Week 4 In Review:

For Week 4:
Vs W/L: 8-5-0
Vs Spread: 8-6-0
Vs. O/U: 7-7-0

For The Season:
Vs W/L: 35-26-0
Vs Spread 30-34-0
Vs. O/U: 32-29-1

Here’s where we’re at via the Spread relative to the “Sportsline Experts”:

Expert “P”: 39-22-0
Expert “J”: 38-23-0
Expert “D”: 34-27-0
Expert “H”: 33-28-0
Expert “S”: 31-30-0
PFN: 30-34-0
Expert “R”: 29-32-0

If anyone can figure out what the deal is with the NFC East, kindly advise. How does a team score 56 points in one week and 3 the next? In the early voting, Philly has a solid spot in the “Teasers” category.

Week 4 Game Balls:

Buffalo: The Bills got the better of the Jets 17-14 despite a plethora of injuries that have put a real damper on things so far. No matter what, the Bills come to play and will fight until the last second. Hopefully there’s a few more wins in the future for Buffalo.

Cleveland: The Browns thumped the Ravens 27-13, which makes you wonder if the Ravens are Teasers as well. Coach Crennel’s team has excelled against the better teams and struggled against the lesser lights. They’re playing New England in Week 5, and the Patriots had better not take them lightly.

NY Giants: The 16-3 win made two straight for Coach Coughlin’s crew, and as they move forward and start getting some of their regulars back in the lineup, they could rebound from a lousy start.

Atlanta: They were motivated to show their former backup quarterback that he wouldn’t come to town and play them for chumps. Houston is developing a good young team, but so weren’t the Falcons before the whole “Bad Newz Kennel” incident exploded around them. The NFC South is up for grabs, so they should look to grow together with a new coach and a new identity as the year unfolds. A 26-16 win is a nice way to start.

Kansas City: So what if they defeated a team in freefall. They beat San Diego by two touchdowns. That’s more offense in one day than the previous three weeks put together.

Arizona: Nice job by Kurt Warner leading the team to another win. Leinart is already whining, but that’s tough luck. He ought to watch and listen and learn from a guy who has already proven himself in the NFL before popping off in the media. The story was how the Cards’ defense kept Willie Parker in check. Many of the Steelers’ players renewed acquaintances with Coach Whisenhunt before kickoff…Big Ben was not among them. That probably makes the win all that much sweeter.

Detroit: 34 points in the fourth quarter? Wow! If Kitna is given an opportunity, he can light it up. Even though Detroit beat a demoralized bunch of Bears, a fourth quarter explosion was no fluke.

Tampa Bay: The Bucs put it to Carolina, but lost Cadillac Williams and Luke Petigout for the season in the process. Don’t expect them to throw in the towel just yet. Garcia has settled in quite well on Mabry Blvd., and Coach Chucky will find a way to keep his team in contention in what is a pretty wide open division.

Green Bay: Whoo-hoo, the Pack is 4-0 and Favre is playing like it’s 1996. How long can they keep up the pace? Without much of a running game, it’s hard to say, but Coach McCarthy has this team playing out of its mind right now. “What’s good for (Green Bay) is good for (football).” Somewhere (hopefully good), Coach Lombardi’s grin is from ear-to-ear.

Oakland: It was nice to see Culpepper stick it to the Dolphins, even though he wears the hated Silver & Black these days. He deserved a little sweet revenge over the shoddy manner in which Miami management abruptly terminated him last spring.

Duds:
San Diego
Chicago
Denver

On the Clock:
Minnesota
Miami

New England At Cincinnati, Monday Night Football:
The Bengals came out resplendent in their orange jerseys in which they are undefeated. Maroney did not dress, so Morris and Faulk got a lot of work. Cincinnati kicked off. Hobbs took it five yards deep up to the 21, where he was met by a host of tacklers. On first down, Brady hit Moss on a short out to the right for 6. He then hit Faulk over the middle and Faulk took the ball to midfield. On second and 10, Brady found Moss over the middle to the 32. Sammy Morris went up the middle for three. On third down, Brady escaped a rush, came out if the pocket and hit Welker inside the 20. On third and seven from the 15, Brady found Welker who was tackled for no gain. Gostkowski hit a 31-yarder to put New England up by three.

Holt returned Gostkowski’s kick to the 21, and that’s where the Bengals set up shop. Kenny Watson took it off right tackle for 2, then up the middle for 8. On first down, Watson was then snuffed out for a loss of 1. On 3rd and 11, Palmer was sacked by Adailus Thomas for a loss of 8. Larson’s punt went for 49 and Welker returned the ball to New England’s 38.

On the Patriots’ next possession, Morris went off right guard for 1, then the Pats were flagged for illegal motion. The crowd noise was intense. Brady found Ben Watson over the middle to the 39, then the Pats were flagged again for illegal motion. Brady found Faulk on a short pass to the left well short of the first down. Chris Hanson punted the ball to the 20 where the Bengals took over.

