Week 19 NFL Game Recaps
49ers 36, 49ers 32
Well, you'd have to call this a coming-of-age performance for Smith. He really struggled at times, especially in the second and third quarters, but his two late drives were really impressive. When the Saints went up 24-23, I was pissed that they scored with four minutes on the clock because New Orleans has accumulated way too many bulls*** front-door covers this year. I figured Smith would either go three-and-out or commit a turnover, allowing the Saints to go up by at least four points.
So much for that. Smith proved just about everyone wrong, finishing 24-of-42 for 299 yards and three passing touchdowns. He also had a rushing score with a couple of minutes remaining where he looked like Tim Tebow, sprinting out left and down the field for 28 yards.
Brees' picks both came prior to intermission, and they were part of four Saint first-half turnovers. Donte Whitner forced a fumble on Pierre Thomas on the opening drive on what was one of the hardest hits I've ever seen. This site's senior editor said it looked like something out of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. Courtney Roby would later muff a kickoff and then fumble it. There was also a fifth give-away in the third quarter when Darren Sproles coughed up another fumble.
Despite all of this, the Saints were in position to win this contest, which is a testament to how good Brees and all of his weapons are. It's a shame that we won't have a Packers-Saints rematch.
The offensive line will also have to perform better. Smith had no pass protection when he was in third-and-long situations. He was sacked or pressured almost instantly nearly every time, even fumbling twice.
Patriots 45, Broncos 10
I've never seen an offensive line look so Jekyll and Hyde in a span of a week. The front kept Tim Tebow completely clean against the Steelers, yet the Patriots were in the backfield on almost every single passing down. Tebow had no chance whatsoever, especially with his receivers unable to separate. Denver had 14 negative plays - the most by any team in the NFL this year.
On the rare occasions that Tebow was able to get a clean release off, his receivers would drop passes. The worst infraction of this nature came from last week's hero, Demaryius Thomas, whpo dropped what would have been a first down in New England teritory on a third down during the team's second drive. I counted five drops in total.
There was a brief stretch in which Brady struggled in the middle of the first half, heaving an interception on one throw, tossing another near-pick and then missing an open Wes Welker. But he recovered on the next drive after the Broncos drew to within 14-7, leading his team on an eight-play, 52 yard drive to give his team another two-score advantage.
Hernandez also caught four balls for 55 yards and a touchdown, but that paled in comparison to Rob Gronkowski's 10 receptions for 145 yards and three scores, which tied a postseason record. The Broncos doubled Gronkowski last time and really limited him, but they decided to play zone this time, which is a big no-no against Brady. But it's not like they could have done anything to stop New England, save for drugging Brady's offensive linemen.
Ravens 20, Texans 13
Let's review each aspect:
- Flacco went 14-of-27 for 176 yards and two touchdowns, but those numbers don't tell the whole story. He missed open receivers and was very tentative in the pocket. He took five sacks (2.5 each from J.J. Watt and Brooks Reed). Basically, if Flacco's name was "Tim Tebow," ESPN buffoons like Bomani Jones, Merril Hoge and Cris Carter would be calling him the worst quarterback of all time after this performance. The difference between Flacco and Tebow though is that the Baltimore quarterback did have time to throw on some occasions, so his performance has to be more discouraging to Raven fans than what Denver supporters feel about their signal-caller.
- It doesn't help that Flacco once again had awful play-calling. Cam Cameron idiotically forgot to involve Ray Rice early on. Rice finished with 21 carries, gaining 60 rushing yards in the process, but had just four catches. Even worse, Cameron was guilty of some really predictable play-calling at the goal line in the fourth quarter. He did a good job with this in the first quarter, signaling in a play-action pass from Flacco to Kris Wilson, which resulted in a touchdown, so I don't understand why Cameron went back to stupidity when he could have sealed the deal. No, wait. I do understand what happened. Cameron is just that completely inept.
- What happened to Baltimore's run defense? I figured it would be better with Ray Lewis healthy, but Arian Foster managed to rush for 132 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries. This made things easier for T.J. Yates.
Of course, Yates' turnovers made things easier for the Ravens. Yates went 17-of-35 for 184 yards and three interceptions. He could have been picked off on five occasions, but Ed Reed dropped two interceptions in the first half.
Yates' problem wasn't accuracy; in fact, most of his throws were on the money. The issue was that he predetermined where he wanted to go on some of his attempts. He stared down Andre Johnson far too often, including the last real drive of the contest when he foolishly heaved a ball downfield despite being at midfield and having ample time remaining on the clock.
Giants 37, Packers 20
Green Bay's meltdown was truly amazing. The team committed so many unforced errors that had the Lambeau crowd groaning in disgust on nearly every possession. It's almost as if the players ha d the same lack of urgency they typically do in the preseason. Here's the laundry list of dumb mistakes:
- Drops: The Packers had a whopping eight drops by: Greg Jennings (2), Jermichael Finley, James Starks, Tom Crabtree, Ryan Taylor, Ryan Grant and Jordy Nelson. Drops plagued the Packers in their loss to the Chiefs, and that issue festered once again.
