NFL 2011: Week Nine Review

The Tim Tebow Saga continues. I wonder if we might see a sort of Rex Grossman-like season from the Denver Broncos QB. Remember how it was with Rex in Chicago during the Bears Super Bowl run of 2006-07? You never knew which Rex you were going to get on any given Sunday: the one who won games with his strong arm or the one who threw bad picks and fumbled the football. Last week, Tebow looked horrible. This week...not so bad. Good but not great. There's more to build on from this week's performance than last.

Very pleased with my Giants and their big win against New England in Foxboro. To be honest, I wasn't certain that Big Blue would be able to go to Gillette Stadium and come away with a win, but I'm glad they did. Eli Manning seems to be making a living out of destroying Patriots hopes late in games. He did it to great effect in Super Bowl XLII and, aided by a Pass Interference call, did it again this week, with, of course, a little less on the line. The G-Men are sitting nicely at 6-2 and on a three-game win streak. They face San Francisco next week, and that should be a cracker.

What to make of the Patriots? Well, we all knew that their defense isn't very good. It's proven statistically and by just watching a football game. They were victimised on a late drive and allowed Manning to throw for 250 yards and two scores. Tom Brady has 10 interceptions on the season. There've been seasons where he hasn't had that many in sixteen weeks. It's a little ironic that everyone continues to call Eli Manning the Interception Machine, yet he has four less than Brady.

Speaking of interceptions, San Diego Chargers QB Philip Rivers leads the league with 14. He threw 3 today in the 45-38 loss to Green Bay. Two of those picks were returned for six points by the Packers defense. In a shoot-out game, those were the difference between a Chargers win and a Packers loss. Now, San Diego are on a 3-game losing streak and try to avoid making it four against Oakland on Thursday night. Bottom line, Rivers needs to hold onto the football and make better throws. He just hasn't looked good this year. Not like the 'good' you normally expect from him, anyway.

Miami finally get a win, beating Kansas City 31-3, but is that really good news in terms of the future? Perhaps not, given that Indianapolis, who lost today and remain without a win this season, are now front runners for the #1 overall draft pick, that will surely be Stanford QB Andrew Luck. Can you imagine Luck sitting a few years behind Manning? It did wonders for Aaron Rodgers, with Brett Favre as tutor. The rest of the league must be trembling at the thought!

The Jets might be back. Maybe. Possibly. At least, they are this week, and they looked pretty good beating Buffalo 27-11 inside Ralph Wilson Stadium. Much maligned quarterback Mark Sanchez did what he had to do, going 20-28 for 230 yards, a TD and an INT. Turnovers killed Buffalo. The Jets took advantage. The AFC East is an interesting place now, with New England, the Jets and Buffalo all close together and fighting it out.

Joe Flacco is ice cold, baby. The Baltimore QB put together a drive and a half to beat Pittsburgh, and it was a sensational football game to end a day full of good ones. Steelers vs. Ravens is never short on drama.

Aaron Rodgers isn't too bad, either. What did he do today? A lazy 21-26 for 247 yards and 4 TDs. Good day at the office. The Packers defense is worrying, though. They gave up a lot of yards and points to San Diego's depleted offense. I guess it's not too much of a problem when you have Rodgers running an offense that can pretty much outscore anyone on the planet.

Surprise packet of the season? By far and away, the Cincinnati Bengals, the forgotten team in the AFC North. No one, I don't think, expected such a rapid improvement, but this is a team that is blossoming before our eyes. QB Andy Dalton has had an immediate impact, as has WR AJ Green, and the Bengal defense is lights-out.

Philadelphia's dream season is slowly fading. Their Monday Night Football loss to Chicago in the City of Brotherly Love drops them to 3-5 and what progress they had made over the last few weeks - two wins, one on either side of the bye week - has been undone and their chances of a playoff berth look more unlikely now than ever before. Even so, there is a chance, for the Eagles schedule to the end features New England, Seattle, Miami, NY Jets, Dallas and Washington. If they win 4 of those, does 7-5 in the NFC East make it in? Good question, with the rough schedule the Giants have and Dallas languishing a spot ahead of the Eagles at 4-4.