Week 17 Judgements: Big D roars into postseason
1. I can't believe I'm saying this, but this just might be the season Dallas goes deep into the playoffs. Shutting out Philadelphia is impressive. Pitching back-to-back shutouts is more impressive. Yeah, I know the Cowboys haven't won a playoff game since 1996, but they just broke their late-season swoon. So why can't they break that playoff hex, too?
2. And the weekend's biggest winner is ... the St. Louis Rams. After flirting with an upset of San Francisco, the Rams got smart and did what they should have done -- which was lose. With the 28-6 defeat, they locked down the league's worst record -- guaranteeing them first crack at Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh, the best player in this year's draft. Losing never felt so good.
3. The New England Patriots are in deep kimchi, and it's not just because of that report that has Tom Brady with three broken ribs. It's because they just lost their leading receiver and because they can't win on the road. Without Wes Welker, the Patriots were 1-2 ... that is, if you include Sunday's loss, which I do. Now they get to find out where they stand without him again, and good luck with Julian Edelman. But let's say they win their first-round game. Well, then, they're still toast. They must go on the road, where they were 2-6 -- with one of those victories in London.
4. Eric Mangini received a Gatorade shower after Sunday's game, and he earned it. But he also earned a chance to coach again. The head coach promised that the Browns would come around the second half of the season, and critics laughed. But Mangini was right. They did. Since the Nov. 8 bye, the Browns went 4-4 and finished by winning their last four, the franchise's longest streak since 1994. They also finished by rushing for 160 yards or more in each of those games, the first time that happened in Cleveland since 1968.
5. So New York wants to host the 2014 Super Bowl, huh? Swell. It will never happen, and I offer Sunday night's Cincinnati-Jets game as Exhibit A. You think people will pay top dollar to sit outside for four hours in a freezer, with wind chills near zero? Not a chance. No dome equals no shot.
6. Now I know why Marvin Lewis deserves to be the league's Coach of the Year. He put two teams into the playoffs.
7. Chicago's most effective receiver isn't Devin Hester; it's Devin Aromashodu. So how come it took three quarters of a season to play this guy? Just another strike against Lovie Smith.
8. Tell me it didn't look as if Brett Favre was playing against air in the first half of Sunday's game. He might as well have. It was the New York Giants defense, and the only thing about New York that was worse Sunday was the weather back in Manhattan. On second thought, at least there was a breeze there; there was no sign of life with the Giants. Tom Coughlin should be embarrassed.
9. Sorry, Ron Rivera, I just can't see Buffalo hiring another defensive coach -- unless, of course, that coach is Bill Cowher. The Bills haven't ranked higher than 22nd in offense the past seven seasons and were 27th or worse in six of those seven. That must change. If Cowher is off the board, they hire someone with an offensive background, and, yeah, I think Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer or former Ravens head coach Brian Billick are possibilities.
10. Someone who should be high on the Giants' list as their next defensive coordinator is Dick Jauron. He worked for Coughlin at that job for four years in Jacksonville, with the Jags making the playoffs three of those seasons. It worked before. It could work again.
11. Tell me how you like your No. 1 playoff seeds now: One (Indianapolis) comes in on a two-game losing streak, while the other (New Orleans) is on a three-week bender. Guess we find out about the importance of momentum now.
12. As head coach for the Washington Redskins, Norv Turner won the division in 1999 and was 7-6 in 2000 when he was canned. Since Turner's firing, the Redskins have been through five head coaches (including interim Terry Robiskie) who were a combined 63-84, with two playoff appearances and no finish better than Turner's 10-6 in 1999. It's time to admit the obvious: The problem, dear Daniel, is not within your stars but within yourself.
13. With Giants Stadium all but gone, maybe now we get to see what happened to Jimmy Hoffa ... and anyone else.
14. Memo to Buffalo's next head coach: Fred Jackson is your best back, not Marshawn Lynch. Jackson is the first player in league history to rush for 1,000 yards and produce over 1,000 yards in kickoff returns in the same season.
15. Beware of Green Bay. The Packers won seven of their last eight, losing only on the last play of their game with Pittsburgh. They can run. They can pass. They can play defense. And they were a league-best +24 in the turnover/takeaway department. In short, they could be the most dangerous wild card out there.
Sez them ... or Rapid Reporters' Rewind
From Darren Wolfson in Minnesota ... According to Elias Sports Bureau, Brett Favre is the first quarterback to have 30 or more touchdown passes and seven or fewer interceptions in one season.
More from Wolfson ... The Vikings are the only unbeaten team at home in the NFC, and their home-to-road splits are as dramatic as anyone in the league. That's why it would be a huge advantage if New Orleans slipped in two weeks and the Vikings played the conference championship game at the Metrodome.
And more from Wolfson ... Look for rookie safety Jamarca Sanford to take more snaps away from Tyrell Johnson. Sanford made a big stop on a third-and-1, which is one more big stop than Johnson made vs. the run all season.
From Carter Gaddis in Tampa ... Bucs' running back Cadillac Williams deserves to be among the front runners for the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award. After suffering torn patellar tendons in consecutive seasons, he ran for 821 yards on 210 carries.
From Eric Gilmore in Oakland ... The Tom Cable Watch has officially begun. Though Cable has gotten no assurance from owner Al Davis, he said he is confident he will coach the Raiders again next season. "I am," he said, "because I see, and you all see, too, where this team is going and what we've been able to accomplish in proving some things. I'm pretty sure, as sure as I can be." The Raiders finished 5-11, marking the seventh consecutive season with 11 or more losses, an NFL first.
Five things I like
1. Norv Turner in any game, meaningless or not, against Dan Snyder. It was the Washington owner who fired Turner during the 2000 season, and it was Turner who exacted revenge a year later when, as San Diego's offensive coordinator, he inflicted a 30-3 beatdown on the Redskins. Now, as head coach of the Bolts, he beats them again with his backups. This just in, Daniel: Impatience gets you nowhere.
