NFL WEEK 8 UPDATE

We've reached the halfway point of the 2014 NFL Season, which means it's time for the newest edition of The Pittman's Power Rankings.  Before I reveal my rankings, I'd like to give out a few midseason awards.  Here we go....

THE PITTMAN'S MIDSEASON AWARDS

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER:  Peyton Manning (DEN)

COACH OF THE FIRST HALF:  Jim Caldwell (DET)

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE FIRST HALF:  J.J. Watt (HOU)

ROOKIE OF THE FIRST HALF:  C.J. Mosley (BAL)


Now, let's take a look at The Pittman's Power Rankings.

THE PITTMAN'S POWER RANKINGS - MIDSEASON EDITION

32.  OAKLAND RAIDERS (0-7) - No second season on the horizon for interim head coach Tony Sparano.

31.  JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (1-7) - Averaging less than 15 points per game, the Jags offense should be named Bortles and Lame.

30.  TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (1-6) - The Bucs have failed to score more than 17 points in 5 of their 7 games.

29.  NY JETS (1-6) - Rex (Ryan) is in effect a lame duck head coach.

28.  ATLANTA FALCONS (2-6) - Not even two years ago the Falcons were one win away from the Super Bowl.

27.  TENNESSEE TITANS (2-6) - On Sunday, rookie Zach Mettenberger became the third different quarterback to start for the Titans this season.

26.  ST. LOUIS RAMS (2-5) - One week after upsetting the Seahawks, the Rams lost the Show Me State Showdown to the Chiefs and two key players on offense for the season.

25.  MINNESOTA VIKINGS (3-5) - Rookie phenom Jerick McKinnon is helping Viking fans forget about Adrian Peterson.

24.  CHICAGO BEARS (3-5) - The only thing scarier than how bad the Bears are playing right now is the contact Chicago gave Jay Cutler in the offseason.

23.  WASHINGTON REDSKINS (3-5) - The NFL's best quarterback depth chart resides in DC.

22.  NY GIANTS (3-4) - The combined record of the 3 teams the Giants beat is 9-15 while the combined record of the 4 teams they lost to is 23-5.

21.  CAROLINA PANTHERS (3-4-1) - They've already lost the same number of games as they did in 2013 and yet the Panthers are in first place in the NFC South.

20.  NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (3-4) - The Saints finally looked like themselves in their blowout over the Packers Sunday night.  Now can they get their first road win since Week 12 of last year?

19.  HOUSTON TEXANS (4-4) - What's more surprising, the Texans defense with J.J. Watt ranking 30th in the NFL or the offense with Ryan Fitzpatrick ranking 11th?

18.  BUFFALO BILLS (5-3) - With just one more victory, the Bills can equal their win total of a year ago.

17.  CLEVELAND BROWNS (4-3) - The last time the Browns were above .500 this far into a season was 2007.

16.  MIAMI DOLPHINS (4-3) - Quietly, running back Lamar Miller is on pace to rush for 1,072 yards this season.

15.  PITTSBURGH STEELERS (5-3) - As amazing as his performance was against the Colts, the Steelers can't count on Ben Roethlisberger to throw for over 500 yards and 6 TDs every week.

14.  KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (4-3) - After an 0-2 start, KC has won 4 of their last 5.

13.  BALTIMORE RAVENS (5-3) - I'm not a Ravens supporter by any means, but that offensive pass interference call against Steve Smith was absolutely terrible.

12.  CINCINNATI BENGALS (4-2-1) - The most impressive thing about the Bengals victory on Sunday was they did it without wide receiver A.J. Green.

11.  INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (5-3) - A week after shutting out Cincinnati, the Colts defense allows 51 points to Pittsburgh.

10.  SAN DIEGO CHARGERS (5-3) - Phillip Rivers has played great, but San Diego must run the ball to win.  Average 100.8 yards rushing in 5 wins.  Average 60.6 yards rushing in 3 losses.

9.  SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (4-3) - Was Sunday's dramatic victory over the Panthers the turning point of the Seahawks season?

8.  PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (5-2) - Running back LeSean McCoy needs to get going if the Eagles want to remain a legit contender come playoff time.

7.  SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (4-3) - As this team continues to get healthier, so does their Super Bowl aspirations.

6.  GREEN BAY PACKERS (5-3) - Relax Packer fans!  No one was going to beat the Saints Sunday night in New Orleans.

5.  DETROIT LIONS (6-2) - Down 21-0 at halftime, Detroit teams of the past would have packed it in, but this Lions team has heart.

4.  DALLAS COWBOYS (6-2) - For the first time this season, DeMarco Murray ran the ball less than 20 times Monday night and as a result, the Cowboys lost their first game since Week 1.

3.  NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (6-2) - Since their beatdown at the hands of the Chiefs, the Patriots have outscored their opponents 158-87.

2.  ARIZONA CARDINALS (6-1) - Since Week 8 of 2013, the Cardinals are an incredible 13-3.

1.  DENVER BRONCOS (6-1) - If the Broncos continue to average 130.6 yards rushing like they have the last 3 weeks, there's a real chance they won't lose another game.

