2009 Game Reviews
NFL Week 12
by Jody Jamieson
2/12/2009
 
Packers 34 Lions 12
 
I’ll get to my thoughts about the Thanksgiving card during the Raiders-Cowboys report as this was a slightly more interesting game. Plus at least there’s a genuine divisional rivalry here, so there’s always a slight chance Detroit could pull of a shock.
 
The Packers were nice enough to put the opening kick-off on the floor in a vain attempt to get people interested. Jordy Nelson fumbled and Detroit took advantage of the short field when Matthew Stafford hit Calvin Johnson for the opening touchdown. Green Bay took 8 minutes off the clock on their first drive, but Mason Crosby missed a 43 yard field goal. Unfortunately for the Lions this was as good as it got. Stafford fired the first of 4 interceptions to Nick Collins and the Pack went the other way quickly when Aaron Rodgers fired a 68 yard bomb to Donald Driver to set up first and goal, and on the next play Donald Lee scored on a tight end screen. The Pack added two field goals before the half and then moved into a commanding 27-7 lead in the third quarter. Rodgers fired TD passes to Donald Driver and James Jones to seemingly put the game out of reach.
 
Detroit looked to have scored a touchdown on defense when Ryan Grant fumbled in the endzone after a hit by Louis Delmas, but after a Mike McCarthy challenge he was ruled down by contact. The Lions could only add a field goal after the safety punt to make it 27-12 and the fact they couldn’t add a touchdown really finished them off. Stafford tried his best to lead the Lions back into it, but threw a horrible pick to Charles Woodson which was returned for six and put a rubber stamp on a convincing win. The Packers clearly have issues on both sides of the ball, but keep finding ways to win. In a wide open NFC Wildcard race they are sitting pretty at 7-4.
 
Raiders 7 Cowboys 24
 
The problem with the early games isn’t having Detroit hosting one. It’s a nice tradition letting the Lions host the early game. If Detroit ever get competitive, the Lions-Packers once every two years might be rather exciting, and if they continue to suck, then we’ll at least get a chuckle. The problem this year was letting the hapless Raiders visit the Cowboys. Dallas were scheduled to host an AFC team this year with Green Bay going to Detroit, so why not invite San Diego? The Chargers visit the Jerrydome in Week 14. How much more interesting would that have been? While Dallas splattered the Jets and Seahawks in 07 and 08 respectably on Turkey Day, both teams were expected to be reasonably good when those seasons started, but both went into the Thanksgiving game with a back-up quarterback and were having surprisingly disappointing years. But you know Oakland are pathetic, so why send them there on what could be a great day for football?
 
Dallas were far from spectacular, but they beat up on a terrible Oakland team to get themselves somewhat back on track after back to back disappointing performances. Tony Romo had his best game in a while as despite only completing 18 of 29 passes, he racked up 309 passing yards, two touchdowns and had no turnovers. Miles Austin (7-145-1) and Jason Witten (5-107-0) had huge days while no other receiver had more than 2 grabs. Felix Jones had a 46 yard touchdown run in the second quarter to make it 10-0 before Miles Austin’s TD catch made it 17-0 at the half to end the game as a contest. Roy Williams had a 4th quarter touchdown reception to end any delusional thoughts the Raiders had of a comeback.
 
The unthinkable happened in this game. DARRIUS HEYWARD-BEY SCORED A TOUCHDOWN!!! Heyward-Bey somehow didn’t drop the 4 yard pass from Bruce Gradkowski as he registered his first NFL score. Heyward-Bey had a whopping 2 catches for 21 yards and a TD, which is quite obviously a career day for the rookie from Maryland.
 
Giants 6 Broncos 26
 
The Giants were a disgrace on Thursday. The only Giant who deserves any credit after that first half is Tom Coughlin for not murdering anyone in the locker room. That was perhaps the worst half of Giants football I have ever seen, and it didn’t get a whole lot better after the restart. New York had a pathetic 38 yards of offense in the first 30 minutes and it made you wonder if they even prepared for this game. If they’d came in 8-2 you can forgive them for mailing this game in, but they came in 6-4 and really needed to win.
 
