Every Sunday evening throughout the 2011 NFL season I’ll compile quick-hit reactions from the day that was in football. I vow to always overreact, side with sensationalism over rationalism, and draw conclusions based on small sample sizes instead of cold, hard facts. It’s the only way I know how to write…
DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING…
New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (10) throws against the New England Patriots third quarter at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts on November 6, 2011. The Giants defeated the Patriots 24-20. UPI/Matthew Healey
- It’s not surprising that the Giants gave the Patriots all they could handle today in Foxboro. It’s not even all that surprising that New York won 24-20 despite the fact that New England never losses consecutive games under Bill Belichick. For whatever reason, Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning have Belichick and Tom Brady’s numbers. But if you were asked before the game which quarterback would pull off a great fourth-quarter comeback to lead their team to victory, most people wouldn’t have said Eli. (Even when you consider how many fourth-quarter comebacks the G-Men have already tallied this season.) People scoffed when Manning said he considered himself to be in the same class as Brady back in August. Whether you think he does or not, consider that he has the best fourth-quarter passer rating of any quarterback in the league this season and that his Giants are 6-2 when everyone thought they’d be looking up at the Eagles in the NFC East standings right about now. He’s also been the winning quarterback the past two times the Giants have played the Patriots, so the whole “does Eli belong in Brady’s class” conversation is rather moot at the moment. It’s all about wins, losses, and…nope, that’s about it.
- The Chiefs were due for a letdown. While they had won four in a row heading into Week 9, they seriously lack offensive explosion now that Jamaal Charles is out for the year and they would have lost to the Chargers on Monday night had Philip Rivers not decided to break out his best Rex Grossman impression late in the fourth quarter. That said, I don’t think anyone woke up this morning thinking, “Yeah, today is the day the Dolphins get their first win behind Matt Moore’s three touchdown passes and stingy defensive play.” I actually thought Miami would keep things close but 31-3? For the first time all season Tony Sparano will get a good night of sleep.
- The Rams pulled off the upset of the year last Sunday when they knocked off the Saints at home. So naturally they went out today and lost to an Arizona Cardinals team that started John Skelton at quarterback. St. Louis was given every opportunity to notch back-to-back victories for the first time all season and it screwed the pooch instead. The special teams unit was an absolute disaster in the fourth quarter and in overtime, as the Rams had a game-winning field goal blocked and missed four tackles on Patrick Peterson’s electrifying 99-yard punt return in OT. When his team played that brutal schedule to open the year, at least Steve Spagnuolo had an excuse for losing. There’s no excuse to lose to the John Skelton-led Cardinals when the game was practically in the bag.
When everyone was drinking the Michael Vick Kool-Aid earlier this season, I told anyone that would listen to hold off on naming the Philadelphia quarterback Comeback Player of the Year. The reason being was that I was waiting for him to revert back to the quarterback he was in Atlanta (i.e. a player who would frustrate you with his poor decision making just as quickly as he would dazzle you with his highlight reel skills).
But after observing him in the Eagles’ 26-24 win over the Colts on Sunday, the only thing I’ll say now is pass the Kool-Aid because I would love to take a sip.
Vick is a different player now than what he was in Atlanta. Not only is he making better in-game decisions, but he seems more prepared, calmer in the pocket and is allowing the game to come to him. He used to try to get by on his God-given talent but he appears to be reading defenses better now than at any point during his tenure with the Falcons.
Against Indy, he completed 17-of-29 passes for 218 yards and one touchdown while rushing for 74 yards and a score on 10 carries. But stats don’t tell the whole story. When he had time to throw, he went through all of his progressions before finding open receivers. When Dwight Freeney (who played an undisciplined game, might I add) would race up the field trying to crash the pocket, Vick would make one move before picking up first downs with his legs. Sounds simple enough, but these are things he would only do part of the time in Atlanta.
The old Michael Vick may have found a way to lose on Sunday. He would have run too much, tired himself out and then fumbled with the game on the line when he could barely catch his breath. Or he would have forced a pass over the middle thinking the rocket launcher he has for an arm could throw the ball through any window.
