The Chicago Bears forced Tony Romo to throw five interception to improve to 3-1 and defeat  the Dallas Cowboys 34-18.

The Bears defense had a busy evening, forcing turnovers the entire night. Bears safety, Major Wright, had two interceptions giving him a total of three on the season, and the second best in the NFL.  Cornerback, Charles Tillman, picked off Romo in the 1st quarter and ran it back 25 yards for a touchdown. Linebacker, Lance Briggs, picked Romo off in the 3rd quarter and took it back 75 yards for another touchdown. Cornerback, D.J Moore, also had an interception. The Bears lead the NFL with a total of 11 interceptions. Bears Safety, Chris Conte, led the Bears with 11 tackles.

Romo’s five interceptions tied a career high for the Dallas quarterback. Interestingly enough, Romo’s first five interception game was back in 2007, also on Monday night. Four weeks in, and Romo currently leads the NFL with eight interceptions. Romo did throw one touchdown to wide receiver, Miles Austin. Austin finished the game with four receptions for 57 yards.

Romo’s awful performance ended late in the 4th quarter and back-up, Kyle Orton, took over. On Orton’s only drive, he completed 8-of-9 passes for 89 yards and one touchdown. Orton’s lone touchdown was too tight-end, Jason Witten; Witten finished the game with 13 receptions for 112 yards. Cowboys running back, DeMarco Murray, struggled running the ball for a third straight week. Murray had 11 carries for 24 yards. Murray was featured in the pass game, catching seven passes for 57 yards.

Chicago Bears quarterback, Jay Cutler had a season best 75% completion percentage, threw for 275 yards and had two touchdowns. After being contained under 100 receiving yards the last two weeks, Brandon Marshall caught seven passes for 138 yards and one touchdown. Devin Hester caught Cutler’s first touchdown pass of the night, and Hester caught three passes for 38 yards. The Bears were delighted to welcome Matt Forte back after missing last week because of an injury. Forte had 13 carries for 52 yards.

The Bears are currently atop the NFC North Division with the Minnesota Vikings at 3-1. Chicago will be on the road again next week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. As for the Dallas Cowboys, they are in a three-way tie at 2-2 in the NFC East Division. Luckily for the Cowboys, they can rebuild and get things together during their bye week. The Cowboys will be back in action in Baltimore to take on the Ravens October 14th.

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Defending Super Bowl champions, the New York Giants, welcomed one of their division rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, to MetLife Stadium to kickoff the 2012 NFL season.

Unfortunately, the Giants did not look as good as they did last time they faced the Cowboys in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

In an early defensive gridlock, the Giants took the lead in the 2nd quarter thanks to a Lawrence Tynes 22 yard field goal. Their lead did not last long: two drives later, from their own 22 yard line, the Dallas Cowboys marched right down the field. On 2nd and 5, at the Giants 10 yard line, Cowboy quarterback Tony Romo found wide receiver Kevin Ogletree for a 10 yard touchdown to help retake the lead 7-3.

Dallas started the 2nd half right where they left off. On their first drive, once again Romo connected with Ogletree for a 40 yard touchdown to put the Cowboys up 14-3. Eli Manning and the New York Giants jumped right back into it on their first possession. Manning drove from his own 11 yard line to the Cowboys 10, where Ahmad Bradshaw punched in a 10 yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 4 points. Dallas extended their lead back to 7, toward the end of the 3rd quarter with a Dan Bailey 33 yard field goal.

Dallas extended the lead even further after the Giants failed to drive down the field and were forced to punt. Starting at their own 18, running back DeMarco Murray started picking apart the Giants defense with his quick and explosive runs. At the Giants own 34 yard line, Romo was quick to realize the defensive mismatch, and connected with wideout Miles Austin for a touchdown.

With little time left, and down by 14, the Giants converted two key 4th down attempts to stay in the game. At the Cowboys own 9 yard line, Manning dropped back and connected with ex Cowboy Martellus Bennet. However, it just was not enough after Dallas converted on 3rd and 10. Romo kneeled the Cowboys to a 24-17 victory.

Romo finished the game with 307 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception, and a quarterback rating of 129.5. In what is going to be a pressure-filled season for Romo, he certainly did not let it effect him week 1. As for Dallas’ run game, Murray averaged 6.6 yards per carry and rushed for 131 yards. Ogletree led all receivers with 8 receptions for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns. It was evident that Romo took advantage of the Giants banged up secondary.