Denver weren’t much better themselves early on. They had a great chance to make it 10-0 with first and goal, but somehow took three false start penalties (in a home game no less) and settled for a 32 yard field goal. It was pretty funny that after this drive the NFL Network showed Josh McDaniels going postal on the sideline without even bothering to edit out about five F-Bombs. Bob Papa’s apology was so hilariously sombre I thought he’d drowned a bag of puppies during the break. Denver finally got into the endzone when Knowshon Moreno scored from a yard out, and Matt Prater added his third field goal to give Denver a 16-0 lead at half time.
 
Kyle Orton started the second half with a horrific pass in the vague direction of Brandon Stokely that Terrell Thomas easily picked off, but the Giants could only turn it into a field goal. New York then bogged down again and Lawrence Tynes nailed his first 50 yard field goal since he played in Kansas City. The Broncos eventually ended this as a contest when Kyle Orton hit Brandon Stokely over the middle for an easy 17 yard score.
 
Eli Manning finished 24/40 for 230 yards and a pick, but he could have been picked about 5 times. It didn’t help that his offensive line took Thanksgiving off and didn’t bother to protect him. Manning was dropped three times and harried all night by a Broncos pass rush with something to prove. Kyle Orton was sacked on Denver’s first play from scrimmage, but that was a momentary blip as his line gave him all the time he wanted afterwards. He finished 18-28 for 245 yards with a TD and a pick. Knowshon Moreno ran for 88 yards and a TD on 19 carries, but regularly made something out of nothing. The only thing New York did well all night was stack the line in the run game, but Moreno evaded tacklers and turned potential disasters into positive gains.
 
However the absolute star of the game was Brandon Marshall who had 86 yards on 6 catches including two completely ludicrous one handed grabs. You know it’s an ironic day when the Giants offensive linemen and pass rushers look like they’d rather be somewhere else, while Marshall played like his life depended on it. This kinda summed up a very underwhelming and strange day of Thanksgiving football.
 
Buccaneers 17 Falcons 20
 
Matt Ryan went out injured in the first quarter of this one and will miss Sunday’s game against Philadelphia. Tampa Bay almost pulled out a victory, but backup Chris Redman put together a late drive to get the Falcons back to winning ways. Redman put together good numbers (23/41, 243 yds, 2TD), but was guilty of holding onto the ball far too long as he was sacked five times in the contest. With Redman taking sacks and the running game never getting going (75 yards on 26 carries) the Falcons struggled to put points on the board, but when it mattered they put together a 59 yard touchdown drive for the win.
 
Atlanta had an early 10-0 lead on the back of a field goal and a Redman shovel pass to Jerious Norwood but Tampa Bay tied it up at the half with a 42 yard Josh Freeman TD pass to Antonio Bryant (on a 2 play, 80 yard drive) and a Connor Barth field goal. The Bucs then took the lead on a Freeman pass to Cadillac Williams after a blocked punt. It was 17-13 going into the final stages after Jason Elam missed a field goal, but Redman and the Falcons offense put together a 15 play drive that ended with a TD pass to Roddy White on fourth down with just 25 seconds to go.
 
Josh Freeman took better care of the football on Sunday with no picks and one fumble that he recovered. Freeman finished 20/29 for 250 yards and 2 TD’s and is really maturing into a passing threat.
 
Dolphins 14 Bills 31
 
I still don’t get the Dolphins. They held a 14-7 lead in the 4th quarter of this one and somehow managed to lose comfortably to the anaemic Bills. They spoiled a great opportunity on the opening drive when Ricky Williams threw out of the Wildcat on the 3 yard line into double coverage and was picked off by Chris Drat, and Chad Henne compounded the misery with three interceptions of his own. Miami eventually took the lead on a Brian Hartline touchdown reception in the second quarter, but Ryan Fitzpatrick tied the score when he scrambled out of the pocket and ran it in for a 31 yard TD. Miami went back in front on a Ricky Williams 1 yard rush out of the Wildcat, but the Bills rattled off 24 fourth quarter points to win their 4th game of the year.
 
