Week 18 NFL Game Recaps
Texans 31, Bengals 10
The Bengals also went three-and-out to start because Andy Dalton missed a wide-open Cedric Benson on a 3rd-and-2. It was clear at that point that the team to quit making dumb, mental errors would be the one to prevail. And that was Houston.
Cincinnati continuously shot itself in the foot. Marvin Lewis had one of the worst challenges of all time in the first half when he threw a red flag to review a spot that would have been the difference between 3rd-and-1 and 1st-and-10. It's not like the extra inch he wanted would have prevented a punting situation; he lost the challenge and then promptly moved the chains on the next play. This was a big deal because Lewis challenged again later in the first half. He lost that one as well, giving him no reviews after intermission.
The Bengals also wasted a timeout on the third play of the third quarter because Dalton couldn't hear the play. Houston's crowd did a great job of getting up for its first playoff contest with this new franchise.
Dalton had an up-and-down performance overall. He made some nice throws, and his yardage figures don't account for a 50-yard pass-interference penalty to A.J. Green, who beat Glover Quin. However, Dalton missed some open receivers downfield, and the aforementioned third pick was poorly thrown to Danieal Manning.
First of all, Hammond looked like a clown. Like an actual clown. I don't know what his makeup artists were thinking or trying to hide. Forum member FTM commented, "Is Tom Hammond a puppet from Team America? That is not a human face."
His commentary was more comical, as he mispronounced players' names all night, from Glover Quin to Danieal Manning. He even called Matt Schaub "Matt Shoob." Fortunately, Hammond is done doing football for the year, as he'll be moving on to the boring Olympics next week.
Saints 45, Lions 28
Apparently not. Different game, same result. We can now confirm the Saints are 17 points better than the Lions.
The Saints, however, got their act together in the second half. Brees was unstoppable, going 33-of-43 for 466 yards and three touchdowns. The team didn't even punt. In fact, New Orleans set a playoff record for most net yards in a single game with 626.
Of course, it didn't help the Lions' cause that they continuously blew coverages and whiffed on tackles. It's amazing how many times Brees' targets were open downfield. And I know Detroit struggled versus the run all year, but making Pierre Thomas (8-66, TD) and Chris Ivory (13-47) look like Beast Mode was inexcusable. Thomas also caught six balls for 55 receiving yards.
Giants 24, Falcons 2
Atlanta was 0-for-3 in short yardage in this contest. They went for it on fourth-and-inches on the New York 25 on the first play of the second quarter of a scoreless game. They tried to sneak it, but failed. Luckily, they were still able to establish a lead on an ensuing safety in which Eli Manning was whistled for intentional grounding in his own end zone.
The other two miscues were much more damaging. Down 10-2 at the end of the third quarter, Atlanta attempted another another sneak from the Giants' 20. Ryan was stuffed, and the entire Falcon sideline reportedly was completely deflated. Three plays later, Manning hit Hakeem Nicks for a 72-yard touchdown, blowing this contest open.
Michael Turner was stuffed on 3rd-and-1 on the ensuing possession. The Falcons had to punt, and New York would find the end zone a few minutes later.
The two New York scores put the game out of reach, but you have to wonder what would have happened if Atlanta opted for the field goals. With two successful kicks, the team would have trailed 10-8, and the players wouldn't have been sulking on the bench.
Remember when I said that Atlanta could have been down 10-8 with two kicks? Well, if Smith used a timeout and his team was able to drive down to field-goal range, the Falcons could have led 11-10 at the end of the third quarter. It's amazing how significant inept coaching decisions can be in an NFL game.
Despite the drops, White still caught five balls for 52 yards. Julio Jones was better statistically (7-64). Poor Tony Gonzalez, who still hasn't won a playoff game in his Hall-of-Fame career, had just four grabs for 44 yards.
1. As I tweeted (@walterfootball), "Congratulations to FOX for the first ever commercial-one play-commercial-punt-commercial series."
Seriously, I can't believe FOX pull this. We often see commercial-kickoff-commercial, but I don't ever recall seeing two plays sandwiched in between three ad breaks.
2. I also tweeted this in the fourth quarter: "Since 1989, only one team has ever finished with 2 points in a game. That was the 1993 Bengals, who lost to the Patriots, 7-2."
Well, you can now add the Falcons into that dubious category.
3. My senior editor pointed out that at one point during the second half, Troy Aikman said, "Matt Ryan incompleted it."
What's up with the grammar issues from all the 90s Cowboy players?
Broncos 29, Steelers 23
No one gave Denver a chance. Bill Simmons, whom I'm a fan of, called the Broncos the worst team to ever make the playoffs. Cris Carter and Keyshawn Johnson predictably called for a Pittsburgh blowout. Several ESPN and CBS analysts stubbornly opined that they wouldn't even score a touchdown.
