Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo has career December record that now stands at 7-12. Until this changes, the tag of choker will remain with him. What it'll take, you'd think, is a Super Bowl ring to prove the doubters wrong, and every time the Cowboys lose a close game like they did tonight against the New York Giants, there will be more fuel added to the fire. I've said it before and I'll say it again: sometimes Romo looks as good as Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees or Tom Brady and then there are times when he pretty much seems like the undrafted QB out of Eastern Illinois. The Cowboys need to decide if Romo is their guy going forward? Does another post-season failure have him on the hot seat?
On the flip side, HUGE victory for my Giants today. Eli Manning is making a serious habit of these fourth quarter comebacks, and he's statistically among the best in the league in the final quarter. Before tonight, five of the Giants' six wins this season have come thanks to a Manning-led final drive. His 120.5 passer rating and 13 touchdowns in the fourth lead the league and those 5 game-winning drives tie him for equal best in the NFL. His efforts tonight in front of a hostile crowd in Arlington were brilliant. Single-handedly, with zero run game to speak of, Eli is keeping the Giants in the playoff race. 400 yards, 2 TDs and a INT today, on a pretty good day out. Washington and the NY Jets to come before a January 1 match-up at MetLife Stadium with Dallas, in a game that might well decide the NFC East victor.
Tim Tebow's legend grows, and I must say that I'm completely sick and tired of the ridiculous Favre-like love that is being showered on this guy. If ever there's been a case where a record doesn't accurately suggest the skills of the quarterback, this is it. Tebow simply is not a good quarterback! Denver's defense and special teams - not to mention an onside kick here and there; as much of a lottery as there is in football - are woefully under-mentioned as Tebow, whose numbers haven't been that great and who had shown only glimpses of the right stuff, manages to be the only story in Denver. Time to properly acknowledge the entire football team. After all, football's a team game.
New England keeps winning, but their defense has got to be a concern. It's probably a massive concern because the Washington Redskins piled up 27 points on them - a lot for a low-scoring 'Skins team - and we all know that the Redskins aren't exactly an offensive juggernaut. Still, with Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski (6 grabs for 160 yards and 2 TDs) doing their pitch-and-catch routine, it's fairly likely that the Pats offense will just out-score the opposition. That combination is a heck of a thing to watch right now.
This is the year of the Tight End in the National Football League. Five TEs lead their team in total yards receiving and we're witnessing beastly performances week-in-week-out from guys like Rob Gronkowski and Jermichael Finley and Jason Witten. Gronkowski leads all comers, today setting an NFL single-season mark for touchdown receptions by a tight end. Long gone are the days when TEs are mostly blockers and only occasional receivers for a change of pace. It's the big guys on the end of the line who're really making offenses tick this year, and it's great to see!
Huge kudos to Ben Roethlisberger. No one's ever questioned the toughness of the Pittsburgh QB but to come back into the game on Thursday night against Cleveland, a tough and hard-hitting contest against a division rival, with a high ankle strain, showed amazing moxie. You could see how hard it was every snap for the Steelers signal caller to even hand the football off to his running back. But Ben stuck with it, got the job done, and it's going to take a determined effort from Cincinnati - and some stinkers from the Steelers - to not see Big Ben lead his team into the playoffs. Once again, the boys from Pittsburgh are one of the teams to beat in the AFC.
Well, the wheels are right off the Buffalo Bandwagon now. What started as a promising season has disintegrated like a sand castle at high tide, and people are now wondering whether head coach Chan Gailey will last the season. It's a sad fall from grace for a team that was pretty much the surprise packet - and league darling - for the first eight weeks of the season. In Week Fourteen, they were beaten by a not-exactly-fantastic San Diego Chargers team 37-10 and that last-second victory over New England seems a long time ago now.
Props to rookie QB TJ Yates who did his best Eli Manning in taking the Houston Texans down the field late to seal a solid win vs. Cincinnati. The Texans lost start Matt Schaub for the season one week and back-up Matt Leinart to a similarly long-term injury the week after, so it's fallen to the former University of North Carolina Tar Heel to direct the offense, while Wade Phillips continues to coach one of the best defenses in the league. And to think that, about a year ago, Phillips was fired from Dallas because the Cowboys defense was terrible. Houston's win today seals their first ever playoff berth. If Buffalo were the surprise packet and feel-good story of the first half of the season, the Texans are certainly the same for the second half.
Detroit got back on track Sunday in the strangest of strange ways, surviving a late scare against Minnesota to move to 8-5 and now the Lions are right in the hunt for an NFC Wild Card. QB Matthew Stafford had a solid game, going 20-29 for 227 yards and 2 TDs as the Lions took advantage of a whopping six Vikings turnovers - including 2 Pick-6's from QB Christian Ponder - to win a game in which they were out gained 425-280. In case you weren't already aware, turnovers kill.
Green Bay came out, smacked Oakland in the mouth, recorded a 46-16 victory but lost star WR Greg Jennings as the Pack secured their playoff spot and a first round bye. Charles Woodson had an INT against his former team, and the Packers defense intercepted Carson Palmer 4 times. But the big story is the loss of Jennings to an apparent left knee injury that QB Aaron Rodgers said "didn't look very good," and the injury doesn't look very good for the Packers, especially not with a still-suspect defense that relies on big plays on offense, usually from Rodgers to Jennings, to cover up holes on the reverse side of the football. It will be a crucial week in Green Bay as word of Jennings' status comes out.
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