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| Ben Roethlisberger continues to tough it out despite being hit hard. (US Presswire) |
3. San Francisco making Isaac Bruce a captain for the St. Louis game. In all probability, it was Bruce's last game as a pro, and how appropriate that it was in St. Louis -- site of so many Bruce highlights. Good move, Mike Singletary. And let's hear it for the home fans, too. They acknowledged Bruce's appearance with chants of "Bruuuuuce" before and during the game -- just like the old days. Of course, once play resumed it was nothing like the old days, with the Rams getting waxed again. For the record, they've lost 25 of their past 26 and might qualify for the next government bailout.
4. Brett Favre's last five quarters: He completed 74 percent of his passes for 601 yards with six touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 136.56. If there's one stat about Favre that jumps out this year it is his seven interceptions. Before this season he never had fewer than 13 in a year when he was the starter. Moreover, he led the league last season with 22 -- including nine in the last five games. Maybe life really does begin at 40.
5. Replays. I'm not talking about controversial calls; I'm talking about big games. So you missed Philadelphia at Dallas and Green Bay at Arizona on Sunday. No sweat. Just dial them up next weekend. Same games, same sites, different times, different stakes. And if you couldn't make it through the Bengals-Jets game Sunday night, you're in luck there, too. They meet again next weekend, only at Cincinnati. Todd Rundgren was right: Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
Five things I don't
1. The NFL's ability to do anything about teams pulling a Cliff Clavin and mailing it in for season finales. C'mon, now, let's talk some common sense: Do you honestly think Roger Goodell can make clubs suit up players for meaningless games? He can't, and coaches know it. I suspect the commissioner knows it, too. This is all about posturing, and while the league isn't happy about what Indianapolis did a week ago, it can't tell coaches how to do their jobs. If you don't like what happened, win more games. Simple as that. It's like my father-in-law says: If you're not good enough to get into the playoffs on your own you don't deserve to be there. Amen.
2. Jerry Gray interviewing for a head-coaching job that isn't vacant. If the story is true, shame on Gray. Forget for a moment that the Redskins treated Jim Zorn in an abdominal fashion -- first wresting the play-calling duties from him, then declaring open-season on his position before he leaves. Gray is on Zorn's staff, serving as the team's secondary coach. I know Zorn didn't hire him, but how can he interview for a job held by the guy he answers to? Gray hasn't said he did, but the Fritz Pollard Alliance did -- and that's good enough for me. I think back to when Washington canned Norv Turner 13 games into the 2000 season and wanted to make then-defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes the interim head coach. Rhodes declined, saying he couldn't do that to the guy who hired him. Rhodes acted responsibly; Gray did not. Of course, neither did Washington.
3. That Tyler Thigpen interception with Miami down 27-24 but set up at the Pittsburgh 16. Hey, if he does absolutely nothing, the Dolphins tie the game with a field goal. Then anything's possible. Instead, he throws into double coverage and spares the Steelers the embarrassment of explaining away a sixth blown lead in the fourth quarter. When Pittsburgh wonders why it didn't make the playoffs, don't listen to LaMarr Woodley; just look at the schedule. The Steelers have no one to blame but themselves for losses to doormats like Kansas City, Oakland and Cleveland.
4. Denver in the second half of any season. This was the year the Broncos were going to the playoffs, especially after they won their first six. But then we forgot: It's Denver, and the Broncos have more trouble closing a season than Favre has saying goodbye. They lost eight of their last 10 this year. They lost four of their last six in 2008 ... and four of their last six in 2007 ... and five of their last seven in 2006 and ... I think you get the idea. What's more, the last two seasons they had to win their finales to have a shot at the playoffs, and not only didn't they do that, their opponents produced 96 points. These guys don't need Brandon Marshall; they need Mariano Rivera.
5. Wes Welker leaving the field on a cart. Let's face it, when you have a knee injury and you need a cart to get off the field it's trouble -- and reports that have him tearing two ligaments don't surprise anyone. Next time someone talks about the wisdom of playing starters in meaningless games you might mention Welker. All I know is the more I think about that injury, the smarter Bill Polian looks.
Just asking but ...
• Who stays in Oakland, Tom Cable or JaMarcus Russell?
• Where does Terrell Owens turn up next?
• Is Brandon Marshall finished in Denver?
• Does this mean he goes back to being Chad Johnson again?
• What happened to that "schism" Brett Favre supposedly created within the Vikings' locker room?
Significant numbers
• 0 -- Denver home victories vs. the AFC West, the first time that happened since the NFL-AFL merger
• 5 -- Times this season the Giants surrendered 40 or more points, including the last two games
• 9 -- Seasons with Brett Favre throwing 30 or more touchdown passes
• 10 -- Times Minnesota scored 30 or more points
• 13 -- Vernon Davis TDs, tying Antonio Gates' single-season record for tight ends
• 30 -- Degrees, the temperature at kickoff in Carolina -- the coldest day in the team's home history
• 30 -- Carolina takeaways the last 10 games
• 42 -- Ben Graham punts downed inside the 20
• 427 -- Points surrendered by the New York Giants, the second-worst in team history
• 524 -- Chiefs yards vs. Denver.
• 1-7 -- Giants' record when opponents scored first
• 6-42 -- St. Louis' record over the past three years, the worst in the NFL
• 1.7 -- Carson Palmer's passer rating.
My top five
1. Indianapolis
2. New Orleans
3. San Diego
4. Minnesota
5. Dallas
My bottom five
32. St. Louis
31. Detroit
30. Kansas City
29. Tampa Bay
28. Washington
