Peter King talked about the settlement of the concussion lawsuit in last week's MMQB. He also shared with us that he uses 9 shots of espresso during football season to stay awake, which makes it sound like he has a problem. Peter also threw the obligatory Tavon Austin mention into MMQB (he does not mention Austin this week), as required by Marvin Demoff in Peter's The MMQB contract. This week football actually began, which is always good news, and Peter is feeling pretty, pretty good about Anquan Boldin in a 49ers uniform (and no, I haven't changed my mind about the Ravens letting Boldin go...I get why they did it and it was never about Boldin's ability, but about his salary), gives us a Tweet of the Week that he says isn't very good and has other notes from the NFL games that Peter did not find to be as exciting as he thought they were going to be.
So the season-opener featured 76 points and a quarterback performance
for the ages, and there was all this explosive-offense talk, and then,
on Sunday, to open the 94th NFL season, this happened:
• The Patriots, who averaged 34 points a game last year, needed an
Audie Murphy performance by Danny Amendola and a Stephen Gostkowski
field goal with five seconds left to beat Buffalo 23-21.
• Seven of Sunday’s 13 games totaled 40 points or less.
• Pittsburgh’s offense was shut out at home for the first 58 minutes of a 16-9 loss.
It's boring when the NFL is unpredictable and there aren't enough points scored in certain games. If only the NFL were more predictable and no teams played defense, then that would be an NFL worth watching.
• Seattle, which scored 37 points a game on average in its last six games of 2012, managed 12 at Carolina, and still won.
I missed that game. Please provide more details about this one. No detail is too small.
But here’s my favorite stat of all from the weekend:
Baltimore’s four wide receivers Thursday night: 15 catches, 215 yards, one touchdown.
The receiver Baltimore traded away for a sixth-round pick: 13 catches, 208 yards, one touchdown.
“I think you earned that $2 million today,’’ I said to Anquan Boldin Sunday night.
We had to know it would be Anquan Boldin that was Peter's favorite Stat of the Weekend, though it isn't his official "Stat of the Week" of course, because that would be too logical. Boldin had a great performance and he obviously is a really good receiver. Was his great performance due to the poor defense by the Packers, having Kaepernick throwing him the football instead of Flacco, or just a great game? Probably a little bit of everything. I'm just a little tired of the talk about how that the Ravens got rid of Boldin and they are going to regret it. They probably will regret it, but Ozzie Newsome telegraphed that difficult decisions would be made back in February and Boldin was one of the difficult decisions. It's part of the Ravens long-term plan to avoid having cap issues.
The 49ers and Ravens, as you recall, had a marriage of convenience last
March. Baltimore wanted Boldin to cut his pay from $6 million to $4
million. Boldin thought being the second-best Baltimore player in the
postseason (next to Joe Flacco) did not merit a pay cut and stuck to his
guns. When the Ravens knew they couldn’t re-do Boldin’s deal, Baltimore
coach John Harbaugh got on the phone with his brother, Jim, the Niners’
coach, and they worked out a deal.
Even at the time the Ravens knew they weren't getting value for Boldin. It's just they wanted to cut salary and they had very little leverage. Obviously the Ravens didn't go into the offseason thinking "We have to get rid of Boldin, he's terrible."
The 49ers beat Green Bay in their meeting by the Bay, and Colin
Kaepernick and Boldin were the main reasons. Eschewing the read-option
and going to more of a pocket-passing game—offensive coordinator Greg
Roman is becoming famous for throwing changeups at defenses,
(coughs) Hear that Jerry Richardson? An offensive-minded coach who has experience working with a mobile quarterback and has the ability to play to the quarterback's strengths. Boy, if there was a head coaching vacancy in January, Greg Roman might be someone to interview.
Man, that was a long cough, wasn't it?
I remember when Boldin signed with Baltimore in 2010, how the Ravens
raved about how quickly he adjusted to the new offense and to
quarterback Joe Flacco. I looked it up this morning: He had 20 catches
for 287 yards in his first three games in Baltimore. And now, on the
phone from San Francisco, he sounded like an avid reader of Who Moved My Cheese?
Said Peter King, who apparently is still catching up on reading motivational books from the year 1998.
And, Boldin said, don’t hold a grudge. “I’m not bitter at all,’’ he
said. “This is a business. We all understand it. [The Ravens’
decision] was a little surprising, but you can’t let that stuff bother
you.”
Was it surprising Anquan? The Ravens had publicly stated they were going to make tough decisions about veteran players, then they come to you asking you to cut your salary...so the fact they traded you, did they really surprise you, or were you more surprised a team that publicly stated they would make tough decisions on veteran players and had no interest in re-signing a pillar like Ed Reed would want you to take a pay cut?
Danny Amendola has a little Welker in him, and maybe a lot.
Men can't get pregnant, Peter. So there is no way Amendola has a little Welker in him. You must be confused from watching "Junior" too many times. Men can't get pregnant.
Late in the first half at Buffalo, Amendola, who entered the game
nursing a groin injury, pulled up in the end zone in obvious pain,
grabbing the inside of his upper leg. Well, that’s it. He’s gone for six
weeks. The Legend of Brittle Amendola continues. But back he came in
the second half with seven catches for 64 yards in the last two
quarters, converting a 3rd-and-8 on the winning field-goal drive in the
final minutes. “I knew he was a tough player,’’ Shane Vereen, his new
teammate, said after the game.
This is the same Shane Vereen that played the entire game after breaking a small bone on the first play. So that's probably saying something. Of course, Sam Bradford and the Rams want to know where this toughness that Amendola showed came from.
What impressed me watching Pryor: the poise not to be rattled, even when
he got hit and chased by a defensive front that often overwhelmed
Oakland’s line. Now, he didn’t survey the field the way a veteran
quarterback does, looking at three or four options; instead he ran when
the pocket broke down. But on this day, it was his best option. For a
first start, it was a B-plus, and I definitely want to see more.
No offense to the Colts, but they don't exactly have a speedy, athletic defense. Also, simply running when the pocket breaks down isn't a long-term option for a quarterback. At some point, an injury will occur. I'm hoping for the sake of the Raiders they found a quarterback, but I'm still skeptical.
You’ll recall that one of the last significant moves by Davis before he
died in 2011 was taking Pryor in the third round of the 2011
supplemental draft. “I owe Mr. Davis,’’ said Pryor. “This man believed
I’d be a star quarterback. He said that to me multiple times.
I'm not going to take digs at Al Davis, but when it came to drafting certain players Al Davis over the last 10 years was a lot more convinced in that player's greatness than the rest of the NFL. The Raiders ability to draft productive first round draft picks bears this out. Wait, so maybe that is a dig at Davis.
He took a chance on me when other teams wouldn’t.
Right, and I'm pretty sure for better or worse that phrase should be engraved on Al Davis' tombstone.
Geno Smith has at least one element of what it takes to be a New York quarterback.
Well, Smith has what it takes to be the quarterback for the Jets, namely that he is healthy and hasn't shown himself to consistently throw the ball to the opposing team on a regular basis.
Thick skin, apparently.
I guess so. He did fire his agent after he didn't go in the first round of the draft. I guess he has thick skin and high expectations for where he should have gotten drafted.
I asked Smith how he felt about playing against Tom Brady on a short
week now, and his answer was either very practiced or very smart. “It’s
not me against Tom Brady,’’ he said. “It’s the Jets against the
Patriots.”
Very smart, but of course if Geno Smith helps the Jets win this game against the Patriots then Peter King will be very glad to describe the result of the game as being Geno Smith triumphing over Tom Brady. Plus, it will be Geno Smith versus Tom Brady if the Patriots start the game off strong and Brady puts up 21 points in the first half. At that point, there is pressure on Smith to keep up with Brady's ability to put points on the board. It's not Brady v. Smith, but the media is going to gladly paint it that way regardless.
And the great thing about NFL Game Rewind is being able to toggle
between the TV feed of the game and the coaches’ video, so you can
see—for instance—how utterly awful Ed Dickson was for the Ravens in the
season opener.
He was certainly no Jared Cook, that's for sure.
I went back originally to try to judge whether Baltimore coach John
Harbaugh was right in contending that NBC didn’t show a replay of the
Wes Welker trapped catch before Payton Manning snapped the ball in the
third quarter on a vital series of the game. (Truth in journalism here: I
also work for NBC. So you’ll have to take my findings with that
understanding, but I wanted to be clear about that before we start
here.)
And as we know from Peter providing a truth in journalism warnings in the past, he is basically saying, "I have a bias here, so just remember my bias as you listen to my conclusion. I want you to consider me unbiased, despite the fact I clearly show myself possibly incapable of being unbiased."
Then Peter details everything the Ravens did wrong in a 10 minute stretch during their game against the Broncos. Apparently he really hates the Ravens for trading Anquan Boldin and wants the world to know the Ravens suck.
Play 1. Denver trails 17-14 with 14:13 left in the
third quarter. Manning throws low to Welker, who appears to trap it. The
officials call it a catch. Cornerback Corey Graham immediately motions
to the ground that it bounced. Now, keep in mind that each coaches’
booth in every NFL stadium is equipped with a TV monitor that shows the
exact feed that is shown in the replay booth; the only difference is the
coaches cannot run a play back and forth the way it can be done in the
replay booth. But the replay shown by NBC, with Welker clearly trapping
the catch, comes either 10 or 11 seconds before the snap of the next
play by Manning. (I was using the sweep hand on my watch, so it’s not
precise.)
I know Gregg Easterbrook would be pissed off at Peter and myself for attempting to use such specificity, but I'm not sure if 10 seconds is enough to see the replay and then get word to challenge the call on the field. Tough to say.
And in the first half, when Harbaugh challenged almost exactly the same
kind of trap by Demaryius Thomas, the Ravens threw the challenge flag
six seconds after the first replay of the Thomas trap. So, unless there
was a blackout or a TV malfunction in the Ravens’ coaches booth, the
replay was shown up there in plenty of time for Harbaugh to have been
told he should throw the challenge flag. The coach upstairs blew that
one.
Maybe, but if the Ravens coach upstairs sees that Welker traps the ball and then immediately signals down to Harbaugh to throw the flag, then I can see where if either party (coach upstairs/Harbaugh) hesitated to throw the flag then the challenge wouldn't be received in time to stop Manning from hurriedly running the next play. Maybe the coach upstairs blew it. It's possible.
A nightmare series of 10 plays, out of 155 in the game. But there was
enough bad—on the part of both the high-pick and marginal players,
rookies in their first game and coaches—for the Ravens to chew on for
days. The 10 plays exposed weaknesses at tight end (a major problem),
offensive line depth, and replay communication from upstairs to the head
coach.
Because I'm one to throttle a dead horse, which of these positions would keeping Anquan Boldin on the roster have strengthened? As well as Boldin played against the Packers, the Ravens weaknesses as described by Peter King aren't something Boldin could necessarily have rectified had the still played for the Ravens.
Fine Fifteen
Or as I call it, "The Random Placement of NFL Teams in Order of Strength from 1-15."
1. Denver (1-0). It’s a nice September schedule for the
Broncos. With a half bye (10 days between games), Denver visits the
Giants next Sunday. With an extra day to prepare in Week 3, Denver
returns home to face Oakland on a Monday night. With a short week, the
Broncos finish the month by facing defensively challenged Philadelphia.
Get this: Four of the last 14 Denver foes had winning records in 2012.
Ah, to play in the AFC West and be scheduled to play Jaguars this year. Well, that and having Peyton Manning as your quarterback.
3. Seattle (1-0). I don’t rank the
Seahawks here with conviction, because Russell Wilson had defenders
buzzing around him all afternoon in Charlotte. But you looked up at the
end of the game, and Wilson still had 320 yards passing against a
pressure D, and the Seahawks played well enough to steal one.
I truly don't care if Carolina is ranked in the Fine Fifteen or not, but this is what I'm talking about when I talk about random placement of NFL teams by Peter. His 3rd best team scored 12 points, came a fumble away from being 0-1 and the team that got beaten isn't ranked in the Top 15. Seattle beat a team by five points who Peter doesn't consider to be a Top 15 team and the Seahawks are the 3rd best team in the NFL?
6. Green Bay (0-1). Good team, but I continue to wonder
if the defense can mature during the season, particular as long as
cornerback Casey Hayward is missing.
They did lose on the road to the team that Peter ranks as the 2nd best team in the NFL, so maybe it isn't so bad.
12. St. Louis (1-0). Love the fact that Sam Bradford
engineered three scoring drives (okay, one was a two-yarder) that ended
in touchdown, field goal and game-winning field goal in the fourth
quarter. Also love the fact that the Rams are now 5-1-1 in, arguably,
the toughest division in football since the start of the 2012 season.
Sam Bradford is clutchiness. I didn't check the box score, but it's safe to assume Tavon Austin had 10 catches for 902 yards and 8 touchdowns.
13. Tennessee (1-0). Maybe Mike Munchak’s right. Maybe
you can still win by running the ball predominantly—in part because so
many teams don’t work that much in practice to stop the run, because so
few teams are big-run teams anymore.
Yeah, good luck with that philosophy. This sounds like some made-up bullshit that Gregg Easterbrook would come up with in TMQ. Teams don't work on stopping the run in practice so I'm sure they just forgot how to stop the run.
15. Arizona (0-1). Larry Fitzgerald touchdown catches
last year: four. Larry Fitzgerald touchdown catches Sunday in St. Louis:
two. The Cards are going to be a tough day for every team on their
schedule.
Either that or the Rams secondary isn't as good as Peter thinks. Of course, this could never be true could it?
Defensive Players of the Week
Shaun Phillips, OLB, Denver. What’s the biggest fear
any Broncos fan had heading into the season? The pass rush. And
Phillips, more than any single Denver defender, did something about that
Thursday night, sacking Joe Flacco twice by himself and sharing a
third. “I took it personal that everyone was like, ‘Oh what are we going
to do about the pass rush,’ but I’ve had like 70 sacks in my career.
What am I some bum or something like that?” said Phillips.
No, you are very clearly not Bum Phillips. Bum Phillips is old and white.
Goats of the Week
Bill Leavy, referee, Green Bay-San Francisco game.
When there are offsetting fouls after a play has ended, the down is not
supposed to be replayed. But Leavy erred on this most basic of
officiating tenets, and it played a major role in San Francisco’s
victory...Matthews was flagged for hitting Kaepernick out of bounds, two steps
after the play officially ended. A scrum ensued, with Matthews and
Niners tackle Joe Staley going at it. Staley got a personal foul. But
instead of ruling that the play should stand and it should be 4th-and-2,
meaning the Niners would have attempted a field goal, Leavy ordered the
down replayed. Kaepernick threw a touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin,
making it 14-7 San Francisco instead of 10-7.
Man, the Packers just can't catch an officiating break when it comes to playing road games against NFC West teams can they?
Kyle Knox, LB, Jacksonville. Knox did something in the
Jags-Chiefs game I’ve never seen before, and it showed such a lack of
football instinct that it deserves mention in this space. Jags punter
Bryan Anger kicked one downfield and it bounced once toward the Kansas
City goal line. Knox, in full pursuit, grabbed the ball at the Kansas
City 19 when it was bouncing in the direction of the goal line. Who
knows? Maybe it goes dead at the 12. Or the two. But Knox stole yardage
from his team, foolishly.
Peter had four "Goats of the Week" (presumably because three isn't enough and five is just overkill) and two of the "goats" and their actions had a direct effect on the outcome of the game, while David Wilson's fumbles certainly didn't help in a 36-31 game. Kyle Knox takes away a maximum of 18 yards in a 28-2 game and he's a "goat"? His play didn't even come to close to having an effect on the game that the other "goats'" plays had.
“Will the Lions cover four-and-a-half tomorrow against Minnesota?’’
—Brent Musburger, during an interview with Lions fan and rapper
Eminem during Notre Dame-Michigan Saturday night. Want to define the
look of paranoia? Check out Eminem’s face. That uncomfortable Q-and-A will be a case study in Weird Announcing History 101 in broadcast schools for years to come.
Eminem had to be high during that interview or he anticipated it was being taped and played at a later date. I'm voting high on something, because it was that odd of an interview. Though I like Musburger just saying "screw it" and talking about gambling because there was nothing else Eminem would respond to. Heck, Eminem didn't even really respond to the question about gambling.
My Week 1 guests on The MMQB Podcast With Peter King: Eli Manning and Matt Ryan, along with Greg Bedard and Andy Benoit of The MMQB.
I asked Manning if he’d ever wondered what his career would have been
like had he accepted being drafted by the Chargers in 2004, and stayed
in San Diego. You’ll recall he and his father, Archie, pressed for a
trade before the draft because he didn’t want to play for what he saw as
a sinking franchise.
I think saying Eli Manning "pressed for a trade" is being a bit kind or taking the rough edges off the situation. Manning was refusing to play for the Chargers. I don't know if telling the Chargers "I'm not playing for you" is pressing a trade any more than it is simply refusing to play for a team.
