The NFL is Poop - Week 16

For Real
Four weeks ago I watched the Seattle Seahawks play the Chicago Bears. The Seahawks were 6-5, with one of those wins being the screwjob against the Packers. The Bears had a 14-10 lead late in the game and seemed likely to make the Seahawks 6-6, but really should have been 5-7. Then the Seahawks struck. They scored a late TD in regulation to take a 17-14 lead, then another one in overtime to win the game.
If there were such a thing as momentum, that game started it all. In the three games since the Seahawks have outscored opponents 150-30. Granted, two of the opponents were weak, but they pounded a pretty good San Francisco team.
Seattle has a great defense, with big, strong fast players up front, and in the secondary. They have a great running game which opens things up for Russell Wilson who is putting up numbers just as good or better than his more highly regarded rookie counterparts.

Choke Job
For the second week in a row the Steelers chances of winning the game and making the playoffs were erased by a bad decision by Ben Roethlisberger leading to an interception. This time the Steelers got the ball back with 44 seconds to go deep in their own territory. It probably would have been prudent to play for overtime, but Mike Tomlin trusted his veteran quarterback and Roethlisberger let him down again. Big Ben got intercepted and after one long pass by Andy Dalton the Bengals kicked the winning field goal knocking Pittsburgh out of the playoffs.
Once you win two Super Bowls you pretty much get a free pass for the rest of you career, at least in regards to choking under pressure. But clearly Ben knows the team he is on now is not nearly as good as the ones he used to play for. And tries to do too much, to win games by himself, and sometimes he ends up losing them.

Welcome to the NFL
So you want to be an NFL quarterback? Greg McElroy finally got his big chance and probably wishes Mark Sanchez had started and taken that ass-whipping. McElroy was sacked 11 times, and hit 16 times in total (sacks are included in that). But it's not just the offensive line that's decimated. McElroy was throwing to such luminaries as Clyde Gates, Hayden Smith and Konrad Reuland. The Jets are a terrible team right now and though I agree with giving McElroy the start, the players around him are so bad, it doesn't even seem fair to judge him based on this performance.

Game of the Week
New Orleans Saints 34 Dallas Cowboys 31
In a game the Cowboys absolutely needed to have, they dug themselves a hole, and had Tony Romo dig them out of it. Trailing 31-17 with 4 minutes to go, Romo led a furious comeback with some great passes to Dez Bryant for a big gainer, to Dwayne Harris for the first touchdown, and Miles Austin for the second.
Both quarterbacks threw for over 400 yards, Marques Colston had 153 yards, pretty good, but not compared to the 224 by Dez Bryant.
The good thing for the Cowboys was that this game was basically meaningless for them. Win or lose they still need to beat the Redskins in Week 17 to make the playoffs.

Game of Next Week
Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins
Two bitter rivals, winner take all, most likely the loser misses the playoffs. Sunday night, last game of the season.

A Brief Rant About the Redskins
For many years in this space I bitched about the Redskins inability to create turnovers. This year's defense is much better at doing that. 27 turnovers (18 INTs, 9 fumble recoveries) for a +13 turnover margin. It's a good thing they can do that, because they can't stop anyone. The Eagles dominated this game early but the Redskins made the big plays to thwart their scoring opportunities. And eventually they tightened up, though the bend but don't break philosophy almost cost them, but luckily they put enough pressure on Foles to force him into a game-ending mistake.

Picture of the Week
Carolina Panthers cheerleaders dressed for the Christmas season.

If the Super Bowl Were Played Today
Seattle Seahawks 31 Denver Broncos 24
I would not want to play the Seahawks right now, but please remember the Broncos have won 10 games in a row and face the Chiefs with a chance to earn home field throughout the playoffs.