The past weekend reminded me of those really crazy weekends in college football – the kind that completely throws into chaos everything we thought we knew about the composition of the BCS rankings – and for that reason, it was perhaps the most compelling set of games this season.
Once again, the NY Giants are doing their split personality act. Last week, they looked pretty good against Dallas, and got the all-important win that put them into first place in the NFC East. Eli Manning played well, the running game finally got on track, and the defense did enough late in the game to stop Romo and the Cowboys late. So there was great hope for the Washington game this week...only to have that hope squashed out by an insipid performance against a team who should have been dispatched easily. Gone was the running game and Eli Manning had to put the team on his shoulders – resulting in three bad turnovers – and the defense didn't seem to be able to stop Rex Grossman, either. They couldn't stop Rex Grossman. Yeah, that’s bad. I don't know if my Giants are going to make the playoffs now, but after an effort like that, do they even deserve a slot?
Finally, the talk can stop. There will be no undefeated season in 2011-12. Green Bay lost a strange game in Kansas City, who was probably nobody’s pick to upset the previously undefeated Pack, especially after they’d fired their coach, yet here they were, led by Kyle Orton and a defense that never really let Aaron Rodgers comfortable, recording a miraculous and, considering the circumstances, a legendary win. For the Packers, this might be the best thing. Remember the constant pressure heaped on New England with every win, and remember what happened to them in Super Bowl XLII, when, apparently, the pressure from every man and his dog in America became too much. This was actually probably a good loss, because it’ll keep the team grounded through December and into January, releases the pressure valve that was slowly growing and would soon be bulging, allows the Pack to and lets the league’s focus turn elsewhere...
To Tim Tebow, perhaps? The Denver defense turned out not to be as good as it was originally thought to be, because Tom Brady and the seemingly unstoppable New England offense. Yet Tebow, who has been feted as the next coming as John Elway in Denver, put up respectable – even good – numbers against the notoriously porous group of guys that Bill Belichick calls his defense. Maybe...just maybe, people like me are growing a little more fond of Tebow, whose sideshow is still annoying, but he keeps getting better, and although the throwing motion isn't great, they might be onto something at Mile High. Sure, they got lit up by Brady, but a lot of teams better and worse do. I figure Denver’s still a pretty good football team and may yet make an improbable playoff appearance come January.
Being a Detroit Lions supporter must be one of the most frustrating things on earth at the moment. It’s been a season of dramatic second half comebacks – Minnesota, Dallas, Minnesota again – and that trend continued with the Lions in Oakland, erasing a thirteen point fourth quarter deficit against what I thought was a pretty reasonable Oakland defense. Seriously, if you’re down in the fourth quarter and need a miracle, just hand the football to Matt Stafford, sit back and watch him go to work. Sure, the running game sucks – Stafford threw it more than fifty times yesterday – but man, is it something to see? This team, for all it’s negative press, is making a name for itself as fourth quarter specialists. Wow, they should really consider trading for Tim Tebow! Just kidding, their current signal caller’s pretty good.
I’m sorry if I ever labelled Joe Flacco an elite quarterback in the past because Sunday night’s woeful effort against San Diego makes a mockery of that suggestion. It’s kinda okay in a strange way, because the rest of the Baltimore team was as bad as it’s quarterback, allowing a Chargers team to record a blow-out win that was more about Baltimore doing everything wrong than San Diego being particularly good. The AFC’s number one seed looked like it would rest with the Ravens but now it could be Pittsburgh’s, or New England’s, but we might need an abacus before the season’s over to work it all out.
But perhaps not Houston’s, because that solid defense that’s been blowing guys up all year had an off day and allowed a mediocre at best Carolina team to beat then, which makes you wonder if the Texans are going to stumble down the stretch. Losing your two top quarterbacks undeniably hurts a football team, and it hasn't shown until now, but I always had a suspicion that the spotlight for rookie T.J. Yates – magnified after last week’s miracle comeback, Matt Stafford-style – might get too much. Time will tell. At least the Texans have locked up a playoff berth, but you don't want to back into January football on a string of bad losses if you can at all avoid it.
