NFL Classics - Stafford's Fake Spike & Calvin's 329-Yard Game

The Detroit Lions led by Matthew Stafford exploded to 631 yards of offense - 488 yards from Stafford, yet the Lions still busted out 143 yards on 29 carries - to overcome four turnovers and stun the Dallas Cowboys in one of the decade's signature games.

NFL Top 10: Brady-Manning Games

The 2015 AFC playoffs are almost here and we may yet again see Tom Brady and Peyton Manning square off.   Given how much energy this rivalry has generated it ranks as something the league really has never seen before - a rivalry driven exclusively by the showdown of the two quarterbacks.   Team rivalries and coaching rivalries have been many a chapter in NFL history but this rivalry may top them all.   

In the format of NFL NETWORK'S series NFL Top 10, we look back at the top ten games of the Brady-Manning rivalry -


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#10: THE 2001 DEBUT - Tom Brady had been a low-round draft pick who'd risen up the New England Patriots depth chart almost entirely unnoticed; in Week 3 of 2001 he took over as starter after the near-fatal chest injury absorbed by Drew Bledsoe.   The Indianapolis Colts were division rivals of the Patriots and Peyton Manning was in his fourth season; he had already won 28 games and made two ill-fated playoff trips; Manning's Colts had already crushed the New York Jets and Buffalo by a combined score of 87-50 entering this game.

It didn't matter.   Bryan Cox's savage hit on receiver Jerome Pathon surged throughout the Colts lineup and suddenly they were playing scared.   Otis Smith and Ty Law ran back Manning interceptions for touchdowns; trailing 23-7 the floor collapsed on the Colts in the fourth quarter as the Patriots nailed down 21 points for the ultimate 44-13 win.  Brady put up 168 passing yards in a modest start while five Patriots players combined for 177 rushing yards. 

A month later at the RCA Dome Brady unleashed a more aggressive quarterbacking attack; he threw three touchdowns while receiver David Patten threw a 60-yard bomb, caught a 91-score, and ran in a touchdown as the Patriots absorbed nearly 500 Indianapolis yards to win 38-17.   Peyton Manning managed only one touchdown as Colts GM Bill Polian was overheard in the press box demanding his players break bones of Patriots players.

It was just the beginning.


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#9: THE GOALLINE STAND, 2003 -  Entering Week 13 of the 2003 season the Colts had become a superpower in the race for the playoffs after exploding to a history-making comeback win over the Tampa Bay Bucs in Week 5; the Patriots were also in the race after a slugfest of a win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 5 (the Titans for their part were neck-and-neck with both at 9-2) and at the RCA Dome at the end of November the Patriots and Colts met for the first time since divisional realignment put the Colts into the now-second-year AFC South.  

It began as another Patriots rout; Tom Brady led three drives putting up 17 points.   The Colts scored 10 points before Bethel Johnson ran back a 92-yard kick at the end of the first half.   The game then changed after Brady led another touchdown drive for a 31-10 lead; two interceptions and three Manning touchdowns put the game 31-31; another monster Johnson kick return led to a Brady touchdown to Deion Branch; a Kevin Faulk fumble led to a Colts field goal, then in the final minutes a bad shank of a punt by Ken Walter put the ball around the 50 and Manning whipped the Colts to the Patriots 2, but there two runs and a forlorn toss led to a 4th and 1 run by Edgerrin James blown up for a loss of two yards and a 38-34 Patriots win.   Willie McGinest played a key role; "I saw (Manning) tap his butt" thus signalling a run play he helped blow up.  

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#8: VANDERJAGT'S GAFFE, 2004
- The NFL inaugurated Thursday Night Football in 2004 by scheduling the Colts at Foxboro in Week 1.   Manning led the Colts to a 17-13 halftime lead, but then Brady erupted to put the Patriots up 27-17; a late Colts touchdown was followed by a final drive, but on 3rd down McGinest sacked Manning, setting up a 48-yard field goal try by Mike Vanderjagt, who hadn't missed in over 40 consecutive tries and taunted the Patriots sideline by rubbing his fingers in a "money" gesture - except he wasn't money, shanking the kick for the 27-24 Patriots win.


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#7: THE PLAYOFFS, 2003 AND 2004 - The Colts won the AFC South title in 2003 and 2004 and faced the Patriots in snowy Foxboro both times.   In 2003 the Patriots edged the Titans 17-14 as Steve McNair, co-MVP with Manning that year, lived up to being MVP in a taut game where he barely came short on a pass to Drew Bennett.   Manning meanwhile had exploded to his first two playoff wins, but in the AFC Championship Game he was not in McNair's playoff class as he was intercepted four times.   The Patriots for their part didn't play particularly well, forced into five Adam Vinatieri field goals and eventually grinding out a 24-14 win and path to Superbowl XXXVIII against the upstart Carolina Panthers.

In 2004 Manning was back, but this time the Patriots unleashed a powerful run game led by Corey Dillon, the former Bengal.   Dillon and Kevin Faulk combined for 200 rushing yards and ate up so much clock it gave Manning indigestion; his endzone interception on the final play capped off a hideous playoff failure, 20-3, as Brady was on his way to another Superbowl.  



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#6: PEYTON'S BREAKTHROUGH, 2005 - 2005 was mainly a forgettable season for the Patriots as they limped into November 7's Monday Night Football match at 4-3 with the Colts at 7-0.   Brady managed three touchdowns but Manning was unstoppable rolling to 40 points and his first win over the Patriots since 2000, and first ever win at Foxboro.   This win signalled a permanent change in the rivalry, as Manning would never again be New England's patsy.


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#5: THE BATTLE OF UNBEATENS, 2007
-  Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, Wes Welker, and Adalius Thomas were the key free agent pickups as the Patriots made the most determined run to a Superbowl ever seen, exploding to put up over 34 points per game.  The Patriots were 8-0 and the Colts 7-0 as they entered November at the RCA Dome.   The game became one of the highest-rated broadcasts in CBS history as Randy Moss caught a short touchdown but the Colts clawed to a 20-10 lead in the fourth quarter.   Down by two scores, Brady finally got his offense going on a 60-yard bomb to Moss to the Colts 3, and a third-down touchdown to Welker.   After forcing a Colts punt the Patriots raced to the go-ahead touchdown, on a pass to Moss, a 40-yard strike to Stallworth, and the touchdown to Kevin Faulk.   Manning was then strip-sacked by former RCA Dome popcorn vendor Roosevelt Colvin, a longtime nemesis of Manning from his Chicago Bears days.   Brady converted the needed first down and the Patriots had broken the Colts' unbeaten streak, 24-20.


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#4: FOURTH AND TWO, 2009
- The Colts were unbeaten on November 15, 2009 when they hosted the Patriots, and the game started as a Patriots runaway as Brady and Manning combined for four touchdowns and a 24-14 Patriots lead; a goalline fumble by embattled running back Laurence Maroney wiped out a third-quarter Patriots touchdown, and Moss' catch put the Pats up 31-14 entering the fourth quarter.   But Manning connected with Pierre Garcon and in the final three minutes the Patriots led 34-28 but were pinned at their own 28 needing two more yards; Bill Belichick went for the fourth down conversion and a pass to Kevin Faulk appeared to break the first down plane but was ruled short by referee Scott Green.   When Manning tossed the winning touchdown in the final seconds the media storm against Belichick was enormous like the league hadn't seen since 1995's fourth down failure by the Cowboys against the Eagles.  


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#3: MANNING'S INDIANAPOLIS SWAN SONG, 2010
- In 2010 the Colts traveled to Foxboro for the first time since 2006 and were 6-3 with the Patriots 7-2.   The Patriots had changed their offense with Randy Moss traded after Week 4 and Deion Branch returned after four seasons in Seattle; they had also drafted two boffo tight ends in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.   The game on November 21 began with the pattern that had developed from 2003 - once again the Patriots raced to a big lead, taking a 31-14 lead in the fourth quarter.   And once again Manning roared back, this time with two touchdowns to Blair White in the fourth.   Once again the Patriots couldn't put Manning away and Peyton had the ball in the final minutes driving remorselessly.

But this time a pass to the Patriots 6-yard line was intercepted by James Sanders, and the Patriots won 31-28.   The game began a three-game losing streak for the Colts, and amid a 38-35 overtime loss to the Cowboys radioman Bob Lamey was heard to blast Peyton's declining play.   Following a wildcard round bow-out to the NY Jets, neck surgery for Manning wound up ending his career at the Colts.  


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BEST OF THE REST: - After Manning left the Colts, Tom Brady faced heralded youngster Andrew Luck in 2012 and again in the 2013 playoffs; the results were disturbingly reminiscent of days of yore for the Colts; in 2012 two interceptions were turned into Patriots touchdowns and New England won 59-24.   In the 2013 playoffs LeGarrette Blount led an unprecedented Patriots rushing attack while Luck was intercepted four times in a 43-22 Patriots win.

Before Manning faced Brady, he squared off against Drew Bledsoe for three seasons.   In September 1999 at Foxboro Manning exploded to three touchdowns and an Edgerrin James rushing score, but Bledsoe erased Manning's 28-7 lead on three unanswered touchdowns (including the final two career scoring catches for tight end Ben Coates).   James' late fumble set up the winning field goal by Adam Vinatieri and the 31-28 Patriots win.  

Blowing a 21-point lead in Foxboro was a harbinger of another Manning disaster fourteen years later.......

#2: BRADY'S HISTORY-MAKING COMEBACK, 2013
- Manning was signed by the Denver Broncos in 2012 and led Denver to a 13-3 season.   In 2013 on Sunday Night Football the Patriots hosted the Broncos a year after defeating Manning 31-21 and now fresh off a controversial loss to the Carolina Panthers.   The first half was a disaster for the Patriots, as three fumbles and a failed fourth-down attempt led to a Von Miller touchdown, a Manning score, and a 24-0 Broncos lead.  

