Wednesday 19 October 2016 10:52, UK
The Cowboys, the Dolphins and the Bills excelled but the 49ers will be staying behind for detention.
DALLAS COWBOYS (W 30-16 @ Green Bay)
We start with performance of the day from a fast-improving Cowboys team. Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes in another composed display, Ezekiel Elliott continued to entrench himself as the league's leading running-back and the Cowboys defence forced a series of turnovers. There was little not to like here. Grade A+
WASHINGTON REDSKINS (W 27-20 v Philadelphia)
Plenty of credit to the Redskins defence from Sunday's first Sky Live game, with the Eagles scoring their only two touchdowns on a Kirk Cousins turnover and a kick-off return. Cousins was passable under centre but Matt Jones had a superb day, going for 135 yards, with the Redskins running game making the difference thanks to key contributions from Rob Kelley and Chris Thompson. Grade A-
NEW YORK GIANTS (W 27-23 v Baltimore)
Not a lucky win for the Giants but a nervy one. They struggled badly in the first quarter and almost lost Odell Beckham Jr to injury, but the star wide receiver returned from his hip complaint and managed a spectacular stat line - eight catches for 222 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner. The Giants got away with this one but a win is a win. Grade B
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (L 20-27 at Washington)
The Eagles rallied from a 14-0 deficit thanks to Wendell Smallwood's spectacular return touchdown and a 'pick six' from Malcolm Jenkins, but they stuttered on offence all game and the Redskins made Carson Wentz look like the rookie quarterback he is. Wentz will rebound and might just have learned the lesson that the NFL is not an easy place to succeed in. Grade C-
DETROIT LIONS (W 31-28 v Los Angeles)
The Lions made it back-to-back wins with a late Matt Prater field goal at Ford Field and it was a good day for Matthew Stafford, who threw four touchdown passes and restored the relationship he had with wide receiver Golden Tate last season. They combined for 165 yards but there remain concerns over the Detroit defence which made Case Keenum and Kenny Britt look like superstars at times. Grade B
CHICAGO BEARS (L 16-17 v Jacksonville)
Jekyll and Hyde stuff from the struggling Bears, who shut the Jaguars out for three quarters and still managed to conjure up a fifth defeat of what looks like being another season of disappointment. Too many decent drives ended in Connor Barth field goals and that came back to haunt them in the last 15 minutes when Blake Bortles carved their defence apart. Grade E
GREEN BAY PACKERS (L 16-30 v Dallas)
An ugly day for the Packers, who managed only one touchdown at Lambeau Field, which only came in the latter stages of the fourth quarter. Aaron Rodgers was off all day, with an interception and a fumble which probably meant the end to any chances they had. They will bounce back but this was a startlingly poor display. Grade E-
BYE: MINNESOTA VIKINGS
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (W 41-38 v Carolina)
Hard to fit this into one paragraph, but wow, what a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Drew Brees threw for 465 yards, Brandin Cooks came back to life and the Saints defence still nearly managed to cough the game up. They look to be back to their sparkling best with ball in hand but really could do without the convincing Swiss cheese impression on D. Grade B+
ATLANTA FALCONS (L 24-26 @ Seattle)
A strange performance from the Falcons, who were ineffective for much of the game despite coming in as the NFL's top-scoring team. They managed three touchdowns in the third quarter, Matt Ryan throwing all of them, but the rest of the game was something of a car crash and accounted for only three more points. Grade C
CAROLINA PANTHERS (L 38-41 @ New Orleans)
Cam Newton returned and threw for 322 yards and two scores, Jonathan Stewart returned and ran for two touchdowns. Sounds like enough for victory, right? No - the Panthers gave up more than 500 yards on defence and had to come back from 21-0 down before losing out to a late field goal from near midfield. The shambolic run for last season's Super Bowl runners-up continues. Grade D
BYE: TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (W 26-24 v Atlanta)
The Seahawks defence again came out to play, giving Matt Ryan all kinds of trouble for most of this game before apparently going to sleep in the third quarter. Russell Wilson played okay - no better - to get the Seahawks into scoring positions and Christine Michael made the difference by punching in a couple of scores from close range. Grade B+
LOS ANGELES RAMS (L 28-31 at Detroit)
An agonising defeat for the Rams after possibly their best offensive display of the season so far. Case Keenum was excellent in throwing for 321 yards and three touchdowns but it was one of his mistakes which ultimately cost them at least a chance at overtime, when he was picked off by Rafael Bush. They still need a great deal more from a stuttering Todd Gurley as well. Grade B-
SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (L 16-45 at Buffalo)
Colin Kaepernick returned to the 49ers line-up, ran the ball well and threw a second quarter touchdown…and that's about all. The rest of their performance was truly awful and Kaepernick went off the boil too as he tried to chase the game in the second half. Their defence was poor aside from rookie DeForrest Buckner, who managed a couple of sacks. Grade F
ARIZONA CARDINALS (W 28-3 v NY Jets)
The Cardinals got their offence and defence working in the same game for the second time this season and in those matches they have outscored opponents 68-10. The terrific David Johnson ran for three touchdowns and constant pressure on Ryan Fitzpatrick forced the Jets to change quarterbacks during the game. Both Fitzpatrick and replacement Geno Smith were picked off by the Arizona secondary. Grade A
MIAMI DOLPHINS (W 30-15 v Pittsburgh)
We all expected Jay Ajayi to run for 204 yards and two touchdowns, right? What a game for the London-born rusher who can surely expect a bigger role on offence from now on. Defensively the Dolphins excelled as well, with a pair of interceptions and constant pressure on Ben Roethlisberger, who left the game for a time with a knee injury and has since had to undergo surgery. It won't affect their weekly grade but the one sour note was a shoulder injury - potentially season-ending - suffered by safety Reshad Jones. Grade A+
