The Colts throw away a chance at perfection and other NFL thoughts

(1) In my opinion, the Indianapolis Colts made a mockery of the NFL on Sunday. How can Jim Caldwell sleep at night knowing that he gave away a victory to a team that desperately needed the win to keep their playoff hopes alive? I don’t even care about the Colts supposedly not caring about going undefeated through the entire season, but I do care about the integrity of the league. How do you think the Houston Texans or the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Denver Broncos are feeling today? The Colts basically announced to the world that they don’t care about the spirit of competition. The only thing that Caldwell and Bill Polian are concerned about is covering their collective asses. I understand the reasoning used by Caldwell to justify his decision to pull Peyton Manning as well as several other star players in the third quarter, but I completely disagree with their justification. In the immortal words of Herm Edwards: “You play to win the game!” You don’t play the game to protect your star players from injury. You don’t play the game to throw your young, back-up quarterback to the wolves. You don’t play the game to cheat your fans out of a well-played game that they paid good money to attend. Honestly, this game felt like Week Three of the preseason. If I was a Colts’ fan, I would be pissed off today. If I was Peyton Manning or Reggie Wayne, I would be seething underneath the façade of supporting my coach. For God’s sake, I’m not even a fan of the team, but I have been fired up about the Colts’ Christmas gift to the Jets since hearing the news late Sunday afternoon.

The biggest reason that I’m upset about what the Colts did is because they are so robotic about how they handle these situations. They continue to rest their players because this is the way that they have always done it. If I woke up every morning, got drunk and drove around town, would my decision to drink and drive be a good one just because I’m consistent about it? The worst part about it is that the Colts have had absolutely zero success with this approach. The only season that they won the Super Bowl they were forced to play their regular players through the final week of the season. Nevertheless, Polian pontificates on a yearly basis about not caring about a perfect season or not wanting to get anyone injured in a meaningless game. I think it is pretty clear that this strategy is all Bill Polian’s idea. In a candid moment, I would hope that Jim Caldwell would admit that he would have liked to go for the immortality of a perfect season. In my opinion, if you don’t aspire to greatness, then what exactly are you playing the game for. The part that drives me crazy is that it would have been very easy to create a safe and conservative gameplan to protect Manning. I think we can all agree that playing it close to the vest with Manning is far superior to anything that Curtis Painter could muster. The reality of the situation is that Manning has only been sacked 24 times the last two seasons (one sack every 47 drop-backs), so where is the real risk? For the sake of Caldwell and Polian, they better hope that the Colts win the Super Bowl because, if they don’t, they will get raked through the coals much worse than if Manning had been injured in the Jets game with the Colts going for an undefeated season. Finally, I think that Roger Goodell has good reason to worry about the NFL becoming like the NBA. In basketball, it is more about teams tanking at the end of the season to improve their draft position, but I think that turning a regular season game into a glorified preseason game is just as bad. Let’s not forget that things could get even worse with an expanded schedule.

(2) What in the world has happened to the New Orleans Saints? I think we could all excuse losing to the Dallas Cowboys for their first loss of the season, but how do we look the other way when they lose to the 12-loss Tampa Bay Buccaneers at home? In fact, the Saints became the first 13-win team in NFL history to lose to a team with only two wins. Moreover, in the past four weeks, the Saints have played teams with a combined record of 25-35 and have been outscored 100-96. I think it is officially time to press the panic button in the bayou because this loss resembled one of the many losses racked up by New Orleans when they were better known as the Aints. Honestly, this outcome blew my mind when I checked the scores Sunday afternoon. Especially when you consider that the Saints roared out of the gate with 17 unanswered points and looked like they were going to pound the Bucs into submission. The plucky Bucs did not go into hiding and managed to hold the Saints scoreless for the entire second half and overtime. How exactly did Tampa Bay get it done?

I think we need to start with the fact that Tampa Bay rushed for 176 yards on 34 carries, which demonstrated that the Bucs were both committed to and successful with the running game. The dominate running game allowed the Bucs to win the time of possession battle and put rookie quarterback Josh Freeman in manageable situations. As a result, Freeman completed 67% of his attempts and gained confidence throughout the game despite throwing two interceptions. Freeman’s growing confidence allowed him to make the biggest play of the game when he scrambled for a first down on a third and six to keep the game-winning drive going in overtime. I think that the Saints should be awfully concerned about how well the Bucs ran the football, especially considering that their primary run stopper, Sedrick Ellis, was healthy for this game. New Orleans can expect to see a healthy dose of running plays when the playoffs start because teams are going to be scouring the video from the Cowboys game last week and the Bucs game to see how both of those teams attacked the Saints on the ground. It might get worse before it gets better for the Saints because they have to face the Carolina Panthers and their strong running game in the season finale. Secondly, the Bucs won this game because they turned the high-flying Saints offense into a dink-and-dunk offense. Drew Brees completed an astounding 86% of his passes, but he only had one completion longer than 16 yards. For the second week in a row, the big plays eluded the Saints and they struggled mightily as a result. I think that the inability to hit the momentum-shifting play frustrates Brees and the rest of the offense, which causes them to get impatient and make bad decisions. It looked to me like that Bucs were adamant about keeping the amount of big plays to a minimum and they were highly successful with their game plan. At the same time, Tampa Bay locked up the Saints’ running game after halftime, which put more pressure on Brees to make a big play in the passing game. I just think that the code has been cracked regarding the Saints and their potent offensive attack. It will be interesting to see how the Saints adjust because their playoff experience will be cut short if they don’t adjust well.

(3) I guess it is time that we all stopped second-guessing the New England Patriots. The Pats were all but written off after losing three out of four, including the heart-breaking loss to the Indianapolis Colts, but all they have done is win three consecutive games by a margin of 72-27. As a result, the Patriots celebrated their seventh AFC East championship in the last nine years. While we were all trying to bury the Patriots, we also took our shots at Randy Moss for mailing in a game two weeks ago. The media, fans and, even, their opponent took turns claiming that Moss had quit on his teammates, but the Patriots’ organization never turned their back on him and he rewarded them with a three touchdown performance against the Jaguars. It was the ninth time in his illustrious career that he had scored three touchdowns in a single game. We were also wondering what the heck was going on with Tom Brady after he had thrown for just 307 yards in his last two games. I guess we shouldn’t have worried too much with the Jags on the schedule because Brady loves hunting big cats. He threw four touchdowns and only misfired on three of his attempts, which was reminiscent of his brilliance the last time these two teams met: 26-28 for 262 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 31-20 divisional playoff victory on January 12, 2008. Ultimately, the Patriots look like they are hitting their stride at the right time.

I see three things that reinforce my belief that the Patriots are the team that no one wants to play in the postseason. First of all, they are running the football better than they have in the last three seasons. In their last seven games, they have rushed for over 100 yards in six contests, including 185 yards against the Panthers and 197 yards against Jacksonville. Even with Laurence Maroney banished to Bill Belichick’s doghouse, the Patriots have several options at running back to give defenses different looks and keep their guys healthy. Secondly, it appears that the young Patriots defense is finally putting things together. They throttled the Jags on Sunday, which was their third consecutive solid performance. They caused two big mistakes from David Garrard and held Maurice Jones-Drew in check with only 63 yards rushing. This comes on the heels of putting the shackles on Buffalo and Carolina. Keep in mind that it is the same Panthers team that subsequently put a hurting on the Minnesota Vikings and the New York Giants. Third, I think that the Patriots handled the Randy Moss early dismissal and subsequent tanking as well as they possibly could. Moss could have easily regressed into the behavior that he exhibited in Oakland, but the Patriots publicly said that they had his back, which is all the sensitive soul needed to get back on track. As a result, Moss is poised and ready to help the Patriots win games in the playoffs. With Moss in his right mind and Wes Welker still performing at a high level, the Patriots have one of the best one-two combinations at wide receiver in the NFL. Certainly, the Patriots are not the team to beat any longer, but I think they have enough veteran leadership and coaching no-how to make a surprise run in the playoffs.

(4) Let me start by saying that I’m on the record that I didn’t like the Brett Favre signing for Minnesota from the beginning. I thought his me-first approach would eventually wear out its welcome in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Obviously, I looked foolish for questioning the move when the Vikings surged out of the gate with 10 wins in 11 games. As expected, the media began to fawn over Favre and the Vikings and I even thought they were the best team in the NFL after their 10-1 start. How quickly things can come apart? The Vikings look to be a team in turmoil after losing their third game in four weeks. They have been dominated by the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers. Even the Chicago Bears held them scoreless for the first half of their Monday Night tilt. They have been unable to run the ball recently and their defense appears to have lost their edge when team leader E.J. Henderson went down with a season-ending injury during the Cardinals game. It appears that history is repeating itself when it comes to one Brett Favre. Two years ago, we all remember his awful performance in the 2007 NFC Championship game that ended the Packers’ season and set in motion the sequence of events that led to his awkward departure and forced signing with the New York Jets. Favre not only killed the Packers’ chances of getting to the Super Bowl, but he had essentially lost the locker room with his prima donna behavior, including a completely separate dressing room. Last year, we all watched in horror as Favre dragged down the entire New York Jets organization after they started the season 8-3. Favre’s performance was so atrocious down the stretch that he got the entire coaching staff fired as a result. In a herpes-like move, Favre refused to let bygones be bygones and accused the Jets of failing to properly disclose his arm injury to the league office. As a result, the Jets were fined by the NFL well after Favre was no longer with the team. I guess you can say that Favre is the gift that keeps on giving. Fast forward to December 29th and it appears that the Favre effect is rearing its ugly head in Minnesota.
I can’t help but believe that Favre’s antics are poisoning the locker room and destroying a once promising season for the Vikings. Obviously, we don’t know the entire story, but the part that we do know about is that Favre is in the middle of a lover’s quarrel with Coach Brad Childress about play-calling responsibility. Favre, as you would expect, wants the freedom to call audibles at the line of scrimmage and have input into the game-planning during the week. Meanwhile, Childress does not want his quarterback to usurp his “power” and has taken to complaining about Favre’s free-lancing and ignoring his star player during the week. This internal dispute came to a head during the Carolina Panthers game when Childress attempted to remove Favre from the game and the two men had a heated conversation in full view of the public. I don’t fault Favre for wanting more input leading up the game and more control between the white lines. My concern is that he decided to publicly talk about the situation instead of handling it behind closed doors with Childress. This is the reason why Favre has a well-deserved reputation as a diva. The diva syndrome causes people to draw attention to themselves in any way that they can and deflect blame to others at every turn. Favre is a master at doing both. Let me be clear, I still think that Childress bears some responsibility for this mess as well. He is the one that decided to bring in Favre to begin with. His decision communicated that one man is bigger than the entire team. Frankly, I think he is getting his just desserts. The other problem that I have with Childress’ behavior is that he is acting like a control freak. For heaven’s sake, he has a Hall of Fame quarterback on his roster and he needs to realize that Favre probably has a better understanding of the offense than he does. I can understand the control aspect if Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels were playing, but it seems a bit excessive when it relates to Favre. In the end, I think that the Vikings are going to rue the day that they signed a devil’s pact with Brett Favre.

(5) I’m not going to spend too much time on the Christmas Massacre in Green Bay or the Seahawks in general. I’m just going to let the following bulleted list do the talking:

• It was the second time in two seasons that Seattle has been beaten by 38 points, which means that two of the four largest losses in franchise history have occurred in the last 14 months.

• Seattle has scored 24 points in three consecutive losses, which is its lowest total during any span since 1992.

• The Hawks have been outscored by 82 points over the last three games.

• The Seattle defense allowed the Packers to score on six consecutive possessions.

• During the Packers’ run of 34 unanswered points, Seattle gained a total of four first downs, threw two interceptions and crossed mid-field only once.