But not this year’s Vick. This year’s Vick is patient, smart, and he’s careful with the football. He’s a team player now and a different quarterback – a mature one.
Maybe Vick will eventually revert back to the way he was in Atlanta and this fairytale will have a horrible ending. There’s still a lot of season left and Vick will have plenty of chances to either will his team to victory or succumb to failure. But if he continues to play like he has this season, the Eagles will be dangerous come January.
I didn’t believe Raheem Morris when he said the Bucs were the best team in the NFC. I don’t even think he believes that the Bucs are the best team in the NFC.
But if they play every week as hard as they did in Atlanta on Sunday, then they’re going to stay in the thick of things in the conference.
The Falcons beat their division foes 27-21 to take sole possession of first place in the NFC South, but it wasn’t without a couple of close calls. After Atlanta took a 27-14 lead late in the third quarter on a Matt Bryant 41-yard field goal, Michael Spurlock returned the following kickoff for an 89-yard touchdown to cut the Falcons’ lead to 27-21. Tampa Bay’s defense then shut down Atlanta’s offense after a failed onsides kick and following a Josh Freeman interception in the fourth quarter.
But in the end, the Falcons’ defense saved the day by stopping LeGarrette Blount on 4th-and-1 from the Atlanta 2-yard line. Blount thought he had picked up the first down, but it was clear that he was stopped short and with the Bucs out of timeouts, the Falcons were able to run out the rest of the clock (roughly two minutes) after picking up a first down.
Sunday showed that the Bucs are moving in the right direction but they also still have a ways to go – especially Freeman. He made a couple of great throws in crucial moments during the game, but he threw an interception after locking onto receiver Mike Williams early in the fourth quarter and he also mismanaged the play clock (not totally his fault, as the Bucs were having issues getting the play into him) on Tampa’s final drive. Because of that, Morris had to call the team’s last time out and therefore wasn’t able to challenge Blount’s play on 4th-and-1. (The call probably could have stood anyway, but it would have been nice had the Bucs been able to challenge.) It’s games like these that remind fans that Freeman is a talented kid but he’s just that – a kid. He should continue to get better though.
Tampa’s run defense needs to improve as well. Atlanta is going to get its yards on the ground with Michael Turner and Jason Snelling, but the Bucs need to improve in that area if they’re going to compete down the stretch. The Falcons rushed for 130 yards and because of that, they controlled the game throughout (even the Bucs gave them a couple of scares in the second half).
That said, Morris has something brewing in Tampa. He has his team believing that they can win every week and even though they’re often dominated in terms of time of possession and total yards, they’re rarely dominated on the scoreboard (where it counts). They produce some big plays and have that gnat-like ability to hang around late in games.
It figures doesn’t it? Colt McCoy wasn’t the top quarterback prospect in April’s draft and compared to Sam Bradford and Jimmy Clausen (the two quarterbacks that were taken ahead of him), he may have been the most limited (according to the so-called experts, at least) too.
But in just three starts, McCoy has already exceeded expectations in Cleveland. He held his own against the Steelers in his first career start, he played error-free ball in a win over the Saints and then, in his best game to date, he helped the Browns pull off a shocking 34-14 victory over the Patriots on Sunday.
McCoy completed 14-of-19 passes for 174 yards and he also rushed for a 16-yard score in the third quarter to give the Browns a 24-7 lead. Those numbers wouldn’t be impressive for say Peyton Manning or Drew Brees, but for a rookie third-round pick making only his third start of his career, they’re impressive. He also got a ton of help from Peyton Hillis, who rushed for 184 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. He also once again flashed his playmaking ability as a pass-catcher while hauling in three passes for 36 yards.
