Happy Holidays all. Here is something for you to print out and help start your Yule Tide fire!
COLTS 35 – JAGUARS 31
No surprise here, except that the Colts had to rally hard to be an inferior team. I would not be surprised if Indy enters the post-season 16-0, only to find a way to blow it all. What the Colts are probably fearing the most is that they have to meet the Chargers somewhere in the playoffs. San Diego had their number last year when it counted, and we might see a repeat this time around as well. But during the season, Peyton Manning sure can get it done. He threw for 4 tds, rallying his team back from what looked like sure defeat. The Jags did a good job bottling up the run, and bothering Manning early on, but they just didn’t have it in terms of pass defense to stop the rolling Colts. If Indy has a glaring hole it is that this defense is not one of the best units we have seen, and a good team, (eg the Chargers), can rip them to shreds and go point for point with them.
COWBOYS 24 – SAINTS 17
Not to brag, but NFL Guy called this one. Ok, let us clear up something right away, the Saints are NFL Guy’s pick to win the Super Bowl this year. However, the Cowboys brought their A+ game to the Super Dome, completely out-schemed and out-coached the Saints’ staff, and took down the NFL’s best team. Luckily for New Orleans, the Vikings are sputtering and home field throughout the playoffs is theirs… Much maligned Tony Romo was the best QB on the field, and OLB DeMarcus Ware played huge along with OLB Anthony Spencer, making life just miserable for QB Drew Brees. The Saints played their typical game, weathering their opponent’s best stuff in the first half, only to blow them out in the last quarter. But it was too little too late for them this time, as the Dallas defense was just too sharp. The Saints looked a little dis-spirited and making critical errors at crucial times, including a dropped TD pass and several blown blocking assignments. WR Miles Austin embarrassed the NO defensive backs several times. Dallas was very good, but WR Roy Williams, LT Flozell Adams and K Nick Folk once again all did their best to try and de-rail their own team. Next week will tell us a lot about the Cowboys. If Dallas wins in Washington, the Eagles better take that smug smile off of their complacent faces, because this team will destroy them in the last week of the season down in Mecca.
CARDINALS 31 – LIONS 24
Can anyone figure out the Cards? I don’t even think they can. Kurt Warner should have thrown for 34987 yards against the NFL’s worst defensive backfield, yet was pedestrian at best; having an interception in the end zone returned 100 yards for a TD. Thankfully Lions’ QBs Drew Stanton and Daunte Culpepper were abysmal, with QB ratings of 39.8 and 31.2 respectively. If the Cardinals want to go far again this post-season, they cannot turn the ball over three times a game. It is quite comical to hear Matt Millen on the NFL Network talking like such a know-it-all after how he left the Lions after his amazing reign of incompetence. This team is still years away from being competitive, and has so many holes in so many places on both sides of the ball.
TITANS 27 – DOLPHINS 24
Miami blows it! A game they should have won becomes a heart breaker OT loss. The AFC East belongs once again to the Patriots. Funny, but have you noticed that most all teams Bill Parcells handles can’t seem to get over the big humps? The Titans are rolling once again, and all I can say about RB Chris Johnson is – he’s the best. I know Vike’s fans will rave rightfully about Adrian Peterson, but Johnson doesn’t put the ball on the ground like AP. The Dolphins really had their chance to rally and put this one away and couldn’t. Hard to tell where this team is heading over the next few years. As for the Titans, better things might be in their future – time will tell. As for this year, it is over for both teams.
PATRIOTS 17 – BILLS 10
Wow are the Pats struggling to put lesser competition away on the road. New England will take the East for sure, but my bet is that it is a quick curtain for the one-time bullies of the league. The Pats made sure Randy Moss showed up for this game, and he produced well. Lawrence Maroney also produced inside and out of the box, but there is no magic left with this team. The Bills are sort of in shambles, not knowing who the next coach will be, etc. Guard Richie Incognito, who was cut from the Rams last week, continues to be the NFL’s biggest idiot. How this guy hasn’t been given a seat for a week or two by the Commish is beyond me… Pats fans, don’t clear space on the mantle for a 4th Lombardi Trophy this year.
BROWNS 41 – CHIEFS 34
Wow was this ugly. However, was a new star born? Jerome Harrison rushed for 286 yards on 34 carries. He broke the immortal Jim Brown’s Brown’s single game rushing record of 237 yards. Next week he plays the can’t-stop-the-run Raiders. Look out! As for old Jim, he is publically supporting Eric Mangini! Huh? Chances are good that by this time next week Mike Holgren will be involved heavily in the Browns – for about $8 million a season. If he can do what he did for Seattle, then the Browns might restore their long lost dignity in about 2-3 seasons. KC still has miles to go, and we need another full season to really evaluate the coaching staff’s performance there.
TEXANS 16 – RAMS 13
Houston is another too much-too late team. Of all the teams in the NFL they might be the biggest enigma. They just are not there yet, and it might be too late to save coach Gary Kubiak’s job. The Rams just stink out loud, and it will take many free agents and a lot of good draft picks to get them the starters and depth to be competitive on a week in/week out basis. So not much to be said here, other than we won’t be talking about either team after the next two weeks. Folks, the St. Louis Rams are on the clock.