• The Seahawks have gone more than two years without winning a road game outside of the NFC West.

• Of Seattle’s 10 losses this season, nine have been by more than 10 points.

• Seattle is 9-22 since its last playoff appearance and 16 of those losses have been by 10 or more points. That is as many double-digit losses as Seattle suffered in six seasons between 2002 and 2007.

• Only once in his first 10 seasons did Matt Hasselbeck throw four interceptions in a game. He has done twice in the past two weeks.

• The Packers’ 48 points were the most scored by any Seattle opponent since November 1983.

• Packers’ running back Brandon Jackson had never scored more than a single touchdown in a game in his three NFL seasons. He scored three times against Seattle. Even 32-year old Ahman Green scored a touchdown.

The Cowboys redeem themselves and other NFL thoughts

(1) I’m a big man. I can admit when I’m wrong. I was completely wrong about the outcome of the Dallas Cowboys game with the New Orleans Saints. I was confident that Dallas would continue their December swoon. I was so sure that Tony Romo and his teammates would wilt under the pressure. I truly believed that the Saints would overwhelm the visiting Cowboys just like they had overrun the New England Patriots three weeks ago. In the end, none of my predictions came true as Dallas played its most complete football game of the season. Frankly, their performance on Saturday night in the bayou was probably their best performance in the Romo-Phillips era. I’m willing to elevate this victory to such a high level because everything was against the Cowboys winning this game. They were riding a two-game losing streak and they had to endure all of the speculation and discussion about why they are unable to win in the last month of the year. They were facing a team that seems to have fate on its side and certainly had 60,000+ fanatics in the Superdome supporting them to the end. I figured the Cowboys would get hit in the mouth early and fold their tents before halftime. They would head back to Dallas with their tails between their legs once again and have to face another week of relentless questions about their inability to win a big game in December. Instead, the Cowboys most likely saved their season with their best effort in recent memory.

In order to win this game, the Cowboys had to start fast, which they accomplished by scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions. Dallas completely dominated the early part of the game. They had generated 193 yards of total offense before the Saints were able to put their first points on the board. Overall, the Cowboys played a nearly flawless offensive game. The biggest thing is that they didn’t turn the ball over against a team with one of the best turnover differentials in the NFL. In addition, Dallas was very balanced behind 145 yards rushing from their three-headed running attack and 312 yards passing from Tony Romo. Their ability to run the ball and not turn it over along with converting better than 50% of their third down opportunities allowed the Cowboys to dominate the time of possession especially in the third quarter. It certainly did wonders for the Cowboys to get off to such a hot start because I have never seen them play with so much confidence against a quality opponent. In all honesty, I believe this was the best game of Romo’s career. For the first time that I can remember, Romo made all the big plays instead of leaving opportunities on the field and watching his counterpart steal his glory at the end. It is ironic that this was his best game when it clearly wasn’t one of his best statistical performances. Romo threw for over 300 yards but he only had one touchdown pass and didn’t have a lot of highlight-reel plays that would make our Sportscenter culture go ooh and ah. The best word that I can use to describe Romo’s performances is control. He was in complete control of the football game and he knew it. Obviously, Romo’s flashiest play was his 49-yard touchdown pass to Miles Austin on the first possession for Dallas, but his biggest play came in the fourth quarter with the Saints mounting a comeback and the Cowboys clearly on the ropes. On a third and seven from the Dallas 23-yard line, Romo calmly stood in the face of pressure and delivered a 32-yard strike to Miles Austin. Romo has failed in this moment before so it has to be encouraging to Cowboys nation to see him fulfill his potential. I have been very critical of Romo for a long time, but I’m willing to say that he impressed me on Saturday night. I still think he is soft and a front-runner, but his performance against the Saints showed that he has the talent to be more.

As big of an impact that the Dallas offense made on this game, I believe that the difference for the Cowboys was their defense. Their game plan was extremely effective. It looked to me like Dallas stole a page from the Miami Dolphins in their approach to playing the explosive Saints. The only difference was that the Cowboys defense was able to finish the job, while the Fins allowed the Saints to recover from a 21-point deficit. Honestly, I have never seen Drew Brees under as much duress as he was against DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer. The Cowboys only sacked him four times, but they made life very difficult for Brees all night long. Dallas’ consistent pressure on Brees discombobulated the Saints offense, which affected their ability to convert on third down and get the ball down the field. The Saints were only one for seven on third down and Brees was awful throwing the ball deep down the field. Brees entered the game with a 124.1 quarterback rating on balls thrown 15 yards down the field or longer, but he was unable to convert any deep balls against the Cowboys and threw his only interception on an underthrown ball to Devery Henderson. The Cowboys allowed the Saints to get back into the ballgame in the fourth quarter, but they also made big plays when they had to walk out of the Superdome victorious.

(2) As I predicted several weeks ago, the NFC West once again belongs to the Arizona Cardinals, who clinched the division with a hard-fought victory in Detroit combined with a San Francisco loss in Philadelphia. The Cardinals were far from impressive against one of the worst teams in the NFL, but they got it done and won back-to-back division titles for the first time since 1974-1975. Now that their first goal is achieved, the Cardinals can focus on winning 10 or more games for the first time since 1976. With the St. Louis Rams visiting the desert next week, I think we can feel pretty confident about the Cardinals getting their 10th victory.

As you can imagine from their lack of repeat division titles, we are witnessing the most successful period of football in the history of the Cardinals franchise. They have been the cream of the crop in the NFC West over the last two seasons and I believe that they can continue their dominance in the division if they make smart moves starting this off-season. It looks like they are already moving in the right direction to stem any drop in play by building a championship caliber defense and running game. I think we all know that Kurt Warner will not be able to play at a high-level indefinitely, so the Cardinals will be judged on how they manage his final seasons in the desert as well as the transition period after he retires. They have taken a step in the right direction in regard to the former by developing Tim Hightower and drafting Beanie Wells to lead their running game. They are still only the 26th ranked rushing attack in the NFL, but I have noticed improvement over the last few weeks as Wells has become acclimated to the NFL game. In my opinion, improving the running game over the next two seasons will be the key to the Cardinals remaining among the top teams in the NFC. If Arizona can become a top 20 running team in 2010 and a top 10-15 running game in 2011, then I think they will be able to overcome any decline in Kurt Warner’s performance. Since they also have nice weapons on the outside, led by Larry Fitzgerald, I also believe that the Cardinals will be able to attack teams in the future with improved balance. If Hightower and Wells can super-charge the Cardinals’ running attack, then I think they will be well-positioned to put together a run in the NFC West reminiscent of the Seattle Seahawks.

The other key for the Cardinals will be the continued improvement of their defensive unit. The Cardinals are currently 23rd in the league in total defense, but they are 13th in the league in points allowed. These statistics tell me that Arizona is not a dominant defense, but they clearly have the talent to become one. Their defense is the perfect blend of young and old. They feature two guys, Calais Campbell and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who are starting to come into their own in just their second season in the NFL. They have several guys, including Adrian Wilson, Antrel Rolle, Darnell Dockett and Karlos Dansby, who are currently in the prime of their careers in the NFL. Finally, they have a couple of old vets like Bryan Robinson and Chike Okeafor, who provide leadership, experience and savvy. Obviously, Arizona will be unable to keep this unit together, but if they do a good job of identifying their cornerstones and building around them, then I believe their defense will continue to get better. The biggest problem for the current group of players is that they have been wildly inconsistent. On the one hand, they flashed their potential dominance when they completely dismantled the Minnesota Vikings before a national television audience. They forced Brett Favre to throw two interceptions and held the vaunted Minnesota running game to only 62 yards on 20 carries, which included completely shutting down Adrian Peterson. Two weeks later, the same defense got swiss cheesed by Maurice Morris of the Detroit Lions. In my opinion, the inconsistency is a sign of a unit that is still finding its way. Keep in mind that they are primarily running the 3-4 defense for the first time in Arizona. With another off-season under their belt to learn the nuances of the defense and the right amount of tweaking by the front office, I believe that the Cardinals can be a top 15 defense in 2010. If they make this kind of stride in the next year, then it is not hard for me to envision another division title for Arizona.

(3) You can say what you want about the Pittsburgh Steelers but you cannot say that they don’t play an entertaining brand of football. They have had their hard times this season, but they seem to be locked in a close football game nearly every single week. This week, they saved their playoff hopes for another week by beating the red-hot Green Bay Packers on the final play of the game. In a play reminiscent of last year’s Super Bowl, Ben Roethlisberger hit Mike Wallace for a 19-yard touchdown pass as time expired. Big Ben threw a perfectly placed football to the boundary of the end zone and Wallace did his best ballerina impression and got both feet in bounds. It was a fitting ending to a game that featured a smorgasbord of passing yards, multiple lead changes and one gigantic coaching controversy.

First of all, the game featured nearly 900 yards passing and six touchdown passes from the two quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers continued his Pro Bowl season (All-Pro?) with another 300-yard performance and three more touchdown passes. His stellar day included a personal best 83-yard touchdown connection with Greg Jennings. Rodgers also contributed a touchdown on the ground, which added to his league-leading rushing touchdown total by a quarterback. Rodgers’ numbers are staggering! He is on pace to exceed 4,500 yards passing and finish the season with a four-to-one touchdown to interception ratio. He is on pace to post a quarterback rating better than 100 and he has had only one game this season with a QB rating lower than 83. I know that he has some tough competition in the NFC, but Rodgers is deserving of an All-Pro spot. On any normal day, Rodgers would be the story of the game, but there was actually a more impressive performance from a guy on the other side of the field. Big Ben had a record-breaking day and nearly had nothing to show for his efforts. Roethlisberger set a Steelers record with 503 yards passing, which broke Tommy Maddox’s record of 473 yards set back in 2002. At the same time, Big Ben became the first quarterback to throw for 500 yards in a game since Drew Brees put up 510 yards in 2006. Finally, he became the first quarterback to throw for 500+ yards in a win since Boomer Esiason in 1996.

The other big story that came out of this game was the controversial decision by Mike Tomlin to go for an onside kick midway through the fourth quarter. Without really saying it, Tomlin acknowledged that his defense had been getting kicked up and down the field and he didn’t feel confident putting them back out there against the sizzling Packers’ offense. This curious decision by Tomlin has been compared to the now infamous decision by Bill Belichick to go for a fourth down in his own territory against the Colts. Personally, I think that the comparisons are fair because both coaches showed absolutely no confidence in their defensive units. Oddly, I can probably defend Belichick’s decision a little more because he placed his trust in the worthy hands of all-world quarterback Tom Brady to get the necessary yardage on fourth down. Tomlin, on the other hand, placed his faith in his kicker and on a play that has a pretty low success rate regardless of it being expected or a surprise tactic. Also, Tomlin’s decision shows just how far the Steel Curtain has fallen this season. Does anyone honestly believe that Tomlin would have tried this ploy with the defense that he had at his disposal last season? The only thing that will save Tomlin is that the Steelers managed to win the game despite his poor decision. He will always be able to claim that his “plan” worked out perfectly, which is something that poor Billy Belichick can’t do.

(4) If I told you that two of the most entertaining games of the NFL season featured the same team and I asked you to name that team, would you be able to pick the Cleveland Browns? How about if I gave you 10 chances? 20 chances? Several weeks after going toe-to-toe with the Detroit Lions and ultimately losing on the last play of the game, the Browns pulled another thriller out of their back-pocket thanks to two record-breaking performances from Jerome Harrison and Josh Cribbs. It has to be refreshing to their fans to finally see the Browns play an exciting brand of football. The worst thing for a fan of any team is to endure a team that loses in a stale or boring fashion. Fans can endure losing for awhile if the losing comes wrapped in offensive explosions and scoring windfalls. The Browns have certainly given their fans a taste of a better brand of football.

