Week 7: Sunday Recap

For the past 6 weeks I have listened to my husband cuss, yell and gesture emphatically at the television and the computer because the players on his fantasy team were not performing as they should...I mean at times I actually felt bad for them...and then I remembered that I am 32 years old and understand that the people in the TV can't hear us. Today, something changed. It was like he thought that since intimidation and foul language weren't working, he would just try to ask them nicely. So I sat mesmerized by my smart, rational husband talking sweetly to Eli Manning asking him to "pretty please throw the ball to Hakeem Nicks" and then, on the next play, he did! I don't know how my hubby's fantasy team is fairing this year but I hope that he will remember the effectiveness of the kinder, gentler approach the next time I come home with a new pair of shoes.

I will risk life and limb to figure out how to walk in these.

- Sunday's game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans was a match-up between the only 2 teams in the AFC with winning records. All week the Baltimore Ravens have been telling themselves and everyone else that they will find a way to win without Ray Lewis playing on defense. On Sunday the Ravens did get some good news when they learned that Terrell Suggs, 2011 Defensive Player of the Year, would be active for their game against the Houston Texans after being out with an injury all season. But that was where the good news ended for the Ravens. The Texans were out for blood after an embarrassing loss to the Greenbay Packers last week and came out strong to kill the Ravens, 43-13, setting a franchise record for most points in a game. "Impress Him" Fact: Before today's game the Ravens were 5-0 against the Texans. Matt Schaub passed for 256 yards and 2 touchdowns while Arian Foster did his part with 98 yards and 2 touchdowns. Not only were the Ravens missing Ray Lewis and Ledarius Webb from their defense but Ed Reed also left the game with a chest injury. "Impress Him" Fact: While Ray Lewis is a terrifying character he is also the emotional center of not only the Baltimore Ravens (a team he has been with since the team's creation in 1996) but also possibly the entire NFL. Few other players in the league command the universal respect around the League that Ray Lewis does. Many are wondering if this triceps injury will be the end of his career.

Only Ray Lewis can make gripping a patch of turf look intimidating... well, the flames and arms don't hurt

- Drew Brees certainly seems to have gotten his mojo back for the New Orleans Saints. After throwing an early interception Brees bounced back to throw for 313 yards and 4 touchdowns IN THE FIRST HALF, extending his record holding streak to 49 consecutive games with a touchdown pass.While that is an impressive performance, New Orleans still had to overcome the shoddy play of their defense to pull off the 35-28 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who happened to be wearing their throwback uniforms that are called the "Creamsicles" because of their orange creamsicle color. Seriously. Josh Freeman, quarterback for the Bucs, had an impressive day himself, throwing for 420 yards and 3 touchdowns to give the Bucs an early 21-7 lead. But Drew Brees is sick of losing and the Saints walked away with their 2nd win a row. 

Sometimes, when you are calling yourselves "Creamsicles", it's hard to win football games.

- If there is one team that the Football Gods hate more than the Dallas Cowboys, it is the Carolina Panthers, so lucky for the Cowboys that they were on the road in Charlotte on Sunday to take on those very Panthers. Cam Newton and the Panthers were down 14-16 late in the 4th quarter but seemed to be driving down the field when those Football Gods decided to start throwing their tricks out there. First, on a 4th and 1 play, Cam Newton completed a pass for a 1st down...but the play was called dead because the officials ruled that the Cowboys had called a timeout. On the next play a Dallas defender collided with a Panthers receiver before the ball got there, which should have been a pass interference call, but no flag was thrown and the Cowboys got the ball back and kicked a field goal to give them a 19-14 lead. The Panthers were unable to get into field goal range and they walked away with their 4th straight loss. "Impress Him" Fact: Cowboys' kicker, Dan Bailey, missed a field goal to lose last week's heart-breaker against the Ravens. He made up for it today with 4 made field goals to win the game. 

Maybe this week they will give you a ride home, Dan.

