That was a rather epic Colts/Pats game last night. Even for those two teams who have played a series of memorable games this decade. And this one will be remembered for Bill Belichick’s riverboat gamble late in the fourth quarter. Especially because it backfired rather spectacularly. No second-guessing on this one, people were first-guessing all over the place. 4th and 2 on your own 28 up six with two minutes to go? You do that on Madden ‘09. You don’t usually see that in an NFL game. Course, if it had worked…genius! At any rate, on to the chattering heads, where that decision and other NFL items are on the plate:
—Don Banks at si.com with Snap Judgments and this amongst other items:
There are no bigger frauds in football than Rex Ryan’s big-talking Jets (4-5), losers of five of their last six games after that 3-0 start. And let me quickly remind everyone that I had fully bought into New York before it got off to a fast getaway, predicting in the preseason it would be an AFC wild-card qualifier. Missed that one.
Ryan keeps talking up his team, but it sounds like so much hot air now that the Jets have lost three consecutive home games to AFC opponents Buffalo, Miami and Jacksonville, none of whom played the Jets with a winning record. The Jaguars were the latest opponent to expose New York’s once-boastful defense, rolling up 347 yards against the Jets and their shoddy tackling, including 139 on the ground. Mathematically, the Jets remain in the AFC wild-card picture. Realistically, they’re done for the year. That loss to Jacksonville was basically an elimination game. And don’t look now, but New York is headed to New England next week. The Patriots, no doubt, have a bit of revenge on their minds.
Uh, yes. Revenge. That and the need to get the taste of the late loss to Indy out of their mouths would appear to make that one a looming bloodbath for the Rex Ryans next week. And if that comes to pass, 4-6 is dead ahead. I will be tuning in this morning to see if Mike Greenberg lights himself on fire on Mike & Mike. Again, after the first three weeks of the season on that show on Monday devolved into a four hour Jets talk show, this development is kinda amusing. In fairness to the Ryan, losing Kris Jenkins on defense as the anchor in the middle and Leon Washington on offense has been pretty damn crippling. Still, injuries have to be overcome if you want to be elite. And the Jets don’t appear to be.
—Clark Judge at sportsline.com with Judgements and this thought among others:
Bill Belichick’s thinking. I’m sorry, but I can’t help but pile on. You don’t give Peyton Manning the football at the New England 30 with two minutes left and dare him to score. But Belichick did. He’s supposed to be smarter than everyone else in this business, but what he did with two minutes left makes absolutely no sense. By taking the risk, he delivered a loud and clear message to his defense, and it went something like this: I DON’T TRUST YOU! At least, he didn’t trust it to stop Peyton Manning. “You have to trust and believe in your players,” said former Patriot Rodney Harrison, now with NBC. “This is the worst coaching decision I’ve ever seen coach Belichick make.” That took guts, Rodney. But you’re right.
I don’t know what guts that took, I am relatively sure Harrison wasn’t due to be at the Belichick house for Thanksgiving dinner. As for the call, maybe he really doesn’t trust his defense. I guess the problem, potentially, is that now they know it. At any rate, the call also said a lot about just how damn good Peyton Manning is right now. Go ahead and ship him the league MVP trophy. If his presence on the sidelines causes such a call, and a lot of folks are defending it, that says as much about Manning’s greatness this year as it does about the call itself. That going for it there is even an option is about Manning.
While we’re kicking around sportsline, Pete Prisco isn’t down with the call either. At all.
—John Clayon at espn.com with Last Call and this notion:
The Falcons, who fell to Carolina 28-19, are making too many mistakes at critical times. Matt Ryan threw a second-quarter interception on a long pass to Michael Jenkins, increasing his interception total to 12. After Ryan threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Justin Peelle to cut the Panthers’ lead to 21-19 early in the fourth quarter, coach Mike Smith made a debatable decision to go for the two-point conversion. The effort failed. Then Ryan got a little too greedy with 3:59 remaining in the fourth quarter by going deep to Jenkins from the Panthers’ 49 on a first down. Cornerback Richard Marshall intercepted the pass. Three plays later, Jonathan Stewart broke open the game with a 45-yard touchdown run. The Falcons’ offense seems lost when Michael Turner isn’t breaking long runs. Turner suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter and couldn’t finish. There is some speculation it might be a high ankle sprain, which could sideline him for a couple of weeks. The Falcons were out of sync after that.