Said Manning: “I really haven’t. Just because when I made my decision
that this is what I’m going to do, and I felt strongly about everything
that I said in the week going into the draft. I said, ‘This is my
decision, and I’m going to make it right.’ I’m going to feel strongly
about it, and wherever I end up I’m going to work hard and do everything
I can and not look back or have second doubts. So, you know, I think
you never know what would have happened if I went there.’’
Right, but what would have happened if you had "gone there" instead of "went there"?
Tennessee trailed 2-0 in the second quarter and took the ball on a short
field at the Steeler 49. The Titans ran it 12 of the next 13 plays, the
only pass an eight-yard dump from Jake Locker to Delanie Walker after
seven straight runs to start the drive. Battle bulled over from three
yards out to score just before halftime and give Tennessee a lead it
would never give up. “That’s who we are,’’ said Munchak. “But, what I
really like about the offense is that we’ve got the kinds of
weapons—Kenny Britt, Kendall Wright, Nate Washington—that we can use to
get in a throwing contest if we have to. Who knows? Maybe next week
we’ll have to throw it 40 times to win. That’s okay too.”
It's okay when Jake Locker is your quarterback. Half of those throws are destined to be incompletions.
That means Locker will have to be better than a 56 percent passer, which he was a year ago.
Yeah, but remember Peter back when you reported Chris Palmer was trying to make Locker a more accurate thrower because Mark Brunell and Brett Favre became more accurate over their careers? You can make a quarterback who hasn't shown himself to ever be accurate a better passer by throwing at flags.
Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week
Now this is something that never happened to me before on an airplane: I
had an aisle seat in a three-across row flying home from Denver and the
season-opener on JetBlue early Friday morning. The man sitting next to
me was asleep when I boarded. He slept the entire way to New York. He
didn’t wake up when we landed. I got up and disembarked. He was still
asleep. When I was walking off the plane, I looked over at the poor guy
in the window seat who didn’t know whether to shake the guy or try to
climb over him to get off the plane.
I'm not sure what it takes for Peter King to mind his own business while he is flying on a plane or riding on a train. Peter likes to note when a passenger is rude, when a passenger is on his phone too long, when a passenger (or two) are on a computer for an entire train ride, and now he is noting when passengers on a plane are asleep. What will it take for Peter to stop paying attention to other individuals and just mind his own business? Even when a person does nothing and just sleeps, Peter feels the need to note this in MMQB.
“@RSherman_25 yo story in sports illustrated was real I respect you a
lot… I play QB at #FSU and always was the nerdy athlete #followback’’
—@Jaboowins, Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston, to Richard
Sherman of the Seahawks on July 31. (Yes, it’s not exactly a Tweet of
the Week, but I thought it was worthy, given how Winston exploded onto
the national scene last week with a 25-of-27 college debut at Pitt.
Of course this isn't worthy of a Tweet of the Week, but Peter still feels the need to include it as one of his several Tweets of the Week. Also, he may want to close that italics at some point. I guess Peter nor his editor noticed the italics never got closed. That's assuming Peter has an editor, right?
Ten Things I Think I Think
1. I think this is what I liked about Week 1:
Nothing, it was an unexciting week of football?
c. All offseason, the Bengals worked on Andy Dalton throwing the deep
ball better. And boom—first quarter, at Chicago, Dalton threw it up
deep downfield for A.J. Green. Complete. Gain of 42.
d. Green abused Charles Tillman, an excellent corner.
Why are these separate letters again? Peter hasn't changed the topic, so "d" should be the next topic and this sentence should be put up with "c."
f. Reggie Bush. At 28, he played with the verve of the 19-year-old USC
weapon, diving into the end zone to cap his 77-yard touchdown
catch-and-run.
According to Bleacher Report, Bush could very well breakout this year. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
h. Andrew Luck, for his eighth fourth-quarter comeback in 17 professional games. Think about that.
No, I refuse to think about it. I will not.
i. No question in my mind Brian Hartline will be a more targeted player
than Mike Wallace—unless Ryan Tannehill begins forcing the ball to the
unhappy Wallace.
Wait, this is what Peter likes about Week 1? He likes that Brian Hartline is more targeted than Mike Wallace? Why would Peter care which Dolphins receiver is more targeted?
l. Told you to draft Jared Cook, fantasians. Hope you listened.
It was one game, Peter. One game. There's no doubt Cook is talented, but it hasn't exactly translated to success on the field over his career. Maybe it will this year.
m. I knew Martellus Bennett would be a great signing for Chicago, and
the leaping fingertip touchdown catch on the first Bears touchdown of
the year just proved that.
"I knew I was smart, but one week of football just showed me exactly how smart I am."
2. I think this is what I didn’t like about Week 1:
b. And the safety. The ridiculous safety. No team was as unimpressive early as the Bucs in the first quarter at the Meadowlands.
d. The first big hit of Kenny Vaccaro’s career. He torpedoed into a sliding Matt Ryan, a clear penalty.
What I didn't like about MMQB this week:
a. Peter's inability to get the alphabet correct after the letter "b." This is the second really easy edit that has gotten missed. Does MMQB get rushed out, does Peter edit his own column or is his editor just really lazy? I make mistakes all the time, but I also don't have an editor who is supposed to prevent easily-fixable mistakes like going from "a and b" to the letter "d."
i. David Wilson needs to go to the Tiki Barber School of Ball Control. I might be serious about that. Barber should call him.
Somewhere in the United States, Tiki Barber perked up at hearing his name and immediately rushed to find out if he can find a way to get attention by helping David Wilson with his ball control. Upon finding out he can't really get attention, Barber quickly hangs up the phone.
j. The Panthers sure didn’t look explosive on offense against Seattle. They looked cautious.
Say what you will about Ron Rivera, but...actually there is no "but" because Rivera chose to hire Mike Shula as his offensive coordinator. According to Cam Newton, Shula called "an unbelievable game." I agree. It was unbelievable what a shitty, conservative game Shula called.
k. Brandon Weeden: three interceptions in the first 27 minutes. I didn’t
watch that game closely. But there’s just something missing with
Weeden, something about knowing when to take chances and when to play
safe.
Well, maybe he will cut down on those mistakes once he matures a little bit more. Give him a few years Browns fans and you will find out that Weeden is 35 years old and holy shit the prime of his career is already passed and he is only in his second NFL season.
6. I think Mike Wallace has to look himself in the
mirror today and say, “What a dumb thing I said yesterday about being
ticked to not be a key guy in the gameplan. We won. I was selfish.’’
It’s patently absurd, after winning the first game of the season on the
road, to complain about your role. It’s one game, dude. Can’t turn into
T.O. after one game.
Yeah, dude. Come on dude, it's only one game, so don't overreact. That is unless you are Peter King, in which case this rule doesn't apply to him and all of these assumptions and knee-jerk reactions he is making in this MMQB are going to stand the test of the season as facts and not just the result of one week of football.
7. I think, as I reported on NBC over the weekend, that
we can have whatever opinion we want about the fruitlessness of the
mission Tim Tebow is on, but he is determined to give the quarterback
position one more concentrated try.
I think now that Tebow is out of the NFL, sportswriters need to stop talking about him. Let's talk about active NFL players, please. Also, Tebow's insistence on being a quarterback is a little selfish, no? It's more about him proving something to his doubters rather than using his skills to help an NFL team win games, even if the skills he uses aren't being used in the fashion Tebow wants the skills to be used.
I still maintain in the right place—which the 2012 Jets were, if they’d
done with Tebow what Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum intended—Tebow can
have a role as a changeup quarterback on a winning team.
Of course you maintain this. Tebow brings pageviews and when Tebow is out of the NFL he can't bring pageviews.
10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:
a. Remember one thing, all you Springsteenians, who wanted to see a more
Jersey look for the Super Bowl halftime show and got Bruno Mars
instead: Halftime shows are done to attract a non-football audience,
including the international audience. Halftime shows are designed to hit
a different demographic. I couldn’t tell you the difference between
Bruno Mars and a Mars bar. But 56-year-old men aren’t the focus of the
league when it comes to halftime shows at the Super Bowl.
So a note about the Super Bowl is a non-football thought? Interesting. Also, Bruce Springsteen is 63 years old. I'm not sure where Peter got the "56-year-old men" comment from unless he isn't talking about Springsteen. If he is talking about Springsteen, then is another example of an easily fixable mistake in MMQB.
b. I have to tell you it got quiet in the NBC Football Night in America Red Sox Wing when the Jacoby Ellsbury foot news came in Sunday. He’ll miss some time with an injury.
I'm not sure even Red Sox fans care about your reaction to Ellbury's injury.
d. Thanks, Lake Bell, for being a fan of The MMQB. You’re good at movies too.
Yes, Lake Bell, Peter is a huge fan of you ever since last week when he saw his first ever movie that had you in it. He's been a fan for a whole week and seen one of your movies.
e. Feeling stupid for ignoring Breaking Bad.
Have you thought it's not just a feeling?
f. Denver’s so underrated.
I'm not sure what this even means. This makes not of sense. Who is rating Denver to where it is under/overrated?
g. But the one thing about the city, if you’re there once or three times
a year for short stays, is how dehydration just sneaks up on you. Last
Wednesday, in mid-afternoon, I’m wondering why I have this headache. I
never get headaches. And a friend said to me, “Drink water. Drink a lot
of water here. That’s from dehydration.” He was right.
Wait, so when you are dehydrated liquids like water may help the dehydration? No way!
The Adieu Haiku
I know. Raiders lost.
But my Week 1 takeaway?
Oakland’s not boring.
It does not matter.
A loss is still a loss, no?
It's been one game, dude.
Showing posts with label weekend roundup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weekend roundup. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Monday, December 31, 2012
0 comments ...Our Pets' Heads are Falling Off!: Week 17
The NFL season winds down so quickly. So after the last week of the season comes the last week of the critically-acclaimed weekend roundup I started writing this year. Now that we know the playoff teams have been set we can all be incredibly wrong about which team will end up winning the Super Bowl. I, for one, am excited to be wrong.
(Just as I finished writing this, half of the coaches in the NFL got fired. I didn't like the Lovie Smith firing and every other firing I had no problem with...again, not that anyone cares about my opinion.)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 22 Atlanta Falcons 17
Even if Dunta Robinson and John Abraham are injured and miss the playoff game in two weeks, I still think Mike Smith made the right call to play them. Yeah, it seems like a risk to play these two guys, but I think with the two week layoff it was important to keep them in the flow of the season rather than giving them the equivalent of three weeks rest. The Falcons didn't come out with an especially challenging game plan and the Buccaneers seemed to have more motivation, especially Doug Martin who seemed to desperately get his name in the running as a serious contender for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Of course, that's hopeless with Luck, Wilson and Griffin also in the running. Who cares anyway, it's just a stupid award. Since I am here to nitpick, the Falcons ability to run the ball scares me a bit when it comes to being a serious Super Bowl contender. I know having a good run game is overrated and all, but Michael Turner only had two 100 yard games this season and averaged only 3.6 ypc. Jacquizz Rodgers wasn't much better with 3.8 ypc. So I believe in the Falcons ability to throw the football, but I wonder if they end up matching up against a team like the Seahawks in the second round of the playoffs, will the Falcons be able to run the ball well enough to take pressure off Ryan when throwing the football? As far as the Buccaneers go, I'm still not convinced Josh Freeman has bounced back into the upper 50% of NFL quarterbacks, but they certainly do have a lot to look forward to next year with Mike Williams, Martin, and Vincent Jackson on offense.
Buffalo Bills 28 New York Jets 9
Any person who thinks this Jets season could have been turned around with Tim Tebow as the quarterback, well, that person would be wrong. The Jets aren't the Broncos from last year and don't have Eric Decker or Demaryius Thomas as the wide receivers. I don't know if Rex Ryan should be fired, but the Jets definitely need to draft better. I do think Chan Gailey needs to be fired (and he was as I finished writing this) and the Bills should try to build the offense around C.J. Spiller. My humble opinion is perhaps the Bills should draft a quarterback in the second or third round, so that means keep Fitzpatrick for one more year. Bills fans would probably strongly disagree and think the Bills need to go get Geno Smith or Matt Barkley in the first round. Either way, the Bills have some offensive and defensive talent, which is nice but they need to find a way to do better with the players they have. I'm not sure Chan Gailey is the guy to do this. Mark Sanchez has to be out in New York. He didn't do anything in this game he hasn't been doing for 2-3 seasons now and if the Jets don't have a dominant defense then Sanchez isn't close to being the quarterback the Jets need to get back to the AFC Championship Game or even the Super Bowl. It seems his teammates love him (or at least his ex-teammates), which is nice, but at a certain point a quarterback has to play the quarterback position better than Sanchez does.
Cincinnati Bengals 23 Baltimore Ravens 17
It's hard to judge teams in a game like this when starters for both teams seem to sit the majority of the game. I feel like the AFC is top-heavy in some ways. I don't believe in the Bengals or the Ravens and think at this point I don't see what will stop a Patriots-Broncos AFC Championship Game (so is there any way I could jinx this matchup more?), other than Joe Flacco playing like the quarterback he believes himself to be or the Bengals proving me wrong and winning two playoff games. I'm not completely writing either team off, since the Ravens seem to randomly play like the best team in the AFC at times and the Bengals have not lost once since November 4. Obviously the Bengals are going to have to put up more than the 189 yards they put up in this game (as well as have the starters play the majority of the game) to win a playoff game. I thought Tyrod Taylor acquitted himself well as a backup and Bernard Pierce ran the ball well and showed he is also a good backup. It's hard to tell in games like this when the backups play a lot, but I think the Bengals-Texans game is going to be a tough one for me to pick.
Chicago Bears 26 Detroit Lions 24
It's tough for the Bears to have won 10 games and still not make the playoffs. Of course we all know it is Jay Cutler's fault. Pretty much everything is. The Bears threw the ball well in this game, especially for a team that was described by the FOX pregame crew as having "one receiving threat." It probably hurt Bears fans to cheer for the Packers in order to get their team in the playoffs and of course the Packers can't even win a fucking game when Bears fans want them to. Detroit lost this game partly because they committed four turnovers, including three by Matthew Stafford. The Lions are one of those teams that don't seem to outwardly have problems on offense, but if you look deeper you see areas that need improvement. They could probably get some offensive line help and maybe another receiver. If I am Detroit, I probably look for defensive help in the secondary as the first priority during the offseason. Stafford took a step back this year in terms of being turnover prone, so that clearly has to stop. The Bears, and I am just guessing here, are probably going to try and find some offensive line help in free agency and in the draft. It's a shame they didn't make the playoffs this year and I still think they are a better team than the Vikings, which of course it doesn't matter what I think. Either way, let's blame Jay Cutler. It just feels right and is something Terry Bradshaw would probably like for us to do. The Bears lost six games this year, all of them to playoff teams. They were the 13th best team in the NFL during the 2012 season it seems. I guess this wasn't good enough to help Lovie Smith keep his job. I'm not sure how I feel about his being fired.
Tennessee Titans 38 Jacksonville Jaguars
The Titans had four return touchdowns in this game. As if Jacksonville didn't have enough problems winning games, they go and give up two special teams touchdowns and two touchdowns on offense. I'm still not convinced Chad Henne is the answer for Jacksonville, nor am I convinced Mike Mularkey is the right coach for the Jaguars. Henne threw for a lot of yardage, but the Jaguars were behind for most of the game and Henne got sacked seven times. I know it takes more than one year to turn a team around and Maurice Jones-Drew was injured for most of the season, but I feel like a change in culture is more important than anything in Jacksonville. No matter what, Chad Henne can't start off next year as the definite starter for the Jaguars. The Titans will probably keep Mike Munchak around for one more year and I don't know if it is the right call. Has Jake Locker really developed in his second year? That's partly how Munchak is going to be judged, on how much progress Locker has made. Locker has been pretty mediocre during the 2012 season and in 10 games he threw more interceptions than touchdowns and had a completion percentage of 56.2%. I think the Titans have the receivers for a strong offense with Britt, Washington, and Wright, so they need a quarterback to consistently get them the ball. This game showed the Titans defense is occasionally up to the task of winning games. Of course as the (not) old saying goes (no one says this), they can't play Jacksonville every week (but I bet they wish they could).
Indianapolis Colts 28 Houston Texans 16
I know I keep harping on this, but for how impressive Andrew Luck was this year he wasn't a very accurate with his passes. I realize the wide receivers have to catch the ball, but Luck didn't throw for over a 50% completion percentage in the past five games and hasn't had a completion percentage over 60% in seven games. Luck also didn't average over 7 yards per attempt in the last seven games either, so it isn't like he was throwing deep and that explains his lower completion percentage. So he's been very good this year, but if he starts to struggle next year don't be surprised when his lack of accuracy is suddenly mentioned as the cause (which is, of course, probably going to be unfair). Still, I can't argue with success and the Colts put the Texans down with a fair amount of ease. What worries me about the Texans is this is the kind of game they need to show up and win to help me feel good taking them seriously in the playoffs. They are going against a division rival and needed to win in order to solidify their seeding, but then they came out and got beat. It may mean nothing at all in the playoffs, but I don't know if I feel good about the Texans playing against the Patriots or Broncos in the playoffs. I feel like they are missing another receiving weapon on offense and against a good offensive line they won't be able to get the pass rush they need to beat good playoff teams.
