2009 Game Reviews
NFL Week 13
by Jody Jamieson
10/12/2009
 
New York Jets 19 Toronto Bills 13
 
I genuinely thought the Jets would lose this game after two terrible mistakes in the first quarter. Mark Sanchez had Jericho Cotcherry wide open in the endzone, but badly overthrew him. He was sacked on the next play by Kyle Williams and New York had to settle for three points. Braylon Edwards then had the worst drop since Troy Williamson in Arizona a couple of years ago. Sanchez threw a bomb down the field to Edwards who was wide open after an obvious busted coverage. He looked over his shoulder, ran a little too far, and allowed it to bounce off his head, ruining the chance for an 85 yard touchdown. To add to the two bad mistakes David Clowney then bobbled one in the endzone that he should have caught. Rex Ryan challenged the catch, but the ruling stood and the Jets settled for another field goal. It should have been 21-3 to New York. Instead it was 6-3. Marshawn Lynch ran through some crappy tackling for a 35 yard gain on Buffalos next drive, and then on the next play he ran through some more crappy tackling to make it 10-6 on a 15 yard TD run.
 
It looked for all the world that the Bills would go on and win the game, but their general ineptitude managed to shine through in the end. Full back Tony Richardson got two carries in the game on inside handoffs, and took them for 17 and 19 yards. If that isnt an indication of how bad a defense is then I dont know what is. Braylon Edwards had a 15 yard TD reception to give the Jets a 16-10 half time lead. Both sides added field goals in the second half, but Buffalo couldnt push one into the endzone as they dropped to 4-8.
 
Part of the problem the Bills had on offense was Ryan Fitzpatrick spent the whole game trying to force throws into Terrell Owens, but TO was being shut down by Darelle Revis. Owens finished with 3 catches for 31 yards, but Revis came away with one interception and could have had a couple more. Fitzpatrick finished a terrible 9/23 for 98 yards and a pick. Mark Sanchez meanwhile was 7/15 for 104 yards and a touchdown, but was victimised by Edwards and his horrible drop. Sanchez left the game with a knee injury and is likely out for the Jets game with the Bucs on Sunday.
 
Eagles 34 Falcons 7
 
Philadelphia led 10-0 early after a field goal and a Donovan McNabb TD pass to Leonard Weaver. The first quarter came to an end when David Akers missed a 39 yard field goal but did add a field goal in the second quarter. Atlanta were shutout in the first half after setting up 2nd and goal on the one yard line, but three straight Jason Snelling runs up the middle were stuffed. Instead of a one score game, the Eagles went in 13-0 up at half time and came out and blasted Atlanta in the second half.
 
Michael Vick has his first rushing touchdown since 2006 in his old house to make it 20-0. The Falcons were compelled to go for it on 4th and 5, but Sheldon Brown read the curl route and took an easy pick the other way for a touchdown. Vick then played a bit of quarterback and threw a 5 yard touchdown pass to Brent Celek. As much as the game was out of hand and there was no need to leave McNabb in, it was completely tasteless of the Eagles to put Vick in at quarterback against the Falcons and have him throw a touchdown pass. Vicks lies essentially ruined their 2007 season as they prepared for him to be their guy, only to have him suspended and then jailed for the dog fighting ring he denied running. Ive always rooted for Arthur Blank as I think hes one of the most genuinely likeable guys in football, but to me the Eagles seemed to make a major effort to have Vick in the game more often than usual, which was a real kick in the teeth to Blank.
 
Chris Redman threw a late TD pass to Roddy White to avoid the shutout, but this was a convincing win for the Eagles who seem to be hitting form at the right time, while the Falcons are going the other way. Donovan McNabb was wild early, but finished 14/25 for 238 yards and a touchdown. Jeremy Maclin had a 56 yard reception while Reggie Brown and Leonard Weaver had catch and runs of 43 and 59 yards respectively. Chris Redman was 23/44 for 235 yards with one touchdown and two picks, but a lot of that came in the fourth quarter with the Eagles well ahead and playing a lazy prevent defense. Roddy White was the lone bright spot for Atlanta on offense, catching 9 passes for 104 yards and a touchdown.
 