On second down, Cincinnati’s Jeremi Johnson took the ball up the gut to the 25. Palmer then hit Johnson with a safety valve pass over the middle and Hobbs tackled him just shy of the thirty causing Cincinnati to punt. So New England held the Bengals again.

Starting at their own 35, Brady hit Stallworth on a sideline left for 14, Sammy Morris then went around right end for 47 yards to the 2. He fumbled the ball out of bounds but the Bengals claimed that he fumbled it through the end zone. Coach Lewis lost that call. Seau and Vrabel came on to aid Heath Evans, who made two futile goal line plunges before Brady found Vrabel on a short pass to the right. Gostkowski’s kick was good and the Pats increased the lead to 10-0 with less than a minute remaining in the quarter.

The Bengals took over at their own 26. On second down, Palmer found Chapman to the left for seven. Palmer then went back to pass, but the Patriot defenders nearly sacked him as he threw a short pass into the ground as the quarter ended.

Welker took Larson’s punt to the 27. On first down, Matt Light was caught holding that erased a nice gain. A screen pass to Morris lost three more. On 3rd and 23, New England was forced to burn a timeout because of the crowd noise. Brady’s pass over the middle was intercepted by Hall, who took the ball to the Patriots’ 35. Watson carried twice to New England’s 24. He made a third carry to the 22, then Palmer hit Ocho Stinko down the left side for 21. On first and goal, Palmer went over the middle to Houshmandzadeh and the Bengals were on the board. Graham’s kick was good and the Bengals trailed by just three with 11:08 remaining. Willie Andrews made a nice 24-yard return of Graham’s kick up the chute to the 38, giving the Patriots good field position to start the drive.

On second down Brady found Welker for nine out to midfield, then to Stallworth for 5. Sammy Morris took it up the gut for a first down to the 39, then off left tackle to the 32. Morris then carried twice more, bringing the ball to the 26. Two of the Bengals’ four healthy linebackers had already left with injuries. Meanwhile, Morris continued to push Cincinnati’s defensive line backwards. Two more carries put New England down to the 13. Moss made a spectacular catch in the left corner of the end zone, reaching up to take the ball away from the cornerback and twisted around while planting both feet in bounds. It was a nice pass and a great catch.

On the ensuing possession, Palmer successfully drove the Bengals down field. Once in the red zone, his pass attempt to Holt over the middle was picked by Asante Samuel and the Pats took over at their own 3. A couple of kneel downs later, the half expired and New England was up 17-7. Ocho Stinko was seen arguing with Palmer as the teams headed to the locker room.

After the Bengals’ opening drive stalled, the Patriots took over at their own 19. Brady found Faulk for eight. Welker gained 27 on an end around then hit Moss over the middle for 16. A personal foul tacked 15 yards on and the Patriots were now at the Bengals’ 16. Morris carried of left tackle down to the ten, then Faulk moved it three more. On a critical fourth-and-inches play from the 7, Morris again went off left tackle, and sprung by a great block from Watson made his way to the end zone. Dan Koppen was hurt on the play, let’s hope not too seriously. Midway through the quarter, the Pats were ahead 24-7.

The Bengals started at their own 34. They had put together a pretty good drive before a chop block penalty set them back. Palmer made it all back on an out route to Houshmandzadeh, but another penalty set them back five. On third and 2 from the Patriots’ 26, signals were crossed and Palmer had to burn a timeout. The Patriots came with a blitz up the middle and Bruschi knocked Palmer’s pass harmlessly to the ground. The Bengals had to settle for a 40-yard field goal from Graham.

When New England regained possession, Faulk went off right tackle for 14. On the next play, Brady was sacked, but the Bengals were called for being off side. On a series of running and pass plays using Watson, Faulk and Moss, the offense brought the ball to Cincinnati’s 26 as the third quarter came to a close. On third and 2, the Bengals trapped Morris for a loss, but they were penalized for having too many men on the field, giving New England another first down. However, the drive fizzled and Gostkowski banged through a 36-yarder to put New England ahead 27-10.

Desperation time for the Bengals: Starting at their 20, Palmer moved the offense to New England’s 39. On a do-or-die 4th and 8, Palmer found Houshmandzadeh for the first down. Palmer then threw three incompletions, leaving things to Shayne Graham to hit a 49-yarder. Brandon Meriweather was especially noteworthy for the defense. On one play, he rudely pushed Ocho Stinko out of bounds and on another he trapped Houshmandzadeh behind the line. He showed some toughness and smarts.

Starting at their own 15, Brady found Moss over the middle for twenty then escaped a rush to connect with Morris for 18. A penalty set them back, but not for long. Stallworth took a short pass from Brady and took it to the Bengals’ 33. The pair hooked up again for 7 more. Morris pounded away on two carries to the 13. On third and 5, Brady found Moss over the middle on a jump pass that Moss needed only to reach out for the picking. With the score 34-13, things got a lot quieter as 99% of the fans made a hasty departure. Randall Gay picked off Palmer and the Pats had the ball at midfield and it was time kill to the clock.