NFL Weekend Recap

The beginning of the NFL season couldn’t have been any better. Eleven of the fourteen games so far have been decided by a touchdown or less with many of those games coming down to the last play.

Thursday night started things off with the Super Bowl rematch between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos. Cam Newton tried to will a Panthers’ win with a last minute drive resulting in a 50-yard field goal from Graham Gano, but the kick sailed left with four seconds remaining in the game. The Broncos emerged victorious with their rookie quarterback Trevor Semien getting his first win in the NFL. Semien spoke about the team’s resiliency afterwards.

The 1:00 p.m. time slot didn’t disappoint on Sunday afternoon. There was a shoot-out in Jacksonville, a two-point conversion winner by Oakland, and a complete comeback in Arrowhead Stadium.

Raiders’ Head Coach Jack Del Rio, father of Florida quarterback Luke Del Rio, showed his mettle opting to go for two to take the lead with 47 seconds left in New Orleans. Instead of kicking the game tying extra point to send the game into overtime, Derek Carr found Michael Crabtree in the endzone for the conversion. The Raiders overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half and won the game 35-34. Del Rio caught a lot of praise from quarterback Derek Carr. Between Derek Carr, Michael Crabtree, Amari Cooper, and Latavius Murray the Raiders’ offense has the potential to put up a lot of points this season.

The San Diego Chargers led the Kansas City Chiefs 24-3 with three minutes left in the third quarter. Somehow the Chargers found a way to lose this game. Chiefs’ quarterback Alex Smith turned on the heat throwing two touchdowns down the stretch to send the game into overtime. On the first possession of overtime Alex Smith wouldn’t be denied, running the ball across the goal line to win the game 33-27. He finished the game with 363 yards, two TD’s, and one rushing TD. Big points for fantasy owners.

The later afternoon games continued the drama with all three of the games being decided by four points or less.

Russell Wilson’s late drive gave Seattle a comeback victory against the Miami Dolphins, poor clock management saw the Cowboys lose their chance to beat the Giants, and the Lions vs. Colts showdown put up huge offensive numbers.

On a designed quarterback draw, Ryan Tannehill scored for the Miami Dolphins to go up 10-6 with four minutes remaining in the game. The Seahawks offense looked anemic throughout the game, but Russell Wilson led the team to a game winning touchdown drive with 30 seconds left on the clock to win 12-10.

Dak Prescott looked good in his first start in the NFL, but fell short of earning his first win in the league. With a chance at a field goal, wide receiver Terrance Williams stayed in bounds instead of running out to stop the clock. The Cowboys had no timeouts to use and the clock ran out before they could get Dan Bailey out there who hit two 50+ yard field goals earlier. Dallas fell to the Giants 19-20.

In a game that combined for 74 points, both Andrew Luck and Matthew Stafford threw for over 300 yards and no interceptions. Lions kicker Matt Prater redeemed an earlier miss in the game with a 43-yard winner with four seconds remaining on the clock. Detroit won 39-35 in Indy.

The Sunday nightcap between the New England Patriots and the Arizona Cardinals came down to a missed field goal. Cardinals kicker Chandler Catanzaro missed a 47-yard try with 40 seconds remaining in the game. Jimmy Garoppolo earned his first NFL win in his first NFL start as the Patriots win in Arizona 23-21.

The NFL continues with a Monday night double-header.

Big Ben, Antonio Brown, and the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to play against the Washington Redskins at 7:10 p.m. The San Fransisco 49ers open up against the LA Rams afterwards at 10:20 p.m.