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WEEK 5 RECAP Nyheim Hines punt return for a touchdown was a key play in Patriots win over Jets in a key AFC East match-up.
New York (A) 24 New England 27 53 0-10
In a battle of undefeated teams, the Jets and Patriots entered this Week 5 tilt as two of the top three highest scoring teams in the IFL. Patriots were favored by 4 points, but it was the visitors from NY who wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. Taking the opening kickoff, the Jets fed former Patriot Marlon Mack early and often. Runs of 7, 17, 13 and 6 yards to start the drive, followed by a 30 yard Watson scamper and finally a 3 yard Mack TD run. Like a knife through butter, the Jets were up 7-0. New England tried answering, but the Jets had other plans. Shelby Harris sacked Lamar Jackson for a 9 yard loss on New England's first play, and on the next play, Lamar couldn't handle a bad snap and the JETS RECOVERED. First and 10 at the Patriot 15 yard line. The Patriot's defense forced a 3 and out, but Hopkins nailed a 27 yard field goal and the Jets were up 10-0 halfway through the first quarter. Jets cornerback Tre Flowers got New England going on the next drive, with a personal foul followed by an illegal contact penalty. Twenty yards in penalties and New England was near midfield. Lamar Jackson then hit John Ross for 19 and Ekeler and McCaffrey on short outs, leading to a 7 yard CMC touchdown run. 10-7 Jets after one quarter. Jets go three and out on their 2nd drive of the second quarter and punt to Nyheim Hines, who returns it 55 yards for the TD! 14-10 Patriots Jets turn to Mack once again, who proceeds to carry for 9, 6 and 12 yards to open the next drive. After a misfire to Michael Thomas, Watson finds Mack for 8 yards to bring up 3rd and 2. An incompletion to Robert Woods brings up 4th and 2 from the NE 40 yard line. Jets gamble, and Watson converts himself with a 2 yard run. Jets move into field goal range, but on 3rd and 6 from the 34 Watson was flagged for intentional grounding, killing the scoring chance and forcing a punt back to NE. Patriots drive to the Jets 38 with under a minute in the first half, but on 4th and 1 McCaffrey was stuffed and Jets had the ball with 31 seconds remaining. Back to back incompletions was followed by a completion to Higbee who then attempted to pitch to Michael Thomas, but Thomas fumbled and NE had the ball at the Jets 48 yard line with 12 seconds in the half. A long slant to John Ross was incomplete - but once again Tre Flowers was flagged - this time for a 20 yard PI infraction, which set up a Justin Tucker field goal. 17-10 at the half. Patriots took the kick out of the halftime locker room and immediately got the benefit of a 39 yard James Bradberry PI call, and it was first and ten at the Jets 37. Patriots maneuvered into long field goal range, but an offsides penalty on Kupp ended that quickly. Later in the quarter, Lamar Jackson led NE on an 8 play 61 yard drive which was capped by a Jackson to Hurst 13 yard TD. With 4 minutes in the third period, NE had a 24-10 lead after falling behind 10-0 early. As the 4th quarter began, the Jets went back to the well. Mack runs for 10 and 17 yards had the Jets into NE territory. Facing third and six from the NE 13 yard line - Watson connected with Higbee for the TD and it was a one score game once again. Patriots 24 Jets 17. Back to back misfires from Jackson to CMC brought on 3rd and 10, but Jackson kept the drive going with a huge 21 yard completion to John Ross. The drive stalled just after NE crossed midfield, and on 4th and 1 NE would punt back to the Jets. PENALTY. Jets, who thought they'd be receiving the ball back were flagged for offsides, and with 6:47 to play New England's offense was back on the field. Jackson to Kupp for 11 and a CMC 13 yard run had NE deep in Jets territory, Patriots chewed up some clock before Tucker hit a short field goal to extend the lead to 27-17 with 2:55 to play. Jets choose to run twice , with little success. But on 3rd and 7, Watson connects with James White for the first time all day, and White does the rest...........taking it TO THE HOUSE and cutting the lead to 27-24 with 1:38 to play. Jets would try the onside kick..................but NE was expecting it and recovered. Facing a crucial 3rd and 4 with 1:11 to play, Lamar Jackson did it with his legs and broke off a 7 yard run for the key first down. Patriots would run out the clock, and hold on for the 27-24 win. Lamar was 20 for 27 for 207 and a TD, though he was limited to 15 yards rushing on 8 carries by a stout Jets defense. Marlon Mack was the star of the game for NY, rushing for 149 yards on 24 carries and a TD. On the flipside, Michael Thomas was held to only 3 grabs for 16 yards by Richard Sherman and the NE secondary. Deshaun Watson completed a mere 10 of 23 pass attempts, though two went for TDs. Some great play calling by Bob was ALMOST enough to offset 114 yards in penalties and a momentum-shifting punt return TD. These two teams will meet again in a few weeks. Next week, NE travels to Indy while NY hosts Miami. Philadelphia 27 Washington 17 56 0-10 Eagles overcome a 10-3 halftime deficit to defeat Washington. Tannehill’s 16 yard scoring strike to Edelman proved to be the difference. Los Angeles (A) 30 Kansas City 12 49 5-15 Chargers break open a close game with 13 unanswered fourth quarter points. Chicago 14 Tampa Bay 31 81 10-20 Tampa Bay owned the first half whistle to whistle while jumping out to a 24 – 0 lead. After the Bucs went up by 7, the Bears pushed the ball down to the Tampa 15, but the drive stalled and then Austin Seibert hooked the 33 yard attempt. After falling behind 21 – 0, Chicago went for it on 4th and 4 at the Buc 29, but came up short on a Jimmy Garoppolo toss to Jonnu Smith. Tampa tacked on a field goal for the 24 - 0 halftime score. The Bears get the zero off the