The Leading Authority of the NFL Draft

What a bizarre week of football. I can’t remember a group of games worse than those played at 1pm, nor can I remember a group of crazier games played at 4pm. Upsets, comebacks, wild finishes—everything we needed to make up for the soporific early games.

Was that elite enough for you? I’d hope so. Eli Manning, who had played mediocre at best for three quarters, played lights-out football in the fourth quarter to lead his Giants to a thrilling 24-20 win over the Patriots. It wasn’t thrilling for Giants fans for the first three quarters, at least offensively. Manning was 12-26 for 157 yards and a terrible interception through the first three acts of this four-act drama. But it’s the final act that matters most, and has throughout Manning’s career. In this version, he went 8-13 for 93 yards and two touchdown passes. He even threw in a well-timed 12-yard scramble for good measure. He atoned for his inexplicable interception—thrown with his team up 10-3 and in possession of the ball in the red zone. A sack or incompletion there was fine; it would have put the Giants up two scores. Considering that Big Blue had all the momentum at that point, and that Tom Brady couldn’t get anything going offensively, the field goal would have been worth William Beatty’s weight in gold. But Eli threw one of his patented backpedaling interceptions. What happened next was predictable: Brady took the Pats right down the field for a touchdown to tie the game at 10. The Giants got a couple of first downs on their next drive, but had to punt the ball back to Brady’s Pats with just over 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Brady led the Patriots all the way to the New York 26, but no further. His frustration continued. The Giants’ pass rush bothered him all afternoon and for once, he showed it on the sidelines. A Stephen Gostkowski field goal put the home team ahead for the first time, with a little over seven minutes left. With the score 13-10, it was Eli time. He utilized guys named Bear Pascoe, Victor Cruz, Ramses Barden, and finished the touchdown drive off with a perfectly thrown 10-yard pass to Mario Manningham to put the Giants ahead 17-13 with 3:03 left. Clearly that was enough time for Brady to lead a game-winning drive of his own. It appeared he did exactly that. In a minute-and-a-half, he hit Rob Gronkowski in the end zone on 4^th and 9. With 1:36 left and two time outs, on the road, Manning would have one final shot. After a 19-yard completion to Cruz and a pair of incompletions, Manning connected with tight end Jake Ballard for 28 yards. The ball was slightly behind the big tight end, but he adjusted to make a spectacular catch with basically one hand. It was almost as unreal as the catch David Tyree made in Super Bowl XLII. Not only that, it was less than 10 yards from the same spot on the field as Tyree’s miracle catch. If that’s not enough, Ballard wears number 85, which Pats fans know was also Tyree’s number in the Super Bowl. Crazy. To complete the Super Bowl nightmare for New England, number 85 would catch the game-winner from Manning…in the back left corner of the end zone, otherwise known as the Plax Corner. See ya next time, Coach Bill Belichick.

The win took the Giants to 6-2 and dropped the Patriots to a pedestrian 5-3. Beyond that, it gave the G-Men a huge shot of confidence, something they’ll need in order to deal with their upcoming schedule, which is murderous. The post-game scene in the New York locker room was more unlikely than the win itself: Tom Coughlin lifted up onto his players’ shoulder by none other than Brandon Jacobs. Coughlin was actually happy. No, he didn’t go so far as to smile, but the man was proud and pleased with his team. There are still problems facing this team, to be sure. However, those are forgotten, for at least a day. For a day, it was like Super Bowl XLII all over again.

The Jets got the win they needed in Buffalo and, truth be told, it wasn’t all that difficult. Gang Green put the clamps on the Bills’ offense, limiting them to fewer than 200 yards passing, kept Fred Jackson from going crazy, forced three turnovers, and held Buffalo to 3-11 on third down. That’s all that was necessary to win this game, and it’s a good thing. Shonn Greene ran hard, but managed just 76 yards on his 19 carries. Mark Sanchez was terrible early on before rallying in the second half to finish 20-28 for 250 yards, a TD and an interception. New York ran the ball 39 times and averaged 3.2 yards per carry, but ya know what? That’s all they needed. The defense refused to allow Buffalo to get into an offensive rhythm, and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick looked like a rookie as he faced numerous coverage schemes. It was yet another sub-200 yard effort for the newly enriched Fitzpatrick. The Jets held the ball for almost 38 minutes and simply wore the Buffalo defense down. When Sanchez hit Santonio Holmes for an 8-yard touchdown in the closing minutes of the third quarter to make the score 20-3, the game was essentially over.