Buccaneers 6 Panthers 16
 
Have you ever seen a team get almost 500 yards of offense and only score SIX POINTS?! Josh Freeman must take the rap for this loss. Tampa Bay had 469 yards of total offense, but Freeman was intercepted five times overall including three times in the redzone. I dont like to slate rookie quarterbacks, but the picks in the redzone were pretty hideous. It was almost as if he had a leave of his senses as soon as he got inside the twenty. One such interception came after a muffed Panthers punt set up the Bucs in outstanding field position. On the first play of the drive Freeman threw a dreadful ball over the middle that was picked by Jon Beason. He had previously thrown one to Beason at the goalline, and finished off his lousy redzone day by throwing one to Chris Harris with 10 minutes left. What I didnt understand about this one was that it was 4th and goal from the 3 yard line. Why didnt Raheem Morris kick a field goal? Three points makes it a one score game with 10 minutes to play, which gives Tampa Bay plenty time to come back down the field and get into the endzone.
 
Jonathan Stewart scored a rushing touchdown on the first possession of the game and that was it as far as the endzone was concerned. John Kasay kicked three field goals while Connor Barth could only kick two. But with three turnovers in the redzone, the Bucs blew multiple, multiple, multiple (as Eric Mangini might say) chances to score points.
 
Rams 9 Bears 17
 
The less said about this one the better. Chicago managed to play down to the Rams level in this contest, but were lucky that Kyle Boller (17/32, 113 yds, INT) is too awful to beat anyone. Marc Bulger isnt much better, but if he had played I reckon St Louis would have won the game. Jay Cutler (8/17, 143 yds, TD) continues to struggle, but he didnt turn the ball over in this game and that must have given him some confidence as this lost season draws to a close.
 
Matt Forte opened the scoring with a 1 yard touchdown run, and the only other TD of the game came with the Bears leading 10-6 in the third quarter. Cutler hooked up with his college teammate Earl Bennett for a three yard score, and we all know an 11 point lead is insurmountable for Boller. He threw a horrible pick to Hunter Hillenmeyer to ruin any chance they had for a comeback.
 
Lions 13 Bengals 23
 
I honestly think the Bengals are a much better offensive team than theyve shown in recent weeks. People may feel the Bengals arent really a threat in the playoffs, but if they hit their stride, you never know what might happen. Carson Palmer is tending to take a back seat right now as the running game dominates, although I find it hard to justify giving Cedric Benson 36 carries in his first game back from an injury, but Benson did have 110 yards in the contest. Palmer finished 17/29 for 220 yards and a touchdown although he did throw two careless picks.
 
Detroit continues to show flashes of inspiration on offense, without being able to put it together for a whole game. Matthew Stafford threw a 54 yarder to Calvin Johnson to open the scoring, but that was as good as it got for Detroit. Jonathan Fanene picked off Stafford and took it 45 yards the other way to tie the game, and Cincinnati took the lead when Palmer hit The Artist Formerly Known As Johnson for a 36 yard touchdown. The Bengals kicked three field goals to give themselves a 16 point lead, leaving Detroit needing two touchdowns and two successful two-point conversions to tie. They got the first touchdown when Kevin Smith ran one in from 2 yards, but couldnt convert the attempt and never troubled the scorers again.
 
Titans 17 Colts 27
 
The Titans winning streak ended at 5 games on Sunday at the hands of Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. The Titans arent quite finished in terms of the Wildcard, but theyre going to have to finish 9-7. Tennessee battled hard against the Colts, and even outgained them 375-358, but made a few crucial errors to put themselves in an early hole. Vince Young had Nate Washington open at the back of the endzone on third down but overthrew him and settled for a field goal. Washington was later the villain on a deep pass that was a certain touchdown if he didnt drop it. Young then tried too hard to make a play on third down at midfield and ended up throwing a careless pick to Jacob Lacey. Then in the second half they had first and goal on the one, but came away with no points after a holding call and a turnover on downs.
 
Indianapolis held a 21-3 lead in the second quarter of this one as they threatened to wipe the Titans off the face of the earth. Joseph Addai scored twice on the ground and Austin Collie caught Mannings lone TD pass of the contest. Kenny Britt scored with less than 30 seconds remaining in the half, but the Colts managed to go 38 yards in just 20 seconds to set up a field goal for a 24-10 lead at the half. Bo Scaife caught a later TD pass for the Titans, but by then the game was long over as the Titans couldnt get back to .500.
 
Texans 18 Jaguars 23
 
Matt Schaub went down with an injury early in this one and it gave the Texans no chance. Rex Grossman (3/9, 33 yds, INT) came in and was awful, which set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. By the time Schaub got back in the game, the Jags had a 17-0 lead after David Garrard had thrown TD passes to Nate Hughes and Ernest Wilford. He led an impressive drive to cut the deficit to 17-7, but Sexy Rexys dreadful play gave him too much to do.
 