board with their first possession of the second half when Garoppolo finds Jamison Crowder streaking across the middle. The Chicago defense holds, but the offense is not able to take advantage. Tampa goes ahead 31 – 7 with 10 minutes left in the game on a Derek Carr keeper which essentially ended the contest. Next week Chicago is on the road again versus Green Bay. Tampa Bay heads to take on bitter division rival Detroit. Indianapolis 7 Los Angeles (N) 31 64 Calm Injuries, penalties, turnovers, nearly everything went wrong that could go wrong for the visiting Indianapolis Colts in Los Angeles. They lost nearly half of their OL to injuries which subjected starting QB Brian Hoyer to lots of pressure leading to a fumble return for a touchdown and late in the 1st half interception. All the turnovers led to points for the Rams who won going away. The one bright spot for the Colts was Golden Tate showing his run after the catch magic taking a quick pass roughly 56 yards for the colts only score. Tate finished with 110 yards receiving on the day. Both teams are rebuilding and hope for better seasons in the future. The Colts look to have another tough week ahead facing the 4-0 New England Patriots, while the Rams travel to 2-2 Carolina. Buffalo 10 Miami 20 78 0-5 Miami maintains it's hold on 3rd place in the Division by defeating the Bills 20-10 in their Thursday night contest. The Dolphins had a very balanced attack while amassing 374 total yards and dominated time of possession even though Goff had another horrible outing. The Bills lone TD came on a Kyler Murray 9 yard scamper with 6 seconds left in the game. Miami stays in the division next week and travels to NY to play the Jets while the Bills go west to play the 49ers. Arizona 34 Dallas 20 70 The winless Dallas Cowboys were pleased with the play of their offense in week five against an impressive Arizona Cardinals defense. Gardner Minshew completed 17 of 26 throws for 205 yards and two scores and the Cowboys' running back by committee rushed for 198 yards. However, that was not enough against the plethora of weapons featured on the Cards' roster. Patrick Mahomes threw for 339 yards and five TDs on just 20 completions to propel the Cardinals to the victory. Arizona's wideouts Christian Kirk (18.3) and Mike Williams (25.4) torched the Cowboys' secondary for big gain after big gain. Dallas was unable to overplay the pass as the Cardinals featured Saquon Barkley and Duke Johnson as running backs. Dallas' offense was hurt by losses to two offensive lineman in the game. The loss extends Dallas' losing streak to five to open the season. The win puts Arizona at 3-2. Denver 9 Green Bay 10 41 0-5 The 2019 Conference Champion Packers (best our marketing department could come up with) welcomed Denver to Lambeau Field. This game would feature two stat pack QB's, Jarrett Stidham and A.J. McCarron. Not surprisingly Vegas had the points total set at an incredible 24.5! Things played out exactly how the pundits had anticipated. Both offenses didn't do much but it was Denver who moved the ball more effectively in the first half. Unfortunately for the visitors, three drives stalled out at around the Packer 40 resulting in punts. Another ended in a short FG. Green Bay looked out of synch for much of the first half but got the only big play when McCarron found a streaking Josh Gordon for a 49 yard TD early in the 2nd q. Green Bay 7 Denver 3 at the half. After an exchange of punts to open the 3rd quarter, the Packers got the ball near midfield and moved into FG range. Robbie Gould nailed a 44 yarder to increase the lead to a touchdown. Green Bay 10 Denver 3 with just over 6 minutes left in the 3rd. Late in the 3rd and early in the 4th, Denver gambled on consecutive 4 and 1's but RB Kareem Hunt was stopped cold on both occasions. Pack went three and out after both turnovers however allowing the Broncos to stay right in it. With 6:32 remaining Jake Elliot split the uprights from 46 yards out Green Bay 10 Denver 6 After yet another Packers 3 and out, Denver moved right back into Green Bay territory with a chance to take the lead. 2:28 left in the game and facing a 4th and 4 at the Packers 26, Broncos coach Crandall decided to trust his defense and take the FG Green Bay 10 Denver 9 The move looked like a good one as the visitors again forced Green Bay into a 3 and out. Denver got the ball back at their own 37 with 1:57 left. On first down DE Calais Campbell ran over backup OT Andre James and got to Stidham for a huge 9 yard sack. Two plays Later Sean Lee picked off Stidham to seal the victory Green Bay 10 Denver 9 final score. An oddly entertaining defensive struggle between two rebuilding teams Predictably both QB's struggled: Stidham 44.9 rating, McCarron 61.4 DE Campbell was named game MVP Green Bay (2-3) heads to Chicago next week, Denver (2-3) host Kansas City Thanks to Doug for a well played game that went right down to the wire Tennessee 16 Baltimore 35 63 0-5 Tennessee (1-3) came to Baltimore (3-1) as 5-point underdogs and through 2 1/2 quarters were pretty much that, trailing 21-16 after a failed 2-point conversion. Then DKS stepped in and slammed the scales down on the Ravens side like an elephant sat on the Baltimore side. In the end, Baltimore cruised to a 35-16 win. Here's how it happened: Baltimore received the opening kick-off and drove the length of the field (75 yards after their kick return) and put six on the board right away when Baker Mayfield hit Will Fuller V from 20 yards out. Baltimore, 7-0. Tennessee drove down to the Ravens 11, but Matt Ryan failed on three straight passes and the Titans had to settle for a 29-yard Dan Bailey FG. Baltimore, 7-3. After an exchange of punts, Baltimore moved quickly downfield where Mayfield hit Adam Thielen from 29-yards out. Baltimore, 14-3. The next five possessions resulted in punts. With 2:44 left on the clock, the Ravens