| The playoff picture is coming into focus, but
there’s still some work to be done in the AFC, thanks to the Seahawks’ dramatic,
last-second victory over the Chargers and the Jets’ upset loss to the Bills at home. Seattle,
New York and Baltimore are battling for the last playoff spot. Seattle (8-7) hosts Kansas
City, the Jets (9-6) play at Oakland, and Baltimore (9-6) plays host to Minnesota.
Obviously, the Jets and Ravens are both in if they win. Baltimore can still get in with a
loss if either the Seahawks or Jets lose.
The Jets, which lost their last three games a year ago to end up 9-7 and miss the
playoffs, have to feel a ton of pressure. Heading into Sunday’s game against the
Bills, they actually had the AFC’s No. 2 seed in their sights if they won their last
two games and got a little help. But Buffalo rose up and played tough, edging the Jets
14-9 and dropping New York to a pathetic 3-5 at home this season.
Besides the Jets, though, the big story in the AFC was the Seahawks’ amazing win
in San Diego. Seattle fell behind 10-0 early, rallied to take a 22-19 lead and then
watched as the Chargers’ Steve Christie booted his fifth field goal of the game to
tie the game 22-22 with 20 seconds left in regulation. San Diego elected to kick deep, and
Seattle’s Charlie Rogers made it pay, returning the kick all the way to the San Diego
37 with six seconds left.
Seattle PK Rian Lindell then hammered a career-best 54-yard kick through the uprights
as time expired to give the Seahawks the dramatic victory.
Pittsburgh (12-3), which despite an overtime loss in Cincinnati clinched home field
throughout the AFC playoffs due to the Raiders’ 23-17 loss at Denver, is in along
with Oakland (10-5), Miami (10-5) and New England (10-5).
In the NFC, the Eagles clinched the NFC East title with a hard-fought 24-21 win over
the Giants. The Giants led 21-14 with 2:46 left, then watched as Donovan McNabb marched
the Eagles down the field twice to score 10 points. New York had one last-ditch gasp, as
QB Kerry Collins completed a pass to RB Tiki Barber as time expired. Just before he got
tackled, Barber flipped the ball to WR Ron Dixon after a 14-yard. Dixon then ran down the
sideline 60 yards and appeared headed for an improbable game-winning score before he was
tackled from behind at the six-yard line by Eagles S Damon Moore.
St. Louis (13-2), Chicago (12-3), Green Bay (11-4), San Francisco (11-4), Philadelphia
(10-5) and Tampa Bay (9-6) have all clinched playoff berths. All that’s left is the
order of finish. St. Louis and Chicago are battling for home-field advantage, but a Bears
loss and a Green Bay win over the Giants could leave Chicago in second place in its own
division because it lost head-to-head against the Packers twice. A Chicago victory over
Jacksonville clinches the NFC Central title and a first-round bye.
Hats off to Cowboys RB Emmitt Smith, a first-ballot Hall of Famer if there ever was
one. Smith went over the 16,000-yard mark in career rushing yards during the Cowboys’
27-21 upset win over the 49ers. He upped his season total to 944 yards, meaning he needs
56 yards in the season finale in Detroit to reach the 1,000-yard mark for the 11th
time in his career. He would become the first player in NFL history to accomplish that.
Smith, Barry Sanders and Walter Payton all reached 1,000 rushing yards in a season 10
times.
Weird stat of the day: The Bears had failed to score a touchdown in the first quarter
in 21 consecutive games before getting two against the Lions. The early scores sparked the
Bears to an easy 24-0 win over a punchless Lions team.
It’s a good thing the Steelers clinched home-field advantage throughout the
playoffs because their defense definitely has some issues to deal with following a
disappointing 26-23 overtime loss to the Bengals.
Cincinnati rolled up 544 total yards of offense and 32 first downs against the Steelers
and should’ve won in regulation if not for the erratic leg of PK Neil Rackers.
Rackers missed two short field goals and an extra point in the final seconds of regulation
that would’ve given Cincy a 24-23 win. Instead, he ended up winning it late in the OT
session on a short field goal. QB Jon Kitna had his best game, completing an amazing
35-of-68 passes for 411 yards. He connected on two TD passes in the final 2:46 of
regulation to lead Cincy back from a 23-10 deficit.
