Titans - 30 :: Vikings - 17
Minnesota was playing behind the entire game and just couldn't tie the game up. It started out 10-0 in favor of the Titans before a 28-yard TD run by Adrian Peterson pulled the Vikings within a field goal. Tennessee would go on to add a field goal and a controversial touchdown that put them ahead 20-7. The touchdown itself wasn't necessarily controversial, but the play before it definitely was.
Tennessee had 4th and 2 on the 3 and Kerry Collins threw a pass to Justin Gage. Gage didn't appear to get the first down, but the officials gave him a very generous spot that kept the drive alive. Minnesota challenged the play, but the call was upheld. One play later Lendale White got into the end zone to give Tennessee a 13-point lead.
After each team hit a field goal, the lead remained at 13 points as the game headed into the fourth quarter. Another Adrian Peterson TD run made the score 23-17 and gave the Vikings hope that the comeback would be completed. Tennessee's Chris Johnson had other ideas, though, as he scored from 6 yards out with 3:40 left to give the Titans a two-score lead and the victory.
Following the game, Daily Norseman had some pretty strong thoughts on Vikings head coach Brad Childress.
Two minutes left in the ball game.
No time outs.
Down by two scores.
And you punt the football away.
Good thinking, you wuss. You candy ass. You complete freaking joke of a head coach.
Brad Childress should be fired before the Vikings leave the visitors locker room at LP Field this afternoon. What an absolute freaking disgrace.
Tell us how you really feel, Gonzo. (I kid, I kid)
Buccaneers - 30 :: Packers - 21
This game featured big play after big play after big play in the second half. Green Bay was trailing 13-7 when Jermaine Phillips picked up a fumble and returned it 38 yards for the touchdown, making it 20-7 in favor of the Bucs. Then, not even five minutes later, Aaron Rodgers hit Greg Jennings for a 48-yard TD that again got the Packers within one score. What was impressive about the score is that Rodgers got decked on the previous play and hurt his shoulder, but recovered enough to find Jennings for the TD.
Charles Woodson started off the fourth quarter with a 62-yard interception return for a TD to put the Packers up by a point. Matt Bryant, who was playing with a heavy heart after his 3-month-old son died earlier in the week, connected on a 24-yard field goal to once again give the Bucs the lead. Less than a minute later, Tampa Bay found the end zone thanks to a 1-yard Earnest Graham touchdown to clinch the win. Bryant was without a doubt the player of this game as he made all 3 of his field goal attempts, propelling the Bucs forward for the win.
This was Acme Packing Company's reaction to the game:
I'm not writing off the season. With Minnesota losing again, only Chicago has a chance to tie Green Bay for the lead. No team in the NFC North is going to run away with the division. But the Packers have taken a step back from last season and don't look anything like an NFC division champion.
Bears - 24 :: Eagles - 20
This was another back and forth game where the Bears never trailed. After every Chicago touchdown in the first half, Philadelphia answered with one of their own to tie the game. In the second half, though, the Eagles kicked a pair of field goals to get within 1 before Robbie Gould hit one from 41 yards away to increase the Bears' lead to 4.
Needing a touchdown to win the game, the Eagles drove down the field and had three chances to score from the 1-yard line. A single yard is all that was necessary to give the Eagles a win. Well, the Bears defense was having none of that. They rose to the occasion in a big way and stuffed Philadelphia on three straight running plays from the 1. The stop won the game for the Bears in surprising fashion as it is rare that a team will get shutdown that close to the goal line on not one, not two, but three separate plays.
Windy City Gridiron had this to say about the goal line stand:
Regardless of whatever bad I could come up with it is wiped away by the 4th quarter goal line stand. The Bears stopped the Eagles on the 1 yard line 3 straight plays to ice this game. That has to be a big confidence boost. The Bears do need to find a way to get some more pressure. Donovan McNabb had way too much time back there most of the night. The Bears did finish with 3 sacks and 1 INT, but McNabb was tap dancing behind that line tonight. The sacks were by Idonije, Hillenmeyer and Wale and Manning combined for the last. The INT was by Kevin Payne.
Coming up in week 5, the Bears come to Detroit to play the Lions, Green Bay hosts Atlanta, and Minnesota heads to New Orleans for some Monday Night Football.