Week 6 - Sunday

'15 Carolina vs. '02 Tampa Bay

The Buccaneers hosted the Panthers at Raymond James Stadium with over 64,000 in attendance for a highly anticipated divisional matchup. Both teams were 3-2 going in, and while the Buccs have some big wins under their belt, they remain just under the Panthers in a very competitive NFC South. 

Carolina defense dominated the 1st half, holding Brad Johnson and the Buccs from scoring until the last minute, when Keyshawn Johnson followed up an amazing 75 yard catch with a 1 yarder to put 6 on the board. The Carolina offense had 13 points of their own to that point, with Gano hitting 2 FG's and Jamal Stewart grabbing a rushing TD.

The 2nd half looked little different. While Carolina struggled for rushing yard, with Tolbert and Newton sharing just 83 yards for the day, the Carolina D held the Buccs back again in the 3rd quarter, while Stewart ran in another 1 yarder to put the Panthers up 20-7. The 4th quarter looked like it would be more of the same, but with just under 2 minutes left, BJ found KJ for another short pass. It wouldn't be enough, as Cam Newton would hold on to the ball from there. Panthers win 23-14 over the Buccs.  Brad Johnson looked great on the day with 67.5% and 233 yards and 2 TD's, but Carolina simply did a better job spreading things around.

'13 Seattle vs. '69 Cleveland

The Seahawks would travel to Cleveland, where a near 78,000 fans were in attendance to see how their Browns would do fresh off their first win. They would have a hard game to watch, as both Defenses were at their best all game. Neither team broke 200 yards offense, and neither team found themselves in the end zone. This game would be decided by kickers. So how did that work out?

Seattle came up with some big plays, with Tate's longest catch at 28 yards and Lynch's longest run at 39 yards. Those kinds of plays help set up for FG's, and Hauschka was 4-4 on the day with a long of 52. Cleveland, on the other hand, had a longest play of 26 yards from a Warfield catch. Why not any bigger plays? Perhaps that's because Seattle picked off Nelsen SEVEN times. In fact, the entire Seattle secondary shared the interceptions, with Kameron Chancellor leading with 3 of those picks.

Seattle tackles the Browns 12-3, continuing their win streak with 5 straight.

'99 Jacksonville vs. '09 New Orleans

Everbank Field was home to an offensive shootout as the undefeated Jaguars took on the Saints. With over 780 yards total offense, it's clear the fans got a great show.

The first quarter was the most explosive, as halfway in Brees ran 6 for the first score of the game to put New Orleans on the map. But the Jaguars quickly retaliated, as Brunell scored just 85 seconds later on a 10 yard pass to Smith. The Saints went 4 and out, and the Jags got in range for another score as Stewart blows past the Saints for a 2 yarder.

Not to be outdone, Brees would find Colston to help tie things up with just 2 seconds in the 1st quarter. But Brees would build on that momentum to get the Saints 10 more points in the 2nd quarter.

If a 24-14 lead was looking good at the half, the Saints would quickly find themselves challenges when Barlow of the Jaguars went 94 yards on the opening kickoff of the 2nd half, putting Jacksonville back in the game. From there, Hollis would find himself hitting 2 FG's to put the Jags on top 27-24. But not to be outdone, Brees got Carney in range to tie up the game with just 1:50 left.

But with their last shot at the ball, the Jaguars would show why they're undefeated, as Brunell got just close enough for Hollis to put in the game winning 3 at 48 yards out. Jaguars win 30-27 over the Saints. Despite having just around 70 rushing yards, the Jaguars prove they know how to make the plays that count, balancing short runs with over 270 yards by Brunell. Brees had almost 300 yards passing and the Saints run game was spread out for 134 yards across 6 carriers.

'12 Houston vs. '69 Kansas City

The Chiefs hosted the Texans in what turned out to be another show of defense. Houston was the fisrt team to put 3 points on the board with under 3 minutes to go in the 1st half. Bot Kansas City would take a 9-3 lead in the 3rd quarter after a safety on the 1st play. Later, Dawson put together a good drive, and Holmes put up 6 with a 6 yard run. After another 15 minutes of a standoff, however, Schaub would come up big with a 38 yard throw to Andre Johnson. And from there, with a 10-9 lead, the Texans would take home the win. Both QB's threw for just around 160-170 yards each, but shared 7 INTs. The Chiefs had 5 sacks on the day, but the Texans were the ones with 5 of those INT's on Dawson, and that just makes it hard for anyone to score. Houston 10, KC 9

'91 Washington vs. '72 Miami

The Redskins have 2 major wins in a row on their belt, and would travel to meet the dominating Dolphins team that was rested after a bye and on a win streak of their own. So how would these 2 teams shake down? Washington got off to a great start, as Byner found the end zone on a 5 yard run and the Redskins D held the Dolphins rushing attack from scoring. Late in the 2nd quarter, Byner would push through for another 5 yarder to put the Skins up 14-0.

