Week Six

1st Down

'INTENSE' is the one word I would use to describe this week’s action.  Every game this week seemed to finally have the intensity levels I've come to know and love from the NFL. I mean you only have to look at what happened between the coaches after the 49ers vs Lions game to see how revved up everyone was.


I don't know what happened this week, maybe everyone is finally up to match fitness or maybe it's because we are now a third of the way through the regular season and games are starting to mean so much for everyone!


This week saw me returning to watch NFL Redzone again as I wasn't too sure the live games on Sky Sports would give me the fix I need. I am so glad I did this because as I've said before it gives me a feel for every game.


The early games this week included my awesome Bills at the Giants, Panthers at the Falcons and Steelers at home to the Jaguars.


I feel at this point Cam Newton has something against me as every time I pick him to win or do well for my Fantasy Team on NFLUK.com he has a bad game just to spite me. This week not only did he lose against the Falcons but he decided he would throw three picks to cancel out the points from his rushing TD, I mean how rude is that!


The Bills were involved in yet another close game this week. I started the match in my Crystal Palace top as I'd forgotten to change.  The game was going well until I remembered to change into my Bills top at which point we threw a pick and conceded a touchdown.  As you can guess, off came the Bills top and back on with the Palace top.


Believe it or not, this actually seemed to work as we managed to pull level at 24 all and kept the Giants to just a field goal after a penalty on third down put them in great field position. Alas this week it seems it just wasn't meant to be as we got into the Giants half, Fitzmagic looked for Stevie J on a go route and under throw it leading to a pick which killed the game.


One final note on the Bills, I heard this week we are just 6 points from being 6 - 0. Normally I would feel hard done by until someone pointed out we were also just 13 points from starting the season 1 - 5. It just goes to show you how it truly is a game of inches and the smallest margins can result in great joy or pure devastation!


2nd Down

Here is all the scores from Week 6:-


Carolina 17 vs 31 Atlanta
Indianapolis 17 vs 27 Cincinnati
San Francisco 25 vs 19 Detroit
St Louis 3 vs 24 Green Bay
Buffalo 24 vs 27 New York Giants
Jacksonville 13 vs 17 Pittsburgh
Philadelphia 20 vs 13 Washington
Houston 14 vs 29 Baltimore
Cleveland 17 vs 24 Oakland
Dallas 16 vs 20 New England
New Orleans 20 vs 26 Tampa Bay 26
Minnesota 10 vs 39 Chicago
Miami 6 vs 24 New York Jets


As you can see from the highlighted scores above, I was only able to nail 7 out of 13 in my predictions this week. That is also another reason why I don't like sharing my predictions as when you get them wrong you have to seriously hang your head in shame!


You can also see how close to call the games are this year with 7 of the 13 games being decided by one score or less.  With that in mind I'm afraid to say that to spare myself the shame; I won't be including my weekly predictions again unless you want them that is?


On top of the intensity this week, we have seen some more simply outstanding catches. I would like to say that for all the press the QB's get these days, let's not forget that without receivers of this quality they might as well pack up their lockers and stay at home!


Check out these Top 5 beauties from week 6 http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-top-5-catches/09000d5d82332f30/Week-6-Top-5-catches It is brilliant to see that the top 3 catches this week were from TE's.


3rd Down

OK so onto the section I'm sure you have been waiting for and that is Q & A time with EJ. I personally always look forward to it as it is great to hear from such knowledgeable fans.


Adri - Come the end of the season, who will be the league's leading QB,RB,WR,TE and Defence?

EJ - Leading QB: Aaron Rodgers (currently about even with Tom Brady on TD's, yards and has thrown far less INT's, plus is a better runner)

Leading RB: Very tough call with Darren McFadden/Fred Jackson/AP, but going to go with Ray Rice simply because his team seems balanced both running and throwing as well is a threat in the passing game


Leading WR: Megatron! Calvin Johnson is unstoppable especially with TD receptions. One guy that may be the overall leader in yardage though is Wes Welker simply due to how many catches he receives a game


Leading TE: Jimmy Graham -- freak athlete with ball catching skills/speed of a WR


Leading Defense: May be old, but they are still clicking and causing turnovers at a rapid rate -- the Baltimore Ravens.

