Month: December 2006 (Page 11 of 14)

Jay Cutler’s stat line in Denver’s 23-20 loss to the Seahawks will show a decent first outing for the rookie quarterback. Cutler threw for 143 yards and two touchdowns. The young QB also threw two interceptions (one was absolutely horrible) and most of his 143 yards came on a 71 yard Brandon Marshall touchdown reception in which Seattle’s defenders wore Vaseline on their jerseys for one play. I’ll be honest, I expected more from the rookie tonight, but hey, at least he’s not Jake Plummer.

With Josh Brown’s last second field goal in the win, the kicker has now broken the hearts of three teams this season. Denver, Detroit and St. Louis (twice) have all fallen culprit to the wrath of Brown’s right leg. Seattle wasn’t overly impressive in the win – I think the defense can still be had – but it was a win nonetheless. While everyone focuses on Chicago and Dallas in the NFC, the Seahawks might just be the sleeper of conference.

– Marion Barber is starting to make a name for himself around the league if he hasn’t already. Anyone who watches even a speck of a Dallas game can tell that Barber, not Julius Jones, is Bill Parcels go to guy late in games. With Barber’s two-touchdown performance in the Cowboys 23-20 win over the Giants, he now has six touchdowns in three weeks. For me, I’m not ready to crown Tony Romo as God of all quarterbacks yet like ESPN is. However, the guy continues to make big plays down the stretch of ballgames. Romo’s 42-yard pass to Jason Whitten with just over a minute to play essentially won the game for Dallas after the Giants tied the score at 20. I hear Tom Coughlin’s job isn’t on the line, but one has to wonder what he’s brining to the table anymore in New York. Coughlin is suppose to be the tough disciplinarian, but the Giants racked up four personal foul penalties in this game and he’s acting like a little kid on the sidelines after his team gives up big plays.

– After another solid performance by David Garrard, it’s hard to imagine that Byron Leftwich will remain a Jaguar after this season. Garrard was 16 of 22 for 229 yards and two touchdowns in the Jaguars 24-10 win over the red hot Dolphins. Garrard found Matt Jones six times for 128 yards and one touchdown. And what a run by rookie Maurice Jones-Drew, who broke three tackles on a 32 yard lumber into the end zone in the fourth quarter to put the game away for the Jags. Joey Harrington is just as likely to throw a game away as he is to win one this season. Harrington threw two picks, but he seemed to have to do everything himself without Ronnie Brown in the lineup. At least he finally was introduced to Chris Chambers (eight receptions for 121 yards), who he has successful ignored for Wes Welker the past nine weeks.

– After watching Bruce Gradkowski throw three interceptions in the Bucs 20-3 loss to the Steelers, no one should question Tampa Bay for re-signing Chris Simms earlier this week. Gradkowski had a bit of magic when Simms first went down, but he has looked rough the past couple of games. And Tampa is getting next to nothing from Cadillac Williams this season. As for Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger continues to be the difference either way in wins and losses. It seems to be simple: when Big Ben plays well, the Steelers win. When he’s terrible, not even a solid Pittsburgh defense can save a game much like Chicago does for Rex Grossman. Either way, that was a nice win for the Steelers without Hines Ward and Troy Polamalu.

– New offensive coordinator, same old Raiders. After firing Tom Walsh earlier in the week for John Shoop, Oakland still only managed 14 points in a 23-14 loss to Houston. No surprise here, Shoop was terrible in Chicago a few years ago too. However, the Hamburglar would have made a better OC than Walsh, so I won’t criticize the move too much. Check out this stat line: David Carr – 7 of 14 for 32 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs. And the Raiders still lost. Somebody get the Hamburglar on the line for Oakland, please.