FALCONS 10 – JETS 7
It wasn’t all that long ago that Rex Ryan was running his big fat mouth every chance he got about how great he and his team was. Now there is a lot of tape on them, and even the injury-decimated Falcons can beat them. Ryan should be in NY for several years, as he fits right in with the low brow fans that slog into the stadium from their jobs scrubbing the NYC docks year after drudgery filled year. The Jets fan run their mouths season after season, but it has been over 40 years since their team even made the Super Bowl. The way they’re going, and the strength of the top tier teams in the AFC, it might just take another 40.
RAIDERS 20 – BRONCOS 19
Wow has the league figured out Denver. And wow no one can figure out Oakland. The Raiders might actually be a fairly consistent and competitive team with a real QB and coaching staff. Broncos fans, be concerned, this is an older team that might not even be this good next year. This has been a very hard season to get a read on where teams are going over the next few seasons. I do believe that the Broncos are a team in need of some very good draft picks to infuse the young blood and talent into the team. These players will need to contribute in their first year to make Denver competitive, and this does not happen often, if Denver wants any success next year. The Raiders might be in more trouble since the NFL is a passing league now, and they lack a top notch signal caller to lead the team. Plus, they are paying incredible sums to a QB who probably shouldn’t even be on a pro roster.
CHARGERS 27 – BENGALS 24
“If you take off, I’m going to jump off the truck and kill myself.”
Those were some of the last words WR Chris Henry said to his fiancé according to a report on ESPN.com. As I have written before, I still have a hard time mourning the death of such a troubled pseudo-criminal as Henry. However, his ghost hung heavy over this game. But proving these things don’t always provide enough juice to give a team a victory, the Chargers were able to pull off a last second field goal victory thanks to the laser passing of QB Phillip Rivers. Once again, Rivers is the best QB no one is talking about. Remember folks Eli Manning and his daddy boo-hooed and tantrumed their way out of San Diego, stating the franchise was not heading in the right direction. Think Chargers fans are thankful for this every day? Right now San Diego is playing the best football in the NFL, and very well might not lose another game until the Super Bowl.
EAGLES 27 – 49ERS 13
The Birds should wipe that smug smile off of their collective faces right now. The NFC East is no lock for them. If the Cowboys play like they did on Saturday night, they will roar past their arch rivals and reverse their fortunes for this year. No matter, QB Donovan McNabb will always find a way to get close to the top, then just to do something foolish or mind boggling to have it pulled away. The last week of the season is boiling down to pure excitement, especially with the showdown in Dallas. Right now the 49ers need to learn to win games like these against opponents who are better staffed then them on the field, but can be taken down.
STEELERS 37 – PACKERS 36
Perhaps the most disturbing thing about this game was in the post game conference, where Ben Roethlisberger, who might face a civil rape trial sometime after the season ends, was wearing a Pennsylvania State Police hat. See he really is a good guy, not an arrogant, boorish, creepy, unlikable pro athlete that makes people turn away from sports.
Aside from that, this one got pretty exciting late, but Green Bay allowed 500 yards of passing. For a team that has playoff aspirations, this is not going to work. They are a pretty incomplete team, but fairly dangerous, especially at home, where their fans have been known to run the visiting QB’s parents off of the road in an attempt to kill them… As for the Steelers, their over-confident coach’s attitude spilled down onto his players, and this team simply assumed they were going to win it all, despite not being that great all last year. Pittsburgh keeps coaches and staffs for decades, but Mike Tomlin must quickly get over himself and the early success he had, or his teams will continue to talk the talk, then get roughed up. Pitt probably won’t run the table, and the Steelers fans across the country can use their terrible towels to dry their eyes.
BUCCANEERS 24 – SEAHAWKS 7
Sometimes you wonder why the Commish just doesn’t say, “Look, no one cares a wit about this game. Let’s flip a coin, and everyone go home for the holiday early.” Sure, the 17 Seahawks fans and the 11 Bucs fans throughout the country, would have been deprived of watching their teams play a pale imitation of what the rest of the league called professional football, but no one would have been hurt. Both these teams are just awful. What more can be said?
RAVENS 31 – BEARS 7
All future GMs should look at the Bears as an example of what not to do. Panicking in the off-season, the Bears gave way too much away to get QB Jay Cutler. Cutler is today’s Jeff George, a strong armed passer with no real understanding or true passion for the game. Top it off for some unfathomable reason the Bears then traded a second round pick for perennial bust DE Gaines Adams. This sounds exactly what I have been writing for weeks now, so let me add something new: Chi-Town is in trouble for the next few years… The Ravens are very inconsistent, and should they make the playoffs, NFL Guy predicts they will be shown the door early. After week four I said they were the best team out there. They sure have taken a step down, and if the coaching staff does not mature, neither will the team.
PANTHERS 26 – VIKINGS 7
A QB and head coach arguing on the sideline. A massive offensive line unable to block. A huge defensive front gashed by the run game. That was the Panthers, right? No faithful readers, it was a team beginning to unravel, and that team is the Vikings. Weekly readers to NFL Guy know that I have been saying all year long that Minny might not make it to the finish line due to age concerns. It seems the team is breaking down a little bit here and there, and Brett Favre is once again playing drama queen. The Vikes were embarrassed by a very inconsistent Panthers team which started an undrafted QB who was 9 years old during Favre’s rookie year. If the Vikings enter the second season like this, they will once again fall short of their promise like they did in their heartbreaking 1998-1999 season. The next two weeks will tell us quite a bit about how Minnesota’s run to the big game will go. Right now, it’s not looking so good; especially since they had a chance to close the gap on the number one seed with the Saints falling at the hands of the Cowboys, but fell way short.