Adri - I know its early but who currently playing in college should we be looking out for in next years draft?

EJ - Top 3 prospects to keep an eye on: Andrew Luck (QB Stanford -- a lock to go #1)/ LaMichael James (RB Oregon, stud but is questionable this week with an injury) -- other RB's in next couple of years Ray Graham (RB Pitt) and Lamar Miller (RB Miami)/Justin Blackmon -- could have been selected high in last years draft (WR OKSt)/sleeper pick Tyrann Mathieu LSU only a sophomore but makes big plays aka the honey badger (google honey badger, very funny but R rated due to language)

Adri - Does Tebow deserve the starting job in Denver, if not who is the best suited team for him?

EJ - Tebow by no means has earned the starting position. First off, how did he get over Brady Quinn the original backup? He is being given the ball due a fan base that loves him. His skill does not match that of Orton's, but I believe his will and character will make the Broncos more competitive, so I do think that it was a smart move.

Adri - Finally the question everyone is asking this week, is it time for Romo to be moved on and replaced?

EJ - Romo...sigh. So many ups and downs. I feel he is healthy now and therefore hopefully will eliminate many of the dumb turnovers. He has looked great at times and poor at times. If Dallas could get a run game going, that would help him out consistently. Leave him in, he is the best they got, although it may be time for big D to be looking at drafting a QB.


Congrats on win #1 in Fantasy Football, I am currently 5-0, but feel I am going to have a historic collapse like that of the Boston Red Sox.

As always EJ, thank you so much for your feedback. For the record I have checked out the Honey Badger and he looks phenomenal, for those who haven't seen him in action, check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGKKoMSrECU


I can't wait to see him in the NFL, I think he should be drafted by the Bills!


4th Down

As we are now a third of the way through the season, I thought we should take a look at the top performers so far.


Top 5 QB's

Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton & Eli Manning

Top 5 RB's

Darren McFadden, Fred Jackson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Beanie Wells & LeSean McCoy

Top 5 WR's

Wes Welker, Steve Smith, Jimmy Graham, Mike Wallace & Calvin Johnson

Top 5 Tacklers

Pat Angerer, Kavell Conner, Desmond Bishop, George Wilson & NaVorro Bowman

Top 5 Ballhawks

Kyle Arrington, Morgan Burnett, Kurt Coleman, Antonio Cromartie & Thomas DeCoud

I couldn't do a section like this without mentioning the offensive lineman. Simply the most important unit on the field, yet get nowhere near as much press as they should.


With that in mind, EJ who would you say are the Top 5 O line men in the game today and which team has the best unit as a whole?


Also buddy, I know how much you love the Vikings so would love to know which area's they should be looking to draft next year?


One final question, do you think that Brandon Lloyd will bring much to the Rams offence, was it worth the trade or should they have waited till next year’s draft?


Finally I want to finish up by saying it’s a special week in the UK for NFL as we have the international series regular season game between the Buccaneers and Bears.


The NFL and NFLUK always make a great event of this special occasion and this year they have added a try outs section for young players between 16 and 18.  This just shows how much the sport is developing in the UK.


Also there will be a special event on Friday night at Trafalgar Square followed by the annual fan rally at Trafalgar Square on Saturday from 12pm. Both events will be hosted by the legend that is Mr Neil
Reynolds (@neilreynoldsnfl) With the game and tailgate party this Sunday 23rd October, which is also my Birthday!


I have been to a couple of these games at Wembley and the atmosphere just gets better and better. If you haven't been to one I highly recommend trying to get a ticket as it's a great occasion for all! That's all for now and so until next week my friends 'Thanks for stopping by'