took over on their own 46. Reaching the 22 with :31 seconds on the clock, Baltimore figured to have a couple shots at the end zone and a timeout in their back pocket. Mayfield sprinted outside to avoid the rush, but Da'Ron Payne was not to be denied and pulled him down for an 11-yard loss. But wait, Payne was flagged for EXCESSIVE CELEBRATION after the play and Mayfield was given another chance. In the banter between coaches (IFL coaches have direct lines during the game), Coach Master nearly forgot to send in a play. Mayfield took it upon himself to call a sneak (I guess that's what he called) and gained one yard while avoiding a delay penalty. In the confusion, Coach Master then forgot to call a timeout to set up the last play of the half. Again, Mayfield took it upon himself to call Mark Andrews' number on a fade to the corner. TD Ravens with just :01 left in the half! Baltimore, 21-3. After a stern half-time talk from Coach Brunskill, the Titans marched downfield with renewed vigor. Eleven plays and 66 yards later, Matt Ryan found Odell Beckham Jr on a crossing route for a 9-yard TD. Baltimore, 21-10. The next four possessions resulted in punts before Baltimore took over on their own 20 yard line. Thinking that the Titans were thinking the Ravens were thinking about starting to milk the clock, Coach Master called for Mayfield to pass his way down the field. Unfortunately, as Mayfield is want to do, he threw an INT on this second attempt. Three plays later, Tennessee's Rashad Penny romped into the endzone from 8-yards out and suddenly, it was a game again! Though Tennessee failed on the 2-point conversion, it was now just a 5 point game. Baltimore 21-16. The Titan D forced a 3-and-out and after Baltimore's punt, took over on their own 25. Al-Quadin Muhammed sacked Ryan on the first play, leaving the Titans with a 2nd-and-15. Baltimore's pressure got to Ryan again on the next play when he was forced from the pocket and dragged down by Aaron Donald for just a 2-yard gain. Ryan's 3rd down attempt to DeAndre Hopkins was tipped away by S Terrell Edmunds and Baltimore forced Tennessee to punt. Colby Wadman booted it 52 yards where Baltimore's Kenjon Barner took it in at his own 26. Like a flash, he was gone! Seventy-four yards later, he crossed the goal line for his SECOND punt return TD of the season! Baltimore, 28-16. Like a gut punch, Tennessee doubled-over, but got up to receive the kick-off. Booting away from Andre Roberts, the angled kick bounced at the 14, then Roberts inexplicably picked it up at the 4! He returned it 29 yards, but like another gut punch, the refs flagged the Titans for an illegal block and placed the ball on the 9 yard line. Trying to (re)catch their breath and get Ryan a little room to operate, Latavius Murray gained 2. Ryan then dropped back to pass. Baltimore's Muhammend blasted him, but Ryan shook him off. On the run, Ryan's pass was deflected by Terrell Edmunds and PICKED OFF by LB Shaquil Barrett who ran it in for a PICK-SIX with just :06 left in the 3rd quarter. In just under 4 minutes, it went from Tennessee closing to within 5 to Baltimore leading 35-16. After that blow to the jaw, Tennessee could see the writing on the wall, even with the double-vision. The 4th quarter was just two teams exchanging punts while trying to run out the clock. FINAL SCORE: BALTIMORE, 35-16. Baker Mayfield was named the game's MVP because of his 3 TD passes (one each to Fuller, Thielen and Andrews), but it was an otherwise pedestrian 17-for-31 for 224 yards and a pick. Truthfully, it was the RAVENS DEFENSE that should have been the MVP, but they couldn't give out 21 game balls (the number of guys who made a tackle). The Ravens totaled 7 sacks by 6 players (Aaron Donald had two). No one had more than 5 tackles (3 tied), but 15 players had 2 or more. CB Chidobe Awuzie and S Terrell Edmunds each defended 4 passes. There were 5 stuffs and 5 hurries, and, of course one pick-six. Matt Ryan was held to just 15 completions on 33 attempts for 179 yards. OBJ caught 5 for 40 yards and Hopkins was restrained to just 3 catches for 35 yards. Thanks to Coach Brunskill for the easy scheduling and punctuality. Next week Tennessee (1-4) hosts Cincinnati (currently 3-1). The early line has the Bengals as 4-point favorites. Baltimore (4-1) travels up I-95 to Philadelphia where they'll face the Eagles (currently 2-2). The odds makers aren't believing in the Ravens and have the Eagles as early 8-point favorites in the Battle of the Birds. Minnesota 10 Detroit 34 70 Brees was on fire & Minny had a 10-7 lead mid way through the 2nd. From there on out, the Lions pretty much looked the best they have on both sides of the ball this season, any season for that matter. Minny hosts Houston. Detroit hosts Tampa Bay for the Black & Blue Division lead. Pretty much everyone knows Nordberg will out coach Mike "Lerch" Chase, but "have the Lions gained enough in the talent area to pull out a win?" Pittsburgh 0 Cincinnati 30 56 5-15 Heavy Rain The Bengals took advantage of three turnovers and some lucky breaks in a downpour to defeat Pittsburgh 30-0 in week 5 IFL action. After forcing a Steelers punt, Cincinnati went on a 9 play-74 yard drive capped off by a Rodgers to Chark Jr. 17 yard scoring strike. After multiple exchanges of punts, the Bengals Jalen Ramsey intercepted a Brady pass that allowed Cincinnati to add a Fairbairn field goal from 37 yards out and a 10-0 lead at around the 10:00 mark of the second quarter. After another Pittsburgh punt, a 58 yard Rodgers to Chark Jr. pass set up a six yard scoring pass to veteran Paul Richardson Jr. for a 17-0 Bengals lead with about eight minutes remaining in the half. On the Steelers first play of the next series, Damiere Byrd fumbled after an eight yard reception, and Cincinnati corner Kyle Fuller recovered. Two plays later Melvin Gordon went in from a yard out, for a 24-0 Bengals