The Rams are going to be in last place in the NFC West for a very, very long time. They've lost six in a row to Seattle. They've lost 3-of-4 to the Big Dead, who appear to be a team on the rise on both sides of the ball under Ken Whisenhunt. They do not have the pass rush to threaten an offense like Seattle's, and they do not have the DBs of size to slow down the big Arizona WRs, and haven't done that much to accomplish those objectives.
Now, Mike Martz has been picked by the 49ers to turn around their moribund offense. Let me pull out some of my remarks from the Rams' 41-34 win over Martz's Lion offense in 2006. Bear in mind this was week 4 and Martz hadn't been with the Lions all that long.
"Martz just about kicked Jim Haslett's ass up and down the field."
"Mike Martz [came] back and coach[ed] like a genius again."
"If Mike Martz ever becomes a head coach again, please let it be an NCAA or CFL. I never want to see these guys attempt to defend his offense ever again."
In that game, Jon Kitna threw for 280, Roy Williams had 9 catches for 139, and of course, Mike Freaking Furrey had 8 catches for 82 and 2 TDs. The only saving graces for the Rams were Kitna's 3 turnovers and that Detroit's D was even worse than the Rams' was.
And now the Rams will face Martz twice a year? Think he'll be fired up about either of those games? He was always fired up about the Ram-49er rivalry anyway; now you add the revenge factor? The 49ers have held the Rams to 20 points or less the last FIVE meetings, anybody think that'll be near enough with Martz running the 49er O? The only good news out of this is that the Rams don't have to worry about Vernon Davis any more. Martz has a great gift for making TEs useless.
Nonetheless, it really looks like the Rams are going to top 2006's 2-4 and 2007's 1-5 by going 0-6 in the NFC West in 2008.
Hey, maybe that means Mike Martz will help get rid of Linehan!
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Good move, awful move
After getting to watch good football all weekend, it's back to bad football with some Rams news.
Reports are that erstwhile OC Greg Olson has been let go. That's an overdue move, although I thought Scott Linehan actually took over the playcalling very early this season and don't recall any report that he'd given Olson any of the reins back.
So there's a scapegoat firing.
The other coach being cut loose? You'd think it'd be the special teams coach, but no, it's one of the team's few genuinely good unit coaches, offensive line coach Paul Boudreau.
Let me get this right. Linehan gets a pass as head coach because there were so many injuries on the offensive line, but that same condition doesn't grant forgiveness to an offensive line coach who did a superb job last year, and has proven himself in the NFL at his position?
That is a stupid, stupid move. Just what this organization needs; a mediocre-at-best head coach consolidating his power by getting rid of a very good assistant coach.
It's widely assumed the Rams are going to go after Cam Cameron, freshly fired as Dolphin HC, as their new OC. I'll have to study up on that idea, but I have NO ENTHUSIASM WHATSOEVER for that move based on how Cameron ran things in Miami this year. He and his offense were a total joke from day one, though he'll have better talent here in St. Louis.
How about the notion that the Rams bring in Cameron and ex-Dolphin line coach Hudson Houck to fill the new staff openings? Can Linehan look outside Miami for ANY acquisition for this team? Are the Rams really going to attempt to improve by raiding the former staff of the only team worse than them this past year?
Oy.
Reports are that erstwhile OC Greg Olson has been let go. That's an overdue move, although I thought Scott Linehan actually took over the playcalling very early this season and don't recall any report that he'd given Olson any of the reins back.
So there's a scapegoat firing.
The other coach being cut loose? You'd think it'd be the special teams coach, but no, it's one of the team's few genuinely good unit coaches, offensive line coach Paul Boudreau.
Let me get this right. Linehan gets a pass as head coach because there were so many injuries on the offensive line, but that same condition doesn't grant forgiveness to an offensive line coach who did a superb job last year, and has proven himself in the NFL at his position?
That is a stupid, stupid move. Just what this organization needs; a mediocre-at-best head coach consolidating his power by getting rid of a very good assistant coach.
It's widely assumed the Rams are going to go after Cam Cameron, freshly fired as Dolphin HC, as their new OC. I'll have to study up on that idea, but I have NO ENTHUSIASM WHATSOEVER for that move based on how Cameron ran things in Miami this year. He and his offense were a total joke from day one, though he'll have better talent here in St. Louis.
How about the notion that the Rams bring in Cameron and ex-Dolphin line coach Hudson Houck to fill the new staff openings? Can Linehan look outside Miami for ANY acquisition for this team? Are the Rams really going to attempt to improve by raiding the former staff of the only team worse than them this past year?
Oy.
AFC Wild Card Playoff: Chargers 17, Titans 6
I'll start by admitting no team pissed me off more this year than the San Diego Chargers. Not even the Rams, though that became more of a shell-shock thing. Philip Rivers single-handedly KILLED my FFL team. I took Clinton Portis, a nice player this year, but I took him over Tom Brady because my genius plan was to take Rivers 3-4 rounds later. Rivers SUCKED ASS almost every week, and I kept starting him instead of picking up David Garrard, who finally got me the consolation championship, because I kept telling myself Rivers was due for a big week. Like the week he threw for like 100 yards at Minnesota, the league's WORST pass defense, while the Charger D gave up a billion yards to Adrian Peterson and got me knocked out of the survivor pool the week I was afraid to go with Tampa at home over the Big Dead.
I. Hate. The. F@cking. Chargers. Nothing would make me superficially happier than to see them go down in flames in the playoffs yet again. Scratch that. The Patriots losing would make me happier, but not actually by that much more.
Let's see how it goes; Tennessee's always been well-coached under Jeff Fisher (who's outlasted Dick Vermeil, Mike Martz and will probably outlast Scott Linehan), but their work's cut out for them today.
CBS is showing all these great games Rivers had? When the hell were they? The guy sucked eggs for 13 weeks; he's going to take them anywhere now?
It is raining in San Diego - I wonder if that's any kind of sign. Chris Henry returns the kick for Tennessee out to the 27. Tennessee opens the game with a quick WR screen behind a bizarre line overshift, but the WR drops the pass. Another drop by Gage on 2nd down, or broken up by Antonio Cromartie. The fullback then gains 16 on a screen. Lendale White gains 3 or 4. San Diego hasn't liked taking on very physical backs in the past. Titans could exploit that today. They are so far. Big hole for White for 5. 3rd-and-1 near midfield, Vince Young has to call Tennessee's first TO. The Titans then huddle up with 12 and get a penalty for 3rd-and-6. Young wheels left and scrambles for 8 and the first down anyway. Young rolls right this time and hits Gage for 20. San Diego's leaving receivers wide open on the sideline, which gets Tennessee inside the Charger 20, but they've now got 3rd-and-7. Titans can't get anyone open, and Vince has to ditch it to avoid the sack. Bironas chips it in from 30 to give Tennessee the early lead. A 6:00 FG drive isn't a terrible way to start.
Quick word on Antonio Cromartie. With 50-50 hindsight, he's the DB the Rams should have picked in the first round of the 2006 draft. He's the big, physical, playmaking CB the Rams clearly lack against teams with huge WRs like Arizona.
But that's not to say Tye Hill was a poor pick, which is what a lot of people are saying. Hill has done a fine job and is the Rams' best cover back at times. As Bernie Miklasz points out today, the percentage of the time he does get beat is actually quite good, expecially for a young back. And the Ram defense was so awful going into 2006 they could hardly afford to take a chance on Cromartie's recovery from a torn ACL, though I imagine between him and Willis McGahee, the league's collective attitude toward drafting some injured players is going to change.
Hill was a good pick; Cromartie just would have been better, and would have solved an area the Rams are pathetically weak at now.
Anyway, 3-0, Titans. Sproles returns to the 27. LT for 1 or 2. Titans blitz Rivers, who fumbles the ball but it's recovered by LT. Good rush by TN again forces a useless 5-yard dumpoff.
