NFL Week Seven: Patriots, Panthers remain unbeaten

Every Monday morning, Section 215’s Akiem Bailum gives an in-depth and unfiltered look at all of the latest sports news in The Monday Morning Realist. You can follow Akiem on Twitter @AkiemBailum.

Cyber Sunday

Oct 25, 2015; London, United Kingdom; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) during the second half of the game Jacksonville Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Flynn-USA TODAY Sports

Another week, another week with another game being shipped across the pond to London. As extensively as I have written about the NFL-to-London issue, there is probably not much use in continuing to beat down a dead horse, either in an American or British accent.

But there was a bit of a twist to this game that at least brought some attention to it—it couldn’t be found on traditional television.

What? Huh, come again?! An NFL game not being shown on televisions all over the United States and Canada? It can’t be…can it?

Because it wasn’t shown on television. It was streamed on Yahoo…for FREE.

Here is a question that perhaps must be asked—why the decision to livestream the game on Yahoo for free?

Or is the question that has to be asked is could that be the future of how sports are viewed in America?

Let’s be honest, Realists. Most of us with computers and cell phones are almost always connected to them. We are connected to technology moreso than than ever before and our basically never not connected. So why wouldn’t we begin viewing America’s favorite sport via computer?

Believe me, if there is a way that Silicon Valley can get it done, Silicon Valley will get it done. Side note—even though it was shown via Yahoo, the game’s production wasn’t done by Yahoo. As one could tell via the graphics being used, CBS still produced the game.

It will indeed be an interesting story to see exactly how many people indeed managed to get up earlier than they normally do on a Sunday, but as we know, people will do the most to see anything having to do with the NFL.

Another interesting thing it will be to notice is how many views that game ended up getting not only on Yahoo, but also outside of Upstate New York and southern Ontario (where most of the Bills fans probably are) and Duval County (Jacksonville).

Granted that it was a game between the Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars so if it were still only one of these games that stayed stateside, it would have been a blip on the overall radar and probably would not have been available outside of Upstate New York and Duval County.

So one can say moving the game to London and having it available only via a digital device (computer, tablet, etc.) was the only way it would have been a talked about game.
Of course until said game actually occurred.

Early on, it appeared the Bills were more worthless than MySpace is in 2015. They were down at one point 27-3. Scoring three points in international football counts as an offensive explosion, but not so much in the NFL.

The interesting thing about it is that the Jaguars nearly still blew the game despite being ahead by more than three touchdowns. Jacksonville ultimately beat Buffalo in what was actually a very interesting game but there are probably a lot of NFL fans that have a simple request to the UK:

That the Bills and Jaguars actually stay in the UK and will be London’s new NFL teams (even though London doesn’t need one NFL team let alone two).

As for those playing in this game, Jacksonville won in large part thanks to the 115 yards, 20 carries, and one touchdown of T.J. Yeldon along with the two touchdowns (not so much the one pick) 13/29 passing and 189 yards of Blake Bortles.

Allen Robinson caught 98 of those yards on six receptions along with one TD.

Having one of your touchdowns be a Telvin Smith interception return helps too.

Buffalo also had one of its variety on its side via Corey Graham. E.J. Manuel threw two touchdowns to his team but also two passes to the other team (298 yards in total for Manuel).
LeSean McCoy—18 carries for 68 yards (very Un-Shady like Philly numbers, by the way). Robert Woods—nine receptions 84 yards.

Realists, the NFL obviously recognized both teams probably need a breather after this trans-Atlantic trip because both are on bye for Week 8.

Final: Jaguars 34, Bills 31

Close, but no Foxboro

Oct 25, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) celebrates a touchdown against the New York Jets during the second half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

Oct 25, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) celebrates with tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) after a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium. The New England Patriots won 30-23. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Now…more to actual football being played.

Realists….when prognosticating any NFL game between the New York Jets and New England Patriots, nine times out of ten, the prediction is not necessarily if the Patriots will win (because they’ve done a lot of that if their previous 52 meetings are any indication).

The call is by how many points will the Pats win by.

That probably would not be the case this week as the Jets actually have resembled a respectable NFL team at least through the first six weeks of the season—so far posting a 4-1 record.
Of course, the New England Patriots were 5-0. The Pats just do not lose nowadays—do they?

There is a reason why Jets/Patriots in Foxboro was on national television by way of CBS this week. Because even though it is only still Week 7 (we can start talking playoffs in about three or so weeks, Realists) these are the two top teams now in the AFC East.

This has been a division that has been dominated by the Patriots throughout the duration of the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era.

Not only that, but the Jets were coming off an emphatic victory of the Washington Redskins because of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and runningback Chris Ivory. Washington’s defense last week would have had an easier time tackling Ivory if he were invisible.

