NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Last Week: 11-3
Season: 59-44

Buffalo at Kansas City – Last week in Baltimore the Bills finally showed up and put up their best game of the year, despite it being in a losing effort in OT to the Ravens. This week they run into a Chiefs team that is 4-2 overall and 3-0 at home. They seem to be hitting on all cylinders on offense, and while they will win, if the Bills play like last week, this could be an entertaining game. Kansas City 35 Buffalo 28

Carolina at St.Louis – The Panthers got their best showing of the season last week from Matt Moore and the offense as the team beat the Niners by three for their first win. The Rams lost a heartbreaker in Tampa in the final seconds, and will look to rebound at home. Sam Bradford may not have his favorite weapon in running back Steven Jackson, and may have to throw quite a bit to get the job done. The Rams have more going for them here and will pull it out late. St.Louis 21 Carolina 20

Denver at San Francisco – The annual London game between two teams coming off bad losses a week ago. The Broncos were crushed by the Raiders, and they have spent the week standing up for their coach after the awful loss. The Niners will be without QB Alex Smith, and will have to lean on Troy Smith and Frank Gore to generate offense. Look for Denver to get back to playing with purpose, and will win this game that is listed as a Niners home game. Denver 24 San Francisco 14

Washington at Detroit – DeAngelo Hall had a record setting day in Chicago a week ago as the Redskins improved to 4-3 just a game back in the NFC East. The Lions expect QB Matthew Stafford back for this game, and that could jump start their offense. Despite that, the way Donovan McNabb and the Redskins are playing on both sides of the ball, the Skins look like a focused team ready to get to 5-3. Washington 27 Detroit 21

Green Bay at New York Jets – The Pack won an emotional game at home vs Brett Favre and the Vikings last week, now go on the road to play a rested Jets team. Darrelle Revis say he is 100 percent, and he will play a key role in this one vs Aaron Rodgers and the Pack passing game. Green Bay needs to force some Mark Sanchez turnovers and use some play action and the run game to keep the Jets D honest. It will be close, but the Jets are playing well and will find a way here. New York 20 Green Bay 17

Miami at Cincinnati – Must win time for the Bengals, as a loss here and they could be already thinking ahead to 2011 as they would sit at 2-5. Problem is the Fins are a better road team than home team, as they are 3-0 away from Miami. If the Fins can run on the Bengals, as they should, it could be a very long day for Marvin Lewis’ group. The Bengals need to use that firepower to attack the Dolphins secondary, and then need to mix some Cedric Benson is as well. Look for Miami to get to Carson Palmer and make it a tough day for the Bengals in another Miami road win. Miami 27 Cincinnati 23

Jacksonville at Dallas – Wow. No one could possibly have guessed the Cowboys would be sitting at 1-5, more so 0-3 at home after their first six games. That’s where they are at, and now they will be without Tony Romo and will have to go at it with Jon Kitna. The Jags were run all over by KC, and if Romo was playing the Cowboys would be a heavy favorite even at 1-5. Instead, it’s Kitna, and the Jags will walk away pushing the Cowboys to 1-6. Ouch. Jacksonville 17 Dallas 14

Tennessee at San Diego – Last week it took awhile, but the Titans with Kenny Britt exploded late and they walked away with a big win over the Eagles. As for the Chargers, they were losers again at home, and while they are putting up good numbers, they are not a team that looks like they will play past January 3rd. Too many turnovers and mistakes have plagued the Chargers all year, and those are the types of things the Titans feed off of. Look for Tennessee to get Vince Young back, and the Titans to push to 6-2. Tennessee 23 San Diego 17

Tampa Bay at Arizona - The best team in the NFC? That’s who the Bucs, at least their coach, think they are, and this week they have another shot to go out and prove it as they play in Arizona. The Cards are 3-3, coming off a loss in Seattle last week. Tampa Bay rallied late to beat the Rams at home, and something tells me that Raheem Morris opened up a whole can of worms with his declaring his team is the best in the NFC. Arizona 28 Tampa Bay 13