lead. Cincinnati would add two Fairbairn field goals for the 30-0 win. Next week, the Steelers host Jacksonville while the Bengals are at division rival Tennessee. Jacksonville 14 New York (N) 38 66 0-10 The 3-1 Jaguars came to Metlife to take on the 2-2 New York Football Giants. The Jaguars would receive the opening kickoff and after moving the ball 19 yards, they would punt away to the Giants. Coach Mays wanted to start the game off with a bang so he called a long fly to Kenny Golladay that would be completed for a 26 yard gain. Then after a 9 yard reception by Hunter Renfrow, Chris Carson would take 2 carries for a total of 38 yards and on the very next play Carson Wentz would throw a strike to Robby Anderson from 17 yards out to get the Giants on the board first with 9:32 left in the 1st quarter. The Jaguars would look to score quick to tie the game up as Josh Allen would complete 5 out of 8 passes to start the drive along with a 15 yard designed run to score the Jags first touchdown of the game with 4:29 left in the 1st quarter. Looking to establish the run, the Giants would hand the ball off 3 times but only gain 6 yards. On the next play, Wentz would hit Darren Fells for a 10 yard gain and the first down. Coach Mays would call a short quick on the next play and Renfrow takes it 51 yards to the house with 1:17 left in the 1 quarter. After kicking off to the Jags, they would suffer a penalty by Doyle and then go 3 and out and punt the ball back to the Giants. The Giants manage to get one pass off before the end of the quarter hitting Fells for a 4 yard gain. 14-7 GIANTS END OF 1 Q The Giants would only end up getting 21 yards on the drive before being forced to punt back to the Jags. The Jags could get nothing going on the drive and go 3 and out again punting away to the Giants. New York would start the drive on their own 39 yard line. Coach Mays gives the ball to Carson on the first two plays gaining 2 and then 12 yards. On the next play, he would try to get creative calling a flea flicker on 1st down at the Jags 47 yard line. The Jags were caught in run defense and Wentz would hit Golladay for a 47 yard touchdown on the flea flicker! The Jags would start their next drive on the 25 yard line but after a sack by Quinn and a 10 yard penalty the drive would stall and Jacksonville would be forced to punt back to the Giants down 21-7. Wentz is on fire at this point as on this drive he hits 4/5 passes and the running game is working as Breida and Carson run for 36 yards combined including the 8 yard touchdown run by Breida with :55 left in the half. The Jags receive the kickoff and just run out the clock to end the half. 28-7 GIANTS END OF 1st HALF The Giants got the ball to start the second half after Jacksonville attempted an onside kick but couldnt recover it. Up 28-7 at half and receiving the kickoff, the Giants decided to put in Wendall Smallwood so he can get some carries in this game. After a couple passes and 7 yards on the ground, the Giants would kick a field goal to make it 31-7. The Jags would try to get something going but after a sack by Williams, they would attempt to convert a 4th down attempt but fail turning the ball back over to the Giants. New York would run the ball this whole drive started off with a 21 yard scamper by Wentz himself and end with a 7 yard touchdown run by Chris Carson making it 38-7. Jacksonville would move the ball down the field on the next drive but again come up short on a 4th and 7 and turn the ball back over to the Giants as the 4th quarter starts. 38-7 GIANTS END OF 2nd Q The Giants would start the final quarter strictly running the ball and end up punting to the Jags. Jacksonville would be led by Josh Allen down the field hitting 8/10 and then end the drive with a qb sneak touchdown to make it 38-14 with 4:20 left. Looking to run out the clock, the Giants would run the ball 4 straight times and come up short on a 4th and 3 when trying to get the first so they could run out the rest of the clock. Jacksonville would complete a couple passes but end up turning the ball over on downs and Wentz would take one knee and the game would be over. 38-14 GIANTS FINAL Good game by Dave as it seemed like I got all the breaks in this one. NEXT WEEK: Giants host Dallas Jacksonville travels to Pittsburgh Oakland 30 Houston 35 70 Kirk Cousins throws for 371 yards and five touchdowns as the Texans win a shootout with Oakland. San Francisco 20 New Orleans 35 70 Saints hold San Francisco to three second half points to hold off 49ers. Rookie A.J. Brown catches four passes for 148 yards and a score. Carolina 33 Atlanta 52 68 Falcons offense was simply unstoppable, making up for 4 games where they couldn't get out of their own way. Phillip Rivers throws 4 TDs and Mostert rushes for 2 as the Falcons win 52 to 33. In any other game, the Panthers offense would have been more than enough with 257 yards and a TD from Russell Wilson and 19 rushes for 118 yards and 2 TDs from Derrick Henry. Drake was also unstoppable with 4 rushes for 80 yards. With the win, the Falcons improve to 2-3 while the Panthers fall to 2-3. Rushing Leaders Peterson,A(Phi) 19-152 1 TD Mack,M(NYJ) 24-149 1 TD Mostert(Atl) 10-128 2 TD Henry,D(Car) 19-118 2 TD Receiving Leaders McLaurin(Hou) 7-168 2 TD Parker,D(Was) 9-165 1 TD Ertz(Atl) 10-153 Kelce,T(Oak) 11-131 1 TD Ogunbowale(Jax) 10- 66 Passing Leaders Allen,K(Oak) 47-33-381 4 TD Cousins(Hou) 29-20-371 5 TD – IFL Offensive Player of the Week Rivers(Atl) 38-25-361 4 TD 1 Int Mahomes(Ari) 31-20-339 5 TD Carr,D(TB) 40-28-306 2 TD Defensive Standouts Niemann(Min) 15 Tk Smith,J(NYG) 20 Tk – IFL Defensive Player of the Week Special Teams Gay(KC) 4-4 FG Hines(NE) 4-131 Punt Ret 1 TD – IFL Special Teams Player of the Week Lambo(Car) 4-4 FG IFL WEEK 5 STANDINGS
IFL WEEK 5 LEAGUE LEADERS
WEEK 4 RECAP Tom Brady shows he still has something left in the tank as Pittsburgh upends Arizona.
