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At the Water Cooler : Week 5

Buffalo Bills at Cleveland Browns (Browns won, 37-24)

This win was not kind to either quarterback: the Browns lost Brian Hoyer for the season and the Bills lost EJ Manuel for at least a few weeks – both with knee injuries.

New Orleans Saints at Chicago Bears (Saints won, 26-18)

You might say the Saints are rolling.

New England Patriots at Cincinnati Bengals (Bengals won, 13-6)

Huge win for the Bengals, huge loss for Tom Brady. The game ended his streak of 52 consecutive games scoring touchdown passes, a number hot on the heels of Drew Brees’ record of 54.

Jacksonville Jaguars at St. Louis Rams (Rams won, 34-20)

Just when you think it can’t possibly get any worse for the Jaguars, they lose their top draft pick, OT Luke Joeckel, for the season, and starting quarterback, Blaine Gabbert, left the game with a hamstring injury. Salt in the wound: they play Denver, in Denver, next week. Anvils spontaneously falling from the sky in Jacksonville is probably the only condition in which this week gets worse for them.

Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins (Ravens won, 26-23)

Miami’s receivers tried really hard to not catch any passes in the 4th quarter. And they succeeded!

Philadelphia Eagles at NY Giants (Eagles won, 36-21)

I’m surprised I don’t see eyeballs lying on the side of the road when I drive through New York these days. Giants fans have to be getting to the point where they are ready to poke their eyes out every Sunday. It’s just so bad.

Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers (Packers won, 22-9)

At least one streak was upheld this weekend: the Lions have officially lost 22 consecutive games at Lambeau field (every matchup in Green Bay since 1991!) – the longest road losing/home winning streak in NFL history.

Kansas City Chiefs at Tennessee Titans (Chiefs won, 26-17)

It looked like the Titans were going to make a game of this thing in the second half, but the Chiefs went on to win and become the only team in NFL history to advance to 5-0 after only winning 2 games the season prior.

Seattle Seahawks at Indianapolis Colts (Colts won, 34-28)

What a nail biter. Later this week we’ll be talking about how to pick an NFL team to cheer for, and if you are currently team-less, might I suggest considering the Colts? They have so many components of a compelling franchise. And…even though I’m too bitter about last September to truly advocate the Seahawks…they’d be worth a look, too. Great young teams.

Carolina Panthers at Arizona Cardinals (Cardinals won, 22-6)

The Panthers have gotten a lot of press as one of the more underrated teams in the league this season…but this game didn’t do much to encourage the naysayers to quit nay-saying.

Denver Broncos at Dallas Cowboys (Broncos won, 51-48)

The best game of the season thus far. Without a doubt.

Houston Texans at San Francisco 49ers (49ers won, 34-3)

The final score is more indicative of the Texans play than the Niners.

San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders (Raiders won, 27-17)

Perhaps the Chargers were all asleep for this one, too.

NY Jets at Atlanta Falcons (MNF on ESPN)

All of the other AFC East teams lost this week and it would not be immensely surprising if the Jets join the party tonight.

Bye (off) Week: Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins

At the Water Cooler : Week 4

It was another wild week in the NFL. Here’s what you need to know to keep up at dinner tonight!

San Francisco 49ers at St. Louis Rams (49ers won, 35-11)

This easy win for the 49ers was sponsored by the Rams, who had anything but an easy night.

Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills (Bills won, 23-20)

This win was sponsored by Joe Flacco and his 5 interceptions.

Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns (BROWNS WON, 17-6)

Perhaps every struggling team should trade their best player and see what happens? It’s clearly working for the Browns.

Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions (Lions won, 40-32)

Well, the NFC North just got interesting.

NY Giants at Kansas City Chiefs (Chiefs won, 31-7)

When the schedule came out over the summer, did anyone think the teams in this game would come out on the other side 0-4 and 4-0…and it would be the Giants who were winless and the Chiefs who were undefeated?

Pittsburgh Steelers at Minnesota Vikings (in London) (Vikings won, 34-27)

If you look into Mike Tomlin’s eyes at his postgame presser, you can almost see the flames. One can assume there were no happy campers in that London locker room.

