2017 Season: Week #4 Recap

Buffalo Bills vs Atlanta Falcons (3GML Game of the Week)

                                     1         2         3         4          FINAL

BUFFALO                  14        0        21       14        49

ATLANTA                  0         6         0         0         6

ATLANTA – Aaron Rodgers finally looked like the All Pro we are used to as the Buffalo Bills (2-0) dominated the Atlanta Falcons 49-6. 
"We finally felt like ourselves today," Rodgers said. "We had a killer mindset - coaches kept telling us to 'Finish Them' and we did."
For the game Rodgers finished 16-28 for 250 yards with 4 TDs and 2 INT.
Despite Rodgers improved performance, the story of the game was the relentless pass rush by the Bills defense which finished with 12 sacks. 
Rookies Myles Garrett and Zach Cunningham had 5.5 sacks combined.
"We were hunting tonight," Garrett said. "Our whole top of the division is now .500. It's anybody's game now."
For the Falcons, this once proud franchise has now fallen on hard times. The team has been demolished in each of their first four games and now stand four full games out of first place. Their season seems lost.
"It's frustrating," Dan Quinn said. "Everybody's job is on the line."
The Bills next face the Cincinnati Bengals while the Atlanta Falcons head into their bye as the lowest performing team. 

New Orleans 19 @ Miami 14 (London, England)
Despite a pair of 100-yard performances by Latavius Murray and Dalvin Cook, the Miami Dolphins fell to the New Orleans Saints 19-14 in London's Wembley Stadium. The game was hard-hitting and sloppy with a total of seven fumbles (two lost) and four interceptions in the game combined. The New Orleans defense (ranked #1 in the NFL) controlled the game throughout as the team rolled toward their 4th consecutive victory to start the season. The Dolphins return home to take on the Tennessee Titans while the Saints will head into their bye week undefeated.   

Jacksonville 20 @ New York Jets 16
Tyreek Hill kicked away a chance for his squad to salt away a close victory by muffing a punt late in the 4th quarter leading to his team's 20-16 loss. The New York defense was dominant throughout, but could not overcome the late Hill error. The Jets next face the Cleveland Browns. 

Carolina 17 @ New England 16
A late field goal sent the winless New England Patriots to their fourth consecutive loss to start the 2017 season as the Patriots fell to Carolina Panthers 17-16 in Foxboro. An errant Dak Prescott pass led to a 2nd half pick-six for the opportunistic Panthers defense. Now, on short rest, New England will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football. 

2017 Season: Week #3 Recap

Miami Dolphins vs New York Jets (3GML Game of the Week)

                                     1         2         3         4          FINAL

MIAMI                        0        3          0        14        17

NY JETS                    7         0         0         0          7

NEW YORK – With two fumbles in their first three plays from scrimmage - one by Tarik Cohen leading to a 48-yard scoop-and-score by Kam Chancellor - the Miami Dolphins (2-1, 1-0 AFC East) looked to be in for a long afternoon against the New York Jets (2-1, 1-1).
"We were all hitting out there today," Chancellor said. "It could have went either way man, we just didn't put them away like we could have."
To their credit, the Dolphins took the initial hit in stride, played their typically conservative style of football, and were able to catch enough breaks to come out on top 17-7 in the early season divisional showdown. 
With a pair of missed field goals and a crushing red zone fumble by All Pro David Johnson, the New York Jets will be circling their calendars for their Week #7 rematch against Miami. 
Early in the 4th, with his team still trailing 7-3, Dalvin Cook carried his team down the field and into New York territory for the team's first red zone possession of the game. On a 3rd-and-goal from the 3-yard line, Cook reached pay dirt to silence the raucous Jets faithful.
"It felt great," Cook said. "I loved those fans all training camp and was kind of shocked to be traded. It was cool to get a TD there."
Derek Carr then led his team quickly down the field for what looked like, at minimum, a chance for Nick Folk to redeem himself to put the game into overtime. 
On a 2nd down from the Miami 40-yard line, Miami's Miles Killebrew stripped the ball from Carr's hand as he prepared to hit an open receiver downfield. Khalil Mack did the rest, recovering the fumble and taking it to the house to put the game away at 17-7.
"Huge play by that kid," Mack said. "Our D came up huge today."
The Jets will next battle the improving Jacksonville Jaguars while the Dolphins head to London to take on the undefeated New Orleans Saints. 

