NFL - Week Nine Review

The big showdown proved to be a one sided blowout as the New England Patriots, led by Tom Brady's four touchdown passes, blasted the visiting Denver Broncos, 43-21 to take over the top spot in the AFC with a 7-2 record.
The Patriots opened a 27-7 halftime lead, which included a 84-yard punt return for touchdown by Julian Edelman, who also had nine receptions, including one for another score.  Peyton Manning threw two TD passes and also two had interceptions in the loss.
The Sunday Night Football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens turned into the Ben Roethlisberger show as the Steelers QB had SIX touchdown passes for the second consecutive game, which is the first time that has ever happened in the history of the NFL.

Ben Roethlisberger passed for SIX TD for second straight game.

The 43-23 win for Pittsburgh improved them to 6-3 and avenged a loss to Baltimore back in Week Two. Roethlisberger had 340 yards passing and the six scoring passes to earn the Heftyinfo NFL Player of the Week for the second straight week.
The Miami Dolphins turned in the week's most dominant performance as they completely destroyed the San Diego Chargers, 37-0, limiting San Diego to just 178 yards while also intercepting Chargers QB Philip Rivers three times.
Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill threw for three scores and the Dolphins out gained the Chargers 441-178 in total offense to improve to 5-3 for the season. The loss was the third in a row for the Chargers, who slipped to 5-4 for the season.
The Arizona Cardinals went into Dallas and beat the Cowboys, 28-17 as their defense limited the Cowboys to 266 total yards in offense and also held DeMarco Murray to under 100 yards rushing, which was the first time this season he failed to gain at least 100 yards rushing in a game. Arizona QB Carson Palmer had three TD passes to pace the offense as the Cards improved to a league best 7-1 record.
Philadelphia overcame the loss of starting QB Nick Foles, who left the game with a collar bone injury, to beat the host Houston Texans, 31-21 as reserve QB Mark Sanchez passed for two touchdowns to offset two interceptions. Eagles running back LeSean McCoy gained 117 yards rushing to help the balanced Philadelphia offense, which amassed 483 yards for the game.
Seattle held off the lowly Oakland Raiders, 30-24 as they nearly blew a 24-3 halftime edge before getting the win at home. The Seahawks defense held Oakland to 226 yards in offense while RB Marshawn Lynch scored two rushing touchdowns.
Cincinnati toppled the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars, 33-23 as RB Jeremy Hill ran for two touchdowns, including the 60-yard TD run that put the game away. Jaguars QB Blake Bortels had two TD passes in the loss.
The Kansas City Chiefs won a yawner at home against the hapless New York Jets, 24-10 behind a pair of TD passes form QB Alex Smith.
Cleveland held off the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 22-17 behind two TD passes by Brian Hoyer and three field goals from Billy Cundiff.
The Minnesota Vikings rode three rushing scores from RB Matt Asiata to beat the Washington Redskins, 29-26 for a home win to improve to 4-5 this season. Redskins RB Alfred Morris had two rushing TD and QB Robert Griffin III threw for another score in his first action since an ankle injury sidelined him earlier this season.
The St. Louis Rams held off the host San Francisco 49ers, 13-10 with a goal line stand as the defense came up with a fumble recovery at the goal line on the final play of the game as 'Niners QB Colin Kaepernick could not hold the ball as he dove for the end zone.
The New Orleans Saints knocked off the host Carolina Panthers, 28-10 last Thursday night behind a second straight 100-yard rushing game from RB Mark Ingram, who also scored two touchdowns to go with 297 passing yards and a TD pass from Drew Brees.
The Indianapolis Colts throttled the host New York Giants, 40-24 behind four TD passes from Andrew Luck in the Monday Night Football game.