Notes: My comments have been less than well received. Not that I blame the readers. I'm trying to craft a style that isn't just stating the obvious. This week I have some help from guest commentator Mike Q.

Impression: the stats score is identical to the real score, and a weird score at that.

Mike: The Ravens had 5 interceptions and 4 sacks on Sunday, but as dominant as they were on defense the Ravens only had one impressive drive on offense and were out-gained by the Rams (and nearly out-gained on the ground, without Jackson). Not impressive considering the injuries St. Louis has sustained. C’mon, this is a Rams team that had a wide-receiver take a knee on the final snaps of the game!

THE WRONG TEAM WON! This season teams that won when they lost on the stats score are 3-5 against the spread the next week. Teams that lost when they won the stats score are 0-6!!! Go against Chicago this week perhaps?

Mike: Adrian Peterson ran thru, ran past, and ran over the Bears defense on Sunday for 224 yards on 20 carries. He also set-up the game-winning field goal with a 53 yard kickoff return. Devin Hester returned a punt 89 yards and had an 81 yard catch for touchdowns. The Bears need to find their running game, they can’t expect to win games throwing the ball 45 times.

Impression: D.Anderson a good fantasy play.

Mike: I loved the way Romeo Crennel opened up his press-conference a couple of weeks ago, “How’s everybody doing today? I’m doing great!” Things are going pretty well for the Browns these days, they’re passing the ball efficiently, they’re running the ball, converting 3rd downs, limiting their penalties, all the things a coach wants to see. Their defense isn’t the best but they aren’t making critical mistakes. Miami, on the other hand, can’t do anything right. Ronnie Brown is the only thing standing between them and an 0-16 season.

THE WRONG TEAM WON! Go against Washington this week?

Mike: I think God decided to be a Packer fan this year, otherwise I can’t explain how Green Bay is 5-1. I’ve heard so much about the great year Favre is having, but his QB rating is in the middle of the pack, and without some lucky bounces this team would be 3-2 at best. The Redskins had this game until Moss fumbled and Woodson ran it back 57 yards. To their credit, the Packer defense did step it up in the 2nd half, and had a very important 4th down stop. The Hogs make the playoffs this year, I’m guaranteeing it.

Impression: Jacksonville sneaky and don't get much attention compared to the big boys of the AFC.

Mike: As Hank Stram used to say, “let's just keep matriculatin' the ball down the field, boys!" That’s the Jaguars offense these days, control the clock, don’t make mistakes. It makes it easier to do this when your defense dominates the line of scrimmage, allowing less then 100 yards rushing for the 4th straight game. Houston looked pretty decent in the first half, but needs to get healthier quick.

Impression: Kansas City is 3-3? They were being written off a short time ago as one of the worst teams in the league.

Mike: The Bengals don’t have a chance. They don’t have a chance when they don’t have a defensive line that can penetrate or come off blocks, have 7 linebackers miss the game, and can only convert 1 out of 11 third downs on offense. My favorite team is struggling with their rushing attack, I wish they had the Bengals next week, they seem like the perfect cure.

Impression: some very good teams in the NFL this year, some very bad. Jets look very bad.

Mike: The Eagles defense played it safe in the first half, with 2 starters missing from their secondary, allowing the Jets to run for nearly 100 yards in the first quarter alone; but defensive coordinator Jim Johnson rolled the dice and called a lot of run blitzes in the second half and Pennington was unable to take advantage of this. The Eagles offense did the job but I would have liked to see them get in to the end zone more then once. Some advice for Andy Reed: When Westbrook & Buckhalter are averaging 6 yards per rush in the game, run the ball more!

Impression: Tampa defense solid (except versus Indianapolis)

Mike: The Bucs didn’t need to run the ball in this game, they had Jeff Garcia, and he was “en fuego”. Garcia who has a QB rating over 100 and hasn’t thrown an interception this year, was the model of efficiency, finishing off the game with a 55 yard drive that set-up the game-winning field goal. The Titans lost Vince Young in the 3rd quarter, but didn’t really have much going offensively up to that point.

Impression: it will get ugly in Arizona without Warner or Leinert.

Mike: Vinny Testaverde comes out of retirement to become the oldest QB to win a game (I believe he’s 68). I didn’t understand why Arizona was disappointed that Vinny didn’t show up to their tryout earlier this week, but I guess Carolina knew what they were doing and got to him first. The Cards lost Kurt Warner in the first quarter, maybe they should get Bernie Kosar on the phone. The final score is a bit misleading, as the Cardinals had a 10-9 lead with 6 minutes left.

Impression: Patriots on a mission. Brady will post HUGE numbers by the time this season is done.

Mike: I can’t get over how good the Patriots looked, especially considering they were facing perhaps the best team in the NFC, on the road, and without key players. I love the parity in the NFL, and I love the fact that most every team could make the playoffs, but there are only 2 teams that can win the Super Bowl this year, New England and Indy, period.

Impression: closer on the scoreboard than on paper.

Mike: It’s nice to see the Chargers getting back in to the flow of things. LaDainian Tomlinson had 198 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns, Merriman and Phillips each had 2 sacks, and the defense recovered a fumble just before half to keep the Raiders from tying the game. Thank god it’s turning around because I was getting tired of seeing LT cry during post-game press conferences.

THE WRONG TEAM WON! Go against Seattle this week?

Mike: Nothing went right for the Seahawks in this game: they gave up a touchdown on a botched punt, had a field goal blocked, and almost had the over-head camera kill Matt Hasselbeck. Some other weird things happened: New Orleans had 5 sacks (making it 6 for the season), Reggie Bush was able to run between the tackles, Brees didn’t throw an interception, and I actually saw Shaun Alexander break a tackle.

Impression: Atlanta in for a very rough year as everyone knew from the get-go.

Mike: Starting two new offensive tackles, the Falcons did a decent job of keeping the Giants pass rush off of Harrington in the first half, but once the Giants took a larger lead and the Falcons had to rely on the pass it was all over. The Giants defense struggled their first 2 games, but they now seem to be responding well to first year defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

Also see:
- Week That Was: Week Five
- Week That Was: Week Four
- Week That Was: Week Three
- Week That Was: Week Two
- Week That Was: Week One

Also See:
Straight-up quick picks
Spread quick picks