Green Bay Packers 42, Houston Texans 24
I guess you could say that the Texans defense is really missing Brian Cushing. The former Defensive Player of the Year is out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. In their first game without him, Houston’s D yielded six touchdown passes and a whopping 430 yards of offense against a previously struggling Packers’ offense.
Nearly as notable is the fact that Houston struggled a great deal on the offensive side of the ball. Matt Schaub, in an uncharacteristic performance, threw two interceptions, one of which was returned for six. Arian Foster had his worst game of the season on the ground as Houston was blown-out in their initial loss of the year.
Meanwhile, it appears that Green Bay is back on track after struggling through the first five games of the season. James Jones recorded two touchdowns for the third consecutive game and, as mentioned before, Rodgers threw a career-high six touchdown passes. Green Bay’s defense showed up big time as well. They recorded three sacks on Schaub and were after the Texans’ quarterback consistently throughout the night.
In a game that could have seen Houston cement their status as the team to beat in the AFC, Green Bay came in and made a bold statement. This statement was as emphatic is it was loud. They are back in the NFC Championship Race and the rest of that conference must take notice.
New York Jets 35, Indianapolis Colts 9
Weaknesses on the Colts were exposed a great deal on Sunday against New York. Their defense yielded 252 yards on the ground against a weak Jets rush offense. More disturbing is the fact that Indianapolis fell down 21-6 against what has to be considered an average New York squad.
Andrew Luck threw two interceptions and completed just 50 percent of his passes in his worst outing since the season opener against the Chicago Bears. Anyone who was expecting a surprise postseason run by the rebuilding Colts are sorely mistaken.
Meanwhile, the Jets continue to play up-and-down football. After surprising a great deal of people by staying close against the Houston Texans last Monday, they laid a beatdown on the Jets. I am still not sure if their success is sustainable with a lack of even a mediocre passing game. Mark Sanchez completed just 11 passes for 100 yards against a bad Indianapolis secondary.
Check out Jesus Castanon’s review of the AFC East for more information in this game.
Tennessee Titans 26, Pittsburgh Steelers 23
I had a write-up up this Thursday night game late last week, but wanted to add a little bit more to the conversation. As I noted in a Bleacher Report article earlier today, Ben Roethlisberger ranks third in the NFL in pass attempts per game, tied with Drew Brees in that category. Meanwhile, the Steelers rank dead last in rush average in the league.
The simple fact that they couldn't get it going against a weak Titans' defense really has to worry Todd Haley and company on the offensive side of the ball. Just wanted to give you that one tidbit.
Click here to check out my full review of this game.