If Week 6 taught us anything, it proved that in 2012 there is a big gap between the number of elite teams in the NFC as opposed to the AFC.
Both the Seahawks and the Packers were able to defeat AFC opponents (the Patriots and Texans respectively) that had better records than them going into this weekend. In the case of the Packers they didn?t just beat the Texans, they embarrassed them.
In the AFC East all four teams are tied with identical 3-3 records, including the "mighty" Patriots. As one NFL executive put it after Sunday?s game were completed, "this league never ceases to amaze?. With that in mind it is time to look back at what happened this weekend.
Oh boy, where to start?
Four rookie quarterbacks led their respective teams to victory in Week Six. Not to take anything away from Ryan Tannehill, Brandon Weeden, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson, but the start of the week was Aaron Rodgers.
With people openly wondering what was wrong with the Packers and how they were going to beat the undefeated Texans on the road, Rodgers elevated his play and set a new career high with six touchdown passes in the Packs? 42-24 win. The amazing thing is that if not for some dropped passes Rodgers numbers would have been even more impressive. It was the kind of performance that reminds everyone around the NFL exactly why Rodgers was the MVP last year.
Cowboys fans have every right to be angry with head coach Jason Garrett. If not for his poor clock management they likely would have beaten the Ravens on the road.
Garrett allowed 16 precious seconds to run off of the clock before calling a timeout late in the game. The Cowboys could have ran at least one more play that time to give Dan Bailey a better shot at kicking the game-winning field goal. But because of Garrett?s indecision, Bailey was forced to kick a lengthy 51-yard attempt that missed left.
Somehow the Ravens won a game where they allowed Dallas to run for 227 yards. Needless to say the Cowboys deserved a better fate.
Veteran safety Antrel Rolle wins the award this week after his excellent performance in the Giants? 26-3 statement win over the 49ers. Rolle had two interceptions, knocked down two passes and was tied for the team lead with six solo tackles. Not only did Rolle and the Giants D frustrate Alex Smith, they also held the 49ers to 80 yards rushing.
For the record I think Pete Prisco at CBSSports.com does a great job. But his comment after the Seahawks selected Russell Wilson in the third round of the draft is typical of what most observers felt at the time.
"Why does Seattle take him? They paid Matt Flynn and have two others. Strange pick."
Well six months later the Seahawks are looking very smart for selecting the young man out of Wisconsin with the 75th overall pick.
On Sunday all Wilson did was out play Tom Brady and throw two touchdowns in the last seven minutes of the fourth quarter as the Seahawks upset the Patriots 24-23. Wilson?s game winning heave to Sidney Rice tells you all you need to know why Pete Carroll gave the kid the starting job over Flynn.
On the Seahawks fourth quarter touchdown drives, Wilson completed passes of 51, two, 10, nine, and 46 yards against a Bill Belichick defense. No wonder Tom Brady looked so grumpy when he walked off of CenturyLink Field in Seattle; he just watched a rookie outplay him (and Richard Sherman gave him some of his own medicine).
As someone who covered the CFL for years it is my pleasure to give this week?s award to former Calgary Stampeders defensive back Brandon Browner. Now a very physical cornerback for the bad-ass Seahawks defense, Browner destroyed Patriots receiver Wes Welker with a crushing, but clean, hit mid-way through the second quarter.
The newest hero to Browns fans is rookie receiver Josh Gordon out of Baylor. Gordon played a big role as the Browns beat the Bengals 34-24 in Cleveland?s first win of the season. Gordon won this week?s award after this spectacular open field one-handed 71-yard touchdown reception.
Gordon now has three touchdown catches the last two games and is evolving into a much needed downfield threat for the Browns offense.
The legend of Robert Griffin III in Washington D.C. just gets bigger and bigger every week. In the Redskins 38-25 win over the Vikings, RG3 threw for 182 yards and one touchdown and ran for 138 yards and two touchdowns. The icing on the cake for RG3 was this ridiculous 76-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter that put the game away.
Through six games RG3 has run for six touchdowns. The whole Redskins roster rushed for a total of eight touchdowns in the entire 2011 season.
The entire Giants offensive line received a lot of votes after not allowing a single sack in New York?s convincing 26-3 road win over the 49ers. Ultimately this week?s award goes out to Bills safety Jairus Byrd.
After getting crushed the last two games the Bills were desperate for a win. Playing on the road in Arizona the Bills knew they would need all hands to contribute if they were going to beat the Cardinals. Byrd did that and more as he came up with two interceptions. Byrd?s second pick in over-time set up Rian Lindell?s game winning 25-yard field goal.
The Ravens hung on to beat the Cowboys but paid a steep price to do it. Linebacker and emotional leader Ray Lewis suffered a complete tear of his triceps and will miss the remainder of the season. Cornerback Lardarius Webb tore the ACL in his right knee and his is down for the year. The Ravens D is a shell of the unit that took the field in the AFC Championship last year without those two and Terrell Suggs.
-- If the Chiefs are trying to lock up the number one pick in the 2013 NFL draft they?re doing a great job. The Buccaneers pounded the Chiefs 38-10, dropping KC to 1-5. The Chiefs have now turned the ball over a mind boggling 21 times.
-- It is time to start praising Joe Philbin for the job he is doing with the Dolphins. Playing punishing defense, the Dolphins beat the Rams 17-14 to improve their record to 3-3 on the year. Even more impressive is the fact rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill hasn?t thrown an interception in his past two games.
-- The Jets played the kind of ground-and-pound football that Rex Ryan loves as they beat the Colts 35-9. Mark Sanchez only completed 11 passes but two went for touchdowns and none were picked off.
-- As happy as Lions fans are beating the Eagles 26-23 in overtime, disgruntled fans in Philadelphia are fuming at their team?s latest effort. Michael Vick threw two interceptions as the Eagles watched the Lions score 10 points in the last four minutes to tie the game and force OT. What really got Eagles fans upset was watching Matthew Stafford connect on passes of 16 and 17 yards to set up Jason Hanson?s game-winning field goal. Afterwards Eagles cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha talked to Rich Hoffman of the Philadelphia Daily News and basically called out defensive coordinator Juan Castillo for his play calling late in the game.
-- It wasn't pretty but the Falcons found a way to beat the Raiders and are the last unbeaten team remaining in the NFL. Carson Palmer's pick six helped but the Falcons have turned the late-game drive into an art form. This time Matt Ryan needed seven plays and 39 seconds -- going 5-for-6 passing -- to set up Matt Bryant's game winning 55-yard field goal.
Think about this for a moment:
If the Broncos beat the Chargers on Monday night there will be only two teams in the AFC with a record above .500 (the Ravens and the Texans). TWO!
Peyton Manning has not thrown an interception in four of the Broncos five games this season. The problem for Denver in their last two losses has been stopping the run. The Chargers and the Broncos are ranked two, three defensively in the AFC with the Broncos holding an edge offensively. Look for Philip Rivers to try and get tight end Antonio Gates more involved in the offense. Rivers is 9-3 in his career when facing the Broncos and has thrown more touchdowns against Denver than any other team.
Jim Lang is co-host of Brady and Lang in the morning on SPORTSNET 590 The FAN and a columnist for sportsnet.ca.
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