| Contributing editor Joel
Buchsbaum discusses what jumped out at him in the Sunday games from Week 15. Arizona
vs. Jacksonville: "Total rout. Jacksonville’s playing as well as anyone
in the NFL right now, and Arizona’s just run out of healthy bodies. They’re
playing a bunch of second-stringers and they’re just totally outmanned. The sad thing
about this is that it may cost Dave McGinnis a chance to be the permanent head coach. But
he really has not had a fair chance this year to make his mark."
Carolina vs. Kansas City: "The Chiefs moved the ball at will
early in the game but kept turning it over. They finally came back and got a couple of
good breaks. Nedney missed a field goal. Tony Gonzalez dropped two TD passes, but he
finally caught one, which is just totally uncharacteristic of him. But the thing that
troubles me about the Chiefs is that they have basically no running game."
Cincinnati vs. Tennessee: "Rout for Tennessee. They were hitting
on all cylinders. They got their offense off the schnide. They had both Carl Pickens and
Yancey Thigpen back, and that made a big difference, I think. And the other thing is, they
were playing Cincinnati, which is a terrible team right now. And Cincinnati had some more
injuries, which doesn’t help their situation any either."
Detroit vs. Green Bay: "Cold-weather game. Both teams had a hard
time with the elements most of the game. Then Brett Favre started to get more into the
zone very late in the game. But both quarterbacks really struggled with the weather,
especially Charlie Batch. Ahman Green really helped the Packers by having another good
game, and it looks like he may end up being their No. 1 running back next year. They may
cut their ties with Dorsey Levens, who just can’t seem to stay healthy anymore."
Minnesota vs. St. Louis: "Great game for the Rams. This was
vintage 1999 Rams, especially on offense. Kurt Warner just never let the ball hit the
ground. He was just tremendous. They didn’t drop any passes; they didn’t fumble;
they had really nice run-pass balance. Marshall Faulk had a big game on the ground. They
threw a lot of the short passes. They didn’t force anything deep. They took advantage
of the soft middle of the Vikings’ defense. The pass protection was very good. The
run blocking was very good. On defense, the 29 points they gave up is a little misleading
because they had a lot of times when they did force Minnesota to punt the ball. Minnesota
has such an explosive offense that when you’re playing indoors on ideal conditions,
they’re going to score points. But the big thing is (the Rams) never let them get
real close to them. And that was critical. They didn’t get a lot of back-to-back
touchdowns or anything like that. So I have to tip my hat (to the Rams). They’re
playing with a lot more confidence with Bud Carson calling the defense. London Fletcher
finally seems out of his funk and is playing well. I thought Todd Lyght had his best game
of the year. And one other big factor was (the Rams) had their placekicker Jeff Wilkins
back and healthy, and he was booming his kickoffs. A key factor for the Rams is that
they’ve been losing field position on kicks, and in this game they had great field
position and a huge advantage in that regard all game, as Minnesota was generally starting
at their 20 or inside their 20."
New England vs. Chicago: "You could say it was almost a ‘who
cares?’ game, but I thought the Bears showed new life with the new offensive
coordinator. This was the best I’ve ever seen Shane Matthews play. He was in the zone
all game. His passes were deadly accurate. The Bears did a lot of running; they
didn’t gain much off it, but they kept New England honest. The Patriots were again
hurt by the lack of a running game, which is a problem. Bledsoe played OK, not great. And
their defense, they just don’t have enough talent on that team. People don’t
realize how little talent they have. When you see them against a team like the Bears which
is not supposed to really be a supertalented team, you see how little talent New England
went into the year with, and how much they’re hurting because of that. It’s just
almost tragic the way they were almost on the verge of a Super Bowl (championship) when
Pete Carroll and Bobby Grier took over, and (the way) they’ve become."
