There were a lot of Good performances this week. Seems like several teams trotted out their A-game and won impressively. A couple have us reminiscing about years past, when football was football and tackling was still legal.
There were also those that were not so good. And then there were, well, them. You know who they are. Imposters that wear some random team’s uniforms
The Bears and Bucs both rolled road shutouts. Buffalo and Jacksonville again stole victory from the jaws of defeat (although Buffalo stole it, then ran away from Cincy). Cleveland, Houston and Indy went in the other direction squandering opportunities to prevail. Philly and New England got big home wins against rivals. The Chargers got the memo that the 2010 season is underway.
So, we enter Thanksgiving weekend with the playoff chase taking shape. There are some familiar faces, some surprises, both in terms of who would be in and who would not at this point. It is time to take this season seriously. Here’s hoping your team is not a turkey in week 12, lest we carve them up next week.
Many thanks to the GBU contributors (Team Ugly): Any, Arj, Ben, BG, Geto, GFC, Hannah, Stig, and Ward.
The Good
Buffalo – For a decent team to wind up on the long end of a 49-31 game against the Bengals is not worth landing here. For a 1-8 team to go down 28-7 in the second quarter, on the road and then go on a 42-3 run, including 35 unanswered in the second half is. It normally takes the Bills three games to score 49 points. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 316 yards and four TDs, Fred Jackson added another 116 on the ground to his ledger, Steve Johnson caught 137 yards and three TDs worth of passes and the Bills offense amassed almost 450 yards. This marks two consecutive wins for the Bills and two consecutive trips here.
Chicago – Some teams spend most of the season flourishing under the radar and the Bears have counted themselves in that group. The Bears may be the most underrated 7-3 team ever. It was hard to take them seriously when Cutler spent most of the first half of the season on his back. But, the offense seems to have righted itself and even Mike Martz seems to have seen the light when it comes to utilizing the run game to help take pressure off his QB. Sunday it did so by holding the ball for almost 38 minutes. But what landed the Bears here was a defense that continues to dominate and pitched a shutout on the road, yielding only 187 total yards and a mere 39 on the ground. This was a game was something time-warped out of 1972. If that’s what it takes to win games, Bears fans will gladly dig out their bell bottoms and celebrate the debuts of Sanford and Son, M*A*S*H and the Bears landing a spot here some 38 years later. The question is will the Bears have enough to stave off the surging Packers in the NFC North division.
Green Bay – We can debate whether wiping out the Vikings is any great shakes these days, but it still does not detract from what the Pack did on Sunday. The mark of a potential champion is to finish the opponent when they are on the ropes, and that is what Green Bay did in Minnesota. The Packers went into Minnesota and for the second time in three weeks, completely dismantled their opponent resulting in the firing of the other team’s head coach. This win was so impressive because Minnesota was making its last gasp for any chance of redemption in what really seems like Brett Favre’s swansong season. The defense held the Viking offense to only 3 points while the Packer offense was driving up and down the field at will. Aaron Rodgers put on a clinic in front of his predecessor and Favre looked on with a face that showed he was wondering why in the world he came back for another year. Green Bay has a tough remaining schedule and it looks like it will be a dogfight to the end with the Bears for first place in the NFC North.
New England – For the second week in a row, they beat an AFC division leader. Week after week, the Pats just come to play and come to play hard. This week they came out strong and really dominated the first half of the game. They then survived a fourth quarter surge by the Colts and denied the Colts a 2009-like outcome. New England even has a new hero in the form of the diminutive Danny Woodhead who skirted around Colts defenders for an impressive 36 yard TD run. The often overlooked young secondary of the Patriots made a game-sealing play when Sanders leaped up to snatch an errant Peyton Manning pass in the final seconds. From a rival’s point of view, it was incredibly impressive to go to Pittsburgh and dominate the supposed best team in the NFL and then come home to squash your arch nemesis Colts. With an easy Turkey Day matchup on the horizon against the Lions, NE should be 9-2 going into the epic home MNF game against the Jets that will more than likely determine who wins the AFC East. and who could be traveling for a wildcard game. This Patriots team hasn’t and won’t go anywhere but up and should be taken seriously as a Superbowl contender.