Bwa-ha-ha, go, Titans! TN will take over at their 35. Chris Brown up the middle for 3. Young gets plenty of time to throw but gets taken down by Cesaire on 2nd down. 3rd-9, big blitz on Vince forces a throwaway. Young is down and looks like he's been in a car wreck. Sproles fair catches the punt at the 23.
Quick hitch to Chambers for 5. Comes back due to a chop block, though; SD will have 1st-and-21. LT for 3. This is awesome for Tennessee; make Rivers beat you. 2nd-18, overthrown for Gates at the sidelines. Dumpoff to MANU for 9. I think this game is going exactly how Tennessee wants. Punt's returned to the 30.
Powerful run by White for 8. They only give him 1 on 2nd down. White bounces off his own blocker and stumbles up the middle for 4. Vince hits Troupe off play-action for 13. They're at the SD 45. 2 more for White. Tennessee has had the ball almost the whole first quarter. 1:00 left. White up the middle and WOW, he drives a whole pile for almost 8. Third and very short again. Fullback Hall takes the carry for 3 as the first quarter ends.
Wow, Brady Quinn's got more commercials than career pass attempts. How stupid is that?
From the Charger 34, Brown ignores a big hole and bangs down to the 30. 5 more for Brown. On 3rd-and-1, White busts out for 13 down to the 12. Titan o-line is dominating the LOS. Short gain for White this time. See, San Diego loves to come after your QB, but hit them in the mouth in the running game and they shrink up like George Costanza. Aw, crap. Super play by Merriman to pop the ball out of Brown's hand and force a fumble I believe is recovered by Shawn Philips. HUGE play for San Diego.
Chargers from their 9. They try to sweep LT left, but the Titans string it out for a 3-yard loss. Off a short drop, Rivers hits Chambers for 7. 3rd-6. Square out to Gates, and he takes it up the sideline for 16. LT gains 2. Play-action and a nice pass over the middle to Chambers for 30. Great run support by Michael Griffin again stuffs an attempted LT sweep for a loss. 2nd-13, Rivers throws it away with nobody open. They try a sideline bomb to Vincent Jackson but he can't bring it down. Another punt for San Diego; Titans will take over at their 12.
Funny thing about the Charger offense here; Rivers is actually doing a decent job - it's LT and the running game that have been all but complete crap. I don't think LT even has positive yardage at this point.
Today's referee is Ed Hochuli, who's average enough that he probably looks great in the NFL's eyes.
White gains a couple. They screen to him on 2nd down, but he falls down and takes a big loss. 3rd-12. Davis can't handle a tough sideline pass and Tennessee will punt. Sproles catches the punt over his shoulder at the 48 and brings it to the TN 43.
Though they've just picked up a big advantage in the field position game, the Chargers stupidly go for the whole enchilada on 1st down, and early POTG candidate Cortland Finnegan picks it off in the end zone, covering Chambers 1-on-1. Nice call, NORV.
What's Rivers pissed off about? That he sucks?
Tennessee starts from their 20 with an incomplete and a 2-yard White run. Vince wings it long on 3rd down but it goes off the hands of a falling Gage, who was shoved to the ground by Cromartie without a call. That was NOT incidental contact. But Tennessee's punting. Hentrich only gets it to the SD 45.
Again, proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy in the form of the Charger cheerleaders.
LT gets a hole this time but still only gains 3. Another false start for the Chargers, who I'll remind everyone is the HOME team. 2nd-long, Rivers barely avoids a sack and almost gets his dump pass picked off. 3rd-12, Jackson's WIDE open and gets the Chargers down to the 36. HUGE hole in the Titan zone that time. But they shut down LT for no gain. 7 carries, 6 yards. Dumb short rollout pass to Gates not only loses yardage, Gates gets hurt. His left foot got bent back and is apparently broken; they're bringing out the cart. Lord help the Chargers if MANU has to carry their passing offense. Gates rides out on the cart, and I hate to be crass, but Tennessee couldn't have dreamed the game would be going this well for them 3:00 before halftime. Griffin saves a TD by knocking down an end zone pass for Chambers, and Nate Kaeding's 45-yard FG attempt is MISERABLE and barely even gets off the ground. More playoff non-magic from Kaeding.
Tennessee from their 35. White gains 4, but gets little or nothing on 2nd down. Clock runs down to 2:00. Nice throw by Vince on 3rd-5 to someone named Byron Ely? at the 50. Big hole on the left for Brown, who CRASHES off one of his WRs for 10, but a hold on Troupe drags it back. 1st-20. Vince scrambles for about 3. Both teams let the clock run. This is dumb on San Diego's part; they have Tennessee where they want them right now. 10 to Moulds on the sidelines and the clock stops anyway. Here's Ely again, with a 1st down at the 38. 2 catches today when he had 1 all season. Moulds gets out of bounds after gaining 6. 5 to Troupe for another 1st. Young spikes at 0:15. Titans have been picking up the Charger blitz without much trouble. Handoff to White for 4 sets up Bironas for a 45-yard attempt with :03 left. He strokes it, and Tennessee leads 6-0 at halftime as the Chargers get BOOED off the field by their fans at a home playoff game.
Just about a perfect first half for Tennessee. The Chargers have got to play stronger run defense in the 2nd half and force Young into more predictable passing situations. And it's pathetic that Tomlinson has like six yards rushing in the first half. Tennessee owns this game in the trenches. Hilariously to me as a Charger-hater, they're going to have to rely on Rivers and come out firing after halftime to get things loosened up for LT. It's possible, but lotsa luck with that, Norv.
What have we learned coming out of halftime? Jim Nantz and Phil Simms have the worst hair of any broadcast crew, and San Diego's first half highlights were clearly from their cheerleaders.
Illegal block will start San Diego in a hole. LT gains 4, then nothing, and the Charger crowd is nothing if not restless. 3rd-6 from the 16. Rivers emerges from a collapsed pocket and drills one to Chambers for 19. Huge play by Rivers. After a Titan injury timeout, LT dances around for 1. Rivers is hit as he throws for a 2nd-down incomplete. 3rd-9, Jackson is WIDE OPEN down the sideline for a big gain. Worse yet for Tennessee, Griffin is injured on the tackle. 34-yard gain for Jackson. San Diego's around the Titan 30. Pitch to LT looks good at first but Tennessee is quick to get back and Finnegan shuts it down for no gain. Rivers hits Chambers on the sideline for 19. 1-10 from the T11. 7 to Chambers, but LT is SHUT DOWN AGAIN at the 4. 3rd-and-3. Norv wants a time out, because it looks like a play never came in. Quick pass to Jackson gains only a couple; it looked like LT was all alone in the flat, but the play wasn't designed to go that way. Norv settles for a FG, much to the home crowd's disgust. 6-3, Tennessee.
Henry brings the kick back to the 24. Play-action rollout to Davis at the sideline for 4. White up the middle for 4 more. 3rd-2, Young quickly guns it to Ben Hartsock(!) for 4. Charger rush is just not getting there. White gets about 5 over left tackle. Charger blitz is right on this time, meeting Henry in the hole for a loss on 2nd down. 3rd-and-6. Young and his WR aren't on the same page and a long pass is incomplete. Sproles only gets 2 on the punt return out to the 21.
Boy, the Titans have no answer for Vincent Jackson today, who Rivers hits for 20. From the 41, swing pass to LT, his FIRST reception, gains about 5. That play's long overdue. Big hole left for LT but Tulloch drags him down after 2 yards. 3rd-3. LT gets a quick pass and breaks Griffin's tackle for a first down. Important play. 1-10 at the T48. Michael Turner up the middle for 3. What, LT's tired out after gaining a whole 10 yards? Now Albert Haynesworth makes a FREAKING STUPID PLAY. He jumps offside and knocks Rivers on his ass, a blatant roughing penalty. What a damn idiot. Chargers are now at the Titan 29. LT up the middle for 4. On play action, Rivers gets all day, rolls right and finds the apparently unstoppable Jackson at the 3. He embarrasses the overrunning DB with a quick cut and dives into the end zone.