You have to think Pittsburgh’s playoff opponents will make note of Vikings backup
QB Todd Bouman shredding the Steelers’ secondary for 200 passing yards in a little
more than a quarter in Week 12 and Kitna’s performance Sunday. Bouman and Kitna
aren’t exactly the top quarterbacks in the league.
Is the Steelers’ defense worn down? After getting tons of sacks during the first
half of the season, it has slowed down considerably in recent weeks. And CBs Dewayne
Washington and Chad Scott appear to be struggling.
Hats off, Part 2: Giants DE Michael Strahan continued to abuse Eagles OT Jon Runyan in
the first half of New York’s 24-21 loss at Philly as he sacked Donovan McNabb 3.5
times. That moved Strahan past Lawrence Taylor for the Giants’ single-season sack
record and boosted his season total to 21.5, leaving him half a sack shy of the NFL record
held by former Jets DE Mark Gastineau.
Something is also wrong in Oakland as QB Rich Gannon, a leading MVP candidate much of
the year, put up great numbers but his team lost 23-17 to Denver. Gannon was brilliant in
the first half, completing 18-of-19 passes for 175 yards, but Oakland trailed 13-10 at the
half. He ended up 35-of-49 for 313 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. After
throwing just two interceptions in the Raiders’ first 10 games, he has tossed seven
in the last five games. Not a good sign for the Raider Nation.
The Titans began this season having lost only two games (both to Baltimore last season)
in Adelphia Coliseum. The Nashville stadium was known as one of the most feared places to
play, as Tennessee seemed to be nearly unbeatable there. But that’s all changed this
season. The Titans are just 3-4 at home, with a final game against Cincinnati this coming
Sunday.
Tennessee lost the season opener to Miami, then lost to Baltimore, Pittsburgh and a
much-improved Cleveland team Sunday. With RB Eddie George having his best game of the
season (130 rushing yards, two touchdowns) and QB Steve McNair completing 16-of-25 passes
for 274 yards and two touchdowns, it looked as though the Titans were going to roll to
victory, right? Wrong. They blew a 38-24 fourth-quarter lead and fell to Cleveland 41-38
as Browns PK Phil Dawson kicked a 44-yard field goal in the final minute of play for the
game-winning points. Both teams now have 7-8 records.
Fox Sports color commentator Tim Green must’ve said that Falcons QB Michael Vick
has "a scary upside" about a dozen times during the Falcons’ 21-14 loss in
Miami. Vick completed 11-of-20 passes for 214 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions
and rushed five times for 63 yards. However, he twice failed on 4th-and-goal situations to
lead Atlanta into the endzone and let Miami get off the hook and clinch a playoff spot.
It’s all part of the learning experience for Vick, who would’ve still been at
Virginia Tech if he hadn’t declared for the draft as an underclassman. He showed
great poise and tremendous playmaking ability against a rugged Dolphins defense. It looks
as though Atlanta’s got a great one.
Although the Bills have mostly suffered through a miserable season, you have to
remember one thing: They are very young team. Playing numerous first- and second-year
players, the Bills have played hard week after week and are not an easy opponent despite
their 3-12 record. They proved that fact again on Sunday by rising up to beat the Jets
14-9 in the Meadowlands.
Second-year RBs Shawn Bryson and Sammy Morris, both stuck behind rookie Travis Henry
most of the season, showed that Buffalo has tremendous depth at running back. Bryson
followed up on last week’s 130-yard performance against the Falcons, rushing 28 times
for 107 yards against the Jets. Morris relieved an injured Bryson for part of a series in
the second half and gained 28 yards on three carries. Either player could start for
several teams in the NFL.
Let’s give Cowboys owner Jerry Jones credit for the draft pick of QB Quincy
Carter. Carter, a second-round selection out of Georgia, was widely believed to have been
a reach that high in last April’s draft, but Jones heralded him as the Cowboys’
next great quarterback. In fact, he was so enamored with him that he cut Tony Banks before
the season and handed the reins to his rookie signalcaller.