Game Scores
Arizona 21 Pittsburgh 31 58 0-10 Well we are in week 4 and the Steelers finally have a home game. But they look around the stadium and there are no terrible towels waiving. Still the Steelers started the Season 1-2 on the road and are happy to be home in their own beds and a familiar locker room. However they knew the first game at home presented a challenge as the 2-1 Arizona Cardinals come to town led by Mahomes and Barkley for a rare visit to the stadium and are installed as a 8 point favorite. Pittsburgh wins the toss and elects to take the ball first. After a 3rd and 9 conversion to avoid a 3 and out Brady finds Rookie TE Dawson Knox for what was a short completion that Knox turns into a 59 yard play setting the home team up with a 1st and goal from the 3. Brady to Byrd on the next play makes it a 7-0 lead after the extra point. The good feeling last on only 2 plays as Patrick Mahomes on a 3rd and 3 finds Kirk on a short slant who was hammered by CB Webb but not only held onto the ball he broke a tackle and took it to the house for a 68 yard score and an explosive start for both teams as the score is now tied. Things settle down as they trade punts the rest of the quarter . End of the 1st Quarter Steelers 7 Cardinals 7 The Steelers get the ball on their own 36 to start the 2nd overcoming a false start they work their way down to the 16 yard line in 6 plays. Brady finds Noah Brown for a TD strike putting the Steelers back up 14-7 with 10 minutes to play in the half. A couple of traded punts and Mahomes and company start from their 48 as for some reason Pittsburgh's punt returner called for a fair catch on his own 2 yard line which gave the Cardinals good starting field position. It did not take long for them to capitalize as Mohomes connects with Mike Williams for 25 yards then Barkley from 14 yards out for the game tying TD. Brady and company would take over on their 25 with 3:31 to go in the half. The veteran would march the troops down the field using 7 runs and setting up a 28 yard FG for Piniera which gives the home team a slim halftime lead. At the Half Steelers 17 Cardinals 14 Arizona opens with the ball in the 3rd and coach Heatons team has the mindset of grinding out a road win. Mahomes and company does just that on the opening drive.The drive does not start out great as the returner tries to bring it out but is hemmed in at the 8 yard line. The Cardinals from there go on a 14 play drive featuring their 2 stars Mahomes hits Williams for an 18 yard gain that gets them out from inside of their 20 and Barkley gets 7 runs as Arizona finds themselves at the 7 facing a 3rd and goal. That's when off season acquisition S Anthony Harris steps in front of a Mahomes pass in the end zone to get his 1st interception of the season and preserve the slim lead for his team. A couple of punts exchanged and the Steelers start a drive with 4:45 to play in the 3rd at their own 25. They would hold it the rest of the quarter mixing pass and run taking it down to the Cardinals 9 yard line. End of 3 Steelers 17 Cardinals 14 When a 1st and goal from the 9 turns into a 3rd and goal from the 5 that's usually going to end in a FG opportunity. But Brady notices something at the line changes the play to a draw for Frank Gore who walks in uncontested for a huge TD for the home team as they felt for the first time this game they may actually pull of the upset. Not so fast my friends Mahomes takes over at the 25 determined to score on this drive. Mahomes goes 5-6 passing overcomes a false start and connects from 11 yards out to RB Duke Johnson (who had 3 catches this drive for 32 yards). 24-21 9:55 left anyone's game. Ogunjobi sacks Brady on a 3rd and 10 on the next drive and Pittsburgh is forced to punt. But the Steelers Defense stiffens up and forces a 3 and out . Brady gets the ball with 6:58 to on his 22 yard line up 3. Time to show the young gun that he still has it. Brady goes 5-5 connects with Tate from 15 yards out to put the Steelers up 10 with 3:23 left to play and this just deflates the Cardinals. Mahomes is intercepted by Webb on the next play from scrimmage to wrap up an upset home victory for the Steelers. Brady throws for 3 TD 297 yards and a 118 passer rating. Mahomes had a tougher day with 3 TD but 2 picks and a 87.3 rating. The Steelers (2-2) pack their bags once again and head to division rival Bengals (3-1) while the Cardinals (2-2) try to re group on the road in a division match up with the Cowboys (0-4) . Baltimore 13 Cincinnati 27 54 20-30 It might be early to call a game in week four a must win but that is how it felt to the IFL Bengals when the first place and undefeated Ravens came to town. Things got off with a bang for Cincinnati as Brandon Wilson took the opening kickoff 100 yards for a quick 7-0 lead. Things were tight after that until Baltimore finally got on the board with a Badgley 47 yard field goal to make it 7-3 early in the second quarter. That's the way it would stand as the 20 to 30 mph winds coming off the Ohio River played havoc for both teams. The second half also began with a bang but this time it was the Ravens with the explosives as Steven Sims Jr. took the second half kickoff 99 yards to give Baltimore their first lead at 10-7. Things were looking bleak for the IFL Bengals as Gordon was stopped short on a fourth and one at the Raven 41. Baltimore converted that into another Badgley field goal to extend their lead to 13-7 with about four and a half