- I have been to see exactly 3 scary movies in my entire life. The first was Scream the summer before my senior year of high school. I made it past the opening scene before I dragged my friend out of there and made her drive me around listening to the Spice Girls to get the images out of my head (before you say it, I know that Scream is not a real scary movie but how was I supposed to know that when drew Barrymore is getting stabbed over her her popcorn?!). The second was The Blair Witch Project when I was a sophomore in college. While I did somehow make it through the whole movie, I was not able to form a complete sentence for the rest of the night. The last scary movie I saw was the first Saw when I was in my first year of grad school. I was told by my best friend that we were going to have dinner and go see Ray; instead we had a bottle (or 2) of wine on his porch and he took me to see Saw, and even though we are still friends, I have never completely forgiven him for putting me through that, I can't even watch the previews that come on for all the hundreds of Saw's that have come since. The purpose of this trip down memory lane is that I have seen (just) enough scary movies to know that it is never over when you think it is, the bad guy always lunges for you one last time and that's exactly what happened when RG3 and the Washington Redskins took on Eli Manning and the New York Giants. With about 90 seconds left on the clock RG3 put together a 77 yards drive that was capped off with a 30 yard touchdown throw to Santana Moss to put the Redskins up 23-20. But the celebration didn't last long...no seriously it didn't last long at all; 19 seconds later Eli Manning threw a 77 yard pass to Victor Cruz for a touchdown and the Giants beat the Redskins, 23-27, their 3rd straight win. RG3 continues his bid for rookie of the year with 258 passing yards and 2 touchdowns; he also put up 89 rushing yards. Eli Manning overcame 2 interceptions to pass for 337 yards and the long touchdown to Victor Cruz.

Why do people pay good money to watch this guy torment people??

Quick Notes:

- Aaron Rodgers continues to look good for the Greenbay Packers...he's playing pretty good football too (badum bum). Rodgers completed 30 of 37 passes for 342 yards and 3 touchdowns in the Packers 30-20 win over the St. Louis Rams. At least one of my QB crushes is bouncing back (sorry, Cam!).

- Going into Week 7 all 4 teams in the AFC East were tied for first place (or last place, depending on how you want to look at it). The Jets, Dolphins, Patriots, and Bills all went into this week with 3-3 records. After Sunday's games, the New England Patriots move to the top of the division with the 26-29 overtime win over the New York Jets. The heartbreaking part of this loss for the Jets is that they were driving down the field getting in good position to at least tie the Patriots with a field goal when Mark Sanchez fumbled the ball in overtime, and the Patriots recovered giving them the automatic win.

Sometimes Tom makes it too easy for me. I hope Gisele has some baggies.

- Lucky for the Minnesota Vikings that they have Adrian Peterson on their team. The Vikings QB, Christian Ponder, completed 8 of only 17 passes for 58 yards against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. But who needs a pass game when Adrian Peterson is on your team and can rush for a season-high 153 yards and a touchdown. The Vikings also got some help from their defense who sacked Cardinals back-up QB, John Skelton, 7 times. The Vikings squeaked out an ugly 14-21 win over the Cards.

- Here's a team I don't talk about a lot but I am obsessed with that new show, Nashville so I am going to start paying attention to the Tennessee Titans. The Titans pulled off a 34-35 victory over the Buffalo Bills. They have been waiting all season for Chris Johnson to show up and today he did with 195 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns during a crazy first quarter when the 2 teams scored 3 touchdowns in 30 seconds.Titans QB, matt Hasselbeck secured the win with a 15 yard TD pass with a minute left. Aside: If yall haven't been watching Nashville you are CRAY CRAY!! It is so good for so many reasons one of which is Connie Britton's hair. It comes on Wednesdays at 10pm on ABC, you can thank me later.

Before you judge, just watch one episode. And no, that is not an Olsen Twin.

There you have it, a rundown of the 7th Sunday of the 2012 season. Only 9 more regular season Sundays to go and then it really gets interesting!

Week 4: So Close! Sunday Recap

Yesterday, thanks to a very sweet friend, I was invited to go to the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers game in Atlanta. This was not only my first NFL game but also the first time I was going to get to see my favorite, Cam Newton, play live and in person. And to make my day even more special, my ticket came from Linda Hope, the wife of Chris Hope who plays for the Atlanta Falcons (my friend does some work with the Hopes). So in addition to my first NFL game, and seeing my favorite player, I got to see the games from the insiders perspective and the whole experience has really made me love this sport. The stadium's energy was so exciting with loud, fun music (which wins me over in most situations), and a raucous crowd. As much as I love Cam Newton it was hard not to root for the Falcons who were one of several teams to pull out a close win yesterday. I also want to say that even though I had the best time and am so thankful I got to go to the game yesterday, it did make me realize that the best way to watch the games really is in my living room with my husband and his crazy "NFL Sunday" hair....I wonder if he will let me blast some music during time outs.  Well, since I lived it, let's start in Atlanta.