Philadelphia – The Eagles were pretty good most of the time but really good when it mattered to grab a 10-point win at home against their primary divisional competition. The downside was they were not efficient at converting their good stretches into points early, which left the door open for a Giants comeback. Still, some good playcalling at critical times and a stout defensive performance paved the way to this win. Philly held the Giants to 208 yards of offense while piling up 392 of their own. Their 8 minute time of possession advantage demonstrates that they controlled chunks of this game. Another Good performance in the type of game that requires them most.
Pittsburgh – Speaking of the 1970′s, remember those Steeler-Raider wars? This game resembled none of them. The word of the day was litter; as in, the field was littered with more yellow laundry than Shane Lechler punts and Lechler-used smelling salts packages. The Steelers, in spite of setting a franchise record for most penalty yardage in a game, managed to completely dominate the Raiders in every other way except for sucker punching. Pittsburgh would have their own answer with 3 Roethlisberger roundhouse passes for TDs and a left cross 16 yard scamper into the end zone. This fight was the equivalent of a TKO in the 3rd round between two teams who came into this game needing the win for different reasons. On their way to their 35-3 romping, the Steelers offense managed 431 yards of offense while the defense gave up only 182 total yards to the Raiders; just 19 more yards than the Steelers were penalized. On defense, they sacked Raider QBs 6 times and intercepted them twice. To drub an opponent who has been slaughtering others by this magnitude despite the yellow flags is worthy of a Good.
Tampa Bay – Another team riding just under the radar is the Bucs. Just like their low-flying companions, the Bears, the Bucs won on the road and did it primarily with defense that pitched a shutout. The Bucs did manage a strong ground game on offense, logging 162 yards, mostly by the duet of LaGarrette Blount and Cadillac Williams. That enabled them to control almost 36 and a half minutes of clock, while the defense controlled the remaining time giving up only 189 total yards. This, too, was something reminiscent of 1972 except, of course, there were no Tampa Bay Bucs back then. Instead, Bucs fans will have to contend with a strange urge to humm “Hold Your Head Up” in celebration of this week’s placement in the Good.
The Bad
Cleveland – The Browns went into Jacksonville having played tough against some of the better teams in the league in the last weeks. However, they let the Jaguars off the hook when they could not capitalize on six turnovers. In spite of the Jags trying to give the game away with so many turnovers, the Browns defense just couldn’t contain Jones-Drew who ran for 133 yards and Garrard who threw for 371 yards. Cleveland may have found their QB of the future though in Colt McCoy and will look to play the spoiler role with home games against the division rival Ravens and Steelers in the final weeks of the season.
Houston – Yes, they were probably demoralized after that last second loss to the Jaguars in Week 10, but there’s no excuse to storm back from 13 down and go up by 4 with one minute left only to blow the game, again, in the final moments. The Texans defense is bad and their pass defense could rank among the worst in recent history, let alone this season. Everyone knows this. But, at times on Sunday they looked like they completely were throwing in the towel on the season. Mark Sanchez led a final Jets drive that made all Texan fans do a 
. This was another disappointing showing in a season that started out with so much promise. Kubiak’s seat has never been hotter.
New York Giants – Give the Eagles credit for the win, but it was just as much the Giants doing as theirs. Five turnovers. That factor makes it hard to beat Carolina, let alone a team like Philadelphia. The G-men were pretty much a non factor in this game for the first 38 minutes. In fact, they barely eclipsed the 200 yard mark of offense for the entire game. Couple that with five turnovers and see how often you win. Then, in the span of about two minutes they dug out of their hole and took the lead only to let it slip out of their hands in the final five minutes. It is a story similar to last week. The defense gave up too many big plays, the offense turned the ball over too much, and the result was the same: a divisional loss in a game that was within their grasp to win. On the bright side, this could have been ugly had it not been for a 17-minute stretch when the Giants looked like the Giants. But the trend of the other 43 needs to be reversed quickly if the Giants are going make good on playoff aspirations. Add Hakeen Nicks injury and you lock up a slot here.