But facing cold winds Tom Brady put on a history-making performance, exploding to three touchdowns, a fourth touchdown drive, and a Stephen Gostkowski field goal, all aided as the Patriots defense bullied the Broncos into three fumbles and a Manning interception.   The Patriots led 31-24 before a late Manning touchdown tied the game.  In overtime (a first for the rivalry) the Patriots elected to defend the endzone where the winds were blowing toward the Broncos instead of take the initial possession, a decision that puzzled observors, but after an exchange of three punts the Patriots at the very least didn't look foolish; instead on their second punt former Patriot Wes Welker hesitated on the kick and the ball bounced off a teammate and was grabbed by the Patriots at the Broncos 12-yard line.   The Broncos called two timeouts and the two-minute warning for overtime passed before Gostkowski drilled the winning field goal, 34-31.   It was the largest comeback win in Patriots history, surpassing 1984's comeback win over the Seahawks down 23-0 to win 38-23.   It also cemented Brady's repuation as a superior cold-weather quarterback.  


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BEST OF THE REST: In 2014 Manning and Brady met for the sixteenth time and the Patriots authored their most lopsided win over Manning (43-21) since 2001. Brady threw for 333 yards and four touchdowns while Manning was intercepted twice and stopped on fourth down four times, three of them in the fourth quarter. 


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The Number One Brady-Manning Game Of All - THE 2006 AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - It will almost certainly be cited as the greatest by all retrospectives on their careers.   The showdown for Superbowl XLI was a shocker that still permeates both New England and Indianapolis.   The Colts had shot down the Chiefs and Ravens while the Patriots upended the Jets and Chargers for this meeting at the RCA Dome, and the Patriots once again raced to a big lead; when Asante Samuel intercepted Manning and scored, the Patriots led 21-3, but Manning exploded the Colts to tie the game.   After swapping touchdowns and field goals the Patriots led 34-31 but needing a goalline stand in the final minute, they didn't get it; after Joseph Addai's touchdown Brady was intercepted and the Colts had won 38-34, on their way to only the second Superbowl win in their history and first as an Indianapolis team.  


2013's AFC Championship Game turned out to be another Manning triumph, his eighth in 22 career games against the Patriots, and fifth in fifteen meetings with Tom Brady.   It was anything but an end; Brady and the Patriots authored their worst rout of Manning since 2001 in 2014's 43-21 slaughter at Foxboro; the win was another on Brady's path to his history-making Superbowl XLIX triumph.   The rivalry thus awaits the 2015 season at Mile High.

Autopsy On Peyton's War

Superbowl 48 has come and gone - the Seahawks winning 43-8 - and its story was told on the opening snap - the safety for the Seahawks was the fatal wound from which the Broncos couldn't recover.   The subsequent game was the worst disaster seen since the 49ers - delicious irony being an NFC West team - hung 55 on now-GM John Elway's Broncos in Superbowl 24.    And the opening snap signalled the Broncos were in over their heads.

There is quite a bit to break down in this game.   What stood out and what stands out going forward -


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Peyton Manning flames out under playoff pressure yet again
- Two interceptions and utter confusion in the face of Seattle's defense once again came in a playoff game.   That Manning even got to the Superbowl is surprising in and of itself; the reality remains his twelve playoff losses - the definining characteristic of Peyton's career.   The fact of being in a playoff game inevitably gets to Peyton; it took longer than normal this season but it happened like clockwork again, and it was even uglier than usual when it did happen. 


Pete Carroll is a better NFL coach than anyone thought
- There was a minor brouhaha during the week when some media noticed the front-office structure of the Patriots when Carroll was coach, and how Carroll basically had no say in personnel.   It is worth focusing on because it showed why Carroll did not succeed there - the front office structure was divided and not working together because it lacked a leader.   The structure was put in place because of the failures (and refusal to commit to any kind of lengthy plan) of Bill Parcells as Patriots coach his first three years there.  That it was not successful showed in that Bill Belichick got the control Carroll was denied there.   His success in Seattle as his own boss shows Carroll is one of the best NFL coaches out there.  


Russell Wilson outplayed Manning
- People will once again look at the volume stats and say Wilson merely managed the game, citing the disparity in yardage.   The mistake is always made of falling in love with Volume Stats.   The facts are Wilson led the offense efficiently; he made plays Manning was not able to make; he moved the chains; he controlled the ball much better than Peyton's offense did.   In short, the moment was too big for Manning yet again and wasn't for Wilson.


There was no indictment or endorsement of a certain philosophy of roster construction or scheme - Before the game a piece criticized the Patriots by comparing their defensive mindset and personnel approach with Carroll's and the premise of the piece is wrong - the Patriots' philosophy is successful. Pete Carroll's construction of the Seahawks defense has unquestionably been successful, but it revolves around scheme as much as Belichick's.   The difference right now is the Seahawks have managed to be a harder-hitting team - that isn't an failure of talent or scheme because whatever weaknesses the Patriots have are not weaknesses of philosophy or personnel - injuries were a bigger issue than scheme or roster philosophy.     Belichick and Carroll are showing their philsophy - at heart one that emphasizes Value and controlling the line of scrimmage - is not that different.


Preseason matters
- The Broncos played the Seahawks in the preseason and Peyton Manning could not hang with the Hawks.   That was the first sign Seattle was for real and the Broncos were in trouble.  


The Seahawks now try to buck the trend - The 2005 Patriots were the last Superbowl champ to win an ensuing playoff game - since then Pittsburgh twice (2006 and 2009), Indianapolis (2007), the New York Giants twice (2008 and 2012), New Orleans (2010), Green Bay (2011), and Baltimore (2013) followed up the Superbowl by failing to win a playoff game - with four of them not even making the playoffs as defending champs.    And the Seahawks face a hungry NFC West in 2014 as well.


The Seahawks quietly vindicated over the Packers
- The 2012 touchdown over the Packers has been something of a cloud over the Seahawks head, even though they were right; now they have a championship and are a far better team than Green Bay, which comes to Seattle in 2014; I'd love to see the Seahawks treat the Packers and their media humpers for the liars they've been since that controversial catch.

So the 2013 season has ended - with 2014 preparations already being drawn up by 30 other teams stewing for a shot at Denver and Seattle down the road.

NFL Top 10 Games Of 2013

As we count down to the Superbowl, we look back on the ten best games of 2013 -


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#10 - Chargers at Titans: Locker's Hail Mary
- Entering Week 3 San Diego had pulled off a dramatic back-and-forth win at Philadelphia while Tennessee was reeling from a bitter overtime loss at Houston.   Titans quarterback Jake Locker, in his second season as a starter, had struggled in 2012 but was showing some improvement as 2013 was progressing.   He also faced the daunting reality that the Titans franchise hadn't beaten San Diego since their infamous 1992 season as the Houston Oilers.  It started slowly as the Chargers clawed to a 10-3 lead but in the second quarter Locker ran in a touchdown and a late Chargers field goal attempt was blocked.   San Diego clawed to a 17-13 lead by the fourth quarter, but with 21 seconds to go Locker unloaded a 34-yard touchdown bomb caught by rookie Justin Hunter.   A pathetic avalanche of Chargers laterals recalling the infamous Stanford Band play ended in failure (natch) and the Titans were 20-17 winners, showcasing that Locker could play, and pull off clutch efforts.


#9 - Packers at Bengals: The Packers Comeback That Wasn't
- We stay with Week 3 here.  In the Aaron Rodgers era the Green Bay Packers had established a reputation as frontrunners, a team that would fail if a comeback attempt was needed.   Taking on the competitive-but-erratic Bengals at Cincinnati the Packers wound up proving this in uproarious fashion.    The Bengals raced to a 14-0 lead, then saw the Packers explode to 30 straight points.   The Bengals looked like the Bungles down 30-14 in the third, but Andy Dalton and company went to work; first Dalton unloaded a touchdown strike to rising receiver superstar A.J. Green; a Rodgers INT was wasted as the Bengals missed a FGA, then Rodgers got picked off again, leading to a Dalton score to Marvin Jones, marred by a missed PAT.  In the final four minutes on 4th and 1 a run by Jonathan Franklin was fumbled and the Bengals, despite fumbling the ball themselves, scored anyway.  Rodgers' final gasp effort flamed out and the Bengals were 34-30 winners; combined with the Titans win and wins by the Browns and Ravens, it was a good day for the former AFC Central.


#8 - Vikings at Ravens: 4th Quarter Scoring Blizzard
- The first three quarters saw a building snowstorm and a measely 7-6 Ravens lead, but in the fourth quarter the snow got worse and the offenses started heating up, first as Matt Cassel and Joe Flacco exchanged touchdown throws around a 4th down Vikings stop and an exchange of punts; it was in the final 130 seconds that all hell broke loose - Toby Gerhart scored for the Vikings, then on the ensuing kickoff Jacoby Jones ran back a 77-yard score; Cassel then unloaded a 79-yard touchdown to Cordarelle Patterson, then Flacco saw an interception wiped out on a Chad Greenway penalty; he got to the final nine seconds and whipped the winning touchdown to Marlon Brown and a wild 29-26 Ravens win in a game that set an NFL record for six lead changes in the fourth quarter and five touchdowns in the final two-plus minutes.


