The Pittsburgh Steelers had a prime opportunity to make some noise this weekend in the AFC playoff chase. With a schedule that was clearly in their favor, there was no doubt in my mind that the Steelers could finish with 10 or 11 wins at the end of the season. I still think they could end up with 10 wins. But you have to question their confidence and their desire to win at this point. How else can you explain the defensive meltdown against the Raiders this weekend? The Raiders are a team that have only managed to score 11.8 points per game this season. That is the 2nd worst offensive output in the NFL. They are last in the league in total touchdowns and have been inept all year on the offensive side of the ball. So how can the Steelers explain their defensive woes against a Raider team that cannot move the ball, cannot score, and is supposed to lack any kind of coherency and explosiveness? The answer can be determined in just two words: Troy Polamalu. Troy Polamalu carries the same kind of weight on the Steeler defense that Bob Sanders does with the Colts. I have never seen a defense look more different than I do right now. The Steelers are incapable of stopping anyone on the offensive side of the ball. They allowed Bruce Gradkowski to pass for 308 yards and 3 touchdowns, which included the game-winner to Louis Murphy....BRUCE GRADKOWSKI!!!!! All credit must be given to Gradkowski as he has clearly given the Raiders some spark on that offense and provides them with the best chance to win. But he's still Bruce Gradkowski. And the Steelers defense this season is not the same without Troy Polamalu. You can bring Big Ben back from his concussion to pass for 278 yards and 2 scores. You can have Rashard Mendenhall rush for 103 yards and a score as well. But at the end of the day, defense wins the games. And the Steelers right now are being flogged on the defensive side of the ball. Lucky for them, they have another chance to right the ship against the Browns tonight. Their season is hanging in the balance with every game now. Will the Super Bowl Champs survive? Only time will tell.
Another team unraveling before our eyes is the New England Patriots...that's right, I said the New England Patriots. Foxboro's Finest are befuddled by their recent lack of success. Befuddled is the appropriate term here because the Patriots have not really tasted the bitterness of defeat this entire decade. They have always been a team of great discipline under Bill Belichick and have always played with a certain intensity and fire inherent in being the best. I think it would be unfair to say that the Patriots aren't playing hard right now. But there has to be some reason why they haven't won on the road this year. I think the main problem with the Patriots is their inability to finish games. The Patriots have led going into the 4th quarter in 3 of their 5 losses this season. And it's not like their defense is playing awful right now. They're 7th in the league in points per game and 11th statistically in total defense. But when it comes to the final moments of the game, the opposing team has made more plays than Brady and company. Last Sunday, the Patriots allowed Chad Henne to beat them as he threw for 335 yards and 2 scores. They actually did a great job of containing Ricky Williams and the Dolphin running game throughout the day. But in the end, they allowed Henne to move the offense into field goal range and set up Dan Carpenter's game-winning kick. That is the problem with the Patriots right now. They have folded under pressure frequently in the final minutes of all their losses this season. Their inability to maintain leads on the road has cost them dearly. Bill Belichick has an ample opportunity to turn things around with an impressive victory over the Panthers this weekend. But will that really solve all of the team's woes? The fact that Randy Moss, Adalius Thomas, Gary Guyton, and Derrick Burgess were sent home yesterday is very disconcerting and hard to ignore. But then again, winning cures all ills.