Carolina Panthers 44 New Orleans Saints 38
Cam Newton got injured at one point in this game and while he was laying on the field some of the Saints fans in the Superdome began cheering his injury. These are probably the same Saints fans who defended Sean Payton through the bounty scandal. What a terrible group of people who cheered and you would think after the bounty scandal they would at least be self-aware to not act like assholes in a situation like that. As it relates to this game, Drew Brees certainly can't do much more than lead the Saints to score 38 points (seven of those points did come on a pick-six), but the Saints defense yet again gave up a ton of points and yardage. Carolina got 44 points in this game and ran for 273 yards. Perhaps this game saved Ron Rivera's job, though it all depends on who the next GM is of course. It is hard for me to feel bad for Drew Brees, but I do feel bad for him. He had another great year and the Saints defense gave up the most yardage in the history of the NFL. Of course with Sean Payton coming back to coach the Saints next year then the defense will magically get fixed. Carolina did their typical late-season winning after they have been eliminated from playoff contention. It's almost a Christmas tradition for the Panthers to win games at the end of the year and rue the day they lost 1-2 early season games that would have made games played in December actually matter.
New York Giants 42 Philadelphia Eagles 7
I have said probably four or five times I'm not concerned about the Giants as it pertains to them making the playoffs. I'm officially concerned about their ability to make the playoffs now that they have been eliminated from the playoffs. A week after getting their ass kicked by the Ravens, the Giants come out and run over the Eagles. Very typical of a team that had a very up-and-down year. Joe Morgan is very upset about the consistency of this Giants team. Two things are for certain in regard to the Eagles. Andy Reid is not going to be the Eagles coach next year and Mike Vick isn't going to be the Eagles quarterback...or at least he shouldn't be. This loss wasn't all on Vick, but I think it is clear at this point Vick is too turnover prone and probably not going to be a starting NFL quarterback that can get his team far into the playoffs. It just doesn't seem he possesses that kind of talent anymore. The Giants never seemed to have found a way to play consistently on a weekly basis and the Giants defense started off the game well about one week too late. David Carr even got a cameo appearance in this game and he somehow managed to not only avoid being sacked, but also didn't seem to duck in fear of the oncoming pass rush. It seems like Carr can still envision the opposing team's pass rushers sacking him from his early days with the Texans and playing behind their offensive line. We didn't get to see much of that against the Eagles. Maybe that says more about the Eagles pass rush and how long Carr was in this game more than anything else.
Pittsburgh Steelers 24 Cleveland Browns 10
I know he didn't win this game for the Browns, but I was surprised at how well it seems Thaddeus Lewis played. Of course since he was tutored at Duke by David Cutcliffe (who worked with Eli and Peyton Manning when they were in college), it probably shouldn't surprise me all that much. That's why I am excited to see how Sean Renfree plays in the NFL and where he gets drafted. Lewis isn't going to replace Brandon Weeden anytime soon, but given Weeden's age he could be the Browns quarterback of the future (I'm kidding...sort of). Of course the Browns are starting all over again, so maybe that starting all over again is something Browns fans can look forward to. The Browns committed four turnovers on offense, but the Browns defense held the Steelers offense to 212 yards of offense, which of course isn't in any way Todd Haley's fault at all. Todd Haley is an offensive genius and we should never question this as not being true. For the Steelers, any time they don't make the playoffs then the season is seen as a failure, but I have no doubt they will be back next year. They need to make a few changes, like upgrade the aging defense and find a miracle cure that prevents running backs and offensive linemen from being injured. Also, fire Todd Haley...just because they can. Knowing how Haley seems to find a job no matter what, I wouldn't be surprised if he was named a head coach for an NFL team even if he got fired by the Steelers.
Denver Broncos 38 Kansas City Chiefs 3
Thank God for Chiefs fans this season is over. The Chiefs had 119 yards of total offense, gave up four sacks, had seven completions in a blowout game, and held the football for only 22 minutes. This season being over has to be the third-best news for Chiefs fans along with knowing Scott Pioli will be fired and the only way Brady Quinn plays quarterback for the Chiefs again is if he buys a copy of Madden 2013. Quinn had 49 yards passing. Of course, is it all his fault? Probably not, but he makes Blaine Gabbert look like Aaron Rodgers. Now that I am done thrashing the Chiefs for the next eight months, let's move on to the Broncos, winners of their last 22 straight games (or so it seems). Peyton Manning is red hot and combining John Fox's great coaching ability with Manning's quarterbacking ability makes it seem like the Broncos could go far in the playoffs. Don't you just get the feeling the fictional script is being written to get Peyton Manning into the Super Bowl with the Broncos? It's amazing now what he did in Indianapolis with Jim Caldwell as his head coach, especially when Caldwell now doesn't seem completely trusted to be an offensive coordinator in the NFL. Oh yeah, the Broncos also have a great defense and Von Miller shouldn't be as overshadowed by J.J. Watt in the Defensive Player of the Year race as I am sure he will be.
Minnesota Vikings 37 Green Bay Packers 34
I'm a hater. I think Christian Ponder isn't a very good quarterback. He has been bad to terrible in too many games this year and I firmly believe if he didn't have Adrian Peterson in the backfield with him then he would be another Mark Sanchez. Ponder played well in this game though and was able to throw accurate passes when he needed to. What I like about Adrian Peterson is he was 9 yards short of the NFL record for rushing yards and when he was asked about it after the game he didn't even know how close he was. Unlike other players (ahem, Drew Brees) he isn't always exactly aware of where he stands in regard to personal records. I still think the Packers are going to beat the Vikings this upcoming weekend when these two teams meet again, but Minnesota showed they can play and score with the Packers. I don't know what has happened to the Packers pass rush nor do I understand how they can't protect Aaron Rodgers, but both the defensive and offensive lines look like major issues to me going into the playoffs. There were times yesterday that Rodgers barely had time to drop back before there were Vikings defenders on him and Ponder was too often given a clean pocket to throw in. If Green Bay wants to win this weekend they have to rattle Christian Ponder. Of course stopping Adrian Peterson would help also.
New England Patriots 28 Miami Dolphins 0
The Patriots defense sacked Ryan Tannehill seven times and created two turnovers in this game. As good as the Patriots offense has been, if the Patriots defense plays well and creates turnovers then they are going to be very difficult to beat. Tom Brady has had an incredibly quiet MVP-type season. He has 34 touchdown passes, 8 interceptions and 4800 yards passing. I don't know if he has had a better season than Peyton Manning, but I think Brady should at least be talked about a lot more in terms of being a serious MVP candidate. I feel like he is getting shortchanged in that discussion. Clearly, the Patriots are entering the postseason with some type of momentum, whatever that is worth, while the Dolphins didn't exactly end the season the way they would have liked. It's hard to win any games when you can't score points, but since New England has such a prolific offense, against the Patriots it is even more important to score points. The Dolphins defense didn't do terribly, but if the Dolphins want to win more than seven games next year they have to give Ryan Tannehill some weapons on offense. Expecting him to win games with Brian Hartline as his best receiver is a losing proposition. The Dolphins have a lot of decent guys on offense, but lack a consistent big play threat in the passing game, and also lack this threat in the running game when Reggie Bush decides not to show up on a given day.
San Diego Chargers 24 Oakland Raiders 21
December. It is the time of the year the fans of NFL teams not in playoff contention start to convince themselves the second or third string quarterback can be the "the answer" for the team. Raiders fans may be thinking Terrelle Pryor is "the answer" at quarterback for their team. Count me as speculative that is true. The Raiders ended another disappointing year by almost getting an upset over another disappointing team, the Chargers, who have their own quarterback issues. Mostly, what the fuck is wrong with Philip Rivers? He threw for 151 yards and led the Chargers to 210 total yards in this game. Isn't he supposed to be a Top-10 quarterback? Norv Turner and Rivers both know that Turner is gone. The Chargers aren't improving (and in fact are regressing) and Turner hasn't been able to do much to help stop this slide. I can't wait for Andy Reid to end up in San Diego. It feels like something that just needs to happen. The Raiders do have some talent on the roster and it's not fair to judge Dennis Allen on this one year. The previous regime put the Raiders in quite a hole in terms of trading draft picks and drafting personnel. It's going to take more than one year to get out of the hole the Raiders are in. I'm not over that Carson Palmer trade. It still feels crazy.
San Francisco 49ers 27 Arizona Cardinals 13
Brian Hoyer was the fourth quarterback to start a game for the Cardinals. Remember when Hoyer was being talked about as the next great Patriots backup quarterback who would be traded to an unsuspecting NFL team that thinks they are trading for a starting-caliber NFL quarterback? He did get Michael Floyd 8 catches and 166 yards, so at least this showed us all that there may be a #2 receiver to complement Larry Fitzgerald...or maybe it just showed us Michael Floyd played his best game of the season in the last game of the season. Ken Whisenhunt hasn't been so great without Kurt Warner as his quarterback. He's an offensive coordinator without a quarterback to run the offense well. Colin Kaepernick played well again for the 49ers and somehow managed to overcome Gregg Easterbrook's fictional "Crabtree Curse" to help Crabtree get 172 yards receiving with two touchdowns catches. I don't think the 49ers are going to have a receiver only make one reception in any playoff game this year because they look more well-balanced in the passing game. I still can't decide if I like the switch from Smith to Kaepernick. I was concerned before that Smith wasn't good enough of a quarterback to lead the 49ers to a Super Bowl victory, but Kaepernick also seems to add a higher ceiling as well as a lower floor than Smith. Being bold is good though, right? When has "fortune favors the bold" ever been wrong?
Seattle Seahawks 20 St. Louis Rams 13
Look, a Jeff Fisher team finished the season near .500! What a (non) shock. I joke, but the Rams seem to be on the upswing and are putting together a pretty good team. The Rams sacked Wilson six times and did not give Seattle a chance at another blowout win. I feel like Sam Bradford is a good enough quarterback to win games, but I'm still not sure he is a franchise quarterback. He's good, but not great in my opinion. The Seahawks already have a pretty good team and I am amazed at how well Russell Wilson has played this year. I expected him to be a decent quarterback this season after how he started the year off, but I didn't think he would throw 26 touchdown passes and be as accurate as he has been. I think the Seahawks are going to have to protect Wilson better in their playoff game against Washington. Marshawn Lynch ran for another 100 yards and Wilson was incredibly efficient in the passing game, only throwing four incomplete passes. If I had to rank the Offensive Rookies of the Year race then I would probably go:
1. Robert Griffin
2. Russell Wilson
3. Andrew Luck
4. Doug Martin
5. Alfred Morris
As much respect as I have for Luck, I think he has to be below Wilson and Griffin.
Washington Redskins 28 Dallas Cowboys 18
Sometimes there is a little bit of truth in stereotypes and assumptions. The stereotype is that Tony Romo can't win big games and throws ill-timed interceptions. Many of his positive attributes are ignored in favor of showing him as a turnover-prone choker. This isn't always true...but then he goes and throws three interceptions in a nationally televised Week 17 de facto playoff game, including one on the potential game-winning drive. Yes, Romo didn't have Miles Austin or Dez Bryant on that final drive, but that had nothing to do with the pass that was intercepted by the Redskins defense. Robert Griffin didn't throw the ball well, but he committed zero turnovers and Romo committed three turnovers. I can't help but think that's the difference in this game. It didn't help that defensive genius Rob Ryan's defense gave up almost 274 yards rushing and allowed the Redskins to be in manageable third downs for nearly the entire game. Not much else can be said about Robert Griffin at this point. He should be Offensive Rookie of the Year in my opinion, but I don't have a vote and I'm not entirely sure his teammate Alfred Morris shouldn't get some consideration too. The Redskins are going to the playoffs and the Cowboys are not. Tony Romo didn't have much help in the running game this season and he also had to deal with a shaky offensive line and injuries to his wide receivers. When it came time for a game-winning drive, he threw an interception. When the Cowboys needed to win one game to make the playoffs, Romo was responsible for three turnovers (all interceptions). He fulfilled the narrative others have set out for him.
(Just as I finished writing this, half of the coaches in the NFL got fired. I didn't like the Lovie Smith firing and every other firing I had no problem with...again, not that anyone cares about my opinion.)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 22 Atlanta Falcons 17
Even if Dunta Robinson and John Abraham are injured and miss the playoff game in two weeks, I still think Mike Smith made the right call to play them. Yeah, it seems like a risk to play these two guys, but I think with the two week layoff it was important to keep them in the flow of the season rather than giving them the equivalent of three weeks rest. The Falcons didn't come out with an especially challenging game plan and the Buccaneers seemed to have more motivation, especially Doug Martin who seemed to desperately get his name in the running as a serious contender for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Of course, that's hopeless with Luck, Wilson and Griffin also in the running. Who cares anyway, it's just a stupid award. Since I am here to nitpick, the Falcons ability to run the ball scares me a bit when it comes to being a serious Super Bowl contender. I know having a good run game is overrated and all, but Michael Turner only had two 100 yard games this season and averaged only 3.6 ypc. Jacquizz Rodgers wasn't much better with 3.8 ypc. So I believe in the Falcons ability to throw the football, but I wonder if they end up matching up against a team like the Seahawks in the second round of the playoffs, will the Falcons be able to run the ball well enough to take pressure off Ryan when throwing the football? As far as the Buccaneers go, I'm still not convinced Josh Freeman has bounced back into the upper 50% of NFL quarterbacks, but they certainly do have a lot to look forward to next year with Mike Williams, Martin, and Vincent Jackson on offense.
Buffalo Bills 28 New York Jets 9
Any person who thinks this Jets season could have been turned around with Tim Tebow as the quarterback, well, that person would be wrong. The Jets aren't the Broncos from last year and don't have Eric Decker or Demaryius Thomas as the wide receivers. I don't know if Rex Ryan should be fired, but the Jets definitely need to draft better. I do think Chan Gailey needs to be fired (and he was as I finished writing this) and the Bills should try to build the offense around C.J. Spiller. My humble opinion is perhaps the Bills should draft a quarterback in the second or third round, so that means keep Fitzpatrick for one more year. Bills fans would probably strongly disagree and think the Bills need to go get Geno Smith or Matt Barkley in the first round. Either way, the Bills have some offensive and defensive talent, which is nice but they need to find a way to do better with the players they have. I'm not sure Chan Gailey is the guy to do this. Mark Sanchez has to be out in New York. He didn't do anything in this game he hasn't been doing for 2-3 seasons now and if the Jets don't have a dominant defense then Sanchez isn't close to being the quarterback the Jets need to get back to the AFC Championship Game or even the Super Bowl. It seems his teammates love him (or at least his ex-teammates), which is nice, but at a certain point a quarterback has to play the quarterback position better than Sanchez does.
Cincinnati Bengals 23 Baltimore Ravens 17
It's hard to judge teams in a game like this when starters for both teams seem to sit the majority of the game. I feel like the AFC is top-heavy in some ways. I don't believe in the Bengals or the Ravens and think at this point I don't see what will stop a Patriots-Broncos AFC Championship Game (so is there any way I could jinx this matchup more?), other than Joe Flacco playing like the quarterback he believes himself to be or the Bengals proving me wrong and winning two playoff games. I'm not completely writing either team off, since the Ravens seem to randomly play like the best team in the AFC at times and the Bengals have not lost once since November 4. Obviously the Bengals are going to have to put up more than the 189 yards they put up in this game (as well as have the starters play the majority of the game) to win a playoff game. I thought Tyrod Taylor acquitted himself well as a backup and Bernard Pierce ran the ball well and showed he is also a good backup. It's hard to tell in games like this when the backups play a lot, but I think the Bengals-Texans game is going to be a tough one for me to pick.
Chicago Bears 26 Detroit Lions 24
It's tough for the Bears to have won 10 games and still not make the playoffs. Of course we all know it is Jay Cutler's fault. Pretty much everything is. The Bears threw the ball well in this game, especially for a team that was described by the FOX pregame crew as having "one receiving threat." It probably hurt Bears fans to cheer for the Packers in order to get their team in the playoffs and of course the Packers can't even win a fucking game when Bears fans want them to. Detroit lost this game partly because they committed four turnovers, including three by Matthew Stafford. The Lions are one of those teams that don't seem to outwardly have problems on offense, but if you look deeper you see areas that need improvement. They could probably get some offensive line help and maybe another receiver. If I am Detroit, I probably look for defensive help in the secondary as the first priority during the offseason. Stafford took a step back this year in terms of being turnover prone, so that clearly has to stop. The Bears, and I am just guessing here, are probably going to try and find some offensive line help in free agency and in the draft. It's a shame they didn't make the playoffs this year and I still think they are a better team than the Vikings, which of course it doesn't matter what I think. Either way, let's blame Jay Cutler. It just feels right and is something Terry Bradshaw would probably like for us to do. The Bears lost six games this year, all of them to playoff teams. They were the 13th best team in the NFL during the 2012 season it seems. I guess this wasn't good enough to help Lovie Smith keep his job. I'm not sure how I feel about his being fired.