What’s the bigger story? That Seattle’s late-season resurgence really has legs or that the Chicago Bears are flaming out badly going down the stretch? Since the Bears lost Jay Cutler at quarterback and then Matt Forte – their most prolific offensive player – they’ve completely imploded and what looked like a playoff calibre team – and one that is a long shot at best to make the playoffs. You feel for the Bears, who were just starting to click on both sides of the football before Cutler went down.
And if all that above wasn't crazy enough, the maligned and ridiculed, Peyton Manning-less Indianapolis Colts got off the schneid – finally!!- against a Tennessee Titans team that I thought would pretty much do what every other team’s down to the Colts this year – even the bad teams – and that’s beat them mercilessly. But no, the Titans will become something of a historical footnote in NFL history, as will Colts QB Dan Orlovsky, who may well have given the Colts their only win of the season. Thankfully for Colts fans wanting to draft Stanford’s Andrew Luck in the coming Draft, this win came after the team has pretty much sewn up the first selection. As for the Titans...what do you say about them?
Anyone who didn't think that the San Francisco 49ers are the real deal, think again – and I hope you watched their landmark victory over Pittsburgh on Monday Night in the Bay Area. Not sure what’s a crazier occurrence out of this game: Big Ben Roethlisberger, who normally protects the football like it’s gold in the Federal Reserve, turning the football over three times, or the fact that Candlestick Park went dark twice in about an hour, resulting in a delay and then a stoppage. Apparently the venue is on it’s own power grid and they were the only ones affected. Crazy bad luck for the electrical company. Sensational win for the Niners who are going places. After this weekend, one Harbaugh is in the penthouse and the other’s taken a trip straight to the penthouse.
It’s Christmas next Sunday, so the bulk of the NFL’s slate of games come Saturday (or on Christmas morning in Australia, which is pretty frustrating – family or football?) before a Green Bay vs. Chicago game that means a whole lot less now that the Pack have dropped one while the Bears continue to hemorrhage points and players and watch their season spiral away. Still, Christmas night, Bears vs. Pack. Pretty awesome way to end the day.
Next week’s blog comes on the road, composed somewhere over the Pacific Ocean and then in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Merry Christmas, happy holidays, peace on earth.
Once again, the NY Giants are doing their split personality act. Last week, they looked pretty good against Dallas, and got the all-important win that put them into first place in the NFC East. Eli Manning played well, the running game finally got on track, and the defense did enough late in the game to stop Romo and the Cowboys late. So there was great hope for the Washington game this week...only to have that hope squashed out by an insipid performance against a team who should have been dispatched easily. Gone was the running game and Eli Manning had to put the team on his shoulders – resulting in three bad turnovers – and the defense didn't seem to be able to stop Rex Grossman, either. They couldn't stop Rex Grossman. Yeah, that’s bad. I don't know if my Giants are going to make the playoffs now, but after an effort like that, do they even deserve a slot?
Finally, the talk can stop. There will be no undefeated season in 2011-12. Green Bay lost a strange game in Kansas City, who was probably nobody’s pick to upset the previously undefeated Pack, especially after they’d fired their coach, yet here they were, led by Kyle Orton and a defense that never really let Aaron Rodgers comfortable, recording a miraculous and, considering the circumstances, a legendary win. For the Packers, this might be the best thing. Remember the constant pressure heaped on New England with every win, and remember what happened to them in Super Bowl XLII, when, apparently, the pressure from every man and his dog in America became too much. This was actually probably a good loss, because it’ll keep the team grounded through December and into January, releases the pressure valve that was slowly growing and would soon be bulging, allows the Pack to and lets the league’s focus turn elsewhere...
To Tim Tebow, perhaps? The Denver defense turned out not to be as good as it was originally thought to be, because Tom Brady and the seemingly unstoppable New England offense. Yet Tebow, who has been feted as the next coming as John Elway in Denver, put up respectable – even good – numbers against the notoriously porous group of guys that Bill Belichick calls his defense. Maybe...just maybe, people like me are growing a little more fond of Tebow, whose sideshow is still annoying, but he keeps getting better, and although the throwing motion isn't great, they might be onto something at Mile High. Sure, they got lit up by Brady, but a lot of teams better and worse do. I figure Denver’s still a pretty good football team and may yet make an improbable playoff appearance come January.