The Patriots made their fair share of mistakes, but this loss was no fluke. They were outplayed, outcoached and outsmarted, as Cleveland’s coaching staff went to their bag of tricks again early in order to build a 10-point lead. I’m not going to say that the Browns will suddenly jump back into the playoff picture after beating the Saints and Patriots in back-to-back games, but it makes you wonder if they’re heading in the right direction. McCoy has looked good, the defense has steadily improved over the last three seasons and Hillis may have been the steal of the offseason. What a player.
And how sweet was this win for Eric Mangini? You know every time he beats Bill Belichick he has to be thinking to himself, “Stick that where the sun don’t shine, a-hole.” Mangini has deserved the criticism that he’s gotten over the years but when Mike Holmgren was hired, he was relieved of many of his day-to-day operations so that he could focus on coaching and he’s responded well. I personally don’t think he’s the answer, but you can’t complain about the recent results.
As for the Patriots – they were caught with their pants down. They thought they could roll into Cleveland and the Browns would lay down for them because they were 6-1. They got a reminder that teams can’t take weeks off in the NFL.
Kris Brown made a 56-yard field goal Sunday right before half. But before you celebrate, realize that the joker also missed a 42-yarder as time expired in the Texans’ 20-17 loss to the Colts. Had he made it, Houston would have tied the game and had a chance to win in overtime.
Now, I realize that a 42-yarder is no chip shot and given that the game was on the line, it was a pressure situation for Brown. But come on – it was a 42-yarder indoors and he had just converted a freaking 56-yarder two quarters before that. His team just busted its ass getting into field goal range in hopes to tie things up and he misses one from a distance of 14 yards less than one he had converted from earlier in the game. Kind of ridiculous when you think about it.
Nevertheless, the Colts remain undefeated on the season and this was an impressive win given the amount of injuries Indy has in the secondary. The Texans can really move the ball through the air and yet the Colts still managed to intercept Matt Schaub twice and hold Houston to 17 points.
That said, Indy won’t stay undefeated for very long if it can’t find some more offensive balance. I realize Peyton Manning is going to give them a chance to win every Sunday, but for the most part the 49ers and Texans did a nice job of keeping the Colts out of the end zone the past two weeks. The Colts are moving the ball successfully, but they’re turning into Boise State in the red zone because they don’t have a power running game to get them closer to the goal line. It’ll be interesting to see if the Colts can correct that moving forward.
Kurt Warner shook off a five-interception performance last week in a loss to the Panthers to throw for 261 yards and an eye-popping five touchdowns in a 41-21 rout of the Bears on Sunday. Warner didn’t throw any interceptions while completing 22-of-31 passes for 261 yards.
Warner did all this without Anquan Boldin, who sat out with an ankle injury. Larry Fitzgerald seemed to enjoy the spotlight, because he hauled in nine passes for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The 83-year old Warner (I’m kidding) is now on pace for 32 touchdowns and 4,350 yards.
Of course, Warner and the Cards racked up these gaudy stats against a Chicago secondary that couldn’t cover Fat Albert and the gang. The Bears thought that Charles Tillman could cover Fitzgerald one-on-one, which was incredibly smart on their part. Remember Boldin didn’t play, so why Lovie Smith and his coaching staff thought Tillman could (or even should) go one-on-one with Fitzgerald was questionable to say the least. Speaking of questionable, the Bears also decided to throw the ball seven straight times to open the game. Apparently the words “offensive balance” mean nothing to Smith and Ron Turner.
Not to kick dirt in the faces of Chicago fans, but many Bear-lovers thought this would be a Super Bowl team after they traded for Jay Cutler. I’m fully aware that they’ve had injuries on the defensive side of the ball, but even if Brian Urlacher were healthy, the offensive line and secondary are still a mess and Matt Forte has dropped off the face of the earth (part of the reason is because the O-line hasn’t opened any holes). He only had 33 yards on five carries today, but when you’re trailing 31-7 at halftime you’re not going to get many carries.
Their 30-6 win over the hapless Browns gave the Bears some false confidence. But this loss today proves how far Chicago is from being a legitimate contender.
The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Kyle Orton will likely miss one month with a high ankle sprain after he was carted off the field during the Bears’ 27-23 win over the Lions on Sunday.