Minnesota at New England - The Vikings are a beat up crew, and they head to a tough place to play to take on a Pats team that is smelling blood. Randy Moss is telling his club everything he knows about the Pats, which means you can bet that the Pats will have tricks up their sleeve. Brett Favre is a wounded duck, and the Pats will attack him and focus on stopping Adrian Peterson. The Vikings are a prideful bunch, and while they will play hard, it will once again mean coming up short. New England 24 Minnesota 17

Seattle at Oakland - Who were those guys wearing silver and black last week? The Raiders put up a whopping 59 points in their win over the Broncos, and will look to have another big week vs Seattle. It was the coming out party for Darren McFadden, who this week will try to repeat it vs the Hawks. Seattle is such a different team on the road, and other than a win in Chicago, they are not very good away from their home field. Oakland looks like they have momentum after last week, and will pull out another win. Oakland 28 Seattle 20

Pittsburgh at New Orleans - The Saints look like they are seriously having a Super Bowl hangover, as losing at home to Cleveland is not the sign of a team that is ready for a repeat. Turnovers, lack of a run game, and overall not being aggressive are the traits of the 2010 Saints over the 09 Saints, a team that never would have lost a game like last week. Now they have to overcome a Steelers team that is 5-1, and boasts maybe the best defense in the NFL. The Steelers will do what they do, which means stop the run and force Drew Brees to pass his way to a win. Look for New Orleans to have a long Halloween night, as this Pittsburgh team is playing like a team getting better. Pittsburgh 24 New Orleans 20

Monday Night:

Houston at Indianapolis – The Colts are out for a little revenge after losing opening day to the Texans on the road, but are a banged up bunch. Dallas Clark is done for the year, and the run game is hurting with injuries as well. They will need to rely on the defense to hold down Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson, a pair that could make it a long night for the Colts secondary. While the Colts can win games solely on the arm of Peyton Manning alone, this won’t be one of those weeks. Houston 31 Indianapolis 24

Senior writer jclombardi highlights Packers headlines.

LB Jones on I.R. and 3 LBs & NT added to roster: Outside linebacker Brad Jones became the team's third linebacker and 10^thplayer overall to land on season-ending injured reserve Wednesday. Jones suffered a shoulder injury and will require surgery. When the team claimed NT Green, a sixth-year nose tackle, Jones was placed on IR to make room on the 53-man roster. The 6-foot-2, 340-pound Green played 12 games with the Jets in '09. He saw action in two of the Jets' games this season before being waived this week.  With Jones and Poppinga both out, rookie Zombo will start opposite Matthews. LB Francois becomes the primary backup at both outside spots. Newcomers Briggs and Walden likely to fill in on special teams if they're on the 45-man game-day roster Sunday. The 6-foot-2, 250-pound Walden played 11 games for the Dolphins in 2009 and two games for them this season before being released. Walden joins Briggs, whom the Packers claimed off waivers from Denver on Tuesday, as emergency backups outside.  LB Wilhelm is an eight-year veteran inside linebacker. He'll back up ILBs Hawk and Bishop along with Chillar.

Notes–LB Jones on I.R.; Packers claim NT Green: The Packers claimed Jets defensive tackle Howard Green from waivers. The 6-2, 340-pound Green has played in 51 games with 12 starts. The urgency to acquire Green came from doubt about defensive ends Cullen Jenkins (calf) and Ryan Pickett (ankle) being ready for the New York Jets on Sunday. Nose tackle B.J. Raji played 65 of 68 snaps last Sunday.  If Pickett isn’t available, Raji would be in danger of being worn down. The bottom line here is that the Packers don’t think DE Pickett (ankle) is going to play this week. DE Wilson and DE Wynn are not big enough to compete down after down against the Jets’ running game. Green is a big body to help stop the run against a power-running team like the Jets. With Green next to B.J. Raji, they at least have bigger beef in the middle. Green should be able to fill in for a dozen snaps. Green should be available for Thursday practice. Of the three linebackers that were signed, Wilhelm has the best chance of being active Sunday. In fact, the eighth-year veteran, who has spent the better part of his career playing on special teams, was with the top units in practice.