Leigh would go deep to take the kick return after that, and after some amazing moves, ended up taking it all the way for a 93 yard return to keep the Dolphins from being shut out. 

In the 2nd half, the Dolphins would open up their rush attack more and start to wear down Washington. With over 200 rushing yards on the day, the Skins fell apart in the 2nd half. Miami was able to hold off Rypien and Byner, and Morrall would tie the game with just under 8 minutes to go in the game. But the attack by Miami would continue, and just inside the 2 minute warning, would push through for a TD to grab the lead, and the game. Dolphins win 21-14.

As we so often see with this Miami offense, Csonka and Morris split most of the yards, with Csonka averaging 5.3 ypc with 90 yards rushing, and Morris having 66 yards. Kiick even got in on the fun for 45 yards. Rypien had more yards passing on the day but completed just 40%, and was only 3-13 on third downs. This means the Skins simply just missed plenty of scoring chances against the Dolphins defense.

'17 Philadelphia vs. '75 Minnesota

 Attendance was low at Metropolitan Stadium at just over 42,000, as the Vikings hosted the '17 Eagles. The Vikings have shown some promise in their last 2 games, but these 2 teams have a historic rivalry that is not to be underestimated.

After a few 4 and outs, Wentz would find Ertz on the slant for a 19 yarder to grab the first score. On a long drive later, Tarkenton opened up the field and hit Miller for a 30 yard score to tie the game. Later, the Eagles went up 14-7 on a 5 yard pass from Wentz to Smith. But with just seconds to go before the half, Cox nails a FG from 26 out to put the Vikings within 4 at the half.

As the 2nd half opened, both teams fought for yardage, but Minnesota would get in range for a 46 yarder from Cox this time to come up just 1 point shy of tie.  And that's when Wentz found his groove again, and Smith, for a 3^rd TD to got up 21-13. From there, the Vikings would try against the Eagles D but come up short, only grabbing 1 final FG. Final score 21-16, Eagles

The Purple People Eaters had no problems holding off Philadelphia’s running game, but Wentz completed 61% for 223 yards and 3 TD’s, showing an efficiency rarely seen. Tarkenton put up similar numbers, but the Eagles redzone D kept him from finding the end zone.

'88 Cincinnati vs. '00 Baltimore

In another divisional match, the 4-1 Ravens met the 2-3 Bengals at M&T Bank Stadium. The Bengals desparately needed a win to have a shot at moving up in their division. So when Esiason hit Bron on a 4 yard throw in the final seconds of the 1st quarter, Bengals fans went wild in Baltimore. But the 2nd quarter would see an explosion from Baltimore. Banks easily moved the ball against the Bengals and Stover nailed a 42 yarder. And just a minute later, things were looking up for Baltimore after a Cincinnati turnover setup Banks for a 26 yard throw to lead 10-7.

Looking for a chance to take back the lead, the Bengals found it after an Esiason pass led to a 1 yard run by Brooks. Bengals lead 14-10 at the half. Despite a great offensive effort from both teams, the 2nd half would end up with goose eggs on each side. So the Bengals take home the win, 14-10.

Both teams were able to throw over 200 yards, but as hinted to earlier, it was the Bengals rush attack that helped take some pressure off Esiason. With over 100 yards between 4 different runners, Icky Woods lead with 51 yards. On the other side, the Bengals defense came through, as Jamal Lewis was held to only 35 yards.

'98 Atlanta vs. '15 Arizona

The Cardinals pulled out an impressive win against the Falcons as Palmer racked up 447 passing yards on the day in just 19 throws. We don't know where the Atlanta secondary was , but Palmer threw 3 TD's, completed almost 60% of his throws and averaged over 23 yards / catch. Four of those throws were for 30 yards or more, and everyone got in on it, too. Larry Fitzgerald and John Brown both had over 130 yards, JJ Nelsen had 75 yards and 5 other people got a catch.

