by PATRICK ROBERTSON Section editor
Five weeks into the NFL season and there is still plenty of exciting games. There were many comebacks, a few records broken, and almost a historic comeback.
One of the most exciting games of the week was the St. Louis Rams versus the Philadelphia Eagles. At halftime, the Eagles led by a score of 20-7, then came out and scored two more touchdowns. The Rams then scored three unanswered touchdowns, bringing the score to 34-28 with the Eagles only leading by six, which ended up being the final score.
Rams quarterback Austin Davis, in only his fourth game as a starter, took the Rams to midfield, but could not convert on fourth down. Davis completed 29 of 49 and threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns.
Darren Sproles of the Eagles greatly helped their offense, running only seven times, but gaining 51 yards all on crucial plays.
Long time Rams fan and junior Joe Miller said, “I really thought the Rams were going to come back. At least this shows good progress and potential for the team.”
Another comeback was in the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears game. Less than five minutes into the game, the Panthers punt returner Philly Brown returned the punt 79 yards for a touchdown. The Bears then scored 21 unanswered points. With under a minute to go, the Panthers drove 75 yards in seven plays and only a minute and 39 seconds to end the half at 21-14 Bears leading the Panthers.
The second half was all Panthers, scoring two touchdowns and a field goal, while the Bears only managed a field goal. The final score was 31-24 Panthers over the Bears.
Panthers quarterback Cam Newton seemed a lot more comfortable in this game, completing 19 of 35 and throwing for 231 yards. Greg Olsen continued to be Newton’s main target, catching two touchdown passes at key times.
The Cleveland Browns broke a franchise record by coming back from a 28-10 deficit to win 29-28 over the Tennessee Titans. The Browns scored 19 unanswered points in the second half with QB Brian Hoyer and Running Back Ben Tate leading the way. Tate had 22 rushing attempts for 124 yards. Hoyer completed 21 of 37, throwing for 291 yards and three touchdowns.
Junior Frankie Rocca said, “Tate is a highly underrated running back. Hopefully after this game people will start to talk about him more.”
The New Orleans Saints won an overtime thriller against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 37-31. The Saints had a total of 571 yards of total offense. Drew Brees, quarterback of the Saints, accounted for 371 of those yards. Brees actually threw more interceptions than touchdowns, throwing three picks and two touchdowns. However, the Saints 2nd year’s running back Khiry Robinson helped make up for that, running for 89 yards and a touchdown.
Bucs QB Mike Glennon had a promising day, completing 19 of 32 passes, and throwing two touchdowns and only one interception.
Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos threw a career high game with 479 passing yards. Drew Stanton, quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals, threw an embarrassing 118 yards and no touchdowns. The Broncos won the game 41-20.
The other scores were:
Buffalo Bills over the Detroit Lions 17-14
Dallas Cowboys over the Houston Texans 20-17
San Francisco 49ers over the Kansas City Chiefs 22-17
Seattle Seahawks over the Washington Redskins 27-17
Pittsburg Steelers over the Jacksonville Jaguars 17-9
New York Giants over the Atlanta Falcons 30-20
San Diego Charges over the New York Jets 31-0
New England Patriots over the Cincinnati Bengals 43-17.
Who do you think the best team is after week five?