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the skinny
1 2 Houston Texans 3 New York Giants 4 Chicago Bears 5 San Francisco 49ers 6 Green Bay Packers 7 New England Patriots 8 Baltimore Ravens 9 Minnesota Vikings 10 Denver Broncos 11 Seattle Seahawks 12 Pittsburgh Steelers 13 Philadelphia Eagles 14 San Diego Chargers 15 Miami Dolphins 16 Washington Redskins 17 Arizona Cardinals 18 Dallas Cowboys 19 New York Jets 20 Detroit Lions 21 New Orleans Saints 22 St. Louis Rams 23 Cincinnati Bengals 24 Tennessee Titans 25 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26 Indianapolis Colts 27 Buffalo Bills 28 Oakland Raiders 29 Carolina Panthers 30 Cleveland Browns 31 Kansas City Chiefs 32 Jacksonville Jaguars Atlanta Falcons
O-line will need to keep up strong play vs. Eagles’ D-ends. Bounced back from loss to Pack; proved AFC supremacy with rout. Eli again proves he’s the most clutch quarterback in the league. Cutler, defense showed toughness in solid win on national stage.
Doing what they do best — beat you with the run, ferocious “D.” Loss of Woodson big for an already banged-up defense.
Managed to not blow another fourth-quarter lead, barely. O-line not helping Flacco: sacked 13 times in last four games.
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show on the road
RG3, Redskins raid Pittsburgh Robert Griffin III has shone brightly on big stages this season, and he’ll get his chance Sunday in Pittsburgh.
Focus was on “D” with Castillo firing, but pressure’s on Vick.
whispers
Have been outscored 31-0 in past two fourth quarters.
Moved into second place during bye; revenge opportunity in Week Eight. RG3 shines again, but turnovers too costly in close loss.
Will Vitt’s return help spark team and improve the defense?
Tough scheduling to face Pats in London after falling to Packers.
Their 185 yards of offense vs. Steelers lowest since November ’10. If Chris Johnson played Buffalo every week, he’d actually be CJ2K.
Offense lit it up, but still left points on the field. Run “D” steps up in a big way, puts Indy in early AFC wild-card talk.
Wannstedt and his defense have a lot of work to do during bye week. It wasn’t pretty, but Raiders certainly will take wins when they can. Firing of Hurney could be first shoe to drop in Carolina. Weeden, Gordon heating up, but running game got bottled up.
It’s Brady Quinn’s turn — how unready is Ricky Stanzi? Insult to injury — blew lead, lost game, lost MJD, Gabbert.
NOTE: Order determined by a vote of the Pro Football Weekly staff.
Pick the winners
atlanta at philadelphia falcons eagles
By the Numbers Tony Gonzalez, Julio Jones and Roddy White all have four TDs, but Matt Ryan has six INTs in his past four games.
“Next man up” Jonathan Dwyer rushes for 122 yards in win.
More special-teams, offensive miscues; disappointing season continues.
Game to watch
Key Matchup Eagles RB LeSean McCoy should have room to run against the Falcons’ 28th-ranked run defense.
Wilson embodies his team — struggles on the road, solid at home.
Getting TE Keller back in form a huge help to the offense.
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Overview The 6-0 Falcons are sitting pretty. The 3-3 Eagles are breaking in a new defensive coordinator and need Michael Vick to stop turning the ball over.
Peyton should be salivating for opportunity to throw vs. Saints’ “D.”
Managed only one offensive TD vs. weak Carolina defense.
Exclusive rumblings from around the NFL released every Saturday.
Kickoff Sunday, Oct. 28, 2012 — 1 p.m. ET
Defense dominates: seven sacks, one pick-six, fumble recovery.
Injury-riddled offense is asking too much of Ray Horton’s defense.
NFL Whispers
Steelers seeking consecutive wins By Eric Edholm Pro Football Weekly
If the country didn’t finally get a taste of how good Robert Griffin III can be in Week Seven against the Giants, it certainly will be tuning in Sunday against the Steelers. Three-for-three on fourthdown conversions, including the scramble-and-throw to Logan Paulsen for 19 yards. A 17-play, 93-yard drive. Another 89 rushing yards for Griffin. It’s becoming routine, weekly must-see TV. Griffin has given the Redskins a chance to win every game. They’re 3-4, but all four losses were by seven points or fewer and all came down to the final minutes. When was the last time the Steelers saw a QB this dynamic? They faced Eagles QB Michael Vick in Week Five, but Giants defenders were quick to point out Sunday that Griffin appears to be a different kind of animal. “I’m pretty mad at the football gods for putting him in the NFC East,” Giants DE Justin Tuck said. “To face
that guy twice a year is going to be a headache.” The Steelers get it once, on Sunday. That might be plenty for them to handle without Troy Polamalu, although the team has been getting on without him for a while now. The Steelers gamely fought back to beat the Bengals, overcoming an 11-point deficit, and now look to win back-to-back games for the first time since Weeks 16 and 17 last season. They have given away fourth-quarter leads in four their of six games this season (including all three losses) but clamped down Sunday night, stoning the Bengals in their final five possessions — five punts, 28 yards, one first down. The Redskins likely won’t have WR Pierre Garcon back, and losing TE Fred Davis means newly signed Chris Cooley had better be in shape, although they rolled up 480 yards of offense against the Giants. No matter who plays, this has the makings of a very fun battle to watch at Heinz Field.
Week Eight tidbits n If you want a good idea why the Falcons are 6-0 (despite ranking 29th in rushing offense and 28th in Vick rush “D”) and the Eagles are 3-3 (despite ranking seventh in yards gained and 12th in yards allowed), look no further than turnovers. The Falcons are third in the NFL at plus-10 (17 takeaways, seven giveaways), and the Eagles are tied for 30th at minus-9 (17 giveaways, eight takeaways), thanks mainly to Michael Vick’s 13 turnovers. n The Giants’ run defense imploded against the Redskins, allowing 248 yards on 38 rushes. Some of Murray those were from Robert Griffin III scrambles, but Alfred Morris rumbled through many tackles. The Cowboys had a season-best rushing game in Week Six but fell back to earth in the Week Seven win over Carolina with DeMarco Murray (foot) out. All eyes will be on Murray this week, but he might not be able to play against the Giants.
n Rookie QB Ryan Tannehill was poised and turnover-free in the two games before the bye to help the Dolphins get to 3-3. His teammates respect him, and MLB Karlos Dansby said it’s been like that from Day One. “He had the respect when he first came in the door,” Dansby told PFW. “We knew he was the future of the team. … Coach (Joe) Philbin is doing a great job leading him and showing him this is how you get it done.” n Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said last week that OT Jammal Brown (hip) is getting healthier and could return in Week 10, but our sources are not sold, having heard similar claims before. Brown has looked broken down at times and might never be the same. n The Chiefs finally feel like RB Peyton Hillis is ready to contribute the way they imagined when they signed him prior to the season. A high ankle sprain has kept him out recently, and when they return from the bye next week, they expect him to help shoulder some of the running load, which had been too Jamaal Charlesdependent some weeks. n Our sources familiar with new Eagles defensive coordinator Todd Bowles believe he wants to be more aggressive and blitz, especially on early downs and in the fourth quarter, when the Eagles often were reticent to do so under the dismissed Juan Castillo. But the Eagles have not been a great blitzing team so far. Perhaps changing up the frequency of it will help.
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