Exciting Finishes

• Four games (so far) in Week 4 came down to last second field goals. The Atlanta Falcons defeated the Carolina Panthers after the Panthers decided to punt on 4th and inches instead of trying to ice the game by getting a first down. The Falcons then proceeded to drive more than 70 yards in less than a minute to give their kicker, Matt Bryant, a very makeable 40-yard field goal in the last few seconds of regulation. The Falcons needed the extra 3 points to win 30-28, to move to 4-0 on the season.
• Meanwhile, the New Orleans Saints fell to 0-4 after missing a last second field goal of their own. Down 28-27 to the Green Bay Packers, the Saints were set to kick a 43-yard field goal to win the game. A holding penalty then made the kick a little longer (though partially offset by a 5 yard penalty by the Packers). Even still Garrett Hartley missed the 48-yard attempt at the end of the game and the Packers went on to win the game.
• The Tampa Bay Bucs went on a furious comeback to take the lead with less than two minutes left against the Washington Redskins, but RGIII led the Redskins on an efficient drive down the field, culminating in a game-winning field goal by Billy Cundiff, who had previously been 0 for 3 on the day.
• The New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles were both looking to go to 3-1. The Eagles kicked a field goal with about 1:45 left in the game to go up 19-17. The Giants marched down the field, thanks largely to two big pass interference calls on the Eagles. However, with about 20 seconds left, Giants receiver Ramses Barden basically tackled Nnamdi Asomugha with the ball in the air. The offensive pass interference was the difference when Lawrence Tynes (the Giants kicker) missed the game winning field goal by less than 2 yards. The kick likely would have been good before the offensive pass interference call made it longer.


Big blowouts

• The San Francisco 49ers were embarrassed last week by the Minnesota Vikings. Despite being expected to be one of the best teams in the league this year, they were beat soundly by the lowly Vikings. They came out this week on a mission though, as their defense consistently put pressure on Mark Sanchez and caused turnovers, in a brutal 34-0 victory over the New York Jets.
• In the first half of their game against the Buffalo Bills, the New England Patriots scored 7 points and were lucky to only be down 14-7.  The second half was a whole different story as the Pats put up 45 points. Tom Brady and his old go-to target Wes Welker connected 9 times for 129 yards, and for the first time in nearly 30 years, the Patriots had 2 100 yard rushers as rookie Bryan Bolden ripped apart the Bills defense for 137 yards and Stevan Ridley reached the century mark as well.  For one half at least, the Patriots looked like they were ready to reclaim their crown as the best of the AFC.


Mind-boggling offense

• The craziest game of the week doesn't go to any of the NFL teams but to two college squads.  West Virginia, who just moved to the offensively minded Big 12, made their new hosts feel very at home by allowing 63 points to Baylor.  Usually that results in an embarrassing loss, however West Virginia actually won the game 70-63 because QB Geno Smith went off completing 45 of 51 passes for 656 yards and 8 TD's.  That's right he had more touchdowns than incompletions.
• Nick Florence, who replaces Heisman Trophy winner Robert GRiffin III did an admirable job filling in by throwing for 581 yards and 5 TD's himself, but his defense let him down.
• It was the most points ever scored in the big 12 and the most ever involving a ranked team (both were ranked actually with WVA at #9 and Baylor at #25).