Another great week of NFL action has passed and what a weekend it was for Peyton Manning. Peyton continued his early season form as he completed 28 of 34 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns in Denver’s record win over the Philadelphia Eagles 52 – 20.
This weekend also saw the return of the NFL to the UK and the weekend kicked off in great fashion with the Block Party in Regent Street, London. The main highlights were appearances from both Minnesota and Pittsburgh players including Troy Polamalu and Adrian Peterson, as well as the Rush 60 area, Cheerleaders and the NFL Touchdown Tour. I have included some of my pictures below from the day’s festivities:
Okay so onto the game itself at Wembley Stadium between the Minnesota Vikings and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Heading into the game both teams had 0 – 3 records and were desperate to get that illusive first win on the board. The game started with both teams on edge and nearly half of the way through the first quarter only a Blair Walsh field goal separated the two sides, then out of nowhere, Greg Jennings catches a short hitch pass, spins off his defender and races 70 yards for a touchdown.
Pittsburgh followed this touchdown with an eight play, 75 yard drive which resulted in an eight yard touchdown run from Le’Von Bell making the score 10 – 7. One quarter down and the crowd was still waiting to see the full power of Adrian Peterson then in the third minute of the second quarter Adrian broke loose and ran 60 yards for a touchdown, you can see a highlight of this by clicking the picture below:
That was all of the main action for the first half and Minnesota were looking good for the win with the score at half time 20 – 10. Pittsburgh had the ball to start the second half and they managed to drive 80 yards in six plays and capped it off with another Le’Von Bell touchdown run, this time from a yard out. Just as the game was starting to get close Minnesota pulled out a 14 point lead thanks to further touchdowns from Greg Jennings and Adrian Peterson. This time the lead would stick and despite a further Pittsburgh touchdown and field goal the Vikings won this one 34 – 27.
Week four also saw a big NFC North clash between the Chicago Bears (3-0) and the Detroit Lions (2-1). Personally I thought the Bears would walk this one with the way their defence has been playing but events would unfold quite differently! Both teams exchanged field goals in the first quarter however the second quarter was all about Detroit!
The second quarter started with two Detroit field goals either side of a Matt Forte 53 yard touchdown run and from then on it was all Detroit. The Lions went on to score 21 unanswered points thanks to touchdowns from Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson (Megatron) and Reggie Bush. By halftime the score was 30 – 13 to the Lions and despite a late fight back in garbage time they went on to win 40 -32.
With this win the Lions have taken the lead of the NFC North and it looks like an uphill struggle for Green Bay (1-2) to get anywhere near the playoffs with the strong records of the Lions and Bears.
The second quarter started with two Detroit field goals either side of a Matt Forte 53 yard touchdown run and from then on it was all Detroit. The Lions went on to score 21 unanswered points thanks to touchdowns from Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson (Megatron) and Reggie Bush. By halftime the score was 30 – 13 to the Lions and despite a late fight back in garbage time they went on to win 40 -32.
With this win the Lions have taken the lead of the NFC North and it looks like an uphill struggle for Green Bay (1-2) to get anywhere near the playoffs with the strong records of the Lions and Bears.
Let’s take a look at all of the scores from week four:
San Francisco 35 vs 11 St Louis
New England 30 vs 23 Atlanta
Philadelphia 20 vs 52 Denver
Washington 24 vs 14 Oakland
Dallas 21 vs 30 San Diego
New York Jets 13 vs 38 Tennessee
Baltimore 20 vs 23 Buffalo
Cincinnati 6 vs 17 Cleveland
Chicago 32 vs 40 Detroit
New York Giants 7 vs 31 Kansas City
Pittsburgh 27 vs 34 Minnesota
Arizona 13 vs 10 Tampa Bay
Indianapolis 37 vs 3 Jacksonville
Seattle 23 vs 20 Houston
Miami 17 vs 38 New Orleans
San Francisco 35 vs 11 St Louis
New England 30 vs 23 Atlanta
Philadelphia 20 vs 52 Denver
Washington 24 vs 14 Oakland
Dallas 21 vs 30 San Diego
New York Jets 13 vs 38 Tennessee
Baltimore 20 vs 23 Buffalo
Cincinnati 6 vs 17 Cleveland
Chicago 32 vs 40 Detroit
New York Giants 7 vs 31 Kansas City
Pittsburgh 27 vs 34 Minnesota
Arizona 13 vs 10 Tampa Bay
Indianapolis 37 vs 3 Jacksonville
Seattle 23 vs 20 Houston
Miami 17 vs 38 New Orleans
Let us now have a look at a few things that caught my eye from around the league this week starting with Darelle Revis's first pick of the season. It was great to see him finally notch his first pick since his move to Tampa. Thinking of Tampa what on earth is going with their quarterback situation, do you guys and girls agree that Josh Freeman should have been benched this early in the season? Personally I think they do need to change something within their offence as they are 31st overall when it comes to passing yards and they are also only 19th in rushing yards but is that down to the quarterback, no! You see I am a firm believer that the game is won and lost in the trenches and without good protection even the elite quarterbacks struggle, just look at Eli Manning and the Giants who are now 0 – 4!
Another game that caught my eye was the Buffalo Bills vs Baltimore, now I have been good for 3 weeks and not mentioned them but when you beat the defending superbowl champions how can you not talk about it. The Buffalo defence is looking stronger and stronger and this week as they forced Joe 'Give me the big bucks' Flacco to throw five interceptions and at the heart of it all is the rookie middle linebacker Kiko Alonso who is on fire right now!
Granted when you force that many turnovers you should beat a team by more than 3 points and from that you can tell that our offence still needs a little work. I would say it easier to learn defence than offence, once you understand the concept of zone coverage, all your doing is adjusting the area you are covering on each play. I will move now as a few friends / teammates of mine are Ravens fans and they have suffered enough having to live with the loss to Buffalo.
Granted when you force that many turnovers you should beat a team by more than 3 points and from that you can tell that our offence still needs a little work. I would say it easier to learn defence than offence, once you understand the concept of zone coverage, all your doing is adjusting the area you are covering on each play. I will move now as a few friends / teammates of mine are Ravens fans and they have suffered enough having to live with the loss to Buffalo.
Finally I just want to finish off where I started and that is with Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos who are now 4-0 and looking very impressive. It is hard to try and find a weakness within their team, the only place for me is running back, who agrees?
Just think if Peyton Manning had someone like CJ Spiller, Adrian Peterson or Marshawn Lynch to hand the ball off too, they would be unstoppable. The question now everyone wants to know the answer to is can they go unbeaten for the rest of the season?
Just think if Peyton Manning had someone like CJ Spiller, Adrian Peterson or Marshawn Lynch to hand the ball off too, they would be unstoppable. The question now everyone wants to know the answer to is can they go unbeaten for the rest of the season?
Well that wraps it up from me this week but remember to check out out podcast later in the week and don't forget to get in touch via a comment on this blog or any of the social media icons above. Until next week football fans, take care, stay safe and 'Thanks for Stopping By'.