The Falcons are 5-4, and basically are battling the NFC East runner-up for a wild-card spot. Sunday’s loss puts more pressure on them. Atlanta plays the 5-4 New York Giants next Sunday in Giants Stadium. On Dec. 6, it hosts the 5-4 Philadelphia Eagles. If the Falcons don’t fix their problems, they could lose to both teams, and subsequently lose playoff tiebreakers down the road.
It’s not like Atlanta doesn’t have weapons on offense aside from Turner. Roddy White has been damn good at WR, as has Tony Gonzalez at TE. Too many mistakes from Matt Ryan have not helped. And, at 1-4 outside of the Georgia Dome, they have been an atrocious road team. That doesn’t bode well for a game that will shape the season for both teams next week in New York against the Giants.
—Bucky Brooks at nfl.com with capsule looks at each game including this:
The Bengals’ defense hasn’t exactly flown under the radar, but the unit’s sensational performance against the Steelers is another example of the outstanding play that has become a trademark of the group. The Bengals held the Steelers to 226 yards of offense and relentlessly pressured Ben Roethlisberger. Cincinnati relied on a mixture of five-man pressures to complement its standard four-man rush to keep Roethlisberger on the move. While those four-man rushes involved some stunts and twists, the Bengals didn’t blitz much, which allowed the team to commit more defenders to coverage and keyed their surprising suffocation of the Steelers’ passing game.
It’s a testament to good drafting several years ago of physical defensive lineman who are starting to come into their own that the Bengals finally have a defense worthy of their division. When Antwan Odom went down, I figured they were about to get gashed again up front. But relative unknowns like Frostee Rucker and Jonathan Fanene have risen to the occasion and been smart and physical a the point of attack. For years I have watched Pittsburgh and Baltimore replenish their fronts with 3rd, 4th, and 5th round types and been jealous. Finally, Cincinnati appears to have joined that party.
As for my thoughts on the day, ntyc, read on:
—Whatever the merits of Kyle Orton vs. Jay Cutler, there is no doubting the merits of Kyle Orton vs. Chris Simms. That would be Orton, in a landslide. With Denver’s fast start all of a sudden teetering with home games dead ahead against the fiery hot Chargers and desperate Giants, they better hope that Orton can go. Simms’ second half of 3 for 13 for 13 yards was positively Jamarcus-esque.
—Speaking of Jamarcus, benched again in Oakland, and this time Tom Cable thinks it may stick. Damn. His weekly stat line was one of the fun things about Mondays this fall. For the record, in case he doesn’t go against Cincy next week, that was a 9 for 24 he put up against KC for 67 yards. His replacement? Bruce Gradkowski, who was 4 of 8 for 46 yards. Course, Gradkowski threw two picks, and Russell had none, so Russell had that going for him. Oakland is back in the qb market next April…
—Does Jeff Fisher’s stubbornness at sticking with Kerry Collins get remembered in light of how well Tennessee is playing now that Vince Young is back under center? And, weird how focusing the offense on Chris Johnson is paying dividends…
—Looking at the highlights montage on SC, it would appear that an eruption of Mt. Owens is imminent.
—At 5-4, Green Bay is right back in the thick of the Wild Card race in the NFC. And that is due in no small measure to their defense finally showing back up. As much heat as Aaron Rodgers has taken for his high sack total (and he should), the bigger issue in Green Bay has been that the Packers defense has been, by and large, very bad this year. Shutting out Dallas from 58 minutes, though, that was noteworthy.
—Any team in the NFC who is 4-5 or better is very much alive for the Wild Card thanks to Philly’s latest gag and Atlanta’s continued troubles. Lovie Smith of the 4-5 Bears should send gift baskets to Andy Reid and Mike Smith.
—As for tonight’s game, given how angry Baltimore is, and how really not good Cleveland is, it is hard to come up with a scenario where that game is in doubt into the second quarter. Give me the Ravens in a 30 – 10 or so romp.