San Diego leads, 10-6. Rivers is winning the game for them with his arm.
Rest assured I'd be losing a lot of money on a day where Philip Rivers and Eli Manning are the reasons their respective teams are winning playoff games. Days like today are exactly why gambling shouldn't be legal.
Tennesse starts from their 26 with 2:30 left in the 3rd. Troupe makes a pretty catch up the sideline at midfield. Chris Davis gets DRILLED by Jammer on an end around, but not until he gains 11. Tenn at the SD 37. 5 to Hartsock. White plows left and is about a yard short. Crazy run by the fullback Hall. He's extremely tentative with the handoff and looks like he's going to lose 2. Then he spins and bounces off a tackle and stumbles around the right edge for 11. First down, Titans, inside the SD 20 as we start the 4th quarter.
Phillips EATS UP a slow developing run for White for -3. Poor pass by Young on 2nd down should have been picked off by Hart. 3rd-13. Pass is short and behind Hall in the flat, and he never would have gotten a 1st down anyway. On comes Bironas. The best kicker in the league hooks it left, and San Diego holds their 4-point lead.
Chargers from their 28; LT gains 1. Great run D by Tennessee today, but they're getting killed by Jackson. Now finally, LT breaks loose, for 11 off the right side. LT runs right for 5. Long ball for Chambers is nowhere close; Titans had it covered. 3rd-5, a Titan safety gets faked out in the flat by MANU, who gains 7. San Diego's already across midfield. THROWING AGAIN, pass is way high and out of bounds. How 'bout chewing a little clock, Chargers? Three straight passes after LT had run twice for 16 yards. And now here's another pass, incomplete for Jackson in the face of heavy pressure. 3rd-and-10. With ALL DAY to throw, Rivers finds Chambers ALL ALONE for a pass inside the 10. Second HUGE leak the Titan zone has sprung today, and as a result, the Chargers may have this one all but put away. They use a TO to prevent a delay of game. Tennessee's all over the 1st down run. LT can't bounce it outside, and it loses 2. Rivers has to throw away the 2nd down pass. 3rd-and-goal from the 10. Quick slant to Tomlinson, who gets WHACKED at the one. He falls into the end zone but is ruled down before he got there. Great call, his butt hits down before the ball's across the goal line. Look at that mouthpiece bouncing around on the ground. Don't know whose it was, but what a great replay. Norv challenges the call, but I believe he's going to lose it, and his last timeout with it.
Challenge fails as expected. 4th and goal from a foot and a half. I'm stunned they're going for it here when they went for the FG before. A FG gives you a touchdown lead! Tomlinson leaps high and is met in midair by a Titan, but he extends the ball across the line for the TD, with a Bush Push, I believe from Manu. Fisher challenges, but he's not going to get it. Super smart play by LT to extend the ball across the plane, and Manu's push saved the day for San Diego. Super play by Tulloch to meet LT in midair, but it just wasn't enough. 17-6, San Diego.
Titans still have enough time to run, but they go incomplete, Merriman sack, Castillo sack, and the Chargers are sticking a big ol' fork in this one.
Shaun Phillips is having a super game for San Diego. Have I ever mentioned I wanted to pick him a few years ago when the Rams took stupid freaking Anthony Hargrove?
Chargers from their 43, 7:28 left. After a no-gainer, LT bounces outside for 12 and smartly slides in bounds to keep the clock running. Turner gains 11 with a hesitation run. No gain for Turner from the Titan 35. Looks like LT's done for the day? Helmet's not even on with 4:40 left. Turner gets a big hole and slips a tackle in the backfield for 11, but it comes back for a hold. 2nd-16 from the 40. Turner fights mightily for 1. Titans use a timeout at 4:13. They have one left. Turner gains 4 after breaking about half-a-dozen tackles on 3rd down. TN uses its final TO at 4:03. They nearly block the punt, but Scifres finds the COFFIN CORNER at the 5.
Play action, roll left pass to Moulds for 13, but he'd stepped out of bounds first. 1st-12 from the 3. False start, and it's now 1st-14 from the 1. 8 to Hartsock. 2nd down, Young throws a poor pass off his back foot, Florence picks it off, and returns it to the 19. Illegal block will move it back, but this game's over for sure now.
Might as well go for the Daily Double of Metaphysical Unlikeliness and give Philip Rivers and Eli Manning Player of the Game awards on the same day. LT didn't do squat until late in the game. This one was on Rivers' shoulders all the way, and he pulled his team through. Without Gates, Chambers and Jackson were both over 100 yards receiving.
That'll send the Chargers to Indianapolis next week, more than likely without Gates. They have had Indy's number in the past, but that'll be a lot harder without Gates, in Indy's place, against a team that's had a week off. They picked off Manning SIX times earlier this year, but needed Adam Vinatieri to miff from 29 to hang on for the win. Colt Nation is probably concerned about their tackles holding up against the Charger rush, but they'll be smart to do just what the Titans did. Hit San Diego in the mouth early and get Addai going. Indy's passing game is a much better followup to that than Tennessee's, plus I don't expect all the coverage breakdowns in the Colt secondary that the Titans had today.
So I'm going with all the home teams next weekend (if T.O. is healthy), even though that didn't exactly work out too well this weekend.
Good weekend of football & congratulations to everybody who advanced.
I. Hate. The. F@cking. Chargers. Nothing would make me superficially happier than to see them go down in flames in the playoffs yet again. Scratch that. The Patriots losing would make me happier, but not actually by that much more.
Let's see how it goes; Tennessee's always been well-coached under Jeff Fisher (who's outlasted Dick Vermeil, Mike Martz and will probably outlast Scott Linehan), but their work's cut out for them today.
CBS is showing all these great games Rivers had? When the hell were they? The guy sucked eggs for 13 weeks; he's going to take them anywhere now?
It is raining in San Diego - I wonder if that's any kind of sign. Chris Henry returns the kick for Tennessee out to the 27. Tennessee opens the game with a quick WR screen behind a bizarre line overshift, but the WR drops the pass. Another drop by Gage on 2nd down, or broken up by Antonio Cromartie. The fullback then gains 16 on a screen. Lendale White gains 3 or 4. San Diego hasn't liked taking on very physical backs in the past. Titans could exploit that today. They are so far. Big hole for White for 5. 3rd-and-1 near midfield, Vince Young has to call Tennessee's first TO. The Titans then huddle up with 12 and get a penalty for 3rd-and-6. Young wheels left and scrambles for 8 and the first down anyway. Young rolls right this time and hits Gage for 20. San Diego's leaving receivers wide open on the sideline, which gets Tennessee inside the Charger 20, but they've now got 3rd-and-7. Titans can't get anyone open, and Vince has to ditch it to avoid the sack. Bironas chips it in from 30 to give Tennessee the early lead. A 6:00 FG drive isn't a terrible way to start.
Quick word on Antonio Cromartie. With 50-50 hindsight, he's the DB the Rams should have picked in the first round of the 2006 draft. He's the big, physical, playmaking CB the Rams clearly lack against teams with huge WRs like Arizona.
But that's not to say Tye Hill was a poor pick, which is what a lot of people are saying. Hill has done a fine job and is the Rams' best cover back at times. As Bernie Miklasz points out today, the percentage of the time he does get beat is actually quite good, expecially for a young back. And the Ram defense was so awful going into 2006 they could hardly afford to take a chance on Cromartie's recovery from a torn ACL, though I imagine between him and Willis McGahee, the league's collective attitude toward drafting some injured players is going to change.
Hill was a good pick; Cromartie just would have been better, and would have solved an area the Rams are pathetically weak at now.