And there's the midseason edition of The Pittman's Power Rankings.  Until next week...

NFL WEEK 7 UPDATE

In every football game, there is a stat that stands out.  For my Week 7 update, I'm going to take a look at the biggest stat/number from a few of last week's games.

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL GAME

NY JETS  25    NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS  27

58:  That's how many yards Jets placekicker Nick Folk's field goal attempt was on the final play between these two bitter AFC East rivals.  Unfortunately for the Jets, the kick was blocked giving the Patriots their 3rd straight win.

SUNDAY FOOTBALL GAMES

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS  26    ST. LOUIS RAMS  28

2:  That's the number of trick plays the Rams used to upset the defending Super Bowl Champion Seahawks.  The first trick play occurred in the 2nd quarter when the Rams faked out the Seahawks on a punt return that resulted in a 90-yard touchdown by second year man, Stedman Bailey.  Then, late in the 4th quarter, from their own 18 yard line, St. Louis executed a fake punt that helped seal the victory.

CINCINNATI BENGALS  0    INDIANAPOLIS COLTS  27

135:  That's the total number of yards the Bengals offense generated in the entire game against the Colts.  As for Indianapolis, quarterback Andrew Luck and company gained 506 yards to help capture the team's 5th win in a row.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS  23    DETROIT LIONS  24

14:  That's how many points the Lions scored in the final 3 minutes and 38 seconds of the game in their come from behind victory over the Saints.

NY GIANTS  21    DALLAS COWBOYS  31

913:  That's how many yards Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray has so far this season, including the 128 yards he ran for on Sunday against the Giants.  With his Week 7 performance, Murray has now rushed for over 100 yards in all 7 of Dallas' games this season, which is an NFL record, previously held by Hall of Famer, Jim Brown.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS  17    DENVER BRONCOS  42

8:  That's how many yards Peyton Manning's touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas was in the 2nd quarter of the Broncos dominating victory over the 49ers.  The touchdown pass was Manning's 3rd of the game, but more importantly, it gave the future Hall of Famer 509 career touchdown passes, breaking fellow future Hall of Famer Brett Favre's all-time record.

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL GAME

HOUSTON TEXANS  23    PITTSBURGH STEELERS  30

73:  That's how many seconds it took the Steelers to score 3 touchdowns in the 2nd quarter of their win against the Texans.  In that amount of time, Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw 2 touchdowns, including a 35-yarder to wide receiver Martavis Bryant, which also happened to be the first ever catch for the rookie out of Clemson.

That's it for Week 7 of the NFL Season.  Join me next week when I unveil the midseason edition of The Pittman's Power Rankings.

NFL WEEK 6 UPDATE

It's time for my Week 6 update.  Like I did a few weeks ago, I'm going to do this week's update in the style of newspaper headlines.  Here we go....

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL GAME

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS  33    HOUSTON TEXANS  28

FAST START BY LUCK AND COMPANY LEAD TO COLTS 4TH STRAIGHT WIN WHILE WATT WATCHES TEXANS COMEBACK FALL SHORT.

SUNDAY FOOTBALL GAMES

PITTSBURGH STEELERS  10    CLEVELAND BROWNS  31

BROWNS WITH HOYER THE DESTROYER DOMINATE STUMBLING STEELERS.

DENVER BRONCOS  31    NY JETS  17

PEYTON THROWS 3 TDs IN BRONCOS VICTORY WHILE THE JETS APPEAR TO HAVE THROWN IN THE TOWEL ON SEASON.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS  37    BUFFALO BILLS  22

PATRIOTS PULL AWAY FROM BILLS IN 2ND HALF CONTINUING NEW ENGLAND'S RESURGENCE.

CAROLINA PANTHERS  37    CINCINNATI BENGALS  37  (F/OT)

PANTHERS AND BENGALS COMBINE FOR THE MOST POINTS SCORED IN A TIE GAME SINCE 1974.

GREEN BAY PACKERS  27    MIAMI DOLPHINS  24

MIRACLE IN MIAMI - RODGERS THROWS GAME-WINNING TD IN FINAL SECONDS GIVING PACKERS IMPROBABLE WIN OVER DOLPHINS.

DALLAS COWBOYS  30    SEATTLE SEAHAWKS  23

DeMARCO MURRAY CONTINUES RUSHING STREAK AS COWBOYS RUN ROUGH-SHOT OVER SUDDENLY VULNERABLE SEAHAWKS IN SEATTLE.

NY GIANTS  0    PHILADELPHIA EAGLES  27

GIANTS COME UP SMALL WHILE EAGLES SOAR TO THEIR 5TH VICTORY OF THE SEASON.

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL GAME

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS  31    ST. LOUIS RAMS  17

49ERS WITH KAEPERNICK COMPLETE COMEBACK, FINISHING OFF RAMS WITH LATE PICK SIX.

There's your newspaper headlines for Week 6 of the 2014 NFL Season.  Join me again next time as we find out which teams were lucky in Week 7.  Until next week....

NFL WEEK 5 UPDATE

Here's a quick look at some of the games from Week 5.

THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL GAME

MINNESOTA VIKINGS  10    GREEN BAY PACKERS  42

This game between NFC North rivals was never in doubt from the opening kickoff.  Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, looked super relaxed completing just 12 pass, but 3 of which were touchdowns.  Green Bay running back, Eddie Lacy, needed just 13 carries to gain 105 yards to go along with 2 touchdowns of his own.  It appears after a slow start to the season, the Pack is officially back!!

SUNDAY FOOTBALL GAMES

CLEVELAND BROWNS  29    TENNESSEE TITANS  28

The Cleveland Browns were able to accomplish something no other road team has ever done in the history of the NFL.  Led by quarterback, Brian Hoyer, and NOT Johnny Manziel, the Browns were able to overcome a 25-point deficit and shock the Tennessee Titans, 29-28.  All 4 of Cleveland's games this season have been decided by an average of 2 points.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS  31    NEW ORLEANS SAINTS  37  (F/OT)

What is going on with the New Orleans Saints?  Over the passed several seasons, the Saints have been pretty close to unbeatable at home, but not so this year.  While New Orleans has been able to win both of their home games this season, which happen to be the only 2 victories they have, they haven't played to the high level we're used to seeing from the Saints at the Superdome.  On Sunday, it took an incredible 18-yard run by Khiry Robinson to beat the Bucs in OVERTIME!!

HOUSTON TEXANS  17    DALLAS COWBOYS  20  (F/OT)

This game was supposed to be played at Dallas, but you wouldn't have known that if you looked at the fans in attendance.  I have no idea what the official count was on Sunday, but it appeared that Texan fans out numbered Cowboy fans by a 2 to 1 margin.  Those numbers just don't seem right given how well the Cowboys have played the first 5 games of the season.  Some other numbers that don't seem to add up right are the amount of carries Dallas running back, DeMarco Murray, is on pace for this season.  With another 31 carries for 136 yards against the Texans on Sunday, Murray is on pace to carry the ball 416 times this season.  That might be too much for Murray, who has a long history of getting injured.

BALTIMORE RAVENS  13    INDIANAPOLIS COLTS  20

One of the marquee games in Week 5 featured the 3-1 Ravens traveling to Indianapolis to take on the 2-2 Colts.  After blowing out their previous 2 opponents, the Colts were looking for their first victory over a team with a winning record.  Meanwhile, the Ravens were looking to continue the momentum from their pounding of the Carolina Panthers last week.  Colts quarterback, Andrew Luck, was able to throw for 312 yards plus a touchdown and the Indianapolis defense was able to limit the Baltimore offense to just 287 total yards.  Perhaps the biggest stat that helped decide the game's outcome was time of possession.  Indianapolis controlled the ball for 38 minutes and 43 seconds to Baltimore's 21 minutes and 17 seconds.  Basically, the Colts had the football more than a quarter longer than the Ravens and that will win you a lot of games in the NFL.

ARIZONA CARDINALS  20    DENVER BRONCOS  41

The biggest surprise through the first quarter of the 2014 NFL season has to be the Arizona Cardinals, who entered Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos undefeated.  What has made the Cardinals 3-0 start so surprising is the fact that they have done so without starting quarterback, Carson Palmer, for most of the season.  Instead, Arizona has had to rely on back-up quarterback, Drew Stanton, who only had a total of 4 career starts before this season.  Unfortunately for the Cardinals, not only did they get beat on the scoreboard by the Broncos, they also lost Stanton to a concussion in the second half.  As for Denver, they not only won the game easily, but they also saw quarterback, Peyton Manning, become only the 2nd quarterback ever to reach 500 career touchdown passes when he connected with tight end, Julius Thomas, on a 7-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.  Not only did Manning finish the game with 4 touchdown passes, giving him 503 for his career, but the future Hall of Famer also threw for a career best 479 yards.

CINCINNATI BENGALS  17    NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS  43

Did anyone really think that the Patriots would lose this game?  Sure the Bengals came into this game undefeated and sure the Patriots haven't looked like the New England team we've come to expect, but the Patriots still have Tom Brady as their quarterback and Bill Belichick as their head coach and the Bengals are still the Bengals.  The most exciting thing to happen in this game was Tom Brady became only the 6th quarterback ever to pass for 50,000 yards in their career.  Other than that, it was the same old Patriots beating up on the same old Bengals.

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL GAME

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS  27    WASHINGTON REDSKINS  17

Not to take anything away from all the other quarterbacks in the NFL, but right now there is no more exciting quarterback to watch than Seahawks quarterback, Russell Wilson.  The guy is electric on the football field.  Now, granted Seattle was playing the washed up Redskins, but Wilson rushed for 122 yards on just 11 carries plus a touchdown, by the way the 122 yards is the most yards any quarterback has ever run for in the 45 year history of Monday Night Football, and he threw for another 201 yards and 2 touchdowns.  In a year when it looks like the Seahawks defense isn't as dominate as it was last season, Russell Wilson has stepped up his game to become the most exciting quarterback in the game today.

That does it for Week 5.  Until next week....