Veteran OT Clifton:  Yet here’s 34-year-old “Big Cliff,” still standing. Among the foremost concerns for the Green Bay Packers heading into the season were the knees of left tackle Chad Clifton and the calendar working against the 11-year veteran. He has had a long history of battling, repairing and playing through injuries  ”I feel good. I feel so much better than I did coming into the season,” Clifton said. It has really showed. Clifton held Minnesota’s Jared Allen at bay, playing him one-on-one for most of Green Bay’s 28-24 victory Sunday. Clifton and the rest of the offensive line gave quarterback Aaron Rodgers plenty of time to work and kept him from getting sacked. ”That’s priority No. 1 for an offensive lineman. We’re definitely proud of that,” said Clifton. Rodgers appreciated it, especially after getting sacked 14 times in the two Minnesota games in 2009. Rodgers said the play of the tackles, with the play calling of coach Mike McCarthy, kept Minnesota’s defensive line of Allen and Kevin and Pat Williams off-balance. McCarthy mixed the screens with straight drop-back throws.

With Alex Smith injured and unable to play this sunday, the San Francisco 49ers have made a quarterback change. Troy Smith will be starting this week against the Denver Broncos. While this was unexepected to me, it was not surprising. In his relief effort for Alex Smith, QB David Carr showed that he absolutely could not lead this team. Troy Smith will be a welcomed change.

This is what coach Singletary had to say on the decision of starting Troy Smith over David:

"Troy Smith gives us a good opportunity to win this game," Singletary said. "I talked to David Carr about it. He understands. We had a couple of conversations about it. That's a personal thing between he and I, and I'm going to leave it there. Troy Smith is our starting quarterback."

I think this is a good coaching decision. It certainly is a gamble worth taking at this point and if it doesn't work, no one can blame Singletary for not trying. While Troy Smith has not started an NFL game in three years, I can't help it but feel good about this move. This offense needed some change and it looks as if Troy Smith can provide that.

While Troy has not had any success in the NFL to date, if he can produce even a fraction of the success he had in college at Ohio State, I would be happy. Troy played in cllege with Ted Ginn and it will be interesting to see what kind of rapport they have with each other on the field this sunday, and perhaps in the coming weeks.

With an eye on getting "revenge" on the Houston Texans in a crucial Monday Night Football AFC South grudge match at Lucas Oil Stadium, the Indianapolis Colts (4-2) are dealing with a slue of injuries.  Right now it is "Next Man Up" time in Indy and superstar quarterback Peyton Manning has to be looking around the team's lockerroom and saying, "Who are these guys?"

There is no doubt that injuries are a huge part of life in the NFL.  Yes, the Philadelphia Eagles have suffered 6 concussions on their roster in 2010 and the Packers also have resembled a M*A*S*H unit at times – lost franchise RB Ryan Grant in Week 1 and it was downhill from there in terms of injuries.  But after seven weeks of play, the Colts should be crying more about the "injury bug" more than probably any other NFL team.

Here is a list of some of the injuries and to say the least many of the players listed were considered core team members when the season started.  TE Dallas Clark (Wrist – I/R), WR Austin Collie (right thumb injury  – 4 to 6 Weeks), RB Joseph Addai (Shoulder – Indefinite), Safety / Special teams co-captain Melvin Bullitt (knee – I/R), safety Bob Sanders (bicep – indefinite), OT Charles Johnson (foot – questionable), LB WR Anthony Gonzalez (ankle – should be back for WK8), RB Donald Brown (hamstring – should be back for WK8), rookie LB Kavell Conner (foot – I/R), and too many others for GM Bill Polian and Caldwell's liking – had 18 players listed on their Week 5 Injury Report.

