NFL Week 9: Peyton Hillis Shines Again and 25 Things We Learned
NFL Week 9 showed us Colt McCoy might indeed be the real thing, looking good again against one of the league's elite teams, but that wasn't the only thing we learned.
The Bears and Bills gave us some lessons while Pete Carroll and the Seahawks got a lesson in beatdowns.
Helmet-to-helmet hits still haven't disappeared from the league, and the Raiders proved they are a team to be taken seriously.
But that's just the teaser, read on for the complete list.
25. Charlie Whitehurst Is the Backup for a Reason
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Charlie Whitehurst got the start for the Seahawks today, and he was not ready for the Giant's defense.
While the coaching staff should rightly take some of the blame for not preparing properly, Whitehurst has to be able to adjust and execute the plays, which he didn't do very well at Sunday.
All hope isn't lost, but Whitehurst probably would like to have this day back to do over again.
24. Brett Favre Still Can Rally a Team Late in the Game
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There's still some fight left in the old man, as Brett Favre threw for 446 yards and two touchdowns.
He also had two picks, but this is Favre we're talking about, that's going to happen. What mattered was he didn't throw the picks at the end of the game, instead rallying the team back from a 14-point deficit to tie the game with 27 seconds remaining.
Now if only he could do the same thing for Brad Childress' coaching career, which is down 14 points with little time remaining.
23. Derek Anderson Will Live To Blow Another Game
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Derek Anderson wan't bad on Sunday versus the Vikings, but it wasn't like he was great, or that he was the reason the game went into overtime.
Anderson did a decent job of managing the game and not doing anything to blow it. But that's how he gets head coaches to keep giving him starts. He'll have a few games where he doesn't throw an interception and makes a couple of good throws.
Then he gets supremely confident in his arm again and throws three picks in the fourth quarter.
Good luck with that Arizona fans. I see a John Skelton start in your future.
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22. Phillip Rivers Doesn't Need Antonio Gates To Score Touchdowns
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Antonio Gates couldn't make the game versus the Texans because of injury, and Phillip Rivers carried on without him just fine to the tune of 295 yards and four touchdowns.
What did you do today?
Slacker.
21. Arian Foster Continues To Prove He's A Good Fantasy Investment
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The Texans lost, but Arian Foster still had 127 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
The Texans have a franchise running back in Foster, there's no doubt about that at this point. They even have a pretty good passing game, but Lady Luck was not smiling on them at the end of the game versus the Chargers Sunday.
Still, Foster earned a lot of fantasy points, so Yeah, Fantasy Football!!
20. Sebastian Janikowski Is a Clutch Kicker
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First Sebastian Janikowski kicks the team to a tie to end regulation, and then, he wins it in overtime.
Janikowski is proving he's a clutch kicker, and the Raiders are one more victory on their way to a possible postseason berth because of him.
Yes, it's the kicker's job to make the kicks, but you still have to get out there and do it.
19. Clay Matthews Is Better Than You
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To every team who passed Clay Matthews up in the draft (and to the Browns who did it twice), this is just a reminder that Matthews is on his way to being the defensive player of the year.
Not every team needed a Clay Matthews in the first round last year, but there were a bunch that did.
Congratulations, you passed up a one-man quarterback-wrecking machine.
18. Larry Fitzgerald Exists
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Larry Fitzgerald, who seems to have disappeared for about the last month, was discovered Sunday in an Arizona Cardinals uniform catching passes from a quarterback named Derek Anderson.
Fitzgerald reportedly had 107 yards receiving on seven catches, but we'll update this breaking news story as it develops.
We thank everyone who helped in the search for Fitzgerald. Now, your weather and some tips for the kitchen after the break.
17. Ndamukong Suh Knows How To Kick a Ball...Somewhat
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Ndamukong Suh kicked the extra point for the Detroit Lions after kicker Jason Hanson was injured.
The kick clanged off of the upright and was no good, proving to be the difference in the game.
No matter, give credit to Suh for trying. The guy is built to sack quarterbacks, not kick field goals, so if you want to give Suh any flack for missing the kick, be my guest.
16. The Dallas Cowboys Still Are a Mess
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At the half, it was 28-7 Green Bay, and it really wasn't that close.
Wade Phillips had already used his last timeout, preventing the Cowboys from challenging a fumble returned for a touchdown.
But that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg when it comes to Dallas. Jerry Jones could fire Wade Phillips tomorrow, and it just wouldn't matter to the rest of the season at this point.
15. Bill Belichick Does Not Like Losing to Eric Mangini
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The Browns upset the Patriots, and we'll get to more of that in a moment, but Bill Belichick looked like someone had told him his car just got keyed by the expression on his face as time ticked away in the fourth quarter.
Belichick obviously never likes to lose, but when it's to his former student, who he feels turned on him, it makes the loss that much worse.
