They Aren't Who We Thought They Were

Your Weekly AFC East Roundup

By Kevin Reese

Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports

Buffalo Bills-

The always seemingly bipolar Buffalo Bills are at it again. A week ago, the Bills took down the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens at home.

It was a dominating performance, as the Bills outrushed the Ravens by about 200 yards. On a short week, they took on the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football. The Bills seemed to be going punch for punch with the Browns, and seemed to have the edge when Brian Hoyer suffered a knee injury in the first quarter. But then the favor was returned, and EJ Manuel suffered a knee injury as well.

As EJ Manuel went, it seemed, so did the Bills. The game took a complete 180 at this point, and the Browns took control. Manuel engineered a successful drive, bringing the Bills down to the Browns 13-yard line on the play he was hurt. Backup QB Jeff Tuel was able to capitalize, finishing the drive with a touchdown and putting the Bills ahead, 24-17.

The Bills never scored another point. Brandon Weeden, on in relief for Hoyer, took control, appearing to be playing for his job. Weeden finished with 197 yards and a touchdown. The game was sealed when Tuel threw an interception, which was returned for a touchdown by T.J. Ward. The Browns went ahead 37-24 for good. The Bills might’ve lost more than the game. The Bills also lost not only a quarterback, but also their leader.

New York Jets-

So the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets played on Monday Night Football. The winning quarterback threw three touchdowns and put together a fourth quarter two-minute drive to put his team in position for the game-winning field goal. Yes, that’s right. I’m talking about Geno Smith, not Matt Ryan.

The Jets appeared to finally let Geno loose, giving him the reigns in this offense. Smith, coming in with a league leading 11 turnovers, knew he had to cut down on the interceptions.

Smith didn’t throw an interception, and the Jets as a team didn’t give the ball away. Coming off of an ugly 38-13 pounding at the hands of the Tennessee Titans, the Jets were able to bounce back in a big way.

With the Patriots losing this week, the Jets were able to pull within one game of the surprisingly competitive AFC East lead. If the Jets can continue to take care of the ball, they might be able to surprise some people this season.

Miami Dolphins-

We’ve been here before. Ryan Tannehill with the ball, given the opportunity to lead his team on a game-winning drive. We’ve seen it against the Colts and Falcons earlier this year.

The Baltimore Ravens might’ve caught on. The Ravens, led by Terrell Suggs, sacked Tannehill six times on Sunday, he last of which came on the potential game-tying drive that ultimately pushed the Dolphins out of field -goal range.

The Dolphins, after starting 3-0, might have found their Achilles heel. Tannehill had been sacked a league-leading 18 times before this game. Adding six to that total certainly keeps them in the lead. The ‘Phins also amassed only 22 rushing yards on 11 carries.

Rushing for 2 yards per carry definitely does not help a second-year quarterback. If the Dolphins want to return to their winning ways, they’ll need to become a more balanced offense, as well as keeping their quarterback upright.

New England Patriots-

Tom Brady, for once, appeared to be human. Brady, coming into the game with a 52-game streak of throwing a touchdown pass, wasn’t able to find the endzone on Sunday. Nobody on the Patriots was able to.

The Patriots were out-passed, out-rushed, and outplayed in a truly ugly game. The Bengals passed for 13 more yards than the high-flying Patriots passing attack, while they rushed for 80 more yards than the Pats.

Maybe it was just a bad game, or maybe the Patriots finally got a taste of what playing a good team feels like. The Patriots opened up the season 4-0. Their opponents through their first four games: a combined 5-11.

With their hardest match-ups remaining on their schedule, it’ll be interesting to see where the Patriots end up. Might this be the beginning of the end for Tom Brady? 

For Brady, Just a Little Too Late. For San Fran, the Playoffs Await

By Carly Nevis

The 49ers pulled off a few weekend’s ago that no other team has done in seven weeks, that is beat the Patriots. They also became just the second team to beat New England at home this season. The first team was also in the NFC West, the Cardinals… many months ago when Arizona actually had high hopes… but anyway.

AP Photo/ Elise Amendola

It was ugly, it was suspenseful, and it came down to the finish, but San Francisco pulled it off. With the victory, San Fran clinched a playoff berth and sits as the second seed in the NFC as of now.

