The Detroit Lions improved to 2-3, after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 26-23 in overtime.

A key defensive pass interference against the Eagles put the Lions at the one-yard line with an opportunity to win the game. Stafford and the Lions were unable to score and settled for a 19 yard field by kicker Jason Hanson to force overtime.

The Eagles won the toss but were unable to move the ball forward. Quarterback Michael Vick was sacked twice for a total of -21 yards. On the ensuing punt, the Lions started their drive at midfield. Quarterback Matthew Stafford connected with Calvin Johnson for a 17 yard gain on 1st and 20 from Philadelphia’s 44 yard line to put the Lions in field goal range. Two plays later, Hanson nailed a 45 yard field goal for the win.

The Lions were led by Stafford, who completed 22-of-45 passes for 311 yards, one touchdown and one interception. This was Stafford’s 3rd game throwing for over 300 yards this season. Stafford punched in his second rushing touchdown of the year in the fourth quarter.

Calvin Johnson led the Lions with six receptions for 135 yards. Johnson, has compiled 100+ yards three times this season. However, he only has one touchdown and was held without a touchdown for a second consecutive week. Stafford’s lone touchdown pass was to wideout Nate Burleson for his second of the season in the fourth quarter. Burleson finished the game with four catches for 24 yards.

Young running back Mikel Leshoure led the Lions ground attack with 15 carries for 70 yards. Leshoure also caught three passes for 24 yards. Detroit has still yet to develop a consistent run game.

Michael Vick continues to struggle turning the ball over. Vick fumbled and had two interceptions and completed 28-of-46 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns. Vick also ran nine times for 59 yards.

Eagles fans held their breath in the 3rd quarter when running back LeSean McCoy left the game with an apparent lower leg injury. McCoy returned, and finished the game with 14 carries for 22 yards. McCoy also caught seven passes for 26 yards and a touchdown in the second quarter.

Jeremy Maclin led the Eagles receiving core with six receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown in the 4th quarter. This was Maclin’s first 100+ receiving game of the season. Receiver DeSean Jackson also caught five passes for 74 yards.

The Lions will be back in action next Monday, October 22 in a pivotal division rivalry game against the Chicago Bears. As for the 3-3 Eagles, they will be welcoming the undefeated Atlanta Falcons to Lincoln Financial Field.

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The New York Giants came up short against division rivals the Philadelphia Eagles 19-17, and dropped to 2-2 on the season.

The Giants started their final drive on their own 35 yard-line without any timeouts, hoping Eli Manning would lead them to another 4^th quarter comeback victory. Eli slowly began picking apart the Eagles’ defense. However, time was not on the Giants’ side. On 3^rd and 10, on Philadelphia’s 35 yard-line, Eagles cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was flagged for defensive pass interference, putting the Giants in a much easier field goal situation.

Two plays later, Manning attempted to go deep against Ramses Barden, but he was flagged for offensive pass interference, pushing the Giants back to the Eagles’ 36 yard-line. Lawrence Tynes lined up for a game-winning field goal, and missed. Tynes was able to re-kick because the Eagles called timeout. On the retry, Tynes lined up for the 54-yard field goal, and came up just short.

Michael Vick and the Eagles kneeled their way to victory on the following play. Vick led the Eagles, with 241 passing yards and one touchdown. The Eagles’ offensive line was able to protect Vick from giving up two sacks. Vick also scrambled six times for 49 yards. He recorded a quarterback rating of 99.4, a season best for the veteran. Vick’s lone touchdown pass was to the electrifying receiver, DeSean Jackson, in the 2^nd quarter. Jackson led Philly with six receptions and 99 yards. The Eagles were able to open up running holes for star running back LeSean McCoy, who compiled 123 yards on the ground on 23 carries, and had three receptions for 17 yards.

Eli Manning threw for 309 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the tough loss. Manning was intercepted inside the Eagles’ 10 yard-line at the start of the 4^th quarter. Giants’ running back Ahmad Bradshaw returned from injury but was not very effective, rushing for 39 yards on 13 carries. In addition, Andre Brown struggled against the Eagles, only rushing for 14 yards on five carries. The Giants’ receiving core was without Hakeem Nicks once again.  Domenik Hixon carried the load for the Giants, catching six receptions for 114 yards. Victor Cruz also had a big game, catching nine passes for 109 yards. Manning threw his second touchdown pass to tight end Bear Pascoe in the 4^th quarter.

The Giants have now dropped to 0-2 in the division, suffering losses against the Cowboys and Eagles. New York will be back in action next week at MetLife Stadium, against the winless Cleveland Browns, looking to get back on the winning track.

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Andy Reid’s game plan definitely did not include allowing a blocked punt on the opening drive. It also did not embrace the idea of having a 16 yard Brandon Marshall touchdown reception occur just three plays later.