David Garrard had a bizarre start to the second half. With the ball on the Jags three yard line, Garrard fumbled the snap on first down and lost a couple when he recovered. On the next play he dropped back to pass and slipped over in the endzone for a safety. Houston couldnt take advantage though as on their next drive Kevin Walter was rocked trying to make a reception, the ball popped up and was picked off by Justin Durant.
 
The key point in the game came with Houston down 23-12. They drove to the Jacksonville 7 yard line, but instead of doing a normal thing, the Texans called a halfback pass. Chris Brown looked like hed never thrown a ball before in his life as he lobbed a dead duck to the goalline that was intercepted. Houston later did score a touchdown when Andre Johnson caught a 1 yard Schaub pass, but they didnt get the ball back as the Jags moved to 7-5.
 
Now maybe Im being harsh, but the Jaguars are perhaps the worst team I have ever seen with a winning record this late in the season. Their wins have come @ Houston (quite impressive), vs Tennessee (who sucked till Vince Young was the QB), vs St Louis (who are awful, and they needed overtime), vs Kansas City (who suck, and it was by 3), @ the Jets (pretty impressive), vs Bills (who are terrible) and vs Houston (who were stupid). They havent beaten a single team with a winning record and only the Jets currently sit at .500. Only in the home Tennessee game did they look really good, and it beggars belief they are 7-5. Dont forget they were absolutely demolished 41-0 by Seattle and were dreadful when they lost to Arizona and San Francisco. They have a poor defense, and seem to constantly forget they have an excellent running back, preferring to throw constantly with their mediocre quarterback. Jacksonville still have Indianapolis (who they always tend to play hard against) and the Patriots, so it will be a chance for them to prove themselves, but I doubt they can do it.
 
Broncos 44 Chiefs 13
 
Kansas City were so bad in every phase of the game on Sunday it was almost a shame. Heres a quick list of their futility in this game.
- They only put together 222 yards of total offense.
- Compare that to Denver who had 245 RUSHING yards in the contest.
- Matt Cassel was 10/29 for 84 yards and two picks. He was so bad that he was eventually benched for Brodie Croyle.
- Kansas City ran the worst fake punt in the history of the Earth. I dont even know if it can really be called a fake punt as Croyle was lined up as the punter, but he was 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage and it was 4th and 8 from their own 27, so I guess it was a fake punt. No-one bothered to block Richard Quinn who easily chased down Croyle and tipped the pass. Whoever designed that play should have been fired before the play was even run.
- Their average gain per offensive play was a lousy 3.1 yards.
- Denver scored 20 points off turnovers.
- Kansas City gave Matt Cassel $63 million to be their quarterback.
Okay, maybe the last one didnt quite happen during this game, but you get the sentiment. Todd Haley then stupidly said after the game he wanted to get Croyle some snaps. Why do you need to give your backup some snaps when your starter is getting paid $63 million? Ill leave you to make up your own answer to that question Denver completely dominated the line of scrimmage and the only surprise was that they only scored 44 points. If this was college football and it was all about running up the score for the stupid BCS, Denver would have likely gone over 60 points. The Broncos touchdowns were scored (in chronological order) by Daniel Graham (receiving), Knowshon Moreno (rushing), Brandon Marshall (receiving), Andre Goodman (fumble return) and then Moreno (rushing) again. The Chiefs lone touchdown was scored on the ground by Jamaal Charles.
 
Patriots 21 Dolphins 22
 
New England have a habit of demolishing someone after a loss, and after taking a 14-0 lead early on Sunday, it looked like history was going to repeat itself. Tom Brady had an injured finger during the week, but you would have been surprised during the first two and a half quarters of this game. However, it became apparent as the afternoon rolled on that something wasnt right. He spent much of the day heading into the locker room between drives and it makes you wonder how much of a factor this will be down the stretch. New England needs Tom Brady to be at 100% if they want to do anything in December and January.
 
