New York Jets 27, St. Louis Rams 13
The New York Jets withstood a long week of controversy this week. Several unnamed players were quoted criticizing backup quarterback Tim Tebow. The Jets have been the center of a media circus all year. Jets' starting quarterback Mark Sanchez has taken much of the blame. Sanchez silenced his critics at least for one week.
Sanchez orchestrated the Jets' offense with an interception free performance. The Jets entered the game having lost their last three games and needed someone to step up on offense and Bilal Powell delivered. He ran for the first two touchdowns of his NFL career, "Gang Green" put a stop to the losing skid with a 27-13 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.
The Rams played well including wide receiver Brandon Gibson who caught two touchdowns for St. Louis, but in the end, turnovers were the story of this contest. The Rams committed three turnovers in the loss. Like the Jets, the Rams were also on a losing skid. St. Louis has not won a game in over 5 weeks. St. Louis' defense is having problems creating turnovers. This has been an issue since the beginning of this losing streak.
Miami Dolphins 14, Buffalo Bills 19
The Dolphins entered this game on a two game losing skid, while the Bills were on a three game skid of their own. The Bills would break the losing streak on Thursday. The Bills got boost from their special teams when punt returner Leodis McKelvin out ran everyone with a 79 yard punt return to put the Bills up early in the contest.
The Bills have been publicly criticized for over paying for an under performing defense. Defensive end Mario Williams and Co. finally earned their big paychecks in a 19-14 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Thursday night.
Williams was not the only one to shine Thursday, safety Jairus Byrd had an interception and a fumble recovery, while Bryan Scott finalized the victory with an interception of Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill on the Phins’ last attempt to pull out a victory.
Miami’s offense could not find its rhythm and were pushed around by the Buffalo defense. Buffalo sacked Tannehill three times and held the Dolphins to 184 yards passing. Buffalo moves up to 4-6 as Miami drops to the same 4-6 record.
Indianapolis Colts 24, New England Patriots 59
Colts rookie quarterback Andrew Luck was in the sixth grade when Tom Brady won his first Super Bowl. Sunday these two quarterbacks battled it out for AFC supremacy. Brady threw for three touchdown passes, while Luck threw two interceptions returned for touchdowns. The old veteran would win this shootout as New England lit up the scoreboard in a 59-24 destruction of the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
New England showed why they are the defending AFC champions, the up and coming Colts were no match for the veteran Patriot team. The Pats had everything working on Sunday. The defense and special teams each scored touchdowns of their own in the victory.
The Patriots have now won four games in a row and extended their lead in the AFC East. However it was not all good news for the Patriots. Pro Bowl tight end Rob Gronkowski will be out 4-6 weeks with a broken forearm. The red hot Colts were cooled down as they had their four-game winning streak snapped.