Challenges

Week 6 Games:

Carolina Panthers (1-5) 17 at Atlanta Falcons (3-3) 31

Philadelphia Eagles (2-4) 20 at Washington Redskins (3-2) 13

St. Louis Rams (0-5) 3 at Green Bay Packers (6-0) 24

Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5) 13 at Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) 17

Buffalo Bills (4-2) 24 at New York Giants (4-2) 27

San Francisco 49ers (5-1) 25 at Detroit Lions (5-1) 19

Indianapolis Colts (0-6) 17 at Cincinnati Bengals (4-2) 27

Cleveland Browns (2-3) 17 at Oakland Raiders (4-2) 24

Houston Texans (3-3) 14 at Baltimore Ravens (4-1) 29

NewOrleansSaints (4-2) 20 at TampaBayBuccaneers (4-2) 26

Dallas Cowboys (2-3) 16 at New England Patriots (5-1) 20

Minnesota Vikings (1-5) 10 at Chicago Bears (3-3) 39

Miami Dolphins (0-5) 6 at New York Jets (3-3) 24

Week 6 Byes:

(1-4) Arizona Cardinals

(1-4) Denver Broncos

(2-3) Kansas City Chiefs

(4-1) San Diego Chargers

(2-3) Seattle Seahawks

(3-2) Tennessee Titans

After six weeks of regular season play, one team remains undefeated (Green Bay Packers: 6-0) and three teams have not yet won a game (Indianapolis Colts: 0-6, Miami Dolphins: 0-5, St. Louis Rams: 0-5).

The Bye weeks began in Week 5, so the records are starting to look uneven as those teams who have had their bye week have one less game played. By the end of the season, all teams will have played 16 games over the course of 17 weeks.

The term for today is Challenge, and it has two parts.

Challenge - Part 1: My husband and I (Buffalo Bills and NewYork Giants fans, respectively) went to a local sports bar to watch the game. I am happy to root for the Bills as long as they are not playing the Giants. That not being the case on Sunday, I was happy my Giants won. Had they lost, I would have been happy for the Bills. When a couple has different teams they root for, it can be a challenge when the teams play each other; being adults, we make it work. (We also have practice with hockey; the New York Yankees are the only team we both like.)

Challenge - Part 2: During the Buffalo Bills at New York Giants game, NY head coach Tom Coughlin threw the red Challenge flag in the third quarter. He was challenging the call that QB Eli Manning’s pass to WR Mario Manningham was incomplete. The stakes? A touchdown, and at least 6 more points. The officials reviewed the play, and because there was no compelling evidence to overturn the original call (incomplete pass), the play stood as called. The Giants lost a timeout, which is the price a team pays if they lose a challenge.

If a team’s challenge is successful, meaning that after review the ruling on the field is overturned, they do not lose a timeout. In this case, a successful challenge would have meant that after reviewing the play, had the officials felt that Manningham demonstrated control of the ball throughout the play, the play would have been called a complete pass, touchdown, and the Giants next play would have been to kick the extra point.

Each team has the opportunity to throw the challenge flag twice in a game, as long as they have a timeout remaining. If a team loses the challenge, they forfeit a timeout; if they have no timeouts remaining, they have nothing to forfeit.

If a team uses both challenges successfully in a game, they are given a third challenge. This third challenge can be used as long as the team has at least one timeout left.

Challenges are not used during the last two minutes of the 2^nd and 4^th quarters; during these final two minutes of each half, officials automatically review any questionable plays (this is called a “booth review”).

As we head into the middle of the season, we are starting to see how the playoff picture may be shaping up. What teams will be able to sustain a winning record, what teams have the depth to win despite injuries to key players, and what teams can turn a losing record around? That’s the beauty and fun of football, seeing how it all plays out.

Turnovers - Not a Tasty Treat

My condolences to the Oakland Raiders, whose owner Al Davis died on October 8.

