Week 7 NFL Notes: Sparano In Trouble? Suh Developing A Reputation
Monday, October 24, 2011
It may have been an off week for the New England Patriots who were enjoying their bye week, but there was plenty interesting things that happened throughout the National Football League on Sunday. Here’s a look at some notes from week 7:
-In Miami, the Tony Sparano watch is on! After Sporano’s Dolphins dominated Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos for 55 minutes on Sunday in south Florida, they handed the game to their opponent losing in overtime 18-15. After doing absolutely nothing against Miami for most of the game, Tebow tossed 2 touchdown passes and ran for a game-tying 2-point conversion in the final 2:44 of regulation. Matt Prater’s 52-yard field goal in overtime won it for the Broncos. The loss dropped the Dolphins to 0-6. It also extended the NFL’s longest losing streak to 9 games dating back to last season. Even worse, Miami is now 1-12 in their last 13 games at Sun Life Stadium. Dolphins’ owner Stephen Ross was seen talking to Tebow’s former college coach Urban Meyer at the game where Meyer’s gators were honored at halftime. Whether or not Meyer has an interest in the job is unknown although names like Bill Cowher and John Gruden are sure to come up in Miami in the weeks and months to come. The only hope left for Dolphins’ fans this season is a terrible finish resulting in the top overall pick in next April’s NFL Draft. That would give them a chance at drafting a franchise quarterback which they have lacked since Dan Marino retired. Stanford’s Andrew Luck is considered to be a can’t-miss prospect and would be just what the doctor ordered for Miami. However, knowing that franchise’s luck as of late, something will go wrong to prevent that from happening.
-For quite a while Sunday in New Jersey, it looked like Jets coach Rex Ryan was going to have to eat his words about Norv Turner. Ryan’s Jets trailed the Chargers most of the way before a Darrelle Revis interception turned the tide in the game which helped New York rally to beat San Diego 27-21. It was a huge win for the Jets (4-3) who have a road game at Buffalo next week followed by a home game against New England. There were also encouraging signs on offense where QB Mark Sanchez threw 3 touchdown passes to Plaxico Burress and RB Shonn Greene rushed for 112 yards on 20 carries. As bad as New York has looked early on this season, that could be a game that turns their season around making them a force to be reckoned with once again in the AFC. Stay tuned!
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST-The Atlanta Falcons scored a huge road win in Detroit over the suddenly struggling Lions 23-16. The fact that the Lions lost their second straight game at Ford Field (5-2) was bad enough, but the news got worse when starting QB Matt Stafford had to leave the game with an injured knee or ankle. Detroit has remained tight-lipped about Stafford’s injury who will have an MRI on Monday. Ironically, it was Atlanta’s Matt Ryan who went down with what appeared to be a serious injury earlier in the game. Ryan turned out to be okay but many of his teammates were less than okay with Lions’ DT Ndamukong Suh. The Falcons claim that Suh acted in a classless manner by saying inappropriate things to Ryan while he was down and joking around while he was being attended to on the field. Suh is quickly developing a reputation as a big talker and a dirty player throughout the league.
-Carson Palmer’s debut in Oakland was, in a word, horrible! The former Bengals QB acquired last week from Cincinnati went 8-21 for 116 yards with 0 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. In Palmer’s defense, he had less than a week to learn as much of Oakland’s playbook as possible and become acclimated with his receivers. He also lost the services of RB Darren McFadden who left the game early with a foot injury and did not return. The once (0-3) Chiefs have now won 3 straight and have evened their record to (3-3). They have a huge game at home against San Diego next Monday night followed by two very winnable games against Miami and Denver at home. Todd Haley’s hot seat seems to have cooled off a bit.
-New England’s next opponent – Pittsburgh – looked real good Sunday beating Arizona 32-20. Ben Roethlisberger went 26-39 for 361 yards and 3 TD’s to lift the Steelers to (5-2). After getting dismantled by Baltimore in the season-opener, the Steelers have settled down and still appear to be one of the teams that will be in the hunt for a playoff spot in the AFC. Next week’s game is at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh and will kickoff at 4:15pm on Sunday.