- Let's just say that getting into the Georgia Dome 10 minutes before kickoff was not the easiest thing I have ever done. Once we got in and got up to our section the Panthers had already put 7 points on the board, Cam Newton had thrown a 17 yard touchdown pass to Greg Olsen for the early lead. In fact, it looked like the Panthers had locked up a win. Cam Newton competed 15 out of 24 passes for 215 yards and 2 touchdowns AND one rushing touchdown. It looked like the Panthers were going to hang on to their one point lead as Cam Newton hung on to the ball to rush for a first down and run the clock down. But he fumbled the ball, lost the first down, and the Falcons got their opportunity to score. Atlanta QB, Matt Ryan, was sacked for a career high 7 times during this game. But he overcame that painful stat to throw a 59 yard bomb to Roddy White. That huge play with a few more short completions got the Falcons in field goal position and Matt Bryan kicked a 40 yard field goal to win the game 28-30. The Falcons go on with a 4-0 record and Cam Newton walked off the field with the weight of the Panthers loss on his very nice shoulders.

The cheese stands alone. I'll talk to you, Cam!

- Eli Manning was not able to pull a rabbit out of his hat last night when the NY Giants took on Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night. Well, he actually was able to, but then his kicker killed that poor bunny. The Eagles were up by 2 with 15 seconds left in the game. The Giants' kicker, Lawrence Tynes went out to attempt a 54 yards field goal and he missed it! Except, much like the Dolphins last week, the Eagles had called a time out in order to try and "ice the kicker" so he would have another chance...a shot at redemption...he could still win the game...and then he missed it AGAIN! The Eagles squeaked out another win 17-19. "Impress Him" Fact: The Eagles became the first team in NFL history to have all 3 of their first wins decided by 2 points or less.

- For a hot second it looked like the New Orleans Saints might get their first win in the most hostile of environments, Lambeau Field, against the Greenbay Packers. I think it is safe to say that after the debacle that was last Monday night's game, the Packers deserved a break, though it seemed like even the regular officials were against them during this game. After it appeared that the Saints had fumbled a kickoff return and the Packers had recovers it, the refs called the runner "down by contact" which means there was no fumble. The Packers were out of challenges so what should have been a turnover, stayed with the Saints and the marched the ball down the field to get in field goal position. Garrett Hartley made the first 43 yard attempt but the Saints were called for holding so they moved it back 10 yards to set up a 53 yard attempt. To add a little more drama the Packers were then called for encroachment to move it back up 5 yards and make it a 48 yard attempt. Poor Hartley probably was expecting another whistle when he finally did get to kick the football so he missed it and the Packers found redemption with a 27-28 win over the Saints. In good news for the Saints, Drew Brees looked good with 446 passing yards including 3 touchdowns. "Impress Him" Fact: Drew Brees now has 47 consecutive regular season games with a touchdown pass, tying Johnny Unitas for the all time record. Aaron Rodgers was no slouch either, he threw for 319 yards and 4 touchdowns to get the Packers' win.

- The Washington Redskins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers decided they wanted to be part of the close games that were going on on Sunday. And on a day where kickers were making or breaking games the Redskins' kicker, Billy Cundiff, thought that he would do his part by missing 3 field goals and then coming out to kick (and make) the game winning, 41-yard field goal. The Bucs had overcome an 18-point deficit to pull ahead of the Redskins 22-21. But our favorite rookie, who showed so much promise during that first week, was not ready for his team to lose 3 in a row. Despite the headset in his helmet going out, Robert Griffin III (RG3) led the Redskins from their own 20 yard line to the 40 and then carried the ball himself to the 26 yard line. Cundiff's game winner gave the Redskins their 24-22 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as well as ensuring that he had a ride home. Don't count RG3 and the Redskins out just yet.

Other Notables:
- The Houston Texans ran over the Tennessee Titans 38-14. Last week Texans QB, lost part of his ear after a particularly nasty hit. He proved that you really don't need that part of your ear to play football as he threw for 202 yards and 2 touchdowns. Arian Foster rushed for 86 yards. "Impress Him" Fact: The Texans are 4-0 for the first time in franchise history.

- The New England Patriots destroyed AFC East rivals the Buffalo Bills. At the beginning of the third quarter the Bills were up 21-7 and I was about to open a bottle of champagne to celebrate the demise of the Patriots. And then Tom Brady sensed my impending celebration and decided to rain on my parade. He directed 6 touchdown drives in the second half to come back and kill the Bills 52-28. The Patriots had 580 yards of offense and forced 6 turnovers. "Impress Him" Fact: The Patriots' 45 points in the second half were the most in franchise history and the fourth most in NFL history, they were also the most by a team who was trailing since 1950.

I just like silly pictures of this guy. Bet you a million dollars he has never been on a motorcycle. (Photo Credit: justjared.com)

Well, that does it for me until tomorrow's recap of the Chicago Bears at the Dallas Cowboys! I am off to have a very productive day off...and by productive I mean catch up on Revenge, Once Upon a Time, and the Real Housewives of New Jersey Reunion, Part 1 (of 3!!!). You have your definition of productive, I have mine.