The NFC race continues to reshape each week. Among the big notes of the week, a previously undefeated team has fallen from the ranks of perfection, a winless team finally got in the “W” column, and the conference’s top teams have continued their recent dominance. Here’s a recap of all that went down in the conference.
Atlanta Falcons (21) @ New Orleans Saints (31)
The Falcons have played good football so far this season (specifically against the NFC East), and they entered the game against the Saints with a perfect record Thursday night. The Saints had other plans for their division rivals, and they came out the gates blazing. The offense, which struggled a week ago against the Eagles, played outstanding football. Drew Brees had a 300-yard passing game and a score, running back Mark Ingram ran the ball 20 times and scored a pair of touchdowns, and the seasoned veteran tight end Benjamin Watson caught 10 balls for 127 yards and a touchdown (he was on the receiving end of Brees’ only passing score). The biggest thing was the fact that they didn’t turn the ball over.
The Falcons didn’t play horribly, but they certainly didn’t play well either. The offense didn’t run the ball like they have run it in previous weeks. Second-year back Devonta Freeman has really emerged as a force; he leads the NFL in rushing touchdowns and continued with a score on the ground and even one through the air, but the Saints defense held him relatively in check as he only managed 58 yards rushing. The Saints sacked Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan five times, and they forced two fumbles. On special teams the Saints blocked a punt and scored a touchdown as well.
The Saints improved their record to 2-4 and may have possibly saved their season, at least for the time being, and the Falcons are now 4-1. Atlanta heads to Tennessee next weekend, and the Saints head to Indianapolis before a game against the Giants.
Chicago Bears (34) @ Detroit Lions (37)
The Detroit Lions were the league’s only winless team through five weeks, and their 0-5 start to the season was the worst start they’ve had since going 0-16 in 2008. Meanwhile, Chicago, since getting Jay Cutler back from injury, have won two consecutive games and were looking to make it three.
The Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford had as bad of a game last week as any quarterback in football, and all week he faced questions about his future with the team among other issues. This week against the Bears’ horrid defense, Stafford responded with a fantastic performance: 27/42 for 405 yards and four touchdowns. The Lions’ receivers had monster games, but their best monster was the man known as Megatron. Calvin Johnson, who’s had a bit of a slow start this season, had 166 yards, including a score late in the fourth that nearly won the game for Detroit and a 57-yard bomb in overtime that help set up the game-winning field goal. Lance Moore had a great game as well with 106 yards and a touchdown on five catches.
As for Chicago, Cutler has played really well over the last few weeks, and this week he continued his recent stretch. He completed 26 passes for 353 yards and a score. He really benefited from the return of receiver Alshon Jefferey, who had a 100-yard receiving game and a touchdown, and he led a clutch drive down the field to tie the game and send it to overtime. The problem in this game for Chicago was on defense. Although they forced three turnovers, they gave up 537 yards and couldn’t come through with the big stops at the end of the game.
Chicago has fallen to 2-4, and next week they have a bye week before they take on take on the Vikings at home. Detroit is now 1-5, and they face the Vikings next weekend before they go to Kansas City.
Baltimore Ravens (20) @ San Francisco 49ers (25)
The 49ers haven’t had a good season. They’ve struggled with injuries and much-noted roster turnover, but the reality is their offense, and specifically their quarterback Colin Kaepernick, just haven’t played well. Sunday afternoon they faced a Ravens team that was having just as much of a hard time, and they played pretty well. Kaepernick threw two touchdowns and had 340 yards in the air, including a 76-yard bomb to the former Raven Torrey Smith and a 51-yard strike to his favorite target Anquan Boldin.
On defense, the team had no answers for Steve Smith, who had 137 yards and a touchdown on seven catches. But outside of Smith, the Ravens couldn’t find much production offensively. The Niners held them to just 77 yards on the ground and they forced two turnovers that probably cost Baltimore in the end.
San Francisco is now 2-4 on the season, and they will be at home Thursday night to battle their hated division rivals the Seahawks.
Kansas City Chiefs (10) @ Minnesota Vikings (16)
The Minnesota Vikings haven’t made a ton of noise in the NFC, which is a little surprising, since many picked them to turn that corner and complete for a playoff spot this season. Instead, they’ve been pretty pedestrian, but Sunday they were able to get a tough win and at least stay afloat in an NFC North division that’s been owned by the Packers.
They were facing a Chiefs team that was noticeably void of star power after the loss of Jamaal Charles at the running back spot, and the Vikings defense took advantage. The Chiefs only rushed for 57 yards against them, and Alex Smith was sacked twice. Eric Kendricks was excellent all day for the Vikings defense. Kendricks recorded 10 tackles and a sack and was Minnesota’s leading tackler on the day.
