2009 Game Reviews
NFL Week 14
by Jody Jamieson
16/12/2009
 
Steelers 6 Browns 13
 
Pittsburgh’s season is over. They need an absolute miracle to make the playoffs, but perhaps the most unlikely part of it is they need to win out. Do you fancy a team who have lost to Kansas City, Oakland and Cleveland in the past month to win out? In sub zero temperatures on a short week, the Steelers looked like they’d rather be anywhere else other than Cleveland trying to save their season. The Browns defense had been unable to get pressure on the quarterback even with Shaun Rogers, but inexplicably without Rogers they managed to drop Ben Roethlisberger 8 times.
 
Josh Cribbs muffed a punt at midfield, but managed to pick it up and return it to the Pittsburgh 8. Unfortunately, the Browns went backwards and settled for a field goal. It was 6-0 Cleveland when James Harrison was ruled to have scored on a rushing play. Because it was inside two minutes in the half, the booth buzzed down for the review. Despite it being completely obvious that the ball was outside the pylon and Harrison looked to have stepped out of bounds at the two, the idiot referees somehow spent about 3 minutes looking at it and then still called it a touchdown. Pittsburgh added a field goal as time expired as the Browns led 13-3 at the half.
 
Jeff Reed kicked a 3rd quarter field goal but couldn’t get back into it. They were driving late to try and take the game to overtime, but on 4th and 6 Roethlisberger’s pass fell incomplete as the Steelers drop to 6-7. Brady Quinn had a bad game (6/19, 90 yds) but Pittsburgh were so awful that it didn’t matter, but how’s this for a stat? In Cleveland’s two wins this year, their quarterbacks have combine for this line. 8/36 for 113 yards and a pick. Simply incredible.
 
Saints 26 Falcons 23
 
Chris Redman actually put together an excellent performance, but it wasn’t enough as the Saints keep finding a way to stay undefeated. Redman was an impressive 23/34 for 303 yards with a TD and an INT. He did throw a late pick to Jonathan Vilma and throw underneath on 4th and 2 with the game on the line as the Falcons turned the ball over on downs, but it was a major improvement from his performance against Philadelphia. Drew Brees was fairly unstoppable for the Saints, finishing 31/40 for 296 yards with 3 touchdowns as the Saints go into Saturday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys with a 13-0 record.
 
It was 6-3 Falcons in the second quarter when Brees hit Reggie Bush for a 6 yard TD, and then extended the lead with a 3 yarder to Marques Colston, but the extra point was missed. A Matt Bryant field goal made it 16-9 at the half.
 
New Orleans made it a two touchdown game when Brees hit Reggie Bush again (check the end of this report for the farcical decision that took place on this drive), this time from 21 yards, but Redman took a shot downfield and hit Michael Jenkins for a 50 yard touchdown. In the 4th quarter Atlanta put together an impressive 11 play drive and Jason Snelling finished it off with a 4 yard touchdown run to tie the scores. The Saints put together an 8 minute drive, but could only add a Garret Hartley field goal to make it 26-23. Atlanta had two chances to tie it up or win the game, but Vilma’s pick and the late failure on 4th and 2 dropped Atlanta to 6-7.
 
The referees really helped out the Saints on 3rd down when the Saints were driving up 16-9. Brees threw one up and Bryan Grimes made a marvellous interception, but was somehow flagged for pass interference. Grimes not only had position, but didn’t even touch Robert Meachem. If anything Meachem was interfering with him. Bush scored 3 plays later and this proved crucial. The Saints have undoubtedly been lucky the past couple of weeks, but a wise man once said it’s sometimes better to be lucky than good.
 
Lions 3 Ravens 48
 
This was the worst performance I’ve seen this season. Detroit were lousy offensively, but they put on a clinic in disgusting tackling. In driving rain, the Lions defense looked like they couldn’t be bothered and simply handed this game to the Ravens on a plate. Credit Baltimore for running up the score in this one as if the Lions aren’t trying to stop them, why not score touchdown after touchdown? The Lions disrespected the NFL more by not trying than the Ravens disrespected the Lions by hanging 48 on them.
 