And to make matters worse for their in Week 8 game, punter/kickoff specialist Pat McAfee will be serving a team-mandated 1-game suspension resulting from his Oct. 20 arrest on a public intoxication incident. Free agent Jeremy Kapinos, formerly of the Green Bay Packers, will step in this week to do the punting duties and veteran Adam Vinateri will handle the kickoff duties.

Colts’ head coach Jim Caldwell said of the team's many injuries, “I call it the ‘Gideon Principle’ in this league.” He added, “At some point in time, you get pared down to the absolute bare minimum. So you see who can stand tall and who can function in their present circumstances.”

So far this season, Manning (passing numbers 171-254, 1916 yards, 67.3%, 13 TDs, 2 INTs, and a rating of 103.4) has looked like he is in the running for an NFL-record 5th MVP award.  But now he will need non-household players like TE Jacob Tamme, TE Blair White and RB Mike Hart to help out in the starting line-up.  The Colts' 2nd teams will also have to help out wherever the coaches need their services including special teams injured starters.  Even former Pro Bowl safety Antoine Bethea has been called upon to help out on special teams as the Colts need help from everyone.

The Colts will surely be looking to show not only the AFC South, but the entire league that after a bye week, they are ready to put up more of a fight against the surging Texans (4-2).  In Week 1, the Texans out-physicaled the Colts in a dominating home victory — improved to 2-15 all-time vs. Indianapolis.  The breakout star of the game was unheralded, at the time, running back Arian Foster who rushed the ball 33 times for 231 yards and three touchdowns.  Houston out-rushed Indy 257-44, setting a franchise record for most rushing yards in Texans’ franchise history and most rushing yards allowed in Colts’ franchise history.

Texans QB Matt Schaub only had to throw 17 times as Houston dominated up front.  The one bright spot for the Colts from their Week 1 loss was that they were able to move the ball against the Texans’ defense.  Despite poor O-line play at times, penalties, and dropped passes, Indianapolis put up 463 total yards and on their last three drives of the game showed that they were coming back after being down 20-10 after three quarters.

Produced two touchdowns and another drive where WR Pierre Garcon fumbled inside the Texans’ 10.  We will see this time if Manning and his crew can overcome the Texans attacking defense – Houston will be without LB DeMeco Ryans (Achilles – I/R) – to get a playoff implication win.

Caldwell said of the challenge of playing through so many injuries, “My job is to win, plain and simple… I have to deal with the here and now, what we have to play with. The guys we have, have plenty of talent. We have more than enough to get it done.”

The biggest keys for the Colts, in my opinion, will be their ability to run the ball with Hart and company – ranked 25th in the NFL in rushing at only 94.8 yards per game – and stopping the run on defense (ranked 26th as Indy has allowed an average of 137.3 yards per game).

Lloyd Vance is a Sr. NFL Writer for Taking It to the House and Sports Journey Network , who is also an award-winning member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)

Both Missouri and Nebraska are coming off important wins against conference rivals this past week. Missouri won a closely contested game against then #1 ranked Oklahoma at home, and Nebraska was able to beat #14 ranked Oklahoma State on the road.

The winner of this game will take control of the North division in the Big 12 Conference, giving them a leg up in the goal of being the Big 12 champion and keeping their hopes alive to play in the national title game.

Missouri offense vs Nebraska defense: Missouri's offense is led by junior quarterback Blaine Gabbert. The system is a traditional spread offense with a majority of their formations involving four wide receivers. Gabbert shows good control of the offense and will keep a hurry up tempo for most of the game, mixing up bubble screens, bunch formations, and inside draw plays for the majority of the snaps. As Blaine Gabbert goes, so goes the Missouri offense.