The Bills had their chances, but the Jets defense rose to every occasion. This is how everyone expected the Jets to play from week one: run the ball, play defense, cause turnovers. The thing that’s scaring the AFC right now is the fact that New York hasn’t come anywhere near playing its best football…and yet they’re 5-3 and tied for first place in the East. There are signs that this team is coming to life, most notably the fact that they’re actually playing “Jet football” now. The weather’s getting colder, running the ball and playing defense are going to be the keys to victory. I can sense right now that the Patriots, who will travel to MetLife Stadium to battle the Jets on Sunday night, are the ones worried about the game; the Jets are the ones looking forward to it. They have good reason to, as far as I can see. Brady doesn’t look like Brady and that defense is a sieve. New England has lost two in a row and their confidence is low; the Jets have won three in a row and are never at a loss for self-belief. This one is huge, not just for the division but for the wild card as well. There’s nothing written in stone that says these two teams are going to the playoffs. There are other teams lingering at 5-3 and 4-4, and the Bengals are 6-2. The Steelers are 6-3. The playoffs are going to be a tough task for the loser of this Sunday night tilt. That’s awesome for the neutral observer; nerve-racking for fans of the Jets and Pats. As if those teams needed any more reason to hate each other.

Speaking of hating each other, the Ravens did the double over the Steelers by virtue of their last-minute 23-20 win at Heinz Field Sunday night. The good Joe Flacco showed up and led his team 92 yards in the final 2:24 for the winning score. Yes, Pittsburgh held Ray Rice to 43 yards on 18 carries, but I don’t want to hear about how great the Steelers’ defense is. You cannot allow your most bitter rival to travel 92 yards in the last two minutes of a huge game at home and call yourself a big-time defense. The Ravens converted when they had to, won the turnover battle, and put themselves in the driver’s seat in the AFC North. The Steelers aren’t dead, but come on—stop a team when they’re on their own 8-yard line and then come talk to me about Super Bowls.

The Packers outscored the Chargers in San Diego, 45-38, and although Philip Rivers gamely brought his team back from a large second-half deficit, he couldn’t avoid turning the ball over in the end. Aaron Rodgers went 21-26 for 247 yards and four touchdowns. It almost goes without saying that he did not throw an interception. He now has 24 touchdown passes and just three interceptions on the season. Rivers also threw four TD passes. Two of them came within a minute of each other in the 4^th quarter to draw the Chargers to within seven points, but the difference in the game was his propensity to throw completions to the other team. But Rivers’ interceptions doomed the Bolts in this game, and have done so all season. He threw three in this game, two of which were returned for Green Bay touchdowns on back to back throws. You can’t give that offensive juggernaut two free scores and expect to win. Green Bay’s defense yielded 460 yards, and may end up costing the team a repeat title. But we keep saying that and they keep winning.

I just can’t figure the Eagles out. They looked invincible last week, and then play a passionless game on Monday night at home against the Bears. The fully deserved 30-24 loss dropped Philly to 3-5 and left them with little margin for error the rest of the way. DeSean Jackson’s fumbled punt return was indeed a costly mistake, but the defense is responsible for this loss. Jay Cutler had been sacked 21 times entering the Monday night match-up, but Philadelphia couldn’t touch him. Not a single sack and barely a scratch on Cutler. The beleaguered Bear had time to throw and took advantage of it, completing 18 of his 32 passes—and several of the incompletions were drops—and finding wide open receivers for the entire night. Where were the superstar Eagle cornerbacks? Earl Bennett and Roy Williams were making clutch catches all night! It was another in what has become a series of embarrassing losses for Andy Reid’s team, not because of who they lost to but because of the lack of passion they displayed. Michael Vick went just 21-28 for 213 yards and an interception, DeSean Jackson caught two passes for 16 yards and botched the punt return. Star players? I don’t think so. Show up on a weekly basis, not once in a while.

Say what you want about Tim Tebow, and I have, but the man got it done on the road against the Raiders on Sunday. He threw for two touchdowns and ran for 117 yards in Denver’s 38-24 win. It was a strange win—long runs, punt returns, wide open receivers, and turnovers all contributing—but it was one in which I saw improvement from Tebow and the Denver coaching staff. More Tebow-friendly plays were called to take advantage of his skill set. He still can’t throw the ball with any accuracy and I’m miles from being convinced he’s an NFL starting quarterback, but winning is what matters so I can’t really get on him this week—he won. His team is, amazingly, just a game out of the division lead. If his team is going to run for almost 300 yards on a weekly basis, who cares how he throws the ball? Let’s see if Tebow can run free against the rest of the league. I’m particularly interested to see his upcoming Thursday night game against the Jets, which will be in two weeks.

Dallas beat Seattle, but only because Seattle has Tarvaris Jackson as its quarterback. The Seahawks moved the ball effectively, but Jackson coughed it up three times via interception. Seattle isn’t good enough to overcome that, not even when Marshawn Lynch is in beast mode and rushing for 135 yards on 23 carries. When Sidney Rice signed with the Seahawks, he followed Jackson from Minnesota to Seattle. I asked why, having played with Jackson already, Rice would do such a thing. He had to know how terrible Jackson was. So did Pete Carroll, who signed Jackson as a free agent. Is Jackson really better than Charlie Whitehurst? I’ll phrase that better—can Whitehurst be worse than Jackson? There’s a pretty decent defense in Seattle and they have a superstar wide receiver waiting for someone to throw him the ball. Too bad it ain’t gonna happen until they draft a QB in 2012. Hmmm. There’s a USC connection waiting to happen there. For Dallas, we’ve learned one thing—DeMarco Murray should get all the carries. He shredded a stout Seattle run defense, and has done in three games what Dallas has been waiting years to see out of Felix Jones. I’ve seen enough of the always-injured, never effective Jones, who has had chance after chance. Give Murray the ball 25 times and be done with it.

