Tagged As: Cowboys, Giants, NFL, Steelers, Jets

Tennessee Titans (11-1) 47 – Detroit Lions (0-12) 10

I have one question, why does the NFL keep giving Detroit a spotlight game every year. The Lions have not had a winning record since 2000. Stop being an enabler. I understand that nobody saw the Titans as the best team in the AFC by Week 13, but still to put this marquee time slot in Detroit only proves to me that the NFL is an enabler. The game…well, the Titans ran, predictably, for nearly 300 yards and obviously trampled a city already hurting from the breakdown of the Big Three bailout.

Dallas Cowboys (8-4) 34 - Seattle Seahawks (2-10) 9

Are the Cowboys back or are the Seahawks just that bad? I cannot tell, but I do know that Tony Romo threw for three touchdowns and Jason Witten proved once again that he is the best tight end in the league with nine receptions, 115 yards, and a touchdown. Somebody needs to put Hasselbeck out of his misery and stop this terrible, terrible year for him (no real receiving options, no offensive line, and no running game equal a 57.8 passer rating).

Philadelphia Eagles (6-5) 48 – Arizona Cardinals (7-5) 20

I thought the Cardinals had the ageless quarterback and explosive offense, not the Eagles. McNabb responded to last week’s benching with four touchdowns and 260 yards. Brian Westbrook had his own personal victory too, scoring four touchdowns (two running, two in the air) and running for 110 yards for his first decent game since Week 8. The Cardinals live by the pass and die by the pass, and this time Kurt Warner’s three interceptions dug them a deep grave early on.

San Francisco 49ers (4-8) 10 – Buffalo Bills (6-6) 3

I keep forgetting that the 49ers are no longer the laughing stock of the NFL and that the Bills are a team that no longer has as season running on promise. The 49ers won for the second time in three games and the Bills lost for the fifth time in six games. Nothing San Francisco did was very impressive, but they did manage to keep the Bills out of the end zone despite 350 yards of offense and only one turnover. Trent Edwards continued his up and down season with a downer, a groin injury that took him off the field in the third quarter after a lackluster performance. The Bills Marshawn Lynch was able to get anywhere but the end zone with 134 yards on 16 carries and no touchdowns.

Baltimore Ravens (8-4) 34 – Cincinnati Bengals (1-10) 3

Joe Flacco continues to impress in his rookie season with a 19/29, 280 yard, 2 TD performance and against a blight on Ohio football known as the Cincinnati Bengals. Ryan Fitzpatrick put in another terrible game in which he only threw for 124 yards, but led the Bengals in rushing yards…with 29. The Ravens took advantage of the easy AFC North division match up to stay with in one game of the first place Steelers, while the Bengals continue to hurtle themselves toward another draft filled with high draft picks.

Indianapolis Colts (8-4) 10 – Cleveland Browns (4-8) 6

Five seasons. That is how long the Colts went between touchdown-less games. Peyton Manning threw for only 125 yards and threw two picks in the process. After battling back from the mediocrity he displayed in the first three weeks of the season, Manning had a difficult time in a victory he attributed to the defense, which scored the games lone touchdown on a Robert Mathis return of a Derek Anderson. Anderson’s performance was without any bite, but also without any huge mistakes before he left the game with a leg injury after only throwing for 110 yards. The Colts D held the Browns to u193 yards of total offense while the Colts offense only gained 215.

Carolina Panthers (9-3) 35 – Green Bay Packers (5-7) 31

The Carolina Panthers never seem to be too far from the lead in the NFC South. They remain tied with the Bucs after this back and forth game that ended with DeAngelo Williams making his way into the end zone for his fourth touchdown of the day from the one yard line. The Packers were fighting to stay in the race in the NFC North, and despite the sub-standard competition in the North, at 5-7 they will still have a tough time catching the Vikings. Green Bay could and should have been a game closer, but the special teams let Mark Jones take the short kick to the Panthers 45 yard line. The defense then let Jake Delhoume complete a 54 yard pass to Steve Smith to get the Panthers to the one yard to set up the Williams touchdown to make the game 35-31 with 1:30 left in the game.

Miami Dolphins (7-5) 16 – St. Louis Rams (2-10) 12

The Dolphins are one game from a guarantee finish at .500 for the first time since 2005. The Rams were hoping that Stephen Jackson’s return would help add some excitement to their painful 2008 season. Instead Marc Bulger’s three interceptions and a defense that became stingier as St. Louis approached the end zone left the Rams with four field goals. The Dolphins only managed to score a single touchdown on a Ronnie Brown three-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, but the offense managed to get the team close enough so Kicker Dan Carpenter could hit three field goals (two over 40 yards) and keep the team within reach of the playoffs and the AFC East lead.