Missouri's system is a pass dominant scheme and doesn't involve many option runs. Gabbert has been very efficient this season and is generally very careful with the football. At 6'5 240 he has ideal size and will surprise you with his running ability when a play calls for him to leave the pocket and make plays with his legs. Missouri likes to attack the underneath zones and the shallow flat of the field, only going deep once they've established a rhythm offensively; forcing the safeties to play inside and leaving single coverage on the outside receivers.

Nebraska plays a variation of cover two and cover three with the safeties and middle linebacker in a base 4-3 alignment, at times bringing the cornerbacks inside to press and bump and run in man coverage- which is the strength of their defense. Cornerbacks Prince Amukamara and Alfonzo Dennard show very strong skills in man and zone coverage, forcing quarterbacks to make tight throws and hesitate to let go of the football. Prince Amukamara is as good a cornerback you will see at the collegiate level, and for the most part, shuts off his side of the field.

The Nebraska defense hasn't given up a lot of points this season. Despite giving up 41 to Oklahoma State last Saturday, it was the first time a team had scored more than 21 points on them this year; they have held teams to under 17 points in four of their seven games.

Nebraska offense vs Missouri defense: Nebraska also runs the spread offense, but it is a bit different from Missouri's spread. The Cornhuskers have found a gem in freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez; a special athlete. He's listed at 6'1 but is probably closer to 5'11; he can both pass and run. He shows great straight line speed and is almost impossible to catch once he gets to the perimeter at the second level. Martinez makes quick decisions in the passing game and has a quick release to get rid of the ball with bodies around. Similar to the threat that Cam Newton brings, you have to keep extra guys inside to play the run because Martinez can hurt you in both the passing game and the running game.

Nebraska likes to play with a variation of three or four wide receivers and two tight end sets in their spread offense. They call more running plays to the tailbacks and designed quarterback draws. When Nebraska goes to their two tight end alignment they are running the football 80% of the time. Wide Receiver Niles Paul had a breakout game last week catching 9 passes for 131 yards and he'll have opportunities against Missouri's secondary to duplicate his performance.

Missouri's defense is also a base 4-3 alignment, but they play zone coverage most if not all game. They do a great job with their zone blitz calls, dropping lineman and blitzing linebackers and safeties to throw off the rhythm and timing of the opposing offense. The defense has produced 21 sacks, which is tenth best in the country.

The Missouri scheme allows a combination of players to generate pressure, but defensive end Aldon Smith is a great athlete at the position and would standout for any defense. He has 3 sacks this season despite missing three games and has 14.5 sacks in 15 career starts, which still doesn't speak of his potential if he can stay healthy and put it all together.

The edge: The Nebraska offense comes into the game averaging 290 yards a game on the ground, good for fifth best in the NCAA. Ironically, Missouri comes into the game averaging 290 yards passing, with both teams averaging 30 points per contest. This game could go either way, with both teams having equal talent, coming off big wins, and having much to play for. Unfortunately, the Missouri Tigers are 1-15 when traveling to Lincoln, and Nebraska has already lost a big game at home against Texas. I don't see Nebraska losing two straight at home. I believe they win a back and forth game in the final quarter.

Other notable games: #5 Michigan State vs #18 Iowa, #2 Oregon vs USC, Florida vs Georgia.

Sam has looked more like a seasoned vet than he has a rookie

Sam Bradford by all accounts did not have a very good game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  His usually super accurate passes were missing the mark, his usually successful audible quick passes were not completed and he looked even harried on the field.  So far in his rookie season, Sam Bradford has had some rookie moments, but never a full game.

Sam Bradford spoiled us as Rams fans because he really hasn't looked like a rookie.  He has been tough, bouncing up from illegal hits.  He has been as accurate as we expected and more.  Once we saw 5+ games where Sam Bradford looked like a seasoned veteran, it was surprising when he went back to playing like a rookie.  He was pressing in the 2nd half when the Rams had trouble moving the ball.  You could see that he knew that the Rams offense was not holding up their part of the bargain.  He started getting desperate to move the ball and it was not helping the Rams offense.