And Week 7 perhaps may still be too early to start thinking about “statement victories”…but “statement game” this early in the season with New York potentially in a playoff chase?
If the first quarter was any indication—the Jets were playing like it.

Football games are not won in one quarter, but the Jets definitely looked as if they won the first quarter. Gang Green was doing a pretty good job of not only advancing the football and moving the chains downfield, but they were also keeping the Patriots offense on the sidelines.

Picking up first downs and making sure #12 is on the sidelines is exactly how you have to defeat New England. Another way is if the Patriots defeat themselves as the Jets defense forced the Pats into three and outs and Brandon LaFell caught a case of the football follies (dropped passes).

Later on and later on as this game would continue, the Patriots would catch up too (and ultimately pass) the Jets as they led 13-10 at the half.

One telling result of this game was how one-dimensional New England’s offense was. The Patriots threw the football 54 times while only running nine pass plays. On the majority of NFL teams a one-dimensional offense like that usually means a defense will figure you out and you are en route to a loss.

Unless of course you quarterback is Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, or….Tom Brady.

A 20-16 deficit became Brady being Brady with two touchdown passes in his final two possessions. One of them was to Danny Amendola and the second to Rob Gronkowski. Before we knew it, with under two minutes to play, the Pats were sitting pretty at 30-20.

The Jets would get a field goal, then Brandon Marshall recovered an onside kick giving the Jets a shot at a tie with a downfield pass to the endzone.

Except Ryan Fitzpatrick did not throw a Hail Mary downfield pass to the endzone. He only threw ten yards, then the Jets couldn’t spike the ball in time as they were flagged for an illegal procedure penalty. Game over. Patriots win.

Brady was their leading rusher (yes, you read that right) with 15 yards on the ground along with 34/54, 355 yards, and and two TDs. One of them was Gronk’s—11 receptions, 108 yards.
Fitzpatrick threw for 295 yards on 22/39 passing and two touchdowns while Ivory (who didn’t look 100 percent for a portion of the game) only had 41 yards on 17 carries.

Eric Decker who caught some big passes early for the Jets caught six passes for 94 yards.

And after Amendola’s TD and ensuing spike, Dan Fouts who was on the call for CBS remarked that it may take some “air out of the ball.”

Oh, Fouts….

Only CBS.

And they (along with NFL Network) will air the Patriots’ next game…at home vs. the Miami Dolphins. They’ll also have the Jets’ next matchup…on the road at the Oakland Raiders.
Final: Patriots 30, Jets 23

The Tinseltown Bowl

Oct 25, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray (28) runs the ball during the second half of the game against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Oakland won 37-29. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

So…what exactly were the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers playing for in San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday afternoon?

Honestly, whenever one hears “Oakland Raiders” and “San Diego Chargers” in the same sentence, a lot of fans could care less about what happens on the field. These days whenever those terms are mentioned, immediately, people’s thoughts immediately turn to their fantasies of football returning to Los Angeles.

Which seems all the more imminent.

So…what Los Angeles overtones were present with this game going on and how many times was Los Angeles or “L.A.” mentioned by the broadcast team calling the game for CBS?

If there were not seemingly a million rumours every day about the Raiders and/or Chargers moving to L.A., the story for this one would actually be about the trajectories both teams seem to be going in.

The Raiders are looking more and more and more like they could be a team to beat in no time in the NFL. With Derek Carr at quarterback, the Raiders somewhat get overlooked given that they play in the same division as some guy named Manning.

But that guy named Manning while 6-0 with the Broncos this year looks like he is a quarterback on the decline while Carr is on the ascent. Meaning that when Manning retires, the Raiders could automatically vault to the top of the AFC West.

Another reason is that the Chargers appear to be the same exact team Denver is—just without the results of Denver.

Philip Rivers has been in this league for a little over a decade now and while he knows how to fill up a stat sheet from year to year to year, he has not delivered when it has mattered most.

And with the talent he has played with over the years, from LaDainian Tomlinson to Antonio Gates to Vincent Jackson (now in Tampa Bay), one has to think how Rivers already does not have at least one ring on his finger.

Just how efficient for much of this game was the Raiders offense (on the road) against the Chargers? Of their first seven possessions, seven out of seven resulted in either touchdowns or field goals. That put the Raiders ahead by a score of 37-6.

Oakland leading 37-6 over San Diego? When was the last time we talked about the Raiders leading by that much over any opponent? The Gruden days?

In that same time, the Chargers also committed a pair of turnovers, one of which the Raiders’ Malcolm Smith returned 27 yards.

Remember how I mentioned a bit earlier about how imbalanced the Patriots offense was against the Jets yet New England still won because…Tom Brady?

The Raiders offense was anything but imbalanced. In this victory they notched against the Chargers, they ran 31 pass plays and 26 run plays. That is what you call an offense that was ready to win a football game.