Being a Detroit Lions supporter must be one of the most frustrating things on earth at the moment. It’s been a season of dramatic second half comebacks – Minnesota, Dallas, Minnesota again – and that trend continued with the Lions in Oakland, erasing a thirteen point fourth quarter deficit against what I thought was a pretty reasonable Oakland defense. Seriously, if you’re down in the fourth quarter and need a miracle, just hand the football to Matt Stafford, sit back and watch him go to work. Sure, the running game sucks – Stafford threw it more than fifty times yesterday – but man, is it something to see? This team, for all it’s negative press, is making a name for itself as fourth quarter specialists. Wow, they should really consider trading for Tim Tebow! Just kidding, their current signal caller’s pretty good.
I’m sorry if I ever labelled Joe Flacco an elite quarterback in the past because Sunday night’s woeful effort against San Diego makes a mockery of that suggestion. It’s kinda okay in a strange way, because the rest of the Baltimore team was as bad as it’s quarterback, allowing a Chargers team to record a blow-out win that was more about Baltimore doing everything wrong than San Diego being particularly good. The AFC’s number one seed looked like it would rest with the Ravens but now it could be Pittsburgh’s, or New England’s, but we might need an abacus before the season’s over to work it all out.
But perhaps not Houston’s, because that solid defense that’s been blowing guys up all year had an off day and allowed a mediocre at best Carolina team to beat then, which makes you wonder if the Texans are going to stumble down the stretch. Losing your two top quarterbacks undeniably hurts a football team, and it hasn't shown until now, but I always had a suspicion that the spotlight for rookie T.J. Yates – magnified after last week’s miracle comeback, Matt Stafford-style – might get too much. Time will tell. At least the Texans have locked up a playoff berth, but you don't want to back into January football on a string of bad losses if you can at all avoid it.
What’s the bigger story? That Seattle’s late-season resurgence really has legs or that the Chicago Bears are flaming out badly going down the stretch? Since the Bears lost Jay Cutler at quarterback and then Matt Forte – their most prolific offensive player – they’ve completely imploded and what looked like a playoff calibre team – and one that is a long shot at best to make the playoffs. You feel for the Bears, who were just starting to click on both sides of the football before Cutler went down.
And if all that above wasn't crazy enough, the maligned and ridiculed, Peyton Manning-less Indianapolis Colts got off the schneid – finally!!- against a Tennessee Titans team that I thought would pretty much do what every other team’s down to the Colts this year – even the bad teams – and that’s beat them mercilessly. But no, the Titans will become something of a historical footnote in NFL history, as will Colts QB Dan Orlovsky, who may well have given the Colts their only win of the season. Thankfully for Colts fans wanting to draft Stanford’s Andrew Luck in the coming Draft, this win came after the team has pretty much sewn up the first selection. As for the Titans...what do you say about them?
Anyone who didn't think that the San Francisco 49ers are the real deal, think again – and I hope you watched their landmark victory over Pittsburgh on Monday Night in the Bay Area. Not sure what’s a crazier occurrence out of this game: Big Ben Roethlisberger, who normally protects the football like it’s gold in the Federal Reserve, turning the football over three times, or the fact that Candlestick Park went dark twice in about an hour, resulting in a delay and then a stoppage. Apparently the venue is on it’s own power grid and they were the only ones affected. Crazy bad luck for the electrical company. Sensational win for the Niners who are going places. After this weekend, one Harbaugh is in the penthouse and the other’s taken a trip straight to the penthouse.
It’s Christmas next Sunday, so the bulk of the NFL’s slate of games come Saturday (or on Christmas morning in Australia, which is pretty frustrating – family or football?) before a Green Bay vs. Chicago game that means a whole lot less now that the Pack have dropped one while the Bears continue to hemorrhage points and players and watch their season spiral away. Still, Christmas night, Bears vs. Pack. Pretty awesome way to end the day.
Next week’s blog comes on the road, composed somewhere over the Pacific Ocean and then in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Merry Christmas, happy holidays, peace on earth.
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