Mizzo’s NFL Week 14 Recap: Ante Up!
(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Ron Glover is taking care of some things, so I’ll be handling the NFL happenings until further notice.
Wild wild week in the NFL. There’s a lot to talk about. Dallas is in trouble. Let’s get it!
Thursday December 4th
San Diego Chargers (5-8) 34, Oakland Raiders (3-10) 7
LT does his thing as the Raiders yearly bitchassness continues. Chargers win 11th straight against Raiders. Oakland losses in double digits for 6th straight year.
Sunday December 7th
Pittsburgh Steelers (10-3) 20, Dallas Cowboys (8-5) 13
Ante Up!! Is Tony Romo (4 turnovers) a big game quarterback? T.O. had to muzzle himself on the sideline after the last drive after Tony threw the decisive pick six. Romo is 4-8 in November/December games with 20 turnovers in 12 games. Talk about bitchassness, did you see Romo’s left handed throw at the goal line? There are whispers that Marion Barber should have played.
Happy Birthday Terrell 
(AP Photo/Rob Carr)
Baltimore Ravens (9-4) 24, Washington Redskins (7-6) 10
Ed Reed is a Hall of Famer. This cat scores more than some offenses do. He had two picks and a fumble recovery for a touchdown as the Ravens harrassed Jason Campbell all day. What can you say about the Ravens defensive unit that hasn’t already been said? Baltimore is looking stellar.
Philadelphia Eagles (7-5-1) 20, New York Giants (11-2) 14
Ante Up!! On a train after a Sixers game, a Giants fan and an Eagles fan were arguing if Brian Westbrook was a good back. The Giants fan went so far to say Westbrook wouldn’t play this week. I guess he was hoping he didn’t because he went over 200 yards combined and became the Eagles all time yardage from scrimmage leader–surpassing Harold Carmichael. Eagles held the ball for over 35 minutes–20:36 of the second half. This result shouldn’t really be a shock considering this was a rivalry game and the Birds were close to winning the first one in Philly. When the Eagles do it with balance they usually win. It has to be said that Plaxico Burress usually gave it to the Eagles. You can take from that what you want. Eagles fan, but in any other league, Plaxico plays. Brandon Jacobs had 10 carries for 52 yards before leaving with a knee injury. Eli had flashbacks to his rookie year when he got that cold rock stuff in preseason. Dare I say, happy feet? Everyone is criticizing the Giants receivers, who had a couple of big drops, but the credit should go to the Eagles.
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
San Francisco 49′ers (5-8) 24, New York Jets (8-5) 14
San Francisco has won 3 of 4 and are 3-3 since Mike Singletary took over. Shaun Hill picked apart the Jets secondary and the Niners defense shut down Brett Favre. Expect big things out of San Francisco next year. They seem to be buying into Coach Mike’s system of discipline, execution and no excuses. The Jets have lost 2 straight and could be headed for an embarrassing collapse.
(AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
Ante Up!! Tarvaris Jackson was 8-10 off the bench and rallied the Vikes with a fourth quarter touchdown pass in a game the Lions should have won if not for all those damn field goals.
Other scores:
Houston 24, Green Bay 21
Arizona 31, St. Louis 10
New England 24, Seattle 21
Miami 16, Buffalo 3
Denver 24, Kansas City 17
New Orleans 29, Atlanta 25
Tennessee 28, Cleveland 9
Chicago 23, Jacksonville 10
To drive how much this time of the season means home, here you go…
Thanks to Claude Johnson
Romo has some real pretty passing yards stats….they are just adorable, cute as can be……….BUT THEY DON”T MEAN SQUAT WHEN IT COMES TO DECEMBER! If you’re waiting for Romo to take over a big game….PACK A LUNCH! ITS GONNA BE A LONG AZZ WAIT!!
Great win for the Steelers….that defense is scary in the fact that they have corners who can actually cover WRs(unlike in the past). I think Tomlin’s experience as a Secondary coach in Tampa is paying big dividends. They still need to get that running game going because Arian’s playcalling sucks. Ben managed the game well and didn’t turn the ball over. When he does that, the Steelers usually win. Troy Polamalu has my vote for Defensive Player of the Year.
Great win for the Eagles. Bryan Westbrook is the heartbeat of the Eagles offense. If they had a bruising Brandon Jacobs type back, they would probably be 10-3 or 11-2. If the Cowboys and Falcons aren’t careful, the Eagles could ‘slip’ into that 6th playoff spot. Unfortunately, i think that tie (which is really a loss) will hurt them in the end.