minutes remaining in the third quarter. However, on the next series, the two old pros Rodgers and Jeffrey converted a quick pass into a 36 yard touchdown as the Bengals regained the lead 14-13 with a little over a minute remaining in the quarter. The Ravens marched down the field on their next drive until Jesse Bates intercepted Mayfield at the Cincinnati 32. Three plays later Rodgers connected with Chark for the 25 yard score giving Cincinnati a 20-13 lead with about ten and a half minutes remaining. To keep it interesting, Fairbairn missed the point after. On Baltimore's next series, Cincinnati cornerback Kyle Fuller threw a punch at the Ravens Adam Thielen, and was ejected. Still, the Bengals defense forced a turnover on downs. After Cincinnati was forced to punt Baltimore was pinned at their six yard line. With a 25 mph wind in his face Mayfield tossed an ill advised pass that Bengal safety Micah Hyde gathered in to all but clinch the game with 1:39 remaining. Running safe Melvin Gordon added the final score with a dive play for 13 yards for the 27-13 final. Mayfield finished 21 of 39 for 213 yards and two interceptions. Mark Andrews caught eight passes for 100 yards. Rodgers finished 19 of 31 for 196 yards and two touchdowns for Cincinnati. Next week, the Ravens host Tennessee while the Bengals are at home facing another division rival in Pittsburgh. Washington 35 Dallas 21 70 Dak Prescott has himself a day against Dallas going 21-27 for 297 and 3 TDs while also running for a TD. He was unstoppable all game long. Jones pitched in for 100 yards on the ground and a TD as the Redskin offense marched up and down the field. Dallas kept fighting all game long and caught the Redskins snoozing right before the half to claw their way back in. They would follow it up with a couple more scores to bring it within 7 but a failed onside kick gave Dak great field position and he quickly put the game out of reach. It was a rough day for the Dallas kicker as he missed 2 FGs on the day. For the first time in probably over a year the Redskin kicker hit every kick he was asked to make. Steve coached a good game just too many big plays to overcome. Washington moves to 3-1 and will host Philly next week while Dallas will host Arizona at home. Houston 41 Los Angeles (A) 28 73 Calm Kirk Cousins throws three touchdown passes and Joe Mixon runs for two more as the Texans put on an offensive display while picking up their first win. Jacksonville 34 Tennessee 6 63 Calm The Jags completed a sweep of their season series with the Titans. The 34-6 score in this game virtually duplicated the 38-14 beatdown in the first game. Josh Allen did another Russell Wilson imitation as he passed and ran at will. Jacksonville's 428 yards of offense understates their dominance as the 4th quarter consisted of both teams running the ball and killing the clock. Jacksonville visits the NY Giants next week while Tennessee visits the currently undefeated Baltimore Ravens. Joe Burrow looms in the Titans distance. Miami 41 Indianapolis 0 69 Indianapolis, Indiana (IFL.com) – The Miami Dolphins (2-2) traveled north to take on the bewildered Indianapolis Colts (1-3), a rematch from week one. In that first meeting the Dolphins shutout the visiting Colts 24-0, in the second meeting the Dolphins shutout the Colts 41-0. First Half The combination of running back Mark Ingram (14-68 Yds, 2 TD, 3 rec 41 Yds, 1 TD) and the play action passes of Jared Goff (26-18, 250 Yds, 4 TD) proved to be no match for the struggling Colts. Goff threw 4 touchdown passes in the first half, and Ingram ran for two scores in the second half. The Dolphins open the scoring with a 7 yard touchdown pass from Goff to Anthony Firkser (TE) followed by a 10 yard pass to Ingram, a 14 yard pass to wideout Mecole Hardman (kick no good), and a 20 your pass to Brandin Cooks (WR). Halftime score Miami 27 Colts 0. Second Half In the second half Ingram ran for his first and second rushing touchdowns of the season. Following an 11 play 75 yard drive Ingram would cap it off with a 7 yard trap for the score. Ingram second score was a fourth quarter 2-yard dive play into the end-zone following an 11-60 yard drive, putting an end to this one-sided contest. Final score Miami 41 Colts 0. Key stats and notable performances: Net offense First downs Dolphins 370 Dolphins 22 Colts 173 Colts 9 Time of possession Dropped passes Dolphins 36:35 Dolphins 0 Colts 23:25 Colts 6 Colts Brian Hoyer 36-16, 146 Yds, 2 INT, 32.9 QB Rating Colts 2-10 on third down Next Miami host Buffalo Bills (1-2) Indianapolis travel to LA to take on the Rams (1-2). Tampa Bay 30 Kansas City 13 56 5-15 Derek Carr tosses three touchdown passes as Bucs have no trouble in Kansas City. Los Angeles (N) 17 San Francisco 7 72 5-15 The Rams throttled the 49er offense the entire game. SF could only get 6 first downs and was stopped by the Ram defense. On the other hand, LA's Daniel Jones threw for 2 TD passes (27-36, 240 yard) and Miles Sander ran for 73 yard and caught 5 passes. The only highlight of the game for the 49ers was an 82 yd punt return by Agnew for a TD. The longest "drive" for SF was 34 yards. The Rams face Indianapolis next week while the 49ers go to face division leader New Orleans. Buffalo 13 New York (A) 34 67 5-15 Another Jet’s home game, their second, without fans, per Governor Murphy. The piped in fan noise just isn’t the same. Murphy is the Governor of New Jersey which is where the Jets, and Giants play their