#7 - Cowboys at Lions: Stafford's Last-Minute Comeback #2
- In his career to date Matthew Stafford's signature game has been his 38-37 comeback win over the Cleveland Browns in 2009 despite incurring a season-ending shoulder injury on a last-second touchdown attempt; the game was extended by one down thanks to a pass interference penalty by the Browns and despite his injury Stafford threw the game-winning touchdown.   Four years later Stafford authored another amazing victory.   He opened the scoring on a short touchdown to Calvin "Megatron" Johnson, but the Cowboys clawed into the lead.   The Lions, despite two Stafford INTs, would not go away, in the final seven minutes down 27-17 Stafford led a touchdown drive ending in Reggie Bush's score; a Cowboys field goal before the final minute put them up 30-24, but Stafford, out of timeouts, raced the Lions downfield, completing four passes for 79 yards to the Cowboys 1-yard line with fourteen seconds remaining - he then faked the ball spike and shot the ball over the goalline for the winning touchdown.    The 31-30 Lions win was almost a 500-yard passing game for Stafford - he came up short with 488 passing yards, and lost in all of it was the Lions still rushed for 143 yards. 



#6 - Packers at Cowboys: Matt Flynn In Like Flint
- With injury sidelining Aaron Rodgers the Packers had re-signed former backup Matt Flynn.   At Dallas the Packers didn't look like much as the Cowboys stormed to a 26-3 halftime lead.   But Flynn had authored an amazing 45-41 win over the Lions in 2011 and now was letting the Packers know he could play; Flynn exploded to four touchdowns and the Packers trailed 36-31 in the final four minutes.   Tony Romo then did his thing - picked off with three minutes to go; after Flynn's drive ended in Eddie Lacy's rushing score and failed two-point try, Romo did his thing - and was intercepted again.   The 37-36 Packers win proved vital to making the playoffs.



Best Of The Rest
- There were other memorable games in 2013 that didn't quite make the cut.

When the Saints came to Foxboro in Week 6 they clawed to a 27-23 lead before Tom Brady found Kenbrell Thompkins with five seconds to go; the 30-27 win set off the now-famous "Unicorns and Show Ponies" exclamation from Patriots radiocaster Scott Zolak.

The week before on Monday Night Football the slumping Falcons erased a 27-14 gap to the New York Jets, but in the final two minutes the Jets stormed downfield and booted the winning field goal, for the 30-28 Jets win.

In Week 17 the Packers twice blew touchdown leads and trailed 28-20 in the fourth quarter before Aaron Rodgers, returning from injury, unloaded a late 48-yard score to Randall Cobb; the 33-28 win put the Packers in the playoffs as NFC North champions.

In October the Patriots rallied from down 17-3 to the Dolphins to the 27-17 win, then in December the Patriots erased a 17-7 halftime gap to beat the Houston Texans 34-31, then a week later the Browns stormed to a 26-14 lead with 2:43 to go, but the Patriots scored two touchdowns in a span of two minutes, then the Browns missed a last-second field goal for the shocking 27-26 Patriots win.

In Week 2 the Cardinals hosted the Lions and erased a 21-13 Lions lead to win 25-21, a win that put them in playoff contention, while the next game on our list was even more clutch...........



#5 - Cardinals at Titans: Fitzpatrick's Fit Of Frustration
- With Jake Locker lost for the season with injury, the Titans had to rely on former Bill Ryan Fitzpatrick, but a playoff bid steadily slid out of reach.   Entering Week 15 the surging Cardinals came to Nashville and a close first half was a 20-17 Cardinals lead that swelled into a 34-17 lead after Antoine Cason picked off Fitzpatrick and scored with just over six minutes to go.   Fitzpatrick then erupted; with a defensive stop and a successful onside kick recovery, the Titans stormed to 17 unanswered points led by two Michael Preston touchdown catches.   But Fitzpatrick, having gone from goat to hero, was picked off three plays into overtime by Cason and the Cardinals' field goal ended a 37-34 affair.  


#4 - Chargers at Chiefs: Introducing Seyi Ajirotutu
- The West became the deepest division in both conferences and in Week 12 the AFC West proved the focal point; the Titans rallied to a last-second win at Oakland while the Broncos would play the Sunday Night game at New England.   At Arrowhead Stadium the Chiefs, having seen their unbeaten streak ended the week before, hosted the 4-6 Chargers and the ensuing game became the highest-scoring match between the two clubs since 1986.   Philip Rivers and Alex Smith erupted as the game lead changed eight times; the Chargers came back from down 14-3 early but trailed 31-27 with less than ten minutes remaining.   Rivers and Smith traded touchdowns and in the final 88 seconds Rivers raced the Chargers downfield and with 31 seconds to go found perhaps the ultimate dark horse - Oluseyi Adekunleolum "Seyi" Ajirotutu, an undrafted receiver who'd caught two touchdowns for the Chargers in 2010, was let go for the Panthers in 2011, re-signed to San Diego in 2012, and caught his first touchdown since that 2010 season.   The 41-38 Chargers win was vital to San Diego's playoff run.



#3 - Broncos at Patriots: Brady's Historic Comeback
- Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning had been the rivalry of the 2001 period onward, and its fourteenth renewal came on a brutally cold late November in Foxboro.  It began in hideous fashion for the Patriots - Stevan Ridley's first quarter fumble became a Broncos touchdown and the embattled running back fell into Bill Belichick's doghouse on the sidelines (exacerbated by Belichick's subtle slam at Ridley's coachability on WEEI radio the next day).  It got worse; Brady was strip-sacked near his own red zone and the Broncos scored two plays later; a LeGarrette Blount fumble led to a 35-yard drive and another Broncos touchdown; the Patriots drove to the Broncos 30 but were stopped on fourth down. 

The Broncos led 24-0 at halftime but then the Patriots erupted; Brady erupted to four touchdown drives as the Broncos were bullied into two fumbles and a Manning INT; the Patriots led 31-24 before Manning tied it in the final three minutes.   Final drives by both clubs went nowhere and the game went into overtime (a first in the Brady-Manning rivalry), where the Patriots chose to defend the open-air north endzone, where the winds were strongest.  Both teams punted twice; on the Patriots second punt Wes Welker hesitated on calling whether to catch it or not; Tony Carter thus botched the catch and the Patriots fell on the ball at Denver's 13-yard line; two Broncos timeouts and the two-minute warning of overtime kept delaying the inevitable - the winning 31-yard field goal and New England's 34-31 win, the biggest comeback win in team history, surpassing the comeback from down 23 points to the Seahawks in 1984.



#2 - Broncos at Cowboys: All Guns Blazing
- Peyton Manning had long struggled against the Cowboys, having lost his previous two matchups against Dallas; his 2010 loss was a wild 38-35 overtime choke job.   Against the always-erratic Tony Romo, the scoring was expected to be plentiful.   No one had any idea; after the Cowboys jumped to a 14-0 lead Manning threw three touchdowns and ran in another, then after connecting with Wes Welker in the third, the Broncos led 35-20; Romo then exploded, outscoring the Broncos 21-6 with a Manning INT thrown in for extra measure; the two clubs traded touchdowns and by 2:44 the game was tied 48-48.   Presented with the golden opportunity to knock Manning down a peg, Tony Romo then did his thing - he threw a pick at his own 24 and the Broncos ran out clock and kicked the winning field goal.   The 51-48 Broncos win was a bloodbath of offense - 1,039 combined yards, nine touchdowns, two INTs; Romo broke 500 passing yards but the INT when his team needed him the most cemented his reputation for clutch failure.



The #1 Game Of 2013 - Chiefs at Colts: Andrew Luck's Ultimate Comeback
- The opening game of Wildcard weekend was the fourth playoff match between the Chiefs and Colts; the Chiefs had lost all three previous playoff games and had beaten the Colts only twice since 1990.   Yet the first two-thirds of this game belonged to the Chiefs as Alex Smith erupted to four touchdowns and a 38-10 Chiefs lead.   But Andrew Luck, despite three interceptions, started clawing the Colts back and the runaway became an instant classic.   By the final five minutes of the game the Colts only trailed 44-38, and Luck's 64-yard floater to T.Y. Hilton was the go-ahead touchdown, followed by an ugly flameout of a final drive by Alex Smith.   The 45-44 Colts win was the first playoff win for Indianapolis since 2009, and the collapse meant the Chiefs had now lost eight straight playoff games since beating the Oilers in 1993.  

The Old School AFC West Superbowl

And suddenly we have what was a widely-predicted Superbowl matchup - the Broncos and Seahawks.   And the trash talk already started with Richard Sherman's mouth and also Bill Belichick's oblique attack on his former player a cut-block hit that knocked out Aqib Talib.    This coming Superbowl pits two teams that were former AFC West rivals in what historically has been a one-sided rivalry.   The Seahawks have won only nineteen of 53 career meetings to date and very few meetings have produced memorable scores - 1979's 37-34 Denver win, 1995's 31-27 Seahawks upset at Denver, and 2000's 38-31 Denver win in which Terrell Davis' understudy Mike Anderson put up 195 of Denver's 301 rushing yards are the games that stand out in this rivalry.


Some random thoughts on the playoffs as we go through two weeks of hype -


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Here are the keys to why the Broncos defeated the Patriots after the crushing meltdown at Foxboro back in November -

The Broncos never lost control of the line of scrimmage.

As a result, Peyton Manning was never really challenged to make decisions at times when he didn't want to make them.

Tom Brady could never get the Patriots offense going until it was too late.

There may be talk about Wes Welker's cut-block that knocked out Aqib Talib and whether it was dirty - John Fox's teams have never struck me as dirty; the Mike Shanahan-era Broncos were the ones who specialized in dirty play.  Even so, the gross imbalance in penalties by Tony Corrente's crew in favor of the Broncos gave Welker the opportunity - he saw he could get away with it.   And Bill Belichick does not bring up this kind of subject without ample justification.