Denver 30 @ Buffalo 16
 The Super Bowl champs dropped to 1-2 with a disheartening loss to Drew Brees and the Denver Broncos. The game was close throughout, but Brees and company proved too much in the end as the Broncos finished with 14-unanswered points in the 4th quarter. Buffalo next heads to Atlanta to take on the Falcons. 

Houston 34 @ New England 13
 JJ Watt and his defensive mates made life miserable for Dak Prescott and Julio Jones as the Houston Texans ran away from the New England Patriots 34-13 in Foxboro. The Patriots will remain home for Week #4 with a winnable game against the 0-3 Carolina Panthers in an effort to put their season back on track. 

2017 Season: Week #2 Recap

Buffalo Bills vs Carolina Panthers

                                     1         2         3         4          FINAL

BUFFALO                   0         7         0        16        23

CAROLINA                0         0         0         0          0

CHARLOTTE – After a week of national 'hot takes' claiming the reigning Super Bowl champions were "done" after Week 1, the Buffalo Bills (1-1) silenced their critics with a dominating shutout victory over the Carolina Panthers (1-1) Sunday morning.
Both offenses were virtually non-existent throughout with the Bills out-gaining the Panthers 146 to 114 on the day. 
James Bradberry, who finished with three interceptions for the game, and Su'a Cravens both took picks to the house for the games only touchdowns.
"It was one of those games where the offense needed us to pick them up," Bradberry said. "We can win lots of different ways, today was our turn, next week I expect the O (offense) to get back on track."
Despite the team's passing woes, Todd Gurley finished with a workman-like line of 28 carries for 107 yards.
The Bills next face Drew Brees and the Denver Broncos.

New England Patriots vs New Orleans Saints

                                     1         2         3         4          FINAL

NEW ENGLAND      0         0         10       0          10

NEW ORLEANS       0        10       10        7          27

NEW ORLEANS – Six Dak Prescott interceptions spelled doom for the New England Patriots (0-2) as his team fell by a final of 27-10 to the hot New Orleans Saints (2-0).
A week after gashing the Minnesota Vikings, DeMarco Murray was held to only 68 yards rushing by a gritty Patriots defensive unit. But with Prescott's nightmare afternoon, the Pats defenders had no chance to keep the game close in the end.
"We are a tough locker room man," Michael Bennett said. "But we can't give the ball away like that. On D (defense), we made enough plays to win. Our offense needs to wake up."
The Saints have now proven they can win in dominating fashion (like last week) and in a game where their offense provided very little. 
"The only stat that matters in the end is whether you win or lose," Sean Payton said. "We couldn't get much going offensively, but we were fortunate our secondary came to play."
The Patriots now head home to take on the Houston Texans while the Saints head to Carolina to face the recently shut out Carolina Panthers.

Miami Dolphins vs Los Angeles Chargers

                                     1         2         3         4          FINAL

MIAMI                        0        14       7         9          30

LAC                              7        0         7         7          21

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Chargers (1-1) failed in their attempt to "Fight for LA" falling 30-21 to the Miami Dolphins (1-1) in the NFL opening of the Stubhub Center.
Latavius Murray and Dalvin Cook combined for 280 rushing yards as the duo brought to mind last year's two-headed monster of Thomas Rawls and Chris Ivory for the Dolphins.
"It felt good to get out there and finally get our running game going," David DeCastro said. "If we can control the game on the ground, that opens everything up for our team."
Late in the 4th quarter, with the game in the balance, newly acquired Marquette King pinned LAC at their own 1-yard line. On first down, Melvin Gordon was stuffed deep in the end zone for a safety, sealing the win for Miami.
"I feel like we play them every year and every year it's a dogfight," Philip Rivers said. "We just got to keep at it and we'll be alright."
Miami now travels back across country to take on the AFC East leading New York Jets. 