He is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday. He suffered the injury at the end of the first half of Sunday’s 27-23 win over the Detroit Lions.
While trying to run for a first down, Orton was tackled by Cory Redding then appeared to get his ankle banged by end Dewayne White, who cleaned up on the play. Orton attempted to stand up but fell back to the ground. He was carted off the field with 26 seconds left before halftime.
Being out a month could keep Orton from facing Tennessee, Green Bay, St. Louis and Minnesota. Rex Grossman replaced Orton against the Lions and scored the game-winning, 1-yard touchdown.
Let me see if I can take a stab at how things will play out next week in Chicago when the Bears host the Titans:
1. Rex Grossman throws 40-yard touchdown pass to Marty Booker in the first quarter. Fans go nuts, Rex supporters unleash 37 I-told-you-so comments in a one-minute span. Bears go into halftime up 17-16 and everyone is thinking massive upset.
2. Grossman throws pass off his back foot and is intercepted by Michael Griffin. A low smattering of boos fill Solider Field, but there’s still hope.
3. Grossman stripped in the pocket because he can’t feel the pressure. Titans recover, go up by 10 late in third.
4. Grossman throws his second pick of the day why throwing across his body. Titans put the game away in the fourth quarter and now boos are raining down like fire and brimstone from the sky. Grossman haters are now throwing Grossman supporters off the top deck of the UFO-looking Solider Field.
There are sometimes when Bill Belichick is too smart for his own good. Case in point, the Colts’ 18-15 win over the Patriots on Sunday Night Football.
Three weeks ago the Pats drummed the Broncos in front of a national audience on Monday Night Football. Belichick was so aggressive that he was even instructing Matt Cassel to run the no-huddle offense up by three scores in the second half. Belichick wanted to make the point that the Patriots weren’t done even though Tom Brady had been lost for the year, and that they could still shove the ball down their opponents’ throats if they wanted to.
Fast forward to Sunday night. Instead of taking advantage of an inexperienced Indy secondary that was starting a street free agent at one of its corner spots, Belichick decided to play things close to the vest and stick to the running game. It made sense considering Indy has struggled mightily against the run and he also wanted to keep Peyton Manning and the explosive Colts offense on the sidelines. But Indy sold out to stop the run last week against Tennessee and also was getting back safety Bob Sanders – their best run-stuffer.
Why run the no-huddle three weeks ago to prove a point against Denver, but play ultra-conservative against a secondary begging to be attacked? Belichick continuously stayed with draws and screens, which had some success, but ultimately played into a smaller, quicker Colts’ defense that flies around to the football. It’s mind-boggling.
Belichick and stone-hands Jabar Gaffney cost the Pats a victory last night because once again, the Colts weren’t too impressive and could have easily been had.
Perhaps no team in the history of the NFL needs their bye week more than the Dallas Cowboys do right now. After suffering a 35-14 blowout at the hands of division rival New York on Sunday, the Cowboys need to regroup before this season continues to slip away from them.
Brad Johnson was once again horrific while completing just 5 of 11 passes for 71 yards and two interceptions. Brooks Bollinger replaced him at halftime, who promptly threw an interception himself on his first pass attempt in the second half. Without the threat of the pass to beat them, the Giants loaded up against the run and stuffed Marion Barber, who only finished with 54 yards on the ground.
What’s worse for Dallas is that the defense that played so well against Tampa last Sunday disappeared again. The Cowboys surrendered 23 first downs, 319 total yards and 35 points. They certainly didn’t get any help from the offense, who constantly put them in poor field position all game, but still, the G-Men essentially did whatever they wanted.
Once again, the Cowboys are in serious trouble. The backup quarterback position remains unsettled and it’s not going to get any better until Tony Romo returns. The idea that Johnson could manage games and keep the team afloat until Romo was healthy again has blown up in their face and Wade Phillips continues to have no clue on how to fix the defense. Phillips better do something over the bye week or his seat will only continue to get hotter throughout the second half of the season.