The New York Giants saved their season last Sunday with a win over the Dallas Cowboys...for now. The Giants may have beaten America's team for the 2nd time this season. However, they were thoroughly outplayed in nearly every phase of the game so much that it's hard to fathom how the Cowboys did not win. You don't believe me, just look at the stats. Tony Romo had one of the best games of his career as he torched the Giants for 392 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Giants defense did a slightly better job in getting pressure on Romo. However, they simply could not stop the Cowboys on key third-down situations. I will give credit to the Giants for stopping Dallas' three-headed monster in the backfield; holding Barber, Jones, and Choice to just 45 yards rushing. This means the Giants literally forced Romo to throw the ball as much as possible on Sunday. And in spite of the positive they got from stopping the run, there arose a tremendous negative from not stopping the pass. Also, while the Giants were able to put up 31 points on the scoreboard, you cannot say that the offense played particularly well on Sunday. Eli Manning had an average game; going 11/25 for 241 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception. And while Brandon Jacobs had a game-changing 73-yard touchdown catch, he was still held to just 39 yards rushing on the ground. However, the Giants offensive line played better as they kept the Cowboy pass rush away from Eli and allowed him to move better in the pocket. The Giants managed to pull away on a 79-yard punt return from Domenik Hixon, which gave them a 31-17 lead. Yet what continues to be disconcerting is how the Giant defense keeps teams in the game until the very end. For instance, right after Hixon scored on the punt return, the Cowboys marched right down the field, cut the lead to 7 on a 22-yard pass to Miles Austin, and almost recovered the ensuing onside kick. The Giants play too close for comfort and one of these days, they are going to pay dearly for it. However, a win is a win for this football team and they have certainly been hard to come by these last few months. It doesn't get easier for Big Blue as a red-hot Eagle team steamrolls into the Meadowlands. One thing I can guarantee you...the Giants will play much better on Sunday night than they did the first time they played the Eagles this season. With first place and playoff positioning on the line, the Giants will come to play inspired football against their division rival. The only question remaining: Will it be enough?
One of the more surprising results of the weekend was how the Minnesota Vikings got spanked by the Arizona Cardinals. You can analyze this game backwards and forwards while still arriving at the very same conclusion: the Vikings were outplayed by the Cardinals on Sunday night. Did anyone expect that? I certainly did not. I thought that it would be a very competitive ballgame with Kurt Warner returning to the lineup. But ultimately I concluded that the Vikings were simply a better team than the Cardinals in all phases of the game. As a result, they would successfully control the pace of the game and tease the Cardinals until the very end. Instead, it was the defending NFC champions who controlled the pace of the game and dictated its tempo. The defense played extremely well against a Vikings team ranked 5th in the NFL in total offense. They completely shut down Adrian Peterson; limiting him to just 13 carries for 19 yards on the ground. Such a brilliant performance forced Brett Favre to throw the ball more than he wanted to and put him in the seemingly uncomfortable position of winning the game on his own. Favre ended up throwing for 275 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. These would normally be great stats for any NFL quarterback. But what is worrisome about these stats is how this is Favre's first multi-interception game of the season. That says a lot about the kind of season he is having with the Vikings. I know what everyone is thinking. One bad game cannot a season make for Favre and the Vikings. But I call your attention to what happened this time last year with Favre and the New York Jets. Favre was having an incredible season with the Jets and was well on his way towards another playoff appearance. And then what happened? Favre got hurt, started playing poorly, and the Jets ended up missing the playoffs entirely. Granted Favre is not hurt this season but the Vikings cannot afford mistakes from him right now. They also cannot put him in a position where he is forced to throw the ball and win the game. Adrian Peterson has to be Adrian Peterson for the Vikings to function as an offensive unit. His rushing performances will dictate how far the Vikings go the rest of this season. On the defensive side of the ball, the Vikings gave us their first lackluster performance in a while. Kurt Warner dissected the Vikings secondary for 285 yards and 3 touchdowns; proving himself to be the better quarterback over 40 on this particular night. The Vikings defense allowed a slough of big plays on the ground and in the air. They also did not get any pressure on Warner, allowing him to roam freely in the pocket and find his receivers. The Cardinals set out to prove something on Sunday night and they certainly did that. They are ready to make a big run on their way to another playoff appearance, showing how they are still the defending NFC Champions until further notice.