Of course, most Browns fans drink the tears of Belichick's failure and praise them as sweet nectar, so it was a pretty good day in Cleveland from that standpoint.
14. Michael Vick Still Has It
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Michael Vick still has what it takes to lead an NFL team to victory, proving it with savvy play and his trademark scrambling ability on Sunday.
Vick had 218 yards and one touchdown through the air and added 74 yards and another touchdown on the ground just to make sure everyone remembered how he became famous in the first place.
13. Santonio Holmes Can Catch Passes
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Santonio Holmes made headlines in the Super Bowl a few years ago with his catches.
He's doing it again after coming off suspension and catching a Mark Sanchez pass in overtime that set up the game-winning field goal.
12. Brad Childress Tells It Like It Is
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If you saw the postgame press conference, you'd be asking yourself if the Vikings actually won the game they'd just played (they did).
Instead of celebrating a victory, Childress talked about his job security and took a shot at Brett Favre, the quarterback who had just led his team to an overtime victory.
This just keeps getting funnier and funnier.
11. New Orleans Can Beat a Bad Team Convincingly
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After playing some weaker teams pretty close earlier in the season, the Saints came out and thoroughly beat the Carolina Panthers, who just aren't a very good football team.
The Saints now look like they've shaken off the Super Bowl hangover and are ready to get back to the postseason and do it all again.
10. The Kansas City Running Game Can Be Shut Down
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The Raiders kept Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones from hitting 100 yards—no small feat this year. Neither of them scored a touchdown, and, not surprisingly, the Chiefs lost the game.
9. Peyton Manning Can't Do It by Himself
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As much as Manning-haters loved the game versus the Philadelphia Eagles, there's simply only so much one man can do, especially when most of his best weapons aren't on the field.
The Colts have been lucky in that Manning has shown to be durable over the years, but the same can't be said of any of his favorite targets so far this year, as one receiver after another has fallen to the injury bug.
Today's outcome wasn't a surprise, really.
8. The Lions Are Turning Into a Very Good Team, But They're Not There Yet
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The Lions beat themselves at the end of the game with poor play and mistakes that led to game-killing penalties.
But that's going to change very soon as the Lions now have one playmaker after another slowly maturing.
Don't expect the Lions to lose a game like this next year.
7. The Miami Dolphins' Issues Are Catching Up with Them
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The Dolphins were one of the biggest enigmas coming into the season, but now it just looks like they're just inconsistent.
They lost the first road game of the year, but they still haven't won at home, and while they have all the elements in place to have a great team, they're nowhere near a great team at this point in time.
The Dolphins are going to have to solve their problems soon, or they'll be out of the playoff race.
6. Ryan Fitzpatrick Has Turned Into a Decent Quarterback
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We're not saying Ryan Fitzpatrick is the quarterback of the future, because Andrew Luck probably will be leading the Bills next year, but Fitzpatrick has earned himself another opportunity somewhere else, or at the very least his backup job in Buffalo will be secure.
Fitzpatrick has put up some great fantasy numbers, but the Bills still are winless.
Still, Fitzpatrick is hardly even in the Top 20 reasons why the Bills are terrible this year.
5. Jay Cutler Can Get Through a Game Without Throwing a Pick
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Not only did Jay Cutler not throw an interception, he was only sacked once, which qualifies as zero sacks in the Bears recent games.
So, there it is. Cutler had a good day and the Bears won, anything is possible!
4. Colt McCoy Showed Again Why He's Better Than Advertised
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Colt McCoy now has faced the Steelers, Saints and Patriots in his first three NFL starts.
He's 2-1, and his numbers are decent. He looks calm and confident, and he's not making very many mistakes.
Take that, Jimmy Clausen!
If the Browns don't go with McCoy for the rest of the season, something is wrong.
3. Mark Sanchez Is Showing Signs of Life
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Mark Sanchez, who has come under fire this year for not developing as fast as most fans thought he should, went out and threw for 336 yards and one touchdown versus Detroit, including a great pass to Santonio Holmes in overtime that helped set up the winning field goal.
Sanchez only had one pick and looked much better this week than his dismal performance last week versus the Packers.
2. Peyton Hillis Can Run Circles around You
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Peyton Hillis ran for 184 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday, and one reason why could be by the time he's run the defenders over five or six times in the first half, they start taking different angles on him in the second half in an effort to avoid the punishment.
Hillis is the poster child for "Bruising Runner." You can see some of these defensive linemen and backs just picking themselves off the ground after Hillis has run them over and saying to themselves, "Maybe, I'll do that a little different next time."
1. The Patriots Are Vulnerable
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The New England Patriots now have been beaten by a Cleveland Browns team with far less talent than they have, almost lost to the Chargers, who have issues the size of manholes and did lose a divisional game to the Jets earlier this season.
This qualifies as a rebuilding year for the Patriots, and we'll see if they can rebuild fast enough to get back to the Super Bowl.
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