Sam Bradford is still a rookie and over the first part of the NFL season, he has made that easy for us to forget.  He's been even better than we have expected so far, but there still will be rookie QB growing pains especially away from the friendly confines of the Dome.  We should not be surprised when a rookie quarterback plays like a rookie, but we are because of how Sam Bradford has played so far.

The Eagles could not find a way to contain the Titans Kenny Britt

Half of the secondary played well against the Titans. The other half, not so much.

Quintin Mikell and Asante Samuel both recorded interceptions for the Eagles. The other corner and safety, Ellis Hobbs and Nate Allen, didn't have as much luck. Neither recorded an interception, but that's not what everyone is upset with the way they played.

After sitting out in the beginning of the game, Kenny Britt entered and had his way with the secondary. Britt recorded seven catches for 225 yards and three touchdowns. All of his success came from running on the side of Hobbs with help (kind of) over the top from Allen.

Both were burned individually at times, both of which gave up touchdowns when Britt left them in his dust. There were also times where Britt found himself in the middle of the two and still was able to make plays.

The Eagles came into the game ranked in the top 10 in the NFL against the pass and have since dropped to 11th. Those aren't terrible numbers at all. So what's the excuse for Sunday's meltdown against against the Titans? Are Hobbs and Allen that bad? Was it just an "off" day? It's hard to say right now.

Allen has played at a very high level this season, especially for a rookie. We've praised him for his play early in the season, but Sunday was definitely not a game he should be praised for. He was often out of position and violated the number one rule for a safety, not letting anyone behind you.

For Hobbs, I'm really not sure what to say. He's definitely not an elite corner, but I think he's a good number two guy. He didn't prove it on Sunday, but I hope it's something he can prove the rest of the season.

It's nice to have a bye week right now as these guys definitely need to look at the film and learn from the mistakes they made against the Titans. The bad news is they will see the number two ranked passing offense in the NFL after the bye in the Indianapolis Colts.

After the bye, we should quickly see how much of a problem the secondary is. Until then, we can only hope that things aren't that bad.

Best team in the NFL?

I enjoy numbers in sports. And while I  know that statistics can be made to say almost anything they want if you're good enough with them (I'm talking about advanced statistics with regression models and blah blah blah), I think they can be useful to highlight trends.

So let's take a look at some interesting numbers of the Giants this year and decide if they are numbers indicative of a true trend, or irrelevant.

5-2

The NY Giants Record, which is pretty good. But something I was subconsciously aware of but not thinking about right now is that since Tom Coughlin took over the NY Giants (7 years) the Giants have been 5-2 6 TIMES. The one time they were not 5-2, they were 6-1 in 2008.

The Giants, under Tom Coughlin have been great starters, but for the most part poor finishers. So far this has been a trend.

With 5 divisional games left this season this could be a disturbing Trend, but I hope not. This could be a different team this year.

101.1 Yards per game that Ahmad Bradshaw is averaging which makes him the fourth most effective running back in the league. First is Adrian Peterson, followed by Darren McFadden (111.4), and Arian Foster (105.8). Bradshaw has rushed for 708 yards this season, which is best in the league, but while bye weeks are still going on it's better to judge a player by yards per game because Bradshaw has not had a bye while other players have had. Speaking of Mcfadden he has rushed for 5.5 yards per carry and has nearly 200 yards receiving in only 5 games played, he has been Excellent this year. Third year, breaking out year, let's give Barden, Beckum, Sintim a little time still because players this young still can explode.

I think this number is a Trend, but of course I have to be worried about whether or not he'll remain healthy because he has not done so yet in his short career.

50,000 the turnover number by the Giants.

Well, that's an exaggeration.

But Eli Manning has 15, which is ridiculous. I'm a huge Eli supporter, but this has to stop. The first one to Steve Smith bad pass, the second one to Hakeem Nicks 50/50. Nicks can make that catch, and if you can't knock it down not up. The third one was TERRIBLE. Very stupid play. That was a Brett Favre play. I don't think Eli holds onto the ball too long in fact I think he's pretty good at getting rid of it pretty quick. Most of the fumbles are David Diehl's fault to be honest, when he gets blown away around the edge and Eli has no time to see the sack coming.

