2009 NFL Week 19 Game Recaps

Saints 45, Cardinals 14

Wow. That’s all I can say. I didn’t think the Saints offense would click like this after taking two weeks off and struggling the two weeks before. Their ability to just flip the “on” switch like that was just amazing.

But the astonishing thing here was New Orleans’ defense. No one really would have been surprised if the Saints scored 45, especially with two key Cardinals defenders going down early (more on this later), but holding Arizona to 14? The Packers, who had a better defense than the Saints going into the playoffs, forced the Cardinals into just one punt.

In this contest, Arizona was nearly doubled up in first downs. Kurt Warner had no time in the pocket whatsoever. Outside of a 70-yard touchdown run on the first play of the game, the Cardinals’ running game was non-existent.

With that in mind, you have to wonder if this game would have gone differently if Jerheme Urban didn’t fumble the ball near midfield on Arizona’s second drive. The score was 7-7, and the Cardinals looked like they were going to score again. Urban’s fumble gave the Saints a short field and a subsequent touchdown, putting the Cardinals behind for good.

Warner was 17-of-26 for 205 yards and an ugly second-quarter interception thrown right at defensive end Will Smith. Warner suffered a chest injury trying to make a tackle after that pick, and was taken to the locker room. He returned after halftime, but was never the same, opting exclusively for stuff underneath.

Larry Fitzgerald amazingly didn’t catch a single pass until Matt Leinart replaced Warner in the final minute of the first half. Fitzgerald finished with six catches for 77 yards. Early Doucet impressed with eight grabs for 68 yards. Leinart, by the way, was 7-of-10 for 61 yards. Nick Lachey isn’t happy though; Leinart tossed a pass into double coverage that should have been picked off.

Drew Brees really made it look easy, and his numbers don’t even describe how well he played; he was 23-of-32 for 247 yards and three touchdowns. He torched Arizona’s anemic secondary that lost Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Antrel Rolle early to injury, which was something the Cardinals couldn’t overcome. It was painful watching Bryant McFadden get beaten like a Tom Cable spouse in this game.

Reggie Bush finally looked like the prospect coming out of USC back in 2006. He had just five carries, but took them for 84 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown. Bush also had four catches for 24 more yards. He added an 83-yard punt return in the second half.

Colts 20, Ravens 3

You can spend hours dissecting the matchups. You can spend days digging for trends. You can spend months waiting to bet on a game based on a poor organizational decision.

All of it, however, doesn’t matter if the team you bet on kills itself with penalties and lost fumbles.

– Two horrible fumbles: First, Ed Reed picked off a Peyton Manning pass and ran deep into Indianapolis territory. Pierre Garcon ran him down and knocked the ball out, allowing the Colts to recover.

Second, Ray Rice had a 20-yard run down to the Colts 28 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but fumbled it away.

– All of Baltimore’s penalties were costly, either negating a turnover, a crucial first down, or a possession deep in Indianapolis territory. The officiating was seemed one-sided, and I can only hope that the refs will donate some of their Colts winnings to Haiti relief.

I may have lost five units on this game, but I wouldn’t say I had the wrong side. Of course, you have ignorant announcers like Dan Dierdorf saying, “Hwa hwa hwa hwa, looks like the Colts knew what they were doing when they rested their starters, hwa hwa hwa hwa.”

Well, this was the first time Indianapolis had ever won – let alone covered – when coming off rest in Weeks 17 and 18. And I don’t think the Colts played all that well; outside of two offensive drives in the second quarter, they mustered just 136 total yards of offense, and for the entire game, they only outgained the Ravens by five yards (275-270). If Baltimore didn’t commit all of those dumb, careless errors, they could have easily won this matchup.

Peyton Manning completed 30-of-44 passes, but for only 246 yards. That YPA (5.6) is very telling, as Manning just dinked and dunked on most of his throws. He attempted some deep balls, but missed his targets. Manning threw two touchdowns and two interceptions, though only one pick counted because of a questionable pass interference call on an uncatchable ball.

The Colts struggled to run the ball. Joseph Addai led the team with 11 carries and 23 yards. He left the game in the first half with an injury, but returned in the fourth quarter.

Think the Ravens will be searching for some offensive weapons for Joe Flacco (20-35, 189, 2 INTs) this offseason? Of the 270 yards they compiled on offense, 191 of it came from Ray Rice and Derrick Mason.

Rice had 67 rushing yards (13 carries) and 60 receiving yards (9 catches), but also was guilty of that costly fumble. Mason caught four balls for 64 yards, but dropped a key first down.