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There has been a lot of  legacy talk with Manning and Brady, but it overlooks the differences between the two clubs - Manning once again inherited a roster poised to explode; Tom Brady had to rebuild the roster, and did so with the same aplomb Manning has never had to show as far as making his rosters better.   There are depth issues the Patriots have to face down the road, notably in the defensive backfield, at the line of scrimmage, and in the continuing need for bookend deep threat receivers to go with the tight end-oriented attack.   None of these issues are unfixable, and with Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins the Patriots have two promising youngsters for next season and beyond.


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The real legacy for Manning is that for all his volume stats etc. he's never been as good as hyped.   That it's taken this long to reach .500 as a playoff quarterback - with the prospect of facing a Seahawks team that's more powerful than any Seattle squad before - is anything but an endorsement of Manning's legacy.  


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The legacy talk extends to Pete Carroll as he continues to prove critics wrong.   Disciplinary issues have been discussed in media but overall the Seahawks are showing how good a coach Carroll is, this after he was written off as a coach only capable of handling the college game because of ostensible failures in New York and New England.    The reality is the front office structure in New England wasn't suitable for Carroll, because he was basically shut out of decision making on personnel.   At the time of Carroll's tenure in New England it was a structure in place because Robert Kraft wanted his football people to work as a committee like his other businesses and the structure under Bill Parcells wasn't working (shown by his 21-27 record 1993-5 before personnel authority was given to Bobby Grier at the 1996 NFL Draft).  

As VP of football operations Carroll has overhauled the Seahawks top to bottom and the result is three playoff appearences and two straight winning seasons.   The best development for the league is if Carroll defeats Peyton Manning and also shows up Roger Goodell.  

Blount Forces Trauma On Saturday Playoffs

So Saturday's NFL playoffs rained in two finalists for the conference championships and the home teams as expected won both.    Some observations -


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RENAISSANCE OF THE RUN
- With proliferation of nickel defenses, the run game has become markedly more frequent; the Patriots and Seahawks showcased this as Marshawn Lynch exploded to 140 rushing yards and two touchdowns while LeGarrette Blount did him better with over 160 yards and four scores.   In all the Patriots scored six touchdowns on the ground - a supreme irony for the Colts is that the last team that had that many rushing scores was Kansas City(eight rushing scores against Atlanta in 2004).


SEATTLE'S VAUNTED PASS DEFENSE CAN BE PIERCED
- The Seahawks controlled the game for much of the day - but not necesarily all of it.   Drew Brees erupted to 309 yards and led two fourth-quarter touchdown drives.


THE SEAHAWKS WERE BY FAR THE LESS DECISIVE OF THE SATURDAY WINNERS - The Seahawks were as good as advertised, yet the fact of two missed Saints FGAs and the fourth-quarter touchdowns by New Orleans put a scare into Seattle until Marquis Colston's preposterous forward throw with two seconds to go; one recalls Pittsburgh's indecisive win over the NY Jets in the 2004 divisional playoffs that wound up haunting the Steelers the next week.    New England in contrast put the game against Indianapolis away, even with several special teams penalties and the injury that necessiated Stephen Gostkowski to punt and Tom Brady to be the PAT holder.  



HISTORY AND MATCHUPS MATTER - New Orleans and Indianapolis lost for numerous reasons; among the most under-appreciated is that the history of their matchups was overwhelmingly against them.   Pete Carroll overall owns the Saints and Bill Belichick owns the Colts.



ANDREW LUCK, PLAYOFF MIXED BAG
  - Andrew Luck's NFL career is going to be enormous, but he has showcased that he is a radically mixed bag as a playoff quarterback - it comes back to history and matchups as he faced a Kansas City team whose matchup overwhelmingly favored him and then faced a New England team where the matchup is overwhelmingly in favor of the Patriots.   He was that good against Kansas City and that bad against the Patriots.  



THE NEW TENNESSEE TITANS - Several scraps ensued in the fourth quarter in Foxboro and Jerrell Freeman of the Colts threw several punches yet got away with it.    This is what the Tennessee Titans used to do and apparently the Colts want that in their game.   



COACHING DIFFERENCES - Down big in the fourth quarter the Colts faced a scenario where they threw two incompletions needing to gain one down and then punted - an indication the Colts were quitting on the game where it appeared they could have tried a run.



Thus was Divisional Saturday completed as the Patriots and Seahawks were singing in Gene Kelly's rain.     

Divisional Playoffs Align For Patriots and Panthers

The Divisional Round of the 2013 playoffs is here and the stars are aligning for one possible Superbowl matchup, though the reality of playoff football is that the strange stuff of the season usually happens at that point.    We look at the four pending games -


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SEAHAWKS over Saints - The Saints have won only once over Pete Carroll's Seahawks and that was November 2010.   The last two meetings the Seahawks outscored the Saints 75-43.  Russell Wilson is the real deal and Richard Sherman talks a big game yet makes plays all the same.   The Saints won a road playoff game for the first ever - but this is a Seahawks team that they haven't been able to figure out.



PATRIOTS over Colts - The Colts pulled off a history-making comeback win over Kansas City, but all they did in such was restore order - the Colts have owned the Chiefs since 1990 (13 wins in their last 15 meetings) and the Patriots are not the Chiefs.   The Patriots have owned the Colts pretty much since they moved to Indianapolis and in Andrew Luck's first meeting with the Patriots he threw three interceptions in a 59-24 massacre in 2012.   After not throwing a pick in his previous two games this year Luck tossed up three last week and has four in two career playoff games.   The Patriots also know a few things about comeback wins, especially this season.   Indy's late signing of former Patriot Deion Branch indicates some desperation there.



PANTHERS over 49ers - The Panthers are 11-7 lifetime against the 49ers and have won four straight.   Cam Newton's gang edged the Niners at The Stick 10-9 earlier this season and have been on fire since starting 1-3.   The Niners certainly aren't slouches at 12-4 and winners of their last seven games.   Colin Kaepernick was let loose against Green Bay and that made him more dangerous in that game; he's also second in rushing behind Frank Gore.   The Panthers can use Stevonne Smith and that massive chip on his shoulder for this game.



CHARGERS over Broncos - In nine career games against Philip Rivers, Peyton Manning is 4-5 with two playoff losses; he's also thrown some sixteen interceptions in those games.   The Chargers already beat the Broncos in their own building a few weeks back and have been riding momentum on through their Freezer Bowl rematch at Cincinnati last week, and Peyton's playoff history bodes ill for the Broncos - between cold weather and the fact of being in a playoff game, Manning is at his worst.   Rivers is now a .500 quarterback in playoff games and Manning remains with a losing playoff record.   Among the subplots is Broncos coordinator Jack Del Rio, whose defenses have been pierced virtually every game.



Expect the unexpected, but also plan for San Diego @ New England and Carolina @ Seattle - with the Patriots-Panthers rematch still on the potential horizon.

Wildcard Sunday: Time For Change In Cincinnati

The Chargers pulled off the win three decades after the famous 1981 AFC Championship "Freezer Bowl" between Dan Fouts and Ken Anderson.   Meanwhile the 49ers won in another Ice Bowl in Green Bay.


What to make of all this?  Some takeaways starting with San Diego at Cincy -



IT'S TIME MIKE BROWN OF THE BENGALS CHANGES HIS WAYS
- Though I'm not yet ready to declare Andy Dalton another playoff bust, it is obvious that not only is there something wrong with him as a quarterback to gag in another playoff game as he did, there is a serious character flaw in him as a quarterback.   There is also the reality about coach Marvin Lewis - 0-5 in the playoffs with nothing he's done in them showing he has any clue or courage to win such games (we kept hearing the Bengals would target A.J Green more, and they didn't).   It illustrates what is holding back the Bengals, a manifestly talented team that can go far - by all accounts I can find, team owner Mike Brown is little more than a crook who has refused to invest in scouting and overall football operations.   He has held onto Marvin Lewis and there had been valid reason to do so, but the continuing playoff failures indicate Lewis' run is ending.   With coordinator Jay Gruden a candidate for at least one NFL head coaching job, it may be time to pull the trigger on Lewis and promote Gruden, a fresh NFL face whose Arena League experience has proven valuable.  



PHILIP RIVERS DIDN'T PUT UP NUMBERS, BUT HE PUT UP EFFECTIVE PLAY - Too many people still look too much at volume stats to determine a quarterback's effectiveness.   Certainly they matter, but the plays made that move the ball also matter.   Philip Rivers had only 128 passing yards but his game management was superior to Andy Dalton and Marvin Lewis' - in the battle of wits those two came unarmed.  




GETTING A WOODY FOR WOODHEAD
- Though Ronnie Brown put up over 70 rushing yards, 58 of them came on one play; it was Danny Woodhead who made the offense for San Diego move.  



THE VAUNTED BENGALS LINE IS EMINENTLY BEATABLE
- The Bengals had won a lot of battles at the line of scrimmage all season; this time the Chargers won at the line.



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It was the first game of the Sunday doubleheader and in the NFC nightcap the 49ers did what they've done the last few years.   Takeways from this game -



THE PACKERS AGAIN CANNOT SEAL THE DEAL WHERE THEY DON'T PUT A TEAM AWAY  - The Packers have long been accused of being front-running frauds and against the 49ers they merely proved it yet again. Aaron Rodgers struggled in the passing game (held to just 177 yards) and has now lost four straight to a 49ers team that in the halcyon days of the 1990s Packers was utterly owned by them.    His comeback against the Bears last week was a game where the Packers didn't trail in the second half beyond eight points - and was only the third game where he erased a gap higher than four points to win.   While he played respectably overall, the fact of not being able to front-run has again cost the Packers.



