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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Rob
10-10-2011
11:50 am
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you didnt mention anything about the bills in that write up. everything was about the eagles. o well. everyone can keep ignoring what the bills are doing good and always talk about what the other teams are doing wrong.
Patrick
10-10-2011
11:24 am
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Bogus non cover? really? Had denver finished out with orton, who you expected to play the whole game when making your predictions, they would have LOST BY 16!!!!
db
10-10-2011
11:02 am
xxx.xxx.xxx.170
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yeah, the chargers only outgained denver by 150 yards, bogus non-cover.
Lance
10-10-2011
10:24 am
xxx.xxx.xxx.137
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Well, I think I'll punch Mike Mularkey in the face if I ever run into him. By far the worst coordinator in the league. He went all out in the first two drives against the Packers by finally calling screens and slant routes but then remembered he's supposed to be as predictable as possible and to make the offense as unbalanced as humanly possible.
Wirst Coach ever
10-10-2011
10:22 am
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@Vince: yes, the Chargers won but WE lost (all the people who had money on the Broncos ATS).
And not running the ball on the first two downs at the own 20 with about 3 minutes left was incredibly stupid by Norv Turner. If Rivers doesn't complete the 3rd and 10 you give the red hot Tebow the ball with more than 3 minutes left. So this time Norv wasn't punished for his stupidity, but he eventually will. With Norv on the sideline the Chargers stand no chance whatsoever against a well-coached team in the playoffs. Mark my words!
Ron
10-10-2011
09:35 am
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Has anyone noticed that referee Jerome Boger sounds like he took lessons from Emmitt Smith on how to debacle the english language?
Help!
10-10-2011
08:09 am
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"Matt Cassel really deserves a lot of credit for this win."
What the hell did you do with Walter?! Walter would never write something positive about Matt Cassel. Someone call the FBI and put in for a missing persons for Walter.
Mark Hogan
10-10-2011
07:15 am
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Come on Walt!!! T he refs had a stake in this game???? Be more professional!!
Lucas
10-10-2011
06:11 am
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It's finally Tebow time! What should've happened 4 and a half weeks ago is finally here. Finally my Broncos have a shot at winning some ball games. Finally!
Vince
10-10-2011
05:29 am
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What was the second bogus personal foul? And the one that 'left the announcers befuddled' actually was legit. The ref announced "Hit on a defenseless receiver." When CBS showed the replay, at the top of the screen, you could just barely see Vincent Jackson, turned around and watching the pass to Floyd I think it was, and you could see a safety come from behind him and drill him to the ground, hitting him in the back. I think it was #26 on Denver. But I don't recall the other personal foul you're speaking of.
@Wirst Coach ever: I tend to agree that Norv Turner isn't a good coach, but what are you talking about? The Chargers won, last time I checked. If you're referring to why the Broncos lost the Chargers game, how could it have been Turner's playcalling? Orton was a much more obvious target.
Wirst Coach ever
10-10-2011
04:22 am
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Hi Walt,
Just wanted to point out the main reason why we lost the Chargers game - the atrocious play calling by Norv Turner. With around 3 minutes left for no reason whatsoever he decided to throw the ball twice on the first two downs instead of running it to keep the clock going. Of course both passes were incomplete. Only because of this absolute horrible play calling the Chargers were forced to try the filed goal instead of just running down the clock. I'm really looking forward to unloading against Norv Turner in the playoffs, when his idiotic play calling once again will kill the Chargers.
Dear Dan
10-10-2011
03:58 am
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Technically they had 1 but it was offset by another Denver Personal foul
Refs Suck
10-10-2011
03:57 am
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I'm glad I wasn't the only one watching the Broncos and seeing all those phantom calls. 2 personal fours that were not there FML.
On the plus side looks like Orton will ride the bench now, its #TebowTime. When Tebow was on the field the Broncos technically won. 14-6. Imagine if tebow had played the whole time. I would be fine with Orton if he showed that he actually wanted to play. But honestly to me it looks as though he just wants to get paid. Tebow is a gamer and has someting that Orton doesn't leadership and a passion for the game.
Dan
10-10-2011
02:29 am
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San Diego had 0 penalties on them
nycsportzfan
10-04-2011
08:13 am
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Whats up with Shady mccoy getting 9carries? The guys one of the best in the league and your giving goal line carries to Scmitt and ronnie brown? It cracks me up when teams call on guys who stink to much to be starters the ball in crucial situations LOL Why would u not give the ball to your best player every time u get close to the endzone? If i was Shady i would be heated!
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