home games. Both Murphy, and Governor Cuomo of New York, have not allowed fans to attend sporting events in their states...we’ve been told they will consider fans for October games. Here’s hoping. Onto the game...the Jets scored on the first possession of the game. After receiving the opening kickoff they drove 75 yards in a little over 4 minutes, culminating in an 11 yard TD pass from Watson to Higbee. Buffalo’s first possession saw rookie quarterback Murray picked off on 3rd down at their own 18 yard line. It only took the Jet’s 3 plays to make it 14-0, on a Watson to Woods 8 yard TD pass. It helped that the Bill’s cornerbacks were following the CDC’s social distancing guidelines. Another 3, and out, this time by punting, by the Bills gave New York the ball at their 49 yard line. With great field position for the second time in a row, they went 51 yards in 9 plays to make it 20-0(missed extra point). This time it was Watson to Higbee from 14 yards out, good social distancing once again. The Bills kicked 2 field goals in the second quarter to make it 20-6, Jets at the half. Buffalo started the second half out with a quick 3, and out giving the Jets the ball at the Jet’s 40 yard line. New York took 8 plays, and over 5 minutes to go 60 yards which ended in a Mack 12 yard TD run...NYJ 27-6. From this point on both teams took the air out of the ball, no not literally like the Patriots did, but figuratively by running the clock. Each team tacked on a touchdown to make the final 34-13 Jets. Next week Buffalo visits Miami to try to squish the fish, and New York visits New England. Green Bay 28 Minnesota 31 68 The Packers and Vikings always put on a good show. This game did not disappoint. The Vikings dominated play: 530 total yards gained versus 311. Brees passing for 460 yards versus McCarron for 185. Time of play 44 minutes for the Vikes, versus only 23 for the Pack. Vikings converted 9 third downs, the Packers only 2 the entire game. On the Packer's side, the Pack had only 49 yards in penalties versus 103 for the Vikings. And Brees was sacked 5 times compared to 0 for McCarron. But the hidden advantage for the Pack was their coach. Conners is known for his coaching skill and, dare I say, for his behind-the-scenes scheming. His team put up lousy stats, but still managed to score four touchdowns to make the score 28-28 with 55 seconds to go. However, 55 seconds is nothing for Brees. Before you knew it, the Vikings were in field goal range, and they tried to call time out to kick the winning field goal. Don't know how he pulled this off, but somehow Conners got the game to stop displaying a timeout option at this crucial moment. I've been playing Action Footbal for about a decade now, I have called hundreds of timeouts without any problems, and have never seen this happen before. But this time, Timeout had disappeared from the screen as an option. The clock kept ticking, and with no timeout anywhere on the screen, I tried to kick the field goal anyway .... but could I do that? No, no, no, of course not. The game (so helpful!) reminded me to go into a hurry-up offense before I could kick a field goal. Then the game automatically put me in a hurry-up offense -- and of course, like a bad TV game show, the horn blew, and I was informed I was too late ("No field goal for you!!", as they would say on Seinfeld). How did you pull that off, Snake?? In OT, after the Pack was forced to put, the Vikings again drove into field goal range, and this time the game allowed them a timeout - thank you , DKS! Zuerlein kicked a 41-yarder and the Vikes won 31-28. Don't look now, but the overachieving Vikes have now won 9 of their last 11 games. Atlanta 14 New England 45 69 0-10 Falcons took the opening kick but Phillip Rivers was quickly picked off by Kyzir White to set up a 4 yard McCaffrey TD run, giving NE a 7-0 lead. Rivers answers right back with a 35-yard TD strike to James Washington to tie the game at 7 apiece. Late in the first quarter with Atlanta focused on stopping McCaffrey, Lamar Jackson found Hayden Hurst open for an 18 yard TD. 14-7 Patriots Atlanta answers once again with a 75 yard, 13 play drive capped by a Tevin Coleman 5 yard TD. 14-14 Jackson finds Courtland Sutton for 42 yards down to the Atlanta 17 yard line, but the drive stalls and NE settles for a field goal. After Atlanta's next drive fizzles, Jackson proceeds to complete 5 of 5 passes, including a 25 yarder to Sutton and 18 to Hurst, before finding Ekeler for an 11 yard TD and the Pats went into the locker room with a 24-14 halftime lead. Pats took the kickoff in the 3rd quarter and put up another score. After a McCaffrey 26 yard run, Ekeler broke off his own 18 yard run to the Falcon 31. Three plays later Jackson found Kupp for a 21 yard TD. 31-14 NE Rivers looked to answer and found Larry Fitzgerald on a short pass play - but Richard Sherman stripped the ball out and NE took over once again at the Atl 33. Jackson connected with Kupp on consecutive plays for 22 yards and then an 11 yard TD to give NE a 38-14 lead. Pats would go on to win 45-14. Lamar Jackson was 19-23 for 283 yards and 4 TDs. Cooper Kupp caught 7 balls for 116 yards and 2 TDs. Pats put up 462 yards and went 5 of 6 in the red zone. For Atlanta, James Washington caught 3 passes for 72 yards and a TD. Next week undefeated Patriots host the undefeated Jets while Atlanta hosts Carolina. Detroit 24 Chicago 13 54 5-15 The Lions came to Chicago as a 1 point road favorite, with