COLIN KAEPERNICK MAY BE BETTER THAN WE THOUGHT
  - He didn't put up monster numbers (just 3,200 passing yards) but twelve of his 21 touchdowns entering the playoffs came after the loss to the Panthers, and in this game he racked up 325 all-purpose yards, including outrushing the Niners offensive backfield.  



OFFENSE PLAYED CONSERVATIVELY OVERALL - In both Sunday games there seemed far greater emphasis on running the ball instead of attacking through the air (in both games the two opponents combined for some 300 rushing yards; the two games combined flirted with 600 all told).   Though the defenses played well, there could have been more scoring with more aggressive offense.



THE SOUTH AND WEST ARE THE STRONGEST DIVISIONS IN THE NFC - Seattle and Carolina await each other's division foes while the Rams and Cardinals showcased real growth in 2013 for possible playoff spots in 2014.   Atlanta's collapse may not be replicated given how much talent is there, while the Bucs are starting anew, this time with a coach in Lovie Smith from Tampa Bay's former NFC Central home.  



And so it goes, as they might say, with Divisional Saturday around the corner.

Wildcard Saturday: Hank Stram's Heartache

The New Orleans Saints can be forgiven if they feel forgotten following the first road playoff win in the history of the Saints - this coming thirteen years after the first playoff win of any kind in Saints history.   The game that the world is buzzing about tonight is Andrew Luck's history-making comeback win - erasing a 38-10 gap despite multiple interceptions - over the Chiefs, and it offered plenty to take away.    My own takeaways from the 45-44 Indianapolis wildcard win over Kansas City -




NEVER ASSUME A GAME IS WON BEFORE THE FINAL GUN HAS SOUNDED
- Bill Belichick is constantly telling his players on the sidelines, "Sixty Minutes!"   This game shows why.


ANDREW LUCK ANSWERED BIG QUESTIONS BEFORE THEY COULD BE ASKED
- Down 38-10 and with multiple interceptions, one had to ask questions about Luck's viability as a playoff quarterback, but he answered them before they could be asked.   He did in his second season what Peyton Manning needed six seasons to accomplish - win a playoff game.   Even if the Colts get bounced next week Andrew Luck won't have that stigma that quarterbacks like Manning and Matt Ryan have - being volume stats heroes who can't get it done in the playoffs.




EVEN IN THE PLAYOFFS IT'S ULTIMATELY ABOUT OFFENSE - Long is the complaint about how the rules are slanted in favor of offense, but in the playoffs the flags are usually put away and the referees let the players play.   Kansas City and Indianapolis both posted top-nine scoring defenses.   It begs the question of why anyone is shocked when the flags are put away - and scoring actually increases.  It was on display last season in the Ravens shootout win over the Broncos and the 49ers mini-rout of the Packers; it was on display in 2011 in San Francisco's shootout win over New Orleans and Tom Brady's history-tying touchdown slaughter of the Broncos; and of course in 2009 the Cardinals needed overtime and 51 points to beat Aaron Rodgers' Packers.

Even the subsequent Saints win over the Eagles was about offense despite neither team breaking 26 points; it appeared both teams were spooked by the Colts-Chiefs game and played intimidated to some extent.   Indeed, in the second half the two offenses began to rev it up and might have scored more.



THE LOSS SETTLED THE FUTURE OF ALEX SMITH - That the Colts won is not the surprise; the sheer enormity of scoring is what leaves people taken aback somewhat.   The other non-surprise is that Alex Smith showed anew why he is not the future for the Chiefs - he showed anew that when he has to step up his game there's a limit to where he can do so, and ultimately he just cannot hang with the likes of Andrew Luck or Peyton Manning or Philip Rivers.    The Chiefs need to face that fact going into the Draft.



CHIEFS INJURIES SHOW THEY DIDN'T DO ENOUGH FOR THE ROSTER  -  The Chiefs lost several players, notably Jamaal Charles in the first quarter, and the impact of those injuries was a running issue in the game.   I don't buy that not losing Jamaal Charles would have changed the outcome, but the injuries showed this - the Chiefs did not build their roster 1-54.    The Patriots build their rosters 1-54 and thus are generally immune to losing key players, as evidenced again this season.   The Chiefs need to address that going into the Draft as well.



HISTORY DOES MATTER FOR CLUBS - The Chiefs had the chance to change their history where they hadn't won a playoff game since 1993.   Instead, all they did was add to that ignoble history, and if they make the playoffs next year they'll still have to carry the weight that they've failed in the postseason eight straight times. 

Indeed, history works against the Colts going forward - the other historic comeback playoff games didn't translate to a championship for any of the winners - the 1992 Bills famously wiped out a 35-3 Oilers lead to win, and then got destroyed in the Superbowl; the 2002 49ers erased a 38-14 gap to the NY Giants and got bounced in embarassing fashion the next week by the Bucs; the 2002 Steelers erased a 24-7 gap to beat the Browns, then fell in overtime to the Titans the next week.  



T.Y. HILTON IS BECOMING A POWER
- His emergence in 2012 was dramatic, but his 224-yard explosion here may make this a career breakout game.



And the end result puts the Wild in Wildcard Saturday with the rest of the weekend to go before the divisional rounds begin.

NFL: Ten Takeaways From 2013

With the playoffs beckoning, the NFL season saw a lot to dissect and debate. Ten takeaways from the season past -


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THE AFC WAS THE STRONGER CONFERENCE
- In interconference games, AFC playoff teams went 19-5 over the NFC while their NFC counterparts were 14-10.    The Eagles had the worst interconference record at 1-3 while the Broncos and Chiefs were both 4-0.


DEFENSE DID MAKE A RESURGENCE
- Long has been the complaint that the NFL's rules bias is toward offense, yet the season was notable for defensive resurgence, notably with such teams as Seattle, San Francisco, Carolina, and also New England, whose defense was often criticized yet again yet by the end of the season was taking over its side of the line of scrimmage.  



TEAMS STILL MAKE THE MISTAKE OF FALLING IN LOVE WITH NAMES - Jay Cutler was 5-6 as a starter in 2013 with twelve interceptions; Josh McCown was 3-2 with thirteen touchdowns and one interception.   Yet Cutler, because he's a Name, got the contract despite having never earned any benefit of the doubt as a quarterback under any coach that's worked with him.   A similar situation came in Green Bay, as Matt Flynn led back-to-back coemback wins - yet it was the notorious frontrunning fraud Aaron Rodgers who was given back the starting job.  



THE AFC NORTH IS NO LONGER THE AFC BLACK AND BLUE DIVISION - Not that AFC North teams aren't physical, but the collapse of the Ravens and the two-year period of playoff-less mediocrity and offensive line instability with the Steelers show this division is no longer the strong arm of the AFC.  



THE LEAGUE'S BEST GM IS STILL BILL BELICHICK - Remember criticism of Belichick's personnel moves, how the Patriots ostensibly lacked enough depth, that Belichick had failed in the draft (one stat was that 12 of his last 19 defensive draft picks are gone from the team), and so on?   The Patriots are 12-4 with a very young roster turned almost completely over - again.   At some point people need to see that Belichick builds rosters to win, not rosters with a group of Names.  


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THE LEAGUE'S WORST OWNER IS STILL DANIEL SNYDER - The feud with Mike Shanahan and the public support of Robert Griffin despite his regression as a quarterback showcased everything that is wrong with Daniel Snyder - inability to either hire qualified football people (Shanahan proved anew his inferiority as a coach) or to let them do their job.   And this was a Redskins team appearing ready for a competitive renaissance as the halcyon days of Joe Gibbs (the first time, not the misbegotten attempt to recapture lost glory in the 2004-8 era) fade away.



THE READ OPTION IS - NATURALLY - DEAD - Any offense that relies on running by the quarterback is going to fail.   And the read option is no longer a relevant offense in the NFL.   You could see it coming with the failure of the Wildcat and of quarterbacks who run instead of stay in the pocket.  



PASS INTERFERENCE IS NOT THE PROBLEM - Pass interference penalties became a bigger issue during the season and were tied into the complaint about the rules stifling defense.   The problem, though, is not the rules.   One, it's the referees continuing to try to be the show.   Two, it's defenses that continue to make the mistake of playing the player, not the ball.   The old school mentality needs to change into a mentality of playing the ball instead of playing the opposing player.



THE LEAGUE WILL KEEP PUSHING FOR TEAMS IN LONDON AND LOS ANGELES - Roger Goodell's comments and the steady mission creep of NFL games at Wembley Stadium showcase the league's determination to have a team in London and one in LA, even without much evidence of an audience for either.  



THE BEST QUARTERBACK OF THIS GENERATION IS NOT PEYTON MANNING - It's Tom Brady.  Brady has repeatedly helped build contending rosters; Manning keeps inheriting quality rosters a la Dan Marino.   Brady led the biggest comeback win in Patriots history and did so against Manning's Broncos - and he did it with touchdowns into brutally cold winds.  



So it was as we await the playoffs.

NFL: Yes Mister Mora It's The Playoffs

It's Wildcard Weekend in the NFL, and picks are in order -


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SATURDAY:

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS  over Kansas City Chiefs -

The Chiefs lost five of their last seven games in the regular season, including a 23-7 embarassment to the Colts; the Colts have won twelve of their last fourteen meetings with the Chiefs, and in 2013 they won six of their last nine games.   Andrew Luck is clearly a better quarterback than Alex Smith, and Andy Reid hasn't done well against the Colts (winning in 2010's shocker at Philly).    Smith may put up more of a fight in this one, but the Colts win.



