(1) I guess the New York Giants weren’t able to consider their new stadium a true home until they suffered a catastrophic defeat on par with “The Miracle at the Meadowland” in 1978. On that day, Joe Pisarcik fumbled the football at the end of the game with Philadelphia and Herm Edwards scooped up the loose ball and ran in for the winning points. This time around, the Giants inexplicably punted the football directly to DeSean Jackson with 12 seconds remaining in the game instead of kicking the ball out of bounds. Jackson, one of the most dangerous punt returners in the NFL, made them pay for their mistake by weaving his way through the Giants’ coverage team for a 65-yard game-winning touchdown. Jackson’s electrifying play became the first walk-off punt return in NFL history and the longest game-winning touchdown on the final play of regulation since 1960 (Jim Gibbons scored on a 65-yard reception back on December 4, 1960). The ill-fated punt will be the mistake most remembered by New York fans for years to come, but the Giants should be equally haunted by the fact that they lost a game that they led by 21 points midway through the fourth quarter. Jackson would never have had a chance to be the hero if the Giants had simply tackled Brent Celek before he broke free for a 65-yard touchdown reception. The Giants would never have had to put the game in their punter’s hands if they had heeded their coaches’ warnings prior to David Akers executing a perfect onside kick following Celek’s touchdown. The front line of New York’s kick return team was nowhere to be seen when Riley Cooper came down with the “surprise” onside kick. You could probably fault the Giants’ coaching staff for not putting their hands team on the field prior to the onside attempt. Finally, Jackson’s impact would have been rendered moot had the Giants done a better job of corralling Mike Vick in the fourth quarter (94 of his 130 yards rushing came in the 4th) or had been able to convert first downs to keep the clock moving and the Eagles’ offense off the field. The bottom line is that there is plenty of blame to pass around. The punter made a bone-headed decision to kick the ball directly to Jackson, but he had plenty of assistance in allowing the Eagles to become just the fifth team in history to overcome a 21 point or more fourth quarter deficit to win a game.
The question now becomes how this devastating loss affects the New York Giants the rest of the season. They have all but lost the NFC East to the Eagles, but their playoff hopes are still very much alive for the wild card. If they can manage a victory next week against Green Bay, they will clinch a wild card berth and save their season from the brink of disaster. The problem for the Giants is two-fold: first of all they have to travel to Green Bay and secondly they probably won’t get the luxury of facing back-up quarterback Matt Flynn. As a result, I believe that the odds are extremely long for the Giants to make the playoffs because they face a formidable opponent and the hangover from this week’s loss is likely to linger at least a week, if not longer. In addition to making or breaking their season, the next two weeks will go a long way to determining the future of Tom Coughlin in New York. If they fold up their tents, then I would expect the catcalls for Coughlin’s head to become too loud for the Mara family to ignore. It is hard to believe that a Super Bowl-winning coach could potentially find himself on the hot seat, but these late season swoons are becoming far too common. Last season, the Giants lost four out of six down the stretch. In 2008, they lost three out of their last four. Even in their Super Bowl-winning season of 2007, the Giants lost two out of their last three. Another swan dive like those previous ones might be enough to get Coughlin a pink slip.
(2) The New York Jets should be commended for picking themselves off the mat and winning a tough game in a tough environment. They were playing under the black cloud of two consecutive embarrassing defeats and the specter of Tripping-Gate. In addition, they were facing a top-five defense in wintery conditions. All the signs pointed to the Jets losing their third consecutive game and having all of their bold predictions of a Super Bowl run go down the drain. Instead, the Jets opened with a 97-yard kickoff return from Brad Smith, which set the tone for a hard-hitting five-point victory. The Jets were far from perfect, but they received a total team effort to earn a much needed win. In addition to Smith’s opening salvo, New York’s special teams contributed two big field goals from Nick Folk, three punts downed inside the 20-yard line from Sam Weatherford and two nice punt returns from Jerricho Cotchery to help with field position. The Jets also got a gritty effort from their defense, which allowed nearly 400 yards of total offense, but held the Steelers to just 17 points and registered a huge safety to make it a five-point game with two and a half minutes left in the game. The big play by Jason Taylor forced Pittsburgh to have to score a touchdown to win the game and their last drive ended at the Jets’ 10-yard line. Finally, the Jets got just enough from their offense to run their record to 10-4. Mark Sanchez did not turn the ball over for the first time since week five and he led a huge touchdown drive in the third quarter to tie the game at 17 points apiece. As I said, this Jets’ performance was far from perfect, but they made enough plays to win the game. It was a first step in the road to recovery from the 45-3 beat down they received from the New England Patriots on national television. The effects of that devastating loss carried over into the home loss against the Miami Dolphins, but the Jets can finally see the light again after their impressive victory against Pittsburgh. They still have some unfinished business with a road trip to Chicago next week and a home game against Buffalo to finish the season, but this huge win might be the kick start they needed to make another deep run in the playoffs.
(3) Week 15 News and Notes:
• The 2010 NFC West might be the worst division in the history of the NFL. The St. Louis Rams lead the division with a 6-8 record, but the San Francisco 49ers actually control their own destiny and they have a 5-9 record! The division is so awful that it might be the impetus for the NFL to change its rule about guaranteeing division winners a home playoff game in the wild card round.
• The NFC playoffs will be going through Atlanta. The Falcons will finish no worse than 13-3 and will get the opportunity to play in the comfort of the Georgia Dome, where they are 19-1 with Matt Ryan starting at quarterback. I’m eagerly anticipating an NFC Championship match-up between Atlanta and Philadelphia.
• Congratulations to the Detroit Lions for snapping their 26-game road losing streak with a 23-20 overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On the flip side, it was a terrible loss for the Bucs, who were fighting for their playoff lives.
• The Ravens finally discovered that Ray Rice is pretty good. He had a season high 31 carries and 233 total yards to lead the Ravens to a huge inter-conference victory over the streaking New Orleans Saints.
• The Tim Tebow era had a decent start with two touchdowns and 78 yards rushing. Will the next GM and head coach in Denver believe that Tebow is the future at quarterback?
• The Patriots were extremely lucky to beat the Packers on Sunday night. They needed two Matt Flynn turnovers, a 71-yard kickoff return by an offensive lineman, four potential interceptions by Tom Brady and shaky clock management by Green Bay on their final drive to win.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment