Concluding Week 6 - Breakout game for Hopkins, and the Dolphins making waves again

The Jaguars really need T.J. Yeldon to return from injury ahead of their match against the Bills in London next week.  Dernard Robinson can do a lot of things but simply isn't as good when running the ball. This game saw the Jaguars take a backward step offensively as Bortles made some bad decisions behind an offensive line that can be described as inconsistent at best!

 

Meanwhile DeAndre Hopkins was breaking out for the Texans. He made all kinds of acrobatic catches, against what was often good coverage, on his way to 10 catches, 148 yards and 2 touchdowns. Hopkins is rapidly becoming one of the better receivers in the league. He was no doubt aided by Arian Foster who looked much faster than earlier in the year, suggesting that he is returning to full health.

 

The Dolphins change of coaching staff seemed to make a difference as they ran the ball right down the Titans throats. Lamar Millar ran for over 100 yards and the Dolphins really got after Marcus Mariota, sacking him 5 times. Cameron Wake was a force and accounted for 4 sacks and two forced fumbles. The Dolphins scored 38 points having averaged 16 for the year. With just under two minutes left and the game effectively over Zach Mettenberger took over and looked pretty good even though Bishop Sankey had two drops on the drive. If I'm the Texans I'm at least inquiring about Mettenberger.

The Jets Cory Ivory ran the ball exceptionally well against the Redskins on Sunday as he rushed for 146 yards. Brandon Marshall had over 100 yards receiving and Ryan Fitzpatrick rushed for a touchdown as they were simply too strong for the Redskins. It looks like it could be another long year in America’s capital!

 

Neither quarterback looked impressive in the Cleveland vs Denver game as both had two interceptions. Each team’s defence scored and the ground games took over. The

Broncos eventually scraped another win, making enough plays to secure the victory in overtime and are now 6-0. Should Manning work through his poor form then Denver will really be a team to watch out for.

 

Two games went to overtime this week.

 

The Arizona Cardinals fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers despite Carson Palmer passing for over 400 yards. The Steelers started second string quarterback Mike Vick in place of injured starter Ben Roethlisberger, but when Vick went down it was Landry Jones who sparked the offence to an upset win. Mattavious Bryant had 167 yards and 2 TDs and it was enough to see the Steelers go to 4-2.

Andy Dalton has been phenomenal all year and continued to play at a high level, adding another 3 touchdowns. The Bengals were far too much for the Bills, lead for the first time this season by EJ Manuel. A healthy LeSean McCoy produced 90 yards and a touchdown but there was little competition. The worst loss for the Bills was the injury to second year receiver Sammy Watkins. Watkins, perhaps the lone bright spot on Buffalo’s offence last year, was returning from injury and will be a huge loss if he can't play when the Bills arrive in Wembley next week.

Ok, so it was against the Bears but a week after I dropped him in my fantasy league Calvin Johnson returned to fantasy relevance as he saw his Lions to their first win of the season. Johnson had 166 yards and a touchdown and Matthew Stafford rallied after getting benched last week, throwing for 4 touchdowns and over 400 yards.

 

Every year there’s a team that shows how difficult it is in the NFL to pass the ball if you don't have a legitimate running threat. Last week the Chiefs lost Jamal Charles for the year to a torn ACL. The result? They struggled to replace Charles’ elite skill set. This allowed the Vikings to focus on the pass and stop the Chief’s offence. Meanwhile the Vikings managed to make enough plays to win 16-10 despite two interceptions from Teddy Bridgewater.

 

As an Eagles fan it was great to see the Eagles start to make some offensive progress. The defence is continuing to play at a high level but the Monday night game was just ugly for both teams. Neither offence could put together a sustained drive on a regular basis nor the pass protection of both teams failed frequently as attested by several sacks and pass deflections.  Riley Cooper is the Eagles leading wide receiver in yards per catch with 19.8 and he seems to have little or no connection with quarterback Sam Bradford who frequently made horrible plays. Could it be time to bring out Mark ‘The Sanchise’ Sanchez in Philly?