Ray Rice profited the most from the dreadful Lions by taking his 17 touches (13 carries, 4 catches) for a combined 219 yards and a touchdown and pretty much all of this came in the first half. Joe Flacco was 13/20 for 230 yards and a touchdown. Daunte Culpepper made the start for Detroit with Matthew Stafford still struggling, and was a disappointing 16/34 for 135 yards and two picks. Amazingly it was only 3-0 after one quarter of play as Ray Rice lost a fumble in the redzone with the Ravens looking to make it 10-0. They did get to 10 when Flacco hit Derrick Mason over the middle, two “tacklers” crashed into each other, and Mason trotted the rest of the way for a 62 yard score. Ray Rice then ran for a 59 yard TD without being touched as Baltimore held a 20-3 half time lead. The Ravens added 3 TD runs in the 3rd quarter (Willis McGahee with a pair after a LeRon McClain 3 yard rumble) and 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith (2/3, 10 yds) rushed for a 15 yarder after coming in for Flacco with the game completely out of hand.
 
Packers 21 Bears 14
 
Chicago actually decided to show up to a game for the first time in about a month, but it wasn’t enough to get past a Green Bay side who eventually converted their superiority into a win despite the Bears best efforts. It looked like the same old Bears were going to show up when the Packers first play from scrimmage was a 62 yard touchdown run by Ryan Grant and the Bears were 13-0 down in the 2nd quarter after two Mason Crosby field goals. Jay Cutler finished off a 13 play drive with a 19 yard TD pass to Johnny Knox and Chicago then took a third quarter lead. A turnover at midfield turned into Bears points when Devin Aromashodu hauled in a 10 yard TD reception to make it 14-13. Green Bay finally got the lead back in the 4th quarter when Grant scored his second TD and the two pointer was successful.
 
Cutler (23/36, 209 yds, 2TD 2INT) is still playing well below par and despite numerous chances to get back on level terms, the Bears just couldn’t move the ball in the 4th quarter. The reason the Bears were competitive was because for the first time in a month Aaron Rodgers was poorly protected. Rodgers was only sacked twice but was harried all day and finished just 16/24 for 180 yards. Ryan Grant finished with 137 rushing yards on his 20 carries with 2 scores and that was the difference in the game.
 
Seahawks 7 Texans 34
 
Houston were 24-0 up with less than 2 minutes gone in the second quarter. That tells you everything you need to know about this one. The Texans offense put on an absolute clinic against the Seahawks as Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson combined to completely trounce Seattle. In the first half alone Andre Johnson had 10 catches for 184 yards and two touchdowns from Schaub, who was 24/28 for 336 yards and those two TD passes at the half. Ryan Moats had a TD run and Matt Hasselbeck put the lone Seattle points on the board with a TD pass to John Carlson. Houston added ten 4th quarter points on a Kris Brown field goal and a 70 yard Bernard Pollard pick six.
 
Seattle had 282 yards of offense and Matt Hasselbeck was a reasonable 24/35 for 247 yards with a TD and a pick, but the Seahawks were a laughable 1/14 on third down.
 
Broncos 16 Colts 28
 
Looking at the stats it makes no sense that the Broncos lost this game by 12 points. They outgained Indianapolis 357-312. Peyton Manning threw 3 picks and completed less than 50% of his passes. Denver won the time of possession battle. Neither team dominated on the ground. Denver won the turnover battle.
 
So how did it happen? Well for starters Josh McDaniels twice went for it on 4th and 1 around midfield, and both times they turned the ball over on downs. Indianapolis got off to a really fast start and were up 14-0 in the second quarter when McDaniels went for it on fourth down. Indianapolis took over on their own 44 after the failure, and put together an 11 play drive ending in a TD pass to Dallas Clark. Clark and Austin Collie had first quarter TD passes as the Colts held a 21-0 lead.
 
Brandon Marshall had a marvellous record setting day. Terrell Owens had long held the record for catches in a game with 20, but Marshall amazingly had 21 receptions for an even 200 yards and two touchdowns. While the record was impressive, it became a little counter-productive as almost every 4th quarter passing play was designed to go to Marshall as the Broncos seemed more interested in Marshall getting the record than actually getting back in the game. Marshall made an earlier bid at the record in Week 2 of the 2008 season against San Diego (the famous 39-38 win when Cutler’s empty hand fumble was ruled an incomplete pass) and even with the average Orton under centre, Marshall continues to excel. He caught a 5 yard TD in the second quarter as Indy went in up 21-7 at half time. Denver drove into the redzone in the 3rd quarter, but Orton threw a pick to Tim Jennings. Orton did make up for it when he hit Marshall to make it 21-16 (2 point conversion failed) with 10 minutes to go, but Dallas Clark’s third touchdown reception of the game pushed the Colts to 13-0.
 