Tennessee – The Titans entered Sunday nursing wounds and a two-game losing streak and exited with turmoil, a lost opportunity and a three game losing streak. Nobody expected the Redskins to roll over again, but if the Titans hope to be a playoff team, these were the sorts of games they need to win. Offensively, they made some big plays with 6 runs of 10 yards or more (many over 20) and 4 passes of 20 yards or more. They even logged 373 yards of offense, 130 from the rushing of Chris Johnson. But they could not finish drives or dent the end zone, save a Randy Moss reception nullified by one of his patented OPI moves. Meanwhile, the defense was nothing more than a minor impediment to the Redskins offense. McNabb picked the Titan defense to the bone with 376 yards passing and the Redskins rang up 465 total yards. Only the fact that Washington only found paydirt once out of all that kept this game close. Despite the fact that no one is running away with the AFCS, Young’s season-ending injury and the turbulence that followed have the Titans in trouble.
The Ugly
Cincinnati – Let’s just say this: when you are playing a 1-8 team, at home, jump out to a 28-7 second quarter lead and then go on to lose by 18, you wind up here. “And that’s all I have to say about that.”
Miami – There are plenty of excuses Miami fans can use to explain what happened but that doesn’t take the sting off of a rare home shutout. It was about as demoralizing as a loss can be. With a hastily patched together offensive line being unable to provide any time for Thigpen or lanes for the RBs the offense was stagnant. Thigpen, the third string QB, thrust into the starting role by injury and operating on a short week is a convenient scapegoat for the offensive woes, but it is hard to put it all on his shoulders when he was too busy running for his life to even think about passing. The Dolphins are scraping the wires for replacement parts which historically means even if they do find some diamonds in the rough, it will take a few weeks to form any sort of cohesion. In short, you may not have seen the last of their Ugly side.
Minnesota – What can you say about the 2010 season for the Vikings? From Brett Favre’s awful decision to return, and subsequent bad play, to their coach getting into fights with receivers, while trading for another without the owner’s permission, this season has been a train wreck for Minnesota. Cap it off by letting the hated rival Green Bay Packers come in and run amok is an unmitigated disaster in the land of the lakes. Favre could do nothing all day as the Viking offense did not score a single point in the final three quarters. The Viking defense was not much better as Aaron Rodgers carved them up for an early Thanksgiving treat. A game resulting in the midseason firing of the head coach is always going to land you in the Ugly.
Oakland – It was a nice vacation the Raiders took in Good, but it’s back to reality. A beat up and wounded Pittsburgh handed Oakland a 35-3 loss, holding the Raiders to under 200 yards of total offense. Nothing the Raiders threw against the wall stuck. Neither QB, Campbell or Gradkowski could ignite the offense. Darren McFadden had 10 attempts for 14 yards. Yes, fourteen, that wasn’t a typo. And they were a dismal 3 of 14 on third down attempts. The defense couldn’t stop Ben and company who put up 431 total yards of offense. With the AFCW being as weak and unpredictable as it is, anything could happen and the Raiders still have a shot at the division. But that’s not saying much.
Honorable Mention
San Diego – They managed to dig themselves out from under Norv Turner by Thanksgiving this year. After an early scare they pounded the Broncs at home. Unfortunately, they get docked because there were a lot of Good performances this week and pounding the Broncos has become some sort of national sport…..except for the Chiefs. Still, this performance was noteworthy and keeps them in the hunt for another AFCW title.
Dishonors
Richard Seymour – He came into the game in Pittsburgh looking for trouble. With 91 seconds left in the half, after jawing back and forth and two scuffles, he sucker punched Ben Roethlisberger and got himself ejected from the game.
Awards
Ciron Black best of the Good: Several good candidates here. Weighing the competition played and the way they finished leaves us with Philadelphia. Send a couple of shots on the house to the Packers and Bears, as well.
Aunt Esther ugliest of the Ugly: All three Ugly occupants make a strong case. But only one stunk up the place so bad they got their coach fired after a miserable home loss to the one team they had to beat this year. U-G-L-Y, the Vikings got no alibi, they’re Ugly, whoa, they’re Ugly.