Defensively for the Cowboys,  linebacker Sean Lee stole the show and had 12 tackles as well as one forced fumble. In addition, defensive menace DeMarcus Ware hit the 100 sack milestone and is the 28th player in NFL history to do so after his 5 tackles and two sacks against the Giants.

As for the Giants, Manning finished the game off with 213 yards and one touchdown. Bradshaw led the giants in rushing, compiling 78 yards on the ground and on touchdown. As for their receiving core, Victor Cruz led all Giants receivers with 6 receptions and 58 yards. Cruz could have easily bumped his stat sheet but dropped a few passes.

The Giants have some serious concern regarding their secondary. An already injured battered secondary became worse after: Michael Coe got injured in the 2nd half. Coe was already replacing injured corner Prince Amukamara. The Giants had no choice but to put in 5th year defensive back Justin Tryon. If the Giants do not get healthy quickly, many teams will pick them apart via passing game.

Both the Cowboys and the Giants will be back in action Sunday, September 16. The Cowboys will be on the road against the Seattle Seahawks. As for the Giants, they are hoping to bounce back next week when they welcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to MetLife Stadium.

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With excitement growing over the upcoming NFL draft following the annual Combine, the opportunity arises to evaluate whether or not this draft can live up to the lofty expectations placed upon the class’ offensive players by their predecessors. The exceptional performances of Cam Newton and co. have surprised nearly everyone, coaches and fans alike, and have set the bar high for Andrew Luck and his colleagues.

Although he was drafted first overall by the Carolina Panthers, Newton had his critics before the start of the season, much of which was due to a poor preseason, and was not expected to make the kind of impact that you would expect from a number one pick. In addition to this, the fact Newton is a quarterback, arguably the most difficult position to successfully transition from College Football to the NFL, had many people writing him off before he had even begun.

An exhilarating start against the Arizona Cardinals, with Newton passing for over 400 yards, and people were regretting their decision to judge the quarterback prematurely. Fast forward another few weeks and a string of similarly impressive performances had erased almost all doubts and even had some foolhardy, most likely Carolina fans, labelling him as an ‘Elite Quarterback’.

This heaps pressure onto fellow Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III and projected No. 1 pick Andrew Luck considerably. Both will be coming into the NFL with more expectation on them than Newton had and will be required to perform to a similar level now that Newton has set the bar for rookie quarterbacks.

In a year that saw the rise to prominence of the tight end, it was rookie wide receivers that were making a name for themselves. First round wide receivers A. J. Green and Julio Jones both made big contributions to their respective teams, whilst second round pick Torrey Smith had a good season for the Baltimore Ravens, giving their offence a much needed deep threat.

Justin Blackmon of Oklahoma State is clearly the best wide receiver coming into the NFL this year, but his ability to make an impact on the level of Green and Jones depends much on which team, and their respective quarterback, drafts him. Georgia Tech product Stephen Hill also excelled at the combine and could find himself drafted late in the first round where many of the elite quarterbacks will be waiting to link up with him.

The offensive line may be one area in which the upcoming set of rookies have the edge on their predecessors, lead by the powerful Matt Kalil. Kalil, the younger brother of Panthers center Ryan Kalil, heads a group of young offensive linemen that include Wisconsin’s Peter Konz and Iowa’s Riley Reiff to name but a few.

It often takes a season or two before a young offensive linesman is ready for a starting role in the NFL, but this group of players seem as ready as any group that has preceded them. The Dallas Cowboys’ Tyron Smith was arguably the pick of the 2011 class and has been tipped to make the daunting move to left tackle this coming season, a position which Kalil has been tipped to be ready for in his rookie season.

With the increase in passing yards per game and the relatively short careers of running backs, many experts are saying the days of running backs being drafted in the first round are numbered, with the class of this year tending to agree with this prediction. Trent Richardson of Alabama is an incredible prospect and has been tipped by most to go with the third or fourth pick in the first round, but beyond Richardson there are no real standout prospects and there is a good chance no other running back will be drafted in the first round.

It is hard to predict the effectiveness of running backs in their debut NFL season due to the nature of frequent injuries in the position affecting how many touches a player is going to get. Richardson will have to outperform DeMarco Murray who was the best rookie running back in the NFL last season, but with the diminishing role of running backs in the professional game, it remains to be seen whether or not this will come to pass.

