Week Six NFL's Recap: Underdog Day!

By Wayne Lin.

Many of the games were won on the final drive of the game and some teams finally found the win column.  You don't know what's going to happen next in the NFL.

Miami @ Houston: Houston found their first win of the season on a breathtaking last minute drive.  A circus catch by Andre Johnson kept the drive going and four plays later, Matt Schaub ran into the end zone untouched for the go-ahead touchdown. 

Schaub passed for a career-high 379 yards and ran for a touchdown and threw two interceptions. The Houston defense contained the flying Dolphin formation pretty well, and their defense stepped up in a big way today with three pass breakups and an interception.  

Miami played tough and gritty, but I can’t say that they didn’t have luck go their way.  Andre Johnson’s circus catch with 43 seconds to go could be argued as him being lucky or he was skillful. That is up to interpretation, but the defense was still responsible for the final touchdown. 

Chad Pennington passed for 284 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.  Patrick Cobbs scored both touchdowns for Pennington on 138 yards.  Channing Crowder and Yeremiah Bell combined for 25 tackles. 

Miami 28 – Houston 29  

St. Louis @ Washington:  St. Louis also found their first win of the season, but it didn’t come easily.  Stephen Jackson had over a hundred all-purpose yards, but no touchdown.  Jackson was a work horse getting 22 rushes on the day.  Rookie Donnie Avery had a break out day catching four passes for 73 yards.  Even though Marc Bulger passed for 136 yards, it was enough to win.  All touchdowns scored on the day for both teams were rushing touchdowns.

Jason Campbell passed for 208 yards in a gritty effort.  The Redskins had three crucial turnovers which inevitably led to the final outcome.  Clinton Portis had two touchdowns and 129 yards rushing.  He looked to be hobbled toward the end of the game, but doesn’t look serious.  He should return at full strength next week.  Jason Campbell was sacked four times, uncharacteristic of the front line for the Redskins.  Josh Brown kicked the game winner. 

St. Louis 19 – Washington 17  

Chicago @ Atlanta:  Matt Ryan finally passed for over 200 yards in a game.  In fact he passed for...

301 with a touchdown to his favorite target, Roddie White.  White had 112 receiving.  Jason Elam was the real hero of the game nailing five field goals, one his 41st game winner of his career.  Chicago battled back to take the lead, but it was no use.  Curtis Lofton, rookie out of Oklahoma led Falcon defenders with eight.  The name of the game for Atlanta was special teams.  Jerious Norwood had 178 yards in return yardage, a 44.5 yard average.  

Chicago battled back with a touchdown to Rashied Davis to take the lead with 19 seconds to go in the game, but with a monster return and Matt Ryan’s accuracy, the Bears blew the lead and the game.  Matt Forte had 76 yards on the ground and a touchdown.  Kyle Orton had 286 yards passing and while the Bears might have found their quarterback of the future, but it still wasn’t enough.  The Bears special teams unit let them down today giving up 194 yards n kick returns.  No injuries to report except the hurt pride for the Bears. 

Chicago 20 – Atlanta 22    

Detroit @ Minnesota:  Dan Orlovsky started for John Kitna and he didn’t prove to be effective in his first start.  Adrian Peterson rushed for over 100 yards again, but couldn’t find the end zone.  This game also came down to the end.  The Vikings offense sputtered again, but this time, they found the end zone on busted coverage.  Bernard Berrian caught an 86 yard touchdown pass. Gus Frerotte did pass for 296 yards.  Adrian Peterson had two fumbles lost on the day, but that didn’t prove to be the defining factor in the game.

Orlovsky had 150 yards in the air with a touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson.  The defense tightened up slightly, but couldn’t stop Bernard Berrian from breaking out an 86 yard touchdown pass.  Kevin Smith had a decent day, rushing for 62 yards.  The post-Millen era isn’t doing much better and the Lions could very well be in for a winless season. 

Detroit 10 – Minnesota 12   

Carolina @ Tampa Bay:  Carolina proved to be ineffective against an underrated defense in Tampa.  DeAngelo Williams couldn’t duplicate last week’s effort, nor did he come close.  He only rushed for 27 yards.  The Panthers run game struggled finding only 40 yards. That is their lowest total rushing in 18 games.  Steve Smith caught six passes for 112 yards and that was the brightest stat of the day for the Panthers.  

Jeff Garcia passed for 173 yards and misfired on only five passes.  Alex Smith caught a touchdown pass on 43 yards.  Warrick Dunn rushed all over Panther defense but it was Earnest Graham who had the lone rushing touchdown. He only had 11 yards rushing.  The special teams unit scored a touchdown, specifically Geno Hayes. 

Carolina 3 – Tampa Bay 27  

Baltimore @ Indianapolis:  Baltimore’s defense was finally gashed this season…in a big way.  Manning torched the Baltimore defense with 271 yards and three touchdown passes.  Marvin Harrison caught two and Reggie Wayne caught one.  Dominic Rhodes came back in a big way rushing for 73 yards and a touchdown.  Joseph Addai was hobbled and rushed for three yards.  He will undergo tests this week on an undisclosed injury.  Tim Jennings had his first start of the week and he didn’t disappoint getting nine tackles and an interception.  

Baltimore struggled offensively again, and while Joe Flacco had 241 yards passing he had three interceptions.  Derek Mason led Ravens wide receivers with 70 yards.  Ray Rice didn’t rush that well (23 yards), but he did have 64 yards receiving.  Baltimore also had four fumbles, two of them lost.  The Ravens have lost three in a row. 

Baltimore 3 – Indianapolis 31 

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