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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Ok
01-13-2013
01:06 am
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San Francisco had a tremendous advantage in this contest because of the 8 p.m. start time. Circadian rhythms set in, and many Packer bodies shut down just after halftime.
- Oh my god. Please tell me youre trolling
Raven Hate
01-12-2013
11:36 pm
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Ohh, I also forgot to mention the block in the back and hold by Jacob Hester on Holliday's 2nd return TD.
If anything the officials tried to swing the game Denver's way.
Raven Hate
01-12-2013
11:33 pm
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Walt, I enjoy the site, but when it comes to the Ravens you have an inexplicable and clear bias against them. Seriously, who in the Ravens organisation pissed in your cheerios?
For the "Tuck Rule" fumble - Peyton Manning lost control moving his hand forward but had CLEARLY regained possession with 2 hands before fumbling, so you're wrong there. You fail to mention the earlier strip-sack that was taken away by a bogus hands to the face call which the officials clearly botched and tried to cover up. As far as bias towards Baltimore - which game were you watching? The officials just plain sucked. They blew calls both ways and anything 50/50 went the way of Denver early on. Baltimore's offensive line just dominated one of the better defensive lines in the NFL (if you include Miller) and Flacco outplayed Manning against what was a better statistical unit, at home. I love the site, but the irrational Raven hate you have just dumbfounds me.
Bucky
01-12-2013
11:26 pm
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In the replay, you could see Manning get his both hands on the ball when it was against his groin. He dropped it after that, so IMO it was a fumble and a good call.
HATE
01-07-2013
10:31 pm
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your hate against the Ravens is blatantly obvious every week. You keep pointing out the missed plays by the colts but forget everything that could've made this game even more a blowout in the ravens favor. i appreciate the work you put in for this site but i'm not gonna look at this section if all you're going to do is discredit my team in any way you can when they win.
D
01-07-2013
04:49 pm
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While the RGIII injury is unfortunate, should have been avoided and obviously played a part. You can't dismiss the fact that the Seahawks broke down the Washington D. There's a reason they put up 371 yards in 3 Quarters. And that's because they were playing ball and started to dismantle the 'Skins defense. There's multiple facets to Football, more than just RGIII vs the defense, can't discount the rest.
More blame should be put on Shanahan for continuously putting out a completely hobbled QB who was not a better option than Cousins at that time. He was hurt prior to this game and was visibly hurt and no where near playing level. He chose to ignore that and put him out there even though he clearly wasn't the best answer. Boneheaded decision that hurt the Redskins the most.
@Seahawks fan in NJ
01-07-2013
04:23 pm
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HAHAHAHA. what a joke. it's like every seattle fan is delusional... or just to casual to formulate an opinion.
Still at it!
01-07-2013
03:28 pm
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Walter loves to mention TWO dropped interceptions for the Indianapolis defense, but fails to mention how many dropped interceptions the Ravens defense had. He throws the call on the Ray Rice fumble as a "bone" but then goes on to make it sound like every other call went the Ravens way.
Still salty he lost his "biggest play of the weekend" yet again. Even when I warned him. Yeah... it sure looked like the Colts really had a huge advantage because "Pagano knows the Ravens." Note to Walt... the Ravens defense stopped playing midway through the 2nd half once they built their lead. They were simply letting the Colts run out the clock. Why show more material for Peyton Manning than you have to? Indianapolis looks like a promising team going forward, but they got beat by a better team that finally had all it's defensive stars on the field at the same time this season. They didn't "give the game away" as Walt would have you believe. And if the forecast for freezing temperatures and possibly snow this weekend in Denver hold true... the Ravens could play very well against the Broncos.
John M
01-07-2013
01:43 pm
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"I don't want to completely discredit the Ravens' defense", but that's exactly what I'm going to do. The only disappointing thing about them was that they didn't hang on to 3 more of Luck's poor/deflected passes.
This was not an evenly matched game. In fact it was the least evenly matched game of the weekend on the scoreboard, although the Joe Webb debacle was worse overall. You were way off on who the better team was, and if it weren't for the Rice fumbles in Colts territory and Flacco choosing to go to Tandon Doss (really?) in key first half moments, the score would have been even more lopsided. The worst part is that you're just waiting for them to lose to claim that you were right all along about their flaws and fraud status, despite how many picks you get wrong along the way.
Matt
01-07-2013
01:40 pm
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Walter has hated the Ravens ever since that Chargers game and refuses to ever say they just played a good game because of it lol. Every win is "Well, if this and this didnt happen then Baltimore would have been in trouble"
#1 Seahawk Fan in NJ
01-07-2013
01:08 pm
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Keep whining about RG3 and his injury.
The bottom line is after taking two punches to the face in the 1st quarter, Seahawks made their adjustments and whipped the Skins (without their best pass rusher) The Seahawks could have scored 40 if not for some errors.
jo
01-07-2013
11:29 am
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walt u complain about colts outplaying ravens and the missed calls by ref and luck making bad throws and a tipped int etc. but you dnt recall that if rice dont fumble twice
Joe R
01-07-2013
11:17 am
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I have to disagree with anon. It was pretty evident midway through the 3rd quarter that RGIII was toast. Not only did Shanahan stick with an ineffective Quarterback, but now Washington has to anxiously wait and see if he feels lingering effects to this game.
I don't think he will, and I hope not (since I really like RGIII), but it's a reasonable concern. Cousins wasn't exactly ineffective when he played during the season, too. And it's not like they couldn't go back to RGIII
anon
01-07-2013
11:03 am
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Is it just me or are the people calling for Shanahan's head for not pulling RGIII the same people who were calling Jay Cutler a wimp for not reentering the NFC Championship game on a torn ACL a couple years ago?
Also, let's be honest: if Shanny had pulled RGIII earlier and they had lost because of Kirk Cousins, people would have been screaming at how dumb Shanny was for not sticking with his young star QB during a win-or-go-home scenario. This really is a no-win situation for the poor guy.
@wtf?
01-07-2013
10:38 am
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sherman and co, have been doing that all year long! i'm sure they sent escorts to the refs before the game. 49ers were a victim of that in the first game. if griffin didn't get hurt, he was gonna curb stomp that seattle defense. good luck getting away with all that nonsense vs white and jones down in the ATL. Atlanta in an easy win.
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