Giants pull a Manning. I was set
to write, yet again, about how living in New York sucked for
a football fan, because we get stuck with a crappy blowout
by the Giants instead of a great match-up like the
Bears-Patriots that 95% of America got to see on Sunday.
Instead, I'm left with this:
"Big Blew."
"Tackling Dummy." "Sickening."
Those were
the headlines in the New York tabloids Monday morning after
the New York Giants blew a 21-point lead with under 10
minutes left in their game against the Titans. Think about
this. For the first 50:25 of the game, the Giants allowed
the Titans to score exactly zero points. In the final 9:35,
they allowed them to score 24. "We're going to be sick about
this one, forever," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said after the
loss.
Most
fingers are pointed directly at quarterback Eli Manning, and
justifiably so. When you're tied with 30 seconds left in a
game, you simply can't throw an interception on 2nd and 1 in
your own territory. I'm beginning to think this "I've got to
win it all by myself" thing both Manning brothers have comes
from their dad, Archie. Peyton has learned to control it a
bit, but Eli is still out there trying to do everything
himself.
Just
thinking about his pouting when he was drafted by the
Chargers makes me chuckle.
Don't blame Garcia for that big sucking sound in Philly.
Sunday was the second Eagles game in a row I got to see from
start to finish. While Jeff Garcia is no Donovan McNabb,
it's not the offense that has left the Eagles with two
straight losses. The defense has been atrocious, getting run
over by Travis Henry and Joseph Addai in consecutive weeks.
They have dropped interception opportunities. And they
haven't been able to tackle grandmama strolling down the
sideline with a walker. There will be calls for defensive
coordinator Jimmy Johnson's head, and I can't say I blame
those who issue the calls.
Who's the MVP? While Peyton
Manning gets much of the acclaim, and deservedly so, there
are two other guys who have proved more deserving of the
league MVP trophy this year. While it was supposed to be
Reggie Bush exploding onto the scene in New Orleans and
leading the Saints to the promised land, quarterback Drew
Brees has been the best player in the NFC this season. With
a 97.8 quarterback rating, he's the biggest on-field reason
for the Saints' incredible season. He's also just 113 yards
from his career-best in passing yards for a season, and he
has five games to go!
In the AFC,
it's no surprise who the best player is: LaDainian
Tomlinson. His 24 TDs and two passing touchdowns, along with
a 5-yard per-carry average, make him the front-runner right
now.
Overreaction of the week. I
watched much of Dallas' whipping of Tampa Bay on Thursday.
And Tony Romo looked good, no doubt, in throwing five TD
passes. But I agree more with what Parcells said after the
game: "I could have thrown those first two [touchdown
passes]. We've got a ways to go here, so put the anointing
oil away." Of course, sports writers, constantly desperate
for a story to hype, are latching onto Tony Romo as the next
Kurt Warner. Peter King, whom I generally wouldn't put in
that category, said in ranking the Cowboys fourth in the
NFL: "You tell me one team below here that you think would
beat Tony Romo on a neutral field." As though Tony Romo IS
the Cowboys. He backed that up with this gem, in summing up
Romo's Thanksgiving Day: "The legend grows."
To be sure,
he looks good. But, legendary? Unbeatable on a neutral
field? Come on. And while he hadn't started a game until
this season, he has been with the Cowboys for three previous
seasons. He's good, but greatness is earned in more than
five games.
Chances
of winning Super Bowl XLI:
1)
Baltimore Ravens (4-1). With San
Diego, they have the league's longest winning streak at five
games. They're clicking on all cylinders right now, and
there's no reason to believe that's going to stop anytime
soon. This might be a better team than the Ravens team that
won the Super Bowl.
2t) New England Patriots (5-1).
This team simply isn't a great team. But, there isn't a
great team in the league. The only thing that is killing the
Patriots is the turnovers, and I remain very confident that
they will not turn the ball over in January.
2t) Indianapolis Colts (5-1). They
look the best right now, but there are several reasons they
are behind these other two teams. 1) A rookie running back
who looked tired at times on Sunday; 2) A defense that has
given up at least 13 points in every game and at least 20 in
eight of their 11 games; 3) I'm starting to believe that
Manning will win a Super Bowl before he's done; but, until
he does so, I'll continue to doubt him.
4)
Chicago Bears (7-1). Both of their
losses have come to AFC teams, which tells me they will be
underdogs to any team in the Super Bowl. The problem with
the other NFC teams is, someone is going to have to go into
Chicago and beat them.
5)
San Diego Chargers (8-1). They've
got the best running back in the league, and that's a big
deal. But, they're giving up way too many points and have
been since their bye in Week 3. Against teams with a winning
record, they've given up 16, 30, 41, and 27 points. They
also have one of the great choke artists in the NFL: Coach
Marty Schottenheimer.
6)
Dallas Cowboys (10-1). Right now
they look like the best team in the NFC. The problem is,
Tony Romo hasn't yet had to play the Bears defense in
30-degree Chicago.
The
weaker conference:
It becomes clearer each week how inferior the NFC is to the
AFC and it was on display Sunday, when one AFC weakling and
one powerhouse won.
The
NFC’s New York Giants (6-5) blew a 21-0 lead in the fourth
quarter to lose to Tennessee (4-7) 24-21 in a game that
likely killed the Giants for the season. In New England, the
Chicago Bears came in 9-1 and left with a 17-13 to a
Patriots’ team that had previously been 2-3 at home.