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NFL Week 11
NFL Week 11: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
November 24, 2010 - 11:30 am · 0 comments
by Zack Kelberman
in Community Commentary, Weekly Segments
There were a lot of Good performances this week. Seems like several teams trotted out their A-game and won impressively. A couple have us reminiscing about years past, when football was football and tackling was still legal.
There were also those that were not so good. And then there were, well, them. You know who they are. Imposters that wear some random team’s uniforms
The Bears and Bucs both rolled road shutouts. Buffalo and Jacksonville again stole victory from the jaws of defeat (although Buffalo stole it, then ran away from Cincy). Cleveland, Houston and Indy went in the other direction squandering opportunities to prevail. Philly and New England got big home wins against rivals. The Chargers got the memo that the 2010 season is underway.
So, we enter Thanksgiving weekend with the playoff chase taking shape. There are some familiar faces, some surprises, both in terms of who would be in and who would not at this point. It is time to take this season seriously. Here’s hoping your team is not a turkey in week 12, lest we carve them up next week.
Many thanks to the GBU contributors (Team Ugly): Any, Arj, Ben, BG, Geto, GFC, Hannah, Stig, and Ward.
The Good
Buffalo – For a decent team to wind up on the long end of a 49-31 game against the Bengals is not worth landing here. For a 1-8 team to go down 28-7 in the second quarter, on the road and then go on a 42-3 run, including 35 unanswered in the second half is. It normally takes the Bills three games to score 49 points. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 316 yards and four TDs, Fred Jackson added another 116 on the ground to his ledger, Steve Johnson caught 137 yards and three TDs worth of passes and the Bills offense amassed almost 450 yards. This marks two consecutive wins for the Bills and two consecutive trips here.
Chicago – Some teams spend most of the season flourishing under the radar and the Bears have counted themselves in that group. The Bears may be the most underrated 7-3 team ever. It was hard to take them seriously when Cutler spent most of the first half of the season on his back. But, the offense seems to have righted itself and even Mike Martz seems to have seen the light when it comes to utilizing the run game to help take pressure off his QB. Sunday it did so by holding the ball for almost 38 minutes. But what landed the Bears here was a defense that continues to dominate and pitched a shutout on the road, yielding only 187 total yards and a mere 39 on the ground. This was a game was something time-warped out of 1972. If that’s what it takes to win games, Bears fans will gladly dig out their bell bottoms and celebrate the debuts of Sanford and Son, M*A*S*H and the Bears landing a spot here some 38 years later. The question is will the Bears have enough to stave off the surging Packers in the NFC North division.
Green Bay – We can debate whether wiping out the Vikings is any great shakes these days, but it still does not detract from what the Pack did on Sunday. The mark of a potential champion is to finish the opponent when they are on the ropes, and that is what Green Bay did in Minnesota. The Packers went into Minnesota and for the second time in three weeks, completely dismantled their opponent resulting in the firing of the other team’s head coach. This win was so impressive because Minnesota was making its last gasp for any chance of redemption in what really seems like Brett Favre’s swansong season. The defense held the Viking offense to only 3 points while the Packer offense was driving up and down the field at will. Aaron Rodgers put on a clinic in front of his predecessor and Favre looked on with a face that showed he was wondering why in the world he came back for another year. Green Bay has a tough remaining schedule and it looks like it will be a dogfight to the end with the Bears for first place in the NFC North.
New England – For the second week in a row, they beat an AFC division leader. Week after week, the Pats just come to play and come to play hard. This week they came out strong and really dominated the first half of the game. They then survived a fourth quarter surge by the Colts and denied the Colts a 2009-like outcome. New England even has a new hero in the form of the diminutive Danny Woodhead who skirted around Colts defenders for an impressive 36 yard TD run. The often overlooked young secondary of the Patriots made a game-sealing play when Sanders leaped up to snatch an errant Peyton Manning pass in the final seconds. From a rival’s point of view, it was incredibly impressive to go to Pittsburgh and dominate the supposed best team in the NFL and then come home to squash your arch nemesis Colts. With an easy Turkey Day matchup on the horizon against the Lions, NE should be 9-2 going into the epic home MNF game against the Jets that will more than likely determine who wins the AFC East. and who could be traveling for a wildcard game. This Patriots team hasn’t and won’t go anywhere but up and should be taken seriously as a Superbowl contender.
