NFL Week 10 Shakedown

Young guns and wiley vets shine in NFL Week 10. The Falcons are for real make no mistake about it. At 6-3 with a great division win yesterday over the Saints and currently tied for 2nd in their division. Unless this global warming thing goes extra bad and causes the dirty birds to have a meltdown the Falcons will be in the playoffs.

Their defense shut down the best quarterback in the NFL this year in Drew Brees. The defense intercepted three Brees' passes, which was the most he had thrown all year long. His counterpart, rookie QB Matt Ryan, went 16 for 23 for 248 yards and 2TDs.

Although Matt Ryan is have a great rookie year, the team MVP is Michael Turner who is 3rd in the NFL in rushing. He helps the Falcons control the ball which is complimented by a great Falcons defense, especially the secondary.

Tennessee Titans are 9-0 and they’ve done it with great defense and an explosive rushing attack. That is until they ran into the Chicago Bears who don’t have a shabby defense themselves. Da’ Bears held the Titans to 20 yards rushing on 29 carries. The passing game of the Titans has been criticized all year long. Yesterday, they showed that they can make plays when their hand is forced. For the Bears to force the Titans to throw that might not have been the wisest decision because they rank 30th in pass defense in the NFL. Kerry Collins exploited that weakness by throwing 30 for 41 for 289 yards and 2TDs and most importantly no interceptions as the Titans won in Chicago 21-14. Tom Jackson of ESPN said it best, when he said that Mr. Collins should be considered for MVP. He’s played flawless all year long.

The Cleveland vs. Denver game was the most exciting game all week long. Too bad it comes on NFL network and I have stupid Time Warner Cable in Austin. Anyone living in Austin do not get Time Warner cable it sucks. Either way Brady Quinn and Jay Cutler got busy slanging the rock all over the field. Quinn went 23/35 for 239 yards and 2TDs in the debut as a starter. This was a game where the team who had the ball last should have won, but that was not the case. Kellen Winslow had a great game and a bad game all in one game. Aside from the sick numbers he put up grabbing 10 catches for 111 yards and 2TDs, he also had a fumble, offensive pass interference penalty, and drop a pass that would have kept the Browns final drive going. Either way, it was a great game and someone had to lose. But don't believe the Broncos' 5-4 record, because they should be 3-6 Kellen Brown doesn't drop this pass and the week 2 Ed Hochuli debacle against the Chargers.

Tiki Barber, Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Jeremy Shockey the Giants don’t need you. Maybe I should be telling this to Plaxico Burress instead. Bottom line is the Giants have just as much respect at this point in the season as they did last year, which isn’t a lot. Most teams aren’t considered underrated at 8-1 but you don’t really hear anyone buzzing about the Giants, but with the 2nd best record in the NFL where are the damn killer bees. However, 4 of the Giants 8 wins are against teams with losing records and their next 7 games are all against teams with winning records.

You can’t say Eli outplayed Donovan last night because their stats were virtually the same, but Eli made plays when his team needed him to defeat the Eagles 36-31.

The Baltimore Ravens are 6-3 with a Rookie running QB in Joe Flacco and rookie head coach in John Harbaugh running the show. Although they may run the show, everyone in their right mind knows who holds the team together and that is Mr. Ray Lewis. In his 13th year and at 33 years of age, you really can’t tell Lewis’ age. He is doing his usual damage with 63 tackles so far, but he is wreaking havoc in the passing game with 9 passes defense which leads all NFL linebackers. He showed off those pass defense skills against the Texans yesterday leading the defense to intercept four Sage Rosenfels passes, being responsible for two of them. The Ravens have positioned themselves quite nicely for a playoff berth and a crash course meeting in Week 14 with the Pittsburgh Steelers at home which will most likely be for the AFC North Division Title.