Cribbs and Harrison were so outstanding that I don’t know which one to start with. Do I start with the guy who broke an NFL record or the guy who broke a franchise record previously held by one of the mythical figures in the history of the league? Do I start with the guy who has been the one redeeming player on the roster the last several years or the guy that promised to “make something happen” in the second half and then delivered? After flipping a coin, I have decided to start with Cribbs. After returning two kickoffs for touchdowns, Cribbs established a new NFL record for career kickoff return touchdowns with eight. In addition, he joined Ted Ginn Jr. as the only players in NFL history to have two 100-yard touchdowns of any kind in the same game. Cribbs has been a one man wrecking crew for the Browns since joining the team and he is poised to become one of their highest paid players in the near future. Cribbs appears to be the right kind of guy to build a winning franchise around because he makes plays on the field and represents the team with class and dignity off the field. Normally, Cribbs’ achievement would have been enough to keep the pundits talking for days, but Harrison basically upstaged him with his own record-breaking performance. Harrison ran for 286 yards, which is the 3rd highest rushing total in a single game in NFL history. In addition, Harrison shattered the Browns single-game rushing record, previously held by Jim Brown, by 49 yards. For good measure, Harrison added three touchdown runs of his own, all after halftime. We all fondly remember Jerome tearing up the Pac-10 during his time at Washington State University and it looks like he has finally made a huge mark on the NFL as well.

The bottom line is that both of these guys helped the Browns win back-to-back games for the first time since 2007. The Browns clearly need a lot of help to get back to being a winning franchise, but this game seems to indicate that they might have a few pieces in hand to help them get going in the right direction. Also, it appears that future Hall of Fame candidate Mike Holmgren has agreed to join the team as their “czar” of football operations a la Bill Parcells in Miami. This might be the smartest decision that the Lerner family has made since bringing football back to Cleveland in the late 1990’s.

(5) The Hawks are not even worth my time. After losing to the one win Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Hawks can only claim that they are better than the Detroit Lions and the St. Louis Rams. I still can’t believe that this is the same team that went to the playoffs and won a first round game just two years ago. They have fallen to a depth that no one could have predicted. Keep in mind that this was the first time that the Hawks had lost to a one-win team this late in the season since a 28-16 loss to the New York Giants in 1976. That was the Seahawks’ inaugural year in the NFL. It was just the Bucs’ second win in their last 17 games and it was their first win on the West Coast since beating the Oakland Raiders in the Super Bowl back in January 2003. It was their first win on the road since beating the Lions back in November 2008. The Hawks let a rookie quarterback, who had thrown eight interceptions in his last couple of games, beat them. Meanwhile, it was Matt Hasselbeck that looked the part of the rookie as he turned the ball five times to basically gift-wrap a victory for Tampa Bay. I love Hasselbeck and all that he had done for this team, but it is time that we revoke his free pass. I know that at least one interception was not his fault, but when you turn the ball over five times you have to take more than your fair share of the blame. I feel sorry for Matthew because he competes as hard as anyone, but he has not performed well like many of his teammates. My fear is that the collective strain and pain of this season has taken several years off his career. I still think he can be a competent NFL quarterback, but the Hawks have to identify the future of the position this off-season. Ultimately, the new general manager has to clean house like he was on the Style network. No one should be safe. The new GM should probably take a cue from Jackie Z. with the Mariners and not allow the sins of past regimes to color his decisions moving forward. I’m just glad that I only have to endure this horrible brand of football for two more weeks.

The Hawks got even more bad news when Mike Holmgren turned down their “senior leadership” opportunity to become the President of the Cleveland Browns. We will probably never know the exact nature of the Hawks’ offer or the exact reasons why Holmgren politely declined, but the entire sordid affair is going to get Hawks’ fans riled up nonetheless. Did they low-ball him with money? Did they low-ball him with responsibility? My take on the whole thing is that the Hawks are not prepared organizationally to give anyone Bill Parcells-control of the team. In Seattle, Paul Allen does not deal with the general manager. In order to get to Allen, the GM has to go through Todd Leiwicke or some other lackey at Vulcan. My perception is that Holmgren wanted to be the man next to the man and the Hawks didn’t want to go there. As a result, the Big Show decided to take the position in Cleveland, where the working arrangement is much more to his liking. In fact, Holmgren stated that the Browns opportunity was more intriguing because of the absence of “layers” between him and Randy Lerner. I’m sure that Holmgren realized that he was going to be up to his ears in “layers” if he took the job with Seattle. Ultimately, I think Holmgren made the right decision. I also feel like the Hawks made the right decision. My only complaint is that I feel like Seattle made a less than serious offer to Holmgren. Frankly, I would have preferred that they didn’t make an offer at all rather than insult the man’s intelligence. I know that the fan base is in an uproar because Mike is not returning to save the day, but I was never sure that he was the answer to begin with. The Hawks need to start fresh, which is why they didn’t need to bring back Holmgren and why they shouldn’t hire someone like Ruston Webster. The fans need to take a chill pill and allow the Hawks to do their due diligence prior to hiring their next general manager. We were in the same position with the Mariners about 18 months ago. Mariners’ fans were disgusted with the product on the field and didn’t have any confidence that Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong could hire the right person. I think it has worked out pretty well so far. If the Hawks end up hiring Webster, then we can all piss and moan. Otherwise, we need to have confidence that the right guy is out there.

Big problems in Pittsburgh and other NFL thoughts

(1) The Pittsburgh Steelers’ title defense is going down the toilet in an avalanche of spotty play and terrible losses. After losing to the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night, the Steelers have now lost five games in a row after hitting the midway point 6-2. Their current slide ties the longest losing streak by a defending Super Bowl champion in the following season in NFL history (1987 New York Giants lost five games straight and finished 6-9 on the season). The worst part of the streak is that they have lost three games to the dregs of the NFL: the Browns, the Oakland Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Steelers have lost their swagger offensively and defensively, which has conspired to completely kill their season. In addition, the strain of their current woes has exposed a rift in their locker room and a coaching staff bereft of solutions.

The concussion sustained by Ben Roethlisberger in the Chiefs’ game was the beginning of the end for the Steelers. The injury not only forced Dennis Dixon into the line-up against the Ravens, but it also exposed a locker room problem for Pittsburgh when Hines Ward publicly questioned Roethlisberger’s decision to skip the Baltimore game. Even though Ward’s comments were asinine, I’m pretty sure that a good portion of the Steelers’ roster agreed wholeheartedly with the sentiment that he expressed. In my opinion, Ward’s public outing of Big Ben by discussing the culture of hiding injuries in the NFL indicates that Ward and Roethlisberger have a personal problem that extends beyond the parameters of their professional lives. I know that Ward realized he had made a mistake and attempted to recant his statements, but the cat was already out of the bag. I firmly believe that Ward has inadvertently killed the chemistry in the Steelers’ locker room and created two camps: one that supports Ward and one that supports Big Ben. I’m guessing that the Hines camp is the larger faction.

The Roethlisberger concussion fiasco highlighted a problem that Coach Mike Tomlin and his staff has been unable to solve on or off the field. I think we are starting to see the shine wear off on Tomlin’s brilliant start to his head coaching career. Tomlin has hitched his wagon completely to Big Ben and the passing game. He has eschewed the traditional Steelers’ running game and handed the keys of the franchise to Roethlisberger. His grand plan worked marvelously last season with their Super Bowl triumph, but it has gone down in a ball of fire this year. In my opinion, things have gone so wrong in 2009 because the Steelers’ offensive line has gone from mediocre to truly bad. As a result, the running game is even worse and Big Ben has found himself under siege for most of the year. In fact, he was sacked eight times by the Browns, which is a shockingly high number when you consider that this was the same Cleveland defense that got strafed by Matthew Stafford for five touchdown passes. In a normal season, Tomlin would be able to rely on his stalwart defense to carry the weight while the offense struggled, but the Steelers’ defense is a shell of its former self right now. They played pretty well against the Ravens and the Browns during the losing streak, but they gave up way too many plays against the Chiefs and the Raiders. The Oakland game was especially glaring because they allowed the Raiders to come back several times when it appeared that the Steelers had finally put the nail in the coffin. The Steel Curtain is no longer worthy of the nickname when Louis Murphy and Bruce Gradkowski are making game-changing plays against them. At this point, the Coach Tomlin seems to be out of real options, which is probably why he resorted to false bravado when he proclaimed that the Steelers were going to “unleash hell” on the NFL. I guess what he meant was that they were going to unleash a living hell for their fans. At this point, Steelers’ fans need to come to the realization that, much like 2006, their hometown team is going to miss the playoffs after winning the Super Bowl the previous season. Also, I think that Mike Tomlin needs to come to grips with the fact that his coaching staff and roster need a makeover if he wants to return to playing championship football in 2010.

(2) The seasons may change, but it always seems that the NFC East provides the most compelling brand of football in the NFL. Currently, they are one of two divisions to boast three teams with better than .500 records and they feature a fourth team, the Washington Redskins, that is the proverbial “team that no one wants to play.” They are virtually assured of sending two teams to the playoffs and those two lucky participants should be battle-tested after navigating through the regular season gauntlet.

The Philadelphia Eagles are my favorite to win the division because they are the hottest team in the division (four game winning streak) and they have the most explosive offense east of the bayou. After week 14, the Eagles are the third highest scoring team in the NFL. In two games against the New York Giants this season, the Eagles have rung up 30 points in the first half in both games. They beat the Giants despite allowing over 500 yards of total offense. They only ran 53 total plays and still scored 45 points! They are the definition of a quick strike offense. They have a veteran quarterback playing at a high level and quite possibly the most dynamic playmaker in the NFL. Donovan McNabb is on pace to exceed 3,300 yards passing, complete better than 60% of his attempts and throw 22 touchdown passes. His most important statistic is that he is on pace to post a 95.9 quarterback rating, which is nearly 10 points higher than his career average. In my opinion, he has been the ideal triggerman for the Eagles’ offense. It certainly doesn’t hurt to have an exciting player likeDeSean Jackson to be on the receiving end of his throws. Jackson returned from missing a week due to a concussion to completely decimate the Giants. Jackson returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown and later added a 60-yard touchdown reception to boost his season total for touchdowns exceeding 50 yards to an NFL record eight. Jackson is a touchdown waiting to happen. He is the football equivalent to having “in the gym” range in basketball. Let’s not forget that the Eagles have found ways for Mike Vick to make an impact the last two weeks. He scored a rushing touchdown in consecutive games for the first time since November 2002. As a result of their dynamic offense and an opportunistic defense (four turnovers and a fumble recovery for a touchdown against the Giants), the Eagles are 4-1 in the division and poised to take the NFC East crown.

The NFC East also features the so-called “America’s Team,” which, if their nickname is true, has disappointed a lot of Americans this season. The Dallas Cowboys entered December at the top of the division, but they have fallen into their normal December swoon, which threatens to knock them right out of the playoffs for the second consecutive season. The Cowboys are now 3-8 in December under Coach Wade Phillips and they have lost six of their last seven December games dating back to 2007. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: a team is a reflection of its leadership. Unfortunately, in Dallas, its leaders are Phillips and Tony Romo. Phillips looks like he is better suited to be playing bridge in a convalescent home rather than patrolling the sidelines for one of the most overbearing owners in the history of sport. When your head coach barely has a pulse, it certainly doesn’t help to have a quarterback who shrinks from a big moment like an adolescent on prom night. Romo fell to 5-9 in his career in December and the label of not being a big-time player is hanging around his neck like a noose. The bottom line is that Romo didn’t make enough plays, while Philip Rivers made big plays like completing a 39-yard pass to Vincent Jackson in a tight window to convert a third and 12. Following the big conversion, Rivers hit Antonio Gates for the go-ahead touchdown. Romo’s numbers looked good on paper once again, but he came up short in the win column, which is the most important statistic of all. At this point in time, I think that the Cowboys’ goose is cooked. They have to face the Saints, the Redskins and the Eagles down the stretch. I think they lose at least two of these games and slip-slide right out of the playoffs for the second straight year. I’m pretty sure that Mike Shannahan or Bill Cowher will look pretty good in Cowboys blue next year.