Anyway, 3-0, Titans. Sproles returns to the 27. LT for 1 or 2. Titans blitz Rivers, who fumbles the ball but it's recovered by LT. Good rush by TN again forces a useless 5-yard dumpoff.
Bwa-ha-ha, go, Titans! TN will take over at their 35. Chris Brown up the middle for 3. Young gets plenty of time to throw but gets taken down by Cesaire on 2nd down. 3rd-9, big blitz on Vince forces a throwaway. Young is down and looks like he's been in a car wreck. Sproles fair catches the punt at the 23.
Quick hitch to Chambers for 5. Comes back due to a chop block, though; SD will have 1st-and-21. LT for 3. This is awesome for Tennessee; make Rivers beat you. 2nd-18, overthrown for Gates at the sidelines. Dumpoff to MANU for 9. I think this game is going exactly how Tennessee wants. Punt's returned to the 30.
Powerful run by White for 8. They only give him 1 on 2nd down. White bounces off his own blocker and stumbles up the middle for 4. Vince hits Troupe off play-action for 13. They're at the SD 45. 2 more for White. Tennessee has had the ball almost the whole first quarter. 1:00 left. White up the middle and WOW, he drives a whole pile for almost 8. Third and very short again. Fullback Hall takes the carry for 3 as the first quarter ends.
Wow, Brady Quinn's got more commercials than career pass attempts. How stupid is that?
From the Charger 34, Brown ignores a big hole and bangs down to the 30. 5 more for Brown. On 3rd-and-1, White busts out for 13 down to the 12. Titan o-line is dominating the LOS. Short gain for White this time. See, San Diego loves to come after your QB, but hit them in the mouth in the running game and they shrink up like George Costanza. Aw, crap. Super play by Merriman to pop the ball out of Brown's hand and force a fumble I believe is recovered by Shawn Philips. HUGE play for San Diego.
Chargers from their 9. They try to sweep LT left, but the Titans string it out for a 3-yard loss. Off a short drop, Rivers hits Chambers for 7. 3rd-6. Square out to Gates, and he takes it up the sideline for 16. LT gains 2. Play-action and a nice pass over the middle to Chambers for 30. Great run support by Michael Griffin again stuffs an attempted LT sweep for a loss. 2nd-13, Rivers throws it away with nobody open. They try a sideline bomb to Vincent Jackson but he can't bring it down. Another punt for San Diego; Titans will take over at their 12.
Funny thing about the Charger offense here; Rivers is actually doing a decent job - it's LT and the running game that have been all but complete crap. I don't think LT even has positive yardage at this point.
Today's referee is Ed Hochuli, who's average enough that he probably looks great in the NFL's eyes.
White gains a couple. They screen to him on 2nd down, but he falls down and takes a big loss. 3rd-12. Davis can't handle a tough sideline pass and Tennessee will punt. Sproles catches the punt over his shoulder at the 48 and brings it to the TN 43.
Though they've just picked up a big advantage in the field position game, the Chargers stupidly go for the whole enchilada on 1st down, and early POTG candidate Cortland Finnegan picks it off in the end zone, covering Chambers 1-on-1. Nice call, NORV.
What's Rivers pissed off about? That he sucks?
Tennessee starts from their 20 with an incomplete and a 2-yard White run. Vince wings it long on 3rd down but it goes off the hands of a falling Gage, who was shoved to the ground by Cromartie without a call. That was NOT incidental contact. But Tennessee's punting. Hentrich only gets it to the SD 45.
Again, proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy in the form of the Charger cheerleaders.
LT gets a hole this time but still only gains 3. Another false start for the Chargers, who I'll remind everyone is the HOME team. 2nd-long, Rivers barely avoids a sack and almost gets his dump pass picked off. 3rd-12, Jackson's WIDE open and gets the Chargers down to the 36. HUGE hole in the Titan zone that time. But they shut down LT for no gain. 7 carries, 6 yards. Dumb short rollout pass to Gates not only loses yardage, Gates gets hurt. His left foot got bent back and is apparently broken; they're bringing out the cart. Lord help the Chargers if MANU has to carry their passing offense. Gates rides out on the cart, and I hate to be crass, but Tennessee couldn't have dreamed the game would be going this well for them 3:00 before halftime. Griffin saves a TD by knocking down an end zone pass for Chambers, and Nate Kaeding's 45-yard FG attempt is MISERABLE and barely even gets off the ground. More playoff non-magic from Kaeding.
Tennessee from their 35. White gains 4, but gets little or nothing on 2nd down. Clock runs down to 2:00. Nice throw by Vince on 3rd-5 to someone named Byron Ely? at the 50. Big hole on the left for Brown, who CRASHES off one of his WRs for 10, but a hold on Troupe drags it back. 1st-20. Vince scrambles for about 3. Both teams let the clock run. This is dumb on San Diego's part; they have Tennessee where they want them right now. 10 to Moulds on the sidelines and the clock stops anyway. Here's Ely again, with a 1st down at the 38. 2 catches today when he had 1 all season. Moulds gets out of bounds after gaining 6. 5 to Troupe for another 1st. Young spikes at 0:15. Titans have been picking up the Charger blitz without much trouble. Handoff to White for 4 sets up Bironas for a 45-yard attempt with :03 left. He strokes it, and Tennessee leads 6-0 at halftime as the Chargers get BOOED off the field by their fans at a home playoff game.
Just about a perfect first half for Tennessee. The Chargers have got to play stronger run defense in the 2nd half and force Young into more predictable passing situations. And it's pathetic that Tomlinson has like six yards rushing in the first half. Tennessee owns this game in the trenches. Hilariously to me as a Charger-hater, they're going to have to rely on Rivers and come out firing after halftime to get things loosened up for LT. It's possible, but lotsa luck with that, Norv.
What have we learned coming out of halftime? Jim Nantz and Phil Simms have the worst hair of any broadcast crew, and San Diego's first half highlights were clearly from their cheerleaders.
Illegal block will start San Diego in a hole. LT gains 4, then nothing, and the Charger crowd is nothing if not restless. 3rd-6 from the 16. Rivers emerges from a collapsed pocket and drills one to Chambers for 19. Huge play by Rivers. After a Titan injury timeout, LT dances around for 1. Rivers is hit as he throws for a 2nd-down incomplete. 3rd-9, Jackson is WIDE OPEN down the sideline for a big gain. Worse yet for Tennessee, Griffin is injured on the tackle. 34-yard gain for Jackson. San Diego's around the Titan 30. Pitch to LT looks good at first but Tennessee is quick to get back and Finnegan shuts it down for no gain. Rivers hits Chambers on the sideline for 19. 1-10 from the T11. 7 to Chambers, but LT is SHUT DOWN AGAIN at the 4. 3rd-and-3. Norv wants a time out, because it looks like a play never came in. Quick pass to Jackson gains only a couple; it looked like LT was all alone in the flat, but the play wasn't designed to go that way. Norv settles for a FG, much to the home crowd's disgust. 6-3, Tennessee.
Henry brings the kick back to the 24. Play-action rollout to Davis at the sideline for 4. White up the middle for 4 more. 3rd-2, Young quickly guns it to Ben Hartsock(!) for 4. Charger rush is just not getting there. White gets about 5 over left tackle. Charger blitz is right on this time, meeting Henry in the hole for a loss on 2nd down. 3rd-and-6. Young and his WR aren't on the same page and a long pass is incomplete. Sproles only gets 2 on the punt return out to the 21.
Boy, the Titans have no answer for Vincent Jackson today, who Rivers hits for 20. From the 41, swing pass to LT, his FIRST reception, gains about 5. That play's long overdue. Big hole left for LT but Tulloch drags him down after 2 yards. 3rd-3. LT gets a quick pass and breaks Griffin's tackle for a first down. Important play. 1-10 at the T48. Michael Turner up the middle for 3. What, LT's tired out after gaining a whole 10 yards? Now Albert Haynesworth makes a FREAKING STUPID PLAY. He jumps offside and knocks Rivers on his ass, a blatant roughing penalty. What a damn idiot. Chargers are now at the Titan 29. LT up the middle for 4. On play action, Rivers gets all day, rolls right and finds the apparently unstoppable Jackson at the 3. He embarrasses the overrunning DB with a quick cut and dives into the end zone.