I’m looking forward to that Ravens-Steelers rematch next week. It should be a ‘hit fest’ and a defensive classic. The Ravens will try to pound the ball with their three RBs so the Steelers will be in for a war between the trenches. Pittsburgh must counter with a tough running game of their own with Parker and Mewelde.
I can’t remember a team in recent memory with a more difficult schedule than the Steelers’ this year.
Go 49ers! Mike Singletary has really got my boys fired up and ready to go!
Miranda,
LOL! It’s time for my boy T.O. to come back home to Frisco!
Who ends up with the last wild card spot in the NFC? Those Dirty Birds or those other birds up here in Philly?
You simply cannot claim a shred of credit for Dominik Hixon dropping that pass. You can’t — can you?
Wow — what a pick by Ronde Barber!!
With Favre gone, it seems like anyone can win in Green Bay
Seriously though, I said back on December 1 to watch out for the Eagles and not count them out. If they run and don’t turn it over, they WILL NOT LOSE.
Nope
Michelle,
Like everybody else says, I wouldn’t put it past the Eagles…they could seriously make a run for it. The Falcons still have to play the Vikings and the Bucs. I dont think the Falcons defense can do anything with Adrian Peterson except look at the back of his jersey as it runs down the field. And the only top ten defenses the offense has faced all season is the Bucs and the Eagles. I wouldn’t bet on the Falcons winning both those games – maybe one, but not both.
True Temple you called it. But everyone has been saying that for awhile. The whole thing was if that fool Reid would run the freaking ball.
You see he didn’t start running it until the media turned on him and called him out for benching Mcnabb. I still think the whole intent was to throw Mcnabb under the bus. But when Kolb went out there and looked worse then Mcnabb. Everything back fired then the media started to call him out.
I still think the current intent is to call a more balanced game to one save Reids job and two help the eagles get a high draft pick by padding Mcnabbs stats.
If they make the playoffs they will keep Mcnabb only if he restructures his contract. If they don’t make the playoffs he is gone no matter what. And personally I think one of the reasons he wants to talk with management is to say if they don’t make the playoffs and he is going to be traded he wants to determine where he goes.
Miranda,
LOL! You crack me up. I agree the, Dirty Birds will be looking ant the back of his jersey all day.
Ummm…..excuse me…..when did Barry Sanders start playing for the Carolina Panthers?
Comments on the four games I watched from yesterday.
*Falcons vs. Saints-this was the local game when I was in ATL yesterday and I called it for the Saints because people outside of the SouthLand don’t know how grimy this rivalry is because neither team ever sweeps the other no matter the records. Saints even with the win are done but the Falcs may soon follow them because no way they beat both the Bucs and Vikes on successive weeks. Good story for the Durty Birds this season and something to build on.
*Cowboys vs. Steelers-damn, this was a hard rock game. Tomlin and Lebeau have started something with that defense because I thought this game was over when the ‘Boys stuffed them at the goal line four times. Something about Pittsburgh this season because the Titans may get all the ink in the AFC but I think the AFC rep in SB43 could be either the Men of Steel or B’More. My heart really bleeds for Tony Romo and Dallas…yeah, right. Giggled my ashy black behind off the way they ended that game.
*Washington (don’t say the mascot name) vs. Ravens-DC’s team continues its slide which is not going to help Jason Campbell’s mood. I wonder if he wants to revisit his comments from last year about not thinking Black QB’s faced more scrutiny than other QB’s? Probably so but the young man took a hit in my opinion by trying to spread the blame because all it does is play into the media and divides his team.
I wore my midnight-green #20 yesterday but all respect due to Brian Dawkins because if he’s Weapon X then Ed Reed is Sabretooth. Reed straight beasted last night and seems to every time I see him play. The Ravens game against Pittsburgh is going to be an instant classic but when they play the Cowboys it can get ugly if Reed, Lewis, and the rest of those maniacs come looking for scalps.
*Eagles vs. Giants (recorded)-I can’t believe it, a boring Eagles game but it was effective because it got the ‘W’ and showed what fans and observers have been saying all along that if the Reid and Morningwheg had called intelligent games the Giants would not already be NFC East champs. I’m still no big fan of Westbrook but when he plays like he’s capable then things truly open up for his team. Enough for this season to get into the playoffs? Yes, actually because if, IF, the Eagles win out they’re in because Dallas may lose twice even before they get to the season finale in Philly and again ATL will not beat both the Vikes and Bucs.