The third team of interest in the division is the New York Giants, who failed to beat the Eagles in a shootout on Sunday. The Giants certainly have not played well since opening the season at 5-0, but I still think they have a better chance of making the playoffs than the Cowboys. The simple reason is that they have swept Dallas and they have a softer schedule down the stretch. They have a tough divisional game against the Redskins this week, but they finish with the struggling Panthers in week 16 and the Vikings in week 17, who will definitely be resting their starters for most of the game. I also like the Giants because their offense seems to be heating up at the right moment. In their last four games, they have exceeded 30 points on three occasions. The downside is that they have only won two of those four games. In the Eagles game alone, they rolled up 512 yards of total offense and should have won the game if it wasn’t for the four turnovers they produced. The big development of the last two weeks is that they seem to have rediscovered Brandon Jacobs. He had a huge 74-yard catch and run for a touchdown against Dallas and he contributed 60 yards on 15 carries and another touchdown against Philadelphia. If the Eli Manning can finish strong and if the Giants can keep the running game going, then I really believe they will hurdle the Cowboys. The biggest question mark for the Giants is a defense that has given up an average of 32.3 points per game since week six of the season. The defense doesn’t have to be the 2000 Ravens down the stretch, but they have to be at least competent.

(3) Since everyone else in the free world has chimed in, I guess I should weigh in with my opinion of Randy Moss’ performance on Sunday. First of all, I don’t want to get into the debate about whether he quit or not. The only person that knows whether or not he quit is Randy Moss himself. I’m sure that the higher moral authorities that appear on Pardon the Interruption, Rome is Burning and Around the Horn are nearly self-combusting when they discuss Moss’ awful game, but I hate to argue about things that can’t be proved one way or the other. The bottom line is that Moss played a horrific game by anyone’s standards. He made only one catch and he promptly fumbled the ball away. He had at least one ball thrown his direction where he put out the old alligator arms and the pass fell incomplete. He also made no attempt to break up an interception attempt by Chris Gamble. Personally, I don’t see any difference in Moss’ performance on Sunday compared to his normal behavior during the years he spent in Oakland. It is hard to quit on your teammates when you don’t come mentally prepared to play to begin with. Moss has had a history of playing hard when he feels like playing hard. He did it in Minnesota when he was setting the football world on fire. He did it in Oakland when he was in his own personal purgatory. After two plus seasons in Foxboro, Moss’ moodiness and lack of desire have struck again. At the heart of the situation is the fact that Moss is a sensitive and insecure soul. When he is catching passes, scoring touchdowns and getting love from the fans, those are the times when it becomes very easy to motivate him. Unfortunately, when the passes start going elsewhere and the times start getting tougher, Moss doesn’t have the tools to overcome the obstacles. This season has been a roller coaster for Moss and the Patriots. Moss has had big games on several occasions, but he has also been completely erased from several contests including the Saints game and the first Jets game. The straw that broke the camel’s back was being sent home from practice this week after arriving late to an eight a.m. meeting. I’m pretty sure that Moss felt singled out, attacked and unfairly punished by Bill Belichick. By all accounts, Moss has been a model citizen in New England and probably didn’t feel that the punishment fit the crime when it was primarily Mother Nature’s fault for his late arrival. I have no doubt that the events of earlier in the week had a profound impact on his performance against Carolina. The problem for the Patriots is if Genius Bill cannot find a way to break Moss out of his doldrums. New England cannot reach its goals with Wes Welker as their only relevant wide receiver. Genius Bill cannot afford to bench Moss because they don’t have any other viable options, so he must find a way to reconnect with him before things spiral out of control. My only hope for Moss is that the public outcry following his stinker performance will not sink him further into a malaise that will permanently mar his time in New England.

(4) The playoffs are nearly upon us, so I thought it would be a good time to give you my playoff predictions. The NFC playoff picture is pretty simple, but the AFC is a little harder to predict because we have four teams at 7-6 that are currently jockeying for the final wildcard spot. Both conferences have dominant teams at the top, but I think that the NFC has more depth. In the end, I think both conferences will feature teams that made the playoffs last season as well as teams that are making their first appearance in awhile.

Starting with the NFC, I like New Orleans to capture the top seed and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. I don’t think they will go 16-0 but I believe they will do enough to force the NFC playoffs to go through the bayou. I like Minnesota to win the NFC North and clinch a first round bye. With the Saints and Vikings claiming the top two seeds, I firmly believe that the NFC championship game will be played indoors. I like Arizona to clinch the NFC West and Philadelphia to clinch the NFC East. Even if the Cardinals lose on Monday night, they would still hold a commanding two game lead with three games left including nearly sure victories against the Detroit Lions and the St. Louis Rams. I think Philly will clinch the East prior to meeting Dallas in week 17 because the Cowboys have tough games the next two weeks and their December struggles have become a mental obstacle that I don’t believe they are capable of overcoming. As far as NFC wildcards, I believe that the Packers will coast to the number five seed and the New York Giants will somehow rally the troops and take the final playoff spot from the Cowboys.

On the AFC side of things, the Indianapolis Colts have already wrapped up a first round bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Since the consensus is that Coach Caldwell will rest his starters down the stretch, I fully expect the Colts to stumble in a couple of their remaining games. I expect the San Diego Chargers to finish the season strong and capture the second seed in the AFC. Personally, I feel that the Chargers are the biggest threat to the Colts. The Chargers are not afraid of Peyton Manning and we all know that 3-4 defenses, like San Diego likes to play, give him fits. In addition to the top two finishers, I like Cincinnati to win the AFC North and New England to find a way to win the AFC East. It is a no brainer that Cincy will win the North, but New England’s chore is a bit more difficult when you consider that Miami and New York are breathing down their necks. After the division winners, I like the Denver Broncos and the Jacksonville Jaguars to claim the two wildcard spots. I actually think that the New York Jets will finish strong but they will miss out on the playoffs because they lose the tiebreakers with New England, Denver and Jacksonville.

(5) In the immortal words of Julius Jones, the Seahawks’ performance against the Houston Texans was “really pathetic, pitiful.” I can’t think of a better way to summarize the Seahawks’ worst loss of the season. The game wasn’t over in the first quarter; it was over when the Hawks stepped on the charter jet at Sea-Tac Airport. The outcome just became official when Andre Johnson streaked by Marcus Trufant for 64-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage. The rest of the day didn’t go much better for the Hawks as the Texans dominated the first half and coasted to a 27 point beat down. The first half was a little house of horrors for Seattle. They lost more yards in penalties in the first quarter than they gained on offense. They trailed by 24 points before they had even gained a singled first down. Matt Schaub shredded the Hawks’ secondary for 336 yards in the first half and the rout was on. Johnson had 193 yards receiving (184 in the first half), which is the third most by any Seattle opponent. He didn’t even catch a pass in the fourth quarter for God’s sake! The Hawks botched three center-to-quarterback snaps, which is the most basic aspect of the game of football. Can someone remind me why Chris Spencer is playing with a cast on his right hand that forces him to snap with his left? The Hawks “only” allowed three sacks, but that number does not accurately reflect the kind of duress that Matt Hasselbeck was under all day long. He got cracked by Brian Cushing on Seattle’s first play from scrimmage and he had to temporarily leave the game in the third quarter after suffering a vicious hit from DeMeco Ryans. According to Sean Locklear, Hasselbeck has “gotten hit more these last three weeks than I can remember since I’ve been here.” After the dismal performance, Jim Mora gave the entire offensive line the Olindo Mare treatment and threatened to consider a change at all five spots across the line. I would be more apt to believe him if he hadn’t played a similar card several times this season.

The bottom line is that the Hawks are a horrible team. They may have individual talent, but the sum of their parts does not add up. Their offensive line is a disaster. They lack a true number one running back. They have too many under-achievers at the wide receiving position. They have overrated linebackers. They have a collection of defensive linemen that are not stout against the run and don’t pressure the quarterback either. Their defensive backs are a bunch of smurfs, who are ill-equipped to survive the rigors of the NFL. Nevertheless, the Hawks should be a more competitive team. They are probably deserving of their record, but they should not be a 5-8 team that loses by 27 points to the Houston Texans. This is the same Texans’ team that has never made a playoff appearance in its existence and entered the game on a four game losing streak. The players deserve some of the blame, but I reserve most of my ire for Coach Mora and his staff. They have not coached up the players at all. Instead, they have relied on the blame game and false platitudes in an attempt to explain away the horrific play from their team. It got even more ridiculous on Sunday when Mora claimed that effort was not the problem with his team. I don’t know what good old Jimmy is smoking, but I would love to get some for myself. If the Hawks had put forth the appropriate amount of effort against the Texans, then they would have not lost by such a large margin. Bad teams not only have bad execution but they lack the heart and pride to play their hardest for 60 minutes. I fault Coach Mora for failing to prepare the team schematically and mentally to play football on a week to week basis. It may seem like a quick hook, but I believe that Todd Leiwicke and Paul Allen need to take a hard look at their coaching situation and determine if Mora is the long-term answer. If the new General Manager does not feel that Jim Mora is the right guy to coach the Seahawks, then I have no problem letting him go after just one season. In the end, the Hawks have tons of questions to answer prior to starting training camp in 2010.

Redemption for Vince Young and other NFL thoughts

(1) Every second that Vince Young spends on the football field is changing the perception of the former first round pick. He was widely criticized last season for quitting on his teammates and allegedly attempting to commit suicide. Prior to his struggles in 2008, he was a huge college star at the University of Texas and a 2007 Offensive Rookie of the Year award winner. As a result of the ups and downs of his early NFL career, the common belief by NFL observers was that he was either a first round bust or didn’t possess the mental abilities to deal with the pressures of playing quarterback at the professional level. Oh, what a difference a year makes. After serving as the back-up to Kerry Collins during the Titans’ disastrous start to the 2009 season, Young has stepped into the void of a potentially lost season and led the Titans to five straight victories. In fact, after beating the Cardinals on Sunday, Tennessee became the first team in NFL history to win five consecutive games after starting a season 0-6. Their hot streak has them on the periphery of the AFC playoff picture. There are a lot of reasons why the Titans have been playing so well. The two biggest reasons are Vince Young’s steady play at quarterback and Chris Johnson’s record-setting rushing streak.


I have to start with Vince Young because the Titans started to win when he was inserted into the starting line-up five weeks ago. Young has not necessarily wowed anyone with huge statistics, but his impact goes way beyond the numbers that he is putting up. He has brought a leadership dynamic that was sorely needed with the team mired in their long season-starting losing streak. I’m not saying that Kerry Collins was a bad leader, but sometimes a change is needed at the top to light a fire under the troops. It was abundantly clear that Collins was not getting the job done, so Coach Jeff Fisher had no choice but to see what Young could do. During the five game winning streak, all Young has done is complete better than 60% of his passes and only turn the ball once. These two statistics tell me that Young has greatly improved his accuracy and his decision-making. Despite the fact that Young has improved as a quarterback, he has still stayed true to his roots as a “running” quarterback because he knows that he can change the game with his legs as well. He used his running ability to great effect against the Texans last week, which offset his most mediocre passing performance of the season. Young saved his most memorable moment for last as he directed one of the greatest game-winning drives in recent history to beat Arizona at the buzzer. The Titans got the ball at their one-yard line with two minutes and 37 seconds remaining in the game and they needed a touchdown to win. Young stepped into the huddle with the calm of a high stakes poker player and methodically led Tennessee down the field to victory. The drive totaled 18 plays and it included three fourth down conversions by the Titans. At the end of the day, Young threw for a career high 387 yards and won his ninth straight game as a starter. Not only did Young lead an epic drive, but he improved to 23-11 as a starter in the NFL. After this performance, the Young bandwagon is getting very full as the former doubters and naysayers all want to get on board.

