Injuries, Scandal, Upsets, Amazing Catches, just another standard week in the NFL then!
Welcome to week two of the 2014 season, a week which started with the horrific video footage of Ray Rice knocking out his then fiance in a hotel elevator. I do not want to cover this story too much as the rest of the media have already flogged this story to death but all I do want to say is that it is in no way acceptable to hit a women, let alone knock her out in that fashion! Mr Rice now has to live with his actions and for me the NFL is right to suspend him indefinitely until the matter has been fully investigated.
And just when you think that was the only distraction from the action this week, we then hear that Adrian Peterson is reported to have whipped his child several times with a tree branch. Unbelievable if it is true especially with so much negative energy surrounding the league at the moment.
Now that’s over with I can get into this weeks action and the crazy spell of about 10 minutes where big players just kept going down with injuries. In this period of time we saw AJ Green have to leave the game with turf toe, Knowshon Moreno have to leave with an elbow injury, De Sean Jackson have to leave with an AC joint sprain and more importantly for the Redskins, Robert Griffin III had to leave with an ankle injury. Don’t get me wrong I know injuries are a part of the game but this week more than most it seemed players were falling down left, right and centre.
Let us leave the negative aspects from the week there and get back to focusing on the rest of the action which I hereby dub as Tight End week!
The first Tight End I would like to talk about this week is Jimmy Graham of the New Orleans Saints. For those new to the game let me give you a little background on Mr Graham. Jimmy Graham spent four out of his five years at college playing Basketball and in his final year he made the switch to American Football. Being a former basketball player has definitely helped out Jimmy as there are not many players who can match his vertical jump, coupled with the fact that he is six foot seven inches tall.
Jimmy Graham has been in the league now since 2010 and is probably most famous for his dunk celebration after he scores. Now bear in mind that he has Drew Brees throwing him the ball, you can imagine that he gets to dunk it a lot!
On Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, the Saints got off to a real slow start and at one point were 16 - 3 down to Browns. After this point however it became the Jimmy Graham show as far as the Saints offense goes as he caught ten passes for 118 yards, two of which were touchdowns including this great jump ball catch, please click on the picture below to watch the highlight:
Unfortunately for Graham and the rest of the Saints though, it was not good enough to beat Cleveland who snatched this game with a late field goal.
Before we move onto the next Tight End I would just like to take time out to say what a great job I think that Mike Pettine is doing in Cleveland as the head coach. As an organisation they seem to be turning a corner and whilst I do not see them making the playoffs this year, folks need to be paying attention for what is to come from them in the years to come!
Now we move onto another great Tight End in the league and that is one of the original players to come into football from Basketball and that is Antonio Gates of the San Diego Chargers. Gates has been in the league now since 2003 when he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Chargers.
In his time in the league Gates has been named to the pro bowl eight times but has not been back to the pro bowl since 2011. If Gates continues to play like this however he may just make a return this year.
This week the San Diego Chargers played host to the defending champions, the Seattle Seahawks. There were a lot of people, myself included that really did not give the Chargers much of a chance in this one but boy were we wrong.
Now before I continue with Antonio’s performance I do need to take a minute to say how ridiculous it was that the Percy Harvin touchdown stood for Seattle as during his 51 yard run he clearly stepped out of bounds and for some reason despite being a reviewed play like all scoring plays are, the officials decided not to review this and allow it to stand. It this would have been the difference between the two sides I would have been very annoyed to say the least however thankfully Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates made sure it was not the deciding factor.
Gates finished this game with seven receptions for 96 yards and three touchdowns, the best of which was clearly the one handed grab below, please click on the picture to view the highlight:
Of course not to be outdone by the colleagues, here are some amazing catches from the reception specialists, the wide receivers. Please click on the pictures to vie the highlights:
VINCENT JACKSON
MIKE WALLACE
That is it for the highlights for now, let’s take a look at all the scores from week two with the exception of the Monday night game to be played later today:
Pittsburgh 6 vs 26 Baltimore
Miami 10 vs 29 Buffalo
Detroit 7 vs 24 Carolina
Atlanta 10 vs 24 Cincinnati
New Orleans 24 vs 26 Cleveland
New England 30 vs 7 Minnesota
Arizona 25 vs 14 New York Giants
Dallas 26 vs 10 Tennessee
Jacksonville 10 vs 41 Washington
Seattle 21 vs 30 San Diego
St Louis 19 vs 17 Tampa Bay
Kansas City 17 vs 24 Denver
New York Jets 24 vs 31 Green Bay
Houston 30 vs 14 Oakland
Chicago 28 vs 20 San Francisco
To be played Monday 15th September 2014
Philadelphia vs Indianapolis
Pittsburgh 6 vs 26 Baltimore
Miami 10 vs 29 Buffalo
Detroit 7 vs 24 Carolina
Atlanta 10 vs 24 Cincinnati
New Orleans 24 vs 26 Cleveland
New England 30 vs 7 Minnesota
Arizona 25 vs 14 New York Giants
Dallas 26 vs 10 Tennessee
Jacksonville 10 vs 41 Washington
Seattle 21 vs 30 San Diego
St Louis 19 vs 17 Tampa Bay
Kansas City 17 vs 24 Denver
New York Jets 24 vs 31 Green Bay
Houston 30 vs 14 Oakland
Chicago 28 vs 20 San Francisco
To be played Monday 15th September 2014
Philadelphia vs Indianapolis
Before I finish off this week I just want to come back to the injury to Robert Griffin III. I can’t help but feel for this kid as the early reports are that he has dislocated his left ankle and although there are no breaks you would expect him to be out for at least 5 - 6 weeks I think.
Unfortunately for him that may be all the time Kirk Cousins needs to take RG III’s job as the starting quarterback for the Washington Redskins. This week up until the Griffin injury the Redskins were not playing to full capacity as their system just does not seem to suit a mobile quarterback.
Although we probably should not get too carried away as it was only the Jaguars they managed to beat but the way the Washington offense played when Cousins came in, it was like they were a whole new team. I really do hope that this injury is not the end for RG III in Washington.
Finally to finish off this week I thought it only fair to talk about Special Teams as they can make such a difference in a game yet we find ourselves talking about a great catch here and big hit there.
Special Teams these days seem to be making more and more plays whether it be blocking a punt, field goal or returning a kick for a score. I am left wondering what the key ingredient to their success is, maybe it’s because all the fringe players are shoved their to make a name for themselves or maybe it is because more and more teams are starting to take this area of the game more seriously!
To show you how great special teams can be, please click on the pictures below to see the returns from this week:
CJ SPILLER
TED GINN JR
Well that is it for me for another week but be sure to check out our podcast Spitball later in the week as we cover this weeks action in more detail for you and until next time football fans, stay safe, take care and ‘Thanks for Stopping By’.