the winner maintaining a shae of the division lead. The Bears game plan was to concentrate on Fournette and challenge Darnold to beat them. Penalties and a sluggish offense vs. a very strong Detroit defense did not produce the desired Chicago result. The Bears opened the scoring and led 7-0 after the 1st quarter, but an interception deep in Chicago territory led to the first Lions TD. After an exchange of field goals, Detroit took a late 2nd quarter 17-10 lead. With 0:43 left on the clock, Jimmy G led the Bears on a quick drive that produced a long field goal and a 17-13 halftime lead for the Lions. The second half was a defensive struggle. Both offenses had some success moving the ball, but drive after drive failed. The Lions ran out the clock and scored a touchdown in the closing seconds. New York (N) 24 Philadelphia 17 59 Calm The Giants started off the season a disappointing 1-2 and traveled to the 2-1 Eagles looking to turn their season around before it got out of hand. The Giants received the opening kickoff and started from their 25 yard line. Looking to establish the run early, Coach Mays handed it off to Carson 3 straight times to start the game gaining 9, 4 and 6. Wentz would then hit two passes moving the Giants into Eagles territory and then a couple plays later Matt Breida would take a carry 27 yards getting tackled at the inch line giving Chris Carson an easy TD. This lead would not last long as Tannehill would lead a 4 minute drive completing 4 passes along with a Giants 12 yard penalty and capped off by a 13 yard strike to Edelman to tie this game at 7. The teams would trade a punt to end the first quarter 7-7 END OF 1st The Giants would again try to establish the run carrying the ball 6 times on the drive but stalling at the Eagles 23 yard line. Gonzalez would kick the 41 yard field goal to give the Giants a 10-7 lead. On the Eagles next drive they would move the ball to the Giants 43 yard line but would turn the ball over on downs after Tannehill misses Edelman on the 4th and 3 try. Unfortunately for Coach Mays, the Giants could not capitalize on the turnover on downs and would punt the ball back to the Eagles a couple plays later. The Eagles would abandon the run on this drive throwing 6 straight passes and getting a pass interference call for 33 yards taking them down to the 26. But after 2 straight incompletions and a sack by Dupree, the Eagles would kick a field goal to again tie the game up at 10. The Giants would both go 3 and out to end the 1st half of play. 10-10 END OF 1st HALF The Eagles start the 2nd half with the ball and led by Tannehill would go right down the field and score on a strike to John Brown from 22 yards away. Eagles take the lead 17-10. The Giants would drive down the field but would stall at the 31 forcing another field goal to make it 17-13. Eagles are not able to get anything going and punt away to the Giants and they run 2 plays before the 3rd quarter ends. 17-13 Eagles END OF 3rd Continuing their drive, it would stall again but this time at the opponents 10. On 4th and 1, Coach Mays had a tough decision but after thinking for a few seconds, he decided to kick the field goal making it a 17-16 game with 10:40 left. The Giants and Eagles defenses would hold tough for most of the rest of the quarter causing each team to punt the ball away and the Giants would kick the ball with 2:17 and one final chance to win this game. On their own 34, Wentz would heat up and drive the Giants down the field methodically knowing his team only needs a field goal to win this one so they attempted to also run as much clock as they could. With 43 seconds left, the Giants had moved the ball to the 14 yard line and looking to kill some more clock to kick a last second field goal, would run the ball with Carson but he had other plans as he took the run 14 yards for a TD. The Giants would go for to two and convert making it a 7 point game with 32 seconds left. The Eagles would get the ball at the 25 yard line and hit Brown for a 10 yard gain but that would be all they would get as Bosa sacked Tannehill on the next play and then Tannehill would miss his next 3 passes to end the game. Giants 24 @ Eagles 17 Great game to Greg - was a fun one. NEXT WEEK: Giants host Jacksonville Eagles visit Washington New Orleans 14 Carolina 24 70 0-5 Carolina is fortunate to pull out a win against a strong Saints' defense. Henry, coming off a 200 yard performance, was throttled by the Saints D to 55 yards on 19 carries. Saints jump to a 14-3 halftime lead but a strong second half pulls out a victory for the Panthers. Oakland 22 Denver 21 71 0-5 Oakland squeaks out a win as they have 5 turnovers but still get the 22-21 win Rushing Leaders Mixon(Hou) 27-131 2 TD – IFL Offensive Player of the Week Lindsay(GB) 19-112 Mack,M(NYJ) 20-107 2 TD Breida(NYG) 14-106 Chubb,N(LAC) 14-105 Jones,A(Was) 20-101 1 TD Receiving Leaders Allen,K(Min) 14-174 1 TD Parker,D(Was) 7-158 1 TD Godwin(Hou) 7- 88 3 TD Passing Leaders Brees(Min) 54-45-460 4 TD Stafford(Oak) 51-30-386 2 TD 3 Int Jackson,L(NE) 23-19-283 4 TD Garoppolo(Chi) 40-30-280 1 TD 1 Int Goff(Mia) 26-18-250 4 TD McCarron(GB) 35-15-185 4 TD Defensive Standouts Martinez(Ten) 15 Tk Mack(LAN) 5 Tk, 1 sk – IFL Defensive Player of the Week Special Teams Sims Jr.(Bal) 3-160 Kick Ret 1 TD Pineiro (Pit) 1 FG, 4 XP – IFL Special Team Player of the Week IFL WEEK FOUR STANDINGS
IFL WEEK FOUR LEAGUE LEADERS
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