There was a lopsided slate of games on Sunday, with ten kicking off early, and only three late. This imbalance and my recent laziness results in this post being somewhat late and possibly boring. The scores were relatively average early, so here we go, starting with...
St. Louis hosting Kansas City, in the Missouri battle. Josh Brown got the St. Louis Rams on the board first, kicking two field goals of 37 and 52 yards. Matt Cassel, coming off an appendectomy, found Leonard Pope in the end zone for two yards in the second quarter. Ryan Succop added the extra point on this touchdown and the one by Jamaal Charles, which was a two yard run. The Chiefs took the 14-6 lead into halftime. Succop extended the lead to 20-6 with field goals in the third and fourth quarters from 53 and 38 yards. The Rams tried to come back with a 5 yard touchdown run by Steven Jackson and extra point from Brown, but Thomas Jones 2 yard run for a touchdown and Succop's extra point making it 27-13 was too much. The Chiefs won and improved to 9-5, while the Rams fell down to 6-8 with the loss.
The next game featured the Carolina Panthers hosting the Arizona Cardinals. John Kasay opened the scoring for Carolina with two field goals in the first quarter, from 28 and 29 yards. He also added the extra point on the touchdown pass from Jimmy Clausen to Jeff King, for 16 yards, making it 13-0 Panthers. Arizona got on the board with a Jay Feely field goal of 23 yards, to make it 13-3 at halftime. Kasay made it 19-3 in the third quarter with two more field goals, from 24 and 43 yards. The Cardinals tried to come back in the fourth quarter, with Steve Breaston recovering a fumble by teammate Tim Hightower to get a touchdown, but the two point conversion attempted was no good. Jay Feely added one more field goal from 30 yards, but it was too late to do anything, and Carolina survived to win 19-12. Carolina improved to 2-12 (it is improvement, surprisingly) while Arizona fell to 4-10.
In a far more meaningful game, the New York Giants hosted the Philadelphia Eagles in a battle of the NFC East's two best teams. Eli Manning opened the scoring for the Giants with a touchdown to Mario Manningham, good for 35 yards, followed by Lawrence Tynes adding an extra point. David Akers answered for the Eagles with a 34 yard field goal to make it 7-3. Manning connected with Manningham again, however, this time for only 33 yards and a touchdown, with Tynes adding an extra point, followed by a field goal of 25 yards, and another extra point on the Manning touchdown pass to Hakeem Nicks of 8 yards right before halftime. New York led Philadelphia 24-3 heading into the locker room. Michael Vick got the Eagles going in the right direction out of the half, throwing 8 yards to Jeremy Maclin for the touchdown, followed by David Akers' extra point. Manning answered with an 8 yard touchdown pass to Kevin Boss in the fourth quarter, with Tynes adding the extra point. Vick finally found his groove after this, throwing first to Brent Celek to get a 65 yard touchdown, and then running 4 yards to get another touchdown, before connecting with Maclin again for 13 yards. Akers added all three extra points, tying the game at 31. The last play of the game was a Matt Dodge punt, which DeSean Jackson fumbled, but recovered and returned for 65 yards and the touchdown, giving the Eagles a 38-31 victory after Akers added the last extra point. Philadelphia improved to 10-4, while dropping their rivals to 9-5.
Back to more meaningless games, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosting the Detroit Lions. Drew Stanton got the Lions on the board first with a touchdown pass of 10 yards to Nate Burleson, followed by Dave Rayner's extra point. Josh Freeman responded in the second quarter with a touchdown pass to Mike Williams, good for 24 yards, followed by Connor Barth's extra point, and Barth provided another extra point after LeGarrette Blount had a 39 yard touchdown run. Making it 14-10 Buccaneers before the halftime, Dave Rayner added a field goal of 41 yards for the Lions. He added the extra point on Maurice Morris' touchdown run of 10 yards in the third quarter. Reclaiming the lead for Tampa Bay was Connor Barth, kicking two field goals from 30 and 26 yards. Rayner sent it to overtime with his 28 yard field goal at the end of regulation, and won it for Detroit in the extra frame with a 34 yard field goal. The 23-20 victory improved the Lions to 4-10, and knocked Tampa Bay down to 8-6.
In another relatively pointless match, the Battle of Ohio raged on with the Cleveland Browns hosting the Cincinnati Bengals. Colt McCoy opened the scoring, giving the Browns a lead with a 20 yard touchdown pass to Robert Royal, followed by Phil Dawson's extra point. Cedric Benson scored on an 18 yard touchdown run, and Clint Stitser tied it for the Bengals with the extra point. He then kicked three straight field goals, 25 yards to make it 10-7 Cincinnati at halftime, and 39 and 34 yards in the third quarter to make it 16-7. Dawson and Stitser traded kicks in the fourth quarter, with Dawson good from 23 yards and answered by Stitser's 20 yard kick. McCoy tried to rally the Cleveland troops with a 46 yard touchdown pass to Brian Robiskie, followed by a Dawson extra point, but it wasn't enough, and Cincinnati hung on to win 19-17. They jumped up to 3-11, knocking down their stately rivals to 5-9.
