NFL Week 10 Notes
November 16th, 2009 at 2:15 am by Displaced Cleveland FanThese are stories from around the league that I thought were worth noting.
We had a wild game last night in Indy.
In a much anticipated game that lived up to all the hype, the Indianapolis Colts beat the New England Patriots in the final seconds, 35-34. With the win, the Colts improve to 9-0 and are two games ahead of the next closest team in the AFC in the race for home field advantage in the playoffs.
It looked like the Patriots were going to hand the Colts their first loss of the season. Early in the 4th quarter they scored a touchdown to go up 31-14. Peyton Manning led the Colts back and cut the lead to six points after a touchdown with 2:23 remaining. The Patriots next possession defies all logic.
The Colts, by holding the Patriots offense and using their time outs, left New England with a 4th and 2 on the Colts’ 28 yard line with 2:08 to play. Common sense says you punt in this situation. Inexplicably, Patriots coach Bill Belichick decides to go for it. On the 4th down play, Tom Brady completed the pass, but his receiver was tackled just short of the first down line. This gave the Colts the ball inside the 30 yard line. It took Manning just four plays to get into the end zone, connecting with Reggie Wayne for the winning score with 13 seconds left.
For as much of a football genius Belichick is supposed to be, he sure made a bonehead call here that cost New England the game.
The league’s other undefeated team, the New Orleans Saints, played a game that was much closer than it should have been.
The 8-0 Saints traveled to St. Louis to face the 1-7 Rams. New Orleans turned the ball over three times (2 interceptions, 1 fumble) and allowed the Rams to post more total yards and first downs than their own explosive offense.
But in the end, the Saints pulled away and they remain perfect for the season.
In the first Thursday night game since opening night, San Francisco beat Chicago 10-6. The 49ers’ MVP of the game was Bears’ QB Jay Cutler.
Cutler had four interceptions when the Bears got the ball back, down by four points, when Chicago got the ball back with 2:47 left to play. Cutler had to chance to erase his mistakes and lead the Bears to victory.
Instead, he decided to pull a Rex Grossman.
Cutler led the Bears all the way down the field to the 12 yard line. A touchdown would win it. But on the last play of the game, he threw his 5th interception on a ball that was picked off in the end zone.
The Bears are now 4-5 and will have a tough time making the playoffs.
In the Division:
The Bengals and Steelers met in Pittsburgh in a battle for first place in the AFC North. The Bengals’ success has been surprising. I’m sure many have been expecting Cincinnati to stumble (I know I have). This was the week to do it. But instead, the Bengals beat the Steelers on the road 18-12 to take sole possession of first place in the division. They’ve won both meetings with Pittsburgh which gives them the advantage in the case of a tie.
This was a team that finished a half game ahead of the Browns at 4-11-1. This year, the Bengals are now 7-2 while the Browns head into their Monday Night game against Baltimore at 1-7. Pathetic.
Quick hits:
- The Miami Dolphins, known for their wildcat offense, beat Tampa Bay in the final seconds. But they lost Ronnie Brown, the featured back in their wildcat formation, to an ankle injury.
- The New Jersey York Jets, Braylon Edwards’ new team, continued their struggles Sunday with a 24-22 loss at home to Jacksonville. The Jaguars won on a field goal as time expired. The Jets have now lost 5 of their last 6 games.
- Former Ohio State running back, Beanie Wells, had two rushing touchdowns in the Cardinals 31-20 win over the Seahawks. Wells had just one touchdown through the first eight games of the season.
-dcf
Tags: Beanie Wells, Bill Belichick, Braylon Edwards, Jay Cutler, Peyton Manning, Rex Grossman, Ronnie Brown, Tom Brady