The only thing Oakland should not be too pleased with is regardless of how dominant they may have looked for three quarters—they still nearly allowed the Chargers to come back and steal one at home. What was 37-6 should’ve been 54-6 at least. Instead, it became 37-13, then 37-21, then 37-29.

Luckily for the Raiders, the clock hit triple zeros before the Chargers could complete their comeback as they have been known to do a lot the past few seasons both in games and in terms of overall seasons.

The ending of it will probably feel like a loss for Raider Nation, but they are 3-3 (second place, by the way, in the AFC West) and the Chargers are 2-5 (same record as the Chiefs).
Carr put up numbers we’re used to seeing for Manning—24/31, 289 yards, 3 TDs and a quarterback rating of 137.7.

Out of those 289 yards, 133 of them went to Amari Cooper along with five receptions and a touchdown.

Latavius Murray also had one touchdown, 15 carries, and 85 yards.

Rivers threw for 336 yards, 3 TDs, 38/58 and two picks. Their leading rusher was Branden Oliver—nine carries for 35 yards. Keenan Allen—nine receptions for 89 yards.

The two teams that have been the surprises of the AFC so far (Raiders and Jets) will play each other in Oakland next week while the Chargers at 2-5 will be hitting the road cross country to play Baltimore.

Final: Raiders 37, Chargers 29

Cassel of Horrors

Oct 25, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Giants cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (41) returns an interception against the Dallas Cowboys during the NFL game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

One Halloween-sounding headline in the final MMR prior to the 31st. Mission accomplished.

After last year, the Cowboys came into this season with high as a midnight blue sky that resembles the Cowboys’ blue. They began the season 2-0 (including a victory at home against the New York Giants to start the season).

That was before things took a turn for the worst in Dallas and they lost Tony Romo and Dez Bryant to a couple of grisly injuries that has sidelined the Cowboys’ biggest stars for sometime.

Ever since Romo and Bryant’s injuries, the Cowboys have seemingly gone ghost as a watchable football team. Brandon Weeden was put into the starting role and has gone 0-3 (including losing a game at home against the Atlanta Falcons 39-28 where Dallas scored the first 14 points).

This week against the Giants (this time in East Rutherford) it would not be Weeden getting the start, but instead Matt Cassel.

Matt Cassel…what does this Realist remember the most about Matt Cassel?

Well, not much except the fact that he did bring a New England Patriots team to an 11-5 record under Bill Belichick in a season in which Tom Brady missed the entire year after being hurt in the season opener.

And as this Cowboys team has looked eerily different, this Giants team has also taken off their costumes and are once again wearing their everyday getups as a football team.

Last week against the Philadelphia Eagles notwithstanding, Eli Manning is looking like “good Eli” as opposed to “bad Eli” and with the rest of the NFC East looking not so stellar, New York may steal this division the same way the Colts have done the AFC South the last few years. That, of course, being by taking advantage of the weakness of the rest of the division.

Offensively, the Giants looked somewhat as weak as the rest of the division. But thankfully for Big Blue, they didn’t need their offense to be clicking on all cylinders when their defense and special teams were.

Of the three touchdowns New York scored, one was via a Dominique Rodgers Cromartie interception that went 58 yards the other way. The other, which turned out to be the game-winner, was Dwayne Harris fielding a kickoff then hitting the century mark. A few seconds later, 100 yards became seven points for New York.

Despite advancing the football to the Giants side of the field on their last possession, a turnover on downs equaled a Giants victory—the fourth one of the season as they advance their record to 4-3.

It looks like it is this simple and really not all that complicated…the Cowboys cannot wait for Bryant and Romo to return. Earlier in the season (probably when the Cowboys were at full strength), this is probably a game where Dallas wins and New York loses.

Not now given how banged up they are.

Manning only threw for 170 yards on 13/24 passing. He did not throw any interceptions, but did not throw any touchdowns either (along with being sacked twice for a loss of 13 yards). The Giants’ only offensive touchdown came via an Orleans Darkwa (first time I’ve ever typed his name) touchdown.

Darkwa also had 48 yards on eight carries. Just under New York’s leading rusher for the game at 56 yards on 4 runs (Shane Vereen).

Rueben Randle only caught two passes but they were for 68 yards.

The Cowboys ran 41 plays on the ground as opposed to Cassel only passing the football on 27 occasions. Out of those 41 plays, 29 of them went to Darren McFadden who scored one touchdown in addition to 152 yards.

Out of the 27 passes thrown by Cassel he completed 17 of them for 227 yards. He only threw one touchdown but also had three interceptions. Jason Witten caught six passes for 73 yards.

Also, the Cowboys are apparently having issues with Greg Hardy. He as evidenced by his transgressions off the field is not a very good human being and you have to question as to why Jerry Jones signed him other than him simply being Jerry Jones.