PHILADELPHIA EAGLES over New Orleans Saints - 

Curiously some are pointing to New Orleans' defense as the edge for this game. I'm not quite sure, because all five of their losses (three of them against playoff teams) came on the road, including three of their last five games, plus the Saints have been notoriously mediocre in outdoor games.    The Eagles meanwhile won seven of their last eight games, notably against playoff or playoff contending teams such as Green Bay, Chicago, Arizona, and of course the big win at Dallas.   Nick Foles' numbers (8-2 in his ten starts, just under 3,000 yards, 27 touchdowns and just two interceptions) suggest he may be a special player.   There is also the nagging reality that Drew Brees hasn't won an outdoor playoff game since the Superbowl win.  



SUNDAY

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS over CINCINNATI BENGALS -

The Bengals under Marvin Lewis have won their last three meetings with the Chargers, including December's 17-10 meeting at Qualcomm.   But this is the playoffs; Lewis is winless and the fact is he has not shown he isn't in over his head in a playoff game.   Philip Rivers is not quite elite anymore but is still an upper-echelon quarterback while Andy Dalton has shown he is good but hasn't shown he can be elite; Rivers also has playoff winning experience where Dalton does not.   Since that December 1 meeting the Chargers have scored no fewer than 26 points while the Bengals defense got shredded for 28 against Indianapolis and 30 against Pittsburgh.    The Chargers face a grind of a game but are fundamentally the better team.



SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS over GREEN BAY PACKERS  -

The Packers got Aaron Rodgers back.   Big deal.   Not only is Green Bay unable to stop anyone (they gave up at least 28 points in four of their last five games) but Aaron Rodgers has been a subpar quarterback against the Niners, winning only two of his five career meetings and losing his last three such meetings.   The Niners have gotten into a groove after a shaky start and though Colin Kaepernick has been inconsistent he's looked noticeably better lately.    Bet on the Niners here.



And so New England, Seattle, Carolina, and Denver rest and await the outcome of Wildcard Weekend.

Down To The Wire In Week 17

So we've reached Week 17 of the NFL season and the battle for some playoff spots will be settled.   It's been another season living up to the hype that is the NFL, a season of huge upsets, uninspiring letdowns, bitter disappointment, and outright surprise.    It's one more round before the big round begins (and the inevitable replays of Jim Mora's soundbite about the playoffs begin as well).    So we take a look at Week 17 -


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Steelers over Browns - The bad news for the Browns is they once again don't have anything to play for while the Steelers face a must-win to have any chance however unrealistic of making the playoffs.    The good news is the Browns this year finally have shown signs of getting a legitimate program going, and it's shown in legitimately competitive efforts the last month.    The Steelers for their part look like a mess and look to be getting worse instead of better.



Bengals over Ravens - The Ravens are well ahead of where a lot of people expected them to be this season to even be in playoff contention after basically blowing up the roster and overpaying Joe Flacco.   That decision may begin haunting the Ravens after exposure of his weaknesses as a quarterback last week; one wonders how well the Bengals will exploit the weaknesses the Ravens have on both sides of the ball, especially as they nearly sealed the deal in Baltimore but ultimately didn't, and their offense has been rather inconsistent since the first meeting.



Vikings over Lions - Two of the big letdowns of the season square off one final time before 2014 with probable coaching and even front office changes for Detroit on the horizon and possible changes in Minnesota as well as the Vikings close out the Metrodome.   That the Lions have fallen apart as they have perhaps was forseeable after their inability to handle success in 2012.  



Dolphins over NY Jets - Rex Ryan told his players last week of the story he will be fired; it is odd that some advocate he be kept on given that his win total in five seasons won't surpass 42 and he accomplished nothing in terms of building a program; on the contrary he created a culture of bluster, poor discipline, and ineptitude.    Joe Philbin in Miami meanwhile has implanted a culture that is steadily getting better.  



Titans over Texans - Rumor is one or both of these teams will go after Penn State's Bill O'Brien; both have a legitimate case for his services but Tennessee has a much better record and a better roster for O'Brien to work with beginning with Jake Locker; I'm not buying the story the Titans are giving up on him after just two seasons as a starter, especially given the growth he showed as a quarterback in 2013.    I do see Ryan Fitzpatrick being let go after this game for one of the most bitterly disappointing seasons a quarterback can have.  



Jaguars over Colts - The Jaguars are 4-3 since the bye week and Gus Bradley clearly has them on an upswing, while the Colts got an important win over Kansas City but have overall looked a little scattershot the last two months of the season; the Jaguars also usually play the Colts tough.



Redskins over NY Giants - I'm baffled that the Giants may keep Tom Coughlin after this season given his history of second-half collapses; they've lost three of their last five after a four-game win streak.   The Redskins have Kirk Cousins amid the chaos of whether Mike Shanahan gets fired or not; regardless Cousins shouldn't be considered trade bait; he has more upside than Robert Griffin has.



Panthers over Falcons - The Falcons have a lot of questions to ask, beginning with Matt Ryan, who has put up good numbers but who hasn't shown much in the way of clutch play in 2013.   The Panthers race to the playoffs and look to steal the NFC South title from a faltering New Orleans squad.



Saints over Buccaneers -  The Saints have been bad on the road this year and finish their regular season against the never-in-it Bucs.   The Josh Freeman fiasco killed the season for the Bucs and now they have to pick up the pieces and start anew in 2014.



Seahawks over Rams - With just one win over a division foe, the Rams face the task of a rare win over the Seahawks, a team good enough to get to the Superbowl but who isn't unbeatable at home.    Fisher has gotten much better play out of Kellen Clemens than I suspect anyone bargained for.  



Packers over Bears - The Bears were ripped to shreds last week, and they host a Packers squad that has averaged 30 points a game the last three weeks.    When they had the opportunity to put away the division, the Bears came up very small yet again, and it's impossible to trust Jay Cutler.   The Packers for their part have questions to ask of their quarterbacks after Matt Flynn did in two games what Aaron Rodgers has shown his whole career he's not capable of doing - stage a comeback.  



Broncos over Raiders - The Raiders organization is being rebuilt top to bottom and the process is slow enough that it's the Same Old Raiders finishing up another lost season, the eleventh such since 2002.   Peyton Manning has the touchdown record again and the number one AFC seed.



Cardinals over 49ers - Both have the playoffs to play for and the Cardinals have been the team overlooked by everyone this season; they also are the team that ended Seattle's home win streak, and they get a Niners squad that looked pretty shaky in escaping the Monday Night win over the Falcons.  



Chargers over Chiefs - Alex Smith's limits as a quarterback are showing up again; one of them is a winless career record over the Chargers, and the Chargers have more to play for right now than Kansas City does.



Patriots over Bills - The Bills have played the Patriots hard for the last five seasons but the Patriots have been the most battle-tested team in the league and appear to be getting stronger; after three straight comeback wins (led by the biggest such in club history) and a thorough manhandling of the Ravens, the Patriots are shooting to secure a bye week with an outside chance at the number one seed in the AFC.  



Eagles over Cowboys - The Eagles have a program that's working.    The Cowboys are a mess with their starting quarterback situation unsettled going into the game.    It's the same old scenario for the clueless Cowboys and the result will be the same; the only disappointment is if the Eagles don't hang over 54 on the Cowboys like they did the Bears.  




To paraphrase a cliche of one Bob Lobel - why can't more teams have offenses like that?

NFL: Closing On The Playoffs

The league season is rapidly closing on the playoffs and curiously the AFC has become more muddled with three division leader upsets last week.   A look at this coming week -


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Bills over Dolphins - The last nine meetings between these two have been a 5-4 split favoring Miami, and the Dolphins in 2013 have taken a major step toward becoming a viable division contender.  The Bills have gotten E.J. Manuel back and he showed some good form in a win over the Jaguars last week.   Neither offense is all that hot, and it's worth remembering the Dolphins had their hands full with an ostensibly bad Patriots defense last week.


Browns over NY Jets - The NY Jets have become......well, the NY Jets.   The Cleveland Browns meanwhile have flat-out found some offense the last three weeks and have been showing the league they're not the pushovers they once were even at 4-10 and with a five-game losing skid.


Panthers over Saints - The Panthers are showing a toughness the Saints don't have and this rematch of the ugly loss two weeks ago gives the Panthers a path to the NFC South title. 


Vikings over Bengals - The Vikings took a substantial step in winning without Adrian Peterson last week, and remain eighth in the league in points scored.   They take on a Bengals squad that got embarrassed by the Steelers and has given the impression they're not ready for primetime.  


Redskins over Cowboys - Kirk Cousins is now the Redskins quarterback and he already is an upgrade over Griffin III and more trustworthy than Tony Romo.  It remains baffling that Romo continues getting benefit of the doubt in some circles (notably the CBS Sports webpage) when he doesn't deserve it.  


Broncos over Texans
- Houston appears to have given up on the season and the dome in Houston benefits Peyton Manning even though he's lost his last two starts against the Texans.


Chiefs over Colts - The Chiefs remain a stout playoff-bound team while the Colts have been an erratic division champ.  


Titans over Jaguars - Their seasons wrap up in two weeks so there's no particular pressure here.   The Titans remain a stronger team than the Jaguars, having shown fight some championship teams don't have.

Rams over Buccaneers - The Bucs got beaten the last time they faced Jeff Fisher's Rams and have only one road win on their season.   The Rams may be out of the playoffs but they're not out of finishing 8-8, a record they haven't reached since 2006.


Lions over NY Giants - The Monday Night loss did more than drop the Lions out of the division lead - with the Panthers and 49ers unable to finish lower than 10-6 the only chance the Lions now have for the playoffs is the division title at 9-7.   They get a break here against a Giants squad that was never in contention from Week One and which is now in their patented Tom Coughlin second half collapse phase of the year.  


