- Nice job on some goofy late afternoon games by Jason. The records tighten up as we get closer to playoff time. Yes, Jim Mora, I said playoffs.
- Games that I don't want to discuss in any detail at all: Falcons-Panthers (man, Carolina sucks), Packers-Lions (already struggling offense has no chance against Lions' front 4 once Aaron Rodgers gets KO'd), Patriots-Bears (good team murders OK team, nothing to see here), Broncos-Cardinals (I'm not even gonna try to make sense out of that shit), Chiefs-Chargers (KC can't move the ball at all with QB Brodie Croyle, and Philip Rivers finds some receivers after all), and Giants-Vikings (my contingency pick fails miserably because the G-Men smother Adrian Peterson and injure Tarvaris Jackson).
- The ol' backdoor cover on the last play of the game may have fucked up the night of many degenerate gamblers out there, but the story of the Colts-Titans game was the return of Peyton Manning. It took a real commitment to putting the ball where the defense was weak regardless of who the receiver was, but Manning regained his command of the offense. There were still signs of imperfection in the Colts offense, such as the continued lackluster running attack and the occasional receiver knocking a pass down in the end zone clearly intended for a different wide open receiver. But I won't focus on the fact that if that Reggie Wayne TD occurs instead of being deflected by Blair White, Indy covers the number. I'll keep watching Peyton and noticing if he keeps trusting his weapons, because it's obvious that's the only way the Colts will have success the rest of the way.
- Pittsburgh looked to be in a little trouble after Cincinnati scored a TD on its opening possession, but as it turned out, the Bungles wouldn't score again all day. It wasn't a good day for the Steelers offense, as they wouldn't score a TD at all, but the vaunted Pitt D picked up the slack with 2 defensive scores. The team that can dominate a given game in several totally different ways is the most dangerous of them all.
- My head hurts after watching Oakland control the game against Jacksonville into the 3rd quarter and cough it up. It was actually one of the better games played by the Raiders statistically all year, as Jason Campbell threw for 324 yards, and Darren McFadden accounted for 209 yards of offense and 3 TDs. The Men in Black marched up and down the field on the Jags and led by 10 in the 3rd quarter. But some nifty running by Rashad Jennings and well-placed passes from David Garrard--along with an Oakland special teams fumble--moved Jacksonville in front. Then the double home runs to end the game: McFadden ties it with under 4 minutes left with a 36-yard run, complete with bitch-slapping stiff-arm at the end, but then a huge KO return by the Jags, setting up Maurice Jones-Drew for a 30-yard TD run of his own to take the lead back and cover the number. What to take away from all that? Both defenses need tackling lessons.
- Bizarre doesn't begin to describe the Buccaneers-Redskins game. How did the Redskins manage to fuck up the snap for the game-tying PAT?? Tampa didn't want Washington to get all the press for having an execrable run defense, so they decided to let the returning Ryan Torain run for 7,591 yards in the 1st half. And Josh Freeman fumbled at the 1 to give the Skins a gift possession. And Washington appeared to maybe get a "5th down" in scoring what should have been the game-tying TD. AND WASHINGTON STILL LOST!!! How shitty is this team? This coach? This franchise? This kicker, who blew early FGs when Torain was running everywhere and may have blown the PAT if only they could have gotten the snap down? And before you give Tampa Bay credit for getting the W, they still haven't beaten a team with a winning record. And they really shouldn't have beaten this shitty team.
- 86 yards passing, no TDs, a fumble, and the clinching INT that allowed Buffalo to run out the clock and end the game. Ladies and gentlemen, you know him, you love him, Jake Delhomme! And he's still starting...why, exactly?
- The potential playoff preview in New Orleans wasn't quite as one-sided as the score may seem. The Rams had promising drives all over the place, they just coughed up the football when it was time to score some points. I'm not saying that the Saints wouldn't create more takeaways in a rematch, but keep in mind that if they don't, then they have to shore up a defense that allowed 327 net yards of offense to St. Louis. Similar to last year, the champs will have to make huge plays on the ball in the playoffs in order to back up their prodigious offense and win games.
- Oh, the Elvis Game. Wow. Seattle was stuck in a nasty cycle against San Francisco and could not escape it. Bad throw by Matt Hasselbeck, nice drive for a score by San Fran, fumble by Hasselbeck, drive by SF, lather, rinse, repeat. Even though the Seahawks had WR injuries and the replacements looked lost at times, I cannot excuse Hasselbeck's performance. He was terrible, and the 49ers D forced him to be. They got pressure and made him hurry his passes, and his green receivers couldn't find the ball when they were supposed to. On the other side of the ball, Alex Smith had much success in his return to the Niners lineup, much to my surprise. His 2 main weapons were TE Vernon Davis and WR Josh Morgan. Davis is no shock, but Morgan sure was. He and Smith looked like longtime pals tossing the pigskin around. If they can keep that up, maybe SF can win that horrible division after all.
- A comedy of errors would be the only fitting term to describe the offensive offense of the New York Jets. All 10 of Miami's points came off Jets turnovers, and 10 was enough to win the game. I love listening to the Dan Le Batard Show from Miami after the Dolphins beat the Jets, because Dan loves giving it to all the transplanted New Yawkers infesting South Beach. I simply adore these two truthful stats Le Batard took from the Fins-Jets game: 1, the Jets now have 1 more assistant coach who trips opposing players during games than they have offensive TDs since Thanksgiving; and 2, they now have 1 more assistant coach who trips opposing players during games than they have Super Bowl titles in the last 40 years. That franchise is the drizzling shits. Oh, and that meathead coach is fired immediately if he's black and the player he tripped was white. You know it's true.
- Yes, the Eagles beat the Cowboys, and yes, they made explosive plays happen all over the field seemingly at will. DeSean Jackson running some 80 yards after the catch for a TD on a sprained ankle was awesome; his juvenile fall into the end zone was typical. But something's missing from the Michael Vick Experience--that home run ability when he sprints out of the pocket is gone, and I have no idea if it will return this year. You gotta remember that Vick is taking on his first full season since getting out of the pokey, and his body takes such a beating in every game that there has to be some cumulative effect. Vick ran for all of 16 yards in this game, and not only that, but he's getting careless with the ball (4 picks and 7 fumbles his last 4 games). And one more bad sign for Philly--they lost their middle LB Stewart Bradley to injury again, and they're not the best defensive team as it is. They really seem to struggle tackling people when Bradley is missing.
- A tremendous comeback by Matt Schaub and the Houston Texans, a dreadful ending when he throws a pick-6 to end the game in OT. But Jason and I covered the spread thanks to that pick, so we didn't mind. Similar to New Orleans, Baltimore is going to have to make a ton of plays on the ball and create turnovers if they are to advance deep in the playoffs because they're susceptible to giving up chunks of yardage at any given time. Those old horses on D don't get after it like they used to; their 24 team sacks is tied for 20th in the league, and their 13 INTs is tied for 15th. However, their 3 pick-6s are as many as any other team. If they could draw a garbage QB with a penchant for giving up the booty--like, I dunno, a Mark Sanchez--the Ravens could fly high in the postseason.
Week 14 Records--Dre 6-9-1, .400; Jay 9-6-1, .600
YTD Records--Dre 108-97-3, .527; Jay, 106-99-3, .517
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