New York Jets vs Oakland Raiders

                                     1         2         3         4          FINAL

NYJ                            14        0         9        6          29

OAKLAND                 7         7         0         3          17

OAKLAND – A 4th quarter, 94-yard scoop-and-score by Zach Brown helped deliver the New York Jets (2-0) a cross country victory over the Oakland Raiders (1-1) by the score of 29-17.
"Right place, right time," Brown said. "Any win you can get you take it. They had a chance there at the end, I'm just glad we slammed that door shut."
David Johnson had a second consecutive strong performance with 114 yards rushing on 19 carries with a touchdown. 
"Not our best game on either side," Johnson said. "But Zach (Brown) said it best: a win is a win. People are gunning for us, we just gotta keep grinding.
Three Jets players finished with over 50 yards rushing for the game as Johnson, Jordan Howard, and surprisingly Derek Carr led the strong ground attack.
"Kind of a weird game," Carr said. "I'm not Michael Vick 2.0. I just saw some chances to run and took them today."
The Jets now head home to take on their rivals from Miami. 

2017 Season: Week #1 Recap

New York Jets vs Buffalo Bills (3GML Game of the Week)

                                     1         2         3         4          FINAL

NEW YORK              14       14        3         7          38

BUFFALO                   0         0         0         6          6

BUFFALO – The NFL's marquee matchup to start the 2017 season was over before it began as the New York Jets (1-0, 1-0 AFC East) dominated the Buffalo Bills (0-1, 0-1) 38-6 in front of a stunned Bills home crowd. 
"We knew they were planning to parade around their championship banner pregame," David Johnson said. "We wanted that to be the last smile we saw from Bills fans all day."
Johnson led the Jets rushing attack that collectively gained 297 yards on the day. With only 12-carries, Johnson finished with 213 yards rushing to go along with four TD runs to complete his fantasy-football dream game.
Aaron Rodgers, who was stoic in defeat postgame, had no chance all day as the New York pass rush, led by newly signed Aaron Donald, picked up six sacks.
"We came to eat," Donald said. "We (were) hungry.
The Jets, now every sports talking heads 'hot take' to win Super Bowl 52, will travel to face Derek Carr's former team, the Oakland Raiders while the Bills head south to take on Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers.

Kansas City 25 @ New England 22
With a strong performance by 4th year HB Spencer Ware, the Kansas City Chiefs (1-0) stormed back late to stun the New England Patriots (0-1) 25-22 up in Foxboro. With a 14-0 lead early in the 4th quarter, Dak Prescott and company looked to be in control, but the team's 3rd down inefficiency (only three conversions on the game) doomed the team late. 
New England next heads to New Orleans to take on the Marcus Mariota led Saints.

Tampa Bay 20 @ Miami 17
A 4th quarter TD drive with under 2-minutes remaining put the NFL on notice that Jameis Winston and his Tampa Bay (1-0) teammates are ready for primetime. The Miami Dolphins (0-1) played their typically vanilla style of game but could not close the deal at the end. For the game, Tampa's Doug Martin finished with 234 all purpose yards.
The Dolphins travel next to the west coast to take on the Los Angeles Chargers.

2017 Season: Week #1 Preview

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS @ NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
Dak Prescott and the New England Patriots host the Kansas City Chiefs under the lights to start each team's 2017 season. The Chiefs have recently been on the precipice of 'championship caliber' and are anxious to square off against these new look Pats. With Prescott and Julio Jones gaining strength throughout the preseason, Kansas City's dreams of becoming a true contender will have to wait another week.
Prediction: Patriots win 30-20

NEW YORK JETS @ BUFFALO BILLS
The NFL's premier rivalry kicks off our 2017 campaign as the New York Jets travel to face the Buffalo Bills. Aaron Rodgers and company sealed their AFC East crown and ended New York's postseason dreams in a Week 17 classic a year ago. The Jets have been long talked about as this season's clear favorite to make it to Super Bowl LII based on their GM's accumulation of All-Pro talent. Over the past two seasons, the Jets-Bills match-ups have given us the 4th-and-19 Game and The Game No One Wanted to Win. Only time will tell if this latest round will lead to another 'named' game.
Prediction: Jets win 31-28

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS @ MIAMI DOLPHINS
Jameis Winson has been outspoken in his belief that his team will be playoff-bound following the 2017 regular season campaign. If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers want to turn their Hard Knocks fame into on-the-field success, they will need to survive a tough road test as they visit their in-state rivals, the Miami Dolphins. This game seems to be a toss up as both teams are young and have talent in key areas.
Prediction: Buccaneers win 24-23