Blog Brav's Neutral Zone Distraction Blog - NFL stuff

@ShinigamiMiroku I do a prediction score where both teams win. Certainly did not expect the Eagles D to pick off Newton three times.

Props to Philadelphia though; they're red hot this far

 

I'll just leave this here. Credit goes to NFL memes

 

Week 6 will conclude tonight with Monday Night's Colts-Titans game, but let's do an early score recap and then add tonight's game. @Sugar and I will be doing something a little different this week in terms of analysis.

I really need to set a tone for how I do scoring

• Philadelphia Eagles @ Carolina Panthers - Final score 28-23 - Thursday Night Football
  
  • Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz tosses for 222 yards and 3 touchdowns to lift the Eagles over the Panthers. Philadelphia now holds the best record in the NFC.
• Miami Dolphins @ Atlanta Falcons - Final score 20-17
  • The Miami Dolphins rally from a 17 point deficit to score 20 unanswered and stun the defending NFC champions.
• Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings - Final score 10-23
  • Vikings safety Harrison Smith led the charge in blasting Green Bay's offense, headlined by the potentially season-ending injury of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
• Detriot Lions @ New Orleans Saints - Final score 38-52
  • Saints running backs Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara bulldozed the Lions defense for 237 yards as quarterback Drew Brees wins the shootout against Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford.
• New England Patriots @ New York Jets - Final score 24-17
  • A controversial call turned into the Patriots' favor as their longtime great quarterback Tom Brady notched his 187th career win, passing Peyton Manning and Brett Favre as well as securing New England's lead over the AFC East.
• San Francisco 49ers @ Washington Redskins - Final score 24-26
  • After a lackluster performance by 49ers quarterback Brian Hoyer, he was replaced by C.J. Bethard. Although he was more successful than his predecessor, the 49ers fell to Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousin's hot hand.
• Chicago Bears @ Baltimore Ravens - Final score 27-24 OT
  • Bears quarterback Mitch Trubisky leads them to a win over the struggling Baltimore Ravens, culminating in an field goal during overtime to secure the victory.
• Cleveland Browns @ Houston Texans - Final score 17-33
  • Houston hosted the DeShaun Watson show as he passed for 225 yards and 3 touchdowns in a decisive victory over the winless Browns.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Arizona Cardinals - Final score 33-38
  • Newly acquired Cardinals running back Adrian Peterson appeared to rectify Arizona's dismal running attack, rushing for 134 yards and a pair of touchdowns to claim a win against the Buccaneers.
• Los Angeles Rams @ Jacksonville Jaguars - Final score 27-17
  • Los Angeles' defense and special teams stepped up to the plate, beginning with an opening kick off return for a touchdown by wide receiver Pharaoh Cooper to start a victory over Jacksonville.
• Pittsburgh Steelers @ Kansas City Chiefs - Final score 19-13
  • The three B's and the strong defense of Pittsburgh all held a key role in toppling the last undefeated team in the NFL, bottling the Chiefs to a mere 6 yards in the first half.
• Los Angeles Chargers @ Oakland Raiders - Final score 17-16
  • The final play of a dramatic field goal and comeback by Los Angeles leads them past the Oakland Raiders.
• New York Giants @ Denver Broncos - Final score 23-10 Sunday Night Football
  
  • The G-Men take advantage of the Broncos' offensive mistakes to secure their first win of the season.
• Indianapolis Colts @ Tennessee Titans - Final score Monday Night Football

 

Y'all didn't see this one coming though. @Sugar and I are presenting a special Game of the Week. She did her Raiders against my Chiefs in a bitter rivalry game while I'm doing one that has been hotly anticipated since last February. Game is in EST.

Atlanta Falcons vs. New England Patriots (8: 30 PM EST) Sunday October 22

The History

The New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons have played one another a total of 14 times. New England leads the series 8-6 as well as having the current five game winning streak. Their most notable matchup came last February in Super Bowl LI where New England scored 25 unanswered points in the second half to achieve one of the greatest comebacks in both Super Bowl and NFL history 34-28.
New England has picked up where it left off in taking the lead on the AFC East division, but many games played have ended in defeat for them in what should have been victories as well as narrowly winning several close games that could've been avoided.
Atlanta has cooled off since its Super Bowl heartbreak, but continues to remain a threat in its NFC South division as well as the NFC as a whole.
Will New England re-prove itself to be the superior team and rightful winner in this Super Bowl rematch? Or will Atlanta exact vengeance for its heartbroken defeat that continues to sting today?

