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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dirty sanchez
01-13-2013
02:04 pm
xxx.xxx.xxx2.20
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Walt is a b1tch. I'm sorry but it has to be said.
Replacement Ref
01-13-2013
10:25 am
xxx.xxx.xxx8.10
(total posts: 3)
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So the only call that was terribly wrong was the pick 6. Not only are u wrong but also that means the ravens were given 7 points in an overtime game. The game has to be tied to go into overtime those 7 points were important to the outcome. You just contradicted yourself with a statement like that. Let me say the Ravens actually did play a good game but only after the refs let them stay in the game and hang around.
Shawn
01-13-2013
10:10 am
xxx.xxx.xxx.104
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Walt, thank you for admitting the Ravens did some good things. I expected you to just complain about the refereeing. The only call I thought was unquestionably wrong was the no-call on pass interference on the pick-six. Everything else was at least debatable, with most but not all of those going to the Ravens.
Anyone who wants to say the Ravens didn't earn that win is full of it, though.
Replacement Ref
01-13-2013
09:53 am
xxx.xxx.xxx8.10
(total posts: 3)
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Forgot to mention Anquan Boldin looked like he dropped a ball on 3rd down in OT. The ref reviewed it and the play stood. Everybody in my room thought it was a drop. The announcer thought it was a drop. I thought he had the ball knocked out then he pinned the ball against the ground with his chest. But who am I, I'm not a highly paid ref paid a bunch of money to suck. That was a big call cuz it flipped field position.
Replacement Ref
01-13-2013
09:46 am
xxx.xxx.xxx8.10
(total posts: 3)
2
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Wow! Everybody here is blinded. If the replacement refs were still in charge everybody would be talking about how the refs ruined the broncos vs. ravens game. It's been like this all year with the real refs. I'm a Dolphins fan and that game was one sided officiated for the ravens. The broncos did lose it with terrible coverage at the end and a terrinle Peyton pick. But the PIs called and not called were all wrong every single one. The tuck rule was just banished for a single play. Then the 10 minute pow-wow by the refs calling 2 illegal hands to the face when one was wrong but the other one on the CB was right. Then there was a called fumble on that play that wasn't a fumble cuz manning knee went down 1st. But the ref said 5 yards from the end of the run cuz of the fumble instead of reviewing the fumble and giving them 5 yards from the line of scrimmage. If game was called correctly in the beginning I think Denver could have had a 21-0 lead at most or at least 10-0 or 13-0. Get new refs
Truth
01-13-2013
07:08 am
xxx.xxx.xxx2.27
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Walter, picking the game wrong is OK. It happens.
Stop crying about the officials in literally every single game you lose, though. While everyone can agree the officiating in that game was poor, they blew several calls both ways, and the Broncos benefited from many themselves. Just because you have money on a team doesn't mean that every call that goes against them is a crappy one.
By the way
01-13-2013
04:29 am
xxx.xxx.xxx7.20
(total posts: 6)
373
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I am over this site.
-The clear bias against teams clouds the line picking and even the reviews now. -The childish names like QB Eagles 7 ruin credibility. -The jokes are old and stale. I never read any of them this year, but I could always predict last years jokes. Like the pretend conversations with Herm Edwards that would be posted in caps and end with him saying "uhhhhh". EVERY WEEK. Seriously? -Finally, the picks just aren't that good
Sorry
01-13-2013
04:21 am
xxx.xxx.xxx7.20
(total posts: 6)
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That previous post was directed AT mike13531
mike13531
01-13-2013
04:20 am
xxx.xxx.xxx7.20
(total posts: 6)
8
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I've been saying this all year too. They played 3 good teams this year, and crapped the bed on all 3 games. Yes they beat the Ravens in regular season, but the Ravens were at their worst all season in that game with injuries to Lewis, Suggs, Webb, Pollard and an OC who had never called a play going into the game.
People overhyped this team based on the stats they racked up (especially on defense), but think about the QBs and o lines they got to face... Quinn, Cassel, Palmer x2, Rivers and the NFLs worst o-line x2, Freeman, Weeden to name a few.
mike13531
01-13-2013
02:39 am
xxx.xxx.xxx.220
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Ive been telling everyone i know denver is overrated and no one believed me. Manning is no mvp he's nowhere close to where he used to be. Accept the fact that teams who beat oakland and kc all year long means absolutely fking nothing.
Good night denver fkers. Time to go home.
Rayvens
01-13-2013
02:30 am
xxx.xxx.xxx.240
(total posts: 1)
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LOL, walter picked the game wrong, so they cry about the refs, give me a break. This website blows.
K-money
01-13-2013
02:16 am
xxx.xxx.xxx6.18
(total posts: 2)
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You know Crabtree's legit now that Walt isn't calling him Lobsterbush
Chris
01-13-2013
01:55 am
xxx.xxx.xxx.141
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Oh any by the way, if you want to talk about crappy calls, let's talk about Cary Williams' "Holding" penalty that led to the Broncos' final TD...a hand on the shoulder to know where the WR is while looking at the ball is legal...
Chris
01-13-2013
01:41 am
xxx.xxx.xxx.141
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@Ravens Hate - It's been like this for years. I don't get it either.
@Walt - Manning was not "So great throughout". He didn't stretch the field at all, I have no idea what you were watching. And as for Baily being so great all year - a) Did you forget how easy of a schedule they had all year? It's not like OAK, SD, or KC have any elite passing games. b) who cares about his stats during the regular season? He got exposed when it mattered most. Why? Because he's old and not that good anymore. You can go ahead and claim you had the right side because of bs excuses, but the fact is you are bias. If you weren't, you would have cited and applied the trend in the HOU/NE game to the Ravens.
Mike
01-13-2013
01:12 am
xxx.xxx.xxx4.28
(total posts: 1)
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Dude seriously? "Circadian rhythms set in, and many Packer bodies shut down just after halftime. I don't think Green Bay would have won either way, but it turned into a blowout because of the NFL's irresponsible scheduling. "
You're blaming it on the TIME SLOT?? I know you are deep on the Packer's ball sack, but this is ridiculous. They were blown out, don't make excuses. Body clocks are not an impact in a professional sport. |
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