This week saw a match-up between two of the best young talents at their respective positions as the New York Giants played host to the Carolina Panthers. The two talents I am referring too are Odell Beckham Jr, wide receiver for the Giants and cornerback Josh Norman of the Panthers. Both of these young players are having incredible seasons and on paper it was set to be a great game.
In his short career Odell Beckham Jr has set several records including most receptions in a players first two seasons (182 to date 21/12/2015), the fastest ever to reach 150 career receptions (21 games) and he is the only player to have 1300 plus receiving yards in a single season while playing 12 or fewer games. We of course also can’t forget that he has one of the best receptions I have ever seen in last year’s game against the Cowboys.
Onto Josh Norman now and this season he has been a key reason that the Panthers defence has been so good this year and when you look at the top receivers he had faced before the game he had kept them to less than 100 combined yards and no touchdowns. Why is this so impressive, well this year he has lined up against Dez Bryant, Julio Jones and DeAndre Hopkins.
Taking the above into account you can see why I like many others was really excited to see how this would play out. Unfortunately instead of watching great play from these two in the first half what we saw was just really ugly as they were fighting each other after plays and being more than just physical with each other. Each player must have been called for at least 3 personal fouls each and you just do not need it in the game.
Luckily both teams managed to calm them down sufficiently at halftime and baring the off moment of madness we got to see how it played. You can see the good, the bad and the ugly from this game by checking out the highlights below:
This week we also saw the Ravens take to the field in some horrifically coloured yellow / gold pants which I am sure the NFL’s Dave Dameshek would not have been impressed with especially as he sees himself as the unofficial uniform police!
Moving swiftly away from the uniforms now and onto some more significant games that involved teams looking to get one step closer to the post season and we start with the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts.
This was a key game for the AFC south as the winner will take prime position at the top of the division and have their fate in their own hands from this point on. The game started ugly with a lot of punting and not much offense until the Colts were able to break the deadlock thanks to an 11 yard touchdown pass from Hasselbeck to Donte Moncrief. Instead of boring you with describing how the rest of the game went you can check out the highlights below:
Onto the NFC East now and the Cowboys officially fell out the race for the division title as they lost 19 – 16 to the New York Jets on Saturday night. You saw earlier that the New York Giants also lost this week but they are still in with a chance of winning the division.
The Eagles faced off against the Cardinals this week on Sunday night and they really needed a win to try and put the pressure on the Redskins who had earlier despatched the Buffalo Bills in a comfortable 35 – 25 win. Check out the highlights below to see how the Eagles got on against the Cardinals:
With these results the Redskins are now in the best position to win the NFC East, all they need to do is just win their remaining two games and they are in. When you think that by the end of week 6 they had a record of 2 – 4 and they were playing some horrific football it has been quite the turnaround.
To finish off this week let's take a look ahead to some of the games that I am really looking forward to in week 16. First up is the Saturday night game between the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles. This game will go a long way to determining the winner of the NFC East.
The next game I am really looking forward too could be a look ahead to a playoff game this season as the Green Bay Packers take on the Arizona Cardinals. Both teams have been playing great football and feature high power offences. The main question is which defence will step up and which one will be ripped apart.
Finally you have the St Louis Rams vs the Seattle Seahawks. This game will not be for the week hearted as it will feature two of the toughest and meanest defences in the league. Add to that the fact that it is also a division rivalry and you have yourself a good old fashioned ‘slobber knocker’.
Well that wraps it up from me for another week but be sure to check out our podcast ‘Spitball’ when it is released later in the week and until next time football fans stay safe, take care and ‘Thanks for Stopping By’.