Dolphins 14 Jaguars 10
 
This was a tale of two quarterbacks. Chad Henne continued his good run of form, completing 21 of 29 for 229 yards and a pick. He was 14/16 in the first half alone. David Garrard meanwhile was a lousy 11/26 for 139 yards as Jacksonville continues to think they are a passing team despite Maurice Jones-Drew being undoubtedly their best player on offense. Jones-Drew had a disappointing 59 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, but his running was still far more effective than Garrard’s passing. MJD added 24 yards on two receptions. Torry Holt had over half the receiving yards with 71 on just two catches, while Greg Camarillo paced the Dolphins with 7 catches for 110 yards. Ricky Williams almost killed the Dolphins with three fumbles, but they did enough to hang on and get to 7-6. Jacksonville twice failed on 4th down late when Garrard threw incomplete, and then he was tackled in the backfield on a quarterback draw.
 
One yard touchdown runs were in fashion in this game. Ricky Williams (28-108-1) scored the opening touchdown on a 1 yard run and Chad Henne made it 14-0 with a 1 yard run of his own. Maurice Jones-Drew made it 14-7 at half time with a 1 yard run. Josh Scobee kicked the only points of the second half with a 25 yard field goal, but the Jags couldn’t get any closer.
 
Bills 16 Chiefs 10
 
Congratulations to Matt Cassel for single handedly losing this game. Kansas City’s final three drives of the game finished with interceptions including a pick in the endzone as time expired. Cassel also was sacked on 4th and goal from the 1 yard line. He finished with 4 interceptions on the day as the Chiefs blew a great opportunity to pick up win number 4 of the season. It was 10-3 at half time with the lone first half touchdown coming on a 9 yarder from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Terrell Owens. Ryan Lindell made it 13-3 in the third quarter before Jamaal Charles scored on a 74 yard scamper. Buffalo added a field goal in the 4th on a short field after one of Cassel’s picks.
 
Bengals 10 Vikings 30
 
This game ruined me for a lot of money. I put on a 15 team accumulator for £1 but foolishly picked the Bengals to win. I was 14-1. Thank God this wasn’t the Monday night game or I may have destroyed myself. I’d let you know how much it was worth, but I’m too depressed to work it out. Carson Palmer continues to underperform, finishing a mediocre 15/25 for just 94 yards. Cedric Benson rushed for an impressive 96 yards on just 16 carries, but Palmer couldn’t take advantage of his excellent running game.
 
But I think the big story coming out of this one is Brett Favre. Favre finished 17/30 for 192 yards with a TD and a pick, but admitted after the game he is struggling to hold up. After a disastrous performance in Arizona last week, this really wasn’t the bounce back many expected, although not to take away anything from a good Bengals defense. Favre tossed a few careless passes and should have been picked at least two more times. Are we about to see a similar meltdown as he experienced as a Jet last year?
 
Favre tossed a 9 yard TD pass to Sidney Rice in the second quarter to make it 10-0, but the Bengals replied when Palmer hit the Artist Formerly Known As Johnson from 15 yards out. Two Ryan Longwell field goals made it 16-7 at half time. Two Adrian Peterson touchdown runs in the second half wrapped up a comfortable win for the Vikings.
 
Panthers 10 Patriots 20
 
New England continues to be unconvincing, but did enough to get past the Panthers on Sunday. Matt Moore tossed a 41 yarder to Steve Smith to give Carolina the lead, but a 3 yard Kevin Faulk run made it 7-7 at half time. Wes Welker then took the Patriots down the field on his own, finishing with 6 catches on a 13 play drive, before Tom Brady tossed a 5 yarder to Benjamin Watson. John Kasay kicked a 4th quarter field goal to make it a 4 point game, but two Stephen Gostkowski field goals gave the Panthers too much to do.
 
Neither quarterback was particularly impressive on Sunday, with Moore finishing 15/30 for 197 yards and a touchdown while Brady was 19/32 for 192 yards, a TD and an INT. While it makes sense to have Brady throw 32 passes despite his recent slump, why the hell did Moore throw 30 times while DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart only combined for 20 carries? That is completely unacceptable. The Patriots can’t stop the run whatsoever, an gave up 111 yards on the 20 carries by those two (over 5.5 a rush) while surrendering 126 rushing yards overall.
 