Tennessee Titans 38 Jacksonville Jaguars
The Titans had four return touchdowns in this game. As if Jacksonville didn't have enough problems winning games, they go and give up two special teams touchdowns and two touchdowns on offense. I'm still not convinced Chad Henne is the answer for Jacksonville, nor am I convinced Mike Mularkey is the right coach for the Jaguars. Henne threw for a lot of yardage, but the Jaguars were behind for most of the game and Henne got sacked seven times. I know it takes more than one year to turn a team around and Maurice Jones-Drew was injured for most of the season, but I feel like a change in culture is more important than anything in Jacksonville. No matter what, Chad Henne can't start off next year as the definite starter for the Jaguars. The Titans will probably keep Mike Munchak around for one more year and I don't know if it is the right call. Has Jake Locker really developed in his second year? That's partly how Munchak is going to be judged, on how much progress Locker has made. Locker has been pretty mediocre during the 2012 season and in 10 games he threw more interceptions than touchdowns and had a completion percentage of 56.2%. I think the Titans have the receivers for a strong offense with Britt, Washington, and Wright, so they need a quarterback to consistently get them the ball. This game showed the Titans defense is occasionally up to the task of winning games. Of course as the (not) old saying goes (no one says this), they can't play Jacksonville every week (but I bet they wish they could).
Indianapolis Colts 28 Houston Texans 16
I know I keep harping on this, but for how impressive Andrew Luck was this year he wasn't a very accurate with his passes. I realize the wide receivers have to catch the ball, but Luck didn't throw for over a 50% completion percentage in the past five games and hasn't had a completion percentage over 60% in seven games. Luck also didn't average over 7 yards per attempt in the last seven games either, so it isn't like he was throwing deep and that explains his lower completion percentage. So he's been very good this year, but if he starts to struggle next year don't be surprised when his lack of accuracy is suddenly mentioned as the cause (which is, of course, probably going to be unfair). Still, I can't argue with success and the Colts put the Texans down with a fair amount of ease. What worries me about the Texans is this is the kind of game they need to show up and win to help me feel good taking them seriously in the playoffs. They are going against a division rival and needed to win in order to solidify their seeding, but then they came out and got beat. It may mean nothing at all in the playoffs, but I don't know if I feel good about the Texans playing against the Patriots or Broncos in the playoffs. I feel like they are missing another receiving weapon on offense and against a good offensive line they won't be able to get the pass rush they need to beat good playoff teams.
Carolina Panthers 44 New Orleans Saints 38
Cam Newton got injured at one point in this game and while he was laying on the field some of the Saints fans in the Superdome began cheering his injury. These are probably the same Saints fans who defended Sean Payton through the bounty scandal. What a terrible group of people who cheered and you would think after the bounty scandal they would at least be self-aware to not act like assholes in a situation like that. As it relates to this game, Drew Brees certainly can't do much more than lead the Saints to score 38 points (seven of those points did come on a pick-six), but the Saints defense yet again gave up a ton of points and yardage. Carolina got 44 points in this game and ran for 273 yards. Perhaps this game saved Ron Rivera's job, though it all depends on who the next GM is of course. It is hard for me to feel bad for Drew Brees, but I do feel bad for him. He had another great year and the Saints defense gave up the most yardage in the history of the NFL. Of course with Sean Payton coming back to coach the Saints next year then the defense will magically get fixed. Carolina did their typical late-season winning after they have been eliminated from playoff contention. It's almost a Christmas tradition for the Panthers to win games at the end of the year and rue the day they lost 1-2 early season games that would have made games played in December actually matter.
New York Giants 42 Philadelphia Eagles 7
I have said probably four or five times I'm not concerned about the Giants as it pertains to them making the playoffs. I'm officially concerned about their ability to make the playoffs now that they have been eliminated from the playoffs. A week after getting their ass kicked by the Ravens, the Giants come out and run over the Eagles. Very typical of a team that had a very up-and-down year. Joe Morgan is very upset about the consistency of this Giants team. Two things are for certain in regard to the Eagles. Andy Reid is not going to be the Eagles coach next year and Mike Vick isn't going to be the Eagles quarterback...or at least he shouldn't be. This loss wasn't all on Vick, but I think it is clear at this point Vick is too turnover prone and probably not going to be a starting NFL quarterback that can get his team far into the playoffs. It just doesn't seem he possesses that kind of talent anymore. The Giants never seemed to have found a way to play consistently on a weekly basis and the Giants defense started off the game well about one week too late. David Carr even got a cameo appearance in this game and he somehow managed to not only avoid being sacked, but also didn't seem to duck in fear of the oncoming pass rush. It seems like Carr can still envision the opposing team's pass rushers sacking him from his early days with the Texans and playing behind their offensive line. We didn't get to see much of that against the Eagles. Maybe that says more about the Eagles pass rush and how long Carr was in this game more than anything else.
Pittsburgh Steelers 24 Cleveland Browns 10
I know he didn't win this game for the Browns, but I was surprised at how well it seems Thaddeus Lewis played. Of course since he was tutored at Duke by David Cutcliffe (who worked with Eli and Peyton Manning when they were in college), it probably shouldn't surprise me all that much. That's why I am excited to see how Sean Renfree plays in the NFL and where he gets drafted. Lewis isn't going to replace Brandon Weeden anytime soon, but given Weeden's age he could be the Browns quarterback of the future (I'm kidding...sort of). Of course the Browns are starting all over again, so maybe that starting all over again is something Browns fans can look forward to. The Browns committed four turnovers on offense, but the Browns defense held the Steelers offense to 212 yards of offense, which of course isn't in any way Todd Haley's fault at all. Todd Haley is an offensive genius and we should never question this as not being true. For the Steelers, any time they don't make the playoffs then the season is seen as a failure, but I have no doubt they will be back next year. They need to make a few changes, like upgrade the aging defense and find a miracle cure that prevents running backs and offensive linemen from being injured. Also, fire Todd Haley...just because they can. Knowing how Haley seems to find a job no matter what, I wouldn't be surprised if he was named a head coach for an NFL team even if he got fired by the Steelers.
Denver Broncos 38 Kansas City Chiefs 3
Thank God for Chiefs fans this season is over. The Chiefs had 119 yards of total offense, gave up four sacks, had seven completions in a blowout game, and held the football for only 22 minutes. This season being over has to be the third-best news for Chiefs fans along with knowing Scott Pioli will be fired and the only way Brady Quinn plays quarterback for the Chiefs again is if he buys a copy of Madden 2013. Quinn had 49 yards passing. Of course, is it all his fault? Probably not, but he makes Blaine Gabbert look like Aaron Rodgers. Now that I am done thrashing the Chiefs for the next eight months, let's move on to the Broncos, winners of their last 22 straight games (or so it seems). Peyton Manning is red hot and combining John Fox's great coaching ability with Manning's quarterbacking ability makes it seem like the Broncos could go far in the playoffs. Don't you just get the feeling the fictional script is being written to get Peyton Manning into the Super Bowl with the Broncos? It's amazing now what he did in Indianapolis with Jim Caldwell as his head coach, especially when Caldwell now doesn't seem completely trusted to be an offensive coordinator in the NFL. Oh yeah, the Broncos also have a great defense and Von Miller shouldn't be as overshadowed by J.J. Watt in the Defensive Player of the Year race as I am sure he will be.
Minnesota Vikings 37 Green Bay Packers 34
I'm a hater. I think Christian Ponder isn't a very good quarterback. He has been bad to terrible in too many games this year and I firmly believe if he didn't have Adrian Peterson in the backfield with him then he would be another Mark Sanchez. Ponder played well in this game though and was able to throw accurate passes when he needed to. What I like about Adrian Peterson is he was 9 yards short of the NFL record for rushing yards and when he was asked about it after the game he didn't even know how close he was. Unlike other players (ahem, Drew Brees) he isn't always exactly aware of where he stands in regard to personal records. I still think the Packers are going to beat the Vikings this upcoming weekend when these two teams meet again, but Minnesota showed they can play and score with the Packers. I don't know what has happened to the Packers pass rush nor do I understand how they can't protect Aaron Rodgers, but both the defensive and offensive lines look like major issues to me going into the playoffs. There were times yesterday that Rodgers barely had time to drop back before there were Vikings defenders on him and Ponder was too often given a clean pocket to throw in. If Green Bay wants to win this weekend they have to rattle Christian Ponder. Of course stopping Adrian Peterson would help also.
New England Patriots 28 Miami Dolphins 0
The Patriots defense sacked Ryan Tannehill seven times and created two turnovers in this game. As good as the Patriots offense has been, if the Patriots defense plays well and creates turnovers then they are going to be very difficult to beat. Tom Brady has had an incredibly quiet MVP-type season. He has 34 touchdown passes, 8 interceptions and 4800 yards passing. I don't know if he has had a better season than Peyton Manning, but I think Brady should at least be talked about a lot more in terms of being a serious MVP candidate. I feel like he is getting shortchanged in that discussion. Clearly, the Patriots are entering the postseason with some type of momentum, whatever that is worth, while the Dolphins didn't exactly end the season the way they would have liked. It's hard to win any games when you can't score points, but since New England has such a prolific offense, against the Patriots it is even more important to score points. The Dolphins defense didn't do terribly, but if the Dolphins want to win more than seven games next year they have to give Ryan Tannehill some weapons on offense. Expecting him to win games with Brian Hartline as his best receiver is a losing proposition. The Dolphins have a lot of decent guys on offense, but lack a consistent big play threat in the passing game, and also lack this threat in the running game when Reggie Bush decides not to show up on a given day.
San Diego Chargers 24 Oakland Raiders 21
December. It is the time of the year the fans of NFL teams not in playoff contention start to convince themselves the second or third string quarterback can be the "the answer" for the team. Raiders fans may be thinking Terrelle Pryor is "the answer" at quarterback for their team. Count me as speculative that is true. The Raiders ended another disappointing year by almost getting an upset over another disappointing team, the Chargers, who have their own quarterback issues. Mostly, what the fuck is wrong with Philip Rivers? He threw for 151 yards and led the Chargers to 210 total yards in this game. Isn't he supposed to be a Top-10 quarterback? Norv Turner and Rivers both know that Turner is gone. The Chargers aren't improving (and in fact are regressing) and Turner hasn't been able to do much to help stop this slide. I can't wait for Andy Reid to end up in San Diego. It feels like something that just needs to happen. The Raiders do have some talent on the roster and it's not fair to judge Dennis Allen on this one year. The previous regime put the Raiders in quite a hole in terms of trading draft picks and drafting personnel. It's going to take more than one year to get out of the hole the Raiders are in. I'm not over that Carson Palmer trade. It still feels crazy.
San Francisco 49ers 27 Arizona Cardinals 13
Brian Hoyer was the fourth quarterback to start a game for the Cardinals. Remember when Hoyer was being talked about as the next great Patriots backup quarterback who would be traded to an unsuspecting NFL team that thinks they are trading for a starting-caliber NFL quarterback? He did get Michael Floyd 8 catches and 166 yards, so at least this showed us all that there may be a #2 receiver to complement Larry Fitzgerald...or maybe it just showed us Michael Floyd played his best game of the season in the last game of the season. Ken Whisenhunt hasn't been so great without Kurt Warner as his quarterback. He's an offensive coordinator without a quarterback to run the offense well. Colin Kaepernick played well again for the 49ers and somehow managed to overcome Gregg Easterbrook's fictional "Crabtree Curse" to help Crabtree get 172 yards receiving with two touchdowns catches. I don't think the 49ers are going to have a receiver only make one reception in any playoff game this year because they look more well-balanced in the passing game. I still can't decide if I like the switch from Smith to Kaepernick. I was concerned before that Smith wasn't good enough of a quarterback to lead the 49ers to a Super Bowl victory, but Kaepernick also seems to add a higher ceiling as well as a lower floor than Smith. Being bold is good though, right? When has "fortune favors the bold" ever been wrong?
Seattle Seahawks 20 St. Louis Rams 13
Look, a Jeff Fisher team finished the season near .500! What a (non) shock. I joke, but the Rams seem to be on the upswing and are putting together a pretty good team. The Rams sacked Wilson six times and did not give Seattle a chance at another blowout win. I feel like Sam Bradford is a good enough quarterback to win games, but I'm still not sure he is a franchise quarterback. He's good, but not great in my opinion. The Seahawks already have a pretty good team and I am amazed at how well Russell Wilson has played this year. I expected him to be a decent quarterback this season after how he started the year off, but I didn't think he would throw 26 touchdown passes and be as accurate as he has been. I think the Seahawks are going to have to protect Wilson better in their playoff game against Washington. Marshawn Lynch ran for another 100 yards and Wilson was incredibly efficient in the passing game, only throwing four incomplete passes. If I had to rank the Offensive Rookies of the Year race then I would probably go:
1. Robert Griffin
2. Russell Wilson
3. Andrew Luck
4. Doug Martin
5. Alfred Morris
As much respect as I have for Luck, I think he has to be below Wilson and Griffin.
Washington Redskins 28 Dallas Cowboys 18
Sometimes there is a little bit of truth in stereotypes and assumptions. The stereotype is that Tony Romo can't win big games and throws ill-timed interceptions. Many of his positive attributes are ignored in favor of showing him as a turnover-prone choker. This isn't always true...but then he goes and throws three interceptions in a nationally televised Week 17 de facto playoff game, including one on the potential game-winning drive. Yes, Romo didn't have Miles Austin or Dez Bryant on that final drive, but that had nothing to do with the pass that was intercepted by the Redskins defense. Robert Griffin didn't throw the ball well, but he committed zero turnovers and Romo committed three turnovers. I can't help but think that's the difference in this game. It didn't help that defensive genius Rob Ryan's defense gave up almost 274 yards rushing and allowed the Redskins to be in manageable third downs for nearly the entire game. Not much else can be said about Robert Griffin at this point. He should be Offensive Rookie of the Year in my opinion, but I don't have a vote and I'm not entirely sure his teammate Alfred Morris shouldn't get some consideration too. The Redskins are going to the playoffs and the Cowboys are not. Tony Romo didn't have much help in the running game this season and he also had to deal with a shaky offensive line and injuries to his wide receivers. When it came time for a game-winning drive, he threw an interception. When the Cowboys needed to win one game to make the playoffs, Romo was responsible for three turnovers (all interceptions). He fulfilled the narrative others have set out for him.
Monday, December 17, 2012
2 comments ...Our Pets' Heads are Falling Off!: Week 15
Well, the early games weren't very good this Sunday. There was one game that was worth a crap and the rest were just plain crap. That's what parity in the NFL is worth, I guess. The later games had some more excitement around them, which is always nice after half an afternoon of shitty football games.
Cincinnati Bengals 34 Philadelphia Eagles 13
Well, last week it seemed Nick Foles was the answer to the Eagles quarterback quandary...not so much this week. Of course if we are being completely fair, and why wouldn't we be completely fair, Andy Dalton looked as bad as Foles. Dalton won the game though, which makes him a winner and causes us to forget he got sacked six times, threw an interception and led the Bengals to a horrifying 249 yards against the Eagles defense. The Bengals went with the whole, "we won the game and don't care how" mantra after the game, which is all well and good except it ignores the fact they can't play like this and expect to win a playoff game. The Eagles committed five turnovers and when I asked the question last week whether the win against the Buccaneers saved Andy Reid's job it was probably a bit premature. Reid had to win out at the very least to save his job. 221 yards from the offense and a defense that was constantly put in a bad position isn't going to save Reid's job. Foles wasn't sharp, but he is also a rookie. I tend to give rookie quarterbacks more of a pass for having bad games, unless they are hyped up as the second coming of the greatest quarterback ever. So I still have hope for Foles. I do not have hope for Andy Reid. Regardless of whether he is a good coach or not, his time in Philadelphia is probably done. The Bengals didn't do well offensively, but they ran the ball effectively and they got turnovers. Who knows, maybe that will help them win a playoff game this year? I still think the offensive needs to protect Dalton better and put up more yards to win a playoff game, but as I have said before, at least we are talking playoffs for the Bengals now.
Atlanta Falcons 34 New York Giants 0
Well, the Falcons certainly bounced back pretty well. I want people to write off the Giants again and start questioning whether they are a solid team or not after this loss. Then the Giants will win their next two games and win a road playoff game and all will be forgotten. The Falcons were pissed about losing to a bad Panthers team last week and so they seemed to be very focused for this game. The Falcons defense played very well against a pretty good Giants offense, which should be the story of the game, but the focus is probably going to be more on the Giants offense failing to play well more than it will be on anything the Falcons did to cause that. I know the Falcons offense looked really good and Julio "Gregg Easterbrook Thinks I'm a Diva For Some Reason" Jones had an excellent day. At this point, I'm not going to defend the Giants' offensive performance, but the Falcons were pretty motivated and the Giants have to do better than this. If the Falcons can get a third wide receiver, like Harry Douglas, going along with the running game giving the Falcons anything maybe, just maybe, they can win a playoff game. That's what this year is all about of course. Getting three turnovers and having the ball for 35+ minutes will win plenty of games. I've about given up trying to understand the Giants. One week they look very good and the next week they look like shit. Maybe someone smarter than me can figure it out.