Fred Jackson scored on the ground before Ryan Lindell nailed a 56 yarder for the Bills first lead of the day. Drayton Florence intercepted Henne at midfield, and Fitzpatrick to Terrell Owens on the next play made it 24-14. Fred Jackson scored on the ground again to send Miami to 5-6.
 
Redskins 24 Eagles 27
 
Donovan McNabb has long had a reputation of not being able to win the close games and for not being able to come back from a 4th quarter deficit over the past few years. While that has been justified (before the Bears game last week he had one 4th quarter comeback in the previous 4 years) he’s just rattled off two excellent comebacks in consecutive weeks as the Eagles find themselves 7-4 and still on the coattails of the Dallas Cowboys.
 
Andy Reid went completely crazy in the early part of this game. He started the game with a failed onside kick and the Redskins took advantage of the short field when Secret Agent Campbell ran it in from a yard. The Eagles then went for it on 4th a goal from the 2 on their next possession and scored, but it was negated by offensive PI. He then tried the same trick as last week with Michael Vick. Seriously the whole country saw Vick run a draw on 3rd and 1 against the Bears, so did he honestly think the Skins would be expecting something different on 3rd and 1 this week? Predictably the play didn’t work and Reid had to call a running play on 4th and 1 to keep the drive alive. Luckily Reid stayed fairly committed to the run this week and it paid off. LeSean McCoy and Leonard Weaver combined for 120 rushing yards on just 23 carries to make life a lot easier for Donovan McNabb. McNabb was 21/35 for 260 yards with a TD and an INT.
 
Philadelphia held a 16-14 half time lead, but the Skins scored 10 unanswered on a Fred Davis reception and a field goal. The Eagles drove to make it a 2 point game on Eldra Buckley’s first NFL TD and tied the score on a great LeSean McCoy second effort on the 2 point conversion. David Akers kicked a late field goal to give the Eagles a lead they never relinquished.
 
Seahawks 27 Rams 17
 
Kyle Boller threw the ball 46 times in this game. What?!?! Considering they were never down by more than a touchdown until the 4th quarter this makes no sense. Boller was almost efficient (28 completions for 282 yards and a TD) but threw 2 bad interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Josh Wilson. Steven Jackson meanwhile had just 23 carries, but rushed for 89 yards and a touchdown. Seattle meanwhile were more intelligent with their gameplan, pounding Justin Forsett on the ground. Forsett had 130 yards and two touchdowns on just 22 carries. Matt Hasselbeck on the other hand was a disappointing 14/25 for 102 yards. Nate Burleson had 4 catches for 46 yards while no other Seahawk eclipsed 20 receiving yards.
 
Seattle held a 17-10 lead going into the 4th quarter and put the game away with Justin Forsett’s second TD run and a field goal by Olindo Mare. St Louis replied with a Steven Jackson TD run but it was too little too late.
 
Panthers 6 Jets 17
 
The Jake Delhomme of the last few weeks was a mirage after all. Delhomme was absolutely horrific on Sunday, finishing 14/34 for 134 yards and throwing a whopping four interceptions. Delhomme was careless and wild in a completely laughable performance. In his defense he was unlucky with his first pick as while the throw was bad, it hit Steve Smith in the heel so should have been just a simple incompletion. Instead it bounced up in the air and Darelle Revis picked it off and took it the other way for a score. After this one there was no defense as Delhomme looked like a lunatic, throwing crazy passes all over the place. His second pick was a long bomb to Steve Smith that Revis intercepted, and the third one was a dead duck pop up at midfield that Kerry Rhodes took in comfortably. The fourth interception was a complete disgrace. Delhomme actually turned his back as he lobbed on in the air and Rhodes made the easy pick. Mark Sanchez was quiet but efficient after a horrific performance of his own last week. He finished 13/17 for 154 yards and an interception.
 
