This week around the league reminded me of why I love this sport so much, you just simply can’t predict what is going to happen with 100% certainty anymore. Not only did we have some shock results but we also had some great players passing landmarks and breaking records.
Let’s start with one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game and that is Peyton Manning. Despite another slow start for Manning and the Broncos by the end of the night Peyton would surpass the 70,000 career passing yards mark making him only the second quarterback in history to pass this mark. In case you were wondering the other quarterback to achieve this great milestone is Brett Favre who currently holds the record at 71,838 yards.
Thinking of quarterbacks Philip Rivers of San Diego also broke a team record this week as he broke the team record for touchdown passes thrown by a Chargers quarterback. Rivers now has 256 career passing touchdowns and it will be interesting to see how many he finishes his career with.
Now those in the know will remember that back in the 2004 draft the San Diego Chargers actually drafted Eli Manning but he refused to play for them and got traded to the New York Giants in exchange for Rivers. If you’re like me and have always wondered what would have happened had Eli stayed in San Diego then you need to check out this episode of the ‘N if L’ by Dave Dameshek.
Now we move onto some of those upsets I was talking about and we start with the Oakland Raiders who took on the Baltimore Ravens at the ‘Black Hole’ otherwise known as the Coliseum in Oakland.
Despite their recent form over the last decade you have to say that the Raiders fans are some of the best fans in the league and nothing makes me smile more than seeing Darth Vader cheering on an NFL.
Back to the game and the tone was set early by the Raiders as on their 6th play Derek Carr found the rookie receiver Amari Cooper for a 68 yard touchdown bomb. The Raiders defence riding on this momentum forced a fumble which led a Raiders field goal. In fairness to the Ravens they did manage to come back into the game and match points with the Raiders until late in the fourth quarter when the Raiders took the game with a 12 yard touchdown pass to Seth Roberts.
I think this game just goes to show the difference a great head coach makes, with Jack Del Rio now in charge of the Raiders I can see them upsetting a few more teams this year.
Thinking of great coaches I can’t go any further without talking about the great job that Bruce Arians is doing with the Arizona Cardinals. When Arians took over in Arizona it was off the back of a 5 - 11 season and his first year he turned that round into a 10 - 6 record. Last year he got them to the playoffs and this year they have started 2 - 0. Keep an eye on this team as they are destined for great things under this coach.
Back to the upsets now and we take ourselves to sunnier climates in Jacksonville, Florida where the Jaguars entertained the Miami Dolphins. This would prove to be an epic battle between the two teams filled with both great and fluke catches all around. Suffice to say the Jaguars ended up surprising us all by coming away with a victory 23 - 20. (you can see the highlights from this game by clicking on the picture below)
Finally this week I want to finish up looking at the teams in the NFL who are yet to win a game this season and I’m sure like me you will be shocked to see who some of the teams are. The biggest team yet to win a game has to be the Seattle Seahawks and I’m really not sure what is happening to them maybe the Kam Chancellor hold out is having just a much of an impact mentally as it physically with him not being on the field. One thing I do know about Seattle is that they have an amazing coach in Pete Carroll and they won’t be winless for too much longer!
Other teams among the surprisingly winless are Detroit, New Orleans, Baltimore, Philadelphia and the New York Giants. Which team will pick up a win first, who knows!
Well that wraps it up for another week but remember if you want to find out more about this week's action then tune in to our podcast ‘Spitball’ which will be available later in the week. Until next time my fellow football fans stay safe, take care and ‘Thanks for Stopping By’.