Tampa Bay Bucs (9-3) 23 – New Orleans (6-6) 20

Tampa Bay was able to keep pace with Carolina and decimating them last week with a close win over New Orleans. The Bucs outscored the Saints despite only gaining 254 yards to the Saints 332. Instead, Tampa Bay relied on its vaunted defense to stop the Saints drives with three picks and set up what would be the game winning field goal in the fourth quarter.

New York Giants (11-1) 23 – Washington Redskins (7-5) 7

The Washington Redskins needed to win this game to have any chance to catch Giants in the NFC East. Instead, they barely showed up for their second costly division loss in a row. Much credit goes to the Giants defense, but as much blame falls on the shoulders on Jason Campbell who failed to put the ball in the end zone. The Giants rolled with two of their three-headed monster in the backfield and let Eli Manning do enough damage to control the clock. The New York defense focused on Clinton Portis and disrupted the Redskins offense, letting the team fall as Campbell did not deliver.

Atlanta Falcons (8-4) 22 – San Diego Chargers (4-8) 16

If there is any team that does not care that Michael Vick is supposed to get out of prison this summer it is the Falcons. The team won a shocking eighth game to keep them in the race for the NFC South top spot or a wild card. The underlying story line of this game was the return of Michael Turner to San Diego, where he played behind LaDainian Tomlinson for four seasons. Many doubted that Turner could be a feature back, but his 120 yards on Sunday gave him his fifth 100 plus yard game of the season and keeps him third place in the entire NFL while his Tomlinson continues to struggle back in 13th place. Despite the potential rushing parade, it was the Falcons defense that held the Chargers to 201 total yards and scored the lead taking touchdown in the third quarter. Matt Ryan continued to impress with two touchdowns to make Atlanta forget about its old franchise player and become one of the most talented young teams in the league.

Pittsburgh Steelers (9-3) 33 – New England Patriots (7-5) 10

I imagine Ben Roethlisberger is John McClane. He could be shot, lose an arm, and walk on glass and still deliver the win, albeit in an ugly way. That being said, the Steelers defense managed to get in Matt Cassel’s head and kill the Patriots chances early on. Cassel threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles. Picking up another fumble by Matthew Slater brought the turnover total to five and led the way to great field position and great games by Willie Parker ( 87 yards, 5.4 YPC) and Mewelde Moore (67 yards, 5.6 YPC) helped Roethlisberger navigate the offense on its way to 33 points. The Patriots are good without Brady, but not great and this game proved that.

Denver Broncos (7-5) 34 - New York Jets (8-4) 17

Just when the Jets are looking like they are about to pull away from the competition in the AFC East, they lose and give the Patriots and Dolphins hope. The Broncos are no gimmee. They have an offensive machine that can post 30 points a game against anybody. Jay Culter threw a lot, and gained 357 yards and two touchdowns in the process. Their latest starting running back in this injury-plagued season, Peyton Hillis, may look more like a fullback, but he still managed to gain 129 yards on 22 carries. The New York Jets ended up giving up nearly 500 yards of offense. ON the plus side, the Jets did gain 383 with 138 coming from Thmoas Jones, but too few of those drives ended with points on the board.

Kansas City Chiefs (2-10) 20 – Oakland Raiders (3-9) 13

The Chiefs won a game nobody in Kansas or California or the rest f the nation cared about. The Chiefs were able to win with little help from the Raiders. Maurice Leggett returned a botched field goal attempt 67 yards for the key play of the game and the play that most appropriately symbolized both teams seasons. Justin Fragas had a good game but did not get the ball enough (4.6 yards a carry, but only 18 carries) and Larry Johnson showed some life with 92 yards and a touchdown to appease fantasy managers that thought this would be his comeback year.

Minnesota Vikings (7-5) 34 – Chicago Bears (6-6) 14

The Minnesota Vikings made the Chicago Bears look foolish in this game. The battle for first place in the NFC North looked like a good game with 8:53 left in the third quarter and the Vikings clinging to a 17-14 lead. Then they rolled over the Bears a few ties and scored 17 straight points. Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor took advantage of a Chicago defense that does not knows how to get to the ball, but forgot how to tackle and the secondary let Bernard Berrian and Gus Frerotte make them look like fools. The fans are getting restless in Chicago as the team continues to tease them mercilessly. Meanwhile Adrian Peterson continues to prove that he is so good he can make Frerotte look like a serviceable NFL quarterback.

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