1. The New York Giants still know how to raise their game
2. Kickers matter
3. RG3 is going to keep on running
4. Baltimore's defense is no longer to be feared
5. Always keep a safe distance from the field
1. The New York Giants still know how to raise their game
Tom Coughlin must have known on some level that it was a preposterous thing to say. "Nobody gives us a chance to win," the New York Giants head coach declared before his team's game against San Francisco. "We'll see."
It was the sort of line that a reigning Super Bowl champion should have no right to use ? not when the new season is only five weeks old and the team in question holds a winning record. The Giants, who had beaten the 49ers at Candlestick Park nine months previously in the NFC Championship game, had won just one game fewer than their opponents so far this season.
And yet if Coughlin's words were exaggerated they were not entirely without foundation. The prevailing wisdom held that the 49ers had been unfortunate to lose in January ? paying the price for two costly special-teams mistakes by a stand-in punt returner. The 49ers were listed as 6.5-point favourites by Las Vegas bookies and New York were certainly a deeply unpopular choice in our own Pick Six competition.
But the more important point was that Coughlin's own players seemed to buy it.
"If you listen to what people are saying, they don't expect us to win,'' said wide receiver Domenik Hixon. "Just you turn on different news, sports talk, talking about the game, you just don't hear it being talked about positively for us. We've heard: 'You were lucky to win the Super Bowl' and other things."
Coughlin is quite content for his team to perceive things that way. His Giants have always been at their most dangerous when they feel underestimated ? winning their two Super Bowls on the back of a 10-6 regular-season record in 2007 (they did not even win the NFC East) and a 9-7 one in 2011. This year had begun in similarly unconvincing fashion.
Prior to this weekend, the three teams they had beaten had a combined total of two wins. On each occasion that they faced an opponent with realistic playoff ambitions ? the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles ? they had lost. The vaunted pass rush which helped carry them to a championship last year had mustered a grand total of eight sacks so far this season.
They almost matched that figure on Sunday alone, bringing down Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick a total of six times between them. Such pressure prompted mistakes ? Smith getting picked off three times in what was his first multiple-interception game in more than two years. Nor was it only on defense that the Giants dominated. Ahmad Bradshaw became the first player to rush for a touchdown against the 49ers at Candlestick Park in 13 games. He finished with 116 yards on 27 carries.
Most importantly, the Giants recorded a resounding victory. The eventual 26-3 scoreline, indeed, might have been even more lopsided were it not for some resolute red-zone defense from San Francisco. And so we are reminded once again not to underestimate these Giants. Even if Tom Coughlin would prefer that we did.
2. Kickers matter
Live-blogging commitments caused me to miss one of the signature moments of week six ? those crazy few seconds at approximately 7.10pm ET in which three of Sunday's signature plays occurred all at once. In Seattle, Russell Wilson connected with Sidney Rice for the Seahawks' game-winning touchdown against New England; in Washington, Robert Griffin III dashed 76 yards up the sideline to seal his team's win over Minnesota; and in Arizona, Jay Feely's 38-yard field-goal attempt struck the left-hand upright.
Feely's kick would have won the game for the Cardinals, who went on to lose 16-13 in overtime. The miss was rendered all the more galling by the fact that Feely had set a franchise record by converting from 61 yards on the previous drive.
But Arizona were not the only team left rueing missed opportunities in the kicking game ? nor even the only ones in their own division. St Louis had up to this point been able to rely absolutely on the accuracy of rookie kicker Greg "The Leg" Zuerlein, who had begun his career with 15 consecutive completions, but he closed out their game against Miami on Sunday with three straight misses. The last was a desperation attempt from 66 yards, but the previous two were from 48 and 32.
Zuerlein ? who earned cult status after converting kicks of 58 and 60 yards in his team's win over Seattle ? will be quickly forgiven in St Louis, just as his fellow rookie Dan Bailey will not be too harshly judged for missing a 51-yarder that would have given Dallas victory over Baltimore.
But this early part of the season has nevertheless reminded us once again of the importance of a good kicker. Even Atlanta ? the only remaining unbeaten team ? have required late game-winning field goals from Matt Bryant in two of their last three outings; this week's was from 55 yards.
3. RG3 is going to keep on running
That 76-yard touchdown run was merely the icing on the cake for RG3, who by that stage had already rushed for one score and thrown for another. The quarterback, who suffered a concussion during Washington's week-five defeat to the Falcons, was cleared to play after passing the league's mandated tests and responded with his most dominant performance to date.
He achieved it even while showing increased caution.
"Griffin promised his family, teammates and coaches he would no longer take unnecessary chances," noted Jason Reid in the Washington Post. "True to his word, Griffin ran out of bounds Sunday, instead of trying to gain a few extra yards, whenever the defense closed in on him."
The one exception was that 76-yard dash, Griffin claiming to have heard colleagues urge him to step out of bounds early in the play, only to change their minds and start screaming for him to keep going. Washington had continued to call designed runs for the quarterback throughout ? with head coach Mike Shanahan arguing afterwards that doing so could actually help to protect the quarterback from further hits, since it would force the defense to be more cautious with their blitzing.
Whatever the merits of that argument, the one clear fact is that by allowing their quarterback to keep doing what he does best, Shanahan's team were able to secure a big win over a Minnesota team who had themselves been turning heads. After six weeks the Redskins are yet to play a divisional opponent, but at 3-3 they trail only the Giants in the NFC East.
4. Baltimore's defense is no longer to be feared
"Keep watching," advised a defiant Ray Lewis last week, when it was put to him that both he and Baltimore's defense might be on the wane. A unit which has been among the most feared in the NFL for what feels like forever was now ranked 24th in the league for yardage surrendered. Lewis's diminished ability, at 37, to hold his own in the running game was cited as a key factor.
Well, Ravens fans might be about to find out what life after Lewis looks like ? with NFL.com's Jeff Darlington reporting on Sunday night that the team feared the linebacker had a torn triceps. Compounding matters further, head coach John Harbaugh said that cornerback Lardarius Webb may have ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament.
Such injuries can only compound the problems of a defense which surrendered 227 rushing yards to Dallas, showing little sign of improvement even after the Cowboys' starting running back, DeMarco Murray, had left the game with a sprained foot. Dallas held the ball for more than 40 minutes and were it not for a record-breaking 108-yard kickoff return by Jacoby Jones, would surely have won the game.
The picture is hardly all bleak for the Ravens, who improved to 5-1 with a 31-29 win and have as much right as anyone to consider themselves contenders in a league where even the frontrunners this season have shown significant flaws. But even the Ravens' own quarterback, Joe Flacco, suggested they had been "fortunate to squeak out a win" on this occasion.
It will be up to the quarterback, and the rest of the offense, to establish a new identity for this team should Lewis not be able to return this season. And perhaps even if he can.
5. Always keep a safe distance from the field
There are many more serious points that could, and probably should, be covered here ? from Aaron Rodgers dismembering Houston during a remarkable six-touchdown performance to Tom Brady's costly intentional-grounding penalties and a New York Jets revival featuring added Tim Tebow ? but to focus on one of those would mean not having space to share this video of the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport being hit by a football in the middle of a piece to camera. Which would have been a terrible shame.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/oct/15/nfl-week-six-rgiii-runs-giants-49ers-seahawks
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