San Diego leads, 10-6. Rivers is winning the game for them with his arm.
Rest assured I'd be losing a lot of money on a day where Philip Rivers and Eli Manning are the reasons their respective teams are winning playoff games. Days like today are exactly why gambling shouldn't be legal.
Tennesse starts from their 26 with 2:30 left in the 3rd. Troupe makes a pretty catch up the sideline at midfield. Chris Davis gets DRILLED by Jammer on an end around, but not until he gains 11. Tenn at the SD 37. 5 to Hartsock. White plows left and is about a yard short. Crazy run by the fullback Hall. He's extremely tentative with the handoff and looks like he's going to lose 2. Then he spins and bounces off a tackle and stumbles around the right edge for 11. First down, Titans, inside the SD 20 as we start the 4th quarter.
Phillips EATS UP a slow developing run for White for -3. Poor pass by Young on 2nd down should have been picked off by Hart. 3rd-13. Pass is short and behind Hall in the flat, and he never would have gotten a 1st down anyway. On comes Bironas. The best kicker in the league hooks it left, and San Diego holds their 4-point lead.
Chargers from their 28; LT gains 1. Great run D by Tennessee today, but they're getting killed by Jackson. Now finally, LT breaks loose, for 11 off the right side. LT runs right for 5. Long ball for Chambers is nowhere close; Titans had it covered. 3rd-5, a Titan safety gets faked out in the flat by MANU, who gains 7. San Diego's already across midfield. THROWING AGAIN, pass is way high and out of bounds. How 'bout chewing a little clock, Chargers? Three straight passes after LT had run twice for 16 yards. And now here's another pass, incomplete for Jackson in the face of heavy pressure. 3rd-and-10. With ALL DAY to throw, Rivers finds Chambers ALL ALONE for a pass inside the 10. Second HUGE leak the Titan zone has sprung today, and as a result, the Chargers may have this one all but put away. They use a TO to prevent a delay of game. Tennessee's all over the 1st down run. LT can't bounce it outside, and it loses 2. Rivers has to throw away the 2nd down pass. 3rd-and-goal from the 10. Quick slant to Tomlinson, who gets WHACKED at the one. He falls into the end zone but is ruled down before he got there. Great call, his butt hits down before the ball's across the goal line. Look at that mouthpiece bouncing around on the ground. Don't know whose it was, but what a great replay. Norv challenges the call, but I believe he's going to lose it, and his last timeout with it.
Challenge fails as expected. 4th and goal from a foot and a half. I'm stunned they're going for it here when they went for the FG before. A FG gives you a touchdown lead! Tomlinson leaps high and is met in midair by a Titan, but he extends the ball across the line for the TD, with a Bush Push, I believe from Manu. Fisher challenges, but he's not going to get it. Super smart play by LT to extend the ball across the plane, and Manu's push saved the day for San Diego. Super play by Tulloch to meet LT in midair, but it just wasn't enough. 17-6, San Diego.
Titans still have enough time to run, but they go incomplete, Merriman sack, Castillo sack, and the Chargers are sticking a big ol' fork in this one.
Shaun Phillips is having a super game for San Diego. Have I ever mentioned I wanted to pick him a few years ago when the Rams took stupid freaking Anthony Hargrove?
Chargers from their 43, 7:28 left. After a no-gainer, LT bounces outside for 12 and smartly slides in bounds to keep the clock running. Turner gains 11 with a hesitation run. No gain for Turner from the Titan 35. Looks like LT's done for the day? Helmet's not even on with 4:40 left. Turner gets a big hole and slips a tackle in the backfield for 11, but it comes back for a hold. 2nd-16 from the 40. Turner fights mightily for 1. Titans use a timeout at 4:13. They have one left. Turner gains 4 after breaking about half-a-dozen tackles on 3rd down. TN uses its final TO at 4:03. They nearly block the punt, but Scifres finds the COFFIN CORNER at the 5.
Play action, roll left pass to Moulds for 13, but he'd stepped out of bounds first. 1st-12 from the 3. False start, and it's now 1st-14 from the 1. 8 to Hartsock. 2nd down, Young throws a poor pass off his back foot, Florence picks it off, and returns it to the 19. Illegal block will move it back, but this game's over for sure now.
Might as well go for the Daily Double of Metaphysical Unlikeliness and give Philip Rivers and Eli Manning Player of the Game awards on the same day. LT didn't do squat until late in the game. This one was on Rivers' shoulders all the way, and he pulled his team through. Without Gates, Chambers and Jackson were both over 100 yards receiving.
That'll send the Chargers to Indianapolis next week, more than likely without Gates. They have had Indy's number in the past, but that'll be a lot harder without Gates, in Indy's place, against a team that's had a week off. They picked off Manning SIX times earlier this year, but needed Adam Vinatieri to miff from 29 to hang on for the win. Colt Nation is probably concerned about their tackles holding up against the Charger rush, but they'll be smart to do just what the Titans did. Hit San Diego in the mouth early and get Addai going. Indy's passing game is a much better followup to that than Tennessee's, plus I don't expect all the coverage breakdowns in the Colt secondary that the Titans had today.
So I'm going with all the home teams next weekend (if T.O. is healthy), even though that didn't exactly work out too well this weekend.
Good weekend of football & congratulations to everybody who advanced.
NFC Wild Card Playoff: Giants 24, Buccaneers 14
@#$@#$!! playoff schedule! When did this game start?
Looks like I haven't missed much. The Giants' first position went nowhere. Tampa's first drive moved the sticks once before they sunk themselves with a dumb delay of game penalty.
Getting the ball back at their 14, NY gets to third-and-1, but Chris Hovan pushes deep into the backfield to drop Brandon Jacobs for loss. Tampa will start the next drive near midfield.
And Tampa's cheerleaders are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
Walt Anderson is the ref today, but these are "all-star" crews, so we can't speculate whether the rest of the crew will ignore DPI the way they did when the Steelers were in St. Louis.
Earnest Graham breaks tackles for a 10-yard run on 2nd down, and Michael Clayton follows with an 11-yard catch. That's interesting because Clayton's face has been on milk cartons for two years, but that's already his second touch. Two more physical runs by Graham gain nine yards, 35 inches. Hey, here's a novel play on third and inches... the QB takes the snap and just drives forward with the ball! Yeah, he didn't hand off to anybody; he kept it! Wonder what they call THAT play, SCOTT LINEHAN! At the Giant 20, Graham's stopped for no gain, and there's an injury timeout. Garcia hangs tough in the pocket and hits Graham out of the backfield down to the 6. Graham crashes down to the goal line on 1st and goal. Tampa's only inches away. Graham gets in the second time, with a second effort and good blocking on the left side.
Tampa 7, Giants 0, with 1:49 left in the 1st. OK, I'm caught up now.
Giants take over at their 25. Joe Buck announces the Giants have one yard rushing, which Javon Haye makes a negative number with a TFL on 1st down. And Eli has to call timeout. The Giants look little like the team that gave New England everything it could handle last week. Gaines Adams jumps offsides to help the Giants a little bit. 2nd-9. Forced pass for triple-covered Steve Smith incomplete. On 3rd down, Gaines Adams circles in on Eli practically untouched for a sack, whipping Kareem McKenzie badly. Tampa will take over from their 30 after the punt.
James Butler blitzes in and nearly steals the handoff from Garcia. Graham loses three as the first quarter of this defensive battle ends.
Garcia avoids the blitz on 3rd down, but can't throw a decent pass on the move and forces a punt. McQuarters sets the Giants up near midfield with the return.
