The 5th Quarter - Week 9 NFL Roundup

What a week 9 we had in the NFL. There was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that upset the heavily favored Green Bay Packers. You had an odd field goal play in which David Akers nailed a 53 yarder yet at the time the Philadelphia Eagles sat 7 down with 0 timeouts and only a couple minutes on the clock. I wonder if Andy Reid is saying “whoops” to himself today? And of course, talking about today, the Kansas City Chiefs rid themselves of their circus act Larry Johnson who will most likely be spending the next several weeks on his couch hoping that a team calls him up. And all of this is just the froth on a tasty beer. So instead of filling the opening paragraph let’s just jump right in to this week’s edition of The Fifth Quarter – Week 9 Roundup.

Battle of the Bays In what was suspected to be a route by the Green Bay Packers actually turned out to be more of a tale of firsts for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Head coach Raheem Morris obtained his first victory of his rookie campaign. And talking about rookies, the Buccaneers rookie quarterback Josh Freeman started his first game and quickly got his first win as he went 14/31 for 205 passing yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. A nice celebratory kudos to the both of you and here is wishing you guys many more.

Kitty Catches it’s Birdy. If it wasn’t clear before week 9, it certainly is now as the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Baltimore Ravens 17-7 as they put up a pair of touchdowns in the first quarter and never looked back, making them a team to be reckoned with. In fact the low-scoring game doesn’t show the total domination of the Bengals. Cincinnati doubled the Ravens time of possession to the dot, 40:00/20:00 in a game that saw Cedric Benson go for 117 yards and 1 touchdown against one of the best pure rush defenses in the NFL. The win puts the Bengals at top of the AFC North as of this writing; if Pittsburgh beats Denver they will be tied with 6 wins and 2 losses. Now if only my Detroit Lions could turn their sorry ways around.

No Tweeting in Kansas City While the above is an exaggeration, that was not necessarily the case for running back Larry Johnson formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs. In fact, after his October 25 venture on the net in which he insulted fans as well as his coach Todd Haley’s sexuality and football resume he had been suspended by the organization for two weeks and on his first day of being eligible to being reinstated he was released. While the makeup of the Chiefs team definitely lacks talent, Johnson’s diminishing output on the field and his increasing drama off the field drove this once proud face of this franchise into more of a version of the movie series “Faces of Death.” While there may be some desperate teams out there that will swoop in and see if Johnson has anything left in the tank, it is my belief that if and when he turns up somewhere it will be as more of a complimentary player with a chance at more of a full-time role. Nothing will just be given to him.

Training Room (Noteworthy Injuries from Last Week) - Linebacker Thomas Davis of the Carolina Panthers tore his ACL and will miss the remainder of the season. This is a huge loss as he was a key cog to the Panthers defensive scheme. -Wide Receiver Chris Henry of the Cincinnati Bengals will miss the rest of the season as he suffered two broken bones in his forearm. -Running Back Clinton Portis of the Washington Redskins suffered a concussion and his status for week 10 is up in the air. -Quarterback Jason Campbell of the Washington Redskins suffered both a chest contusion and ankle sprain. He was able to return and finish the game but still keep an eye on his situation going forward. -Running Back Ladell Betts has a sprained ankle. While the severity is not known, you have to keep an eye on this situation as Betts is the back that would normally get the start as a fill-in to an injured Clinton Portis.

Office Pool Pick of the Week – Week 10 If you haven’t done so already, this may be the perfect week to play the Minnesota Vikings as they face my putrid Detroit Lions. While the Lions usually play the Vikings fairly well, this time the Vikings have an ace up their sleeves. Quarterback Brett Favre has been a divisional nemesis of the Lions throughout his career. With a weaker rush defense and a banged up linebacker group/secondary unit, the Vikings will be able to toy with them all game long. One other key factor to consider is that the Vikings are the only solid play this week that is playing at their home stadium. Other solid plays – DENVER BRONCOS @ Washington Redskins, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS @ St. Louis Rams, BALTIMORE RAVENS @ Cleveland Browns

Fantasy Football Dream Team – Top Players in Fantasy Football Week 9

If you own more than one of the following players the odds are you scored well last week.

Quarterback – Jay Cutler (369 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception)

Running Back 1 – Michael Turner (180 yards, 2 touchdowns)

Running Back 2 – DeAngelo Williams (161 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 fumble)

Wide Receiver 1 – Randy Moss (147 Yards, 1 touchdown)

Wide Receiver 2 – Mike Sims-Walker (147 yards, 1 touchdown)

Wide Receiver 3 – Larry Fitzgerald (123 yards, 2 touchdowns)

Tight End – Dallas Clark (119 yards)

Kicker – Olindo Mare (FG 4/4, XP 2/2)

Final Words Don’t forget that this week has a football game on Thursday as the Chicago Bears visit the San Francisco 49ers. Also this is the last bye-week to have to worry about for the rest of the year. The two teams that will be sitting this week out will be the Houston Texans and the New York Giants.