New York held a 14-3 half time lead after the Revis pick six and a Thomas Jones 3 yard run. Both teams added a field goal in the second half but the chance of a Carolina comeback was completely wiped out by Delhomme’s disgusting play.
 
Browns 7 Bengals 16
 
Cincinnati continues to be nothing more than an average offensive team, but defensively they are marvellously sound and that’s keeping them on top in the AFC North. This win completed a 6-0 sweep of the division. Five of the last six teams to sweep their division in regular season play have gone onto play in the Super Bowl. While I’d like to see more from their offense, their defense is going to keep them in every game they play. Carson Palmer was dinking and dunking all day, finishing 13/24 for just 110 yards and a touchdown, but the running game kept them on schedule and allowed Palmer to be safe and take what the defense gave him. Larry Johnson (22-107) and Bernard Scott (18-87) trampled the Browns on Sunday who lost Shaun Rogers for the season. Rogers was guilty at the end of the half of a horse collar tackle on Carson Palmer which set up a 53 yard field goal on an untimed down.
 
The lone Bengals touchdown was a 4 yard pass from Palmer to JP Foschi to make the score 10-0. The lone Browns touchdown was a Brady Quinn 7 yard rush to make the score 13-7. Quinn was a crappy 15/34 for 100 yards in the contest.
 
Colts 35 Texans 27
 
Only Tennessee stand between the Colts and the perfect regular season. If they beat the Titans at home next Sunday then no-one left on their schedule is going to stop them going 16-0. They finish with the Broncos, @ Jaguars, Jets and @ Bills. Indianapolis have amazingly been behind in the 4th quarter in their last 5 games, but have come back to win every time. San Francisco (2 point deficit, 4 point win), Houston twice (4, 3 and 6, 8) New England (17, 1) and Baltimore (1, 2) have been the victims of the clutch Colts.
 
At least Houston decided to start blowing the 17 point lead in the second quarter this time rather than the last 5 minutes. Sage Rosenfels and his ill-advised helicopter last year helped the Colts come back from the dead, and they repeated the trick again, albeit taking the lead with 9 minutes to go before blowing Houston away.
 
Houston established an early 17-0 lead with a Matt Schaub TD pass to Vonta Leach, a 5 yard rush by Chris Brown and a field goal by Kris Brown. This big play however was an uncharacteristic Andre Johnson drop in the endzone that would have made it 21-0. Pierre Garcon made an excellent one handed grab to make it 20-7 at half time.
 
A horrible pass interference call set up the Colts in the redzone, and a Manning fade to Reggie Wayne made it a one score game. Three Colts touchdowns in the final 9 minutes put the game out of sight. First Manning hit Dallas Clark to give Indianapolis the lead, and a Clint Session pick six made it 28-20. Chad Simpson broke tackles and scored on the ground after a Schaub fumble to give the Texans too much ground to make up. Schaub hit Jacoby Jones for a touchdown, but Houston couldn’t recover the onside kick as Indy moved to 11-0 on the season.
 
Chiefs 14 Chargers 43
 
How did this team beat Pittsburgh? And why did I take the points with Kansas City? The Chiefs were horrendous on Sunday against the Chargers and this game was essentially over before half time. San Diego held a 21-7 lead after two Antonio Gates scores and a LaDanian Tomlinson 1 yard rush when Cassel tried the old empty hand trick. Paul Oliver scooped it up and ran in for the touchdown. Rudy Niswanger then snapped the ball over Cassel’s head on the first series of the second half to set up a short field and another LT score to make it a laugher. Cassel was later flagged for intentional grounding in the endzone. Jamaal Charles and Chris Chambers had the touchdowns for the Chiefs.
 