Eli finds Burress on 1st down, and Toomer breaks tackles on 2nd down to gain about 20. About time the Giants got away from rushing in predictable situations. Jacobs gains 3. Another first down to Toomer, who gets NY inside the 20. They try to sweep Jacobs right but get very little. 2nd down pass incomplete. The Bucs take a timeout on 3rd-and-9.
Eli finds TOOMER AGAIN inside the 5. How is it the Bucs can't cover that guy? First and goal, Jacobs breaks a tackle on a middle screen and evens the score at 7. 2nd time this weekend we've seen the screen pass used down on the goal line.
Game tied at 7.
Kickoff brought back to about the 21. Antonio Pierce breaks up a pass. Tampa is in the no-huddle. With the backfield empty, Strahan overpowers Trueblood for a sack. 3rd-15, Strahan is all over the screen pass and it's only a short gain. Punt is to the 35.
Shockingly, the tide of this game has turned by Coughlin putting the game in... Eli's hands.
Bradshaw runs through the Tampa D for 8. Eli hits Plaxico across midfield for a 1st, then for 9 more. You know, if you're going to call it "cover"-2, maybe you ought to actually cover somebody. Bradshaw gets stopped, leaving 3rd-and-1. I'd play-action and go deep. Eli makes a sweet play - pump-fakes and hits Smith with a tight pass - for a 21-yard gain. Now a 9-yard pass to Bradshaw. 2nd-2 inside the 10, Jacobs knifes through the Tampa D like hot butter for a TD behind Madison Hedgecock's block. That just proves Scott Linehan doesn't know how to use a fullback, because Hedgecock never made a block like that in his Ram career, nor was he ever really set up TO make a block like that.
14-7, Giants. And before everybody start saying this is Eli Manning's star turn, that this is the day he became a stud NFL QB, all he's had to do so far is mostly hit wide-open receivers that Tampa is too stupid to cover. Monte Kiffin is way overdue to adjust what they're doing on D.
After the kickoff, 3 up the middle for Graham. About 3:30 till halftime. Blitz gets to Garcia on 2nd down but Askew makes a nifty shoetop grab for a 5-yard gain. Full dropback for Garcia on 3rd down; he gets in trouble but finds Pittman over the middle for a 1st at the 40. Wacky 1st down pass incomplete at 2:04. Flip pass to Graham in heavy traffic gains only a little as the 2:00 warning arrives.
The Claritin commercial, where the sculptor says, if I sneeze, this guy could lose his nose? Would be far funnier if the speaker were a plastic surgeon.
Tough sliding catch by Ike Hilliard for a first down at midfield. After a short pass, the Giants, who are blitzing a lot, break up the 2nd down pass. Protection is solid on 3rd down, but Garcia's got nobody open. Good coverage by Ross on Hilliard. 1:14 left and another shot coming for the Giants, who take over near their 20.
Jacobs gains 9 up the middle but it looks like the Giants are happy to run out the clock. Troy and Joe are criticizing NY for not going for it, but that far in your own end, against the Tampa defense, you don't want to take any crazy chances. I'm fine with the strategy.
Giants take a 14-7 lead into halftime.
Let's start the 2nd half. It's a half where the Bucs better start putting some pressure on Manning.
Ugh. Spurlock fumbles away the opening kickoff and Corey Webster recovers it to start the half out with a golden opportunity for New York. Jacobs gains 7 up the middle. They're at the TB23. 4 more for Jacobs running right. Jacobs right for 1. 2nd down, Eli wheels away after Kevin Carter falls, and flings it up into the end zone, tipped and almost picked off. 3rd-and-9, NY gets away with the middle screen to Jacobs, it's set up well and he gains a first down inside the 10. Jump ball for Plax on 1st and goal is nowhere close. False start moves NY back to the 13. Tough pass to Toomer between three guys gets them back inside the 5. Refs deserve a delay of game penalty for their slowness calling delay of game. 3rd-and-goal now from the 9. Only a couple to Smith, and NY will try the FG. Tynes hits from 25 to make it 17-7, but the Bucs may have won that exchange considering how and where the Giants got the ball.
Kick return out to the 30. Graham muscles for 6 and powers for almost 4 more to set up 3rd-and-inches. He dives for the 1st down and follows with a 5-yard catch from Garcia. Cofield appears to catch Garcia helmet-to-helmet after the throw to give Tampa their biggest play since the 1st quarter. Bucs are at the NY40. Graham draws for 10. 2 more left for Graham. From the 28, TERRIBLE throw by Garcia is picked off in the end zone by Webster. Joey Galloway wasn't remotely open. That may have been the killer for Tampa, their second turnover of the quarter.
Tampa stuffs the first down run, and the Giants hold on 2nd down, putting them in a 2nd-18 hole from their 12. Bradshaw draws for maybe 3. 3rd down, a fake draw, then a pump fake by Eli, then a throw into the ground for a wide open Bradshaw. Doh. Tampa dodges a bullet there and takes over from their 33.
Bucs need something here. Graham is stuffed for 1, but Tampa beats a blitz with a screen to Askew for 7. Huge 3rd-and-2. It's a pass, a tight throw to Alex Smith between two guys. Great throw by Garcia puts Tampa at the NY43. Maybe 1 again for Graham. 2nd-9, Garcia wants to go long but throws it away. Bad shotgun snap screws up the timing of the next play. Garcia tries to rush it to the hot read and nearly gets picked off. Bucs punt again, and Eli will take over at the 8.
Dumpoff to Hedgecock for 4. Long sideline pass is not only well covered by Philip Buchanon, he draws an OPI from Plaxico. Giants retreat to their 6. Jacobs runs right for 5. 3rd-7. Another pump fake by Eli, who hits Toomer over the middle for 11 and a HUGE first down as the third quarter ends.
Giants from their 22. Bradshaw loses his helmet but still cuts back for 7. Play-action and nice throw by Eli to Toomer at the 40. Bradshaw's running hard and hits it up the middle for 6. Bradshaw again, running patiently for 8. NY's across midfield and sticking a fork in this thing. Play action to Kevin Boss for 11. Tampa's D is missing tackles, falling by the wayside due to their own hometown heat, and the wheels are steadily coming off. Eli just misses a sideline pass to stop the clock at 11:30. No problem, Manning hits Burress for 12. Tampa needs to make a play NOW. Bradshaw dances out of a big loss and gains 6. Tampa is near toast. 6 more for Bradshaw up the middle, and they're inside the 10, and Tampa has no hope. Tampa blitzes this time and Barber stops Bradshaw for 1. Ronde's name hasn't been called a lot today. Neither has Derrick Brooks, except when he whiffed trying to knock down the TD pass to Jacobs in the 2nd. Bradshaw slips down to the 4. The Rams don't have anyone remotely like Bradshaw who can come off the bench and pound away at a defense like this. Eli ends the drive, the game and Tampa's season with a fine TD pass to Amani Toomer. It's 24-7 and the Giants can start planning for Dallas.
Penalty on the kickoff will put Tampa in lousy field position. Bucs from the 12. Dockery swats down a lame short slant to Hilliard. Quick slant downfield to Hilliard works this time for 9. Graham squirts through for 4 on 3rd-and-1. 5 to the TE crossing. This drive is pretty funny. Tampa's going to use up the rest of the clock to score once at this rate with 6:30 left. 5 to Graham, after a penalty, leaves Garcia with 3rd-and-5. Garcia rolls and hits Pittman for 10. Strahan is slow getting up, stopping the clock for Tampa. Garcia barely gets the 1st down pass away before he's taken down by Stahan's replacement. Then he scrambles right and hits Pittman for a 25-yard play, their biggest of the day. About 15 more to Clayton. 9 more to Hilliard at the 11. Draw to Pittman for 5; first and goal at the 6. Slant pass to Smith for the TD makes it 24-14 with 3:25 left. The Giants achieved everything they wanted to this drive, though. They didn't give up a long play, forced the Bucs to dink, dunk and burn 3+ minutes off the clock just to get within 10.
Onside kick should be coming here. The Giants play 10 men up, and Tampa squibs it to Reuben Droughns, who brings it out to the 30. You know, if you're not onsiding there, DON'T kick it straight to the deep man, HEH?!? Bradshaw gains 8 and nearly broke it for a monster gain. The illusion of the Tampa defense has been shattered again by an opponent smart enough not to run their offense right into where they're loaded up. Bucs letting the clock run inside 3:00, but they stop Bradshaw short here and use one. 3rd-and-3 with 2:20-ish left. Hovan stuffs Bradshaw to force NY into punting. Tampa uses TO#2 with 2:19 left. After the punt, Bucs will take over at their 27.
LOVELY, my worthless computer ate the last half of the post. Basically, McQuarters picks off a long pass to put the game away, then Troy wet-dreams all over himself about how Eli "has grown up today". Sure, when the opponent plays a crappy scheme and the Giants run as well as they did, Eli's great. And I'll give him star of the game today, because it's no mean feat to win a playoff game on the road, and he didn't make the big screwup he often makes. (Though the real star of the game is the Tampa coaching staff for crappy game-planning on both sides of the ball.) But Dallas will get after him next week a lot better than Tampa did. If he falls apart under some actual defensive pressure, Dallas will beat the Giants for the third time. But, if T.O. can't go, there's every reason to think the Giant defense can look as good in Dallas as they did in Tampa today. So the Giants could win in Dallas even if Eli sucks.
Keep an eye on the injury lists.
Looks like I haven't missed much. The Giants' first position went nowhere. Tampa's first drive moved the sticks once before they sunk themselves with a dumb delay of game penalty.
Getting the ball back at their 14, NY gets to third-and-1, but Chris Hovan pushes deep into the backfield to drop Brandon Jacobs for loss. Tampa will start the next drive near midfield.
And Tampa's cheerleaders are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
Walt Anderson is the ref today, but these are "all-star" crews, so we can't speculate whether the rest of the crew will ignore DPI the way they did when the Steelers were in St. Louis.
Earnest Graham breaks tackles for a 10-yard run on 2nd down, and Michael Clayton follows with an 11-yard catch. That's interesting because Clayton's face has been on milk cartons for two years, but that's already his second touch. Two more physical runs by Graham gain nine yards, 35 inches. Hey, here's a novel play on third and inches... the QB takes the snap and just drives forward with the ball! Yeah, he didn't hand off to anybody; he kept it! Wonder what they call THAT play, SCOTT LINEHAN! At the Giant 20, Graham's stopped for no gain, and there's an injury timeout. Garcia hangs tough in the pocket and hits Graham out of the backfield down to the 6. Graham crashes down to the goal line on 1st and goal. Tampa's only inches away. Graham gets in the second time, with a second effort and good blocking on the left side.
Tampa 7, Giants 0, with 1:49 left in the 1st. OK, I'm caught up now.
Giants take over at their 25. Joe Buck announces the Giants have one yard rushing, which Javon Haye makes a negative number with a TFL on 1st down. And Eli has to call timeout. The Giants look little like the team that gave New England everything it could handle last week. Gaines Adams jumps offsides to help the Giants a little bit. 2nd-9. Forced pass for triple-covered Steve Smith incomplete. On 3rd down, Gaines Adams circles in on Eli practically untouched for a sack, whipping Kareem McKenzie badly. Tampa will take over from their 30 after the punt.
James Butler blitzes in and nearly steals the handoff from Garcia. Graham loses three as the first quarter of this defensive battle ends.
Garcia avoids the blitz on 3rd down, but can't throw a decent pass on the move and forces a punt. McQuarters sets the Giants up near midfield with the return.
Eli finds Burress on 1st down, and Toomer breaks tackles on 2nd down to gain about 20. About time the Giants got away from rushing in predictable situations. Jacobs gains 3. Another first down to Toomer, who gets NY inside the 20. They try to sweep Jacobs right but get very little. 2nd down pass incomplete. The Bucs take a timeout on 3rd-and-9.
Eli finds TOOMER AGAIN inside the 5. How is it the Bucs can't cover that guy? First and goal, Jacobs breaks a tackle on a middle screen and evens the score at 7. 2nd time this weekend we've seen the screen pass used down on the goal line.
Game tied at 7.
Kickoff brought back to about the 21. Antonio Pierce breaks up a pass. Tampa is in the no-huddle. With the backfield empty, Strahan overpowers Trueblood for a sack. 3rd-15, Strahan is all over the screen pass and it's only a short gain. Punt is to the 35.
Shockingly, the tide of this game has turned by Coughlin putting the game in... Eli's hands.
Bradshaw runs through the Tampa D for 8. Eli hits Plaxico across midfield for a 1st, then for 9 more. You know, if you're going to call it "cover"-2, maybe you ought to actually cover somebody. Bradshaw gets stopped, leaving 3rd-and-1. I'd play-action and go deep. Eli makes a sweet play - pump-fakes and hits Smith with a tight pass - for a 21-yard gain. Now a 9-yard pass to Bradshaw. 2nd-2 inside the 10, Jacobs knifes through the Tampa D like hot butter for a TD behind Madison Hedgecock's block. That just proves Scott Linehan doesn't know how to use a fullback, because Hedgecock never made a block like that in his Ram career, nor was he ever really set up TO make a block like that.
14-7, Giants. And before everybody start saying this is Eli Manning's star turn, that this is the day he became a stud NFL QB, all he's had to do so far is mostly hit wide-open receivers that Tampa is too stupid to cover. Monte Kiffin is way overdue to adjust what they're doing on D.
After the kickoff, 3 up the middle for Graham. About 3:30 till halftime. Blitz gets to Garcia on 2nd down but Askew makes a nifty shoetop grab for a 5-yard gain. Full dropback for Garcia on 3rd down; he gets in trouble but finds Pittman over the middle for a 1st at the 40. Wacky 1st down pass incomplete at 2:04. Flip pass to Graham in heavy traffic gains only a little as the 2:00 warning arrives.
The Claritin commercial, where the sculptor says, if I sneeze, this guy could lose his nose? Would be far funnier if the speaker were a plastic surgeon.
Tough sliding catch by Ike Hilliard for a first down at midfield. After a short pass, the Giants, who are blitzing a lot, break up the 2nd down pass. Protection is solid on 3rd down, but Garcia's got nobody open. Good coverage by Ross on Hilliard. 1:14 left and another shot coming for the Giants, who take over near their 20.
Jacobs gains 9 up the middle but it looks like the Giants are happy to run out the clock. Troy and Joe are criticizing NY for not going for it, but that far in your own end, against the Tampa defense, you don't want to take any crazy chances. I'm fine with the strategy.
Giants take a 14-7 lead into halftime.
Let's start the 2nd half. It's a half where the Bucs better start putting some pressure on Manning.
Ugh. Spurlock fumbles away the opening kickoff and Corey Webster recovers it to start the half out with a golden opportunity for New York. Jacobs gains 7 up the middle. They're at the TB23. 4 more for Jacobs running right. Jacobs right for 1. 2nd down, Eli wheels away after Kevin Carter falls, and flings it up into the end zone, tipped and almost picked off. 3rd-and-9, NY gets away with the middle screen to Jacobs, it's set up well and he gains a first down inside the 10. Jump ball for Plax on 1st and goal is nowhere close. False start moves NY back to the 13. Tough pass to Toomer between three guys gets them back inside the 5. Refs deserve a delay of game penalty for their slowness calling delay of game. 3rd-and-goal now from the 9. Only a couple to Smith, and NY will try the FG. Tynes hits from 25 to make it 17-7, but the Bucs may have won that exchange considering how and where the Giants got the ball.