It would be easy to say the Falcons didn't show, but Atlanta Chandler had 287 yards of his own and 2 TDs, with a longest of 57. But it was his 3 INT's against a lit up Arizona D that kept him from making the scores he needed. There's simply no need for the summary of this one, Arizona was in control from start to finish and Atlanta moves to 3rd in the NFC South.

'89 San Francisco vs. '73 Los Angeles

The 49'ers travelled to LA for a divisional match to determine who would sit at the bottom of the NCF West. Which, doesn't sound like much, but this early in the season can be the momentum a losing team needs to turn their season around.

After some 4 and outs on both sides, the 49'ers would get 3 on the board from 37 yards out by Cofer. But it would be 4 and out from there for much of the game. Both teams put up just over 200 yards offense each. Los Angeles had 45 running attempts on the day, but only 111 yards to show as the 9'ers defense was in high gear, also holding Hadl to just 98 pass yards.

Montana, as expected, fared better in passing, completing 14 of 23 for 195 yards. But the Rams defense similarly kept Craig and Rathman from averaging more than 2.8 yards per carry. So how did these numbers translate to scores?

With the 9'ers only making 2 3rd down conversions of 12 attempts, it was a tough time for San Francisco  getting in the end zone. In fact, Montana only had 1 TD on the day as Rathman took a short throw and powered 26 yards in the end zone. On the other side, Los Angeles' rushing efforts paid off with 2 TD's. Add to that a 74 yard punt return for TD by Elmendorf, and Los Angeles takes home the W by a score of 21-10.

'08 Tennessee vs. '97 Denver

The Titans took on the Broncos at Mile High Stadium with over 75,000 screaming Broncos fans looking to see their hero Elway turn the tide of this season. And while Tennessee got the first score of the game on a 33 yard run by Johnson, Elway found Shannon Sharpe for 37 yards, making the score tied at halftime. But as the 2nd half rolled around, it became harder to score, but Collins and crew got in range for Bironas to make 3 attempts over 30 yards, and he came through 100%. Elam, on the other hand, missed his only FG attempt. So despite both teams putting up over 240 yards on the board, the Titans leave Denver as winners by a score of 16-7.

'92 Dallas vs. '68 NY Jets

The Jets remain undefeated at home after a close call with the Cowboys. Elliot put up a FG from 25 out in the 1st quarter, but by the 2nd quarter the Jets offense came alive. Namath found several targets to setup up for 2 rushing TD's by Snell, and would continue to remain unanswered as Broadway Joe found Maynard for a 42 yarder. As the 2 minute warning came around for the 1st half, a fighting Cowboys team got their first TD on a 32 yard throw to Irvin. The Jets led by 11 points by the start of the 3rd quarter.

It was at this point we saw the Dallas D attack Namath and company, holding them out of the end zone. As for offense, Aikman hit almost 78% of his throws, giving the Cowboys much better position, setting up for a FG by Elliot and and later a 16 yard run by Smith, who broke 100 for the day.

At this point, the Cowboys' comeback put them just 1 point behind the Jets at 21-20, and almost 13 minutes were left in the game. But New York stepped up to slow the Cowboy's momentum, holding them off to keep their lead by the end of the game. NY Jets win 21-20.

'76 Pittsburgh vs. '79 Chargers

Over 89,000 were in attendance in LA as the Chargers took on the Steelers. Pittsburgh, whose Steel Curtain defense has been very effective as of late, had a harder time stopping Fouts, who threw for 227 yards . Granted, the Steelers defense picked off Fouts 4 times, but Fouts persistence would pay off as he hit 20 completions on the day, with a long of 55 to Burton that setup for any easy 1 yard run by Thomas. This would the only TD by San Diego, but would not be their only score.

While Pittsburgh was similarly held to just 1 TD. it was San Diego who would be 4-4 in field goals to take home an easy 19-7 win. The Chargers defense clearly come out on top of the game, as Pittsburgh was held to only 146 yards total. They only gained 22 yards on 27 carries and Bradshaw only completed 11 passes. Aside from the interceptions by Thomas and Ham, it was almost as if Pittsburgh didn't show up. Chargers win 19-7

Next to the Jaguars, the Chargers remain the only AFC team undefeated against the conference.

We'll see how the Lions fare against the Packers tomorrow night in another divisional match.