BUFFALO BILLS (W 45-16 v San Francisco)
Was anyone truly expecting this kind of scoring outburst from the Bills? The 49ers may not be much of a team but this was impressive, especially on the ground where LeSean McCoy, who appeared to be heading out of the game with a knee injury in the second quarter, ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns. Three more sacks for their defence too, including another for this season's unlikely leader Lorenzo Alexander, who now has eight. Grade A
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (W 35-17 v Cincinnati)
It really doesn't seem to matter how old, or affected by injury, this Patriots team is - when Tom Brady is under centre they look sensational. Brady's first home game of the season ended with 376 yards and three touchdowns and only six incompletions. Rob Gronkowski looks much closer to 100 per cent and appeared feisty as ever in an 'interesting' showdown with Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict. Grade A
NEW YORK JETS (L 3-28 at Arizona)
Changes could be on the way for the Jets who have reverted to being one of the NFL's worst teams this season. Ryan Fitzpatrick was benched after a forgettable display and there was absolutely nothing from their running game, which tallied only 33 yards against a stifling Cardinals defence. Grade F
PITTSBURGH STEELERS (L 15-30 at Miami)
An ugly day for the Steelers who could get nothing going on offence and now have to contemplate moving on, in the short-term at least, without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who has already undergone surgery on a torn meniscus in his knee. Barring a spectacular 60-yard touchdown run from Darrius Heyward-Bey, this was a game to forget for Pittsburgh. Grade E
BALTIMORE RAVENS (L 23-27 at NY Giants)
Disappointment for the Ravens, who managed to shackle the shoddy Giants running game (17 attempts for a paltry 38 yards) but could do nothing about Odell Beckham Jr, who went for 222 yards despite a balky hip. Terrance West scored a pair of touchdowns but Joe Flacco was, at times, wildly inaccurate on a 48-pass day. Grade C+
CINCINNATI BENGALS (W 35-17 at New England)
There will be much easier games down the road for the Bengals but they need to get back to winning ways quickly or the playoffs will be a distant dream. Andy Dalton played some okay football with a touchdown pass to Brandon LaFell and a rushing score as well, but there was little else to get excited about. Grade C-
CLEVELAND BROWNS (L 26-28 at Tennessee)
The Browns remain winless but did show the odd sign of coming out of their offensive slumber. Rookie quarterback Cody Kessler had the best performance of his NFL career, throwing for 336 yards and two touchdowns, but their running game was anaemic and their defence struggled to cope with Marcus Mariota all game. Grade C
HOUSTON TEXANS (W 26-23 v Indianapolis (OT))
This was a cracking comeback from the Texans, who trailed by 14 points late in the fourth quarter to force overtime and eventually win on a Nick Novak field goal. Lamar Miller, who totalled 178 yards, was the undoubted star with two touchdowns but positive mention also for under-pressure quarterback Brock Osweiler, who overcame a slow start to engineer the game-tying drive and touchdown pass to C.J. Fiedorowicz. Grade B+
TENNESSEE TITANS (W 28-26 v Cleveland)
The Titans made the most of their chances to claim a third win of the season with Marcus Mariota enjoying a second successive strong performance. Barring one interception at the start of the fourth quarter, which didn't cost Tennessee any points, the second-season QB was excellent in throwing three touchdowns. Their defence and special teams went missing for the last seven minutes but there was still a vital win to celebrate. Grade B+
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (W 17-16 @ Chicago)
The Jaguars were 15 minutes away from possibly the first un-gradable performance of the season but still managed to add to the Bears' agony. Blake Bortles turned up in the fourth quarter and his one touchdown pass, to a player in Arrelious Benn I didn't even realise was still in the league, was enough to secure a second win of the season. Still not a good performance, mind you. Grade C+
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (L 23-26 @ Houston (OT)
More disappointment for the Colts, who led by 13 points early on and 14 going into the final three minutes. Their under-fire defence stepped up for most of the first 57 minutes but appeared to lose focus under a late assault from Brock Osweiler. Defeat puts the Colts firmly on the back foot and they need much more from a stumbling Andrew Luck, who was below par again. Grade C
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS (W 26-10 @ Oakland)
Barring their inability to cover Amari Cooper, the Chiefs performed impressively in Oakland. Alex Smith only threw three incompletions and the Kansas City running game was most effective, led by 131 yards and a touchdown from Spencer Ware. There was also a backwards pass from Smith to 346lb tackle Dontari Poe for a touchdown to roundly applaud - the play call of 'Hungry Pig Right' will go down in the annals of NFL history. Grade A
SAN DIEGO CHARGERS (W 21-13 v Denver)
It wasn't the best offensive performance from the Chargers, who failed to pass 300 yards of total offence in a game that was dominated by defence, with linebacker Jatavis Brown (13 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble) playing a starring role. Thankfully for San Diego an early touchdown catch by impressive tight end Hunter Henry, who looks like a real find, and Josh Lambo's accurate kicking was enough to claim just their second win of the season. Grade A-
DENVER BRONCOS (L 13-21 at San Diego)
There is still little to question when it comes to Denver's defence, which limited San Diego to 265 yards of offence, and that gets an A grade, not for the first time this season. But again it was their struggling offence that failed to fire. Trevor Siemian didn't convince, throwing 50 times but managing only 230 yards and a score, and CJ Anderson struggled badly on the ground. Grade C-
OAKLAND RAIDERS (L 10-26 v Kansas City)
Major disappointment for the Raiders, who took a significant step back at the end of a week which saw renewed talk of an impending move to Las Vegas for the franchise. Amari Cooper tallied 10 catches for 129 yards but there was little from the rest of their offence and quarterback Derek Carr was nowhere near his best. Grade E