Young has been spectacular in his return, but I would be remiss if I didn’t spend a little time talking about the wonderful season that Chris Johnson is putting together. This kid has followed up an outstanding rookie campaign with an even better sophomore season. He is on pace to run for over 1,900 yards and average better than six yards per carry. He is currently terrorizing NFL defenses like few running backs have ever done. After running for over 125 yards for the sixth straight game, Johnson joined Earl Campbell (1980) and Eric Dickerson (1984) as the only running backs in NFL history to accomplish the feat. He also compiled the most rushing yards in the month of November surpassing the record previously held by the great Barry Sanders (1997). In my opinion, Johnson is the most dynamic player in the NFL. I would argue that he is the most complete running back in the NFL because he has always done a good job of catching the ball out of the backfield and he has improved his pass blocking immensely since breaking into the league. If the Titans can do the impossible and run the table, then I believe that Johnson should get some serious consideration for the MVP award. Vince Young certainly deserves a lot of credit for Tennessee’s transformation, but the Titans would still be struggling if LenDale White was their primary running back.

The big test for the Titans will come this Sunday against the undefeated Indianapolis Colts. If they can beat the Colts, then I believe they will run the table because the rest of the schedule is not that daunting. Their toughest match-up, the San Diego Chargers, will be played at LP Field and they still get to feast on the struggling Rams, Dolphins and Seahawks. I think it will be very difficult for them to knock off the Colts, but it is their last hurdle as they make an unprecedented run to the postseason.

(2) While we are on the topic of teams that are playing well, I think we need to spend some time with the Minnesota Vikings, who are laying waste to the NFL landscape like their namesakes did to Europe back in the ninth and 10th centuries. In my opinion, the Vikings are the best team in the entire NFL. Even though they have one loss, they are better than the Saints, better than the Colts and better than any other division-leader that you can name. It has taken me awhile to come around to Minnesota, but I firmly believe that they have the weapons on offense and the stoutness on defense to make a serious run to the Super Bowl title. All I had to do was take a look at what they have done to their opponents this season to convince me that they are the toast of the NFL. The biggest thing that jumped out to me is that they have scored less than 27 points on just one occasion. In addition, they have won seven out of their ten victories by 12 points or more. They are not just beating people, they are killing them.

The best evidence of their dominance is their recent four game winning streak. They have beaten the Packers by 12, even though the game wasn’t that close. They have beaten the Lions by 17 points, the Seahawks by 26 points and the Bears by 26 points. You could argue that their last four opponents are not very good, but quality teams don’t mess around with inferior competition rather they attempt to suck the life right out of their prey. The Vikings have been in such complete control of these games that Brett Favre has rested for nearly the entire second half against Seattle and half of the fourth quarter against Chicago. The two biggest surprises from the Vikings are that Favre has found the fountain of youth in Minnesota and they have done it with Adrian Peterson only having three 100+ yard performances. I have never been much of a Favre fan, but he has certainly proved me wrong with his unbelievable play in 2009. The guy is on pace to throw for over 4,000 yards for the sixth time in his career and post a passer rating over 100 for the first time in his career. He has never had a full season with fewer than 13 interceptions, but he is on pace to only throw five picks in 2009. He seems to be relatively healthy, enjoying the hell out of playing football and locked in like he hasn’t been in quite awhile. His biggest impact is that he has taken a talented yet underachieving bunch of offensive talent and turned them into the most dangerous team in the NFL. Sidney Rice and Visanthe Shiancoe have become Pro Bowl caliber players at their positions after being mostly nondescript players for their entire careers. Favre is taking advantage of the wiliness of veteran Bernard Berrian, the flexibility of Chester Taylor and the youthfulness of Percy Harvin. Frankly, Harvin will probably be the difference between a Super Bowl ring or another disappointment for Vikings’ fans because he is the most dynamic player on their roster. Honestly, I think that Minnesota can be even better on offense because Adrian Peterson has not really been the explosive player that we have come to know since he entered the league in 2007. He has been held to 85 yards or less on six different occasions and it appears that Favre’s arrival has actually had a negative effect on him. The widespread belief was that the threat of the pass would open huge running lanes for Peterson, but it looks like their opponents are still trying to take away the run and make the Vikings one-dimensional. Actually, Lovie Smith readily admitted that it was his strategy to take away Peterson despite the fact that Favre has been carving up opposing defenses like a rustic wood sculpture. If teams start to change their approach to Minnesota, then I could see Peterson closing the season with a flourish. Either way, the Vikings are the class of the NFL and are the front-runner to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

(3) I know that the AFC features the undefeated Colts, the glamorous Patriots and the upstart Bengals, but the best team right now just might be the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers were ignored for most of the early part of the season because they began with their customary stumble out of the gate. Just when you thought that Norv Turner’s pink slip would be hand delivered by General Manager A.J. Smith, the Chargers went on their annual Save Norv’s Job campaign and promptly reeled off six consecutive wins. Their sixth win in a row was a complete devastation of the Kansas City Chiefs, who had just knocked off the defending champions in surprising fashion in week 11. The Chiefs were out-classed at every turn and the 29 point margin of victory for the Chargers demonstrated that Kansas City has a long way to go to challenge the elite of the AFC.

This victory started and ended with a dominating effort from the San Diego defense. They held the lowly Chiefs to only 284 yards of total offense and forced four turnovers that were all turned into points by the Chargers offense. Losing the turnover battle is difficult enough to overcome, but allowing the opposing offense to cash in with touchdowns on every single mistake is an insurmountable obstacle. The Chargers defense was the difference on Sunday and they have been the biggest reason that San Diego has turned their season around. During their 2-3 start to the season, the Chargers were giving up over 27 points per game, which included getting drubbed by the one-time division leading Denver Broncos by 11 points on Monday Night Football. Since their loss to Denver, the Chargers have given up just over 13 points per game. Their fifth win in this streak was an annihilation of the Denver Broncos by 29 points in Mile High Stadium. In a span of five weeks, the Chargers went from being manhandled in their own building by the Broncos to administering a wood shed beating to the same team. The NFL is a marathon and the Chargers look like they are in better condition to win the race.

(4) Turkey Day seems to have happened three weeks ago, but we shouldn’t forget what we learned from a full day of NFL action. First of all, we got more proof that the Detroit Lions and the Oakland Raiders are just as horrible as we thought they were. They may have generated a smoke screen with their victories from week 11, but it was clear that they were no match for the Packers and Cowboys. On a side note, is it so difficult for the NFL to deliver quality match-ups on Thanksgiving? I know that we are stuck with the Lions, but did they have to schedule the lowly Raiders as well. I just wish the NFL would give a little more thought to which teams get to play on one of the marquee dates of the NFL schedule. Anyhow, despite the lack of quality games, I learned that the Denver Broncos were the most impressive team that played on Thanksgiving. They were in a free fall after losing four games in a row, which allowed the Chargers to grab first place in the AFC West, but they destroyed the visiting New York Giants to reestablish their footing for the rest of the season. Their defense was dominant forcing three turnovers and holding the Giants to their fewest rushing yards (57 yards) since November 20, 2006. Their offense was extremely balanced with an efficient day from Kyle Orton and a physical running game from Knowshon Moreno and Correll Buckhalter. In addition, I learned that Aaron Rodgers was the most impressive individual player from Turkey Day. Rodgers had his fourth 300+ yard passing day of the season and led the Packers to 27 offensive points. If the Packers were having a little more team success, I would think that Rodgers would be getting a little more attention as an MVP candidate. The dude is putting up ridiculous numbers, which has him on pace to throw for over 4,500 yards and 32 touchdowns. He may hold onto the ball too long in the pocket, but he is not the reason that the Packers are only 6-4. Also, I learned that Tony Romo is still a front-runner. After struggling mightily the last two weeks, Romo morphed into a hall of fame candidate against the horrible Oakland Raiders. As I predicted, Romo feasted on the Raiders and once again had Cowboys’ fans drinking the Tony Romo Kool-Aid. Romo threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns, which gave him plenty of opportunities to flash his infamous country bumpkin, shit-eating grin. I guess I’m supposed to be impressed by the shiny numbers, but I’m still waiting for Romo to do something big in a big moment. Finally, I learned that the Giants are in big trouble. First of all, they find themselves looking up at the Eagles and Cowboys after getting completely undressed in the Mile High City. Secondly, they have to take time away from practicing for their next game to figure out where the hell the real Brandon Jacobs is hiding. This guy has gone from being one of the most feared players in the NFL to dancing in the hole like Donnie Osmond on Dancing with the Stars. I haven’t seen a descent this sharp from an NFL running back since Shaun Alexander went into the toilet after his MVP season. Finally, the Giants have to right the ship against the division leading Cowboys with a quarterback that is less than 100%. It seems that Eli Manning’s plantar fasciitis has turned into a stress reaction that could evolve into a stress fracture. With Manning at the helm, the Giants already have lots of work to do to make the playoffs. They might as well pack up for the winter if Manning goes down for a long stretch.

(5) The game against the St. Louis Rams was a damned if you, damned if you don’t proposition for the Seattle Seahawks. If they had lost to the lowly Lambs, they would have been skewered by the local media and national pundits. On the flip side, if they didn’t look spectacular in beating the Lambs, their victory was going to get brushed off as being the result of playing St. Louis. The Hawks needed to dismantle St. Louis like the University of Washington suffocated the Washington State Cougars in the Apple Cup. They needed to dominate on defense and rack up the yards and points on offense. They needed to demonstrate to the entire world that there is a world of difference between Seahawks football and whatever name you give to what St. Louis does on Sundays. Instead, the Hawks struggled with the Rams all day long and came away with a less than impressive victory.

First of all, they were pretty uneven on offense. On the positive, Justin Forsett looked good running the football for the second time in three weeks. He set a career high with 130 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He made several explosive runs and the Hawks generally looked like a competent running team. The problem is that the Lambs are not exactly the Monsters of the Midway against the run. In the last three games, they have given up 556 yards with a per carry average of 6.2 yards. I think fans expect the Hawks to rack up big yards against the cellar dwellers of the NFC West, but where was even a fraction of this ground game against the Minnesota Vikings. I think that the Hawks should be applauded for establishing a presence on the ground against the Lambs, but we should be careful to declare that their running woes are behind them. The Hawks are kind of like Tony Romo; they play their best when the stakes are low and the pressure is almost non-existent. On the negative side, the Hawks passing game was anemic to put it bluntly. Matt Hasselbeck only threw for 102 yards on 25 attempts, which basically made the Hawks a one-dimensional team. How do you explain such a terrible outing by Hasselbeck? The Rams must have done something pretty exotic in their pass defense because the Hawks had come into the game averaging 281 yards and 42 attempts per game in their previous four games. I guess the simplest explanation is that the Hawks didn’t run that many plays in the game and the running game was working so well that the Hawks pretty much abandoned the passing game. In the end, the Hawks needed to control the game with their offense, but they couldn’t accomplish their goal against a team that has lost 11 consecutive games at home.