Meanwhile Panthers cornerback Chris Gamble accused Randy Moss of giving up in this contest. Moss had 1 catch for 16 yards and ended up fumbling the ball. He also dropped an easy pass on a slant route and failed to make any effort to break up a bad Brady pass that was picked off by Gamble. Moss has been accused of being a little lazy this year by some outside sources, and the evidence supports this. Despite the Patriots struggles, they’re still likely to make the playoffs and Moss could be in a much worse situation. Has he forgotten Oakland?
 
Jets 26 Buccaneers 3
 
This was the easiest win the Jets have likely ever had. Tampa didn’t show up at all and had an utterly pathetic 20 yards of first half offense and no first downs. They were a little better in the second half, but finished off with 124 yards of total offense, posting a laughable 0-14 mark on third downs. Josh Freeman isn’t taking care of the ball right now, tossing three picks and fumbling against the Jets. He finished a terrible 14/33 for 93 yards and three picks. Kellen Clemens managed the game well, going 12/23 for 111 yards.
 
New York led 19-0 at half time on the back of 4 Jay Feely field goals and a 33 yard touchdown run by Thomas Jones. Connor Barth kicked a 43 yarder for Tampa’s lone points of the day. A 4th quarter 7 yard run by Thomas Jones finished off an easy win to keep the Jets just one game out in the AFC East.
 
Rams 7 Titans 47
 
I actually thought the Rams had a chance in this one. Kyle Boller was thankfully unable to go and while I didn’t know anything about Keith Null, I thought he may be able to catch lightning in a bottle and lead the Rams to some points. I was horribly wrong. Null somehow made Boller look like Johnny Unitas with an absolutely hideous performance in his first (and hopefully last) NFL start. The Rams simply have to take a quarterback in April’s draft, and if they stick with Null, they’ll comfortably have the first pick in the Draft. Null finished 27/43 for 157 yards, one garbage time touchdown and a dreadful 5 picks.
 
I have single handedly ruined the Diner Writers fantasy league. I completely forgot about the Draft and was allocated my players. While I was allocated some fairly good players, I got sick of it pretty quickly and stopped paying any attention to it. The last time I had looked at it before Monday was during the Titans bye week. I edited my depth chart and put Chris Johnson on the bench as he wasn’t playing that week. Despite being utterly incredible, he’s been sitting on my bench for the best part of about two months. Oops. Johnson yet again was excellent, scoring 3 touchdowns and finishing with 176 total yards from scrimmage. The big concern for Tennessee was an injury picked up by Vince Young. Young was 6/8 for 132 yards and a TD when he went out. Kerry Collins was ok in relief (11/19, 154 yds, TD) but I wouldn’t feel confident in him against the Dolphins.
 
It was 33-0 to the Titans after three quarters after Johnson’s 3 TD’s and four Rob Bironas field goals. Null threw a TD pass to Randy McMichael before an Alge Crumpler scoring grab from Kerry Collins and a Vincent Fuller pick six finished off this debacle.
 
Redskins 34 Raiders 13
 
This game was close until Bruce Gradkowski went down injured. JaMarcus Russell came in and did what he usually does, throwing awful passes and making numerous stupid decisions. Russell finished 10/16 for a lousy 74 yards and a pick. Gradkowski meanwhile had been 10/18 for 153 yards before his injury. Jason Campbell meanwhile is playing much better in his new offense, going 16/28 for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns.
 
After a Sebastian Janikowski field goal, the Redskins took a 7-3 lead on a Fred Davis 6 yard TD catch from Campbell. Oakland retook the lead on a one yard run by Justin Fargas, but the Pride of Arbroath tied the game up with a 46 yard field goal. Graham Gano is back in the NFL and the Scotsman was 2/2 from the field. Fred Davis had his second TD reception of the day as the Skins held a 17-10 half time lead.
 
Janikowski was good from 54 yards before Gradkowski got hurt and the Raiders couldn’t score again. Two 4th quarter touchdown runs by Quinton Ganther wrapped up the Washington win.
 
Chargers 20 Cowboys 17
 
This is where I don’t understand Vegas and their spreads. If this game was in September, then by all means make Dallas 3.5 point favourites. But this is December. San Diego constantly slaughter teams in December while Dallas regularly finds hilarious ways to lose games they should win comfortably. Anyone who laid money with the Cowboys should have just donated their money to charity.
 