The nine
teams in the AFC with winning records have a combined 21-7
mark against the NFC. At 8-3, the Patriots would be a lock
for a top two seed in the NFC, but right now would be the
fourth seed in the AFC and not get a bye.
Kansas
City is 7-4, but four of those wins came against the
mediocre NFC West. Miami has won four in a row, and three of
those came against the NFC. And the Bears have lost only
twice, but both came against the AFC. In those two losses,
Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman committed eight turnovers.
Grossman
has generally played well, but in his last six starts has
been responsible for 19 turnovers. The Bears defense forced
five turnovers, a rare time when a team committed that many
and lost, but their offense could not take advantage. “Our
defense took the ball, did a good job of that and we didn't
do such a good job with it," Grossman said.
The
Giants’ loss to Tennessee will be categorized by their fans
and the ravenous New York media as apocalyptic. It was their
third loss in a row and will further raise questions about
the performance of quarterback Eli Manning.
He threw
two interceptions, including a disastrous one with 32
seconds left that set up Tennessee for the game-winning
field goal. “I don't have the words to talk about it right
now, and I probably won't when I see it,” Giants Coach Tom
Coughlin said. “We're going to be sick about this one
forever."
Young
blood:
While the Giants will bemoan Manning’s performance, Titans
fans are stoked by the performance of rookie quarterback
Vince Young. He was brilliant Sunday, throwing for 249 yards
and two touchdown and running for 69 yards and a score.
"It's a sneak peek of what's to happen not just me, but this
team in general," Young said.
Young is
4-4 as a starter and two of those losses were one-point
defeats against Indianapolis (10-1) and Baltimore (9-2).
Bonehead:
The bizarre play of the game came courtesy of San Diego
Chargers receiver Vincent Jackson. With the Chargers (9-2)
trailing Oakland (2-9) in the fourth quarter, Jackson made a
great 13-yard catch on fourth down. He got up to celebrate
and spiked the ball in a spinning motion. Problem was,
Jackson hadn’t been touched and the Raiders jumped on what
they and the referees thought was a live ball.
After a
10-minute conference where they seemed as confused as the
fans, players and announcers, the refs ruled that Jackson
had thrown an illegal forward pass since his spike went
forward. They penalized the Chargers five yards, but they
still made enough for the first down.
"My
emotions just got me for a second," Jackson said. Raiders
quarterback Aaron Brooks was still confused after the game.
"I think we have a new rule about to happen," he said.
“What's the difference between a spike and a little flippity-flip,
or whatever he did?" San Diego scored four plays later to
tie the score, and went on to win 21-14.
"NFL Supervisor of Officials
Mike Pereira confirmed to ESPN's Chris Mortensen that the
call was correct -- and not without precedent.
"It is illegal to
intentionally fumble a ball forward and, by rule, an illegal
forward fumble is an incomplete pass. That makes it a dead
ball. A 5-yard penalty is then assessed from the spot.
"Jackson spinning the ball
forward when he was not down by contact constituted an
intentional illegal forward fumble and thus an illegal
forward pass. Had he spun it backward, it would have been a
live fumble.
"A similar call was made when
Plaxico Burress did the same thing with the Steelers on Oct.
1, 2000."
They said it: From
Fark
-- "It's a strange
day in the NFL when [LaDainian Tomlinson] throws more TDs
than Michael Vick, and Vick runs for more yards than LT."
Saintly:
It’s looking more and more likely that the New Orleans
Saints, 3-13 a year ago, will make the playoffs. After
beating Atlanta on Sunday, the Saints are 7-4 and lead the
NFC South. Quarterback Drew Brees threw for more than 300
yards for the fifth straight game. Everything is going right
for the Saints, who scored on a 48-yard Hail Mary pass to
Terrance Cooper on the last play of the first half. "I just
jumped up and tried to catch it," Copper said. "It was a
good throw by Drew. It just fell in my hands."
Kitties:
The Carolina Panthers had been tied with New Orleans, but
fell meekly to the Washington Redskins, 17-13. The Panthers
(6-5) gained only 246 yards against a Skins defense that has
been porous in the past month.
Hot
player of the week:
It was great to see uber-hot Kevin Curtis scored a
touchdown. This meant we saw a lot of the St. Louis receiver
with his helmet off after the play. Curtis caught the
game-winning pass with 27 seconds to give the Rams a 20-17
win over San Francisco. As Jim Allen said, Curtis is the typ
of guy who could walk into any gay bar, spot the hottest guy
and get him.
Top
5
1.
Indianapolis (10-1): Rookie running back Joseph Addai
(171 yards rushing and four touchdowns Sunday against
Philadelphia) has made everyone forget about Edgerrin
James.
2.
San Diego (9-2): Wait until the Chargers get defenders
Shawne Merriman and Luis Castillo back. They will once again
have a top defense.
3.
New England (8-3): The Patriots aren’t as good as the
Super Bowl teams of the past five years, but somehow they
keep on winning.
4.
Baltimore (9-2): I still think they’ll flop in the
playoffs, but there’s no denying the 27-0 beating they
administered to Pittsburgh.
5.
Chicago (9-2): In the AFC, the Bears would be a 6-5 team
fighting for a wild card spot.
Hot
player of the week