Some thoughts and some numbers regarding Week 10 of the 2011 season…
It’s been a rough few weeks for the team with the best record in the league last season. Still, New England finds itself atop the AFC East with the Jets and Bills and although the Patriots have lost 2 straight games, they have not dropped 3 in a row since the early stages of 2002, when they lost 4 straight games over the course of 5 weeks. Still, this game may be much more important to the Jets, who hope to avoid being swept by Bill Belichick’s team for the first time since 2007…
Despite a slew of injuries over the summer, the 6-2 New York Giants find themselves alone in first place in the NFC East with a two-game lead over the 4-4 Dallas and 3 games ahead of the Eagles and Redskins. And it’s been a good year for Giants’ QB Eli Manning, who’s thrown 15 touchdown passes and just 5 interceptions in his last 7 games following his 0 touchdown, 1 INT performance (returned for a TD by rookie LB Ryan Kerrigan) in the Week 1 loss at Washington. And Manning will likely have to be the catalyst this Sunday against the 49ers’ defense, which has given up 11 TD passes but 0 rushing touchdowns in 8 games this season…
Last season’s Top 2 teams in the NFC South are once again 1-2 in the standings this season but in reverse order as New Orleans owns a half-game lead over Atlanta as the teams prepare to meet at the Georgia Dome. And the Falcons will do their best to slow down Saints’ QB Drew Brees, who is 8-2 in his last 10 games vs. Atlanta, throwing 20 TD passes and just 9 interceptions while hitting the 300-yard mark in 6 of those 10 meetings. And it’s also worth noting that Brees and company are 4-1 in Atlanta since his arrival in the Big Easy in 2006…
Houston finds itself at 6-3 and atop the AFC South with as many wins as they had all of last season. Gary Kubiak’s team has come together despite the loss of OLB Mario Williams and the continued absence of WR Andre Johnson. And while Wade Phillips’ defense has been a big reason for the team’s improvement, it’s hard to ignore the contributions of Texans’ RBs Arian Foster (4) and Ben Tate (4), which have combined for 8 100-plus yard rushing performances in 9 games this season. And with both runners totaling over 600 yards on the ground so far this season, don’t rule out a pair of 1,000-yard runner in Houston…
Jim Schwartz’s team heads to the Windy City looking to cool off the Chicago Bears, who have turned around their fortunes with 3 straight wins following a 2-3 start. However, turnaround has also been the key for the Lions, who have won 4 straight games vs. NFC North rivals dating back to last season, after dropping their previous 19 games to divisional rivals dating back to 2007. Schwartz’s club, who beat the Bears 5 weeks ago on Monday night at Ford Field, are in position to sweep this series for the first time since ’07…