Cardinals over Seahawks - The myth of Seahawks home invincibility is bound to get punctured at some point as they've been a little shaky at home as the season has gone on.   The Cardinals remain in wildcard contention having won six of their last seven games and have scored at least 27 points in all six wins (and even looked respectable in the loss at Philly with a comeback attempt that fell short). 


Patriots over Ravens - The rivalry of the AFC right now.   The Ravens looked abysmal early in the year and have surged to five wins in their last six games.   A surprising number of people are now looking at the Patriots as damaged goods after the loss in Miami, but the reality is the Patriots have played generally better competition than the Ravens,  and are generating offense where the Ravens aren't.  The win at Detroit was all field goals, the last a quasi-impossible bomb; the Ravens have broken 26 points only four times all season, a point total the Patriots have broken all but once since Week Five.   The history of Joe Flacco over the Patriots is well known, but the Patriots are far more battle-tested than the Ravens plus have the motivation of taking on the Ravens in their corner.   

There has also been the criticism that the Patriots don't run the ball in the second half of games, as though running five more times in the fourth quarter in Miami than they did was going to go anywhere but force more punts - the fact is no one in the league is winning because of the run.  Also worth noting is Stevan Ridley, who is considered in some media circles as the Patriots' best runner, but who has all but played his way out of Foxboro between fumbling, a now-known attitude of defiance of the coaches, and with a lower Yards Per Carry (4.3) than LeGarrette Blount, Brandon Bolden, and Shane Vereen, and a noticeable lack of explosiveness in his last two games as he appears to be thinking instead of running (a result of overcoaching previously seen with the ruination of cornerback Devin McCourty after his 2010 season).  


Packers over Steelers - Though Aaron Rodgers is campaigning to become starter again, the fact is Matt Flynn has made the Packers a different team - a team that now can rally to win instead of be frontrunning frauds as they've always been under "Pass The Buck" Rodgers.   The erratic nature of the Steelers is too prevalent to trust them to pull off an upset here.


Chargers over Raiders - The Chargers have a slim playoff shot and get a beneficial game against a Raiders team going through yet another failure of a season.


Eagles over Bears - Jay Cutler can pull an Abraham Lincoln yet the end phrase of President Lincoln's famous saying - you can't fool all the people all the time - remains the truth.   The Eagles have a division title in their grasp and the Bears are not good enough to stymie them.


49ers over Falcons - It is stunning how far and how fast the Falcons have fallen.   The 49ers can realistically lock up a playoff spot on Monday Night.



We thus await Sunday hoping the snowstorms are over.

NFL's Week 15 Locks

So the NFL has hit Week 15 and the wildness of last week's 100-plus touchdown eruption may not have been matched but there were a number of jaw-dropping finishes heading into crunch time.   What stood out from Week 15 -


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The Packers may have to rethink Aaron Rodgers - Matt Flynn led the biggest comeback since the Patriots wiped out Denver's 24-0 lead; down 26-3 Flynn exploded the Packers to five touchdowns marred by a missed two-point try.   Flynn has thus done what Aaron Rodgers has never been able to do - lead a comeback win for the Packers.   Given the Packers' uneven play this year Flynn is more than justifying usurping Rodgers as Packers starter.


The Dolphins are becoming the AFC East rival the Patriots have generally lacked - A rumor began circulating that the Patriots, banged up all around, may bring back Donte Stallworth for their stretch run, a good idea given how Stallworth fits the offense and has given it a deep threat it hasn't really had since he was lost for the balance of 2012.   They can doubly use Stallworth to help a receiving corps that isn't weak but nonetheless can use such help after seeing the Dolphins pull off the win, a win that puts Miami on a path for a winning season and perhaps the playoffs - though one can wonder if the Dolphins are ready for a playoff run right now.


Where is the run doing much good for the Patriots? - Over and over I hear the criticism that the Patriots abandon the run too early and that criticism was made after this game - this even though the Patriots outrushed the Dolphins 96 yards to 81.   Nowhere in any of these games can I find any area where the Patriots would do better running the ball, especially with Stevan Ridley having proven untrustworthy between fumbles and reported insubordination with the coaches - curiously a common thread in the Belichick era among such players as Ty Law, Asante Samuel, Brandon Meriweather, and Richard Seymour.  


The Saints may be in trouble - New Orleans' road woes of recent were on display in St. Louis again and they have to go to Carolina next week with the Panthers wanting revenge after last week's rout.  


The Seahawks remain the favorites - Not even in 2005 have the Seahawks ever looked this powerful.  


The Favrelous Favreness Of Fitzpatrick - A pick-six by Ryan Fitzpatrick put the Cardinals up 34-17, yet the Tennessee Titans nearly topped everyone else.  Fitzpatrick made a hell of a run to redemption as the Titans scored 17 points in the final five minutes to force overtime - and then Fitzpatrick suddenly became Brett Favre; he threw another interception in overtime, setting up the Cardinals' winning field goal.   Steve McNair was the heart of the Titans because he had the heart of a lion; the 2013 Titans have shown more fight than many championship teams, heart McNair would be proud of.   And why they're 5-9 instead of 10-4 is simple - Fitzpatrick has legitimate talent, has numbers, makes plays, yet never seals the deal.   Would the Titans be 10-4 or close to that if Jake Locker was still playing?  I cannot fathom that they wouldn't.  


Kirk Cousins needs to be the future of the Redskins - With RGIII proving a one-shot wonder, Kirk Cousins showed exactly why Griffin ought have no future with the Skins.   Cousins came into the game basically cold and damn near pulled off the win over the Falcons.    The death of the read-option should dissuade anyone who thinks Griffin III should remain starter.


The Rams will become a contender - Reaching 8-8 may not be achievable; nonetheless the Rams have actually shown signs of getting better in Jeff Fisher's second season there.  


The Vikings showed something - Matt Cassel pulled one of the shockers of the weekend by crushing the Eagles by three scores; coming with Adrian Peterson out, it shows the Vikings aren't the one-trick pony most assume they are.


For the Chiefs, now comes the hard part - The Chiefs are in the playoffs in Andy Reid's first year; now comes the hard part - they need to win a playoff game for the first time since Joe Montana's final playoff win in 1993.   The last time the Chiefs were even competitive in a playoff game was 2003 against Peyton Manning's Colts.  


The Jaguars are a legitimate threat for 2014 - It took a horrific first half of the season for the Jaguars to learn the lessons needed to learn; it's now showing even though they're only 4-10.   Clearly players are buying into the program and it's beginning to work.


Houston may win the Suck For Johnny race - It seems foregone that the Houston Texans - twenty years after the earthquake that turned out to be the end of the Houston Oilers - will have the #1 draft pick, and quarterback is the glaring need for a squad with genuine talent.   One wonders how likely it becomes that Johnny Manziel becomes Houston's next starter.


The not-ready-for-primetime-Bengals - Facing a game that would put them to the next level, the Bengals faltered again.   The Bengals remain a talented team with real promise, but they haven't gone another level.


The Lions are not getting better - We may now see the upper management of the Lions blown up after a hideous loss to a pathetic Ravens team that needed six field goals, one of them a 61-yarder, to outlast a Lions offense that didn't show up at all.   Matthew Stafford's three picks were atrocious and kept the Ravens alive in the AFC North while costing his team in a suddenly-crowded NFC North race.



It was an ugly ending to what was an amazing NFL weekend.

Ten Thoughts For Week 15

With the approach of NFL Week 15, ten thoughts on the NFL -


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The Patriots are the best organization at overcoming adversity in the league's history - Multiple injuries to core people; massive roster turnover; setbacks that any team would crumble under.    Yet be it 2001, 2003, 2008 or any other year, the Patriots prove the doubters wrong and make at the worst a legitimate playoff run.  The surprise of 2008 was that the Patriots didn't make the playoffs, not that they won 11 games.   Four comebacks from down at least ten points in the last six games, a comeback derailed by bad officiating, a 24-point massacre of the Steelers, and scoring two touchdowns with 61 seconds to go have showcased the unprecedented nature of this organization.


Mike Shanahan is the most overrated coach in the last fifteen years - Since John Elway retired Shanahan never got the Broncos beyond mediocrity stage, posting records above 9-7 only four times in his last ten seasons in Denver.   He never got the quarterback position right, muddling through with Bubby Brister, Brian Griese, Jake "The Mistake" Plummer, and finally Jay Cutler, all of whom put up numbers but in the end fell apart as quarterbacks.  


Ron Jaworski may need to change his opinion on who the best quarterback down the road will be - Colin Kaepernick is proving a one-trick pony and Robert Griffin III is flaming out.   Nick Foles is quietly establishing a legitimate NFL career - one that looks more promising than either Kaepernick or RGIII.


The Chicago Bears should seriously consider keeping Luke McCown - Under Marc Trestman, McCown is proving doubters galore wrong, and proving Cutler is what he is - a flop.


The Jacksonville Jaguars may finally be becoming a contender again - They won't make the playoffs in 2013 but the turnaround in the last six weeks has been huge, and is showing Gus Bradley is establishing legitimacy to himself in the NFL.


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So are the Miami Dolphins - Remember the Richie Incognito fracas?   Probably not, because the Dolphins like the Jaguars have quietly gotten better, and presently stand 7-6 with two winnable games left on their schedule.   While beating the Patriots seems out of reach, 9-7 is not, and the Dolphins under Joe Philbin are becoming the real deal.


Don't buy the Nick Saban to the NFL rumor - The latest rumor is the Washington Redskins are interested in hiring Nick Saban to replace Shanahan based on word leaking out that Saban is negotiating a contract extension with Alabama.   That the story was leaked suggests more that Saban is not going back to the NFL rather than the other way around.   Moreover, Saban's present deal is far too good to bother with the NFL again.