Green Bay Packers 21 Chicago Bears 13
This is the game Jay Cutler haters will point to when saying how Cutler is overrated. The Bears had 190 total yards of offense, did not convert a third or fourth down, only one wide receiver caught a pass and Cutler was harassed for a good portion of the day in getting sacked four times. These two teams combined for 18 penalties and 195 penalty yards. The Packers seem to be winning some ugly games of late. Aaron Rodgers' offensive line didn't do much to help him, he was sacked three times, but he still had a good game throwing the football. The Packers still don't have any semblance of a consistent running game. They have tried Alex Green, DeJuan Harris, Ryan Grant, and James Starks at that position this year and none of them have looked great. Maybe the Packers should give John Kuhn some more chances to show he could be a running back. I'm joking...I think. I'm not a big fan of snap judgments, so I'm not sure what to say about Cutler. Part of me wonders if he is more injured than he is letting on or he just hasn't looked great over the past couple of games for another reason. For a team with no running game and a shaky defense, the Packers are still 10-4 and I'm not betting against them when it comes to playoff time. Well, maybe I will, I'd have to see the matchup they draw, but you understand my hyperbole.
Washington Redskins 38 Cleveland Browns 21
As many times as I have been passive-aggressive in criticizing Mike Shanahan for believing he is an offensive genius, I have to admit he had Kirk Cousins ready to play this game. Cousins looked really, really good in this game. If Robert Griffin wasn't such a great quarterback then I would point out this is the very problem I had with drafting Cousins. He's better than a fourth round draft pick and by choosing both Cousins and Griffin, Shanahan created a quarterback controversy when that wasn't necessary. I've been hard on Shanahan but he has done a hell of a job drafting players over the last couple of years. Cousins committed only one turnover and had a really good game against a pretty good Browns defense. The Redskins defense did a really good job of stopping Trent Richardson and forcing Brandon Weeden to throw the ball and get pressure on him. Richardson did have two touchdowns, but only had 28 yards rushing in this game. I still think the Browns may be on the right track, though I'm not sure Pat Shurmur is the head coach to keep the Browns on the right track. Washington was 7-15 on third down and while I also knocked the Redskins for spending big money on Pierre Garcon and medium-sized money on Josh Morgan, this game showed me to be wrong about that as well. They combined for 10 catches and 125 yards. I think it is a bit early to crown Cousins as an NFL-caliber starting quarterback, but the Redskins at worst have an above average backup quarterback to their franchise quarterback, Robert Griffin. That's how Mike Shanahan designed it when he drafted both of them this year I guess.
Minnesota Vikings 36 St. Louis Rams 22
Adrian Peterson is a beast. He's had a great year, but I still don't know even if he runs for 2200 yards this year if I would vote for him as Comeback Player of the Year. He played 75% of last year, so while he did technically "come back" from an injury, I feel like a player has to miss more than half of the previous season in order to win the Comeback Player of the Year award. Not that it matters since it is just an award. Maybe he should be in the MVP race. Considering Christian Ponder still didn't look very good, Peterson is the MVP of the Vikings. Minnesota is 8-6 right now. Where would they be without Adrian Peterson running for 200 yards in every game? I'm guessing that record could easily be reversed with minus at least one win. Christian Ponder threw for an epic (for him) 131 yards, didn't commit a turnover and the Vikings defense got two turnovers. It would probably help Ponder if he had some receivers to throw the ball to. As far as the Rams go, they are 6-7-1 now and getting closer and closer to 7-8-1 which is close to the .500 record Jeff Fisher is known for (in my somewhat delusional head). Sam Bradford threw for 377 yards and had four receivers with 50 or more yards receiving. His only interception was returned for a touchdown and he was sacked four times. I know Peter King wants the Rams to be a major player in the NFC West, but I'm not sure they are quite at that point right now.
Miami Dolphins 24 Jacksonville Jaguars 3
Yep, it's official that Chad Henne is not the answer in Jacksonville. Is there a third option available for the Jaguars at quarterback? Being fair, the Jaguars have no running game. So criticizing any Jaguars quarterback is slightly unfair since the top two running backs on the depth chart are injured. Of course, being less unfair, the Jaguars quarterbacks aren't very good even if they had Maurice Jones-Drew at running back. Ryan Tannehill was incredibly efficient and it helps him that Reggie Bush ran the ball well. The Dolphins defense isn't terrible either, but it helps they were up against a Jaguars team that simply isn't very good. At this point, the Dolphins need to be thinking about the offseason and I can't see how they aren't going to try and acquire a wide receiver in the draft. Tannehill needs more targets in the passing game. Tannehill would have been the leading rusher for the Jaguars. I'm still up in the air about Tannehill and whether he really can be the quarterback the Dolphins think he can be, but if he gets to play the Jaguars every week then he could end up in the Hall of Fame. I feel bad for Jaguars fans...assuming there still are any.
New Orleans Saints 41 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0
Well, it does appear Drew Brees is back. Not that he went anywhere of course. It does also appear all that talk about Josh Freeman learning so much from his underwhelming third year was all bullshit. Freeman looked terrible throwing four interceptions and helping the Saints offense out way too much when they probably didn't even need help. It was just over a month ago that Peter King was really singing Freeman's praises, but he hasn't looked incredibly good since that time (neither King nor Freeman have). The Saints probably aren't making the playoffs this year, but they ensured the Bucs definitely aren't making the playoffs. The Saints ran the ball very well and it seems their offense runs backwards. Once the passing game is thriving, it allows room for the running game to get going. A few years ago I thought it was sort of silly that sportswriters would talk about how the Saints have a three-headed running attack and talk about how they were actually a good running team. Mostly, I blame Peter King for saying things like this of course. Yeah, the Saints did run the ball well, but they weren't a very good running team if the passing game isn't going. They run the ball well because they throw the ball well. As maligned as the Saints defense has been, if they could play like they did against the Bucs in every other game then the Saints would be a Super Bowl contender.
Denver Broncos 34 Baltimore Ravens 17
I thought the discussion about Jim Caldwell taking over playcalling duties from Cam Cameron to be funny. Caldwell was a head coach in the NFL and at Wake Forest University, yet there were people concerned he couldn't call play as an offensive coordinator? Where was this concern for Caldwell's ability when he was in charge of coaching the Colts during Peyton Manning's prime? I don't know if he is at fault for this loss, but I don't know if Cam Cameron's play calling was the biggest issue the Ravens have either. The Ravens ran into the buzz saw that is the Broncos team. Peyton Manning is red hot, Knowshon Moreno is running for 100 yards in a game, and the Broncos defense is creating turnovers. 1-12 on third down isn't going to beat very many teams, especially a team on a roll like the Broncos are. The Ravens scored most of their points at the end of the game once the outcome was decided. At this point, the Broncos look like the best team in the AFC and it is kind of scary to think of a Peyton Manning team with a dominant defense. It's not like Peyton had a dominant defense under Caldwell in Indianapolis. The Broncos defense can create turnovers and give Manning a short field. Now let's see how all of this translates to the playoffs.
Houston Texans 29 Indianapolis Colts 17
I'm not going to pick on Andrew Luck because he didn't commit turnovers, but he was 13-29 on the day with 186 yards passing and was sacked five times. I know Luck has had comebacks and his play is better than his statistics look, but this was his third straight game with a completion percentage under 50%. He hasn't had a completion percentage over 60% over the last five games. I know there is more to playing quarterback than having a high completion percentage, but for a guy who gets bragged about in terms of being accurate he isn't really all that accurate. Yes, he is a rookie, but he's not being treated like a rookie and I think Robert Griffin has had a more impressive season. That being said, the Texans won because they have a great defense and they controlled the game by running the football. When the Texans run the ball and Andre Johnson is getting a lot of targets then Houston is tough to beat. J.J. Watt, Peter King's choice for "Person of the Decade" had three sacks and six tackles for loss in this game. He was unstoppable. Of course this came one week after the Patriots completely shut Watt out on Monday Night Football. So it would have been nice for Watt to have a sack or two against the Patriots. I have a feeling the Texans are going to get another shot at the Patriots before this season is over. I also have a feeling the Colts are in the process of building something nice, but I still wouldn't give Chuck Pagano co-Coach of the Year. I'm an asshole like that.
Seattle Seahawks 50 Buffalo Bills 17
What the hell has gotten into the Seahawks? Are they "peaking too early," if there is even such a thing as that? Is Russell Wilson the new Tom Brady? Part of what has gotten into the Seahawks is they played a bad Bills team this week. This Bills team has trouble stopping the run, which just so happens to be the thing the Seahawks do the best. Seattle ran up 270 yards on the ground in this game and Russell Wilson ran for three touchdowns. Wilson was pretty good through the air too, throwing for 200 yards, but the Seahawks are on a roll right now. The offense is clicking and the defense caused three turnovers. It has been three weeks since Peter King stated the Seahawks may end up going 2-3 without their starting cornerbacks and the Seahawks are 3-0 in that time. I'm pretty sure he won't be reminding us of this bold prediction. As for the Bills, I'm thinking Chan Gailey has to be getting his walking papers at the end of this year, right? At least C.J. Spiller got 17 carries in the game, but that's only because Fred Jackson is out for the year. Ryan Fitzpatrick was replaced by Tyler Thigpen and the fans in Toronto started chanting for the Blue Jays. Naturally, the Bills are looking to extend the series of home games in Toronto, since the idiots behind this deal can't figure out when the fans not only start cheering for the other team, but start chanting for the local baseball team then it is probably better to play home games elsewhere.
Arizona Cardinals 38 Detroit Lions 10
So apparently the key to the Cardinals winning football game is to not even need a quarterback to win the game. The Cardinals got short field position and took advantage of four Lions turnovers, including three Matthew Stafford interceptions. Since I bash him being drafted by the Cardinals, Michael Floyd was the leading receiver for the Cardinals with a whopping 37 yards. If the Cardinals could just figure out how to not need a quarterback and still win football games. The Cardinals scored 38 points with only 196 yards of offense. The Cardinals defense scored two touchdowns off Matthew Stafford interceptions, which brings us to what is wrong with the Lions. I'm not sure there is anything wrong with the offense other than Stafford committed turnovers that led to good field position and points for the Cardinals. Of course that could be like saying nothing is wrong with the Chiefs other than they don't have a good quarterback. Calvin Johnson had 121 yards receiving and no other Lions receiver had more than 36 yards receiving. Me thinks it could be a good idea to keep the #2 receivers healthy somehow or find another receiver to complement Johnson. The Lions defense also needs to do better than they did in this game. They were playing a terrible Cardinals team which committed 8 turnovers last week and they didn't force one turnover in this game. The Cardinals offense was reeling and the Lions couldn't do anything to change the momentum of the game early by getting a turnover. They only sacked Lindley once too. This was a team loss for the Lions and losing to the Cardinals is probably their worst loss of the season. The good news is it can only go up from here.
Carolina Panthers 31 San Diego Chargers 7
I didn't catch the name of the announcer calling this game, but he loves Jarrett Johnson. Loves him. He said the following about Jarrett Johnson:
1. He's never seen a linebacker with the skill set of speed and power that Jarrett Johnson has.
2. The Ravens defense isn't what it used to be because they let Jarrett Johnson go this past offseason.
Johnson is a good linebacker, but let's rein it in a bit. San Diego is a dumpster fire and their offensive line isn't very good. Rivers was under pressure most of the day, getting sacked six times, and fumbling three times. His offensive line is just so beat up he doesn't seem to have time to look down the field to throw a pass. Meanwhile Cam Newton hasn't thrown an interception in six games and that's pretty impressive. I hope Andrew Luck or Rpbert Griffin aren't held to the standard that Newton was held to earlier this year. Sometimes I think it is forgotten that even a second year quarterback is going to have rough games and hasn't even come close to seeing the type of defenses he will see during a season. The Panthers beaten up offensive line managed to push the Chargers around on offense and there were too many turnovers and penalties by the Chargers. It's hard to win the game when your defense can't stop the opposing offense and your offense can't get anything going due to turnovers and penalties. If Norv Turner is around next year I will be shocked. I wonder if Ron Rivera is in the process of saving his job. While Rivera is getting late season wins during the easy part of the schedule I hope Carolina ownership remembers it was partly Rivera's fault the Panthers are 5-9 instead of 9-5. Really, they would be 14-0 if they just had Jarrett Johnson.
Dallas Cowboys 27 Pittsburgh Steelers 24
Wait, so it is December and the Cowboys are still winning games? That ruins the entire narrative about Tony Romo's career. Ben Roethlisberger threw an interception in overtime that was returned to the one yard line and even Jason Garrett couldn't screw up the game-winning field goal at that point. Romo played a turnover-free game and had a running game to help him out in the passing game, which is always nice. So the Steelers aren't in good shape at 7-7 now are they? I probably think of the Steelers as some sort of super-human team that can withstand anything, but they have had injuries to their running backs all season and Ben Roethlisberger even missed a few games. It's been a tough year for them. Roethlisberger didn't get very good protection from his offensive line and ended up getting sacked four times. The knock on Roethlisberger is that he holds the ball too long, but he needs better protection than he gets. Of course the Steelers have had injuries along the offensive line as well. Back to the Cowboys...maybe they are turning around the "they can't win in December" narrative and this is their year to play well in December and make the NFC Championship Game. If they do fail to make the NFC Championship Game then it will definitely be Tony Romo's fault and not because the Cowboys offensive line didn't play well for him and he didn't have a running game to help him out, that's for sure. Ask Ben Roethlisberger, it is easy to win games without a running game.
Oakland Raiders 15 Kansas City Chiefs 0
119 total yards of offense for the Chiefs. 119 yards. That's ridiculous. The good news is they didn't give up any touchdowns. The bad news is the Chiefs had 119 yards of total offense. I'm going on a limb and saying Brady Quinn won't be the Chiefs starter at the beginning of next year. I know, I know, it's a huge risk to say that, but I'm pretty confident I am right. It also doesn't help that Dwayne Bowe is on injured reserve now. The Chiefs seem to have few weapons in the passing game without Bowe. The Raiders had two healthy running backs in this game (and it was their first and second string running backs nonetheless!) and not surprisingly ran for 203 yards. It's almost like having a fullback and a guy named Jeremy Stewart getting 20 carries in a game isn't an effective way to run the football. It would have been nice to see the Raiders get the ball in the end zone, but they won the game, so perhaps I shouldn't be so picky. Carson Palmer, who by the way was traded for a first and second round draft pick while Robert Griffin was traded for three first round draft picks (think about that), had an okay game but I look forward to the offseason when he refuses to play for the Raiders and threatens to retire. Perhaps the Raiders will trade Palmer to the Jaguars for four 1st round draft choices and make it a trifecta of NFL teams who have been misled since 2005 into thinking that Carson Palmer is still a franchise quarterback.
San Francisco 49ers 41 New England Patriots 34
Michael Crabtree, he of the Easterbrookian "Crabtree Curse" that not-so-amazingly no longer exists said about this win:
"We can win a shootout," Crabtree said. "Whatever it takes, that's our motto. ... We feel like we can do anything, sky's the limit."
Not really. This really wasn't a shootout and was more an example of the 49ers blowing a 31-7 lead where the vaunted 49ers defense couldn't stop the Patriots offense. So it was a big win for the 49ers but this wasn't a shootout. This was the 49ers getting a huge lead followed by the 49ers nearly blowing that huge lead. Kudos to the win, there's no excuse for almost losing this game though. The Patriots had 520 yards of offense and were killed by four turnover in this game. If these two teams play again, I would have my money on the Patriots. The 49ers did a great job coming out and controlling the football with the running game and Kaepernick did a pretty good job of not making mistakes, though he did throw one interception which was more of a punt than anything. That was a really badly thrown ball, but it ended up in a touchback. The Patriots reminded us why their offense is so well thought of by making a furious comeback and very nearly winning this game. If the Patriots defense could have held at the end then perhaps I would be talking about how Brady and the Patriots are becoming unstoppable on offense. Instead we have Michael Crabtree talking about the 49ers winning shootouts when they were just fortunate to have built up such a large lead to where they could hold on. The 49ers did a good job of scoring in the fourth quarter when they needed to, but the only reason this could have been a shootout is if the 49ers blow a big lead.
Cincinnati Bengals 34 Philadelphia Eagles 13
Well, last week it seemed Nick Foles was the answer to the Eagles quarterback quandary...not so much this week. Of course if we are being completely fair, and why wouldn't we be completely fair, Andy Dalton looked as bad as Foles. Dalton won the game though, which makes him a winner and causes us to forget he got sacked six times, threw an interception and led the Bengals to a horrifying 249 yards against the Eagles defense. The Bengals went with the whole, "we won the game and don't care how" mantra after the game, which is all well and good except it ignores the fact they can't play like this and expect to win a playoff game. The Eagles committed five turnovers and when I asked the question last week whether the win against the Buccaneers saved Andy Reid's job it was probably a bit premature. Reid had to win out at the very least to save his job. 221 yards from the offense and a defense that was constantly put in a bad position isn't going to save Reid's job. Foles wasn't sharp, but he is also a rookie. I tend to give rookie quarterbacks more of a pass for having bad games, unless they are hyped up as the second coming of the greatest quarterback ever. So I still have hope for Foles. I do not have hope for Andy Reid. Regardless of whether he is a good coach or not, his time in Philadelphia is probably done. The Bengals didn't do well offensively, but they ran the ball effectively and they got turnovers. Who knows, maybe that will help them win a playoff game this year? I still think the offensive needs to protect Dalton better and put up more yards to win a playoff game, but as I have said before, at least we are talking playoffs for the Bengals now.
