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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a redskins fan
11-14-2011
08:32 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx.101
(total posts: 1)
63
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grossman didnt throw "two horrendous picks" just one the other hankerson slipped on the timing route. i think grossman looked great but that could just because its comparison to the last few weeks.
KyleCleric
11-14-2011
01:05 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx7.43
(total posts: 1)
16
20
The Pats have looked good on D in 5 of the 6 past weeks with the Steelers game being the sole exception (not tha Pats fans got to see it with the power failure).
you're retarted
11-14-2011
12:35 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx.130
(total posts: 1)
599
236
so....let me get this straight...
" this contest meant absolutely nothing to the Giants" - if you're going with that lgic, this game meant even less to the 49ers. They had a 5 game division lead going in, the giants had a 2 game lead. "The Giants had a chance to hold their cushion in the East and stay on course for a No. 2 seed in the playoffs" - stay course for the #2 seed? packers: 8-0, 49ers: 7-1, Giants 6-2.....looks like they were on course for the #3 seed. "Still, even with a big edge in time of possessions (34:37 to 25:23) and no Gore to deal with, New York found a way to let this win slip away" - slip away.....right. They were outplayed in every aspect of the game except for the deep pass. Couldn't run, dominated on special teams, gave up 27 points to a "game manager". stop hating. niners are legit
Emmitt's Revenege
11-14-2011
10:15 am
xxx.xxx.xxx6.66
(total posts: 1)
27
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"They've lost all hope of landing Andrew Luck, and if they don't be careful"
I have most proper english so I be the one to cast first stone.... Take your licks Walt
Hahahaha
11-14-2011
10:01 am
xxx.xxx.xxx8.33
(total posts: 1)
170
20
This game meant absolutely nothing to the Giants? Are you for real? The winner of the game to move into the #2 seed in the NFC and hold the tiebreaker over the other? Holding a 2-game lead over the Cowboys in the NFC East? Yeah, none of that meant anything to the Giants. I'm not even sure why they played their starters. Why won't anyone give the 49ers their due credit? They have an 8-1 record and have only played one opponent from the NFC West.
Please explain...
11-14-2011
09:54 am
xxx.xxx.xxx0.32
(total posts: 2)
146
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(Editor's Note: I don't want to take anything away from the 49ers because they're playing great football right now, but this contest meant absolutely nothing to the Giants.)
Absolutely nothing? So... the Giants don't care about a first round bye and home field advantage in the 2nd Round? This was a HUGE loss for them. Instead of tied with SF for the #2 seed they are now two back and SF has the tiebreaker. They have no chance to catch them now given the 49ers easy schedule going forward.
frett barve
11-14-2011
09:13 am
xxx.xxx.xxx4.57
(total posts: 1)
77
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Charlie's writeups are too long and clinical! Be more concise dude!
ben hardy
11-11-2011
11:03 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx.219
(total posts: 2)
27
29
i just worked it out, its a game of thrones reference
ben hardy
11-11-2011
10:59 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx.219
(total posts: 2)
21
28
why do you call phillip rivers "The bastard of the Trident"?
bigtrip
11-11-2011
12:13 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx2.60
(total posts: 1)
17
15
I know the QB gets all the credit for wins and most of the blame when his team loses, but let's be fair. The Charger receivers can't get open. Gates looks to be either still hurt or washed up. And that OL is terrible. Palmer played all night and was only pressured 2 or 3 times. On those limited pressures he threw an int. and fumbled. If he would have faced the constant pressure that Rivers faced he may have turned the ball over 5 or 6 times. The game was decided by the OL's. The Raiders OL was much much better than the Chargers OL and the Raiders won.
Matt
11-11-2011
09:38 am
xxx.xxx.xxx2.43
(total posts: 4)
83
18
Why do you assume that punt/pass rule will be changed? It's actually a great rule that makes perfect sense. The defender assumes the punt is happening so his mindset is going to be to just block and assault the gunner the entire way, which is what he is coached to do and should do. It's unfair if he is doing his job perfectly and a pass comes falling near him and he gets called for interference.
Basically, it's impossible for the defender to focus on the gunner and preventing him from getting downfield all the while looking back at the punter and worrying about a pass coming his way and getting flagged for interference.
@ Walt
11-11-2011
08:08 am
xxx.xxx.xxx00.9
(total posts: 1)
82
18
"When a team fakes a punt and throws the ball downfield, pass interference will not be called on the two outside defenders who are actually trying to block a coverage man from getting downfield and might not even know the ball has been thrown."
Rule was added for before the 1997 season according to Wikipedia. Strangely enough I had just read this on Wednesday. When it happened I said to my friend 'that's not pass interference because Jammer is really defending the gunner in a punt formation'
Jared - Champaign, IL
11-08-2011
01:28 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx.223
(total posts: 1)
20
25
How is no one talking about the officiating in the Bears-Eagles game? I'm neither a Bears nor an Eagles fan, but Philly got screwed over time after time.
The pass interference on the throw to Knox late, the bogus roughing the passer that gave the bears a first down on the three instead of fourth down on the six. There were a few others too that just left me shaking my head. Obviously the Eagles still had opportunities they didn't take advantage of, but the refs killed them.
someone was high
11-08-2011
01:51 am
xxx.xxx.xxx.174
(total posts: 1)
26
16
On Pete Carroll's post game show, the interviewer discussed Tarvaris Jackson, and stated that "we aren't used to seeing Jackson throwing interceptions like that". I nearly died laughing LOL.
larry
11-07-2011
08:01 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx.177
(total posts: 2)
19
20
eagles -9 bc bears suk
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