Jaguars 3 49ers 20
 
Jacksonville continued their fine tradition of travelling to the West Coast and not putting in an ounce of effort when they get there. In two road games against NFC West teams with losing records, the Jags have been outscored 61-3. Jacksonville are perhaps the worst team I’ve ever seen with a winning record this late in the season. Their game plan was predictably stupid yet again on Sunday as Maurice Jones-Drew had only 15 carries but took them for 75 yards. When MJD gets 20 or more carries, the Jags are 5-1. When he gets less than 20 they are 1-4. David Garrard finished a fairly effective 25/36 for 307 yards which makes you wonder how they only scored 3 points. Well, Garrard was guilty of holding onto the ball for far too long as per usual and was sacked six times and lost two fumbles. Also Josh Scobee was just 1/3 in field goal attempts.
 
San Francisco tried to alleviate Alex Smith’s recent struggles by playing the spread offense for the most part and it worked well. Smith was 27/41 for 232 yards and 2 TD’s. He threw second quarter TD passes to Frank Gore and Vernon Davis to give them a 17-0 lead that Jacksonville never bothered to challenge.
 
Bears 10 Vikings 36
 
The Bears needed this one to keep alive their slim chances of the playoffs, but mailed it in to sound the final death knell on their 2009 campaign. Taking nothing away from a Vikings side hungry for the number 1 seed in the NFC, Chicago look to have completely given up. Minnesota ran 83 plays from scrimmage while the Bears could only muster a mere 38. They have so many holes to fill in the off-season, but are without a draft pick until the third round. Chicago’s offensive line is a disgrace and they could really use some help all over their defense. Jay Cutler was an efficient 18/23 for 147 yards, but threw a touchdown and 2 picks. Brett Favre meanwhile was a dominant 32/48 for 392 yards and 3 TD’s.
 
Percy Harvin’s receiving touchdown was cancelled out when Jay Cutler hit Johnny Knox, but the Vikes pulled away before half time. Brett Favre threw TD passes to Chester Taylor and Visanthe Shiancoe to give Minnesota a 24-7 lead at the break. Knox returned the second half kick-off to the Vikings eight yard line but settled for a field goal and never troubled the scoreboard again. Adrian Peterson had a late 6 yard TD run to wrap up another comfortable home victory for a Minnesota team currently in cruise control.
 
Cardinals 17 Titans 20
 
I have a man crush on Vince Young right now. Tennessee are inexplicably 5-6 (5-0 with Vince compared with 0-6 with Collins) and right back into the hunt for the playoffs. They have to go to Lucas Oil Stadium to face the Colts, but other than that they have a pretty fair schedule. It’s incredible that we’re even talking playoffs with Tennessee after how bad they looked early on. It’s amazing that their sixth defeat was the 59-0 shellacking at New England, but since that game they’ve ripped off five wins in a row. Young passed for a career high 387 yards (27/43) and a touchdown while rushing for just 8 yards on 4 attempts. Arizona did a good job of keeping Young in the pocket and making him a passer, but VY responded with by far the best passing performance of his career. He did make a major clock management mistake at the end of the first half when they ran out of time deep in Arizona territory, but aside from that he was excellent in what could be seen as the true turnaround in his career.
 
Early in the second half the Titans held a 6-3 lead until Chris Johnson (18-154-1) hit a home run. CJ rushed for an 85 yard score, but LaRod Stephens-Howling returned the ensuing kick-off for a 99 yard touchdown. Arizona then took their first lead of the game when Tim Hightower rushed in from 6 yards out. Tennessee drove down the field, but a Kenny Britt fumble looked to have taken away their best chance to keep the winning streak going. Arizona pinned the Titans on their one yard line, but Vince took his team all the way. They converted two 4th and 4’s in their own half and even had a pass tipped in the air but caught by Bo Scaife. Then on 4th and goal with 6 seconds remaining Young threw a walk-off pass to Britt to give Tennessee an amazing win.
 
Party Boy started for the Cardinals after Kurt Warner was ruled out and had a decent enough game, completing 21 of 31 for 220 yards. Leinart found 9 different receivers on the day and while he didn’t get into the endzone, he helped keep the Cardinals moving and looked at least competent enough to take over from Warner when the time comes.
 