Atlanta Falcons 34 New York Giants 0
Well, the Falcons certainly bounced back pretty well. I want people to write off the Giants again and start questioning whether they are a solid team or not after this loss. Then the Giants will win their next two games and win a road playoff game and all will be forgotten. The Falcons were pissed about losing to a bad Panthers team last week and so they seemed to be very focused for this game. The Falcons defense played very well against a pretty good Giants offense, which should be the story of the game, but the focus is probably going to be more on the Giants offense failing to play well more than it will be on anything the Falcons did to cause that. I know the Falcons offense looked really good and Julio "Gregg Easterbrook Thinks I'm a Diva For Some Reason" Jones had an excellent day. At this point, I'm not going to defend the Giants' offensive performance, but the Falcons were pretty motivated and the Giants have to do better than this. If the Falcons can get a third wide receiver, like Harry Douglas, going along with the running game giving the Falcons anything maybe, just maybe, they can win a playoff game. That's what this year is all about of course. Getting three turnovers and having the ball for 35+ minutes will win plenty of games. I've about given up trying to understand the Giants. One week they look very good and the next week they look like shit. Maybe someone smarter than me can figure it out.
Green Bay Packers 21 Chicago Bears 13
This is the game Jay Cutler haters will point to when saying how Cutler is overrated. The Bears had 190 total yards of offense, did not convert a third or fourth down, only one wide receiver caught a pass and Cutler was harassed for a good portion of the day in getting sacked four times. These two teams combined for 18 penalties and 195 penalty yards. The Packers seem to be winning some ugly games of late. Aaron Rodgers' offensive line didn't do much to help him, he was sacked three times, but he still had a good game throwing the football. The Packers still don't have any semblance of a consistent running game. They have tried Alex Green, DeJuan Harris, Ryan Grant, and James Starks at that position this year and none of them have looked great. Maybe the Packers should give John Kuhn some more chances to show he could be a running back. I'm joking...I think. I'm not a big fan of snap judgments, so I'm not sure what to say about Cutler. Part of me wonders if he is more injured than he is letting on or he just hasn't looked great over the past couple of games for another reason. For a team with no running game and a shaky defense, the Packers are still 10-4 and I'm not betting against them when it comes to playoff time. Well, maybe I will, I'd have to see the matchup they draw, but you understand my hyperbole.
Washington Redskins 38 Cleveland Browns 21
As many times as I have been passive-aggressive in criticizing Mike Shanahan for believing he is an offensive genius, I have to admit he had Kirk Cousins ready to play this game. Cousins looked really, really good in this game. If Robert Griffin wasn't such a great quarterback then I would point out this is the very problem I had with drafting Cousins. He's better than a fourth round draft pick and by choosing both Cousins and Griffin, Shanahan created a quarterback controversy when that wasn't necessary. I've been hard on Shanahan but he has done a hell of a job drafting players over the last couple of years. Cousins committed only one turnover and had a really good game against a pretty good Browns defense. The Redskins defense did a really good job of stopping Trent Richardson and forcing Brandon Weeden to throw the ball and get pressure on him. Richardson did have two touchdowns, but only had 28 yards rushing in this game. I still think the Browns may be on the right track, though I'm not sure Pat Shurmur is the head coach to keep the Browns on the right track. Washington was 7-15 on third down and while I also knocked the Redskins for spending big money on Pierre Garcon and medium-sized money on Josh Morgan, this game showed me to be wrong about that as well. They combined for 10 catches and 125 yards. I think it is a bit early to crown Cousins as an NFL-caliber starting quarterback, but the Redskins at worst have an above average backup quarterback to their franchise quarterback, Robert Griffin. That's how Mike Shanahan designed it when he drafted both of them this year I guess.
Minnesota Vikings 36 St. Louis Rams 22
Adrian Peterson is a beast. He's had a great year, but I still don't know even if he runs for 2200 yards this year if I would vote for him as Comeback Player of the Year. He played 75% of last year, so while he did technically "come back" from an injury, I feel like a player has to miss more than half of the previous season in order to win the Comeback Player of the Year award. Not that it matters since it is just an award. Maybe he should be in the MVP race. Considering Christian Ponder still didn't look very good, Peterson is the MVP of the Vikings. Minnesota is 8-6 right now. Where would they be without Adrian Peterson running for 200 yards in every game? I'm guessing that record could easily be reversed with minus at least one win. Christian Ponder threw for an epic (for him) 131 yards, didn't commit a turnover and the Vikings defense got two turnovers. It would probably help Ponder if he had some receivers to throw the ball to. As far as the Rams go, they are 6-7-1 now and getting closer and closer to 7-8-1 which is close to the .500 record Jeff Fisher is known for (in my somewhat delusional head). Sam Bradford threw for 377 yards and had four receivers with 50 or more yards receiving. His only interception was returned for a touchdown and he was sacked four times. I know Peter King wants the Rams to be a major player in the NFC West, but I'm not sure they are quite at that point right now.
Miami Dolphins 24 Jacksonville Jaguars 3
Yep, it's official that Chad Henne is not the answer in Jacksonville. Is there a third option available for the Jaguars at quarterback? Being fair, the Jaguars have no running game. So criticizing any Jaguars quarterback is slightly unfair since the top two running backs on the depth chart are injured. Of course, being less unfair, the Jaguars quarterbacks aren't very good even if they had Maurice Jones-Drew at running back. Ryan Tannehill was incredibly efficient and it helps him that Reggie Bush ran the ball well. The Dolphins defense isn't terrible either, but it helps they were up against a Jaguars team that simply isn't very good. At this point, the Dolphins need to be thinking about the offseason and I can't see how they aren't going to try and acquire a wide receiver in the draft. Tannehill needs more targets in the passing game. Tannehill would have been the leading rusher for the Jaguars. I'm still up in the air about Tannehill and whether he really can be the quarterback the Dolphins think he can be, but if he gets to play the Jaguars every week then he could end up in the Hall of Fame. I feel bad for Jaguars fans...assuming there still are any.
New Orleans Saints 41 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0
Well, it does appear Drew Brees is back. Not that he went anywhere of course. It does also appear all that talk about Josh Freeman learning so much from his underwhelming third year was all bullshit. Freeman looked terrible throwing four interceptions and helping the Saints offense out way too much when they probably didn't even need help. It was just over a month ago that Peter King was really singing Freeman's praises, but he hasn't looked incredibly good since that time (neither King nor Freeman have). The Saints probably aren't making the playoffs this year, but they ensured the Bucs definitely aren't making the playoffs. The Saints ran the ball very well and it seems their offense runs backwards. Once the passing game is thriving, it allows room for the running game to get going. A few years ago I thought it was sort of silly that sportswriters would talk about how the Saints have a three-headed running attack and talk about how they were actually a good running team. Mostly, I blame Peter King for saying things like this of course. Yeah, the Saints did run the ball well, but they weren't a very good running team if the passing game isn't going. They run the ball well because they throw the ball well. As maligned as the Saints defense has been, if they could play like they did against the Bucs in every other game then the Saints would be a Super Bowl contender.
Denver Broncos 34 Baltimore Ravens 17
I thought the discussion about Jim Caldwell taking over playcalling duties from Cam Cameron to be funny. Caldwell was a head coach in the NFL and at Wake Forest University, yet there were people concerned he couldn't call play as an offensive coordinator? Where was this concern for Caldwell's ability when he was in charge of coaching the Colts during Peyton Manning's prime? I don't know if he is at fault for this loss, but I don't know if Cam Cameron's play calling was the biggest issue the Ravens have either. The Ravens ran into the buzz saw that is the Broncos team. Peyton Manning is red hot, Knowshon Moreno is running for 100 yards in a game, and the Broncos defense is creating turnovers. 1-12 on third down isn't going to beat very many teams, especially a team on a roll like the Broncos are. The Ravens scored most of their points at the end of the game once the outcome was decided. At this point, the Broncos look like the best team in the AFC and it is kind of scary to think of a Peyton Manning team with a dominant defense. It's not like Peyton had a dominant defense under Caldwell in Indianapolis. The Broncos defense can create turnovers and give Manning a short field. Now let's see how all of this translates to the playoffs.
Houston Texans 29 Indianapolis Colts 17
I'm not going to pick on Andrew Luck because he didn't commit turnovers, but he was 13-29 on the day with 186 yards passing and was sacked five times. I know Luck has had comebacks and his play is better than his statistics look, but this was his third straight game with a completion percentage under 50%. He hasn't had a completion percentage over 60% over the last five games. I know there is more to playing quarterback than having a high completion percentage, but for a guy who gets bragged about in terms of being accurate he isn't really all that accurate. Yes, he is a rookie, but he's not being treated like a rookie and I think Robert Griffin has had a more impressive season. That being said, the Texans won because they have a great defense and they controlled the game by running the football. When the Texans run the ball and Andre Johnson is getting a lot of targets then Houston is tough to beat. J.J. Watt, Peter King's choice for "Person of the Decade" had three sacks and six tackles for loss in this game. He was unstoppable. Of course this came one week after the Patriots completely shut Watt out on Monday Night Football. So it would have been nice for Watt to have a sack or two against the Patriots. I have a feeling the Texans are going to get another shot at the Patriots before this season is over. I also have a feeling the Colts are in the process of building something nice, but I still wouldn't give Chuck Pagano co-Coach of the Year. I'm an asshole like that.
Seattle Seahawks 50 Buffalo Bills 17
What the hell has gotten into the Seahawks? Are they "peaking too early," if there is even such a thing as that? Is Russell Wilson the new Tom Brady? Part of what has gotten into the Seahawks is they played a bad Bills team this week. This Bills team has trouble stopping the run, which just so happens to be the thing the Seahawks do the best. Seattle ran up 270 yards on the ground in this game and Russell Wilson ran for three touchdowns. Wilson was pretty good through the air too, throwing for 200 yards, but the Seahawks are on a roll right now. The offense is clicking and the defense caused three turnovers. It has been three weeks since Peter King stated the Seahawks may end up going 2-3 without their starting cornerbacks and the Seahawks are 3-0 in that time. I'm pretty sure he won't be reminding us of this bold prediction. As for the Bills, I'm thinking Chan Gailey has to be getting his walking papers at the end of this year, right? At least C.J. Spiller got 17 carries in the game, but that's only because Fred Jackson is out for the year. Ryan Fitzpatrick was replaced by Tyler Thigpen and the fans in Toronto started chanting for the Blue Jays. Naturally, the Bills are looking to extend the series of home games in Toronto, since the idiots behind this deal can't figure out when the fans not only start cheering for the other team, but start chanting for the local baseball team then it is probably better to play home games elsewhere.
Arizona Cardinals 38 Detroit Lions 10
So apparently the key to the Cardinals winning football game is to not even need a quarterback to win the game. The Cardinals got short field position and took advantage of four Lions turnovers, including three Matthew Stafford interceptions. Since I bash him being drafted by the Cardinals, Michael Floyd was the leading receiver for the Cardinals with a whopping 37 yards. If the Cardinals could just figure out how to not need a quarterback and still win football games. The Cardinals scored 38 points with only 196 yards of offense. The Cardinals defense scored two touchdowns off Matthew Stafford interceptions, which brings us to what is wrong with the Lions. I'm not sure there is anything wrong with the offense other than Stafford committed turnovers that led to good field position and points for the Cardinals. Of course that could be like saying nothing is wrong with the Chiefs other than they don't have a good quarterback. Calvin Johnson had 121 yards receiving and no other Lions receiver had more than 36 yards receiving. Me thinks it could be a good idea to keep the #2 receivers healthy somehow or find another receiver to complement Johnson. The Lions defense also needs to do better than they did in this game. They were playing a terrible Cardinals team which committed 8 turnovers last week and they didn't force one turnover in this game. The Cardinals offense was reeling and the Lions couldn't do anything to change the momentum of the game early by getting a turnover. They only sacked Lindley once too. This was a team loss for the Lions and losing to the Cardinals is probably their worst loss of the season. The good news is it can only go up from here.
Carolina Panthers 31 San Diego Chargers 7
I didn't catch the name of the announcer calling this game, but he loves Jarrett Johnson. Loves him. He said the following about Jarrett Johnson:
1. He's never seen a linebacker with the skill set of speed and power that Jarrett Johnson has.
2. The Ravens defense isn't what it used to be because they let Jarrett Johnson go this past offseason.
Johnson is a good linebacker, but let's rein it in a bit. San Diego is a dumpster fire and their offensive line isn't very good. Rivers was under pressure most of the day, getting sacked six times, and fumbling three times. His offensive line is just so beat up he doesn't seem to have time to look down the field to throw a pass. Meanwhile Cam Newton hasn't thrown an interception in six games and that's pretty impressive. I hope Andrew Luck or Rpbert Griffin aren't held to the standard that Newton was held to earlier this year. Sometimes I think it is forgotten that even a second year quarterback is going to have rough games and hasn't even come close to seeing the type of defenses he will see during a season. The Panthers beaten up offensive line managed to push the Chargers around on offense and there were too many turnovers and penalties by the Chargers. It's hard to win the game when your defense can't stop the opposing offense and your offense can't get anything going due to turnovers and penalties. If Norv Turner is around next year I will be shocked. I wonder if Ron Rivera is in the process of saving his job. While Rivera is getting late season wins during the easy part of the schedule I hope Carolina ownership remembers it was partly Rivera's fault the Panthers are 5-9 instead of 9-5. Really, they would be 14-0 if they just had Jarrett Johnson.
Dallas Cowboys 27 Pittsburgh Steelers 24
Wait, so it is December and the Cowboys are still winning games? That ruins the entire narrative about Tony Romo's career. Ben Roethlisberger threw an interception in overtime that was returned to the one yard line and even Jason Garrett couldn't screw up the game-winning field goal at that point. Romo played a turnover-free game and had a running game to help him out in the passing game, which is always nice. So the Steelers aren't in good shape at 7-7 now are they? I probably think of the Steelers as some sort of super-human team that can withstand anything, but they have had injuries to their running backs all season and Ben Roethlisberger even missed a few games. It's been a tough year for them. Roethlisberger didn't get very good protection from his offensive line and ended up getting sacked four times. The knock on Roethlisberger is that he holds the ball too long, but he needs better protection than he gets. Of course the Steelers have had injuries along the offensive line as well. Back to the Cowboys...maybe they are turning around the "they can't win in December" narrative and this is their year to play well in December and make the NFC Championship Game. If they do fail to make the NFC Championship Game then it will definitely be Tony Romo's fault and not because the Cowboys offensive line didn't play well for him and he didn't have a running game to help him out, that's for sure. Ask Ben Roethlisberger, it is easy to win games without a running game.
Oakland Raiders 15 Kansas City Chiefs 0
119 total yards of offense for the Chiefs. 119 yards. That's ridiculous. The good news is they didn't give up any touchdowns. The bad news is the Chiefs had 119 yards of total offense. I'm going on a limb and saying Brady Quinn won't be the Chiefs starter at the beginning of next year. I know, I know, it's a huge risk to say that, but I'm pretty confident I am right. It also doesn't help that Dwayne Bowe is on injured reserve now. The Chiefs seem to have few weapons in the passing game without Bowe. The Raiders had two healthy running backs in this game (and it was their first and second string running backs nonetheless!) and not surprisingly ran for 203 yards. It's almost like having a fullback and a guy named Jeremy Stewart getting 20 carries in a game isn't an effective way to run the football. It would have been nice to see the Raiders get the ball in the end zone, but they won the game, so perhaps I shouldn't be so picky. Carson Palmer, who by the way was traded for a first and second round draft pick while Robert Griffin was traded for three first round draft picks (think about that), had an okay game but I look forward to the offseason when he refuses to play for the Raiders and threatens to retire. Perhaps the Raiders will trade Palmer to the Jaguars for four 1st round draft choices and make it a trifecta of NFL teams who have been misled since 2005 into thinking that Carson Palmer is still a franchise quarterback.
San Francisco 49ers 41 New England Patriots 34
Michael Crabtree, he of the Easterbrookian "Crabtree Curse" that not-so-amazingly no longer exists said about this win:
"We can win a shootout," Crabtree said. "Whatever it takes, that's our motto. ... We feel like we can do anything, sky's the limit."