Brady started off by launching a 59 yard TD bomb to Randy Moss, and Kevin Faulk made it 14-0 at the start of the second quarter as the Patriots looked to be moving comfortably to 8-4. Miami did go in down 14-10 at half time as Chad Henne to Davone Bess for a 13 yard touchdown and a Dan Carpenter field goal got them back into it, but the Patriots scored on another huge play to begin the 3rd quarter. Sam Aiken caught an 81 yard touchdown pass from Brady after going up to get it under all kinds of pressure from Sean Smith, but that was as good as it got for New England, who didnt score again. New England twice came away from the redzone with no points as they failed on a 4th and 1 run, and then Brady threw on a fade to Randy Moss but Vontae Davis jumped higher and made the interception. After another Carpenter field goal, the Dolphins had a chance to tie it up when Brian Hartline caught a TD pass, but the two point conversion failed. But as time was running out, Henne put together an excellent 10 play drive to set up Carpenter again from 41 yards and he made no mistake to give the Dolphins a 22-21 lead. The Pats still had a chance, but Channing Crowder intercepted a Tom Brady pass to give Miami a win they had to have to keep their playoff hopes alive.
 
The AFC East, which was nothing more than an afterthought a few weeks ago, is now wide open as the 6-6 Jets and 6-6 Dolphins now sit just a game behind New England with 4 games to play. You have to wonder what is going on with the Patriots as Tom Brady has struggled the past two weeks and their defense seems incapable of stopping anyone.
 
Raiders 27 Steelers 24
 
What is going on with the Pittsburgh Steelers? Theyve now lost four games in a row, but amazingly two of those losses have come against Kansas City and Oakland. They may be missing Troy Polamalu which is an obvious downgrade of their defense, but should they go from formidable to mediocre by losing one player? They will obviously improve when Polamalu gets back, but at 6-6, will they even be in the picture? There is even talk that hes done for the year. If thats the case, then no-one in their right mind would take the Steelers to repeat. Oakland were averaging about 11 points a game coming in, and left Heinz Field with 21 fourth quarter points to complete a marvellous comeback. The only touchdown of the first three quarters was a 34 yarder from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes (8-149-1) as Pittsburgh led 10-6 going into the final period. Mike Tomlin decided to let Jeff Reed kick a 53 yard field goal which was no good. Then the madness began. Oakland went down the field and took their first lead of the game when Pittsburgh native Bruce Gradkowski found Chaz Schilens for a 17 yard score off a beautiful play action, but normal service looked to have resumed when Rashard Mendenhall made it 17-13 with a 3 yard TD run. Oakland took the lead again when Louis Murphy (4-128-2) burned Ike Taylor for a 75 yard TD reception, but Pittsburgh looked to have finally put the pesky Raiders away when Roethlisberger to Hines Ward made it 24-20. With Oakland needing a touchdown, Gradkowski showed poise in a hostile environment against a team desperate for the win. When Louis Murphy got open in the endzone, Gradkowski found him for an 11 yard touchdown with just 9 seconds remaining to complete an incredible day for the Raiders. With Oakland looking fairly decent defensively, you wonder where they could be if Gradkowski had started the season. While he isnt the type of quarterback youd build your team around, hes a gamer who makes good decisions with the ball.
 
Saints 33 Redskins 30 (OT)
 
New Orleans are 12-0, but they had no business winning this game. They didnt hold the lead at any point during regulation and were very fortunate to even have a chance to take the game to overtime. They were down 10-0 and 17-10 in the first half but managed to go in tied at half time on a bizarre play. The Saints had 3rd down and a mile to go, and Brees heaved a pass over the middle that was picked by Kareem Moore. Moore got up and tried to make something of the return, but Robert Meachem stripped him and took the ball to the endzone. Jason Campbell had earlier thrown TD passes to 2008 2nd round picks Fred Davis and Devin Thomas while Brees had hit Marques Colston for a 40 yard touchdown.
 
The Redskins had all the momentum in the second half as after taking a 20-17 lead, they stuffed Mike Bell on a 4th and 1 run at the 44 yard line. Washington took the ball the other way on a 4 play, 56 yard drive that culminated in another Devin Thomas TD reception. With less than 2 minutes to go Washington had the ball and led 30-23 when Shaun Suisham came on to attempt a 23 yard field goal. He somehow missed and it (and was cut on Tuesday for his troubles) and it gave the Saints the chance to come back and tie the game. They did just that as Brees found Meachem over the top (ironically it was again Kareem Moore he got the better of) for a 53 yard touchdown. Jonathan Vilma then picked off Jason Campbell, but the Saints didnt quite have enough time. Garrett Hartley had a chance to win it, but 58 yards was a little too far and his kick fell short.
 
Two minutes into the overtime period Mike Sellers was ruled down by contact on a reception from Campbell, but the booth buzzed down and on further review it was ruled a fumble. New Orleans took over on the 37 yard line. The Saints ran the ball all the way down to the one yard line, but settled for the extra point sized field goal from Hartley to stay undefeated.
 