Philadelphia – The Eagles were pretty good most of the time but really good when it mattered to grab a 10-point win at home against their primary divisional competition. The downside was they were not efficient at converting their good stretches into points early, which left the door open for a Giants comeback. Still, some good playcalling at critical times and a stout defensive performance paved the way to this win. Philly held the Giants to 208 yards of offense while piling up 392 of their own. Their 8 minute time of possession advantage demonstrates that they controlled chunks of this game. Another Good performance in the type of game that requires them most.
Pittsburgh – Speaking of the 1970′s, remember those Steeler-Raider wars? This game resembled none of them. The word of the day was litter; as in, the field was littered with more yellow laundry than Shane Lechler punts and Lechler-used smelling salts packages. The Steelers, in spite of setting a franchise record for most penalty yardage in a game, managed to completely dominate the Raiders in every other way except for sucker punching. Pittsburgh would have their own answer with 3 Roethlisberger roundhouse passes for TDs and a left cross 16 yard scamper into the end zone. This fight was the equivalent of a TKO in the 3rd round between two teams who came into this game needing the win for different reasons. On their way to their 35-3 romping, the Steelers offense managed 431 yards of offense while the defense gave up only 182 total yards to the Raiders; just 19 more yards than the Steelers were penalized. On defense, they sacked Raider QBs 6 times and intercepted them twice. To drub an opponent who has been slaughtering others by this magnitude despite the yellow flags is worthy of a Good.
Tampa Bay – Another team riding just under the radar is the Bucs. Just like their low-flying companions, the Bears, the Bucs won on the road and did it primarily with defense that pitched a shutout. The Bucs did manage a strong ground game on offense, logging 162 yards, mostly by the duet of LaGarrette Blount and Cadillac Williams. That enabled them to control almost 36 and a half minutes of clock, while the defense controlled the remaining time giving up only 189 total yards. This, too, was something reminiscent of 1972 except, of course, there were no Tampa Bay Bucs back then. Instead, Bucs fans will have to contend with a strange urge to humm “Hold Your Head Up” in celebration of this week’s placement in the Good.
The Bad
Cleveland – The Browns went into Jacksonville having played tough against some of the better teams in the league in the last weeks. However, they let the Jaguars off the hook when they could not capitalize on six turnovers. In spite of the Jags trying to give the game away with so many turnovers, the Browns defense just couldn’t contain Jones-Drew who ran for 133 yards and Garrard who threw for 371 yards. Cleveland may have found their QB of the future though in Colt McCoy and will look to play the spoiler role with home games against the division rival Ravens and Steelers in the final weeks of the season.
Houston – Yes, they were probably demoralized after that last second loss to the Jaguars in Week 10, but there’s no excuse to storm back from 13 down and go up by 4 with one minute left only to blow the game, again, in the final moments. The Texans defense is bad and their pass defense could rank among the worst in recent history, let alone this season. Everyone knows this. But, at times on Sunday they looked like they completely were throwing in the towel on the season. Mark Sanchez led a final Jets drive that made all Texan fans do a
. This was another disappointing showing in a season that started out with so much promise. Kubiak’s seat has never been hotter.
New York Giants – Give the Eagles credit for the win, but it was just as much the Giants doing as theirs. Five turnovers. That factor makes it hard to beat Carolina, let alone a team like Philadelphia. The G-men were pretty much a non factor in this game for the first 38 minutes. In fact, they barely eclipsed the 200 yard mark of offense for the entire game. Couple that with five turnovers and see how often you win. Then, in the span of about two minutes they dug out of their hole and took the lead only to let it slip out of their hands in the final five minutes. It is a story similar to last week. The defense gave up too many big plays, the offense turned the ball over too much, and the result was the same: a divisional loss in a game that was within their grasp to win. On the bright side, this could have been ugly had it not been for a 17-minute stretch when the Giants looked like the Giants. But the trend of the other 43 needs to be reversed quickly if the Giants are going make good on playoff aspirations. Add Hakeen Nicks injury and you lock up a slot here.
