It’s your last chance to get caught up on the happenings at PFF before the next slate of games is upon us and our new ‘PFF Week’ posts provide quick access to the week that was. The ‘Down South’ edition covers all things pertaining to the AFC and NFC South divisions for a one-stop Saturday shop built to keep you in the loop and on top of your football-watching game.
Week 9 Wrap
In the NFC South, the Falcons and Panthers faced off, while the Buccaneers and Saints both went on the road and lost close games. Meanwhile the Houston hosted division rivals Indianapolis on Sunday Night and Tennessee travelled to St Louis to claim a win that keeps them in outside contention for a wildcard spot in the postseason.
ReFo: Falcons @ Panthers, Week 9
ReFo: Buccaneers @ Seahawks, Week 9
Not content with looking back at the games individually Khaled Elsayed also put out his usual PFF Team of the Week, which featured players from the South at multiple positions, and the “had a bad day” team, which unfortunately also featured plenty. Star Lotulelei hasn't made it back to the top of the Race for Rookie of the Year, he is still staying close in second, while Atlanta's Desmond Trufant is marked as one to watch.
The end of Week 9 brought the end of October and with it the Team of the Month, which featured a number of elite players from the South, including J.J. Watt and Darrelle Revis. The end of the second quarter of the season meant that the Stock Report was back, with Ben Stockwell looking at players whose form is improving as well as those going the other way. In the AFC he looks at some vetrans in Ed Reed, Robert Mathis, Maurice Jones-Drew and Nate Washington, among others. In the NFC he looks at Matt Ryan, Travelle Wharton, Kenny Vaccaro and Mason Foster but whose playing well and who needs to turn their play around.
Week 9 also brought an end to the first half of the season and our team named the best performing players from around the league in PFF's Midseason All-Pro Team with a number of players featuring again, including Andre Johnson and Lavonte David. With so many positions have a number of players performing at a top level, we also provided midseason division teams for both the AFC and NFC to make sure players get the kudos they deserve.
Looking To Week 10
Week 10 features all eight teams from the South playing, including an AFC South divisional rivalry in Tennessee, a Sunday night match up in New Orleans and an in-state match up in Tampa Bay on Monday night. Meanwhile the four NFC West teams will all play Southern teams, with Seattle travelling to Atlanta and St Louis going to Indanalpolis, while the Texans travel to Arizona and the Panthers travel to San Francisco.
3TFO: Seahawks @ Falcons, Week 10
3TFO: Jaguars @ Titans, Week 10
3TFO: Texans @ Cardinals, Week 10
3TFO: Panthers @ 49ers, Week 10
3TFO: Cowboys @ Saints, Week 10
3TFO: Dolphins @ Buccaneers, Week 10
As usual our team have picked each of the games, with two our team generally leaning the same way on the South games, with two of the seven games being pick unanimously and another three having just one choice for the underdogs. Our team also gave their power rankings and the Saints loss means they have lost their crown as the highest ranked South team as the Colts pass them.
Additonally…
Nathan Jahnke's 32 Observations this week looked at the second year players from around the league and if theyare improving on their rookie year or suffering the dreaded “sophmore slump”.
Neil Hornsby takes a look at the special teamers put forward on the Pro Bowl ballot and questions or praises them and puts forward his choices for each team in the Third Phase.
Gordon McGuinness' Secret Superstars this week featured a running back in Tampa Bay who is featuring after an injury.
Palazzolo's Pitch this week looks at how teams and specific players adjust to plays being run multiple times in a game as well as looking at how a short week causes poor tackling in Thursday Night Football.
Finally Michael Renner used our Signature Statistics database and looked at how cornerbacks ranked in their Yards per Cover Snap.
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