Not really. This really wasn't a shootout and was more an example of the 49ers blowing a 31-7 lead where the vaunted 49ers defense couldn't stop the Patriots offense. So it was a big win for the 49ers but this wasn't a shootout. This was the 49ers getting a huge lead followed by the 49ers nearly blowing that huge lead. Kudos to the win, there's no excuse for almost losing this game though. The Patriots had 520 yards of offense and were killed by four turnover in this game. If these two teams play again, I would have my money on the Patriots. The 49ers did a great job coming out and controlling the football with the running game and Kaepernick did a pretty good job of not making mistakes, though he did throw one interception which was more of a punt than anything. That was a really badly thrown ball, but it ended up in a touchback. The Patriots reminded us why their offense is so well thought of by making a furious comeback and very nearly winning this game. If the Patriots defense could have held at the end then perhaps I would be talking about how Brady and the Patriots are becoming unstoppable on offense. Instead we have Michael Crabtree talking about the 49ers winning shootouts when they were just fortunate to have built up such a large lead to where they could hold on. The 49ers did a good job of scoring in the fourth quarter when they needed to, but the only reason this could have been a shootout is if the 49ers blow a big lead.
Monday, December 10, 2012
3 comments ...Our Pets' Heads Are Falling Off!: Week 14
There were a couple of surprising results in this week's NFL games. The Chargers, Panthers, Vikings, and Eagles all managed to upset the opponents. The Cardinals on the other hand...not so much.
Denver Broncos 26 Oakland Raiders 13
I don't know what the betting line on this game was, but it was a pretty good bet the Broncos would win this game, if not cover the spread. Even with Darren McFadden back the Raiders couldn't get anything going offensively. Of course McFadden did re-injure his ankle (what a shock, McFadden got injured...again...didn't see that coming) later in the game, so he wasn't able to finish the game. The Broncos were very good on offense. Knowshon Moreno made another cameo appearance and ran for 119 yards on 32 carries. Peyton Manning makes everyone around him better. The incompetent can become competent and good receivers are made into Pro Bowl receivers. I would like to see if Manning signed with the Raiders if he could make Darren McFadden healthy over his entire career. Now that would be a real miracle. Carson Palmer is accumulating some real good passing yards this year because the Raiders are coming from behind and haven't had much of a running game. So just remember that when he flirts with 4600 or 4700 yards passing. Next week for the Broncos is the Baltimore-Denver game, which has implications for homefield advantage in the playoffs. Not to be snide, but Dennis Allen's father died earlier this week so I thought God would at least use Bill Simmons "Tragedy Corollary" to help the Raiders win this game. I guess God hates the Raiders, which Raiders fans probably suspected. It's probably due to the Raiders loose affiliation with N.W.A. in the late 1980's. God doesn't like gangsta' rap. Right now it looks really hard for any team to beat the Broncos, but how many times did we say that about a Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis Colts team? Of course, those Colts teams may not have had a really good defense like this year's Broncos team has.
Carolina Panthers 30 Atlanta Falcons 20
Apparently the key to beating the Falcons is to get to a 23-0 lead and not letting them get in a position where they can have a great comeback. The Falcons offense struggled in the first half of the game and then came alive in the second half of the game as the Panthers defense desperately tried to help the Falcons win the game by giving Matt Ryan easy pass lanes and playing soft defense. Fortunately their own incompetence was defeated by brief dsiplays of competence in keeping the Falcons out of the end zone and forcing a turnover in the second half. The tone was set when the Panthers won their first coin toss of the season. Cam Newton was fantastic in this game and has thrown two interceptions over his last six games. I hope no one writes the Falcons off after this game because I doubt they will get behind 23-0 in any further games. Nearly every good team has a "what the hell" game and this is probably that game for the Falcons this season. The Falcons season is still decided by how they do in the playoffs and if they can't run the ball and the defense gives up more big plays to put the Falcons in a hole then they could have another short playoff run. I'm not counting the Falcons out. This was a wake-up call game.
San Francisco 49ers 27 Miami Dolphins 13
This 49ers defense is brutal to opposing offenses. They gave up 227 total yards to the Dolphins and the offense didn't commit any turnovers. If I am nitpicking, which I do best, I would say the Dolphins sacked Colin Kaepernick four times, so that is an issue. Of course, Kaepernick only threw five incomplete passes and had more total yards than the entire Dolphins team...so there's that. I was no by means a big Alex Smith fan and Kaepernick presents the 49ers offense with a higher ceiling, so maybe the quarterback switch was a good move for Harbaugh and the 49ers. I think the blueprint to beat the 49ers is still the same though. The opposing team has to stop the 49ers from running the ball and forcing them into tough passing situations. It's a lot easier said than done and the Dolphins couldn't do it with a pretty good defense. Ryan Tannehill seems to be taking a few steps backwards over the last few games. He's had four touchdowns and six interceptions since leaving the Jets game on October 28. I wouldn't call it a permanent step back and he doesn't have the best team around him, so I will make a few excuses for him until I am given a reason not to. Oh, and Aldon Smith has 19.5 sacks this year. I feel like there hasn't been much made of how well he has played this year. Maybe the mainstream media should focus more on his ability to sack the quarterback.
St. Louis Rams 15 Buffalo Bills 12
The Bills refused to win this game. They had two chances on the final drive to intercept Sam Bradford and stop him from scoring a touchdown on the game-winning drive, but they couldn't do it. I feel for Bills fans because George Wilson dropped both chances to intercept Bradford on that last drive. The Rams defensive line sacked Ryan Fitzpatrick five times in the game and Fitzpatrick did his usual throw an interception and throw a touchdown pass in the game. He didn't do much to lose the game and didn't do much to win the game. The Rams are closer to the 8-8-type record I fully expect from a Jeff Fisher-led team. I guess there are worse records for a team to have. Neither team ran the ball well, with both teams combining for 47 rushing attempts for 139 yards. The Rams were 2-2 in the red zone in this game and the Bills were 1-3. In a three point game that's pretty much the difference in who won or who lost. On a day when neither team had 300 yards of offense, when the Bills blow two out of three red zone chances and can't catch potential interceptions on the game-winning drive, it's not a surprise the Rams won the game. Sometimes the key to winning the game is just not screwing up as much as the other team.
Dallas Cowboys 20 Cincinnati Bengals 19
I don't yell at the television much, but I was yelling at the television at the end of this game. At the very end of this game the Cowboys were driving and had approximately 35 seconds left and were holding (I believe) two timeouts. Jason Garrett chose to run one play up the middle and then call timeout to set up a game-winning field goal with four seconds left. I thought, and still think, he should have tried to get the ball closer for the field goal, especially when holding two timeouts. The odds of DeMarco Murray fumbling are lower than the odds of Dan Bailey missing a 40 yard field goal. There seems to be an infatuation this year with head coaches running time down and not getting as much yardage as possible in order to set up a close game-winning field goal. The Cowboys did a great job focusing after the horrific accident on Saturday that killed Jerry Brown. I don't know how they did it. This game was somewhat sloppy with eight sacks and the Cowboys struggled to run the ball against a stout Bengals defense. I keep telling myself this Bengals team isn't any different from past Bengals teams, and they do have to play the Eagles-Steelers-Ravens to end the year, but their defense has played pretty well this year. Maybe they could win a playoff game.
Cleveland Browns 30 Kansas City Chiefs 7
Since certain Chiefs players thought Jovan Belcher had something to do with their win over the Panthers last (as opposed to the Panthers simply not being a very good team), I wonder if Chiefs players think Belcher caused them to get their ass kicked by the feisty Browns? Probably not. The dead, even the dead who are murderers, only help their teammates out from the grave. That's how the story usually goes at least. Phil Dawson sees the Browns having turned a corner.
"It's all kind of coming together," said 14-year veteran kicker Phil Dawson, who booted three field goals. "We're just doing all the little things right now. Guys are hungry to come back to work every day. There's some energy around here that I haven't felt. This is all good."
It seems like the Browns are starting to build something productive in Cleveland and they certainly have some good young offensive players to build the team around. They have been competitive in nearly every single game they have played this season. Now it's time for me to piss in their cereal and point out exactly who the Browns have beaten...so the Browns have beaten in order:
Cincinnati
San Diego
Pittsburgh (this was Roethlisberger-less seven turnovers Pittsburgh)
Oakland
Kansas City
It's not exactly a murderer's row of teams, but I guess they can't change their schedule. I see positive vibes, but am cautiously optimistic as usual. As for the Chiefs, Brady Quinn turned back into Brady Quinn and was sacked five times. 80 of the Chiefs 310 yards came on one run by Jamaal Charles as well. I still think if Romeo Crennel isn't fired, then Scott Pioli needs to be, and we all know new General Managers like to hire their own coach so they may as well fire Crennel too. The disaster in Kansas City was covered up for one week. Now the disaster is back.
Indianapolis Colts 27 Tennessee Titans 23
Adam Vinatieri is still winning games with his foot.
Andrew Luck is still winning games he's not supposed to.
That was the first line in the ESPN game recap. I don't get it. Why should Andrew Luck not have won a game against a 4-8 Titans team? Because the Colts were down 13 points at halftime? The Colts got the ball first in the second half, so they had plenty of time and opportunities to win this game even being down at halftime. Plus the Colts were at home, which always helps. I feel like this "Luck is clutch and winning games he shouldn't" narrative is going to start skidding out of control soon into being used anytime the Colts win a game. He's playing very well, but a home game against the Titans is a game he should win. I will also point, because I am an asshole, that Luck threw two interceptions to one touchdown and completed less than 50% of his passes for the second consecutive week. Luck is "clutch" but his numbers are ordinary (54.9% completion percentage 18:18 TD/INT ratio, 74.5 QB rating), which is why I think Robert Griffin should be Offensive Rookie of the Year. I'm not changing my mind about this until I do change my mind. The Titans appear to have a couple good wide receivers with Britt and Kendall Wright, so why can't Chris Johnson find running lanes? I'm guessing it is the banged-up offensive line that is the issue. I don't know either if Jake Locker is the answer at quarterback for the Titans or if their problems lie somewhere else.
Minnesota Vikings 21 Chicago Bears 14
Of course the Vikings beat the Bears and are now separated by one game in the NFC North. The Bears nearly doubled the offensive output of the Vikings in terms of total yards and Christian Ponder was pathetic as usual, but the Vikings won the game. Do you know why? Because Christian Ponder is a winner, dammit. A winner with 91 yards passing. As long as Adrian Peterson keeps running like the best running back in the NFL then the Vikings will continue to be in football games. This doesn't address the main issue the Vikings have, which is the black hole that is the quarterback position. Christian Ponder has made Tim Tebow look like Peyton Manning over the last seven games. Ponder has 962 yards passing in those seven games which comes to robust 137 passing yards per game. Jay Cutler threw a pick-six that was the difference in the game, though the loss wasn't Cutler's fault entirely. I am sure he will get some of the blame though. This was one of those games were one team seemingly got outplayed, but still won the game. The Bears had to stop the run and they couldn't do it.
San Diego Chargers 34 Pittsburgh Steelers 24
Of course the Chargers beat the Steelers. It's amazing what happens when a team rushes the passer and protects their own quarterback. It's almost like getting pressure on the opposing offense and preventing pressure on your quarterback are positively correlated with winning football games. The Chargers also didn't turn the ball over and the Steelers gave up two sacks, but it could have been worse than that. What a bizarre Steelers team this is. I'm not sure I can remember a Steelers team that looks so bad in losing to teams they don't seem like they should lose to. Since I've been talking about him getting fired all year, I may as well say Norv Turner had his team ready to play. They went 12-22 on third down and Turner showed the offensive coordinating skills that make him such a great offensive coordinator. The Steelers couldn't run the ball and Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace both dropped passes that would have completed long passes. It's obvious to say, but it is funny how just one or two plays in a game can make the difference in a team winning a game. Over an entire season there may be 10 plays that made the difference in a team being 10-6 or 6-10. There's such a thin line between winning and losing. The Chargers' receivers caught the passes thrown to them and converted on third down. Therein lies one of the differences in winning and losing.
Philadelphia Eagles 23 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21
Why wouldn't the Eagles go on the road and beat the Buccaneers? All this talk about Andrew Luck winning games he shouldn't win, well Nick Foles won a game he absolutely shouldn't have won for his first career NFL win. He threw for two touchdowns in the last four minutes of a road game, including the game-winning touchdown pass with no time left on the clock. A late fourth quarter win by a rookie quarterback on the road against a team with a better record? That's a game Foles shouldn't have won. The Buccaneers have lost their third straight game (as a bitter Panthers fan I want to point out it should be in four losses in a row) and they are getting closer and closer to being out of playoff contention the more they keep losing. As per their usual defensive work, the Buccaneers did a great job of shutting the Eagles run game down, but couldn't stop the passing game of the Eagles. The Eagles had 29 yards rushing on the ground compared to the Buccaneers 136 yards rushing. The old adage of winning football games by "running the ball and stopping the run" certainly didn't take a leaky secondary into account. What do you think Eagles fans? If the Eagles win out, can Andy Reid save his job?
Washington Redskins 31 Baltimore Ravens 28
How can I blame this loss on Joe Flacco? I'm not sure I can. Dammit! I showed everyone Andrew Luck's numbers earlier and here are Robert Griffin's numbers. He has a 66.4% completion percentage, an 18:4 TD/INT ratio, and a 104.2 quarterback rating. I realize these statistics aren't the end-all of how the Offensive Rookie of the Year should be determined, but Griffin has a better completion percentage by 12% while throwing 14 less interceptions. This doesn't even include his 748 yards rushing. I'm starting to see less and less how a case can be made for Luck or Wilson as Offensive Rookie of the Year. Of course Kirk Cousins came in the game and threw two complete passes on two attempts to get the win for the Redskins, so now the Redskins and offensive genius Mike Shanahan have two viable quarterbacks (which is what Redskins fans are telling themselves today). The Ravens defense didn't really do a great job of stopping Griffin through the air or stopping the Redskins on the ground either. Can't necessarily blame the Ravens' offense for this loss when the defense gets beaten up like they did. Maybe we can blame the Ravens' special teams for giving up a 64 yard punt return in overtime. It's easy to get in field goal range in overtime when a punt return gets you there without having to run an offensive play.
New York Jets 17 Jacksonville Jaguars 10
I know it isn't a great record, but for the gnashing of teeth and discussion about how bad the Jets are, they have still won 6 games this year. They are one game from a .500 record and don't play a team with a winning record the rest of the year. Mark Sanchez still didn't look great and Chad Henne further proved he isn't the answer at quarterback for the Jaguars. I wonder if Peter King still thinks the Jaguars need to go into 2013 with Henne as the starting quarterback? He probably would rather we forget about that little comment. The Jets came into this game and ran the ball all over the Jaguars defense for 166 yards and only committed one penalty for 15 yards during the game. The Jaguars can't afford to lose offensive playmakers and they didn't have Cecil Shorts III for this game and that led to Kevin Elliott and Jordan Shipley getting looks in the passing game. The Jaguars were 0-2 on red zone trips in this game, including Chad Henne throwing an interception close to the goal line and a fumble return for a touchdown by the Jaguars defense that was ruled not a fumble and therefore wasn't a touchdown either. You make your own luck, but often the bad luck a team has makes them as well.
Seattle Seahawks 58 Arizona Cardinals 0
The Cardinals had 154 total yards, four interceptions and four fumbles. I know it has nothing to do with why they lost this game, but doesn't it feel good Cardinals fans to see your team drafted Michael Floyd over...pretty much any other position of need they had? You can never have enough playmakers, unless you don't have a good offensive line or quarterback. The Seahawks had 493 total yards of offense and had two rushers go for 100 yards. Russell Wilson didn't even have to be clutch in this game. He just had to show up and hand the ball off. Remember back when Peter King had the Seahawks at 2-3 after losing their two starting corners for four games? The Seahawks are 2-0 since then. This is what happens when MMQB is written in a reactionary manner, Peter writes things he wishes he could take back if only someone would remind him of how wrong he may end up being. I know this sounds crazy, but the Cardinals really aren't this bad of a team. They need a good offensive line and a good quarterback. Sure, they aren't easy to find, but this is what happens when a professional football team has shitty quarterback play. But hey, they did make Larry Fitzgerald happy and draft a wide receiver to pair with him. When Fitzgerald demands a trade after this season maybe Cardinals management should remind him of that.
New York Giants 52 New Orleans Saints 27
David Wilson had 327 all-purpose yards in this game, because why not? Those people who were counting out the Giants after a few bad games during the middle of the season probably aren't vocal right now. Every team has highs and lows during a season and the Giants went into a low, got to work during their bye week and now are the offensively powerful team we had become used to again. Drew Brees threw for a lot of yardage, but otherwise didn't have his best game. The Saints still clearly have defensive problems and I am not sure if they even get a chance to re-sign Sean Payton as the head coach those problems will get fixed. Perhaps the Saints players are still getting used to the new defensive scheme, but at this point they shouldn't be giving up 52 points in a game. I guess we will see over the coming weeks if David Wilson's performance was something he can come close to duplicating on a semi-regular basis or if this was just a brief tease of what he can do, but hasn't, during his rookie season.