The Keys to Victory and Final Score

New England will have to do what it does best...keep quarterback Tom Brady protected at all costs in order to find open receivers. Look for him to seek out top target tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receivers Danny Amendola and Brandin Cooks. Atlanta's secondary had gotten the best of Brady during the Super Bowl including a pick six, but both teams will come with new plays and offensive schemes to throw the other off balance.
Likewise, Atlanta's high octane offense will need to find good synchronization quickly in order to stay in the game. Former NFL MVP quarterback Matt Ryan will need to heavily rely on his passing game, pitting elite wide receiver Julio Jones against a weakened Patriots defensive back corps. New England will have to pay extra attention to Jones' position, so do expect some plays to go to other Falcons' targets such as wide receiver Taylor Gabriel and tight end Austin Hooper. The Patriots will also have to defend on the ground as well, rendering it a necessity to find a way in countering the one-two punch combo of running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.
All in all; expect this to be a very large scoring game with plenty of emotions running high in this widely anticipated match in Primetime.

Final Score: Falcons 33 - Patriots 27 OR Patriots 35 - Falcons 30​

 

Totally did not expect that one to be a Pats lopsided. Falcons looked hella lost.

And as a Chiefs fan...I'm still salty over that loss. It's going to sting for a while.

Anyway, the week has concluded and let's get a recap on what has happened! Of course the Eagles vs Redskins game will be modified into this post Tuesday!

• Kansas City Chiefs @ Oakland Raiders - Final score 30-31 Thursday Night Football
  • The Raiders win a thriller on the final play to hand Kansas City their second straight loss. This snaps a 4 game losing streak thanks to quarterback Derek Carr's 417 yards and 3 touchdowns. Wide receiver Amari Cooper wrecked havoc on the Chiefs secondary, racking up 210 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Buffalo Bills - Final score 27-30
  • Buffalo rallies late in the fourth quarter thanks to a careless Buccaneers fumble to setup a decisive field goal. Despite the defeat; Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston posted a solid performance of 384 yards and 3 touchdowns. Bills LeSean McCoy had been kept out of the endzone until this week with two touchdowns and just shy of 100 yards.
• Carolina Panthers @ Chicago Bears - Final score 3-17
  • A shockingly underwhelming performance by the NFC South leader as the Bears defense clamped down on Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. Rookie Bears safety Eddie Jackson became the first player in NFL history to score multiple defensive touchdowns 75 yards or longer.
• Tennessee Titans @ Cleveland Browns - Final score 12-9 OT
  • An ugly win for Tennessee over the winless Browns. Most notably in this game, neither team could find the endzone to score a touchdown. All points were made off field goals.
• New Orleans Saints @ Green Bay Packers - Final score 26-17
  • Saints take advantage of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' absence in securing a win in the fourth quarter despite the many serious mistakes committed early throughout the game.
• Jacksonville Jaguars @ Indianapolis Colts - Final score 27-0
  • One of 3 shutout games this week. Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles threw for a season high 330 yards and 1 touchdown while the defense feasted on Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett, sacking him 10 times. As a team Jacksonville currently leads the NFL in sacks this season with a total of 33.
• Arizona Cardinals @ Los Angeles Rams - Final score 0-33
  • A devastating injury to Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer led to the second shutout this week by the Rams in London.
• New York Jets @ Miami Dolphins - Final score 29-31
  • Dolphins quarterback Jay Cutler suffered an injury during the game and was replaced by Matt Moore. Moore quickly erased a 14 point lead made by New York, finding wide receiver Kenny Stills for 2 touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
• Baltimore Ravens @ Minnesota Vikings - Final score 16-24
  • A total ground game for the purple teams. Vikings running back Latavius Murray scored Minnesota's lone touchdown as kicker Kai Forbath kicked six successful field goals to secure a win over the struggling Ravens.
• Dallas Cowboys @ San Francisco 49ers - Final score 40-10
  • The Cowboys spoil 49ers receiving legend Dwight Clark's immortalization in San Francisco to hand them their seventh straight loss this season. Running back Ezekiel Elliott powered into the endzone twice for 147 yards and quarterback Dak Prescott tossed 234 yards and a trio of touchdowns.
• Cincinnati Bengals @ Pittsburgh Steelers - Final score 14-29
  • Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton struggled against the Steelers defense while their offense spearheaded by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger carried the black and gold to victory throwing for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns.
• Denver Broncos @ Los Angeles Chargers - Final score 0-21
  • Despite an overwhelming presence at the StubHub Center, Broncos fans were tortured as their team was completely shut down of scoring entirely while Chargers wide receiver Travis Benjamin scored 2 touchdowns; returning 1 of them from 65 yards and catching a 42 yard pass.
• Seattle Seahawks @ New York Giants - Final score 24-7
  • Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson caught fire in the second half, shooting 3 touchdown passes into the endzone while the defense eroded away at a weakened Giants wide receiver group.
• Atlanta Falcons @ New England Patriots - Final score 7-23 Sunday Night Football
  • The anticipated Super Bowl rematch had a similar outcome and different environment. However Patriots quarterback Tom Brady proved to be the superior, throwing 249 yards and 2 touchdowns in a very foggy Gillette Stadium.
• Washington Redskins @ Philadelphia Eagles - Final score 24-34 Monday Night Football
  • Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz threw for 4 touchdowns and torched the weakened Redskins defense on Monday Night despite heavy pressure.