-5 Turnover Ratio. Which is also bad.

Eli is not the only culprit.

Bradshaw has lost 4 fumbles, Jacobs has lost 1? (that's what NFL.com says, but I could have sworn he lost one the other week? Am I wrong?)

I think this is a semi-trend. I don't expect Eli Manning to keep getting unlucky with so many tips and I think he'll cut those down a lot. I think Bradshaw is a fumbler at this point, which isn't great, but it's okay if he keeps running the way he's running. What will make this change will be a lot of off-season work, not in season work where it's much harder to make an adjustment.

I also get a little worried about Hakeem Nicks holding the ball like a loaf of bread, even though he could palm a beach-ball and he usually does that when he's running away from people, but one of those is bound to pop out and Darius Reynaud has done everything in the world to try and lost a fumble, but hasn't yet.

525, 8 Yards and touchdowns for Hakeem Nicks this year. Nicks has played very well, and even though he didn't have a good game vs Dallas there were a couple of opportunities.

Nicks has missed too many opportunities (a lot of tipped/deflected passes), but this kid is a play maker. He doesn't have the raw talent of Dez Braynt, but I think he's more humble, will be a harder worker a better route runner, and has the better QB. I think they'll both be good for awhile to come, though I hope I'm wrong with Dez Bryant.

Nicks is second in the league in receptions (45) behind only Roddy White and tied with Reggie Wayne.  He's 7th in yards, 1st in touchdowns, and second in receptions more than 20 yards (11). This year though Nicks has Zero receptions over 40 yards, which will change at some point this season.

His yards per reception isn't great at 11 yards per reception, but I think that is because of the naked boot screens that he gets twice a game, and he hasn't broken any of those for big gains yet.

Nicks is  a trend. Very good young player.

43 receptions by Steve Smith. Smith is still being very productive this year. He is quietly chugging along and is on pace for nearly 100 receptions again this year (he's averaging just over 6 a game, if he gets six his next game he'll have 49 through 8 games thus on pace for 96 over a full season). Trend

4.9 Yards per rushing attempt by Brandon Jacobs. Is he back? Two weeks ago I had no confidence that he was, I'm getting there. He definitely looks like he is getting there, I'd like to see him play well again vs a good defense before my confidence is all the way back.

5.9 This would be great if this was yards per rush attempt, but it's not. It's yards per returned punt. This is AWFUL. I know he hasn't fumbled yet, but I wonder how long Coughlin will allow Reynaud to be the punt return man. When you watch Mario Manningham catch a naked screen and just make people miss all over the place you wonder what he would look like returning punts. Unfortunately this looks like a trend for Reynaud. What's as bad is his 18.4 yards per kick return (yuck). The longest is 31.

9. Catches made against Corey Webster through most of the Cowboys game. I'm not sure if there were any at the end of the game vs Webster, but through the third quarter of the game Webster had 9 targeted receptions against him on the season. That is VERY Good. That's through nearly 7 games. That's barely a reception a game. Terrell Thomas has been lined up vs more number one WR, but that might change if Webster keeps playing this way. Trend. Webster was the best CB in the league in 2008, but took a step back last year. He's playing much better this year.

5 quarterbacks knocked out of games.The Giants have abused QB this year, and the Giants hit Jay Cutler so hard he hasn't been the same since. Cutler has 7 INT on the season, but he only had 2 entering the Giants game. Aberration. I don't see this continuing. Now the hits on the quarterbacks, and the 24 sacks I think are a trend and I enjoy watching QB's leave the game, I just don't think it'll continue.