Staying in the AFC, but going to the East for the Miami Dolphins hosting the Buffalo Bills. It took until the second quarter for any scoring to be put on the board, when Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a touchdown pass to David Nelson for 18 yards, followed by Ryan Lindell's extra point, and also a later field goal from 29 yards to make it 10-0 Bills. The Dolphins made it 10-7 after Ronnie Brown ran 6 yards for the touchdown, followed by Dan Carpenter's extra point. The score stood solid through halftime, and was changed by Fitzpatrick's touchdown pass of 15 yards to Stevie Johnson, followed by Lindell's extra point making it 17-7. Chad Henne passed to Brandon Marshall for 9 yards in the fourth quarter, and Carpenter's extra point made it 17-10, but it was too late to save Miami, who fell by the aforementioned score. The Bills advanced to 4-10, while the Dolphins fell down to 7-7.
Heading down to Texas, where the Dallas Cowboys hosted the Washington Redskins. David Buehler broke the scoring game open with his 42 yard field goal, followed by his extra point on the 3 yard touchdown pass from Jon Kitna to Miles Austin. Buehler added a 20 yard field goal in the second quarter to make it 13-0 before the Redskins struck with a Rex Grossman touchdown pass of 19 yards to Ryan Torain. Graham Gano added the extra point. Kitna and the Cowboys responded with a 14 yard touchdown pass to Jason Witten before halftime, with Buehler adding the extra point to make it 20-7. Buehler provided an extra point on Tashard Choice's 3 yard touchdown run in the third quarter as well, which was answered by Grossman's touchdown pass of 10 yards to Santana Moss, and Gano's extra point. Buehler kicked another 20 yard field goal to make it 30-14 at the end of the third quarter. Washington came out on the attack in the fourth quarter, with Grossman connecting on touchdowns of 5 yards to Santana Moss and Chris Cooley, followed by two successful two point conversions to Cooley and Mike Sellers. The score was suddenly tied, but Buehler saved the day for Dallas with a 39 yard field goal, making it 33-30 Cowboys, proving to be the final score fifty seconds later. Dallas improved to 5-9, dropping their rivals to the same record.
We move along to an AFC South rivalry between the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars and the host Indianapolis Colts. Peyton Manning and the Colts drew first blood, passing to Austin Collie for 7 yards and a touchdown, followed by an Adam Vinatieri extra point. Josh Scobee responded for the Jaguars, with a 22 yard field goal to make it 7-3. Manning did find Collie again, this time for 27 yards, with Vinatieri adding another extra point. Jacksonville struck again with a punt return touchdown by Mike Thomas, 78 yards to dent the goal line, with Scobee adding the extra point before halftime. Indianapolis led 14-10 at the half. Donald Brown kept the Colts going in the third quarter with a 43 yard touchdown run, with Vinatieri adding another extra point before kicking a 34 yard field goal to make it 24-10. Jacksonville responded with David Garrard finding Mike Sims-Walker for 6 yards and the touchdown, followed by a Scobee extra point. Indianapolis made it 27-17 with a field goal of 37 yards by Vinatieri. Garrard made it 27-24 with another touchdown to Sims-Walker, followed by a Scobee extra point, but on the kickoff, Tyjuan Hagler returned the ball for 41 yards and the touchdown to put the game away at 34-24 after Vinatieri's extra point. This proved to be the final, with Indianapolis improving to 8-6, simultaneously dropping their rivals to the same mark atop the division.
Back east, where the Baltimore Ravens hosted the New Orleans Saints, in what could be a Super Bowl preview (probably not). Drew Brees allowed New Orleans to draw first blood with his touchdown pass of 18 yards to Jimmy Graham, followed by an extra point from Garrett Hartley. Baltimore evened the score with Joe Flacco passing to Ed Dickson for 34 yards and touchdown, followed afterward by Billy Cundiff's extra point. Ray Rice added onto the Ravens score with his 10 yard touchdown run, and a touchdown reception of 17 yards from Flacco. Cundiff added both extra point, making it 21-7. The Saints trimmed the lead, as Brees found Graham again, for 1 yard, and Hartley added the extra point to make 21-14 going into the locker room. Hartley and Cundiff traded barbs in field goals in the third quarter, with Hartley good from 47 yards and Cundiff completing from 33. Brees found Lance Moore in the fourth quarter for 15 yards and a touchdown, which Hartley added an extra point on, but they would not hold on to the tie, as Cundiff kicked two more field goals, from 32 and 27 yards. The 30-24 score was a Baltimore win, improving to 10-4, and dropping the Saints to 10-4 as well.
Lastly, we have a rematch for the Andre Johnson-Cortland Finnegan fight, with the Houston Texans visiting the Tennessee Titans. The Titans came out swinging, so to speak, with Kerry Collins throwing touchdown passes of 3 and 1 yards to Nate Washington and Justin Gage, shortly followed by Chris Johnson's 11 yard touchdown run. Rob Bironas added all three extra points to make it 21-0 after the first quarter. Neil Rackers got a quieted Houston team on the board with a 37 yard field goal, but the 24-3 score at halftime was made possible by Bironas' 30 yard field goal right before the break. Matt Schaub connected with Andre Johnson in the third quarter for 12 yards and the touchdown, followed by Rackers' extra point, but Javon Ringer replied with a 7 yard touchdown run to make it 31-10 after Bironas added the extra point. In a futile attempt to make a comeback, Schaub found Kevin Walter for 4 yards, and Rackers added the extra point to make it 31-17, which ended up being the final. The Titans improved to 6-8, with the Texans falling to 5-9.
That's all for the early games, keep watch for the late games in a couple hours or so.
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