Could the Eagles do something in the playoffs? Stranger things have happened. Keep Westbrook healthy and the D hungry then anything’s possible. Maybe even a victory parade on Market Street in February.
**Damn, Miz. You had to gangsta-up Bert and Ernie. I’m sending links to the vid to all my peeps.
Happy to see Tarvaris Jackson make plays in an important game for the Vikings.
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Nice to see Westbrook have a big game in support of McNabb. I was surprised to see that Brian had 33 carries..I had to double-check the stat line to see it that was true… but he did..
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Falcons are in a must-win situation against Tampa next week. And the following week they face Adrian Peterson and the Vikings. The Falcons couldn’t stop New Orleans’ Pierre Thomas, so its very possible Adrian will have over 100 yards himself (maybe 200) against the Falcons’ defense.
Grand -
IFRC, the Steelers have the toughest schedule in the league since the ’76 Giants. Having only three losses, which could have all been wins, Tomlin has done a hell of a coaching job this year.
Just think what the Eagles season could have been like if they would have committed to the running game at the beginning of the season. For that matter, the last 5 or 6 years for the the Eagles. Since Andy Reid has been with the Eagles, they always pass significantly more than the league average. I know he’s a West Coast offense guy, but the play calling is what makes the difference for the Eagles in most games.
Good to see that Brad Childress has learned how to call an offensive game with Tavaris Jackson playing. That was the main problem earlier this year, Childress’ play calling put Jackson into situations he should have never been in. Now, if Frerotte can’t play this week, it would be a good chance, if Childress can oblige himself to call a decent game, for Tavaris to hang with the team for next year and possibly challenge for the starting job he should have never lost.
There’s a log jam in the AFC East. Makes you wonder if the Jets have the resolve to take the division. Between the Patriots, Jets, and Dolphins, the Jets have the toughest schedule (2 division games – Bills & Dolphins both at home).
kos,
Tomlin for ‘Coach of the Year’, perhaps?
GN:
When you look at the standings and the schedule, it’s amazing to me that the Steelers still have such a long way to go. Baltimore on the road, Tennessee on the road. Both games can be won or lost. I fully expect them to throttle Cleveland.
The big thing in their favor is that they are presently 8-1 in the conference. That’s going to win them most tie breakers — except with the Colts. I think the Jets are in trouble. I suspect they’ll beat Buffalo. The Bills are in disarray right now. Losman has been terrible. But, the Jets have to fly to Seattle in Week 16. They’re already 0-3 on the West Coast this year. If they lose that game and have to beat Miami and Chad in Week 17, everyone’s going to be a little tight.
By the way — which AFC QB has thrown the most INTs this season?
T3,
Excellent points. I also think the games w/ The Ravens and Titans could go either way. But I expect them to beat one of the two. It would be cool if they won the last three.
Yeah, I think the Jets are struggling at the wrong time. With 3 games left, they need to win out in order to win the division. But I expect Miami to make a strong push for the division title, and that game in week 17 with the Jets will be a playoff type of atmosphere.
In regards to the AFC QB who’s thrown the most INTs……my initial respone was the one who has thrown the most INTs all-time (Favre)….then I looked it up on NFL.com and I was correct.
Favre has thrown 15 to the other team.
If they win all 3 of those games, I will expect them to win the Super Bowl. I already think they’re better than the Giants and the Colts…but I may be a bit delusional. I had no idea the offense is as dreadful as it has been.
STL, CLE, SEA, DET, OAK and CIN.
The Steelers are only ahead of this miserable lot in terms of yards per game offensively. That’s horrible.
Ranked 28th in pass plays over 20 yards (but 8th in plays over 40 yards – thank you Nate and Santonio – but mostly Nate). 29th in kick return yards. 26th in punt return yards. They’ve got some work to do — and you can see these stats really reveal the impact of injuries to Parker and Mendenhall. Frankly, if the defense wasn’t this good, they’d be looking a great deal like the Chargers.
Good job on the Favre deal…that’s going to cost them. You’re not going to the Super Bowl with that…I think they’d be hard pressed to beat Tennessee twice and after seeing Favre, Jr’s dismal performance, I don’t like them to beat Pittsburgh either. Favre and Cover 2 is like oil and water — forget about them beating Indy, too. They’ve got to get back to heavy doses of Thomas Jones and 7 or 8 solid catches per game to Dustin Keller. That’s the key for the Jets.
I agree……good stuff!