Atlanta used its bonus bye week to improve to 5-3. Their 31-7 victory over the Washington Generals, I mean the Indianapolis Colts, couldn’t have been easier. Julio Jones returned from injury to rack up 131 yards and two TDs receiving, and one of his scoring catches was of the amazing variety. Funny how players are able to make incredible plays against awful teams. The Colts are indeed awful. Not only that, they lack effort. I don’t care if it’s the middle of the season—I see no reason for Coach Caldwell to have this job any longer. His team is dead, they put forth half an effort on a weekly basis, and they’re not going anywhere with him at the wheel. It’s embarrassing. Peyton Manning is terrific, but his absence doesn’t justify the play I’ve seen from this bunch all season. If Caldwell got that job on merit, he should lose it the same way.

The Texans keep rolling. Their walk-in-the-park 30-12 win over the hapless Browns moved them to 6-3 and placed them in firm control of the AFC South. The Houston ground game was a two-headed monster—Arian Foster had 124 yards and a TD and Ben Tate had 115 and a TD. Those 239 yards were achieved on just 31 carries, and removed all the pressure from Matt Schaub. Clearly the Houston quarterback is suffering from the absence of Andre Johnson, but the team keeps finding ways to score. The defense is missing Mario Williams, but keeps finding ways to shut down the opposition. Williams isn’t coming back, but Johnson is. Don’t sleep on Houston. OK, sleep on them a little, but make it a nap. This defense is ranked 3^rd overall in the NFL. When they get Johnson back, they’re going to be as two-dimensional as any team in the AFC.

San Francisco flew across the country and suffered no ill-effects, handling the free-falling Redskins 19-11. The 7-1 Niners were led by Frank Gore’s 107-yard rushing effort and more error-free play from quarterback Alex Smith, who went 17-24 for 200 yards and a touchdown. The defense is leading the league in points allowed, and Patrick Willis is playing as well as I’ve seen a linebacker play in years. He’s the defensive MVP so far, and you can add Coach of the Year (Harbaugh) and Comeback Player of the Year (Smith) to the accolades the Niners are poised to land. No accolades will be handed out to Mike Shanahan’s Redskins. His decision to place his trust in John Beck has been a disaster. Beck can’t move the team at all and has twice as many interceptions as touchdowns. I know Rex Grossman is wildly inconsistent, but at least he showed me something in a couple of games; Beck has shown nothing. At some point, the fact that Shanahan’s record is worse than that of former coaches Steve Spurrier and Jim Zorn has to bring some heat on the “offensive genius,” doesn’t it?

New Orleans won at home, 27-16 over the Bucs, but come on—is anyone surprised? We all know what the season has in store for the Saints. They’ll play well at home, poorly on the road, and lose a playoff game (if they get there) as soon as they leave the Dome. If New Orleans wants to be taken seriously, they can start right now and beat Atlanta on the road. Even though it’s an indoor game, I’ll give them credit. Show me you can beat a good team away from home, Sean Payton. To me, Tampa looks like the odd man out in the NFC South. At 4-4 they’ll need to beat Houston this Sunday, because they’re not going to Green Bay and beating the Packers. Not with a defense that’s ranked toward the bottom third of the league.

Cincinnati came from behind to defeat the Titans 24-17. They did so on the road, and by outscoring their hosts 17-0 in the second half. That, to me, is the mark of a solid team. Andy Dalton continued his impressive rookie campaign, throwing for three touchdowns and no interceptions. It was the first 3-TD game of his career and he now has 12 touchdown tosses on the season and is completing passes at a 61% clip. That’s more than anyone thought he’d accomplish, and it’s a major reason his team is 6-2 and on a 5-game winning streak. Yes, fellow rookie A.J. Green and an outstanding defense have contributed in major ways to the success of the team, but it always starts and ends with solid quarterback play. Dalton deserves credit. I suspect he’ll get it if he’s able to lead his team to wins over Pittsburgh and Baltimore, each of whom the Bengals play twice over the next 8 games.

Good things come to those who wait. Or do they? Miami finally put one in the win column, an improbable 31-3 shellacking of the Chiefs in Arrowhead. KC was coming off an emotional Monday night win over San Diego and clearly left everything in the locker room. But, as has been the case all season, the Fish put forth a solid effort. This time, they were rewarded. Listen, I’m not one of those people who think a team should tank games to get a number one pick…but man, Miami needs a quarterback. I know Matt Moore played well (17-23 for 244 and 3 TDs) but he’s not the long-term answer. Andrew Luck would be. The Dolphin fans I know were not-so-secretly hoping their team would lose out and secure the services of the Stanford signal caller. To them, even in victory, there is defeat for their beloved Fish. I’m just glad I don’t know how they feel.