Every week people across the country scan the local paper or the Internet to see the boxscores of all the NFL games. Some are trying to see how their fantasy football team did; others are looking for edges to make a few bucks the traditional way the next week. I am in the latter category, and seeing as how I make my living as a sports handicapper, my look inside those boxscores in pretty detailed, and typically propels me to examine things further in my efforts to get ready for the next week. Not every team will have a note all the time, but each week I will share the fruits of that extra examination as I go Beyond The Boxscore in the NFL Here is this week's installment of Beyond the Boxscore.
The entire NFL is back in action this week as there is a 16-game slate now that all the byes are done with. Two teams have big rest advantages this week in Arizona (bye last week, Dallas Week Three bye) and Carolina (bye last week, Tampa Week Four bye). It will be interesting to see if the added freshness helps…
Atlanta- Maybe Falcons were reading press clippings or something, but there was nothing fluky about Detroit's 30-14 beat down last week. The Lions had a 435-319 yardage edge, held Mike Vick to one TD pass after he had seven the previous two weeks combined, and kept the Atlanta RB's in check, as aside from Vick scrambles the Falcons had just 85 rush yards. This week Atlanta faces another opponent that, like the Lions coming into last week, looks quite vulnerable against the run. Also of note from last week's game was that while the Falcons were down 10-0 early only to pull to 17-14 at the half, they were outscored 13-0 in the second half, maybe indicative of a tired team that was off two close, physical games vs. AFC North teams, one of which went to overtime…
Baltimore- Very interesting development in the Ravens' game this week for those that were watching closely. Once Baltimore had secured a 14 point lead it was clear that Brian Billick did not have a great deal of confidence in the ability of his defense to hold the lead. He has Steve McNair drain the clock on every play, and the players were clearly schooled NOT to go out of bounds, thus keeping the clock running. The best example of this was TE Todd Heap. There were several plays when he could have probably gained an extra five yards or so by bouncing outside, and thereby would not have been hit. Instead, he turned up the field and into the path of tacklers, giving up yards (and his body) to keep the clock ticking. Turns out Billick was right, as the Bengals did rally, only to run out of time…
Buffalo- JP Losman, despite the fact top RB Willis McGahee was injured, was only asked to throw 15 times last week. He completed only eight passes for 102 yards, and the Bills won thanks to an opportunistic defense, see the Green Bay section for more details. All the offensive line shifting that Dick Jauron mandated during the team's bye week did not help, as Losman was again battered, getting sacked five times…
Cincinnati- Bengals were powerless to stop the run against the Ravens last week, and deserved to lose that game, no questions asked. In case more support is needed, Baltimore had a 374-275 yard edge in the game, and the Bengals got 71 yards (26% of entire production) on one play…
Chicago- Yes, Miami did have an interception return for a TD last week, but Miami still did outgain the Bears 298-292. Chicago could not take advantage of two Joey Harrington interceptions or 11 Miami penalties. Rex Grossman now has been downright awful in two of the last three games, and that has to be a concern. His great showing in the first five games of the season and last year should buy him some time, but there are only so many coupons left…
Dallas- Not all his fault, but Mike Vanderjagt was on the field with a chance to win another game for his team, and it did not happen. Could he be going Rick Ankiel on us after that miss against Pittsburgh last year?…
Detroit - Any fantasy leaguer out there that needs a WR that is likely still available, take a look at Mike Furrey. He has 41 catches this year and is a big time favorite of Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz. Furrey was a combination DB/WR/ST player in St Louis, but has blossomed in Motown, as he knows the offense better than any of the other WR's on the Lions roster…
Green Bay- Packers thoroughly dominated the Bills last week, posting a 26-11 edge in first downs and a 427-184 yardage edge. Buffalo scored with a 17 yard interception return and, leading 17-10 with the Packers on the one yard line, picked off another Favre offering. That led to another short TD drive and the Packers ended up losing a game they absolutely dominated. Favre has not been intercepted in any of the previous three games. The only bright spot was Ahman Green, who had 122 rushing yards…
Indianapolis- Colts have faced the second and third best teams in the AFC the last two weeks, on the road, and won both games. If that does not show how much better this team is than the rest of the league I do not know what will. No, neither win was dominant, but both were on the road, so those expecting domination were off base. The only way a team is going to beat the Colts is with a great defense, a huge commitment to running the ball (Indy has allowed 375 rush yards in the last two games), and some luck. There is only one team left on the schedule that fits the non luck aspect of the criteria, and that is Jacksonville, who the Colts face at Alltel on December 10th…
Kansas City - Lots of wacky boxcsores in relation to final scores in the NFL this week, and the Chiefs were the beneficiaries of one of them. KC won the Governor's Cup by beating St Louis 31-17 at The Dome, but it was the Rams who controlled play with a 28-16 first down edge and a 452-317 yard advantage. Despite all that, the Chiefs won to improve to 21-5 in their last six games against NFC team, but every remaining game this season is against a conference foe…
Miami - Coming into last weekend's game against the vaunted Bears' defense, Dolphins QB Joey Harrington had thrown seven interceptions in Miami's last three games. He threw two more on Sunday, but his three TD's tosses more than made up for the miscues in Miami's upset of Chicago. The most amazing part of the game was that Miami ran the ball right down Chicago's throat, getting 161 yards on 35 carries, a solid 4.6 yards per carry…
Minnesota - Back down to 4-4 after back to back wins, but I am not going throw them under the bus for last week. That was a terrible spot for this team, playing on a short week after an embarrassing national TV loss and making a second trip out west in a fourteen day span. Only one remaining foe has a winning record, so do not count the Vikings out of the playoff race, and (see SF notes) the Vikings did play better than the final score shows last week…
New England - All teams hate to lose, and Bill Belichick does not care for moral victories, but the fact remains that the Patriots were even in first downs (24) and only gained only five less total yards than the Colts last week. If Brady does not throw four interceptions (two were his fault) maybe the outcome is different…
Pittsburgh- Ben Roethlisberger fell to 12-4 SU as a starter at Heinz Field with last week's loss. For the second straight week the Steelers simply dominated the statsheet but lost the game. This week they had a 499-336 yardage edge and doubled Denver's first down output, 27-13…
San Francisco- Niners had not held a foe to less than ten points since midway through the 2003 season and the three points allowed last week was the best defensive performance since two shutouts in 2001. However, Niners were controlled on the statsheet as they had just eight first downs and 133 total yards whereas the Vikings had 17 chain movers and 238 total yards. None of those numbers were exactly stunning for the Vikes, but do represent a major step up after Chicago shredded San Fran last week. Halfway through the season, San Fran needs just one more win to equal last season's victory total…
St Louis- Marc Bulger has just one interception this season and last week was not picked off despite being forced to throw 42 times. He had nine interceptions last season. Rams have dropped two in a row at home, but Bulger is still 19-6 SU as a starter there….
Washington- Return of projected starting cornerback duo Shawn Springs and Carlos Rogers was not enough to keep Dallas from throwing for 267 yards last week, but Redskins have now won three in a row against Dallas, two in very odd fashion.
Random Opinion: Didn't hearing Michael Wilbon on the Monday Night Football telecast make you wish ESPN had picked him instead of Tony Kornheiser to be the third member of that crew?
That will do it for this week's edition of Beyond the Boxscore. I am 10-5 on my last 15 Guaranteed NFL plays and will have another big NFL Pay After You Win selection this Sunday. It will be posted by Thursday evening. Click to win!