ZERO The sacks that Jason Pierre Paul has this season. He has been SO close so many times and I think he has created a lot of pressure and collapsed a lot of pockets when he has moved inside, but he has zero sacks. He has 9 tackles on the season. Interesting note Tyson Alualu has 21 tackles and a sack and a half in the early season from the interior line position so far he doesn't look like quite the reach many of us though he was at 9 overall. Bound to Change. He's so powerful and fast, but he does lack some refinement. I think he has some football instincts and intelligence because he seems to be around plays a lot, he's just not making them yet. He did have that interception and he's been very close to a few of Osi strip sacks, at some point it will click and he will be making those plays he's just missing now.

7 Total Interceptions by the Giants this season. They have such a great pass rush and have done a good job of limiting big plays, but they haven't intercepted a lot of passes. There are 12 teams ahead of the Giants in this category and four other teams with as many Interceptions as the Giants. Trend. I'd like to see them get more interceptions and they have the talent to do so Kenny Phillips and Rolle each only have one interception and no linebackers or defensive linemen have any interceptions, but I don't see it changing really because teams are already starting to run a lot of screens and short routes because the pass rush is getting to the QB so fast. It's hard to intercept the ball. It does seem that every tipped ball the Giants has ends up in the oppositions hands while all the Giants tipped passes on defense hit the ground I think limiting yardage, getting sacks, and forcing quick punts are more likely to occur than lots of interceptions, also because the Giants have held the ball for 33:22 minutes per game this season. When your defense faces less opportunities they create less turnovers.

12/12 This is an interesting number I just found. This is the number of field goals attempted and the number of makes. How likely is it that teams go an entire season without missing a field goal? Statistical anomaly.

32/89 Third down conversions. This is awful. This can NOT be a TREND if they want to be serious about doing something really good this year.

And lastly here are the Giants team rankings

25 points per game (9th overall), 388.7 yards (3rd), 243.3 passing yards (9th), 145.4 rush yards (4th)

and on defense

21.9 points per game (19th), 263.3 yards (2nd), 177.9 pass yards per game (second), 85.4 rush yards per game (3rd)

Now the thing that needs to change is points per game, although this may be misleading because of the terrible field position the defense has had to deal with.

I think it'd be poignant to see where they rank in points per game minus points off of turnovers. Thoughts and comments?

It looks like it will be another week without Reggie Bush for the Saints, as he missed Wednesday’s practice due to his leg injury, and it’s highly unlikely he will return this week, a league source said.

A team source said no final determination has been made on the running back’s status for Sunday night’s showdown with the Steelers, but it doesn’t look good.

Bush seemed to feel like he would be ready to go against the Steelers to help out the Saints 26th ranked run game, as he said if expressed optimism Monday that he could practice on his healing right leg, which he fractured during the teams week two win against the Niners.

Bush said team doctors had told him he could test his leg at full-speed, and he planned to do that Wednesday. “I expect to go out there and see what I can do,” Bush said Monday. “I don’t know if I can practice, if I’m going to be 100 percent. I’m just going to go out there and give it my best shot. I feel good, but I haven’t gone out there.”

Now with Bush out, the team will likely have to rely on Chris Ivory, who after a good week vs the Bucs two weeks ago was held in check by the Browns last week.

Maybe watching Ryan Torain rush for back to back 100 yard games has inspired Clinton Portis, who now says he is about two weeks away from testing his injured groin.

Portis has been jogging as part of his rehabilitation program for the groin, which he injured during the Redskins win back in week four over the Eagles in Philly.

The injury was diagnosed as a third-degree separation of the left groin, with the muscle separated off the bone. Surgery wasn’t required.

“It’s still going to be, for sure, a couple of weeks. It takes some time,” Shanahan said, according to The Post. “With a third-degree separation, you don’t want to push it too hard. We just kind of have to wait and see. To me, it’ll be a minimum of two weeks before he’s able to even push it.”

Portis will miss his fourth consecutive game Sunday when the Redskins play the Lions. The Redskins have a bye week before playing host to the Eagles on November 15th.