"The Stack" 11-14-16
Kam Chancellor played the fade perfectly and prevented Rob Gronkowski from catching the game-tying touchdown as the Seahawks went into Foxboro and beat the Patriots to get a little bit of revenge back for their Super Bowl loss 31-24.
Ezekiel Elliott rushed the football well once again and caught an 83-yard screen pass as the Cowboys won yet again 35-30 over the Steelers.
The Stack is back on this Monday and our picks were not good yesterday. There were plenty of good games though and some absolutely crazy finishes. Let’s take a look and recap what happened in the NFL on this week 10 Sunday in “the stack” for today, Monday, November 14th:
Kansas City 20 Carolina 17
The Panthers had this game comfortably in hand. Cam Newton was playing pretty well against that Chiefs defense, but things changed in a hurry. Eric Berry picked Newton off and returned it for a touchdown to get the Chiefs within a field goal after the two point conversion and then Kelvin Benjamin was stripped with 29 seconds left. A field goal would win the game and lift the Chiefs to 7-2 while dropping the Panthers to a disappointing 3-6. That is a major deflating loss for the Panthers.
Houston 24 Jacksonville 21
The Texans won this game despite Brock Osweiler throwing for under 100 yards. A pick six helped as they took the Blake Bortles pass to the house. It wasn’t pretty, but the Texans found a way to get the win. The Jaguars are a mess and continue to shoot themselves in the foot with mistake after mistake.
Denver 25 New Orleans 23
This was a pretty good game with the two teams exchanging shots against one another, but all anyone is talking about is the blocked extra point that was returned for two by Denver’s Will Parks to give the Broncos a lead and a victory after defeat looked certain. However, it did look like Parks stepped out of bounds, but apparently there was no conclusive evidence to overturn the call on the field and Denver won again and is now 7-2.
Los Angeles 9 New York Jets 6
If you were able to watch this game in its entirety, you are a true football fan. Bryce Petty got the start for the Jets and really couldn’t get the ball moving for the Jets for most of the game. The Rams weren’t much better, but they got a field goal late and held on to win. Yuck!
Philadelphia 24 Atlanta 15
The Eagles play outstanding football at home against good teams. That is what we have to take from this team so far this season. The defense rose to the occasion Sunday slowing down the high powered Falcons offense and holding them to just 15 points. The kicking game nearly cost the Eagles with Caleb Sturgis going just two-for-four, but his second field goal pushed the Eagles lead to a two possession game. Ryan Mathews had a big game with over 100 yards and two touchdowns to help the Eagles win a big game over their feathered friends or better put enemies from down south.
Tampa Bay 36 Chicago 10
The Buccaneers dismantled the Bears in this game and it would have been worse had Jay Cutler’s Hail Mary at the end of the first half that was caught by Cameron Meredith for a touchdown not given the Bears their only touchdown of the game. Cutler did not play well while on the flip side Jameis Winston played well and the Bucs avoided history by losing three home games in three weeks with a resounding 26 point win.
Tennessee 47 Green Bay 25
Something is seriously wrong with the Packers. Yes they were missing some guys on defense like Clay Matthews, but they were an abomination on Sunday as the Titans ran and threw all over them. DeMarco Murray ran for over 100 yards and threw (yes threw) for a touchdown, but he was far from the only impressive Titan. Delanie Walker had over 100 yards receiving. Marcus Mariota torched the Packers secondary. Aaron Rodgers had to play catch up the entire game, but he was far from flawless. This Packers team is in disarray and it won’t get any easier when they go to Washington next week.
Washington 26 Minnesota 20
Speaking of Washington, they were very consistent against the Minnesota Vikings. Their scoring in each quarter was 7, 7, 6, 6. They were able to consistently move the ball against a Vikings defense that is supposed to be one of the best in the NFL. The Vikings had the lead going into halftime when the offense finally awoke and they went up-tempo and threw the ball to Stefon Diggs, but decided it would be a good idea to go back to the run in the third quarter. A drive stalled late and Washington would walk away with the win and hand the Vikings their fourth straight loss.
Miami 31 San Diego 24
Philip Rivers will look at this game and only have himself to blame. He threw four interceptions including the one that decided the game when Kiko Alonso picked him and returned it 60 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Not a good loss for the Chargers. Not trying to make excuses for them, but you have to wonder if Tuesday’s failed stadium vote made them a little flat in front of the hometown crowd.
Arizona 23 San Francisco 20
The Cardinals were disappointing in victory. David Johnson didn’t get much going rushing the football against the league’s worst ranked rushing defense. The 49ers tied this game up actually and Chandler Catanzaro won the game with a field goal as time expired. It’s a win, but it wasn’t a great win for the Cardinals. Lots to fix there in the dessert.
Dallas 35 Pittsburgh 30
The Cowboys are not going to go back to Tony Romo at this point nor should they with the way Dak Prescott played for the Steelers, but it’s Ezekiel Elliott that deserves all of the praise and then some with another 100 yard plus rushing effort and 95 yards receiving including an 83-yard touchdown on a screen pass. He had a couple rushing touchdowns as well. He is just phenomenal. This Cowboys team is the real deal.
Seattle 31 New England 24
The Seahawks on a short week flew across the country and got revenge against the Patriots (such that revenge can help after their Super Bowl XLIX defeat). Doug Baldwin had three receiving touchdowns. The Patriots really had no answers for him or Russell Wilson who played really well. Tom Brady didn’t play nearly as well and his fumble at the one yard line on a quarterback sneak cost the Patriots even though he did recover. His fade to Rob Gronkowski on fourth down was guarded perfectly by Kam Chancellor and the Seahawks found a way to win. One thing I would like to see the NFL do though is let a play happen when the defense has twelve men on the field. Seems unfair that the offense doesn’t get a chance to do anything even though the defense has made a mistake.
Cincinnati Bengals @ New York Giants 8:30 PM ET ESPN MNF
The Bengals are coming off of a bye after their tie in London, but something seems off with them. I think A.J. Green is going to have a big night, but the Giants have a few more weapons with Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepherd and company and I think they find a way to pull out a win on MNF.
Prediction: Giants 24 Bengals 20
Coming up Tuesday or Wednesday: 2016-17 College basketball season preview
