Another weekend of football is in the books, and we are one week closer to the Super Bowl! Some teams are trying to make up for a slow start, while others are stuck in neutral. It took ten weeks, but every team has now gotten a win! There were some more injuries to star players which is something no one ever wants to see.
- The Carolina Panthers. Who expected them to go to San Francisco, hold the 49ers to nine points, and beat them? The Panthers are having a terrific season thanks to a tough defense. The 49ers are an established and considered one of the best, if not the best, team in the NFC. The Panthers defense was able to hold Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers offense to only 151 yards of total offense. Kaepernick was without his favorite target, tight end Vernon Davis, for most of the game. Davis exited the game with a concussion. Neither quarterback had a strong day, but it was the Panthers defense who rose to make up for their offensive struggles. Next week, the Panthers face Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football. This is another huge test for the Panthers to show that they are a legitimate playoff team.
- The Broncos survived their closest game to date. However, quarterback Peyton Manning took some pretty big hits and appeared to be in some pain after the game. He was seen limping around the locker room post game. This is not the time for the Broncos MVP to go down. Next week they play the Kansas City Chiefs, and then they play the Chiefs again in three weeks. This is the time for Manning and the Broncos to be at their best. Interim coach Jack Del Rio confirmed that Manning will play on Sunday. MRIs showed that there was no new damage done to his already sprained ankle, but the Chiefs will try to take advantage of a less than 100 percent Manning and they have the defense to do it.
- At one point in time, it looked like the Dallas Cowboys were going to run away with the NFC East as being the best of the worst. However, the Cowboys got blown out by the Saints and are now tied with the Eagles for first and are only one and a half games ahead of the New York Giants and Washington Redskins. In worst news, they will have to face the Giants in two weeks and will be without their middle linebacker Sean Lee. The Cowboys defense was so bad, they allowed the Saints to set a new record for the most first downs in a game with forty. The Cowboys ran only 43 plays in comparison. The NFC East remains wide open with not one team over .500.
- The Buccaneers got their first win of the season and handed Miami a loss at the worst time possible. Already missing two of their offensive linemen due to scandal, the Dolphins failed to score in the first and last quarters of the game. The Dolphins have been making headlines all week for the Jonathan Martin story that has everyone talking. Whatever version of the story you believe, it did not matter, if the Dolphins were able to rise above it all and get a win. There was absolutely no blocking by the offensive line for he running game to ever get started for the Dolphins and they only got two yards rushing. This offensive line is not going to survive without these two starters clearly, but it looks like that is their reality for the rest of the season.