The extra pressure placed on Luck and Griffin because of Newton’s outstanding season could well be their downfall, with both also unlikely to have a wide receiver of Steve Smith’s quality to pass to. That being said, the fact the top four prospected picks are all offensive players speaks volumes about how talented these players are, and providing they have the right pieces around them, the offensive rookies in the upcoming draft may even be able to outshine a great group in the class of 2011.

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The Bills come into the game on Sunday looking to avoid losing two in a row for the first time this season when they travel to Jerryworld to square off with the Cowboys who are trying to keep pace with the Giants for the NFC East. “The focus is trying to win a game. … We got everything in front of us — we hold our own destiny in our own hands, so we gotta go take care of business,” coach Chan Gailey said.

Buffalo, who sit at 5-3 tied atop the AFC East with the Patriots and the Jets, failed to take care of any business last Sunday against the Jets. They fell 27-11 and saw their high power offense, which is tied for the highest scoring in the AFC with the Patriots at 27.8 points per game, sputter as the Jets made them look like the one win Dolphins. The Bills went 3 for 11 on third down and turned it over three times.

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two interceptions and had his worst game of the year going 15 of 31 for 191 yards and a touchdown. ”It was a bad game,” said Fitzpatrick. “We certainly didn’t have our best effort out there, and I think that’s where a lot of disappointment and frustration comes in.”

Fitzpatrick will look to bounce back facing a Cowboys pass defense that’s right in the middle of the pack ranked 16^th giving up 232.5 yards per game. The Bills are led by running back Fred Jackson who is having a career year leading the AFC at 100.4 yards per game and helping the Bills to the 7^th ranked rushing attack with 135 yards per game.

However, the Jets held the team to only 96 yards on the ground and forced Jackson’s first fumble of the year. They will look to get back to the run, as Dallas has struggled lately giving up 401 yards on the ground the past two weeks. Dallas will get Sean Lee back who is their leading tackler and this should help them somewhat.

For Buffalo to keep pace for the AFC East title they’ll have to go at least 2-1 on their three game road trip facing Dallas, Miami, and then the Jets again before heading home to face Tennessee. ”It will be a difficult stretch, but we don’t have to play all three of them at the same time,” Jackson said. “If we go out and continue to make plays like we have been throughout the season, we feel like we’ll be OK.”

Buffalo has struggle so far on the road this year by going 1-2, but the losses came against the Giants and the Bengals, both who are in first place in their divisions. Each loss was only by three points. The Cowboys sit at 4-4, but are looking to make a push in the second half of the season as they benefit from an easy schedule. They also benefit from the first place Giants having a tough stretch over the next few weeks.

After the Bills the Cowboys face Washington, Miami, and Arizona who have a combined record of 6-18. After that, the Giants come to town in what looks to be a pivotal matchup. ”We’ve done a lot of things to build on over the first eight games, a lot we can be positive about. … But we have to get better,” said Garrett

When starting running back Felix Jones got hurt, people expected the running game to take a step back, but the opposite has happened with rookie DeMarco Murray shining rushing for 466 yards in three games. They hope he can keep it up against a Bills run defense that ranks 20^th giving up 120.8 yards per game.

“We are going to have a great 1-2 punch when Felix gets healthy,” Witten said. “It’s going to put us in a great situation.” The Cowboys are a little banged up with Felix Jones still being questionable and wide receiver Miles Austin out for possibly a month after he reinjured his hamstring last week.

With no Austin, Dez Bryant figures to see a lot more targets, along with tight end Kevin Ogletree and wide receiver Laurent Robinson. Buffalo’s defense, while rich with playmaking ability, they lead the AFC with 15 interceptions, isn’t that great. They rank 25^th against the pass giving up 260.4 yards per game.

The game should be a close contest as both teams can put up a lot of points in a hurry. Both teams need to win to keep pace in their respective races, but with the Bills on the road and Dallas’ defense being run by Rob Ryan, Rex’s twin brother, they will see a dose of the same stuff they saw against the Jets. The Cowboys should be able to get a win at home. Final Prediction: Bills 17 Cowboys 27.

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It’s the team that nobody saw coming. For the past few years, the Bills have been the laughing stock of the AFC East. They were the one team bringing down a division with the power house Patriots and the better than average Jets and Dolphins.

