with Turner in the second half when he broke off a 43 yard run with 2 minutes left in the third quarter. Turner finished the game with 102 yards and a touchdown. "Impress Him" Fact: The Falcons are 16-3 when Turner has a 100+yard rushing game. Turner's burst of energy seemed contagious as the Falcons' receivers, Julio Jones and Roddy White also had 100+ yard receiving. In the end the Falcons pulled off another squeaker to beat the Cowboys 13-19 and remain the NFL's only undefeated team and the Cowboys need to win at least 6 of their next 8 games to even have a shot at the playoffs. "Impress Him" Fact: New Orleans Head Coach, Sean Payton, has been suspended for the season. Before being suspended Payton signed a multi million dollar contract with the Saints which the NFL voided this weekend. That means that the Super Bowl winning, Payton can go wherever he wants once his suspension is over and rumor has it that Cowboys' owner and all around moneybags, Jerry Jones, will come knocking. 

Quick Notes:

- Quarterbacks weren't the only rookies having a big day on Sunday. Tampa Bay Bucanneer, Doug Martin, rushed for a franchise record 251 yards and 4 touchdowns, tying the record for most rushing touchdowns in a game. Only Adrian Peterson and Demarco Murray had more yards in their rookie seasons. Tampa Bay beat the Oakland Raiders 42-32.

- Speaking of Minnesota Viking, Adrian Peterson, he had his best first half ever with 144 rushing yards, his most ever in the first half. The Vikings lost to the Seattle Seahawks 20-30.

What do you think, does my Bachelorette  comparison hold any water at all? And speaking of that weirdly addicting show will you watch The Bachelor even if this doofus is playing the part of Mr. Wonderful?

Seriously, ABC? Did Jake Pavelka say no and this is as close as you could get? Gross.