NFL Week 5 Studs & Duds

                                                                  Week 5 Studs

     Andrew Luck- In a match up that pitted Teacher(Aaron Rodgers) vs. Student(Andrew Luck), the Student ended up schooling the Teacher as the Colts came back from a 21-3 deficit to win 30-27. Andrew Luck played more like a Veteran going 31 of 55 for 362 yards through the air with 2 TD's to go with it.

     Reggie Wayne- A lot of Andrew Luck's success came from his reliable receiver. Wayne had 13 receptions for 213 yards and a TD. Luck and Wayne each had career days. I look forward to seeing with this Dynamic Duo can do from here on out.

    Drew Brees-  Another day at the office for Mr. Brees, throwing for 370 yards and 4 touchdowns. However this day at the office was a bit more special as Brees passed Johnny Unitas for the most consecutive games with a TD a pass. Seriously though, was anyone really surprised about this happening?  Congratulations Drew Brees.

    Marques Colston- It's not hard to see why he is a favorite target for Drew Brees. Colston has established himself as an emerging receiver, if he hasn't already. 9 receptions for 131 yards and 3 touchdowns. Despite a 1-4 record, the duo has not failed to produce big numbers.

     Victor Cruz-  I look back and think "how did this guy go undrafted?" The receiving duo of Cruz and Hakeem Nicks has put opposing defenses on notice out of nowhere. Even with Nicks out with an injury, Cruz continues to cement his status as one of the premiere receivers in the league with a career day against the Cleveland Browns as he caught a career best 3 touchdowns in the game.

    Ahmad Bradshaw- Despite giving up a fumble from the first play from scrimmage, Bradshaw was able to shake it off and rush for an impressive 200 yards and a touchdown.

    Percy Harvin- One of the more versatile in the league displayed and showcased his abilities by running for a touchdown and another through the air to go along with his 108 receiving yards.

    Peyton Manning- Despite coming up on the losing end of the game, Manning (as I mentioned in a previous blog of mine) still has the tools and mechanics to produce great numbers. Such as is the case with his performance this past weekend against New England, throwing for 345 yards 3 touchdowns and last but certainly not least, 0 interceptions


                                                                    Week 5 Duds


     Willis McGahee- For some reason I kept thinking McGahee's first name was Travis. Well after not one, but two key mishaps, he may want to hightail out of Denver and change his name to Travis if he continues making crucial errors like he did this past weekend.  On a 4th and short, Manning threw an easy pass to a wide open McGahee who would have had the first down and a lot more, but seemed to think about running with the ball before catching it. The other miscue came when the Broncos were threatening to cut the Patriots lead to 3, as they were driving inside New England's 10 when McGahee coughed the ball up which New England recovered, putting any hope of a comeback to rest.


     Chris Johnson-  Seriously, you got what you wanted after you held out until you got a bigger contract. So when are you going to start producing the same numbers as you did in 2009? Or was that just a "one hit wonder" type of season?

     Mike Vick-  Oh Mike Vick, things just continue to go from bad to worse for you on the football field. Vick fumbled three times, two which he lost. The first time it ended up costing the Eagles from posting points on the board as Vick fumbled the ball inside the Steelers 3 yard line. The second instance occurred just past the Eagles own 20 yard line (fortunately for the Eagles, the Steelers didn't score from it as they fumbled the ball themselves) This is a team that could easily be undefeated. But with a bunch of turnovers, you're going to end up losing more games than you win.


     Blaine Gabbert- Yes, the Jaguars got ripped apart by the Bears defense. Yes, Blaine Gabbert threw 2 interceptions and fumbled once as well. Those 2 interceptions were both returned for TD's (one by Lance Briggs and one by Charles Tillman) Even though the Bears won this one with ease, Gabbert gave them an extra 14 points.

     Mark Sanchez- The Quarterback dilemma in the Jets organization continues to grow after another poor outing by Mark Sanchez. Sanchez has a hard time securing the ball, fumbling twice (fortunately for his sake the Jets were able to recover) and two key interceptions, one that saw a swing in points at the end of the 1st half when Sanchez threw an interception inside the Texans 10 yard line, and instead of the Jets at least getting 3 points, Houston ended up coming away with 3 points to end the half which caused a 6 point swing. Sanchez's other INT came on NY Jets one last chance to go on a scoring drive to put them ahead. (technically they had another after this, but with only 4 seconds on the clock) A friend of mine keeps saying that "Sanchez is in the locker room saying INT- I Need Tebow" perhaps he may be right.
    
      Ryan Fitzpatrick- After a somewhat decent performance against the New England Patriots the previous week, Fitzpatrick failed to produce any type of points or impressive numbers. Going 16 for 26 for only 156 yards passing and throwing an interception against the best defense in the league(San Fransisco 49ers) just isn't going to cut it.

     Cam Newton-  After receiving a lot of hype from his performance in his Rookie season, Newton has continued to fail to live up to those big expectations. Week in and week out he hasn't be able to create any really good scoring drives, and this week was no different. 12 of 29 pass completions for only 141 yards passing 0 TD's and 42 rushing yards. Not exactly the type of performance and production you want from a Quarterback.

     Mason Crosby-  I kind of feel sorry for Crosby. Even though he missed a FG in the earlier part of the game, it looked seemed like it would have no bearing on the outcome of the game, as the Packers were up by 18 at one point. The Colts came all the way back from the large deficit to win the game by the score of 30-27. Packers had one last chance to win or at the very least send the game into overtime. Crosby came out for a FG attempt in the closing seconds of regulation and missed. Those six points that Crosby and the Packers ended up costing them the game (had they made both score would be Packers 33Colts 30, but other things could have happened as well)

     So there you have it.  My NFL Week 5 "Studs & Duds" I will be posting doing this every week from here on out.

       
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