Steelers 17 Ravens 20 (OT)
 
As a neutral, Steelers-Ravens tends to be my favourite two games of the year. If the NFL decided to play this game in prime time twice a year for the next ten years I’d be absolutely delighted. There’s something great about sitting watching football all day and finishing off with a good smash mouth defensive tussle between two bitter rivals. This game was tremendous. Dennis Dixon played well in his first NFL start, but made a huge mistake towards the end. Dixon looked comfortable in the face of the blitz, but when the Ravens started laying off and playing coverage, Dixon started holding onto the ball. He really struggled with his reads when the Ravens set up in a zone.
 
The Ravens opening the scoring on a 2 yard Willis McGahee run by Pittsburgh tied it up in the second quarter when Dixon hit Santonio Holmes. Joe Flacco threw a pretty fade pass to Derrick Mason for his 80th career reception against the Steelers but amazingly it was his first TD catch against Pittsburgh. Jeff Reed kicked a field goal in the third, and the Steelers took an unlikely lead when Dixon ran in from 24 yards out. Billy Cundiff tied the game late with a field goal and almost won it with a 56 yard attempt in what would have been a largely contentious moment. Flacco was sacked at the 45 yard line and fumbled the ball forward but the Ravens recovered. By rule the ball cannot be fumbled forward in the final two minutes, so it should have been returned to the spot of the strip. The refs didn’t notice quick enough and Cundiff kicked from the spot of the recovery. Luckily for the referees the kick was too short and the game went to overtime.
 
Both teams did nothing on their first possession of the extra period, but on third down Dixon didn’t recognise the zone blitz and defensive end Paul Kruger returned the interception to the Steelers 26 yard line. Billy Cundiff nailed the game winning chip shot to leave both teams with a 6-5 record.
 
Patriots 17 Saints 38
 
Saint-sational! This was a statement game for New Orleans under the national spotlight, and they delivered an incredible performance. Drew Brees was simply unstoppable, going 18/23 for a ridiculous 371 yards and 5 touchdowns as the Patriots secondary had no answer. Defensively the Saints completely dominated the line of scrimmage as New England never got into a rhythm all night. Brady was a pedestrian 21/36 for 237 yards and two pretty ugly interceptions as he was afforded no time in the pocket and the opportunistic Saints secondary took full advantage.
 
John Carney put one through off the upright after the Saints first drive, but the Patriots went right down the field and scored on a Laurence Maroney TD run. At the end of the first quarter with the score 7-3 we had a weird little sequence. New Orleans had 4th and 4 on their own 45 and lined up in what can only be described as a fake-fake punt. The Saints lined up with their punter in the slot but re-aligned in a more traditional punting formation. Wes Welker returned the ball to the spot of the punt, but with New England set up with great field position, Brady threw a horrible pick on the first play of the drive right to Mike McKenzie. The Saints turned the opportunity into points when Brees hit Pierre Thomas on a screen and Thomas broke numerous tackles on his way to the corner of the endzone. Devery Henderson meanwhile didn’t have to break any tackles after Brandon Merriweather blew the coverage and Henderson strolled into the endzone on a bizarre breakdown. Stephen Gostkowski was good from 36 yards, but New Orleans held a 24-10 half time lead when Brees threw a beautiful 38 yard TD to Robert Meachem.
 
Maroney made it a one score game with his second rushing touchdown, but the Saints scored two more TD’s to complete an amazing win. Brees tossed touchdown passes to Darnell Dinkins and Marques Colston to keep the Saints undefeated. It got so bad that with five minutes left Bill Belichick removed his starters and inserted Brian Hoyer at quarterback. While some saw it as a stupid move, there’s no shame in admitting you’ve been second best. The Patriots are normally a nightmare to face when they’ve come off a bad defeat. Good luck to the Miami Dolphins, who may be the victims of a ferocious backlash.