The fifth week of the NFL regular season saw a number of teams looking to make a statement.
Comeback for Cleveland – Cleveland Browns 29 defeated Tennessee Titans 28
For the second time this season, the Browns have won a football game, and what a win it was. In their game against the Tennessee Titans on Monday, the Cleveland Browns fell down 3-28 early in the second quarter. So naturally, the Browns went on to score 26 unanswered points to earn a victory on the road 29-28. The main talking point coming out of this game was Titans quarterback, Jake Locker, who suffered a wrist injury early in the game and never returned. Titans backup quarterback, Charlie Whitehurst, could not hold onto the lead and watched as Browns quarterback, Brian Hoyer, led the Browns to their biggest comeback in franchise history. For two teams who had combined for just two wins coming into this game, the score line and the excitement was a nice surprise.
Bills steal one from the Lions – Buffalo Bills 17 defeated Detroit Lions 14
The Lions were cruising in their game against the Buffalo Bills. After grabbing a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, everything slowly started falling apart. All-Pro wide receiver, Calvin Johnson, left the game after aggravating an ankle injury and never returned. Starting running back, Reggie Bush, also injured his ankle and didn’t return to the game. Place-kicker Alex Henery missed all three of his field goal attempts, the last miss occurring with 20 seconds left in the game. The Buffalo Bills had spent the week answering questions about their quarterback situation. Their starting quarterback, EJ Manuel, had been benched and the backup, Kyle Orton, was now the starter. With 20 seconds left in the tied game, Kyle Orton calmly led the Bills down the field and in position to kick the game winning field. Kicker Dan Carpenter did just that and the Bills walked out of Detroit with a 17-14 victory.
That’s more like it – Cincinnati Bengals 17 defeated by New England Patriots 43
This time last week, every NFL sports analyst in the world was questioning the toughness of the New England Patriots. They were demolished on the road 41-14 by the Kansas City Chiefs and no one was sure they would ever recover. What a difference a week makes. The Bengals came to town as the last undefeated team in the league and left with their tail between their legs. Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady, calmly led his team up and down the field all night as they scored a season high 43 points and Brady had his best game of the season. The Patriots ran for 220 rushing yards on what most considered to be the second best defence in the league, and the Patriots defence constantly harassed the Bengals offence all night. All that considered, and it wasn’t really a surprise that New England blew out the Bengals 43-17.
Other results:
Minnesota Vikings 10 defeated by Green Bay Packers 42 – Green Bay running back, Eddie Lacy, ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns as the Packers blew out the division rival Vikings.
Chicago Bears 24 defeated by Carolina Panthers 31 – Panthers quarterback, Cam Newton, helped turn a 7-21 deficit into a 31-24 victory.
Houston Texans 17 defeated by Dallas Cowboys 20 – Dallas running back, DeMarco Murray, continued his strong season rushing for 133 yards as the Cowboys beat the Texans in overtime.
Baltimore Ravens 13 defeated by Indianapolis Colts 20 – The Colts defence forced three turnovers and quarterback Andrew Luck scored a game clinching rushing touchdown.
Pittsburgh Steelers 17 defeated Jacksonville Jaguars 9 – Pittsburgh defense harassed Jacksonville rookie quarterback, Blake Bortles, all day and returned one of his interceptions back for a touchdown.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31 defeated by New Orleans Saints 37 – New Orleans needed overtime to come back from an 11-point deficit as running back, Khiry Robinson, scored the game winner.
Atlanta Falcons 20 defeated by New York Giants 30 – Giants quarterback, Eli Manning, helped lead the Giants to their third straight victory of the season.
St Louis Rams 28 defeated by Philadelphia Eagles 34 – The Eagles offence, defence and special teams all scored touchdowns and the Eagles put away the Rams early to earn the win.
Arizona Cardinals 20 defeated by Denver Broncos 41 – Peyton Manning threw for a career-high 479 passing yards and added 4 touchdowns as the Denver Broncos handed the Cardinals their first loss of the season.
New York Jets 0 defeated by San Diego Chargers 31 – Chargers quarterback, Philip Rivers, dissected the Jets defense and threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns. The San Diego defence managed to hold the Jets scoreless.
Kansas City Chiefs 17 defeated by San Francisco 49ers 22 – Playing against his former team, Chiefs quarterback, Alex Smith, threw the game clinching interception that cost the Chiefs their third straighter victory.
Seattle Seahawks defeated Washington Redskins 17 – Seattle quarterback, Russell Wilson, had a combined 322 total yards and three touchdowns in the Seahawks decisive victory over the Redskins on Monday Night Football. – Lachlan Brunton
Top photo from Andrew Morrell’s Flickr photostream.
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