Moral Victories: NFL Storylines From Week Six
Each week we'll start a little feature here on Mondays on Technorati sports, looking at winners and losers from each week in the NFL.
It's impossible to start this series without talking about the Oakland Raiders. Unsure whether or not their coach is going to get arrested, watching their gigantic quarterback flounder week-after-week and their highly drafted wide receiver not catch passes, the Raiders are the biggest winners in week six, getting a win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
JaMarcus Russell completed 60 percent of his passes. Darius Heyward-Bey didn't catch a pass, but he did have a rushing attempt (for -1 yard, but give him a break), that's something right?
Which brings us to the week's biggest loser: the Eagles. They gave up an 86-yard touchdown to a slow tight end. Donovan McNabb completed less than 50 percent of his passes against a team that had just been picked apart by Eli Manning the previous week. They scored only nine points against a team giving up 32 points per game in the last three weeks. Weak Eagles, very weak.
Winners:
Detroit Lions: Yeah, they got shut out in Lambeau. But they were playing without their starting quarterback (Matt Stafford), best player (Calvin Johnson) and backup quarterback Daunte Culpepper got injured during the game. They gave up a 14-0 lead early in the first quarter, but then only allowed four field goals the rest of the way against a potent Packers offense.
Moral victories, they count as real wins in Detroit.
New Orleans Saints: Everyone's been touting the Giants as potential Super Bowl champs, but if the Saints get home field in the playoffs, does anyone want to play that offense in that dome? The Giants certainly don't.
New England Patriots: Keeping your first string offense in during a blowout, allowing your quarterback to get his sixth touchdown pass, is classic Belichick. Good to have him back.
Losers:
Dante Wesley: This was vicious man. Your team won, but come on. This is why people assume all football players are animals.
Green Bay Packers: Five sacks given up to an anemic Lions' pass rush. Gotta protect that quarterback, son.
Seattle Seahawks: They were allegedly healthy this season and allegedly fixed the wide receiver position with the T.J. Houshmanzadeh signing, but they just lost 27-3 at home to an Arizona team with no run game. The NFC West, still the worst division in football.
Tennessee Titans: If you don't like it, you should try stopping them. Or at least intentionally injuring someone.
Follow Technorati