FEATURED GAME OF THE WEEK – Eagles @ Lions
Welcome back to the Gameday blog! This week I decided to see how the Lions would get on under new owner Blair against one of the best players in our league in CB with his Eagles. The game got off to a red hot start with the Lions first play from scrimmage an explosive run up the gut from Ameer Abdullah all the way to the house for a 76 yard touchdown. The Eagles responded well to this big early setback with a long drive with some great throws on third down from Wentz to Agholor to lead to Wentz finding Ertz in the endzone to tie things up. After a quick three and out from the Lions and a short punt to their own 44 yard line, Ryan Mathews showed that he’s capable of breaking the big run; taking the rock 44 yards to the house on the first play after the punt to give the Eagles a 14-7 lead. The second half continued with the Lions determined to run the ball after their early success but not being able to match while Wentz was determined to keep giving the ball to Ertz who was beating the Lions’ linebackers time and time again. It was Darren Sproles who was to score next for the Eagles though evading a defender on a short pass after a well executed Eagles drive to finish the first half 21-7. After a nice kick off return the Lions looked to close the gap from their 49 yard line. Unfortunately an interception on the next play then led to the Eagles extending their lead to 28-7 with Jordan Mathews making a nice catch in the corner of the endzone. With Lions fans heading to the exits already things were going to get even worse as Stafford was sacked and injured leading to Dan Orlovsky coming into the game and getting picked off on his first throw! Things got no better with the Eagles continually adding to their lead apart from a deep shot to Golden Tate which gave the Lions a late TD to give the few hardcore fans who remained something to cheer.
GAME MVP – Carson Wentz
GAME CHUMP – Matthew Stafford
FINAL SCORE – Eagles 41 – 16 Lions
WEEKLY PREDICTIONS
Broncos 34 – 31 Chargers
49ers 27 – 20 Bills
Eagles 17 – 21 Redskins
Browns 14 – 7 Titans
Ravens 24 – 3 Giants
Panthers 21 – 28 Saints
Jaguars 20 – 10 Bears
Rams 24 – 27 Lions
Steelers 21 – 28 Dolphins
Bengals 28 – 31 Patriots
Chiefs 14 – 28 Raiders
Falcons 7 – 27 Seahawks
Cowboys 24 – 14 Packers
Colts 27 – 21 Texans
Jets 34 – 28 Cardinals
STAT ATTACK
- Top offence – Total PPG (Points Per Game) – Steelers 36.2 PPG
- Ballhawks – Most picks – 49ers 16
- Most fourth down attempts – Packers, Chargers and Colts all tied on 8. Colts the most successful with a 75% completion on fourth down.
- Scared of scoring – Least trips to the endzone – Chiefs 6
- Not friends of the refs – Most penalties – Giants 30
- Most generous team – Most giveaways – Bears 18
- Get them to third down – Worst third down % – Ravens 25% 9 completed from …36 attempts.