Sunday afternoon and evening saw a lot of great NFL action again this week. New England beat Peyton Manning & the Denver Broncos while the Chicago Bears rained all over Jacksonville.
Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts willed themselves to victory, honoring their cancer-stricken head coach Chuck Pagano. Not only did they slay the giant, but the Colts did so with ageless-wonder Reggie Wayne and the budding young Mr. Luck. The favored Green Bay Packers were upset by the inspired Colts’ 30-27. The upset win is what dreams are made of, if you’re a Colts fan. Luck completed 31 of 55 passes for 362. Apparently he was not paying attention when the odds makers made him a 7.5 point underdog.
The St. Louis Rams limited the Arizona Cardinals to 45 yards rushing on 17 carries. Sam Bradford threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to rookie Chris Givens for a two touchdown cushion and Robert Quinn had three of the Rams’ nine sacks on Kevin Kolb to keep the Cardinals in check. Bradford completed only 7 of 21passes for 141 but that was enough to overcome being a 1.5 point underdog and defeating Arizona 17-3.
The Miami Dolphins picked up an upset victory on Sunday over the Cincinnati Bengals at home in Cincinnati. The Dolphin defense kept the Bengals out of the end zone until the fourth quarter. While there was never a huge offensive show, Ryan Tannehill didn’t make any mistakes and Reggie Bush, who became a father over the weekend, ran very well. The Dolphins have played better football so far than their record indicates. Tannehill passed for 223 yards, completing 17 of 26 and former Saint Reggie Bush rushed for 48 yards on 19 attempts. Final score, 17-13, Dolphins. Sam Bradford and the Rams will roll into Miami next Sunday to challenge the Dolphins at home.
The Carolina Panthers went into their home stadium on Sunday as 3.5 point favorites to defeat the Seattle Seahawks. It did not quite work out that way. In a low scoring game dominated by 4 field goals and a fourth quarter safety by the Panthers, the Seahawks managed squeak out a 16 to12 upset over the hapless Carolina team. They will next have to face Tom Brady and the Patriots when they travel to Seattle next Sunday to take on the Seahawks.
Stay tuned next week for more exciting NFL action!