Chargers 30 Browns 23
 
Damn the Browns and their backdoor cover! San Diego were slaughtering them, but a couple of late scores allowed the Browns to beat the 13.5 number and cost me and countless others some money. Give Cleveland credit though for actually taking the lead and playing tough in the first half, but the Chargers hit their stride in the second half and started moving the ball at will. Philip Rivers finished 18/25, but for an astonishing 373 yards and two touchdowns. Brady Quinn meanwhile had his first good game against a good defense, finishing 25/45 for 271 yards and 3 touchdowns. It must be noted that he did help his numbers out a bit during garbage time, but hes slowly starting to live up to his promise. I thought he was in danger of busting as he had become horribly gun shy, but he seems to have regained his confidence. If Quinn keeps up his good play and the Browns end up with the number 1 pick, its going to give them an interesting conundrum. With no need for a quarterback, left tackle or nose tackle, what would they do with the pick? I love Eric Berry, but would be surprised to see a safety be the number 1 overall pick. Mohammed Massaquoi opened the scoring on an 11 yard reception from Quinn but a Nate Kaeding field goal and a rather inexplicable 66 yard touchdown catch by fullback Mike Tolbert gave San Diego the lead. Tolbert caught the pass in the flat and somehow rumbled down the sideline without being tackled. Kaeding kicked another field goal to make it 13-7 at half time, but after the restart San Diego put the game to bed. Darren Sproles caught a 31 yard TD pass from Rivers before LaDanian Tomlinson made it 27-7 before the cover busting began. Quinn hit Jerome Harrison for a touchdown before Kaedings third field goal made it 30-14. Quinn to Jerome Harrison for the second time made it 30-20 after the two point conversion failed, but Blake Costanzo recovered the onside kick and a Phil Dawson field goal made it a one possession game. LaDanian Tomlinson was put out on the hands team for the second onside attempt, and he recovered to ice the game on the day he passed Marshall Faulk and Jim Brown to move to 8th all time in career rushing yards. He also notched his 150th career touchdown in the contest, and his mark of 150 TDs in 137 career games is the fastest all time. Antonio Gates meanwhile may not have scored in the game, but he did have an amazing 167 receiving yards from tight end.
 
Cowboys 24 Giants 31
 
Tony Romo is now 0-1 in December 2009, but for once you cant lay the blame for another December debacle on the Cowboys quarterback. Romo was excellent on Sunday, finishing an outrageous 41/55 for 392 yards and 3 touchdowns. So where did it go wrong for Dallas? Well they had no running game, Marion Barber lost a key fumble, they somehow allowed an enormous catch and run to Brandon Jacobs, and they had a major special teams breakdown at the end which was the dagger to the heart. Romo also had a breakdown with the score 31-17. On 3rd and 2 he missed a wide open Roy Williams for an easy first down. On the 4th down play he tried a check down to Marion Barber who was tackled immediately behind the line of scrimmage. Eli Manning was a disappointing 11/25 passing, but he did have 241 yards and two touchdowns to go with a pick thrown to Mike Williams.
 
Dallas held a 10-0 lead after a Nick Folk field goal and a Roy William 4 yard TD reception, but they had a disastrous end to the first half. Eli Manning to Hakeem Nicks for a 21 yard touchdown made it 10-7 with 1:50 remaining, and Marion Barbers costly fumble gave the Giants a short field and they turned it into a half time lead when Brandon Jacobs scored from a yard out.
 
Roy Williams had his second TD of the day on an easy slant over the middle, but the next play from scrimmage yielded a 74 yard TD catch and run by Brandon Jacobs which was just as hard to explain as Mike Tolberts score in Cleveland. It looked like Jacobs may have stepped out on the 20 but after review it was determined hed stayed in bounds and the touchdown counted. Lawrence Tynes kicked a 23 yard field goal to make it a 7 point game, and Dominic Hixon clinched the victory with a 74 yard punt return touchdown to tighten up the NFC East race with Dallas and Philadelphia at 8-4 while the Giants are just a game back at 7-5. Miles Austin did have a late score but it was too little too late for Dallas who have looked shaky in recent weeks despite picking up victories. Dallas host San Diego next Sunday before travelling to New Orleans the following Saturday in two huge games that will go a long way to deciding the Cowboys fate.
 