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Offensively, Minnesota didn’t run the ball terribly well; Adrian Peterson had only 60 yards, but they didn’t really need him a ton because their quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater, had a solid outing. The second-year pro threw for 249 yards and one score, but the biggest performance of the day came from the first-year wideout from Maryland, Stefon Diggs. Diggs had a monster performance as he recorded 129 yards on seven catches and really came up big for Minnesota.
The Vikings are now over .500 on the season (3-2 for the year), and they will go on the road the next two weeks in divisional games against the Lions and then the Bears.
Carolina Panthers (27) @ Seattle Seahawks (23)
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The last four times the Panthers and Seahawks have played each other have been physical, close games, and Carolina hasn’t won any of them. It’s never an easy task for anyone to come into Seattle and beat the Hawks in their building, but the Panthers found a way, as they have all season, to get it done.
As expected, Cam Newton did have some early struggles against the Seahawks defense. He struggled specifically at protecting the football, throwing two interceptions, but the offense got it together and made several big plays. It’s been amazing that Carolina’s combination of Newton and Greg Olsen have been as productive as they have, especially considering Olsen is the only legitimate weapon that Newton has at his disposal. What is even more astounding is that he was allowed to run untouched up the middle for the game-winning score in the fourth quarter.
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For the Seahawks, it’s been a never-ending nightmare. In every loss this year, Seattle has held and blown leads in the fourth quarter. They figured things would get better once Kam Chancellor returned, but things haven’t really changed at all. They repeatedly got beat down the middle with huge plays by the Panthers duo of Newton Olsen and it cost them severely.
The defense’s miscues really wasted what was a nice performance from the Seahawk offense. Jimmy Graham finally looked like the player Seattle traded for from the Saints in the offseason. He recorded eight grabs for 148 yards and looked to have finally gotten over the early season struggles.
Part of his success may have been a result of the offense getting Marshawn Lynch back after he’d been battling injuries in recent weeks. Lynch also made things easier for Russell Wilson, who completed 18 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown off a nice trick play to Ricardo Lockette.
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The Panthers are still undefeated, and next Sunday they return home to take on the Eagles. Meanwhile Seattle is 2-4 and will head to San Francisco to take on the Niners.
San Diego Chargers (20) @ Green Bay Packers (27)
In the NFL, one thing is very obvious: home field advantage is not a myth. The Packers have one of the league’s best home field advantages; it seems that no matter what the situation or how ugly the game, they find a way to win at home.
Sunday the Chargers and quarterback Philip Rivers gave the Green Bay defense all they could handle. Rivers amassed 65 passes, and he completed 43 of them for 503 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Keenan Allen was unguardable as he recorded 14 catches for 157 yards. That the Chargers put up such astronomical numbers and only scored 20 points is incredible, but it’s also a testament to the resolve of the Packers. That “bend don’t break” mentality couldn’t have been more evident than on San Diego’s final offensive play, when rookie corner Demarious Randall broke up a pass that was intended for Danny Woodhead down at the goal line, a play which secured the victory for the Packers.
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Offensively, things were pretty much the same. Reigning league MVP Aaron Rodgers had another flawless game with 255 yards and two touchdowns, but what really broke the game open for Green Bay was their ability to run the ball, and more specifically who ran it. James Starks, who has been mostly a forgotten man in Green Bay since his 2012 playoff run, ran for a 65-yard touchdown on his way to 112 yards on the ground. He also had a receiving touchdown (it was off of a shovel pass from Rodgers).
Green Bay remains among the league’s undefeated teams at 6-0. Next week they’ll be off with a bye week, but November 1, they travel to Denver to take on the Broncos, another undefeated team that will be coming off a bye week.
New York Giants (7) @ Philadelphia Eagles (27)
The NFC East is so unpredictable from week to week. Just when it looked as if the Giants could grab a firm hold of the division, they laid a big time egg on the road against the suddenly surging Eagles on Monday night. The Giants looked absolutely horrible offensively. Quarterback Eli Manning was sacked three times and was responsible for a couple turnovers, including a pick-six by Eagles defensive back Nolan Caroll.
On the flip side, Philadelphia is now on a two-game winning streak. However, this game, despite the large margin of victory, was not the prettiest of victories. The Eagles have really struggled with turnovers this season and coughed up four more, with three of them coming through the air from quarterback Sam Bradford. However, the rushing attack that had been as abysmal as any attack in the league through the first five weeks sprang to life in a fabulous way. Reigning rushing king DeMarco Murray rushed for 109 yards, which is remarkably his first 100-yard game of the season.
The Eagles now lead the NFC East for the first time this season and stand at 3-3 on the year. The Giants are also 3-3 and have a rematch coming up against the Cowboys.
Another week in the books for the 2015 NFL season, and things in the NFC are continuing to intensify.