Lang on NFL: Colts win one for Pagano

After resounding victories over the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos, the New England Patriots have served notice that they still view themselves as the team to beat in the AFC.

In the last six quarters the Patriots have scored 76 points, and have run for an astounding 498 yards. For a team that has lived and died with the pas, their ability to pound the rock is bad news for the rest of the AFC.

Outside of the Patriots, it was a wild and eventful Week 5 in the National Football League.

Star of the week:

Drew Brees was a very worthy candidate after throwing four touchdowns as the Saints beat the Chargers for their first win of the year. In doing so, Brees broke Johnny Unitas’ record for the most consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass (48). Another worthy candidate was Patriots running back Stevan Ridley after he torched the Broncos for 151 yards and one touchdown in New England’s convincing victory over Denver.

The real star of Week 5 had to be Indianapolis Colts receiver Reggie Wayne. In the Colts’ emotional comeback win over the Packers, Wayne had the game of his career. The Miami product caught 13 passes for a career high 212 yards and a touchdown. Wayne was in such a zone on Sunday he was making catches with only one hand.

Afterwards, a humble Wayne summed up the mood of the entire Colts team before the start of the second half when he said; “Let’s do it for Chuck”, referring to head coach Chuck Pagano who is in the hospital dealing with Leukemia.

Stiff of the week:

When a team gets shredded two weeks it in a row, it’s a dilemma. One week after getting embarrassed by the Patriots, the Bills were gutted in San Francisco. The 49ers ran for a whopping 311 yards and three touchdowns as they pounded the Bills 45-3.

According to the Bills website, the 621 yards of total offense they allowed was a new team record and they are the first team in over 60 years to allow over 550 yards of offence in back-to-back weeks. Until Chan Gailey and his coaching staff can get the Bills defence straightened out and find a way to motivate Mario Williams, there’s no indication it is going to get better any time soon.

Rookie of the week:

After mounting a comeback of epic proportions, the winner of this week’s award is a no-brainer; Andrew Luck. The outstanding rookie out of Stanford threw two touchdowns and ran in for another as he led a Colts offense that scored 27 points in the second half against Green Bay. After four games there isn’t any doubts that Luck is the kind of franchise quarterback everyone predicted he would be coming out of college.

Defensive player of the week:

When a team exceeds their win total for an entire season after only five weeks then it is obvious their new head coach is making a major impact. Well that is the exact scenario being played out in St. Louis this season.

After Thursday’s beatdown of the Cardinals, the Rams are 3-2 (they were 2-14 in 2011) and new coach Jeff Fisher has them playing with a sense of confidence and pride. A case in point is the defensive player of the week, Rams defensive end Robert Quinn. Quinn had three of the Rams nine sacks of Kevin Kolb and added another three quarterback hits and knocked down a pass for good measure. Quinn had five sacks in 15 games last year; he already has six in the first five games this season.

The Ronnie Lott award:

There’s no question the return of James Harrison and Troy Polamalu helped the Steelers in their win over the Eagles. However the big hit of the game was delivered by linebacker Lawrence Timmons. Making life miserable for the turnover prone Michael Vick, Timmons added to his misery when he forced a fumble (one of three by Vick in the game) near the end of the first quarter.

The hallmark of the Steelers defence the last 40 years has been excellent linebackers and that tradition was exemplified by the tenacity displayed by Timmons on Sunday.

The Steve Largent award

Hope you’re sitting down when you read this; the Minnesota Vikings are 4-1. While the Vikings defence has played a big role so far, it is time to point out the kind of year Percy Harvin is putting together. Harvin’s 10-yard touchdown was the exclamation point in the Vikings 30-7 win over the Titans. After taking a short pass from Christian Ponder, Harvin explodes past the Titans defence <a class="link" href="http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap1000000078013/Harvin-10-yard-TD-catch

” target=”new”>en route for a key score.

The unsung hero award:

If you though the Vikings 4-1 record was surprising, then the Dolphins 2-3 record is downright stunning. I say that only because so little was expected of the rebuilding Dolphins going into the season. The performance of safety Reshad Jones is typical of the kind of all-out effort Joe Philbin has received from his players this year. Jones had one interception, seven tackles, one tackle for a loss and he knocked down a pass for good measure in the Dolphins 17-13 road win over the Bengals.

Somehow, the Dolphins are a few missed kicks away from a 4-1 start.

The best game ball presentation:

I have always though the whole concept of rah-rah speeches in professional sports rarely works.

However there are times when outside forces can motivate a football team. Ever since Pagano was hospitalized for Leukemia, the team became obsessed with beating the favoured Packers and giving their coach the game ball (#Chuckstrong). Down 21-3 at halftime, Luck and the Colts decided they were not going to lose this game. Luck ended up passing for 362 yards and two touchdowns as the Colts came back to shock the Packers.

Needless to say, it was an emotional Colts locker room afterwards as they handed out the game balls.

The big injuries of the week:

This was not a good week for concussions. Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III was knocked out of the game in the team’s loss to the Falcons but there is every indication he might not miss any playing time. Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel suffered what appears to be a more severe concussion and it is highly doubtful he will be ready to play this weekend. Get ready for Brady Quinn.

This and that:

After stumbling out of the gate, the Giants roared to life and ended up crushing the Browns 41-27. Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 200 yards and Victor Cruz danced his way to three touchdowns in the win.

Meanwhile in Kansas City the Ravens had a miserable day on offense but it was more than enough to beat the woeful Chiefs 9-6. Joe Flacco really struggled, throwing for only 187 yards, one touchdown and had a quarterback rating of 34.

In Carolina the Seahawks defense held the Panthers to a mere 190 yards of total offense as they escaped with a 16-12 win. The Chicago Bears put on an aerial display down in Jacksonville as they pounded the Jaguars 41-3. Brandon Marshall caught 12 passes for 144 yards and one touchdown and Matt Forte ran for 107 yards as the Bears won their third straight game to remain tied with the Vikings atop the NFC North.

What to watch for tonight:

After getting shut out last week at home by the 49ers, Monday’s game against the Texans could be even uglier. Now Mark Sanchez and the struggling Jets will attempt to score points against the best defence in the AFC. Not only do the Texans an explosive pass rush, they have yet to allow a rushing touchdown this year.

If this game goes according
to script the cries of “Tebow” will be ringing throughout MetLife stadium before the end of the first half. Sanchez is ranked 31st in the NFL in quarterback rating (69.6) and he has the worst completion percentage in the entire league (49.2 per cent). Not even Tebow could save the Jets in the current state their offence is in.

Expect the Texans to win in a rout with 70,000 angry Jets fans turning on their team.