Across the NFL, so many different story lines can unfold in a huge number of ways, on any possible day. We get the opportunity to see stars rise to prominence, and teams fall from grace. We see the rewards of hard work, and the cautionary tales of overblown egos, and things like these can be seen in each and every game, no matter the final score.
Among the rising stars, we saw a great duel between two under-30 quarterbacks in Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers. The two gunslingers combined to go 50-of-63 for 541 yards and 2 TD's, and each displayed impressive arm strength and mobility. However, Ryan got the better of Rodgers in this showdown, and played cool under pressure in leading the Falcons down the field for the eventual game-winning field goal. The 20-17 win by Atlanta drops the Packers to second place in the NFC North, and leaves the Bears in sole possession of first place in that division.
On that note, despite the Eagles' loss to Chicago, Michael Vick looked like a high-caliber NFL quarterback, both in the pocket and on the run. The former Falcons star topped 300 yards passing for the second game this season, and put both touch and zip on passes all across the field in completing 29 throws to eight different receivers. In addition to that, Vick was Philadelphia's second-leading rusher, and put Philly in the game late with an on-the-money scoring throw to TE Brent Celek.
His counterpart, Jay Cutler, rose to the occasion and displayed serious competitive fire in leading the Bears to their fourth straight win. If Cutler has many more four-touchdown, zero-interception performances (as he did today), Chicago will be tough to beat the rest of the way.
We also got the chance to see several close games between hard-charging teams. The Buffalo Bills stayed with the Ben Roethlisberger-led Steelers step for step, right into an extra overtime period. To make that possible though, Buffalo had to rally from 13 points down, before dropping the game on a Shaun Suisham field goal. Suisham's four-field goal effort, combined with the Bills' unfortunate luck (WR Steve Johnson dropped an almost-sure touchdown just 4:30 into overtime) helped Pittsburgh escape with a 19-16 victory, and hit the eight-win mark through the season's first 12 weeks.
Cleveland also escaped with a narrow victory, thanks to a botched special teams play, however. John Kasay's near-miss on a late field goal drops the Panthers to 1-10, and puts them in position to pick at the top of the NFL draft next spring. While Carolina did show fight in roaring back from a 14-point deficit before losing 24-23, it's clear they're woefully talent-deficient.
And so, we'll turn the page on yet another week in the NFL. The many different tales that play out time after time show us that competition is cut-throat, that only the strongest survive, and that anything really is possible....especially on Sunday.
--Beau
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