Week 5 Games:

New Orleans Saints (4-1) 30 at Carolina Panthers (1-4) 27

Arizona Cardinals (1-4) 10 at Minnesota Vikings (1-4) 34

Tennessee Titans (3-2) 17 at Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) 38

Oakland Raiders (3-2) 25 at Houston Texans (3-2) 20

Seattle Seahawks (2-3) 36 at New York Giants (3-2) 25

Philadelphia Eagles (1-4) 24 at Buffalo Bills (4-1) 31

Cincinnati Bengals (3-2) 30 at Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4) 20

Kansas City Chiefs (2-3) 28 at Indianapolis Colts (0-5) 24

TampaBay Buccaneers (3-2) 3 at SanFrancisco 49ers (4-1) 48

New York Jets (2-3) 21 at New England Patriots (4-1) 30

San Diego Chargers (4-1) 29 at Denver Broncos (1-4) 24

Green Bay Packers (5-0) 25 at Atlanta Falcons (2-3) 14

Chicago Bears (2-3) 13 at Detroit Lions (5-0) 24

Congratulations to the undefeated Detroit Lions and GreenBay Packers, both 5-0.

In life, turnovers are tasty, flaky pastries filled with sweet and spicy filling, sometimes dusted with powdered sugar. Think of an apple turnover still hot from the oven, topped with a decadent scoop of vanilla ice cream, your fork cutting into that pastry – can you feel the resistance before the crisp pastry yields and your fork eases into soft, spicy, cinnamon-y apples? Smell the release of scent and steam, taste the molten middle merging with the melting ice cream and mingling on your tongue with the yin and yang of hot and cold. Nirvana on a fall day.

In football, turnovers are mad scrambles for a ball that was going one way, and now is going the other way. A ball batted down from an offensive receiver that is now in the mitts of a defensive player, with players from both teams running in the opposite direction from where they were going a moment ago. A ball stripped from a runner, now on the ground with an agonized scrum of players all grabbing for it: the offense, anxious to recover it and minimize the loss of yardage; the defense, eager to get an unexpected turn with it. The yin and yang in this turnover is the agony of one team played against the ecstasy of the other, feelings compounded when points are scored off the turnover and the momentum of the game swings to favor the other team. Hell on a fall day.

During the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New York Giants, each team had three fumbles, and each team lost two of them to the other team and recovered one of them. A turnover occurred when the ball changed possession during those fumbles. The Seahawks were intercepted once by the Giants, and the Giants were intercepted three times by the Seahawks; each of those interceptions was a turnover (the ball was turned over to the other team).

The next component of a turnover is whether the recovering or intercepting team scores points during the ensuing possession. In this game, the Giants scored a touchdown (7 points including the extra point) and the Seahawks scored a touchdown and a field goal (10 points total, including the extra point). Seattle was more effective with their possessions after a turnover than the Giants were.

Every possession is an opportunity to score; every punt is an opportunity given to the other team. Gaining possession of the ball because of a turnover is a bonus opportunity to score, and a punt is an extra opportunity lost that may haunt a team in the end.

Week 5 - Bye Week

Week 5: Bye weeks begin

BaltimoreRavens

ClevelandBrowns

DallasCowboys

MiamiDolphins

St. LouisRams

WashingtonRedskins

What is a bye week? The NFL regular season consists of 16 games played out over 17 weeks. The week a team doesn’t play a game is called a bye.

The bye week is a chance for teams to rest, regroup, and recuperate. Penalties and turnovers can have big impacts, particularly in close games, so the basic strategy for all teams is to protect the ball.

The Baltimore Ravens and Washington Redskins are both 3-1, and can enjoy a week off without needing to make major changes: what they are doing is working. As the saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

The Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys are both 2-2. Coaches and players will use the bye week to see what tweaks need to be made to win games, and what errors need to be corrected so they don’t lose games.

In the case of the 0-4 Miami Dolphins and St. Louis Rams, it is a chance to have a week when they don’t have pressure to win a game. They can take a breath, see what adjustments need to be made going forward, and start to implement those changes.

Will an early bye week turn things around for the Dolphins and the Rams? We’ll find out when they play the New York Jets and the Green Bay Packers, respectively, in Week 6. Both are away games, with home field advantage to their opponents. Both teams need a win to get the season’s momentum swinging the other way.