He’s getting into arguments with Dez Bryant as well as other coaches on the sidelines? Hardy is asking to get cut and if/when he does, an entire football populace should laugh at him.

This week, New York was at home and Dallas on the road. Those roles will be reversed next week as the Cowboys will be back in Arlington to play the Seattle Seahawks and the Giants will be on the road traveling to New Orleans to play the Saints.

Final: Giants 27, Cowboys 20

Drip Drop Drip Drop

Oct 25, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Thomas Davis (58) directs the crowd to the song Sweet Caroline during the final second of the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Bank of America Stadium. Carolina defeated Philadelphia 27-16. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Sunday night was not a good night to be an Eagles receiver.

In football, there can be a million ways to win a game. But in this same sport, there can also be a bunch of ways to lose a game…or dare I say…drop a game.

One of those tried and true ways to make sure your team is in the loss column is to drop pass after pass after pass.

The Philadelphia Eagles did a lot of that on Sunday Night Football in Charlotte against the Carolina Panthers. And since the Panthers are one of only two undefeated teams remaining in the NFC, you do not want to drop passes against that team.

As less-than-stellar as the NFC East has been this year with its leader (New York Giants) posting a record of 4-3, the Eagles still maintain a decent shot at winning the division.

But not if they have more games like this.

Philadelphia dropped the football so many times one has to wonder how cold the hands of the receivers were. The Eagles hadn’t had this many dropped balls in many seasons.

In the majority of games, most of these Sam Bradford passes will be caught by his receiving corps if they are not simply over or underthrown by Sam Bradford himself. Also, the Eagles were facing a tall task—going on the road to play an undefeated Carolina Panthers team with one of the most imposing defenses in the NFL.

The Jason Peters injury. One can only wonder how badly he is hurt. As important as he is to Philadelphia’s offensive game plan, Eagles fans have to hope he is okay. When I first saw that injury while watching this game, I thought for sure it was an ACL.

It appears he will be back for the game in two weeks vs. the Cowboys, but the fact that Philly doesn’t play for another two weeks is a blessing. This is a 3-4 team that just saw one of its most important players get badly hurt on the field. The bye week helps a lot.

As for the Carolina Panthers, I admit that when I first looked at this game I figured it would be a blowout. The Panthers did not play their best on offense, looked Carolina Panthers-esque as usual on defense, and may have even lost the game if so many balls that hit the boys in green didn’t instead find their way on the green turf in MetroLina.

When the score became 21-6, one had to think the game was over…before that 63-yard Ryan Mathews touchdown had occurred to make the score 21-13, but that the Eagles would only add a field goal to their tally after that.

Cam Newton did not have his best game as his performance looked similar to Matt Cassel’s against the Giants today. He was 14/24 for 197 yards, two touchdowns (one passing and one rushing) and three interceptions. Greg Olsen had 65 yards on three carries.

Newton did not have to throw for 200-plus yards as he did last week on the road in Seattle when Jonathan Stewart gives you 125 yards on the ground off 24 carries.

Bradford was not much better than Newton at 26/46, 205 yards, and one interception. The 65-yarder touchdown helped Mathews stat line to six carries and 97 yards while Zach Ertz caught five passes for 63 yards.

At this point, now could not be considered the time for anyone to panic in the NFC East (except for maybe the Cowboys if they continue to lose and continue to dress up as a daytime soap opera even past Halloween).

The division is not the best and we’re only in Week 7. If things stay like this, the division is up for grabs. So, Eagles, Giants, and Redskins fans…in the letters of Aaron Rodgers…

R-E-L-A-X.

The Panthers probably wouldn’t want to but can with their now 6-0 mark and they’ll actually play again in front of a national audience next week—against the Colts on Monday Night Football. Realists, are we smelling 7-0? We will see.

Final: Panthers 27, Eagles 16

Other Games

Oct 25, 2015; London, United Kingdom; General view of NFL Shield logo at Wembley Stadium before the NFL International Series game between the Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Seattle Seahawks defeat San Francisco 49ers 20-3

Washington Redskins defeat Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-30

New Orleans Saints defeat Indianapolis Colts 27-21

Atlanta Falcons defeat Tennessee Titans 10-7

Miami Dolphins defeat Houston Texans 44-26

Kansas City Chiefs defeat Pittsburgh Steelers 23-13

Minnesota Vikings defeat Detroit Lions 28-19

St. Louis Rams defeat Cleveland Browns 24-6

Baltimore Ravens vs. Arizona Cardinals (8:30, Monday Night Football)

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Next: NFL Week Six: Panthers go 5-0, Browns gift a Broncos win

Home/Philadelphia Eagles

NFL Week Seven: Patriots remain unbeaten, Giants hand Cowboys fourth straight loss

By Akiem Bailum | Oct 26, 2015

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