HUT!! Newsletter of Gameplan League NFLAZ

Week 4 Review

The Seahawks came out all guns blazing against the Jets but to no avail. Despite some massive completions by the Hawks, the Jets were able to contain them and rack up a decent score themselves to record the win.

Poor old Raiders. Despite a good performance on the ground and a massive kick return of 91 yards, they still can't get that win. A poor Raider passing game and some good special teams work by the Bills lost yet another game for them.

An excellent showing by the Pats saw them steamroller the Browns who were unable to cope with the mighty Patriot running game.A great result for the Dolphins in the North vs. North battle. Although the fins were favourites to get this one, a shut-out is always impressive and this was managed despite having to punt 8 times.

The Chargers slump to 2-2 in a close game with Houston. The Oilers managed to do a job on the Chargers aerial attack. Despite this, the game appears to have been lost due to a couple of failed 4th down attempts by San Diego.

The result of the Week has to be the demolition of the Steelers by the Broncos. Whilst the Offensive stats aren't outstanding (the run stats look a lot worse if you take out that 60 yard TD run), the Defence managed to limit Pittsburgh to a "mere" 24 points and also scored 16 of Denver's 40 points.

The Giants, who I thought were the best side in the NFC last season, just managed to scrape past the Falcons in a very low scoring match. Both teams managed to get the bonus form point for preventing TDs.

The ever impressive Cardinals strolled to victory in a predictably one-sided game against the Saints. Having said that, for once this seems to have been due to the Arizona defence rather than the usually red-hot offence. The Cards are well on their way to making the Playoffs again. Who knows, if they manage to win the NFC East rather than relying on a Wild Card, they might make it all the way this season…

A resurgent Bears team brushed the inconsistent Cowboys aside in a quality 28-7 win, despite the Pokes shutting down the Chicago running game. Pete's going to have to pull out all the stops if he wants to avoid the wooden spoon in the East.

The Redskins demonstrated the intricacies of both sides of the passing game to Vikings, with a reasonable display of long passing and the destruction of the Minnesota game. Not only were the Vikings limited to 8 yards per completion, but they also gave up 4 interceptions.

The 49ers came unstuck at the Packers, narrowly losing a close match. Turnovers were key in the game as was the failed 4th and goal by the 49ers on the 1 yard line. The Pack are a quality side though and did deserve the win, maybe this will give them to impetus to challenge the Bears.

The Rams are a changed team this season. Although the defence still looks a little creaky, they showed their quality by easily coping with Tampa. Expect big things from the Rams this season

Week 5 Preview

Game of the Week: Oilers @ Steelers

There are several interesting match-ups this week, but this is the one that really catches the eye.

From the stats to date, we can see that the Steelers have a marginally better record in both Pass Offence and Defence, whereas the Oilers dominate the rushing game on both sides of the ball.

Last time around, the Steeler managed to get the double over the Oilers, they'll be out to repeat that this season to help ease the pain of finishing with nothing last year. The Oilers are looking dominant though and will be heartened by the Steelers loss last week to the Broncos.

A tough one to call, but I'll say the Oilers by 3.

OK, thats all I've got time for. It should be business as usual next week, so email any contributions to Paul Denyer.

Cheers,

Dave Harris