Green Bay Packers 27 Detroit Lions 20
Aaron Rodgers had a sort of "blah" game and the Packers still managed to beat the Lions thanks their defense returning a fumble for a touchdown and intercepting Matthew Stafford once. The Lions blew a 10 point lead for the third straight game. It's hard enough to get a lead, so the Lions blowing leads they get is a big reason why they are 4-9 and due to miss the playoffs this year. I know I talk about this too much, but remember how it was written by some media members that the Packers were "in trouble" after getting their ass kicked by the Giants? They Packers are now 9-4 and firmly in control of the NFC North. I don't get why the media seems to be so reactionary at times. The Packers found a running game and still managed to win with Aaron Rodgers just being pretty good. As long as the Packers offensive line holds up and the defense can continue to force turnovers I'm thinking the Packers are going to have a chance in the playoffs at some point to avenge the last two Giants losses.
Denver Broncos 26 Oakland Raiders 13
I don't know what the betting line on this game was, but it was a pretty good bet the Broncos would win this game, if not cover the spread. Even with Darren McFadden back the Raiders couldn't get anything going offensively. Of course McFadden did re-injure his ankle (what a shock, McFadden got injured...again...didn't see that coming) later in the game, so he wasn't able to finish the game. The Broncos were very good on offense. Knowshon Moreno made another cameo appearance and ran for 119 yards on 32 carries. Peyton Manning makes everyone around him better. The incompetent can become competent and good receivers are made into Pro Bowl receivers. I would like to see if Manning signed with the Raiders if he could make Darren McFadden healthy over his entire career. Now that would be a real miracle. Carson Palmer is accumulating some real good passing yards this year because the Raiders are coming from behind and haven't had much of a running game. So just remember that when he flirts with 4600 or 4700 yards passing. Next week for the Broncos is the Baltimore-Denver game, which has implications for homefield advantage in the playoffs. Not to be snide, but Dennis Allen's father died earlier this week so I thought God would at least use Bill Simmons "Tragedy Corollary" to help the Raiders win this game. I guess God hates the Raiders, which Raiders fans probably suspected. It's probably due to the Raiders loose affiliation with N.W.A. in the late 1980's. God doesn't like gangsta' rap. Right now it looks really hard for any team to beat the Broncos, but how many times did we say that about a Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis Colts team? Of course, those Colts teams may not have had a really good defense like this year's Broncos team has.
Carolina Panthers 30 Atlanta Falcons 20
Apparently the key to beating the Falcons is to get to a 23-0 lead and not letting them get in a position where they can have a great comeback. The Falcons offense struggled in the first half of the game and then came alive in the second half of the game as the Panthers defense desperately tried to help the Falcons win the game by giving Matt Ryan easy pass lanes and playing soft defense. Fortunately their own incompetence was defeated by brief dsiplays of competence in keeping the Falcons out of the end zone and forcing a turnover in the second half. The tone was set when the Panthers won their first coin toss of the season. Cam Newton was fantastic in this game and has thrown two interceptions over his last six games. I hope no one writes the Falcons off after this game because I doubt they will get behind 23-0 in any further games. Nearly every good team has a "what the hell" game and this is probably that game for the Falcons this season. The Falcons season is still decided by how they do in the playoffs and if they can't run the ball and the defense gives up more big plays to put the Falcons in a hole then they could have another short playoff run. I'm not counting the Falcons out. This was a wake-up call game.
San Francisco 49ers 27 Miami Dolphins 13
This 49ers defense is brutal to opposing offenses. They gave up 227 total yards to the Dolphins and the offense didn't commit any turnovers. If I am nitpicking, which I do best, I would say the Dolphins sacked Colin Kaepernick four times, so that is an issue. Of course, Kaepernick only threw five incomplete passes and had more total yards than the entire Dolphins team...so there's that. I was no by means a big Alex Smith fan and Kaepernick presents the 49ers offense with a higher ceiling, so maybe the quarterback switch was a good move for Harbaugh and the 49ers. I think the blueprint to beat the 49ers is still the same though. The opposing team has to stop the 49ers from running the ball and forcing them into tough passing situations. It's a lot easier said than done and the Dolphins couldn't do it with a pretty good defense. Ryan Tannehill seems to be taking a few steps backwards over the last few games. He's had four touchdowns and six interceptions since leaving the Jets game on October 28. I wouldn't call it a permanent step back and he doesn't have the best team around him, so I will make a few excuses for him until I am given a reason not to. Oh, and Aldon Smith has 19.5 sacks this year. I feel like there hasn't been much made of how well he has played this year. Maybe the mainstream media should focus more on his ability to sack the quarterback.
St. Louis Rams 15 Buffalo Bills 12
The Bills refused to win this game. They had two chances on the final drive to intercept Sam Bradford and stop him from scoring a touchdown on the game-winning drive, but they couldn't do it. I feel for Bills fans because George Wilson dropped both chances to intercept Bradford on that last drive. The Rams defensive line sacked Ryan Fitzpatrick five times in the game and Fitzpatrick did his usual throw an interception and throw a touchdown pass in the game. He didn't do much to lose the game and didn't do much to win the game. The Rams are closer to the 8-8-type record I fully expect from a Jeff Fisher-led team. I guess there are worse records for a team to have. Neither team ran the ball well, with both teams combining for 47 rushing attempts for 139 yards. The Rams were 2-2 in the red zone in this game and the Bills were 1-3. In a three point game that's pretty much the difference in who won or who lost. On a day when neither team had 300 yards of offense, when the Bills blow two out of three red zone chances and can't catch potential interceptions on the game-winning drive, it's not a surprise the Rams won the game. Sometimes the key to winning the game is just not screwing up as much as the other team.
Dallas Cowboys 20 Cincinnati Bengals 19
I don't yell at the television much, but I was yelling at the television at the end of this game. At the very end of this game the Cowboys were driving and had approximately 35 seconds left and were holding (I believe) two timeouts. Jason Garrett chose to run one play up the middle and then call timeout to set up a game-winning field goal with four seconds left. I thought, and still think, he should have tried to get the ball closer for the field goal, especially when holding two timeouts. The odds of DeMarco Murray fumbling are lower than the odds of Dan Bailey missing a 40 yard field goal. There seems to be an infatuation this year with head coaches running time down and not getting as much yardage as possible in order to set up a close game-winning field goal. The Cowboys did a great job focusing after the horrific accident on Saturday that killed Jerry Brown. I don't know how they did it. This game was somewhat sloppy with eight sacks and the Cowboys struggled to run the ball against a stout Bengals defense. I keep telling myself this Bengals team isn't any different from past Bengals teams, and they do have to play the Eagles-Steelers-Ravens to end the year, but their defense has played pretty well this year. Maybe they could win a playoff game.
Cleveland Browns 30 Kansas City Chiefs 7
Since certain Chiefs players thought Jovan Belcher had something to do with their win over the Panthers last (as opposed to the Panthers simply not being a very good team), I wonder if Chiefs players think Belcher caused them to get their ass kicked by the feisty Browns? Probably not. The dead, even the dead who are murderers, only help their teammates out from the grave. That's how the story usually goes at least. Phil Dawson sees the Browns having turned a corner.
"It's all kind of coming together," said 14-year veteran kicker Phil Dawson, who booted three field goals. "We're just doing all the little things right now. Guys are hungry to come back to work every day. There's some energy around here that I haven't felt. This is all good."
It seems like the Browns are starting to build something productive in Cleveland and they certainly have some good young offensive players to build the team around. They have been competitive in nearly every single game they have played this season. Now it's time for me to piss in their cereal and point out exactly who the Browns have beaten...so the Browns have beaten in order:
Cincinnati
San Diego
Pittsburgh (this was Roethlisberger-less seven turnovers Pittsburgh)
Oakland
Kansas City
It's not exactly a murderer's row of teams, but I guess they can't change their schedule. I see positive vibes, but am cautiously optimistic as usual. As for the Chiefs, Brady Quinn turned back into Brady Quinn and was sacked five times. 80 of the Chiefs 310 yards came on one run by Jamaal Charles as well. I still think if Romeo Crennel isn't fired, then Scott Pioli needs to be, and we all know new General Managers like to hire their own coach so they may as well fire Crennel too. The disaster in Kansas City was covered up for one week. Now the disaster is back.
Indianapolis Colts 27 Tennessee Titans 23
Adam Vinatieri is still winning games with his foot.
Andrew Luck is still winning games he's not supposed to.
That was the first line in the ESPN game recap. I don't get it. Why should Andrew Luck not have won a game against a 4-8 Titans team? Because the Colts were down 13 points at halftime? The Colts got the ball first in the second half, so they had plenty of time and opportunities to win this game even being down at halftime. Plus the Colts were at home, which always helps. I feel like this "Luck is clutch and winning games he shouldn't" narrative is going to start skidding out of control soon into being used anytime the Colts win a game. He's playing very well, but a home game against the Titans is a game he should win. I will also point, because I am an asshole, that Luck threw two interceptions to one touchdown and completed less than 50% of his passes for the second consecutive week. Luck is "clutch" but his numbers are ordinary (54.9% completion percentage 18:18 TD/INT ratio, 74.5 QB rating), which is why I think Robert Griffin should be Offensive Rookie of the Year. I'm not changing my mind about this until I do change my mind. The Titans appear to have a couple good wide receivers with Britt and Kendall Wright, so why can't Chris Johnson find running lanes? I'm guessing it is the banged-up offensive line that is the issue. I don't know either if Jake Locker is the answer at quarterback for the Titans or if their problems lie somewhere else.
Minnesota Vikings 21 Chicago Bears 14
Of course the Vikings beat the Bears and are now separated by one game in the NFC North. The Bears nearly doubled the offensive output of the Vikings in terms of total yards and Christian Ponder was pathetic as usual, but the Vikings won the game. Do you know why? Because Christian Ponder is a winner, dammit. A winner with 91 yards passing. As long as Adrian Peterson keeps running like the best running back in the NFL then the Vikings will continue to be in football games. This doesn't address the main issue the Vikings have, which is the black hole that is the quarterback position. Christian Ponder has made Tim Tebow look like Peyton Manning over the last seven games. Ponder has 962 yards passing in those seven games which comes to robust 137 passing yards per game. Jay Cutler threw a pick-six that was the difference in the game, though the loss wasn't Cutler's fault entirely. I am sure he will get some of the blame though. This was one of those games were one team seemingly got outplayed, but still won the game. The Bears had to stop the run and they couldn't do it.
San Diego Chargers 34 Pittsburgh Steelers 24
Of course the Chargers beat the Steelers. It's amazing what happens when a team rushes the passer and protects their own quarterback. It's almost like getting pressure on the opposing offense and preventing pressure on your quarterback are positively correlated with winning football games. The Chargers also didn't turn the ball over and the Steelers gave up two sacks, but it could have been worse than that. What a bizarre Steelers team this is. I'm not sure I can remember a Steelers team that looks so bad in losing to teams they don't seem like they should lose to. Since I've been talking about him getting fired all year, I may as well say Norv Turner had his team ready to play. They went 12-22 on third down and Turner showed the offensive coordinating skills that make him such a great offensive coordinator. The Steelers couldn't run the ball and Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace both dropped passes that would have completed long passes. It's obvious to say, but it is funny how just one or two plays in a game can make the difference in a team winning a game. Over an entire season there may be 10 plays that made the difference in a team being 10-6 or 6-10. There's such a thin line between winning and losing. The Chargers' receivers caught the passes thrown to them and converted on third down. Therein lies one of the differences in winning and losing.
Philadelphia Eagles 23 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21
Why wouldn't the Eagles go on the road and beat the Buccaneers? All this talk about Andrew Luck winning games he shouldn't win, well Nick Foles won a game he absolutely shouldn't have won for his first career NFL win. He threw for two touchdowns in the last four minutes of a road game, including the game-winning touchdown pass with no time left on the clock. A late fourth quarter win by a rookie quarterback on the road against a team with a better record? That's a game Foles shouldn't have won. The Buccaneers have lost their third straight game (as a bitter Panthers fan I want to point out it should be in four losses in a row) and they are getting closer and closer to being out of playoff contention the more they keep losing. As per their usual defensive work, the Buccaneers did a great job of shutting the Eagles run game down, but couldn't stop the passing game of the Eagles. The Eagles had 29 yards rushing on the ground compared to the Buccaneers 136 yards rushing. The old adage of winning football games by "running the ball and stopping the run" certainly didn't take a leaky secondary into account. What do you think Eagles fans? If the Eagles win out, can Andy Reid save his job?
Washington Redskins 31 Baltimore Ravens 28
How can I blame this loss on Joe Flacco? I'm not sure I can. Dammit! I showed everyone Andrew Luck's numbers earlier and here are Robert Griffin's numbers. He has a 66.4% completion percentage, an 18:4 TD/INT ratio, and a 104.2 quarterback rating. I realize these statistics aren't the end-all of how the Offensive Rookie of the Year should be determined, but Griffin has a better completion percentage by 12% while throwing 14 less interceptions. This doesn't even include his 748 yards rushing. I'm starting to see less and less how a case can be made for Luck or Wilson as Offensive Rookie of the Year. Of course Kirk Cousins came in the game and threw two complete passes on two attempts to get the win for the Redskins, so now the Redskins and offensive genius Mike Shanahan have two viable quarterbacks (which is what Redskins fans are telling themselves today). The Ravens defense didn't really do a great job of stopping Griffin through the air or stopping the Redskins on the ground either. Can't necessarily blame the Ravens' offense for this loss when the defense gets beaten up like they did. Maybe we can blame the Ravens' special teams for giving up a 64 yard punt return in overtime. It's easy to get in field goal range in overtime when a punt return gets you there without having to run an offensive play.
New York Jets 17 Jacksonville Jaguars 10
I know it isn't a great record, but for the gnashing of teeth and discussion about how bad the Jets are, they have still won 6 games this year. They are one game from a .500 record and don't play a team with a winning record the rest of the year. Mark Sanchez still didn't look great and Chad Henne further proved he isn't the answer at quarterback for the Jaguars. I wonder if Peter King still thinks the Jaguars need to go into 2013 with Henne as the starting quarterback? He probably would rather we forget about that little comment. The Jets came into this game and ran the ball all over the Jaguars defense for 166 yards and only committed one penalty for 15 yards during the game. The Jaguars can't afford to lose offensive playmakers and they didn't have Cecil Shorts III for this game and that led to Kevin Elliott and Jordan Shipley getting looks in the passing game. The Jaguars were 0-2 on red zone trips in this game, including Chad Henne throwing an interception close to the goal line and a fumble return for a touchdown by the Jaguars defense that was ruled not a fumble and therefore wasn't a touchdown either. You make your own luck, but often the bad luck a team has makes them as well.
Seattle Seahawks 58 Arizona Cardinals 0
The Cardinals had 154 total yards, four interceptions and four fumbles. I know it has nothing to do with why they lost this game, but doesn't it feel good Cardinals fans to see your team drafted Michael Floyd over...pretty much any other position of need they had? You can never have enough playmakers, unless you don't have a good offensive line or quarterback. The Seahawks had 493 total yards of offense and had two rushers go for 100 yards. Russell Wilson didn't even have to be clutch in this game. He just had to show up and hand the ball off. Remember back when Peter King had the Seahawks at 2-3 after losing their two starting corners for four games? The Seahawks are 2-0 since then. This is what happens when MMQB is written in a reactionary manner, Peter writes things he wishes he could take back if only someone would remind him of how wrong he may end up being. I know this sounds crazy, but the Cardinals really aren't this bad of a team. They need a good offensive line and a good quarterback. Sure, they aren't easy to find, but this is what happens when a professional football team has shitty quarterback play. But hey, they did make Larry Fitzgerald happy and draft a wide receiver to pair with him. When Fitzgerald demands a trade after this season maybe Cardinals management should remind him of that.
New York Giants 52 New Orleans Saints 27
David Wilson had 327 all-purpose yards in this game, because why not? Those people who were counting out the Giants after a few bad games during the middle of the season probably aren't vocal right now. Every team has highs and lows during a season and the Giants went into a low, got to work during their bye week and now are the offensively powerful team we had become used to again. Drew Brees threw for a lot of yardage, but otherwise didn't have his best game. The Saints still clearly have defensive problems and I am not sure if they even get a chance to re-sign Sean Payton as the head coach those problems will get fixed. Perhaps the Saints players are still getting used to the new defensive scheme, but at this point they shouldn't be giving up 52 points in a game. I guess we will see over the coming weeks if David Wilson's performance was something he can come close to duplicating on a semi-regular basis or if this was just a brief tease of what he can do, but hasn't, during his rookie season.
Green Bay Packers 27 Detroit Lions 20
Aaron Rodgers had a sort of "blah" game and the Packers still managed to beat the Lions thanks their defense returning a fumble for a touchdown and intercepting Matthew Stafford once. The Lions blew a 10 point lead for the third straight game. It's hard enough to get a lead, so the Lions blowing leads they get is a big reason why they are 4-9 and due to miss the playoffs this year. I know I talk about this too much, but remember how it was written by some media members that the Packers were "in trouble" after getting their ass kicked by the Giants? They Packers are now 9-4 and firmly in control of the NFC North. I don't get why the media seems to be so reactionary at times. The Packers found a running game and still managed to win with Aaron Rodgers just being pretty good. As long as the Packers offensive line holds up and the defense can continue to force turnovers I'm thinking the Packers are going to have a chance in the playoffs at some point to avenge the last two Giants losses.
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