NFL Week 14 Notes
December 14th, 2009 at 6:04 am by Displaced Cleveland FanThese are stories from around the league that I thought were worth noting. You can read my recap of the Browns week 14 game here.
The New York Giants accumulated 512 yards of offense. They won the time of possession battle (34:46 to 25:14). They scored 38 points. And they lost. The thing that killed them was turnovers - 4 fumbles. One was returned for a touchdown.
The Philadelphia Eagles won a wild one in New Jersey last night with a 45-38 win over the Giants. During the high-scoring game, Eagles’ wide receiver DeSean Jackson tied an NFL record. He had a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown, and also a 60-yard reception for a score. The two scores brought him to 8 touchdowns of 50+ yards this season.
The Eagles are now 9-4 and in first place in the NFC East. Meanwhile, the Giants are 7-6, barely holding on to their playoff hopes after a 5-0 start followed by a 2-6 stretch. Their remaining games are against Washington (4-9), Carolina (5-8), and Minnesota (11-2).
Also in the NFC East, the Dallas Cowboys continued their end-of-the-year struggles with a 20-17 home loss to the San Diego Chargers.
After improving to 8-3 with a Thanksgiving Day win over the Raiders, the Cowboys have lost two straight and are now in second place in the division with a record of 8-5. The rest of the season will not be easy, struggling or not. Their last three games are against New Orleans (13-0), Washington (4-9), and Philadelphia (9-4).
The Chargers on the other hand, are finishing strong after a rough start. San Diego has won their last eight games and are now 10-3. They are currently the #2 team in the AFC. If the playoffs started today, they would have a first-round bye.
The Indianapolis Colts beat the Denver Broncos to improve to 13-0 for the season. With the win, they clinched home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.
The win was also their 22nd consecutive regular season win, which is a new NFL record.
The game wasn’t necessarily pretty. Peyton Manning was only 20-42 passing (47.6%) with three interceptions. But he did have four touchdowns and ultimately led his team to victory. In the end, that’s all that matters.
The Colts remaining schedule includes games against the Jets, Jaguars, and Bills. The first two teams are still very much in the hunt for the playoffs, so they will not be easy games.
The New Orleans Saints kept pace with the Colts, improving to 13-0 with a 26-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons. They clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs and have a 2-game lead over the Vikings in the race for home field advantage.
The win is their second straight 3-point victory. One has to wonder if this Saints team is beginning to run out of gas. Their first eight games were won by an average margin of over 16 points. Then in week 10, they won a close game to the lowly Rams. That was followed by two strong wins against Tampa Bay and New England. Then the past two weeks have been close against the Redskins and Falcons.
Should the Saints be concerned? If they want to finish 16-0, then yes, they should be. But looking forward to the playoffs and a run at the Super Bowl, they’re fine. As long as they can get whatever kinks they have ironed out in the next three weeks, they’ll be alright.
In the Division:
The first-place Cincinnati Bengals traveled to Minnesota to face the Vikings. The Bengals got crushed, 30-10. Is this team for real? Sure, they’re a win away from clinching the division. But I keep thinking that eventually they’re going to fall apart. This week’s game was against a very good Minnesota team. Any team could lose this game. We’ll see how they close out the season.
The Baltimore Ravens destroyed the Detroit Lions, 48-3. The Ravens had 308 rushing yards. Ray Rice rushed for 166 yards and a touchdown. Willis McGahee ran for 76 yards and two touchdowns. With the win, Baltimore improved to 7-6 and is very much in the playoff race.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ embarrassing loss to the Browns on Thursday night just about knocked them out of the playoffs. But mathematically, they do still have a shot. Right now, they’re sitting at 6-7 with five teams ahead of them vying for two wild card spots. Do they still have a shot? Unfortunately, yes. But it is becoming increasingly unlikely.
Quick hits:
- The Chicago Bears lost whatever playoffs hopes they still had with a 21-14 loss to Green Bay. Jay Cutler threw two interceptions. Unfortunately, the Bears really needed a better game from him as their running game only accounted for 59 yards.
- The Tennessee Titans tried to keep their playoff hopes alive with a 47-7 win over St. Louis. The Rams’ QB was rookie Keith Null. Making his first NFL start, Null threw five interceptions.
- The Houston Texans kept up with the Titans with a 34-7 win over the Seahawks. Matt Schaub threw for 365 yards and two touchdowns. Both scores were to wide receiver Andre Johnson, who had 11 receptions for 193 yards.
-dcf
Tags: Andre Johnson, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, DeSean Jackson, Indianapolis Colts, Jay Cutler, Keith Null, Matt Schaub, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, Peyton Manning, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Ray Rice, San Diego Chargers, Willis McGahee
