It was not a good day to be a Manning. In Foxborough, Peyton Manning threw three interceptions, including a game clinching pick in the final minute with the Colts in range to attempt a tying field goal. For the second year in a row the Colts were trying to rally back from a 31-14 deficit, but this year the comeback fell short. In Philadelphia, Eli Manning threw three interceptions and made a critical fumble in the game's final minutes and the Giants down by 7. With 2:51 remaining in the 4th quarter and the Giants facing 4th and 6, Manning ran for a first down to keep the drive alive, but instead of sliding feet first, which would have ended the play, he dove to get an extra yard or two and lost control of the ball, which the Eagles recovered. Philadelphia added a field goal on the ensuing drive, but Manning's fumble, in essence, ended the game. Both the Giants and Colts fell to 6-4 with 6 games remaining.
While the Manning brothers fell short in their comeback attempts, Mark Sanchez and the Jets succeeded in their own effort. The Jets led the Texans 23-7 in the 4th quarter before the Jet defense collapsed for the 2nd week in a row. A field goal made the score 23-10 before Shonn Green's fumble at midfield led to a quick touchdown for the Texans. Joel Dreesen's 43 yard touchdown reception from Matt Schaub on the first play after Green's fumble turned the momentum in favor of the Texans. Then with 2:18 to go Arian Foster's 1 yard touchdown run put the Texans in front 24-23, which they added to on a field goal by Neil Rackers with 55 seconds to go. Sanchez and the offense took over at their own 28 with 49 seconds to go. 49 seconds was plenty of time though as Sanchez marched the offense 72 yards on 5 plays for the winning score. With 10 seconds to go Sanchez and Santonio Holmes hooked up for the game winning score for the second week in a row and the Jets won the game 30-27 to improve to 8-2, tied with New England for 1st in the AFC East.
As good as the Jets have been in pulling out these last second wins, the Jets cannot like what they've seen from the defense. For the second week in a row they allowed an inferior team to drive down on them to either tie or go ahead late in the game. Last week it was Colt McCoy leading the Browns to the tying score that sent the game to overtime, and this week it was Schaub and the Texans scoring 20 straight 4th quarter points. Elite defenses put teams away when the game is on the line, they don't let teams back in the game, and that's exactly what the Jet defense did here. You can say that they shut the Texans down for 3 quarters, which is nice, but the game is 4 quarters, and the defense leaked like a sieve in the 4th quarter. If they want to win the AFC this year, they better start clamping down because the rest of the AFC's elite are too good to play such soft defense when it matters most.
As for my picks, it was a good week, but not good enough. I am 11-4, 95-64 for the year, with a pick of San Diego over Denver tonight. There was potential for a big week, but the Bengals blew a 21 point lead to Buffalo, and Cleveland and Tennessee lost close games. I also lost with the Giants, but there is no need to discuss that one anymore.
What a weird football week. I can't believe that the Bengals lost that one. I can't believe that the Cowboys won for a third time. I can't believe that neither Manning got a W this week... Wow.
ReplyDeleteI also cannot believe how terrible the NFL officiating has gotten -- the calls in the Steelers-Raiders game rank up there with the worst in the history of the game, perhaps even taking the crown for that dubious award (over the Steelers-Chargers game in 2008). I know that is a drastic thing to say, but I cannot even fathom more bad calls in one game than this one.
1. A "landing with your body weight on top of a QB" penalty against James Harrison, who really did not even land on the QB to begin with.
2. Calling pass interference on Ike Taylor when it was clear that the Raider ran out of bounds on his own.
3. "Picking a player off the pile" Seriously?! I mean, seriously?
4. The refs calling offsetting penalties against Seymour and Kemeoutu. Come on... Seymour even got fined for the play -- you don't punch the opposing QB when he throws a TD. Kemeoutu was simply protecting Ben. I do not think that these should have offset.
5. Then on Ryan Clark's hit, where the receiver was already engaged with another defender so that should not have been called.
I know that there are more, but I cannot remember anything more off hand.
I think that in the very least, this should have been a 42-3 game, and while I might seem to be complaining about a win, this very easily could have gone the other way. What if this were a game against an elite team? What if this were the playoffs?
The NFL and Roger "Tampon" Goodell both owe the Steelers an apology. This has gone beyond a general dislike of James Harrison and quality defenses. I know that the NFL wants high scoring games to draw in more crowds, but they seem to forget that this is football and not women's softball. This is a real sport -- a physical one -- and penalizing the elite teams for playing well makes the NFL, as a whole, look ridiculous.
Tampon Goodell, this has become personal.
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ReplyDelete"I also cannot believe how terrible the NFL officiating has gotten -- the calls in the Steelers-Raiders game rank up there with the worst in the history of the game, perhaps even taking the crown for that dubious award (over the Steelers-Chargers game in 2008). I know that is a drastic thing to say, but I cannot even fathom more bad calls in one game than this one."
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to believe that officiating in all sports have always been this inconsistent. The only difference is that now we have better technology like HDTV and ultra slow motion in greater quantity. Never have more cameras been in place to detect the omnipresent "human element".