- Aaron Rodgers missed a wide-open Jennings for a touchdown on the opening drive. The Packers would have to settle for a field goal.
- John Kuhn lost a fumble in Giants' territory during the second quarter.
- Rodgers then lost a fumble of his own in New York territory on the opening drive of the third quarter.
- Rodgers had a wide-open Finley on a third down with 13 minutes to go, but missed him. He was sacked on the following play, which turned the ball over on downs.
- Grant fumbled the ball away down 10 in the fourth quarter. Chase Blackburn returned it inside the Green Bay 5-yard line. Eli Manning threw the game-sealing touchdown on the very next play to give his team a 30-13 lead.
If you're not familiar with Leavy, he's the inept/crooked ref who botched/fixed the Steelers-Seahawks Super Bowl. I don't know how the hell he's still permitted to officiate playoff games. He needs to be fired because allowing him to work another game would be completely irresponsible. He's either bought or just completely awful at his job.
That wasn't even the craziest Nicks score. Manning launched a Hail Mary on the final play of the first half, and New York Nicks came down with it in the end zone. The Packers covered the Hail Mary very poorly - almost as if they had no idea it was coming. Nicks finished with seven grabs for 165 yards and two touchdowns. Mario Manningham (3-31) also scored. Victor Cruz (5-74) was also a factor.
My playoff 2011 NFL Power Rankings, will be posted Monday morning.
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luke
12-26-2011
12:03 am
xxx.xxx.xxx.250
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"as long as Cam Newton doesn't regress"
i predict he will have a sophomore slump. give nfl defenses an offseason to watch tape on him, and they'll slow him down.
Horns of Gold
12-25-2011
11:42 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx5.90
(total posts: 1)
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Anyone who thinks the Rams should draft Luck and trade Bradford if they secure the #1 pick is a fool. Sam Bradford has an INT Rate of 2.2%. Even if he had eight more INT's to date, he'd have a better INT Rate after his first two NFL seasons than Jim Kelly (who played his first four seasons in USFL), Troy Aikman, Phil Simms and Peyton Manning. Not bad company there. Oh...and neither of those QB's had a winning record after two seasons, either. Do your homework, fellas.
Eric
12-25-2011
10:58 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx.181
(total posts: 1)
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Walt needs to write to recaps
Nate
12-25-2011
04:23 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx7.14
(total posts: 2)
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Cox, your reviews are way too long. Do what Walt and Charlie do, which is quickly gloss over the big points of the game with some feedback, not write a biography about the game.
Russ
12-25-2011
04:18 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx7.14
(total posts: 2)
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How can you say the Vikings set themselves back a few years by winning a football game? That's such a uneducated assumption. Remember when you said the Lions would be set back by not picking Russell Okung, or that Jimmy Clausen was better than Sam Bradford? This is just like that. The vikings were just a subpar team until they obtained Brett Favre and he took them one play from the super bowl. Sure, Kalil would help them out a lot, but it's so irrational to think they will suck for a while just because of one player ..
MATGEE
12-25-2011
01:46 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx.227
(total posts: 2)
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OK, this is the way I see it:
The Muslims own The Mafia who owns Las Vegas who owns The Game officials who own You and me, the Suckers What a travestigious debaclery of the old sport of football, don't you think?
Tom
12-25-2011
10:17 am
xxx.xxx.xxx5.22
(total posts: 1)
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Thumbs up if you actually read the entirety of Greg's game recaps. Good for you, gold star.
Vince
12-24-2011
04:30 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx3.99
(total posts: 4)
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"Save for the fumble, he took care of the football."
In other words, "If you excuse the turnover, he didn't have any turnovers." Come on, Walt. You're better than that.
coltboyforever
12-23-2011
04:47 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx.224
(total posts: 1)
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You play to win the game... say manning plays 5 more years and they draft moore... we be good til the end of time :D
Buggie
12-23-2011
03:13 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx.172
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If the jaguars are any smart, their best idea would be to continuously score safeties for the Colts. This way, even if Indy purposely tries to throw the game, they will be racking up a steady stream of points, causing them to win. MUAHAHA!!!!
Caldwell/Polian
12-23-2011
03:01 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx.249
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Should be fired for losing the first 13 games.
For winning the last 3, they should be banned from football for life.
Logan
12-23-2011
01:33 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx8.57
(total posts: 2)
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I dont have much faith in yates, i mean how much faith can you have in a 3rd string rookie qb without his best weapon?
He wont lead his team anywhere. But the good news next year is that the texans will get a lot better with mario schaub, and johnson back and healthy . texans are contenders next year
Logan
12-23-2011
01:29 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx8.57
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Texans just got plain beat, there were some calls against the colts that were shady, but since the colts won they dont look at that.
It should't have come down to a couple "shady" penalties anyway... the texans were the better team by far. I would be extremely worried if i was a texans fan
Marshawn Lynch
12-23-2011
12:32 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx.192
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YEEEAAAHHH!!!!!! DA BEAST MODE THANG!!!!!!
Steve
12-19-2011
07:51 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx7.82
(total posts: 1)
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Check out www.BlairHattonPicks.com for the MNF Pick, and College Bowl games starting tomorrow night!!
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