Monday, November 21, 2005

NFL Round UP, Week 11

Division Rankings
AFC West 24-16
NFC East 23-17
NFC South 22-18
AFC North 21-19
AFC South 20-20
NFC North 18-22
NFC West 17-23
AFC East 15-25

Big Game
Indianapolis Colts 45, Cincinnati Bengals 37
Peyton Manning threw three touchdown passes in an offense that reached the end zone on its first five possessions Sunday, setting up a 45-37. Tight end Dallas Clark had six catches for 125 yards both career highs. “Peyton's the best," Clark said "If he sees it, we're going to take advantage of it.”

Big Upset
Arizona Cardinals 38, St. Louis Rams 28
Kurt Warner threw for 285 yards and three touchdowns against his former team as the Cardinals manhandled the Rams in St. Louis.

"As special as it was, I'm two years removed now and I don't feel like I'm as much a part of this organization as I did when I first left," Warner said. "You still have a lot of friends, I still love those guys over there and still enjoy competing against them."

Worst Game
Denver Broncos 27, NY Jets 0
The Jets may be in competition with the Miami Dolphins for the worst offensive performance on Sunday. While Denver seemed to be able to do what they wanted on offense New York struggled accumulating only 195 total net yards including only 22 rushing yards.

Dolphins Lay a Goose Egg
The Dolphins lost more that two linebackers on Sunday, they lost their pride as well. Browns running back Reuben Droughns ran 75 yards to pay dirt on Cleveland’s first play of the game and the 22-0 rout was on from there. Droughns finished with 166 yards for the day and the Dolphins looked like they were finished for the season.

Linebackers Junior Seau and Zack Thomas both left the game with injuries and the offense proved that two solid running backs don’t make up for not having a quarterback. Miami is still only a game out of second place in the division but a long away from being a contender of any kind. It’s time to start getting our draft board ready.

Looking Ahead to Next Week
Big Game

Pittsburg @ Indianapolis
The Steelers are hurting and have no chance in this game if Big Ben doesn’t play for them. I don’t believe the Steelers have a quarterback who can move ball other than him. The Colts proved against Cincinnati that they are still capable of winning a shootout and the Steelers aren’t capable of competing without their starting QB.

I’m going to assume that Roethlisberger plays because the Steelers realize they have no chance without him. I picked the Steelers to win this game initially, but I think there are too many intangibles that go against them here. The Colts will fall at some point but not here.

Prediction: Colts 27/Steelers 17

Possible Upset
Baltimore @ Cincinnati
The Bengals had their bubbles burst by the Colts on Sunday and are now primed for an upset. Baltimore has a stingy defense but the Ravens struggle on offense I think they will pull the upset in a surprisingly low scoring game.

Prediction: Ravens 17/Bengals 14