Arizona Cardinals at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Cardinals won, 13-10)

Carson Palmer is looking legit. Having Larry Fitzgerald to toss the ball to doesn’t hurt, either.

Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars (Colts won, 37-3)

It never really gets easier to be a Jaguar. Another week, another beat down.

Seattle Seahawks at Houston Texans (Seahawks won, 23-20 OT)

Someone has to start beating the Seahawks on the road if the rest of the NFC wants a shot at the Super Bowl. Because who is beating them at home in the playoffs?!

NY Jets at Tennessee Titans (Titans won, 38-13)

Hated to see Titans QB Jake Locker go down with a nasty hip injury. He was having a great start to the season.

Philadelphia Eagles at Denver Broncos (Broncos won, 52-20)

There’s the NFL…and then there’s Peyton Manning. He’s in a league of his own.

Dallas Cowboys at San Diego Chargers (Chargers won, 30-21)

The Chargers tend to find themselves on the losing end of close games in the 4th quarter, but they pulled this one out – thanks in part to recovering a late fumble by the Cowboys.

Washington Redskins at Oakland Raiders (Redskins won, 24-14)

It looked like this one was going to be all Raiders early on, but the Redskins came back to get their first win of the season.

New England Patriots at Atlanta Falcons (Patriots won, 30-23)

Remember that league Peyton Manning is in? Tom Brady hangs out there, too. It’s the only explanation for how the Patriots are undefeated right now.

Miami at New Orleans (Monday night on ESPN)

This is the beauty of the NFL: a game that was initially seen as a bit of a snoozer is now a compelling match up between two undefeated teams. Hard to say which way this one will go, but the Saints might have the edge at home.

Bye (Off) Week: Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers

At the Water Cooler : Week 3

If you like turnovers, sacks, penalties, and upset victories…this week was for you! Here’s a recap of the Week 3 action thus far:

Kansas City Chiefs at Philadelphia Eagles (Chiefs won, 26-16)

It was a great night for Andy Reid and fans of the Andy Reid Eagles era. It wasn’t such a great night for current Eagles fans.

Green Bay Packers at Cincinnati Bengals (Bengals won, 34-30)

I don’t want to talk about it.

St. Louis Rams at Dallas Cowboys (Cowboys won, 31-7)

There was a blatant foul on one of the Cowboys’ touchdowns so the score shouldn’t have counted, but even still, it was a convincing win for the Cowboys.

San Diego Chargers at Tennessee Titans (Titans won, 20-17)

Titans QB Jake Locker has waited a long time for a game-winning drive like the one he had on Sunday. Great win for the Titans.

Cleveland Browns at Minnesota Vikings (BROWNS WON, 31-27)

Who saw this one coming?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New England Patriots (Patriots won, 23-3)

We all saw this one coming.

Arizona Cardinals at New Orleans Saints (Saints won, 31-7)

I think it’s safe to say the Saints are back in business. They’re off to a 3-0 start.

Detroit Lions at Washington Redskins (Lions won, 27-20)

This might have been a loss for the Redskins, but RGIII looked much more like himself which is a win for them in the long run.

New York Giants at Carolina Panthers (Panthers won, 38-0)

There are no words for this year’s Giants team. All I can do is offer apologies to my home state.

Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens (Ravens won, 30-9)

I’m similarly stymied over this year’s Texans team. What happened, guys?

Atlanta Falcons at Miami Dolphins (Miami won, 27-23)

This was a statement win for the Dolphins, who went into the game as the Vegas favorite but no one credited as the actual favorite. The dolphins (the DOLPHINS) are 3-0!

Buffalo Bills at New York Jets (Jets won, 27-20)

I’d comment on this game but I think they’re still out there on the field picking up the surplus of yellow flags.

Indianapolis Colts at San Francisco 49ers (Colts won, 27-7)

Colts QB Andrew Luck returned to California and put up impressive numbers against his former college coach and current 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Seattle Seahawks (Seattle won, 45-17)

I’m actually surprised that this wasn’t a more traumatic experience for the Jaguars.

Chicago Bears at Pittsburgh Steelers (Chicago won, 40-23)

This game proved something we already knew: the Bears are good. The Steelers are not.

Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos (Monday at 8:40pm, ESPN)

This has the potential to be ugly for the Raiders.

At the Water Cooler : Week 2

Yesterday would have been the perfect time to be surrounded by a dozen TV screens, each with a different game. There were so many good, close games! Here’s what you need to know about those barn burners and every other game from Week 2 in the NFL.

NY Jets at New England Patriots (Patriots won, 13-10)

These aren’t the droids you’re looking for. Or at least, these aren’t the domination-style Patriots we’re used to seeing.

St. Louis Rams at Atlanta Falcons (Falcons won, 31-24)

The Rams might be this year’s comeback kids – despite the loss this week. They came back from a 21-point deficit to make the game competitive and did the same to win in their Week 1 victory against the Cardinals.

Carolina Panthers at Buffalo Bills (Bills won, 24-23)

Did you see Bills QB E.J. Manuel kneeling on the field in tears after throwing the game-winning touchdown? This is why we love the game.

Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears (Bears won, 31-30)

If you had this game on in your area, you were one of the lucky ones. What a great fight to the finish.

Washington Redskins at Green Bay Packers (Packers won, 38-20)

Aaron Rodgers threw for 480 yards and 4 touchdowns yesterday. Which was, in his words, not his best game. (But I think the rest of the world would agree that he’s doing just fine.)

Miami Dolphins at Indianapolis Colts (Dolphins won, 24-20)

Kudos to the Dolphins who held off the Colts in the 4th quarter – the time when they almost always charge from behind for the win.

Dallas Cowboys at Kansas City Chiefs (Chiefs won, 17-16)

It’s always nice to match your previous season’s win total in the first two weeks of the current season.

Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens (Ravens won, 14-6)

This probably shouldn’t have been so much of a struggle for the Ravens, especially given that it was their Super Bowl welcome home opener. (Also, welcome to the world Baby Flacco. Perhaps you should work on your timing since Sundays aren’t so good for your dad.)

Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans (Texans won, 30-24 OT)

This is another one that probably shouldn’t have been as much of a struggle as it was for the Texans – and ditto to last week’s victory against the Chargers.

San Diego Chargers at Philadelphia Eagles (Chargers won, 33-30)

Reality check on all sides: the Chargers aren’t terrible and the Eagles aren’t infallible. This was a great road win for the Chargers after a tough loss last week to the Texans.

Detroit Lions at Arizona Cardinals (Cardinals won, 25-21)

Penalties got the Lions into trouble once again on Sunday, when a passing interference call set the Cards up for a successful touchdown run for the win.

New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Saints w0n, 16-14)

The Bucs definitely looked better than last week but couldn’t ward off a last minute touchdown drive by Drew Brees. (Don’t worry, Bucs; not many can.)

Denver Broncos at NY Giants (Broncos won, 41-23)

The Manning Bowl record stands in Peyton’s favor: 3-0. But this one was especially ugly.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Oakland Raiders (Raiders won, 19-9)

Sebastian Janikowski, Oakland’s kicker, earned his paycheck yesterday. He scored 12 of the Raiders’ 19 points.

San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks (Seattle won, 29-3)

It was a long night for the 49ers (literally, thanks to an hour-long rain delay). It’s pretty much impossible to beat the Seahawks at home.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals (Monday at 8:30pm EST on ESPN)

This has the potential to be a painful night for the Steelers: facing a divisional rival on the road and also a former Steelers stalwart, James Harrison, for the first time, in an effort to prove they aren’t the Steelers we saw last week. Yikes.

At the Water Cooler : Week 1

Welcome to a new feature here at Football for Normal Girls: At the Water Cooler, a one-sentence(ish) highlight from each NFL game over the weekend (plus a preview of Monday night’s game). Just enough information to help you through any water cooler/grocery store/dinner table football conversation!

Here’s what you need to know about Week 1:

Denver Broncos vs. Baltimore Ravens (Broncos won, 49-27)

If there were any doubts that Peyton Manning is back and better than ever in his second year post-surgeries with the Broncos, his record-tying seven (SEVEN) touchdowns on Thursday night’s opener against the Ravens quieted them.

Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots (Patriots won, 23-21)

Buffalo would have won this game were it not for earning 10 penalties for a whopping 75 yards – it was the mistakes that killed them, not lack of ability to win the game.