Just what happened in this game to make Sunday night football fans “ooh” and “ahh” at the screen? Well for the first 3 quarters, the man, the myth and legend, Tom Brady was not himself. He threw two interceptions, one of them that eventually led to a touchdown in the third quarter.

The 49er’s defense allowed just one field goal in the first half, and just 10 New England points going into the fourth quarter. It would be safe for San Fran fans to do their victory dance with a 31-10 lead going in the fourth quarter, right? WRONG. Tom Brady crafted a 21-point comeback, one touchdown after another after yet another to tie the game at 31 in the middle of the fourth quarter.

But the 49ers would not let this one slip away. LaMichael James returned the next New England punt for 62 yards. Quarterback Colin Kaepernick threw a beautiful pass to Michael Crabtree for the touchdown which made it 38-31. But the game was sealed for the 49ers when Ricky Jean Francois sacked Brady to put an end to the New England drive. The 49ers eventually added a field goal to their lead to put this one in the books.

"We can win a shootout," Michael Crabtree told ESPN after the game. "Whatever it takes, that's our motto. ... We feel like we can do anything, sky's the limit."

You may wonder just how much you can take from a game that started off as a blow out, and ended in a nail biter. Well, for one, the 49ers are now in the playoffs. And even though the defense was weaker in the fourth quarter, a win is a win. The 49ers showed that they are good enough to beat even the best, which is a very good sign with just two weeks left in the season.

Monday Night Football: Houston Texans vs. New England Patriots

With a potential AFC Championship Game matchup tonight, lets take a look at the keys for each team

By Jeremy Philipson

New England Patriots:

Protect Brady: The Patriots can score at will, especially if Tom Brady has time to stand in the pocket and pick apart the defense. Brady is completing almost 65% of his passes, a testament to his offensive line, but tonight he is facing a defense who allows opposing quarterbacks to complete only 53.8% of passes, best in the NFL. Not only do the Patriots have to keep Brady clean, they have to let Brady get the ball to his 

(AP Photo/Brian Blanco)

receivers. The Texans have knocked down a league-leading 33 passes at the line of scrimmage, 16 more than the next closest team (San Diego). Almost half of these batted balls are credited to JJ Watt, who alone has 15, of which five have turned into interceptions. If the Patriots can keep Brady’s jersey clean and don’t let the Texans’ pass rushers get to him, New England should come away with this game.

Score First: In the Texans’ lone loss this season, against the Packers in Week 6, they fell behind 14-0 after the first quarter, and were losing 21-7 midway through the second. Houston was forced to abandon their game plan, resulting in Arian Foster having his lowest rushing output of the season. If the Patriots can score early and often, Houston will be forced to throw 40+ times, something head coach Gary Kubiak wants to avoid. Scoring won’t be easy against one of the best defenses in the league, but the Patriots have the firepower to make it happen.

Houston Texans:

Stay on the Field: If Tom Brady is on the sidelines, he can’t slice up the Texans defense. To keep him on the bench, the Houston offense must run the ball effectively and win the time of possession battle. This means a heavy dose of Arian Foster and the NFL’s sixth ranked rushing attack, along with its famous play-action passes to keep the defense honest. Converting third downs will be crucial for the Texans to win. Staying on the field and having 10 play drives that use up seven-plus minutes of the clock keeps Brady and the Patriots offense off the field and in a position where they can’t do harm.

(AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Balanced Attack: Something the Texans have prided themselves on his having a balanced attack with a run-to-pass ratio near 1, and the rankings reflect this. Houston ranks tenth in the NFL in passing offense, near 250 yards per game, and sixth in rushing offense, averaging over 142 yards per game. Foster leads the way for the ground attack, rushing for almost 92 yards per game. Backups Justin Forsett and Ben Tate are contributing too, averaging 30.3 and 28 yards per game, respectively. Through the air, Andre Johnson is the main target, with 93 receiving yards and almost 10 targets per game. The Texans need their offense to be firing on all cylinders, especially on the road facing a Patriots team riding a 6-game win streak.

