Crowd noise and false start penalties were not an issue this time for the Giants in their trip to Seattle to play the Seahawks. Of course, racing out to a 21-0 lead after 1 quarter and lead 35-0 at halftime goes a long way in taking the crowd out of the game. Eli Manning threw for 3 touchdowns and Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 2 more to account for the 35 first half points as the Giants improved to 6-2. With their 6-2 record the Giants lead the NFC East by 1 game over 2nd place Philadelphia (5-3) and are tied with Atlanta for the best record in the NFC. While they have rebounded quite nicely from their early season struggles the Giants want to be playing their best in January and February, not September through early November. Keep in mind, last year they started off 5-0 before a thrashing by the Saints in the Superdome sent them into a tailspin that resulted in an 8-8 record and left them out of the playoffs.
Meanwhile, in Detroit, the Jets needed overtime to defeat the Lions 23-20. Down 20-10 in the 4th quarter the Jets scored 10 points in the final 2:36 to tie the game and send it to overtime. In the extra frame Mark Sanchez's 52 yard pass to Santonio Holmes set up Nick Folk's game winning field goal. While it wasn't pretty, it was a victory, which, in the end, is all that matters. A questionable play call by Lions coach Jim Schwartz late in the game helped bail out the Jets and their 99 penalty yards. With 1:40 left in the game, and the Jets out of timeouts, the Lions threw an incomplete pass on 3rd down instead of running the ball and taking the clock down an extra 40 seconds, which could have sealed the game. More disturbing for the Lions, QB Matthew Stafford was knocked out of the game for the second time this season with a separated shoulder and the concerns that he is brittle and injury prone are gaining merit.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones fired head coach Wade Phillips on Monday following the team's 45-7 loss in Green Bay on Sunday night. Phillips has been replaced by offensive coordinator Jason Garrett on an interim basis. At 1-7 the Cowboys are off to their worst start since 1989 and they will take on the Giants this week at Giants Stadium.
As for my picks, I went 10-3 to improve to 78-52 on the year. I lost with the Patriots, Chiefs, and Bills. The Patriots were blown out by the Browns in Cleveland. While I thought it would be close, I didn't see this one coming. Give coach Eric Mangini, GM Mike Holmgren, and the Browns credit though, they're playing well; they've beaten the Saints and Patriots convincingly in consecutive games. The Chiefs lost a close one in Oakland and missed a chance to put the AFC West away. The Bills, meanwhile, lost up in Canada to the Bears 22-19.
Looking ahead, week 10 begins Thursday Night Football so I'll be posting my picks on Thursday this week. Thursday's game will be between the Baltimore Ravens and the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome.
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