 

Even though I wasn't happy with that outcome. I have to hand it to you guys for being persistent and delivering in the clutch.

Selfishly; Michael Crabtree played a big part in securing my win this week where I just barely edged out my opponent. I went up against the person who had Alex Smith and Amari Cooper combine for 75 points.

 

Another week comes to a close! In addition, the trade deadline is finalized today and many teams have made some big moves! I'll be covering that in a later post, but let's get to the scores in the meantime!

• Miami Dolphins @ Baltimore Ravens - Final score 40-0 Thursday Night Football
  
  • Despite Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco suffering a massive hit that left him stunned and carried off the field, the Ravens shut out Miami with a multitude of sacks, interceptions and forced fumbles.
• Minnesota Vikings @ Cleveland Browns - Final score 33-16
  • The Cleveland Browns continue their consecutive losing streak, being one of two teams with their season set under .500
• Oakland Raiders @ Buffalo Bills - Final score 14-34
  • The Buffalo Bills remain undefeated against the AFC West this season, capitalizing on multiple Raiders' mistakes committed. Bills running back LeSean McCoy scores his first rushing touchdown of the season.
• Indianapolis Colts @ Cincinnati Bengals - Final score 23-24
  • Bengals defensive lineman Carlos Dunlap seals a narrow win against Indianapolis with a pick-six off Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett.
• Los Angeles Chargers @ New England Patriots - Final score 13-21
  • Patriots handily defeat the Chargers, highlighted by an embarrassing safety caused by Chargers return specialist Travis Benjamin who inadvertently ran into his own endzone where he was subsequently tackled.
• Chicago Bears @ New Orleans Saints - Final score 12-20
  • Despite a strong defensive effort by the Bears, they were no match for the Saints' Drew Brees cannon, who threw for nearly 300 yards.
• Atlanta Falcons @ New York Jets - Final score 25-20
  • Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan outduels Jets quarterback Josh McCown, completing 18 out of 29 passes for 254 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
• Carolina Panthers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Final score 17-3
  
  • A tough defensive effort by the Panthers force their division rival to a mere 3 points while capitalizing on 2 interceptions to set up scoring drives.
• Houston Texans @ Seattle Seahawks - Final score 38-41
  • A late rally by the Seahawks culminates in a tight end Jimmy Graham touchdown scored in the final 30 seconds of the game to seal a win in what many are calling "game of the season" Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson still manages to post career bests in passing yards 402 and 4 passing touchdowns in a game.
• San Francisco 49ers @ Philadelphia Eagles - Final score 10-33
  • Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz throws for two touchdowns as the electric Eagles offense strikes down the winless 49ers.
• Dallas Cowboys @ Washington Redskins - Final score 33-19
  • The Washington Redskins had a tough time against Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, who ran for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns. The defense also managed to come up late in the game by a costly pick six thrown by Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins.
• Pittsburgh Steelers @ Detroit Lions - Final score 20-15 Sunday Night Football
  • The Steelers defense holds off a starving Lions offense, forcing two turnovers on downs and keeping them out of the endzone.
• Denver Broncos @ Kansas City Chiefs - Final score 19-29 Monday Night Football
  • The Broncos cook a turnover party for the Chiefs with 5. Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters strip fumbles Broncos running back Jamaal Charles for a touchdown as Kansas City cruises to a win in a key divisional matchup.