49ers 17 Seahawks 20
 
Alex Smith had a good line in this one. He finished 27/45 for 310 yards and two TDs, but I find it hard to praise his performance as the Niners were a laughable 1/13 on third down. Smith threw touchdown passes to Vernon Davis and Josh Morgan in the first half of this one, but misfired one too many times in important spots. Matt Hasselbeck was a very economical 25/34 for 198 yards and two scores, but they were a slightly better (although still pretty poor) 4/16 on third down. Hasselbeck lobbed first half TD passes to Deion Branch and Justin Forsett as they went in 14-14 at the break. It should be noted that with no score in the game the Niners went for it on 4th and goal, and Delanie Walker was manhandled by Leroy Hill, but the idiot referee who was standing right there failed to throw a flag.
 
It was all about field goals in the 4th quarter. Joe Nedneys 34 yard field goal cancelled out a 25 yard kick by Olindo Mare, but with the game looking like heading towards overtime and the elusive tie, but Hasselbeck hit Deon Butler down the sideline, and Olindo Mare was good from 30 yards as time expired to give Seattle their 5th win of the season.
 
Vikings 17 Cardinals 30
 
Evil Brett was threatening to make an appearance at the end of the first half on Sunday Night Football, and he came out in full force in the second half. Favre played a dangerous game as soon as they were down by more than a touchdown and made throws into tight coverage numerous times. Favre eventually finished 30/45 for 275 yards with two scores and two picks but both interceptions were horrible throws and he could have been picked a couple more times. Kurt Warner meanwhile was impressive on his return from injury, finishing 22/32 for 285 yards and three first half touchdowns. Arizonas offensive line did a marvellous job of protecting him as he wasnt sacked in the contest. Minnesota held the early lead when Favre hit Visanthe Shiancoe after a Tim Hightower fumble set up the Vikings at midfield, but two TD passes to Anquan Boldin (the first set up by a Steve Breaston punt return to the 3 yard line) gave Arizona the lead. The second TD was an impressive grab as Boldin went over the top of Cedric Griffin to bring the ball in. Larry Fitzgerald then caught a 34 yarder from Warner as the Cards held a 21-10 half time lead. Favre was then picked twice in the third quarter as Arizona added three field goals to put the game out of reach. Minnesota did have time to get a garbage time TD out of the impressive Percy Harvin (6-79-1) but it was never going to be enough as the Vikings dropped to 10-2. If Arizona had lost and the Niners had beaten Seattle, it would have set up an exciting Monday Night Football showdown next week as San Francisco would have had a chance to tie up the division, but the Cards now hold a commanding 3 game lead with just four to play. Minnesota may have lost their chance to gain the number one seed in the NFC, but it is likely they will still get the first round bye.
 
Ravens 14 Packers 27
 
Five yard penalty. Ten yard penalty. Fifteen yard penalty. This penalty will be assessed at the spot of the foul etc...
 
For some strange reason I really enjoyed this game, despite the fact that it was scruffy, full of penalties and generally one sided. Both teams combined to tie for the second most penalised game in NFL history with a whopping 310 penalty yards. This was a great slugfest that Green Bay ended up winning purely because the controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. They were all over Joe Flacco early and often, while the Packers offensive line is finally coming together as Aaron Rodgers was regularly given all day to find his targets downfield. Flacco finished 15/36 for 137 yards with a touchdown and three picks, but the Packers were in the backfield on almost every play and gave him no time at all.
 
The first quarter was filled with sloppy play and turnovers, but the Packers finally took control in the second when Rodgers threw touchdown passes to Jermichael Finley and Donald Driver for a 17-0 half time lead. The Ravens finally put together a decent drive in the third quarter and scored when Flacco threw a 12 yarder to Kelley Washington. Rodgers then threw a really unlucky interception that bounced off Drivers ankle and it gave the Ravens the ball on the Packer 42 yard line. Willis McGahee ran it in from a yard and the Ravens, who had hardly been in the game, were inexplicably down by only 3. Rodgers hit Finley again in the 4th quarter to re-establish the Packers 10 point lead and the Ravens blew their best chance to make it close when they drove deep into Packers territory. Flacco was hassled again on second and goal, rolled right to keep the play alive, but threw a horrible pick to Tramon Williams. The Packers added another Mason Crosby field goal, and with two minutes left and the Ravens down by 13, they showed no urgency to get back into it.
 
Green Bay have really hit their stride at the right time. The loss of Al Harris and Aaron Kampman on defense hasnt affected them. Charles Woodson and Clay Matthews are leading a dangerous defense, and if the Packers O-Line continues to keep Rodgers clean, then this team is a genuine threat in the NFC.