Tennessee – The Titans entered Sunday nursing wounds and a two-game losing streak and exited with turmoil, a lost opportunity and a three game losing streak. Nobody expected the Redskins to roll over again, but if the Titans hope to be a playoff team, these were the sorts of games they need to win. Offensively, they made some big plays with 6 runs of 10 yards or more (many over 20) and 4 passes of 20 yards or more. They even logged 373 yards of offense, 130 from the rushing of Chris Johnson. But they could not finish drives or dent the end zone, save a Randy Moss reception nullified by one of his patented OPI moves. Meanwhile, the defense was nothing more than a minor impediment to the Redskins offense. McNabb picked the Titan defense to the bone with 376 yards passing and the Redskins rang up 465 total yards. Only the fact that Washington only found paydirt once out of all that kept this game close. Despite the fact that no one is running away with the AFCS, Young’s season-ending injury and the turbulence that followed have the Titans in trouble.
The Ugly
Cincinnati – Let’s just say this: when you are playing a 1-8 team, at home, jump out to a 28-7 second quarter lead and then go on to lose by 18, you wind up here. “And that’s all I have to say about that.”
Miami – There are plenty of excuses Miami fans can use to explain what happened but that doesn’t take the sting off of a rare home shutout. It was about as demoralizing as a loss can be. With a hastily patched together offensive line being unable to provide any time for Thigpen or lanes for the RBs the offense was stagnant. Thigpen, the third string QB, thrust into the starting role by injury and operating on a short week is a convenient scapegoat for the offensive woes, but it is hard to put it all on his shoulders when he was too busy running for his life to even think about passing. The Dolphins are scraping the wires for replacement parts which historically means even if they do find some diamonds in the rough, it will take a few weeks to form any sort of cohesion. In short, you may not have seen the last of their Ugly side.
Minnesota – What can you say about the 2010 season for the Vikings? From Brett Favre’s awful decision to return, and subsequent bad play, to their coach getting into fights with receivers, while trading for another without the owner’s permission, this season has been a train wreck for Minnesota. Cap it off by letting the hated rival Green Bay Packers come in and run amok is an unmitigated disaster in the land of the lakes. Favre could do nothing all day as the Viking offense did not score a single point in the final three quarters. The Viking defense was not much better as Aaron Rodgers carved them up for an early Thanksgiving treat. A game resulting in the midseason firing of the head coach is always going to land you in the Ugly.
Oakland – It was a nice vacation the Raiders took in Good, but it’s back to reality. A beat up and wounded Pittsburgh handed Oakland a 35-3 loss, holding the Raiders to under 200 yards of total offense. Nothing the Raiders threw against the wall stuck. Neither QB, Campbell or Gradkowski could ignite the offense. Darren McFadden had 10 attempts for 14 yards. Yes, fourteen, that wasn’t a typo. And they were a dismal 3 of 14 on third down attempts. The defense couldn’t stop Ben and company who put up 431 total yards of offense. With the AFCW being as weak and unpredictable as it is, anything could happen and the Raiders still have a shot at the division. But that’s not saying much.
Honorable Mention
San Diego – They managed to dig themselves out from under Norv Turner by Thanksgiving this year. After an early scare they pounded the Broncs at home. Unfortunately, they get docked because there were a lot of Good performances this week and pounding the Broncos has become some sort of national sport…..except for the Chiefs. Still, this performance was noteworthy and keeps them in the hunt for another AFCW title.
Dishonors
Richard Seymour – He came into the game in Pittsburgh looking for trouble. With 91 seconds left in the half, after jawing back and forth and two scuffles, he sucker punched Ben Roethlisberger and got himself ejected from the game.
Awards
Ciron Black best of the Good: Several good candidates here. Weighing the competition played and the way they finished leaves us with Philadelphia. Send a couple of shots on the house to the Packers and Bears, as well.
Aunt Esther ugliest of the Ugly: All three Ugly occupants make a strong case. But only one stunk up the place so bad they got their coach fired after a miserable home loss to the one team they had to beat this year. U-G-L-Y, the Vikings got no alibi, they’re Ugly, whoa, they’re Ugly.
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