That certainly looked like the case when Denver mustered just eight yards of offense in the first quarter. Offensive coordinator Mike McCoy had some of the worst and most predictable play-calling I had ever seen. He called for runs on all three first downs in the opening period, and Tebow was in second-and-long as a result each time.
Things really changed after that though. Just a bit, right? Tim Tebow, whom many suggested could be benched in favor of Brady Quinn because he had struggled the past two weeks, completed many deep, accurate bombs downfield. He had just five completions at halftime, but four of them were for 30, 40, 58 and 41 yards. Not included in that were a Demaryius Thomas drop inside the 5-yard line and an Eric Decker 21-yard apparent catch that was overturned after a Pittsburgh challenge.
The Broncos led throughout, beginning in the second quarter, but it looked like they might lose this playoff battle late in the fourth quarter and overtime. The ironic thing was it would have been everyone's fault but Tebow's. Willis McGahee (19-61) fumbled at midfield prior to Pittsburgh's game-tying drive. The defense struggled to stop a hobbled Ben Roethlisberger, including Champ Bailey, who dropped an interception that went right through his hands right before Big Ben hit Jerricho Cotchery for the tying score.
I was so frustrated on the forums that I half-joked that the Pittsburgh players were idiots for calling tails during the overtime coin toss because it was clear the ref had a two-headed coin.
My playoff 2011 NFL Power Rankings, will be posted Monday morning.
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Wesley C
12-06-2011
02:01 pm
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If only Rob and Rex ran a plumbing business in Brooklyn that was frequently visited by C-level late 80s celebrities and showed awesome cartoons. Oh, and the daily reminder to watch The Legend of Zelda on Friday.
Jra
12-06-2011
03:44 am
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Haters gonna hate. So many bitter people on these comments.
Go run your own site noobs.
Brian Henry
12-05-2011
10:38 pm
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Comment is abusive and has been removed.
Brian Henry
12-05-2011
10:38 pm
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Comment is abusive and has been removed.
CJ
12-05-2011
07:49 pm
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It seems like Nick Fairley's diet is Starburst and Skittles. He's been dealing with this foot thing since day 2 of training camp. I really wish K.Smith could hold himself together.
The penalties. . . Well, Chris Collinsworth said it best. "What are you. . . You can't keep . . .just . . . . AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!" I think he said that during the 3rd quarter.
Blok Nivek
12-05-2011
07:38 pm
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Hey Paisanos! It's the Super Ryan Bros. Super Show!
bias
12-05-2011
07:21 pm
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Just wanted to point out the Eagles played another team on Thursday night. Not sure if you noticed going off your comments...
Roy
12-05-2011
05:23 pm
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You forgot to mention the Chiefs had 7 sacks, 3 of which were rookie OLB Justin Houston.
OKAYmeanwhile
12-05-2011
04:44 pm
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Walter, you forgot to mention how many interceptions the Ravens defense dropped during their game against the Browns.
Probably more passes than the Browns receivers dropped. Either way, that game was ugly!
Act 3 Scene 2...
12-05-2011
03:03 pm
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...In which Walt continues to rave like your typical fanboy.
You know Walt people would dislike Tebow less if his fans weren't such insufferable jackasses. Honestly, just suck his dick already.
Kyle
12-05-2011
01:06 pm
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Walt I don't understand how you can criticize the refs in other games, but in the lions game the refs called some very shaky penalties on Detroit and you say its the lions fault? come on man, be more consistent with your analysis.
and I'm not a lions fan either, i watched the game and saw the refs hand the saints a victory
lax18
12-05-2011
11:12 am
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shonn greenes 3rd TD was in garbage time, his 2nd was with 4 minutes left with the jets only up 3
Bad grammar
12-05-2011
11:08 am
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For someone who seems to enjoy making fun of other people's bad grammar so much, Walter sure makes a lot of mistakes. Try proofreading
Lance
12-05-2011
11:04 am
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Really? Ryan was terrible in the game? You clearly did not watch the game at all. Yes, he did overthrow Roddy and Julio early, but beyond that I don't know why he wasn't driven insane by those two, along with his other targets. There had to have been at least a dozen dropped passes by Falcons receivers in that game. He hit them in stride and right on their hands yet they dropped the ball over and over and over and over again. It was a terrible performance which I wholeheartedly hope the receiving corps feels ashamed in themselves for.
one man team
12-05-2011
07:47 am
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how in the world are %99 of tebow fans complete idiots? this game was his best statwise, his only good one in fact, yet all these people hail him as elite. i've heard his fans coming up with ridiculous stats and ranking him better than marino, montana, elway, manning, brady, rogers, etc. right. winning is all that matters, for the team. it takes a team effort to win a game. as quaterbacks go, based on individual performance, tebow is below average, at best(right now in his career). he seems to energize the team and all that, but his performances are statistically quite poor and they often win despite his play. he makes a nice play or two at the end of the game and he's all of a sudden elite, and still no one else gets any credit for keeping them in the game while he's blowing it for the first 55 min.
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