Such further notice may come from the New Orleans Saints. Their incredible win over the Redskins on Sunday pretty much illustrated how they seem to be a team of destiny. They are believing in themselves and believing in the idea that this could be the year the Lombardi Trophy comes to the Big Easy. Drew Brees is having one of the best seasons of his career and is the catalyst for this saintly run to perfection. I was right in believing that the game against the Redskins would be a possible trap for the Saints. The Redskins came out ready to play against the league's best team. They wanted to come out and prove that they were still a prideful football team and that they were not going to hand the Saints a victory on a silver platter. Jason Campbell certainly had his best game of the season and possibly his entire career on Sunday afternoon. Throwing for 367 yards and 3 touchdowns to just 1 interception, Campbell did everything he could to lead his team to an upset victory. WR Devin Thomas had 7 receptions for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns; stepping up at the right time for this Redskin team and giving all he had against a much better squad. Even the Redskins defense played with a passion on Sunday as they threw everything at Brees and then some. However, the Redskins were done in for the same reasons they have been losing all season. Turnovers and their inability to finish games doomed them on Sunday against the Saints. That and a little bit of blind luck. There was one point in the game where Drew Brees threw an interception to S Kareem Moore. Moore advanced the ball up the field only to have it ripped away by Saints receiver Robert Meachem, who then proceeded to take it all the way back for a touchdown. I mean seriously...you can't make this stuff up. Three fumbles and an interception don't help matters either. But the mistake that absolutely killed the Redskins on Sunday...Shaun Suisham sending his 23-yard field goal wide right. Not only did that keep it a one-score game with just under two minutes to go, but it also cost Suisham his job as the Redskins released him yesterday afternoon. Brees would find Meachem for a 53-yard touchdown with 1:19 remaining, which sent the game into overtime. The Redskins fumbled, the Saints kicked the field goal, the Saints remain perfect....how can you explain this victory? Are the Saints lucky? Or are they really that good? I like to think it's a little bit of both because the great teams always have things fall their way. Drew Brees said it best in his postgame commentary, "We've been on the other side of the deal probably too many times, and maybe it's our time, that we start catching some of the breaks." Is it their time? That part is unwritten. What we do know is that breaks keep falling the Saints' way. And that always marks the sign of a great football team.
Lots of what was said above can be applied to the Indianapolis Colts as well. The funny thing about undefeated teams is that everyone is aching to see them fail. Everyone is waiting, some even predicting, for them to lose. Which team will pick off the Colts? Which team will pick off the Saints? Is it that unreasonable to have two teams go 16-0? We live in a football age where we saw the New England Patriots accomplish that feat just two years ago. Teams are explosive on the offensive side of the ball; disciplined on the defensive side of the ball. The great teams do not make mistakes. They do not shoot themselves in the foot. If someone beats them, it is because the other team earned their victory. And what has happened this season? Teams have given the Colts and the Saints their best game week in and week out. And every time this season, the Colts and the Saints have emerged victorious. Last week, everyone was thinking the Titans were going to pick off the Colts. Vince Young and Chris Johnson were tearing it up offensively for Tennessee, while their defense was playing some really good football. What happened on Sunday? Chris Johnson still had a decent game, rushing 27 times for 113 yards. However, the Colts managed to keep him out of the end zone. Vince Young had 241 yards passing and a couple touchdowns. But the Colts defense made Young feel uncomfortable all day long, making him scramble out of the pocket and force errant throws to his receivers. Young threw 1 interception and was very insecure in holding on to the football. The Titans were never really in this game as the Colts established dominance early and often. They proved why they are 12-0 and the best team in the AFC this season as Peyton Manning threw for 270 yards and a touchdown. The Colts pounded the ball in this game and left the Titans defense feeling tired and exhausted after every drive. Joseph Addai ran the ball 21 times for 79 yards and 2 touchdowns; a brutal force in a surprisingly lackluster game. Two Matt Stover field goals put the Colts up 27-10 and that was all she wrote. Goodbye Tennessee, Hello Denver! Experts will speculate who could pick off the Colts as the season winds down. Experts will contemplate for the Saints as well. But maybe we're destined to have two 16-0 teams this season. We had one two years ago. And everyone thought they were the best team in NFL history. What happened to them? A 17-14 loss in Super Bowl XLII. Perfection is not remembered unless you are truly perfect. Teams will be hungry to play the role of spoiler, which means tougher games as the weeks progress. The Colts and the Saints have long roads ahead. Will they lead to Miami?
That's it for now...Heisman commentary tomorrow....NFL Week 14 preview as well. Stay tuned
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