The Cardinals keep refusing to go away - Could Bruce Arians be the coach that makes the Cardinals a legitimate long-term contender?   Presently just on the outside looking in for the NFC playoff picture, the Cardinals have looked steadily more dangerous the longer the season has run; even the loss to the Eagles didn't change that the Cardinals look like a legitimate playoff team.   10-6 looks like the worst the Cards finish this season and with Seattle's loss at San Francisco some vulnerability may show for the Cardinals to exploit.


Should the Colts be concerned about Andrew Luck? - The Colts are 4-4 in their last eight games and losing to the Bengals may be a warning sign.   Not that Luck's overall play has deteriorated - he's had over 3,100 yards and 19 touchdowns so far this year, and in three of his last four losses he's broken 60% completion; one would expect much lower than that in losing games - but right now the Colts don't look like a team elevating to the next level.  


Andy Dalton may be ready to take that next step - The Bengals more and more look like a 12-4 team and Andy Dalton has been strong, breaking 60% completion in seven of his last nine games.   He's already had playoff experience, albiet the discouraging kind, but his game seems to be getting better.



So that's that as Week 15 approaches.

Week 14 After Further Review

Week 14 of the NFL season has wrapped up and the season itself is closing fast on the playoffs, yet this particular week warrants examination.


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The Patriots-Browns game warrants extensive attention not only for the chaotic outcome, but also for the twin issues of player injuries and officiating.    Rob Gronkowski's injury on a low hit has stirred debate about the sagacity of the NFL's rules concerning head hits.   More than a few commentators have noted Brandon Meriweather's complaint earlier this season that the NFL's emphasis on stopping head hits has left defenders no alternative but to attack low, and the result being increased knee/leg injuries.


The issue of player safety has not been adequately examined because the NFL's approach has been backwards.   What the league has done is make the fundamental mistake of defining the issue down instead of defining it up - it has gone the route of restriction and of treating players as weak instead of working to toughen players, toughen safety equipment, and trusting in the toughness of both.   All the bluster about concussions has obscured that it never was the epidemic the League Of Denial demagogues have always pretended it to be, and there never was any need for new rules for player safety.


The league's approach toward player safety needs to change - it needs to define the issue up, not down.   Players in the last 20-plus years have been stronger, more durable, and safer than ever before and they're only getting safer still.   The league needs to encourage making the players stronger and more durable still; it needs to further improve safety equipment (which is already being done anyway) and also trust in the toughness and safety of both.  

Because the stronger the players, the stronger the safety equipment, the safer the game.   Taking away certain hits accomplishes nothing for the game.


Related to this issue is how the league has cracked down on training camp and in-season practices - here it chose the wrong route of defining the issue down instead of up.   Instead of limiting the physicality of training camp and in-season practices, the league should be cracking down on off-season player training regimens - players should train less in the off-season and instead use camps, pre-season games, and in-season practices to get into football shape - train less, hit more - just as baseball pitchers who presently cannot last 200 innings because they train too much in the off-season need to eschew off-season training and instead use preseason practices to pitch more, as was the custom in 1979 when multiple pitchers reached 250 innings -  noteworthy is that NFL players showed more in-season stamina in what was a more physical game back then because of  resting in the off-season and using camp and the preseason to get in shape.


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The issue of officiating centers on the Patriots-Browns game because of glaringly poor performance by Jerome Boger's crew.   A Browns fumble in the first quarter was wiped out without any credible justification by Boger, and several other questionable calls marred the most improbable comeback win the league has seen in years.   Several other games were marred by poor officiating, to the point that Leslie Frazier of the Vikings was contacted by the league to discuss the matter.


The view was expressed that the officiating job is inherently hard and another unfavorable comparison was made to 2012's replacement refs - which misses the point entirely.   The replacement refs really were better than the officials used now, because they let the players play and didn't try to be the show.  Ed Hochuli and company have long tried to be the show and it isn't working.  


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In this regard, two rule changes the league needs are presented -


1 - Take away the 5-yard chuck rule.

2 - Allow receivers a running start behind the line of scrimmage at the snap, a rule used in the Arena League and the Canadian League and which works.    It opens up offense, while getting rid of the chuck rule allows defenders to make plays.  


Overall, let the players play, because letting the players play is the best safety approach there is.


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The league set a record for touchdowns scored in one day (95) on Sunday, and it may have been the best Sunday ever.   Four of them were scored by the Titans, but the game at Denver fell away to a 51-28 Broncos win.   The season thus appears a lost one for a Titans team that had showed real improvement at the start of the season and which has still shown commendable fight even with the season slipping away.


Even so rumblings have begun of major changes after the season, with Mike Munchak under fire, running back Chris Johnson ostensibly to be released, and quarterback Jake Locker a possible casualty as well, with Jay Cutler a possible free agent acquisition.


I'm not sold on firing Munchak, who clearly has his players playing hard, or releasing Locker, who even with two years of season-ruining injuries has shown real growth as a quarterback this season, or signing Jay Cutler, who has put up some impressive volume stats but hasn't shown clutch ability as a quarterback.   He'd be a huge upgrade over the bitterly disappointing Ryan Fitzpatrick - whose own inability to seal the deal in games is the real reason for the collapse of the Titans' season - but compared to Locker right now, I'd take Locker.



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Some analysts still pretend that there is need to establish the run.   Monday Night's game is yet another example that the run is not conducive to winning - the Cowboys rushed for 199 yards and scored 28 points - while the Bears' Luke McCown threw for 348 yards and scored 45 points; the Bears did ruhs for 156 yards but it really didn't matter. 

Tony Romo managed three touchdowns, but they were empty numbers yet again, further proving his irrelevance to the game and that he is just one of those guys who shouldn't even be in the league.


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Finally, one should remember Tom Dempsey, who saw his NFL record longest field goal broken by the Broncos on a 64-yarder.   Dempsey set the record in 1970 of 63 yards, and did so despite a malformed foot requiring a special shoe.   Dempsey is one of the good guys in league history, and to see his record last as long as it did was something.  

NFL Things Peter King May Think I Think

The stretch run for the NFL season is here and some items I think Peter King thinks I believe (with apologies to Peter King) are presented below -


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On the Sports Illustrated site is a piece about players whining against the Thursday Night Football slate and how they ostensibly are having a hard time adapting to it.    The piece never makes any kind of case against the Thursday Night slate, not in terms of player fatigue or player safety, and it is glaringly obvious watching the games - as an enormous number of people are doing - that there has been nothing onerous about the Thursday Night slate.   The quality of the games did suffer early in the season but that has changed as the season has gone on  - and decline in quality of play rests mostly with the league's absurd reduction in the physicality allowed in training camps and in-season practices.  


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Pete Carroll still gets ripped in some media circles as a coach who does not instill discipline for his players.   The latest example of such is criticism that a few of his players (such as cornerbacks Brandon Browner and Walter Thurmond) recently got suspended or face suspension for failing recent drug tests.   The problem with the "lack of discipline" argument is that the Seahawks keep getting better.    A team that lacks discipline is the New York Jets, and it is reflected in their deteriorating play.

Pete Carroll's past NFL failures are blamed on him; with the New England Patriots 1997-99 the real fault lay in the command structure put in place at the time - Carroll coached the team with what amounted to zero say in personnel matters.  He couldn't pick his players and couldn't pay them, and personnel guru Bobby Grier allowed players to go over Carroll's head straight to him.  

That structure was put in place because Bill Parcells showed he was not trustworthy with control - before 1996 his record was 21-27 and the 1994 season's 10-6 record was because Parcells actually let go of a measure of control in handing over the offense to Drew Bledsoe; he took it back in 1995 to push the "establish the run and play defense" model that by then was outdated.  

The blunt truth is Pete Carroll is a superior coach to any assumption ever made about him.


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Antonio Smith of the Houston Texans backpedaled from his post-game accusation of cheating against the Patriots.   I don't know what's worse - making the accusation or the backpedaling.  

It's brought up again how hated the Patriots organization is.   The hate is manifest and it's different from past dynasties like the Johnson-Switzer Cowboys and the 49ers - there was rampant hatred of those dynasties but there was also a popularity about them because they had players with personalities.   The Patriots are different - they are more disciplined and thus inherently more boring, and that has fed the hatred. 

It's a bit of a poor reflection on how good teams are judged.   Personality is so often overrated it isn't funny - the 1990s Cowboys today are beloved because of the larger-than-life personalities involved, yet the player most deserving of respect from that era is the most boring - Troy Aikman.  


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The fall of the Packers is largely explained by Aaron Rodgers' injury.   Actually it's just more proof the Packers are frontrunning frauds.   They lost two of their first three games, both times failing when they had to stage a comeback.   Rodgers certainly makes a major difference but the myth that he's an elite quarterback should be punctured by now.


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The more we watch the 49ers, the more it's becoming clear that Colin Kaepernick is a one-trick pony of a quarterback.   He is not showing progression as a quarterback.


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The slaughter in Seattle exposed some serious weaknesses with the Saints - namely an aging offense.  


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With numerous coaches on the verge of being fired, wait for the Bill Cowher advocacy train to start rolling again.

Here is a reason to derail that train - Cowher went into an ideal situation with the Steelers and did less with more.   His 12-9 playoff record as a head coach doesn't showcase anything inspiring in him, and doesn't justify hiring him, especially now seven seasons removed from any coaching gig. 


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Speaking of potential coaching changes, I'm surprised no one has circulated rumors that former Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien gets hired by an NFL team.  The job he's done rebuilding the Penn State football program has been eye-opening.


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BTW, has there been any Blaine Gabbert sighting anywhere?



So it is as Week 14 approaches.