Secondly, the defense played pretty well despite the fact that they gave up nearly 400 yards of total offense against a team led by Kyle Boller and featuring the receiving talents of Donnie Avery, Danny Amendola and former Coug Brandon Gibson. I didn’t think that the Lambs’ wide receiving group could get worse than the unit that visited Qwest Field on opening day, but they somehow achieved the impossible. Nonetheless, the stellar Hawks secondary allowed Boller to complete 26 passes to 10 different receivers, which pretty much filled in for a ground game that struggled to get going. I know that Boller threw two interceptions and I know that Josh Wilson returned one of them for a 65-yard touchdown, but it is pretty embarrassing to allow Boller and that group of receivers to pretty much have their way with you. The big positive for the Seahawks defense is that they pressured Boller all game long and sacked him four times, which has to be a Seattle record for most sacks in a road game. We even had a Patrick Kearney sighting. Once again, David Hawthorne was the best player on the defense with seven overall tackles and one of the four sacks. I also thought that Leroy Hill played one of his most disruptive games of the season and Aaron Curry was a factor as well. The most promising aspect of the Seahawks’ performance was that they generally shut down Steven Jackson. I’m pretty sure that the Rams’ game plan was to literally ram the ball down the collective throats of the Seahawks defense using Jackson as an endotracheal tube. Fortunately, the Hawks were up to the task and limited Jackson to only 89 yards on 23 carries. The Hawks have been good against the run all year long except for the San Francisco game, but I have always wondered if their opponents have ignored the run because the passing lanes were so free and clear. In my opinion, holding Jackson to only 3.9 yards per carry was the real deal because there is no way that Coach Steve Spagnuolo wanted to put the game in the hands of Kyle Boller. The Hawks succeeded in forcing Boller to beat them and he was not up to the task.

The Steelers blow an opportunity and other NFL thoughts

(1) It sure has been an unbelievable turn of events in Pittsburgh since they dominated the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football two weeks ago. Last week, they effectively lost the AFC North title when they were handled by the Cincinnati Bengals. This week, they jeopardized their playoff position with a devastating overtime loss to the lowly Kansas City Chiefs. Even worse than losing to one of the worst teams in the NFL, the Steelers Nation had to hold its collective breath when the franchise, Ben Roethlisberger, went stumbling to the bench after taking an apparent knee to the head during overtime. The Steelers were not volunteering too much information after the game, but if it was indeed a concussion, then Big Ben will likely miss at least one game. With Pittsburgh’s struggles the last two weeks, it is an inopportune moment to lose your leader and quarterback for any period of time. Roethlisberger has been huge all season long and he played very well against the young Chiefs as well. Unfortunately, he was also part of the reason that the Steelers could not finish Kansas City during regulation.
On the positive side, Roethlisberger only misfired on 10 pass attempts and threw for 398 yards, which was the third highest passing performance of his career. He helped stake the Steelers to a 17-7 halftime lead with touchdown passes to Hines Ward and Heath Miller. Nevertheless, he made two bad throws that killed Pittsburgh’s growing momentum. The first bad throw came right out of halftime when the Steelers were looking to build on their strong finish to the first half and blow out the Chiefs. On a first and 10 from the Steelers’ 48-yard line, Big Ben attempted an ill-advised pass to Heath Miller down the middle of the field and was intercepted by some no-name Kansas City defender. Instead of picking up where they left off, the Steelers inadvertently gave the Chiefs an extra boost because Kansas City promptly marched down the field and scored their first offensive touchdown of the day. The second bad decision from Roethlisberger was even more painful than the first. Pittsburgh had taken the ball to the Kansas City 10-yard line and were poised to regain the momentum until Big Ben held the ball too long, was hit as he threw and let a fluttering duck go into the end zone that was intercepted by Kansas City and returned to the Pittsburgh eight-yard line. This interception also turned into points for the Chiefs as they kicked the tying field goal. As great as Big Ben has been this season and in his career, he does have a tendency to make bad decisions from time to time and hold onto to the ball way too long.

As I have said on numerous occasions, turnovers are the great equalizer. If an inferior team can force the better team to make mistakes, then they have an outstanding chance to win the game. The Chiefs were dominated in nearly every statistical category, but they won the all-important turnover battle, which led to their stunning upset. In addition to the two interceptions thrown by Roethlisberger, the Chiefs also forced a fumble by Mike Wallace after he had caught a 33-yard pass from Big Ben in the first quarter. It is likely that the Steelers would have scored at least three points on this possession, so we can reasonably say that Pittsburgh’s turnovers cost them at least six points. This is why a terrible team like Kansas City can win a game despite being outgained nearly two-to-one, allowing nearly 30 first downs (27 to be exact) and only possessing the football for just over 22 minutes. The other thing that really helped the Chiefs is that they returned the opening kickoff for a 97-yard touchdown. Pittsburgh has now allowed a return touchdown in eight straight games, which is an NFL record. In a straight-up football game, Kansas City would lose to the Steelers probably nine out of 10 times, if not more. In a game, where the Chiefs make all the big plays they beat the Steelers and knock their star quarterback out of the game.

(2) What a difference a week makes? Last week, the Cincinnati Bengals were the toast of the NFL after they vanquished their divisional rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, at Heinz Field. This week, they got caught in the glitch in the matrix, otherwise known as Oakland, and lost a heart-breaking game to the Raiders. In fact, it was the Bengals’ 10th loss in 10 trips to Oakland. The Bengals have to be ashamed of themselves for losing a game, where they were clearly the superior team. They should have learned from Philadelphia’s visit to the East Bay that Oakland is very capable of beating people in the Black Hole. Oakland, like Kansas City, is not very good, so they have to find ways to turn games into ugly slugfests. The Raiders achieved their goal against the Bengals by forcing four turnovers, including two from Carson Palmer and one that ultimately set-up the winning field goal. The Bengals did a lot of things correctly on Sunday, but their turnover problems led directly to them allowing a winnable game to get away from them.

The Bengals were better than the Raiders in nearly every statistical category. They out-gained Oakland by 75 yards, ran for 177 yards, converted 23 first downs and possessed the ball for nearly 40 minutes. Cedric Benson’s substitute, Bernard Scott, ran for a career-high 116 yards on 21 carries, which seems to indicate that the Bengals are going to be just fine running the football without their top ball carrier. Palmer completed 14 of 22 passes for 207 yards and became the first Bengals quarterback to run for two touchdowns in a game since Jack Thompson in 1979. On the surface, it appeared to be another game where the Bengals were going to rely on smart decisions from Palmer, a dominating rushing attack and a suffocating effort from their defense. Unfortunately, their best laid plans began to unravel in the 2nd quarter when a Palmer fumble ended a Cincinnati drive at the Oakland 27-yard line. Things got even worse in the fourth quarter starting with a Jeremiah Johnson fumble that killed another scoring opportunity at the Oakland 15-yard line. As I said before, upsets happen when the lesser team can create mistakes and chaos. By forcing two fumbles in their own end, the Raiders did more than just get the ball back for their offense, they delivered a couple of debilitating blows to the Cincinnati psyche. The Bengals are not so accustomed to winning football games that they are able to reach back into their collective memories and find instances where they overcame sloppiness and turnovers to emerge victorious. The Raiders were planting seeds of doubt in the minds of the Bengals. Instead of finding a way to win, the Bengals reverted back to their dismal teams of years past and found a way to lose. After the Raiders had tied the score at 17-17 with less than a minute to play, the Bengals fumbled away the ensuing kickoff, which allowed the Raiders to kick a game-winning field goal and score one of the biggest upsets of the weekend.

It was pretty interesting that two teams from the AFC North, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, lost in the exact same fashion. The AFC North teams dominated statistically, but their turnovers and special teams mistakes doomed them both. I still believe that Cincinnati will win the division, but Pittsburgh is in a little bit of trouble because they have lost their back-up quarterback for six weeks and they have injury concerns with their starter as well.
(3) Don’t look now, but the Jacksonville Jaguars have quietly moved into playoff position on the strength of their first three-game winning streak in nearly two years. They ruined Perry Fewell’s debut as an NFL coach and Terrell Owens’ biggest day in upstate New York with a heart-stopping, last-second victory. David Garrard struggled for most of the day, but put together a memorable fourth quarter that ended with a game-winning touchdown drive. Garrard had only three game-winning drives in 58 career starts prior to week 10 and now has two such drives in the last two weeks alone. He nearly had a perfect fourth quarter completing eight of nine attempts for 113 yards, which included the game-winning connection with Mike Sims-Walker inside of a minute. Garrard has been up and down all season long, but he seems to be playing with a newfound confidence in recent weeks. He hasn’t made all the plays, but he has made the big plays to get Jacksonville into playoff contention.

In addition to Garrard’s stellar final quarter, the Jags won this game because their defense never gave in to the Buffalo Bills. Outside of a fluky 98-yard touchdown reception that they gave up to Terrell Owens, the Jags only allowed 245 yards and three measly field goals in 11 possessions. They forced three Buffalo turnovers and applied enough pressure on quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to make him a little nervous in the pocket. Even on the big play to Owens, the Jaguars had a defender in the face of Fitzpatrick, who barely got the ball away. In addition, Jacksonville did an outstanding job in the red zone (zero touchdowns in three opportunities for Buffalo) and a solid job in third down situations (3-11 and only 14 first downs total). Their solid defensive effort helped their offense control the ball for over 36 minutes of the game, which ultimately wore down a very game Bills defense. It was clear to me that fatigue started to set in for Buffalo early in the fourth quarter after Jacksonville drove 65 yards on seven plays before fumbling the ball away. The Buffalo offense promptly went three-and-out, which set the stage for Garrard’s game-winning heroics. Ultimately, Jacksonville ran 40 plays in the second half compared to only 18 plays for the Buffalo offense. The Bills simply didn’t have anything left when the Jags started their final drive.

The Jaguars are in their current position because they have been a fairly stingy defense and a ball-possessing offense over the last three games. On defense, they have been very stout in the red zone allowing only three touchdowns in 10 overall opportunities inside their own 20-yard line. Some people think that red zone defense statistics are overblown, but I believe they tell a lot about how a defense performs in pressure situations. In my opinion, really bad defenses not only cannot stop their opponents in the middle of the field but they wilt as their opponents get closer to the end zone. A decent to good defense may get victimized between the 20’s, but they have enough savvy to crank up the intensity when their opponent gets into scoring range. I also think that a good red zone defense reduces the pressure placed on their offense to score points. If the defense can hold the opposing offense to three points or less, then their offense doesn’t feel like it has to engage in a shootout to win. The other reason that the Jags are winning recently is that they are controlling the time of possession by running the ball effectively and converting third down opportunities. They have averaged nearly 140 yards rushing on four yards per carry during their current winning streak. In addition, they have converted nearly 57% of their third down opportunities. Both of these statistics are big reasons why the Jags have dominated the time of possession battle against the Chiefs, Jets and Bills with nearly 35 minutes per game. The Jags’ defense has played great against the run and on third down as well. Their opponents have only averaged 74.3 yards per game and 3.5 yards per carry. In addition, in their last three games, Jacksonville is only allowing a third down conversion rate of 37.8%.

The Jags have certainly taken advantage of a soft stretch in their schedule, but things get considerably more difficult in the coming weeks. If they can beat the 49ers on the road this week, then they will be on solid footing heading into a formidable four game stretch that includes the Texans (home), Dolphins (home), Colts (home) and Patriots (road). If the Jags get by San Francisco, then I like their chances of winning three of their last five games and getting into the playoffs with a 10-6 record.