Vikings 34, Cowboys 3

Despite what the score says, this game was played evenly between the 20s until the middle of the third quarter. The difference was that Minnesota scored when it was in Dallas territory, while the Cowboys found numerous ways to screw up when they ventured into Vikings territory. In fact, Dallas traveled into Minnesota’s side of the field five times in this contest and mustered just three points.

The errors:

1. Tony Aurora Snowmo lost a fumble on the first drive of the game.

2. Wade “Mr. Turkey Neck” Phillips foolishly opted to kick a 48-yard field goal on a 4th-and-1. Shaun Suisham predictably missed it, prompting Jerry Jones to call Nick Folk and ask if he would be available next season.

3. Snowmo took a sack, forcing the Cowboys into a 33-yard field goal.

4. Snowmo took a sack, forcing the Cowboys into a missed 49-yard field goal.

5. Snowmo took a sack, forcing a punt.

In case you couldn’t tell, Snowmo (22-35, 198 yards, 1 INT, 3 fumbles) was sacked a ton. There were six sacks in total, as Snowmo had no chance in the pocket because Flozell Adams suffered an injury in the second quarter. This prompted Mr. Turkey Neck and Jason Garrett to come up with the brilliant idea of having Jason Witten block Jared Allen. Meanwhile, Marc Colombo was beaten like a Tom Cable spouse (yes, I used that joke again), by Ray Edwards, who totaled three sacks.

And speaking of Mr. Turkey Neck, check out this quote after the game: “We throw an interception, we miss a field goal, I think we were playing pretty good.”

I can’t believe I bet on Mr. Turkey Neck in a playoff game. How dumb was that move on my part? I’ll have more of Phillips’ moronic quotes in my NFL Playoff Power Rankings.

I guess there was a team that won this game, and that would be the Vikings, who finished the year a perfect 9-0 at home. Brett Favre was a bit shaky at the beginning of the contest, but finished strong (15-24, 234 yards, 4 TDs). Favre took a sack on the fist drive, but was sacked only once after that.

Sidney Rice was amazing, catching six balls for 141 yards and three touchdowns. On his first score, Rice beat Gerald Sensabaugh for a 47-yard gain on a play where Sensabaugh could have at least broken up the pass had he turned around.

As mentioned, all of Dallas’ mental errors had a lot to do with the Vikings’ blowout, but the raucous crowd played a huge factor. Though the Cowboys won in New Orleans back in Week 15, they just seemed completely disoriented by all of the noise.

But as Emmitt would say, “What come around sometime come around again or sometime it do not come around again, but usually it do come around.” The point is, the Vikings will experience exactly what Dallas went through next week in the Superdome.

Jets 17, Chargers 14

The Chargers were the “hottest” team in the league entering this game, having won 11 in a row. I’m using that adjective very loosely. San Diego benched its starters after two drives in Week 17. At the time, I said it would cost them. And unfortunately for my preseason Super Bowl champion, it did.

Let’s forget about Nate Kaeding for a second. The Chargers were guilty of numerous mental errors early on, from botched snaps, to fumbles (3) to Philip Rivers interceptions (2) to poor third-down conversions (4-of-13; 1-of-6 in the first half). San Diego, like Indianapolis on Saturday night, looked completely out of synch after taking numerous weeks off. But unlike the Ravens, the Jets didn’t debaclize themselves with careless fumbles and dumb penalties, and give the game away.

And now for Kaeding: If I were coach of the Chargers, I wouldn’t have tried any field goals longer than 20 yards with him. I’m not kidding. The camera panned to Kaeding in the first half, and he looked like he was going to vomit. Either he had the Ebola virus, or was in an Aurora Snow-type choke mode. Maybe both. Kaeding missed kicks from 36, 57 and 40.

Unless you’re a Chargers fan, the most humorous aspect of this were the changes people made to Kaeding’s Wikipedia page after the contest was over. I’ll have those in my NFL Playoff Power Rankings.

It’s a shame that San Diego’s once-promising season has to end like this; the Chargers actually outgained the Jets, 344-262, but were simply plagued by all of those errors and missed field goals. New York didn’t even get its initial first down until seven minutes into the second quarter.

Having said that, the Jets deserve a lot of credit for sticking to their game plan. Even though they fell behind early, they kept on running the ball with Shonn Greene and Thomas Jones. Greene once again had more rushes (23) than Jones (14), and also outgained the veteran, 128-53. Greene’s 53-yard score in the fourth quarter sealed the victory for New York.