But in the end maybe that was all that he and his Eagles really needed to snap their two game losing streak on Sunday, moving their record to 5-8 with a 26-10 victory over the Dolphins.

Michael Vick’s return under center and Philadelphia’s 24 point second quarter outburst probably had a little more say, however.

“We’ve been through a lot, a lot of games we were supposed to win and didn’t finish,” said Vick. “I’m proud we won today.”

Vick finally played for the first time in a month after missing the previous three weeks due to broken ribs. After a prolonged absence he spoke of how he chose to respond to the physical effects of experiencing NFL action once again.

“I’m in a lot of pain, but I just wanted to finish and get through the game,” stated Vick. “I got hit a lot, and it kind of wore me down. I tried to hang in there.”

Getting back to game speed was certainly an issue for Vick, as he finished just 15-30 with one touchdown and one interception on 208 yards passing. Meanwhile, his legs were a non-factor, running for a mere nine yards on only two carries.

Miami’s defense did a solid job of containing Vick and the Philadelphia offense for most of the day. Unfortunately for the Dolphins the scope of the entire game changed late in the first quarter after missing a 55 yard field goal attempt that would have given them a 10-0 lead. The Eagles suddenly gained new life, and would respond with a 54 yard drive that ended with a two yard touchdown run by LeSean McCoy in the second quarter. Philadelphia then proceeded to score an additional 17 points during the quarter. That was all the scoring that would be necessary to win the ball game.

“The Eagles have been inconsistent like we have,” said Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall. “But that’s a team with a lot of talent. At any moment they can be an undefeated team, or look like one.”

Philadelphia’s defense played an inspired second quarter following the team’s first score. On Miami’s next possession safety Kurt Coleman intercepted a deep pass from Matt Moore at the Dolphins 36 and returned it all the way to the one. The pass was intended for receiver Davone Bess.

The second play of the Dolphin’s goal line stand would result in McCoy’s second touchdown run of the day, giving the Eagles their first lead at 14-7. McCoy had a very unusual day. He did have two touchdowns but only rushed for 38 yards on 27 attempts.

Bess soon found himself in the middle of the Dolphins’ troubles once again. Eagles corner back Asante Samuel forced him to fumble after a 3^rd down completion on Miami’s next possession. Samuel also recovered the fumble at the Dolphins 34.

Luckily for the Dolphins they were able to keep it at just a two possession game by holding Philadelphia to a 40 yard field goal despite obtaining excellent field position.

But turnovers were Miami’s undoing in the second quarter. Matt Moore surrendered one right back to Philadelphia after the Dolphins recovered a fumbled punt return at the Eagles 24. It was a perfect opportunity for Miami to get right back into the game until Eagles defensive end Jason Babin forced Moore to fumble after sacking him at the Philadelphia 29.

Two minutes and five seconds later Vick connected with DeSean Jackson on a 34 yard touchdown throw to give the Eagles a commanding 24-7 lead going into the half.

Miami stopped turning the ball over in the second half and its defense returned to the strong form it established during the team’s recent 4-1 stretch.

But the story of the day was the Philadelphia defense. The Eagles had nine sacks, a late safety, and even knocked Matt Moore out of the game in the third quarter with a head injury. Moore’s final line was 11-19 for 95 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

His replacement J.P. Losman did not fare any better with 60 yards on 6-10 passing.

Philadelphia hopes to display more of that defensive firepower over their last three games for a potential playoff push.

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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 Philadelphia Eagles controlled the game on Sunday through offensive and defensive standouts, defeating the Dallas Cowboys 7-34. The Eagles’ defense was able to stop any opportunities the Cowboys had in the rushing game; Dallas made ten rushing attempts for a total of 85 yards.

This was mostly due to the efforts made by Eagles defense Jamar Chaney and Asante Samuel, who made a total of 10 tackles throughout the game on the Dallas offense. The Eagles used their rushing attack effectively throughout the game to move the ball up field for scoring chances; Lesean McCoy ran for a total of 185 yards on 30 attempts for two touchdowns.

Quarterback Michael Vick also carried the ball on several runs, going for a total of 50 yards on seven attempts. The passing game was where Dallas fell short during the game. Quarterback Tony Romo threw for 203 yards on 18 completed catches, along with throwing for one touchdown and one interception.

Receiver Laurent Robinson made the touchdown catch, getting 103 yards in the game off of 5 receptions. Vick helped carry the team on to victory, throwing 28 passes all together for a total of 279 yards and two touchdowns. Receivers Brent Celek and Jeremy Maclin both caught touchdown passes, adding up for a total of 148 yards off of ten receptions.

Kicker Alex Henery also provided points for the Philadelphia victory, kicking two field goals and four extra points for a total of 10 points in the game. The Philadelphia Eagles (3-4) face off at home against the Chicago Bears on Monday, November 7th, while the Dallas Cowboys (3-4) travel back home to welcome the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

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