(4) I tuned in to watch a Cowboys-Redskins grudge match and a Cleveland-Detroit game broke out. It was extremely painful to watch the Cowboys and the Skins stumble and bumble their way through 60 minutes of football. The Cowboys didn’t score until late in the fourth quarter for the second consecutive week and they still managed to win the game. Tony Romo threw for only 158 yards, which is his lowest total ever in a victory, and didn’t complete any passes on third down. He seemed to be playing with an aching back, but I’m not going to let Romo get off that easy. For God’s sake, he didn’t complete a pass to a wide receiver until 13 seconds remained in the third quarter. If he was hurting that badly, he needed to take himself out of the game. Regardless, the Cowboys struggled to move the football all game long despite a balanced approach to play-calling and 153 yards rushing. Despite the gaudy rushing statistics, the Cowboys were unable to sustain drives because they couldn’t convert on third down. They only converted three out of 12 third or fourth down attempts. Their inability to move the ball consistently greatly limited their scoring opportunities. Prior to scoring the late touchdown, the Cowboys missed a field goal and fumbled the ball inside the Skins’ 15-yard line to halt their only other promising drive. In every imaginable way, the Cowboys played a terrible game and now they have to regroup, on a short week, to face the Raiders on Turkey Day. If things go according to plan, Romo will look fabulous against an overmatched opponent and all will be swell in Big D. If things don’t go well on Thanksgiving, then I believe that the vultures will start to circle over the corpse formerly known as Wade Phillips.

Meanwhile, a full-fledged shootout happened at Ford Field between two teams that have done nothing but lose for the last decade. The Detroit Lions edged the Cleveland Browns 38-37 in one of the most exciting games of 2009. The lead-up to this game was filled with jokes as the pundits wondered aloud who would be watching this game, but it turned into the most entertaining game of the weekend. The Browns entered the game averaging only 8.6 points per game, but scored more points in the first quarter (24 points) than they had scored in any game all season. The Browns set season highs in nearly every category and looked like a completely different team from the one that was shutout by the Baltimore Ravens less than a week ago. Cleveland, who has lost five in a row, recorded four offensive touchdowns after scoring five offensive touchdowns in their previous 15 games combined. More incredibly, Brady Quinn threw four touchdown passes, which eclipsed his career total of three touchdown passes. Not to be outdone, the Lions rang up 473 total yards, which included rookie Matthew Stafford going absolutely bananas with 422 yards passing and five touchdowns. The Lions won this game despite trailing 24-3 in the first quarter. Detroit needed a silly pass interference penalty on the Browns’ Hank Poteat to set up a chaotic winning play from the one-yard line with no time remaining on the clock. It looked like Stafford would miss the final play after getting knocked out on the Hail Mary, but another poor choice by Eric Mangini allowed Stafford to elude the training staff and run one more play. Stafford was able to overcome the intense pain of having his shoulder knocked out of socket to complete a short pass to fellow rookie Brandon Pettigrew for the game-winner. Stafford’s injury is severe enough that he will likely miss the Lions’ annual Turkey Day game. This game gives us another reason to not judge a book by its cover.

(5) There are only two words to describe the effort that the Seattle Seahawks gave in losing to the Minnesota Vikings 35-9: complete embarrassment. The Hawks were dominated in every single phase of the game. On offense, they only ran a measly 44 plays the entire game after running over 80 plays in their loss to Arizona just last week. As a result, the Hawks held the ball for less than 18 minutes. They couldn’t run the ball again after seemingly having a breakthrough against the Cardinals. Amazingly, they set a new low for rushing yards in a game with only four yards the entire game. The worst part is that they had just established a franchise record for the worst rushing game a couple of weeks ago against Arizona. The Hawks were so putrid on offense that they didn’t even cross the 50-yard line until late in the third quarter when they were already trailing 28-0. They turned the ball over twice and only converted one out of 10 third down opportunities. The ultimate indignity for a team that struggled to move the ball all day long was that they committed 10 back-breaking penalties for a total of 64 yards lost. If you are already pissing the day away, it is probably not a good idea to put yourself into a bigger hole with penalties. The Hawks even tried to break out a few plays for Seneca Wallace, which worked about as well as the Balloon Boy’s father’s attempt to land a reality television show. By the way, whoever decided to nickname the Seneca package the “Senecat” needs to put it back where they found it. Until something actually starts working, you are not allowed to give a cute little name. The Hawks need to fix their normal offense before they start adding wrinkles to the mix.

The only thing worse than the Hawks offense was their defense. The Hawks were so bad on defense that the Vikings didn’t feel like they needed to play Brett Favre more than 2.5 quarters. Even Matt Hasselbeck thought it was embarrassing to see old number four standing on the sideline with a ball cap on midway through the third quarter. The Hawks were so defense-less that terrible Tarvaris Jackson even threw a touchdown pass after replacing Favre. I think that Marcus Trufant is still icing his ass from falling down on Jackson’s touchdown connection with Sidney Rice. Overall, the Hawks gave up an astounding 28 first downs, which meant that Hawks’ fans had to endure at least 28 horn blowing sounds from the Metrodome P.A. system. The only team tradition that is more annoying than the Viking horn is the stupid song that the USC band plays 9,000 times per game. The Hawks gave up 431 total yards, including 213 yards passing from Favre and 160 yards rushing from the dynamic duo of Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor. In reality, the Hawks did an okay job against Peterson, but they must have let their guard down when Taylor entered the game because he gashed them repeatedly. Ultimately, this game belonged to Favre, who established a career best in completion percentage for a single game after completing 88% of his throws against the hapless Hawks. In addition, Favre established a new NFL record with his 22nd career game with four or more touchdown passes. The Hawks actually generated a little pressure from time to time, but Favre performed a few of his trademark Houdini escapes and killed the Hawks with the extra time in the pocket. The whole game kind of reminded me of the 2007 playoff game in the snow in Lambeau Field, where Favre played like it was 80 degrees and sunny and the Hawks played like a bunch of five year olds ice skating for the first time.

In the end, the Vikings won for the 14th time in 16 games and further proved that they are one of the best teams in the entire NFL. On the flip side, the Hawks lost for the 19th time in 26 games and appear to be headed for a 4-12 season. I would be more encouraged if the Hawks actually put up a fight against the Vikings instead of rolling over like a Cocker Spaniel. This week’s game against the lowly Rams will show if the Hawks are still mentally in the game because, even in their distressed state, they are still head and shoulders above St. Louis. If they manage to lose to the Rams, then Paul Allen and Todd Leiwicke might have to seriously contemplate changes at General Manager and Head Coach.

Stats of the Week - Week 10

Stat of the week No. 1: Chris Johnson joined Jim Brown (2), Jim Taylor and Adrian Peterson as the only players to average 100+ yards per game and over six yards per carry through the first nine games of a season.

Stat of the week No. 2: Brady Quinn became just the fourth quarterback in the last 20 years to throw 30 or more passes for fewer than 100 yards with no touchdowns and multiple interceptions in a game.

Stat of the week No. 3: Randy Moss caught his 27th career touchdown of 50 yards or more, which tied him with Lance Alworth for second most in NFL history.
Stat of the week No. 4: With 146 career touchdowns, LaDanian Tomlinson passed Marcus Allen for third all-time and trails only Jerry Rice (208) and Emmitt Smith (175). It was also the 40th game of Tomlinson’s career with multiple scores.

Stat of the week No. 5: The Detroit Lions lost their 17th straight road game and their 13th straight game against an NFC North opponent.

A case of deja vu in Denver and other NFL thoughts

(1) The City of Denver must have went to bed Sunday night with a collective feeling of ‘here we go again,’ as the Broncos have allowed a seemingly insurmountable lead in the AFC West go up in smoke. The Broncos were the darlings of the NFL after an undefeated start, but they have now lost three straight games and find themselves deadlocked with the San Diego Chargers. The losing streak wouldn’t be so concerning if the Broncos had not coughed up a huge division lead to the Chargers just last season. As if things were not bad enough in Denver, the Broncos have to find a way to right the ship with the Chargers coming to town on Sunday for a titanic division battle. The worst part of the entire situation is that they might have to do it without their starting quarterback after Kyle Orton left the game against the Washington Redskins with an injury.

In order for the Broncos to get back to playing like they were earlier in the season, they need to re-identify the formula that was working so well on defense and reapply it for the last seven games. During their early season success, the Broncos were giving up a miniscule 11 points per game, but they are giving up over 28 points per game during their current losing streak. It was no embarrassment to give up 30 points to the Ravens and 28 to the defending champs, but it has to leave you scratching your head when you give up 27 points to the Washington Redskins. It was the first time since week two of the 2008 season that the Redskins had scored more than 24 points. One of the big reasons that the Broncos played so well early on was that they played a suffocating brand of defense in the second half. From week three to week six, the Broncos did not allow a single third down conversion in the second half and they only allowed two second half conversions during their first six games. As a result of regularly getting off the field in third down situations, the Broncos did not allow more than seven points in any single game after halftime. In the last three weeks, it looks like the Denver defense is in a major slump. In the last three games, the Broncos have allowed their opponents to convert 15 out of 23 third down opportunities. Their inability to stop the other team in the second half has led to them allowing 24 points, 21 points and 13 points after halftime in the last three games. With the red hot San Diego Chargers coming to town on Sunday, it will be interesting to see what the Broncos coaching staff can come up with to turn the tide for their defensive unit.

Unfortunately, the defense isn’t the only area that has let down the team in the recent weeks. Kyle Orton, who was a big part of their initial success, has not played very well since the last time they faced the Chargers. Before playing great in the first half against the Redskins, Orton had played his two worst games of the season against the Ravens and the Steelers. In the Baltimore game, he was held to less than 200 yards passing and was not able to sustain drives against a fierce Ravens defense. In the Steelers game, Orton tossed three interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown in the first half. The common denominator in both of those games was that the Ravens and the Steelers did not respect Orton’s ability to push the ball down the field. As a result, they both crowded the line of scrimmage, which allowed them stifle the Broncos’ running game and cause Orton to make mistakes in the passing game. It appeared that Denver made a conscious effort to break the mold in the Redskins game because they struck early with two long touchdown passes to Brandon Marshall. Unfortunately, Orton got hurt and all of the momentum that they had built up was washed away in a flood of bad passes from Chris Simms. The other area that has failed the Broncos has been their special teams unit. In the Ravens game, they gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half that carried the Ravens to the victory. In Sunday’s game, they allowed the Redskins to execute a fake punt even though Washington had tipped its hand before calling a timeout. The Skins came out of the break and lined up in the exact same formation but the Broncos punt return team did not catch on. If Washington had attempted the same trick play during the Broncos’ six game winning streak, I’m sure that Denver would have diagnosed the play and snuffed it out. Unfortunately, when things are not going right, boneheaded mistakes pile up like dirty laundry.

The only way that the Broncos will beat the Chargers and break their losing streak is if Kyle Orton is healthy and ready to play. They have absolutely no chance to win if Chris Simms starts at quarterback. In the end, I don’t think it will matter because I believe that the Chargers will come away with a close, hard-fought victory in the Mile High City. Just like last year, I think that the Chargers are the better team and the better team usually wins out over the long haul.

(2) There appears to have been a changing of the guard in the AFC North after the Cincinnati Bengals completed a season sweep of the defending champion Pittsburgh Steelers. It was the first time since 1998 that the Bengals had beaten the Steelers twice in the same regular season. Not only did the Bengals beat the Steelers for the second time, but they swept the big, bad Baltimore Ravens as well and sit with a 5-0 divisional record for the first time in the history of the franchise. As a result of the sweep and the divisional record, the Bengals effectively hold a two-game advantage over Pittsburgh with seven games remaining. Barring a collapse, which would not be unusual for one of the most awful franchises in recent memory, the Bengals should win the division. This development means that the Steelers are left to play for wild card berth, which they all but conceded in their post-game comments.

The Bengals are a team that definitely merits a closer look. In order to put their current success in its proper perspective, we have to remember that Cincinnati is coming off a 4-11-1 campaign in 2008. More importantly, they have been the punch line of lots of jokes since their heyday in the 1980’s under Coach Sam Wyche. Their victory in Pittsburgh was even more impressive when you consider that they have only beaten the Steelers 13 times in 40 road trips to the confluence of the Monongahela, Ohio and Allegheny Rivers. No matter how you look at things, it is clear that this Bengals team is not your mother’s Bengals.