Philadelphia vs. Cleveland: "Cleveland pulled out all the stops
on offense. Doug Pederson had a fine game. They were using two wide receivers — Kevin
Johnson and David Northcutt — at quarterback at times. They made a fun game out of
it, and in fact they led at one point. But the fact is they’re just not good enough
to hang with a team like the Eagles. Donovan McNabb had the best game of his career
throwing the ball and carried this team with his arm much more than his legs in this game.
And in the second half when the Eagles had to shut Cleveland down, they did it."
Pittsburgh vs. N.Y. Giants: "I was shocked by how the Giants just
totally dominated this game. Basically both clubs went in with the same philosophy:
‘We are going to prevent the other team from running and make the quarterback beat
us.’ Kerry Collins was magnificent throwing the ball, whereas Kordell Stewart just
couldn’t put points on the board until it got to garbage time at the end of the game.
Kordell’s stats looked nice at the end of the game, but they really weren’t
meaningful stats in this game for him."
San Diego vs. Baltimore: "The Ravens are hitting on all cylinders
now. Their defense is playing great. Dilfer’s making some big-time throws. They may
be the team to beat in the AFC now, the way they are playing. San Diego is a team that,
because of the injuries, probably has the least overall talent in the league right now,
and they were playing against a great defensive team that gave Ryan Leaf a lot of
trouble."
Tampa Bay vs. Miami: "A very ugly, turnover-filled game played in
rainy weather. The big thing was Tampa Bay got more turnovers. Basically, they did not
score an offensive touchdown all game, but they scored a defensive touchdown, got three
field goals and got many key interceptions. This is a game that was won by their defense
and by their kicker. Jay Fiedler had a horrible game for Miami. He was playing hurt after
injuring his left shoulder. I don’t know how much that affected him, or if it did
affect him. But he threw four interceptions in this game that were really critical
plays."
Seattle vs. Denver: "Not quite as close as the final score.
Denver grabbed a big lead, Seattle came back and made a real game of it. They generally
play Denver close, and they did it again this game. But Denver had some big plays on
defense with three interceptions, and they did what they had to do on offense. Mike
Anderson had another monster game running the ball."
New Orleans vs. San Francisco: "Great, great comeback for the
Saints, but God is smiling on them. I mean, at the end of the game they fumbled twice
right near the endzone, and they ended up getting both balls back. One could’ve been
called a touchback just as easily. And the other was a disputed,
who’s-got-the-ball-type fumble. Brooks, the young quarterback, had a hard time and
his throwing was off the mark, especially in the first half, but he showed me a great deal
in the fourth quarter when he came back and led his team to 17 points. He did a great job
running all game, and he started to heat up as a passer and made some terrific throws. He
also took some very big chances and got away with them."
Washington vs. Dallas: "The Skins looked the worst I’ve seen
them look all year. I thought they’d come out fired up with a lot of emotion, and
instead it’s like they didn’t show up on either side of the ball. They looked
lethargic. They made stupid mistakes. They showed poor judgment. They didn’t block or
tackle well, and the Cowboys ran all over them. (The Cowboys) didn’t give Jeff George
much of a chance to throw the ball. And basically, the one very bad thing that happened to
the Cowboys is that Troy Aikman got another concussion, and if this doesn’t end his
career, I think someone should be shot for not ending it for him. It’s obvious now
that he’s putting his future health at severe risk by continuing to play, and I think
it’s up to Jerry Jones to come in and tell Troy, ‘Troy, you’re not playing
another game for the Cowboys. If you want to play for someone else and you refuse to give
it up, I’ll release you. But I can’t let this happen to you.’ "
N.Y. Jets vs. Oakland: "The Jets just played the worst I’ve
seen them play since Rich Kotite was their coach. They were just totally out of sync. It
was like they were suffering from jet lag or something. And they just looked horrible on
both sides of the ball. The big thing for them is that Vinny Testaverde went out with a
groin injury. The question is: Will he be back next week against Detroit? That suddenly is
becoming almost a must-win game for the Jets." |