Unfortunately, Carter was plagued by injuries most of this season, but when he’s
played in recent weeks, he’s shown an ability to make plays and has flashed tons of
potential.
He was brilliant Sunday in leading the Cowboys to an impressive 27-21 victory over the
49ers. Against a stout 49ers defense, Carter completed 15-of-25 passes for 241 yards and
two touchdowns. Most importantly, he didn’t throw an interception and he added a TD
run.
His most impressive throw was a 47-yard TD bomb to WR Joey Galloway in the third
quarter. He stumbled dropping back to pass near midfield, then set himself and fired a
laser beam that hit Galloway perfectly in stride, between two San Fran defenders, and the
veteran wideout waltzed into the endzone.
That was a great pitch-and-catch, but my vote for best catch of the day goes to Jaguars
third-year CB Jason Craft in the second quarter of Jacksonville’s 30-26 loss. Craft
jumped way up to get his hands on a pass from Chiefs QB Trent Green, got bumped by a
Kansas City receiver that seemed to send him higher into the air, flipped in midair and
landed on his neck and upper back while still holding on to the ball for a spectacular
interception. Craft was down on the field for a couple of minutes and left the game with a
stinger.
The Dolphins had minus-7 yards of offense on their first four possessions against
Atlanta, yet were tied 7-7 due to a Brock Marion interception return. They went on to win
21-14 and clinch a playoff berth.
How about Buccaneers backup TE Todd Yoder? The guy was awesome on the punt teams
Saturday night as he blocked his man into Ravens P Kyle Richardson on one punt, drew a
holding call on his man on another punt, then blocked a punt to set up a Tampa score in
the Bucs’ 22-10 victory.
My favorite nickname of the day came from Fox Sports color commentator Brian Baldinger,
who called giant Bears DTs Keith Traylor and Ted Washington "the Two Buddhas."
Brilliant.
Finally, here are my starting All-Pro picks for the AFC and NFC for this season:
AFC
Offense
QB — Kordell Stewart (Pitt.)
RB — Curtis Martin (NYJ)
FB — Larry Centers (Buff.)
WR — Rod Smith (Den.), Marvin Harrison (Ind.)
TE — Tony Gonzalez (K.C.)
OT — Jonathan Ogden (Balt.), Walter Jones (Sea.)
OG — Alan Faneca (Pitt.), Mo Collins (Oak.)
C — Kevin Mawae (NYJ)
Defense
DE — Jamir Miller (Clev.), John Abraham (NYJ)
DT — Tim Bowens (Mia.), Gerard Warren (Clev.)
LB — Ray Lewis (Balt.), Zach Thomas (Mia.), James Farrior (NYJ)
S — Rodney Harrison (S.D.), Lawyer Milloy (N.E.)
CB — Deltha O’Neal (Den.), Corey Fuller (Clev.)
Specialists
P — Shane Lechler (Oak.)
PK — Jason Elam (Den.)
KR/PR — Jermaine Lewis (Balt.)
NFC
Offense
QB — Kurt Warner (St.L.)
RB — Marshall Faulk (St.L.)
FB — Mike Alstott (T.B.)
WR — Terrell Owens (S.F.), David Boston (Ariz.)
TE — Byron Chamberlain (Minn.)
OT — Orlando Pace (St.L.), Tra Thomas (Phil.)
OG — Larry Allen (Dall.), Ray Brown (S.F.)
C — Matt Birk (Minn.)
Defense
DE — Michael Strahan (NYG), Joe Johnson (N.O.)
DT — Ted Washington (Chi.), Corey Simon (Phil.)
LB — Brian Urlacher (Chi.), LaVar Arrington (Wash.), Keith Brooking
(Atl.)
S — Mike Brown (Chi.), Kwamie Lassiter (Ariz.)
CB — Ronde Barber (T.B.), Aeneas Williams (St.L.)
Specialists
P — Brad Maynard (Chi.)
PK — David Akers (Phil.)
KR/PR — Steve Smith (Car.) |
