The first few days of November brought about some interesting football games. We learned a lot about teams in the NFL, and college football, and there were some big performances that need to be mentioned. So it’s time to review some of the lasting impressions from this weekend’s action.
1. Florida State is the most complete college football team.
No disrespect to Alabama or Oregon because they’re both great teams, but in my opinion Florida State is, and should be the number one team in the nation. Jameis Winston has been the man getting all the headlines, and while the Redshirt Freshman is legit, the rest of his team is just as good. Florida State faced off against Miami in the prime-time game Saturday, and showed why they should be considered the biggest threat to the SEC’s dominance. After a tight first half, they pulled away in the third quarter destroying seventh ranked Miami, 41-14. Winston was unspectacular, throwing one touchdown and two interceptions, but it didn’t matter. The running game was outstanding, and the receivers showed they may be the best collection of pass catchers in the nation. Not to be outdone, the defense performed exceptionally; holding the Miami passing game to 6.9 yards per pass attempt, and the Canes offense to just 275 total yards.
2. The Carolina Panthers are for real.
Things looked pretty bleak for the Panthers after a last second loss against the Bills, but since then they have been one of the hottest teams in the NFL. Winners of three of the last four, the Panthers welcomed the Atlanta Falcons into Bank of America Stadium Sunday for an NFC South battle. In a game that the Panthers would have been all too happy to give away in the past, the Panthers entered the fourth quarter leading by just a touchdown. However, these aren’t last years’ Panthers, or even the version that came home from Buffalo in September. Quarterback Cam Newton engineered a drive resulting in a Touchdown to effectively put the game away. Moments later, cornerback Drayton Florence picked off Matt Ryan and returned it for another score. What was an uncomfortable seven point lead, stretched to a 21 and eventually 24 point lead as the Panthers cruised for a fourth straight week. Newton struggled at times with inconsistency in the passing game, but it’s a good sign to see that the team could win in such convincing fashion without him having his A+ game. One thing that has been constant for the Panthers is the performance of the Defense. The Panthers have been stifling on that side of the ball, and continued the trend on Sunday, surrendering just 289 total yards and forcing four turnovers. For all the doubters who are still saying the Panthers haven’t played anybody, you get your wish on Sunday when the 49ers host Newton and the Cats. Still it’s not who they’re playing, its how they’re winning. You don’t blow teams out four consecutive weeks without being a quality football team.
3. Any given Sunday….
Any team can beat any team…..well, almost. It’s a saying that has long been a part of the game, and on Sunday it almost held true. Two of the hottest teams in the NFL (Indianapolis and Seattle) kicked off against much inferior opponents (Houston and Tampa Bay). In both cases the better teams played sloppy and spotted their teams a huge lead, 18 points for Houston, and 21 points for Tampa. But that’s the funny thing about good teams. They always seem to find a way to claw back, and claw back they did. Mistakes were corrected in the second half for both teams, and both the Texans and Buccaneers cooled off. In both cases the opposition managed just a field goal in the second half. Both the Colts and the Seahawks caught fire late in their games, and as you can already guess ended up pulling off the miraculous comeback in both cases. The Seahawks needed an Overtime field goal to send the Bucs packing, and the Colts Quarterback Andrew Luck found Receiver T.Y. Hilton for a third touchdown to cap off the stunning road victory. For Tampa and Houston, a disappointing season continues. The Seahawks and Colts won’t apologize to anyone for letting inferior opponents stick around, and why should they. Both teams are looking like one of the strongest in their conferences, and these are the types of games that sometimes jump start a Championship run.
Final Thoughts
The “where did that come from” performance of the year belongs to Nick Foles of the Eagles. Foles was electric against the Raiders on Sunday completing 22 of 28 passes for 406 yards and an NFL single game record tying SEVEN touchdowns. That’s the crazy thing about this game of football; you never know who will have a historic performance, or when it’s coming.
* Thoughts and writing from Daniel Guy, Follow Daniel on Twitter via @danny_g13 *
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