Their success in 2009 is directly related to the return of Carson Palmer from an injury-plagued 2008 season. Palmer may not completely replicate his best years, but I would argue that he is a smarter quarterback now than he was then. He has already saved the Bengals’ bacon on at least three or four occasions this season with clutch plays and he played very efficiently against the vaunted Steelers defense. Sunday might have been his worst statistical game of the season, but the thing that stands out to me was that he didn’t commit a turnover. As a result, he didn’t give Pittsburgh any short fields or any opportunities to turn an interception or fumble into points. Frankly, his performance was reminiscent of Peyton Manning’s “take what the defense gives you” game against the San Francisco 49ers. Like the 49ers, the Steelers were hell-bent against allowing a touchdown, so Palmer was more than happy to take the short and intermediate passes and allow Shayne Graham to kick field goals. Palmer’s approach became even more critical after the Bengals lost their top runner, Cedric Benson, early in the game and the Steelers basically knew that Cincinnati would be unable to run the ball. I think that Palmer’s mental development is the biggest reason why the Bengals have a great chance to win the AFC North.

The other significant reason that the Bengals are the clear-cut favorites in the AFC North is the improved play of their defense. They were extremely impressive in limiting the Pittsburgh Steelers to only four field goals. They dominated the line of scrimmage and made life a living hell for Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben was sacked four times and harassed all day long. He failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time this season and posted his lowest quarterback rating of 2009 (51.5). The Bengals made things so difficult for the Steelers’ offense that I didn’t really feel that Pittsburgh ever had a shot to pull out the victory. The Bengals never had a big lead, but it always felt like they were in complete control because their defense was flying around and making plays. Keep in mind the Bengals were playing without one of their leaders, Keith Rivers, and still held the Steelers to only 226 yards of total offense. I really like this Bengals defense because of their linebackers and their two shutdown cornerbacks, Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph. You cannot underestimate the impact of Hall and Joseph because their presence allows the Bengals defensive coaching staff to dial up pressure with confidence knowing that those two are protecting the back-end.

Ultimately, I believe that the Bengals will win the AFC North. If Cedric Benson does not miss a lot of time, then they will do it easily. Either way, it is their division to win because they have an extremely soft schedule down the stretch. They get a three-pack of cupcakes the next three weeks with Oakland on the road and Cleveland and Detroit at home. After that soft as Charmin stretch, they will play Minnesota followed by the New York Jets and Kansas City. If the Bengals don’t get to at least 11 wins with that schedule, then Coach Marvin Lewis should be shown the door.

(3) The NFL still has two undefeated teams, but the Saints and Colts were less than impressive in keeping their records unblemished. The Saints beat the lowly Lambs, but had to withstand a late drive from St. Louis that nearly led to the biggest upset of the day. The Saints are 9-0 for the first time in their history and they tied a franchise record for consecutive wins, but I would be more than a little concerned if I was Coach Sean Payton. First of all, they turned the ball three times against one of the worst teams in the league, which allowed St. Louis to keep things close throughout. I think that the turnover issue is the dirty little secret for New Orleans especially when it relates to Drew Brees. I think the national media has chosen to ignore Brees’ penchant for turnovers because the Saints are undefeated and one of the best stories of the 2009 season. Brees threw two more interceptions on Sunday and now has 13 total turnovers on the season. He has only played two games all season where he did not turn the ball over. Don’t get me wrong, I love Drew Brees but he has been a major part of the reason why the Saints have struggled to beat the Dolphins, Falcons, Panthers and Lambs recently. If Brees can stop giving the ball to the other team, I think that the Saints are nearly unstoppable on offense. Secondly, I would be concerned that my defense got taken behind the woodshed by the lowly Lambs’ offense. St. Louis is in the bottom third of the league in total offense, but still managed to rack up 434 yards of total offense, 23 first downs and over 32 minutes of ball possession. The Saints got run over by Steven Jackson (131 yards and one touchdown) and they allowed Marc Bulger to look like he had time traveled back to his prime. Overall, the Saints were extremely sloppy and won the game in spite of their performance. They need to get back in synch because it is not far-fetched to think that they could lose in Tampa next week.

The Colts didn’t play much better than the Saints, but managed to escape with a victory thanks to some late-game heroics from Peyton Manning and an idiotic coaching move from the genius himself, Bill Belichick. Let’s begin with why the Colts were down 17 points in the 4th quarter. I hate to do this but we need to lay the blame at the feet of the Colts’ defense. They had no answer for the Patriots’ offense the entire night. The Pats racked up 477 yards of offense, which included 375 yards passing from Tom Brady and 179 yards receiving from Randy Moss. The run-challenged Patriots even managed to rush for 114 yards against the formerly stingy Colts defense. I honestly thought that this game would be a close, low scoring game because both teams know each other so well and would find ways to keep each other off-balance. Instead, the Colts’ defense got torched early and forced their offense to play catch up. For most of the game, the Patriots looked like the 2007 version that scored at will and loved to bury their opponents. Brady was playing pitch and catch with Randy Moss, Wes Welker was killing the Colts in the middle of the field and the Pats even through in a run here and there to keep Indianapolis off balance. In my opinion, it was the most impressive that the Patriots have played this season. Unfortunately, their Rhodes Scholar coach decided to go for a fourth and two inside their own 30-yard line instead of punting the football and forcing the Colts to go the length of the field to win. Listen, I love aggressive coaching as much as the next guy, but it was reckless to not punt the ball in that situation. By not punting the ball, Belichick basically told his defense that he didn’t think they were good enough to stop Manning and the Colts from driving 80 yards for the game-winner. I think it was a bad message to send to his team. His players are all standing by their man like Tammy Wynette, but, in a private moment, I’m sure they would agree that Belichick’s decision was not very smart. In the end, Professor Bill’s blunder not only cost the Patriots the game, but it cost them the ability to catch the Colts for home field advantage. Hey Bill, I hear the weather is great in Indianapolis in mid-to-late January.

(4) Another team that is feeling less then 100% is the Chicago Bears after their face plant in San Francisco. They managed only six points while losing their fourth game in five weeks. They were unable to run the football once again (43 yards on 21 carries), they committed 10 penalties for 75 yards and they turned the ball over five times, including twice in the red zone. The most disturbing part of the entire debacle is that Jay Cutler was responsible for every single turnover. His disastrous performance by the San Francisco Bay equaled his horrific performance from opening night in Green Bay and continued a very unsatisfying first season in a Chicago Bears uniform. I don’t think Bears’ fans expected Cutler to throw 17 interceptions through the first nine games and have a passer rating lower than last year’s quarterback, Kyle Orton. Cutler has posted some gaudy passing numbers but he has done nothing to improve the Bears’ fortunes on the field. He was the first Bear player to have at least four interceptions in a game twice in a season since Billy Wade in 1962. It was also Cutler’s fourth game with three or more interceptions over the last two seasons, which is tied with Jake Delhomme for the most in the NFL. I can’t blame every single interception on Cutler, but a couple of the picks were terrible passes that should’ve never been thrown. In particular, he made several throws in the red zone that killed drives and prevented the Bears from scoring points. After Thursday, Cutler leads the NFL in red zone interceptions over the last two seasons by a wide margin. I will never doubt the strength of Cutler’s arm, but he plays the quarterback position recklessly and then has the nerve to blame others when things don’t work out. Successful quarterbacks are great leaders. Cutler will never truly be successful in the NFL until he realizes that he needs to lead by example and take responsibility when he makes mistakes. No matter what happens in Denver this season, I believe that they got the better end of this deal because they were able to clear their roster of an immature, petulant player in exchange for a team-oriented player. In the long run, I think that Jerry Angelo and the Bears front office will regret trading for Cutler and handing him a big-money contract. In my opinion, he is Jeff George reincarnated.

(5) November 15, 2009 was a sad day in Seattle as the Seahawks’ dreams of reaching the playoffs died a slow and inglorious death in the Arizona desert. The season is over folks. The loss to the Cardinals was another example of how far the Seahawks have fallen since reaching the Super Bowl following the 2005 season. The Super Bowl Seahawks were known for their ability to control the football and their efficiency in the red zone. The 2009 Hawks are extremely erratic on offense and have regularly struggled to score touchdowns. On Sunday, they played well in the first half but settled for a field goal late in the second quarter and were denied twice in the red zone in the second half. This performance followed an up-and-down game against the Lions, where the Hawks kicked way too many field goals. During the Super Bowl season, the Seahawks defense was the ideal complement to their ball-control, punishing offense. The defense would work to get off the field as fast as possible to give their offense another chance. This year’s defense has been pushed around by all of the good teams that they have faced and Sunday was no different. The Cardinals gained 462 total yards, which included Kurt Warner picking apart the Hawks with his trademark efficiency for 340 yards and two touchdowns. The difference in this game is that the Hawks gave up touchdowns easily in the second half while the Cardinals defense forced a field goal and a turnover in two Seattle trips into the red zone. Good teams score touchdowns and bad teams trip all over themselves when they get close to the end zone.

Even though the season is over, I took two positive things from the loss. The first positive is that the Hawks finally ran the ball with the effectiveness that we all expected when Greg Knapp and the zone blocking scheme was brought in. I don’t think it was a coincidence that the running game finally started to click when Julius Jones left the game with an injury. I have been screaming at the top of my lungs to allow the young guns a chance at being the feature back and it finally happened due to the injury. It would have been nice if the coaching staff would have realized it first however. Nevertheless, the rejuvenated running game produced 164 yards on only 24 carries (6.8 yards per carry). The highlight of the day was Justin Forsett picking up his first career 100-yard performance to go along with a touchdown run. Even Louis Rankin displayed a little wiggle with 24 yards on three carries and three catches out of the backfield. With the season lost, I believe the Hawks should commit to giving Forsett and Rankin the bulk of the carries to see if they can continue what they started in the desert. The other positive from the loss was that the Hawks offense did not give up and kept moving the ball up and down the field. The Hawks ran an astonishing 81 plays from scrimmage and actually outgained the Cardinals on the day (472 yards to 462 yards). They had more balance than they have had all season. In my opinion, it was their best offensive performance of the season. If they had executed better in the red zone, the result of this game could have been much different.

Unfortunately, the Hawks made way too many mistakes to win this game. They turned the ball over twice, which included the back-breaking interception by Adrian Wilson on an ill-advised shuffle pass inside the 10-yard line. They committed nine penalties for 113 yards. All of those penalties put the Hawks in long yardage situations on offense and gave the Cardinals short yardage situations or first downs on defense. It is a testament to the Cardinals that they won this game despite the fact that they actually had more penalties and more penalty yardage than the Hawks. They were only one for four in the red zone, while the Cardinals cashed in with touchdowns on three out of five opportunities. The name of the game is scoring touchdowns and the Hawks did not do a good enough job of punching the ball into the end zone. The Hawks got no pressure on the quarterback, while the Cardinals sacked Hasselbeck four times and generated enough pressure throughout the game to cause him to throw 26 incomplete passes. With no pressure on Warner, he dissected the Hawks for 29 completions out of 38 attempts. His 120.5 quarterback rating was double the passer rating from Hasselbeck.

The time has come for Hawks fans to look toward next season. Nevertheless, I think it is important to keep an eye on the team to see how they finish a season where they have nothing to play for but pride. Will they tune out Mora or will they play hard to the end? Otherwise, fans should start thinking about how this team gets better between now and the beginning of the 2010 season. We should still support the team, but we have to understand that we are heading for a 6-10 season at best. I still think that this team has some nice pieces to build with, but the front office and the coaching staff have to analyze the roster very closely to identify who will continue with the team and who gets replaced.