Wow, what a weekend. Three blowouts and an upset. New York 17, San Diego 14
How about the Jets? Terrific defense with a good enough offense. Rex Ryan was right; this team is for real. Mark Sanchez grinded through at qb for the Jets throwing a key third down, two-yard td pass to Dustin Keller for the go ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter and Shonn Greene added a huge 53-yard td run to help ice away the victory. The defense took care of the rest intercepting Philip Rivers twice, one by Jim Leonhard and another beautiful int by Darrelle Revis while he was on his back after the ball ricocheted off the leg of Vincent Jackson of the Chargers. The Jets timed their pass rush perfectly and were in the backfield all day against Rivers.
The Jets do it with a solid running game–Greene ran for 128 yards on 23 carries–an efficient quarterback and a phenomenal defense.
They've got a major challenge this weekend with the Colts though. Peyton Manning is a totally different level from anyone they've faced.
New Orleans 45, Arizona 14
Who dat say those Saints were struggling? They played the type of football that we got used to through most of the regular season. Reggie Bush with an 83-yard punt return and a beautiful 46-yard td run. He looks like the Reggie Bush we were used to seeing at USC and at New Orleans at times.
Drew Brees was solid if not spectacular. He was 23-of-32 for 247 yards and three tds: a 17-yarder to Jeremy Shockey, a 44-yarder to Devery Henderson and a two-yard scoring pass to Marques Colston.
This sets up an epic with the Vikings at New Orleans next Sunday.
Indianapolis 20, Baltimore 3
The Ravens just couldn't take advantage of opportunities. Ed Reed intercepted two Manning passes that were wasted. One when he fumbled on the return of the int after being stripped by Pierre Garcon and another int negated by a pass interference call.
Peyton was 30-0f-44 for 246 yards with two tds, one 10-yarder to Austin Collie and another three-yarder to Reggie Wayne. Baltimore just couldn't get it done as the Colts showed they are back after resting their starters late in the season.
Minnesota 34, Dallas 3
What was expected to be a close game, even a possible Dallas victory, turned into a blowout. The Vikings D stepped up big time sacking Tony Romo six times. Defensive end Ray Edwards had three sacks himself.
Brett Favre was phenomenal. He was 15-of-24 for 234 yards and four touchdowns with a qb rating of 134.4. Sidney Rice was even better. He caught six passes for 141 yards and three tds of 45, 16 and 47 yards. The Vikings' passing game is on fire and their running game with Adrian Peterson makes them a machine offensively. But their defense was also key in this game. Jared Allen and company stepped up big time.