Chicago Bears vs. Cincinnati Bengals (Chicago won, 24-21)

It’s been said that more NFL games are lost than won and that was certainly the case with the Bengals on Sunday, who gave up a big lead late in the second half to lose to the Bears, who actually didn’t look too shabby in their first game under rookie head coach Marc Trestman.

Cleveland Browns vs. Miami Dolphins (Miami won, 23-10)

Sorry, Browns fans. I was wrong.

Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings (Lions won, 34-24)

The story of the game for me is from the reigning league MVP, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who ran in a 78-yard touchdown…on his first carry. He wasn’t much of a factor for the rest of the game, but what a way to start the season.

Indianapolis Colts vs. Oakland Raiders (Colts won, 21-17)

This game should have been a blowout, but the Colts needed to return to their 2012 ways as the comeback kids to win this one and start the season 1-0.

New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons (New Orleans won, 23-17)

Welcome back, Sean Payton! And holy passing attack, NFC South: Saints QB Drew Brees and Falcons QB Matt Ryan combined for nearly 700 passing yards and 4 touchdowns.

New York Jets vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Jets won, 18-17)

There likely isn’t a guy in the NFL who feels worse waking up this morning than Tampa Bay linebacker Lavonte David, who had a late hit on Jets QB Geno Smith which gave the Jets easy field goal position for the win in the final seconds of the 4th quarter.

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Tennessee Titans (Titans won, 16-9)

This one was all ugly. But despite their only offensive score not coming until the 4th quarter, the ugliest part for the Steelers was losing center Maurkice Pounce, who may have a torn ACL.

Carolina Panthers vs. Seattle Seahawks (Seattle won, 12-7)

A win’s a win, but it was a little surprisingly to see everyone’s #1 pick, Seattle, struggle to win this one in Carolina.

Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Kansas City Chiefs (Kansas City won, 28-2)

Even if NFL Europe doesn’t take off and the Jaguars don’t move overseas, Jacksonville may vote them off the ~~island~~ peninsula after scoring zero offensive points in their home opener on Sunday.

(Confused about why the Jaguars didn’t score any offensive points and yet still scored 2-points? That’s a safety, a defensive score, and you can read all about it in this post.)

St Louis Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals (Rams won, 27-24)

The Cardinals may have lost (another one of those games lost rather than won), but Larry Fitzgerald is one happy wide receiver: he finally has a dependable quarterback (Carson Palmer) who shows off what Fitzgerald is really capable of – 2 touchdowns on the day, for starters.

San Francisco 49ers vs. Green Bay Packers (49ers won, 34-28)

I said it all offseason and I’ll probably say it all of this season: Anquan Boldin, new 49ers wide receiver acquired from the Ravens, was the best move of the offseason.

Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants (Cowboys won, 36-31)

At the end of the first half Giants head coach Tom Coughlin reportedly told his team that he had never seen a worse half of football…which is probably because he hadn’t seen the second half yet (or because he missed last year’s Jets at Cardinals game).

Washington Redskins vs. Philadelphia Eagles (Monday night, 7:10pm EST)

You might want to do a few jumping jacks to get warmed up before this one. It promises to be wild, blazingly fast ride.

San Diego Chargers vs. Houston Texans (Monday night, 10:20pm EST)

You might be ok to go to bed before this one gets started. It promises to be a fairly easy win by the Texans (sorry, San Diego).

How did you all make out this weekend? Any highlights that weren’t covered here?

Off the Field : Tostitos Homecoming Party Bowl

If there’s one thing I love, it’s seeing deserving people blessed in over-the-top ways. And the Tostitos Homecoming Party Bowl epitomized that!

Former players Kurt Warner and Marcus Allen teamed up with coaches Urban Meyer and Bobby Bowden to pull off the surprise of a lifetime (orchestrated by a lot of hardworking people over at Tostitos) for these military veterans and their families.

It might seem like football is one big overhyped money machine – and, to some degree, that’s true – but at it’s heart it’s what you see below: players and coaches and teams and fans who love a game. Its power to unite, inspire, and better people – that’s what makes football (and all sports, really) matter.