LaDanian Tomlinson scored from a yard out to give San Diego a 7-3 lead after a Nick Folk field goal. Nate Kaeding made it 10-3 with a 29 yarder. The Cowboys had a chance to go in tied at half time with first and goal on the 4 yard line of Dallas. Four straight Marion Barber runs up the middle gave them nothing. It was probably appropriate considering San Diego were backed up on their own goalline and were the victims of a pathetic call. Rivers lobbed one down the sidelines for Malcolm Floyd, but the receiver was essentially tackled by Michael Jenkins before the ball was even close. The idiot ref didn’t flag it, and Rivers was picked on the next play.
 
Dallas eventually did tie it up when an excellent 99 yard drive culminated in a Romo TD pass to Miles Austin, but the Chargers went back in front when Philip Rivers hit Antonio Gates for a 14 yard touchdown. A late Kaeding field goal pushed the lead to 10 and the Cowboys had no shot. They were very lackadaisical in trying to get two scored and eventually pulled it back to 20-17 when Austin scored again, but with just 2 seconds left their only chance was a recovered onside kick and a Hail Mary. The onside kick went out of bounds.
 
DeMarcus Ware picked up a really scary neck injury in this one. Thankfully he got all his movement back in his arms and legs but I’m sure I wasn’t the only person genuinely concerned about his health watching it live. Ware will likely be held out against New Orleans on Saturday but may not quite be done for the season, which is excellent news.
 
Eagles 45 Giants 38
 
This game lacked the grandstand finish, but was easily one of the best of the year. The Meadowlands in December has never been renowned for its shootouts, but Sunday was an exciting exception. The Eagles took an early 14-0 lead on a Brent Celek TD reception and a Sheldon Brown fumble return for a TD after Brandon Jacobs put it on the floor. New York brought it back to 14-10 after a Laurence Tynes field goal and a 68 yard Hakeem Nicks TD catch after poor tackling allowed him to break free and scamper to the endzone. David Akers made it 17-10 with a 20 yard field goal and after a three and out from the Giants, DeSean Jackson took the punt back 72 yards. Ahmad Bradshaw scored on a 3 yard run (which should really have been reviewed by the booth) but the Eagles went in 30-17 up at half time on a Michael Vick TD run. The extra point was blocked and you wondered how much this would cost the Eagles.
 
It almost cost them dear as the Giants scored twice to take a 31-30 lead in the first quarter. Brandon Jacobs powered in from a yard before Dominic Hixon scored on a 61 yard catch and run. Just when it looked like the momentum had shifted, Philadelphia made use of their first play from scrimmage with a deficit. McNabb fired deep to DeSean Jackson for a 60 yard TD and when Leonard Weaver scored on a 1 yard rush (with a successful two pointer) the Eagles had the win in the bag. Eli Manning did hit Kevin Boss late to make it a one score game, but the onside kick went out of bounds. New York got the ball back on their own 10 with 20 seconds to go but Eli was strip sacked as Philadelphia took sole possession of first place in the NFC East.
 
It’s amazing that in such a wild high scoring game there were some wasted opportunities to score points. First Hakeem Nicks dropped a sure TD pass from Manning when he’d got behind the defense, and McNabb overthrew Reggie Brown on a certain score. New York also took over on the Philly 30 yard line after a McNabb interception, but Manning fumbled after escaping the pocket. New York outgained Philadelphia 512-374, but touchdowns on defense and special teams gave the Eagles a huge win.
 
Cardinals 9 49ers 24
 
I haven’t seen a team top of their division this unfocused in December since...well the Cardinals last year. Arizona were a complete disgrace on Monday Night Football, but if last year taught us anything, they can get it going in the playoffs even if they mail in the entire month of December. Arizona were guilty of an outrageous 7 turnovers on the night as Warner threw 2 picks and five of their whopping seven fumbles were recovered by the Niners as they scored all 24 points off turnovers.
 
San Francisco held a 17-0 lead in the second quarter when Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree had touchdown grabs. Arizona got it back to 17-9 with a Neil Rackers field goal and a Chris Well TD run (with a blocked extra point) but a 2 yard TD run by Frank Gore gave the 49ers a win they had to have to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.