Not anymore. The Bills have quietly been putting together a good team and this year, we are finally seeing just how good this team and Harvard graduate QB Ryan Fitzpatrick can be. The Bills realize this and recently gave him a big contract extension of 6 years $59 million, locking up their franchise man for years to come. That extension is bad news for the rest of the AFC East.

He’s been worth every penny of that, having a career year, and has the Bills sitting in a 1^st place tie atop the AFC East with the New England Patriots at 5-2. He’s ranked 6^th in the league in quarter back, rating at 97.8 for the season. The Bills are third in the league, scoring 30.1 points per game this year.

While only being ranked 13^th overall in passing at 239.6 yards a game, the running game has received a boost from their QB play ranking 5^th overall at 140.6 a game. Running back Fred Jackson, who is having an MVP type season, is fourth in the league in yards with 721 and is ranked fourth among running backs in receiving with just over 350 yards.

He’s tied for first with Matt Forte of runs over 20 yards ranks second in yards per game with 103.0 and is fourth in yards per carry at 5.5, but is second in running backs to LeSean McCoy. DeMarco Murray and Michael Vick are one and two, but have half the carries of McCoy and Jackson. Jackson also has zero fumbles this season so far.

While the Bills defense isn’t one of the better in the league, they still put fear into a team as they lead the league in interceptions with 18 and three touchdowns off interceptions. This defense has potential the potential to be real solid in the coming years if they can keep everyone healthy. They showed this last week shutting out the Washington Redskins 23-0 and racking up 9 sacks in the process.

To the Bills credit, they’ve also been doing this against quality opponents. They’ve beaten Kansas City and Oakland, both who are tied for first with San Diego for the AFC West all sitting at 4-3. They’ve beaten the Patriots once already and beat a good Philadelphia Eagles team who has recently been turning things around after a horrible start.

They took care of business against an obviously weaker Washington team, shutting them out last week. The Bills only losses come at the hands of the Bengals and the Giants. Both these teams are atop of their divisions and have a 5-2 record. The Bills should have more respect than they do.

Consider that the Patriots have a worse defense in football, giving up 424.1 yards a game compared to the Bills who are 385.9, the Patriots are considered playoff contenders and potential Super Bowl threats. The same could be said for the Packers who rank below the Bills in yards per game giving up 391.0 and currently hold the 31^st spot in opponents passing yards per game, yet they’re widely regarded as being the best team in football.

These teams are led by their quarterbacks and Fitzpatrick has proven he can do that. Add to that a more potent running attack than either Brady or Rodgers has and this is a team that can go deep into the playoffs.

If that’s not enough for you, think about the New Orleans Saints team that won the Super Bowl a few years ago. They are very much like this Bills team in that they have a strong quarterback, a high scoring offense, and a defense that isn’t that great, but forces turnovers and scores points.

This Bills team is as good as they’re record and play this season has been. In a quarterback driven league they’ve found their man in Ryan Fitzpatrick. They are proving they can score points with anyone in the league and if teams with good quarterbacks and bad defenses can be in the hunt for the Super Bowl the same should be said for the Bills.

The fan base has been waiting patiently for this time to come and it has come quicker than expected, but not as a shock at all. So the next time you go to dismiss the Bills as a top team in this league, think about what they’re doing and show them some respect.

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The Dallas Cowboys came out of the game against the St. Louis Rams with an easy 34-7 win, with the help of rookie running back DeMarco Murray. Murray, backup for starter Felix Jones, ran for a franchise record of 253 yards, including a 91 yard touchdown at the beginning of the game on Sunday.

Murray’s touchdown was the second-longest touchdown in the history of the Cowboys, second only to Tony Dorsett’s 99-yard touchdown, which holds the NFL record. The Cowboys (3-3) end their two game losing streak with help from quarterback Tony Romo, who threw 14 for 24 and two touchdowns to Dez Bryant and Jason Witten.

A performance like this would be expected against a team like St. Louis, who has the worst defense against the run in the NFL, allowing 163 yards per game. The only points received by the Rams were due to a rushing touchdown by Steven Jackson. St. Louis quarterback A.J. Feeley threw 20 of 33 for 196 yards and one interception.

The Rams (0-6) were not even able to stop fourth-string running back Phillip Tanner from running a 35 yard drive for a touchdown after Murray was taken out of the game with an injury. The Cowboys travel to face the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday, while the St. Louis Rams go back home to face the New Orleans Saints.

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