Prediction: Patriots 31 Texans 17

AFC East: Miami’s Season On The Line

Sitting just one game out of a Wildcard spot, the Miami Dolphins are in it, but will have to earn it

By Michael Quagliana

(AP Photo/Rhona Wise)

The Miami Dolphins are very much in the Wild Card hunt in the AFC. The team is sitting at 5-6, just a step behind the Bengals and Steelers who are even at 6-5. Aside from an inexplicable 37-3 loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 10, the Dolphins have put together a fairly respectable season. Their collective productivity combined with the overall mediocrity from the AFC this season, has them drooling at the bit for a spot in the postseason.

However, making the playoffs will be no easy task for Miami, as they face a tough schedule to close out the season. The Dolphins play the New England Patriots twice, go to San Francisco to take on the 49ers, host a surprisingly on-the-rise Jacksonville Jaguars team who has found its late season stride, and take on a Buffalo Bills squad who already topped Miami once this season in a 19-14 win on Nov. 11.

For a spot in the playoffs the Dolphins will certainly have to beat the Patriots (8-3) at least once in their final two matchups, a daunting task. Their best chance is this coming weekend as they have home field to their advantage. Though a tough challenge, nothing is impossible. These are the top five things the Dolphins need to do Sunday to have a shot a beating the Patriots.

1.    Control the tempo. The best defense against Tom Brady and the New England offense is to keep them off the field. The Dolphins can ill afford any three and outs. They need to grind out their drives do what they can to control time of possession.

2.    Put pressure on Tom Brady. The Giants have laid the blueprint down for the rest of the NFL in their two Super Bowl appearances against the Pats: Hit Brady and get him out of his comfort zone. Miami’s Cameron Wake is fifth in the NFL with 9.5 sacks. Wake needs to wreak havoc in the trenches and disrupt the passing game.

3.    Ryan Tannehill needs to be a leader. The Dolphins aren’t going to blow out the Patriots. If Miami is still in the game in the fourth quarter, Tannehill can’t simply take on his role as a game manager. The rookie quarterback had a solid game last week in a win against the Seattle Seahawks, completing 18 of 26 passes for 253 yards and a touchdown; respectable, but not enough against a team like New England.

4.    Utilize their weapons. Reggie Bush can bust out a 60 yard run on any given play. Don’t use him as a ground-and-pound running back. Davone Bess, the number-two wide receiver, caught seven passes for 129 yards last week. He too has rare athleticism and a keen ability to make defenders miss. Get both of them involved in the offense at key points in the game. Don’t get too gimmicky, but run a screen passes and try to catch the Pats’ defense sleeping,

5.    Take pride. The Dolphins need this game. They need energy in the locker room and from their home crowd that has been missing all season. They need to have confidence and can’t be intimidated.

An International Statement

By Michael Quagliana 

The New England Patriots defeated the St. Louis Rams 45-7 on Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London. This marked the sixth straight season that the NFL flew two teams across the pond to showcase its product to a growing fan base. That fan base didn’t witness much of a contest, but they did witness one of the game’s top receivers at his best.

(AP Photo/Getty Images)

Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots’ tight end, caught eight passes for 146 yards and two scores. It was his second game in a row with two touchdowns, and his seventh touchdown of the season overall. His seven scores are tied for the league lead amongst all receivers, and his 580 receiving yards lead all tight ends. This is coming off a 2011 season in which “The Gronk” racked up 1,327 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns – both all time single season NFL records at the position.

Gronkowski’s production is closer to that of a number-one wide receiver than that of a tight end. Between the historic season and the Patriots’ run to the Super Bowl in 2011, his talents were brought to a national audience. Sunday marked his eleventh career multi-touchdown game in just his third season. His chemistry with Tom Brady continues to be unbreakable. At just the age of 23, the 6’ 6”, 265-pound tight end still has plenty of years ahead of him to continue his game-changing production.

Gronkowski received criticism in the offseason for a viral video taken of him dancing in the club, on a supposed ankle injury, within 24 hours of losing Super Bowl XLVI to the New York Giants in February. On Sunday, Gronkowski made even more headlines for his dance moves, this time following each of his touchdowns. The fallback has been much more light-hearted this week among fans and the media. It seems pretty simple – if Gronkowski keeps scoring touchdowns and the Patriots keep winning games, he has the approval to cut a rug whenever he so chooses.