Kick return out to the 30. Graham muscles for 6 and powers for almost 4 more to set up 3rd-and-inches. He dives for the 1st down and follows with a 5-yard catch from Garcia. Cofield appears to catch Garcia helmet-to-helmet after the throw to give Tampa their biggest play since the 1st quarter. Bucs are at the NY40. Graham draws for 10. 2 more left for Graham. From the 28, TERRIBLE throw by Garcia is picked off in the end zone by Webster. Joey Galloway wasn't remotely open. That may have been the killer for Tampa, their second turnover of the quarter.
Tampa stuffs the first down run, and the Giants hold on 2nd down, putting them in a 2nd-18 hole from their 12. Bradshaw draws for maybe 3. 3rd down, a fake draw, then a pump fake by Eli, then a throw into the ground for a wide open Bradshaw. Doh. Tampa dodges a bullet there and takes over from their 33.
Bucs need something here. Graham is stuffed for 1, but Tampa beats a blitz with a screen to Askew for 7. Huge 3rd-and-2. It's a pass, a tight throw to Alex Smith between two guys. Great throw by Garcia puts Tampa at the NY43. Maybe 1 again for Graham. 2nd-9, Garcia wants to go long but throws it away. Bad shotgun snap screws up the timing of the next play. Garcia tries to rush it to the hot read and nearly gets picked off. Bucs punt again, and Eli will take over at the 8.
Dumpoff to Hedgecock for 4. Long sideline pass is not only well covered by Philip Buchanon, he draws an OPI from Plaxico. Giants retreat to their 6. Jacobs runs right for 5. 3rd-7. Another pump fake by Eli, who hits Toomer over the middle for 11 and a HUGE first down as the third quarter ends.
Giants from their 22. Bradshaw loses his helmet but still cuts back for 7. Play-action and nice throw by Eli to Toomer at the 40. Bradshaw's running hard and hits it up the middle for 6. Bradshaw again, running patiently for 8. NY's across midfield and sticking a fork in this thing. Play action to Kevin Boss for 11. Tampa's D is missing tackles, falling by the wayside due to their own hometown heat, and the wheels are steadily coming off. Eli just misses a sideline pass to stop the clock at 11:30. No problem, Manning hits Burress for 12. Tampa needs to make a play NOW. Bradshaw dances out of a big loss and gains 6. Tampa is near toast. 6 more for Bradshaw up the middle, and they're inside the 10, and Tampa has no hope. Tampa blitzes this time and Barber stops Bradshaw for 1. Ronde's name hasn't been called a lot today. Neither has Derrick Brooks, except when he whiffed trying to knock down the TD pass to Jacobs in the 2nd. Bradshaw slips down to the 4. The Rams don't have anyone remotely like Bradshaw who can come off the bench and pound away at a defense like this. Eli ends the drive, the game and Tampa's season with a fine TD pass to Amani Toomer. It's 24-7 and the Giants can start planning for Dallas.
Penalty on the kickoff will put Tampa in lousy field position. Bucs from the 12. Dockery swats down a lame short slant to Hilliard. Quick slant downfield to Hilliard works this time for 9. Graham squirts through for 4 on 3rd-and-1. 5 to the TE crossing. This drive is pretty funny. Tampa's going to use up the rest of the clock to score once at this rate with 6:30 left. 5 to Graham, after a penalty, leaves Garcia with 3rd-and-5. Garcia rolls and hits Pittman for 10. Strahan is slow getting up, stopping the clock for Tampa. Garcia barely gets the 1st down pass away before he's taken down by Stahan's replacement. Then he scrambles right and hits Pittman for a 25-yard play, their biggest of the day. About 15 more to Clayton. 9 more to Hilliard at the 11. Draw to Pittman for 5; first and goal at the 6. Slant pass to Smith for the TD makes it 24-14 with 3:25 left. The Giants achieved everything they wanted to this drive, though. They didn't give up a long play, forced the Bucs to dink, dunk and burn 3+ minutes off the clock just to get within 10.
Onside kick should be coming here. The Giants play 10 men up, and Tampa squibs it to Reuben Droughns, who brings it out to the 30. You know, if you're not onsiding there, DON'T kick it straight to the deep man, HEH?!? Bradshaw gains 8 and nearly broke it for a monster gain. The illusion of the Tampa defense has been shattered again by an opponent smart enough not to run their offense right into where they're loaded up. Bucs letting the clock run inside 3:00, but they stop Bradshaw short here and use one. 3rd-and-3 with 2:20-ish left. Hovan stuffs Bradshaw to force NY into punting. Tampa uses TO#2 with 2:19 left. After the punt, Bucs will take over at their 27.
LOVELY, my worthless computer ate the last half of the post. Basically, McQuarters picks off a long pass to put the game away, then Troy wet-dreams all over himself about how Eli "has grown up today". Sure, when the opponent plays a crappy scheme and the Giants run as well as they did, Eli's great. And I'll give him star of the game today, because it's no mean feat to win a playoff game on the road, and he didn't make the big screwup he often makes. (Though the real star of the game is the Tampa coaching staff for crappy game-planning on both sides of the ball.) But Dallas will get after him next week a lot better than Tampa did. If he falls apart under some actual defensive pressure, Dallas will beat the Giants for the third time. But, if T.O. can't go, there's every reason to think the Giant defense can look as good in Dallas as they did in Tampa today. So the Giants could win in Dallas even if Eli sucks.
Keep an eye on the injury lists.
Saturday, January 5, 2008
AFC Wild Card Playoff: Jagwires 31, Steelers 29
Wow, no rest for us no-lifers. This game started 10 minutes earlier than I thought it would. Albino and Madden on the call, of course.
Najeh Davenport is returning kickoffs tonight? Who thinks he has anywhere near enough speed for that? Why not Cedric Wilson or Nate Washington? I'm pretty sure Wilson returned kicks in S.F. Not surprisingly, the kickoff's only returned to the 20. 1st down, Big Ben floats it way too high for Ward. 6 to Heath Miller. Steelers do a bunch of fake criss-crossing in the backfield, and Ben hits Hines Ward wide open for 31. Reggie Nelson hits Ward way late out of bounds and in the head, with no penalty. Next play, though, John Henderson stupidly horse-collars Big Ben on the scramble for a 15-yard penalty. Pittsburgh's already at the J35. Quick hitch to Ward for 6. 12 more to Ward on the sideline. Davenport splits right up the middle for 12 down to the 7. Henderson, ironically, was hurt on the horse-collar play, and his replacement, Derek Landri, is MUCH MUCH smaller. Ben hits Matt Spaeth, who loses the ball at the goal line diving for the TD, but his knee was clearly down at the 1. Don't know why Jax challenged the play.
Tonight's referee is Scott Green.NFL refereeing is so excellent that Green had to wait four entire years before earning his first playoff assignment at referee.
Henderson is being carted off. Uh-oh.
2nd-and-goal, and Jacksonville ain't the Rams, as Davenport is stopped short. He gets a hole on 3rd down, though, and scores to put Pittsburgh up 7-0. Great opening drive put together by Pittsburgh OC Bruce Arians.
Maurice Jones-Drew brings the ensuing kickoff all the way back to the Pittsburgh 1-yard line. He got most of it right up the middle of the field. Fred Taylor vultures MoJo's TD the next play to make it 7-7.
Wow.
Watching the 4th quarter of Washington-Seattle and the first 5:00 of this game, how can you not love football?
Davenport returns a very short kick to the 28. I don't know why you'd do anything but kick deep to him unless you're trying to induce a fumble. Najeh gains 6 inside left tackle. Ben rolls out of trouble and hits Russell on the sideline for 5. Hayward had beaten his man. Najeh inside right tackle for 5. Steelers run out of a 4-WR formation but McCray squirted through and shut it down. Good pass rush from Landri flushes Ben to force a punt. Northcutt fields the punt at the 6 but brings it back only to the 9.
Taylor does well to find 2 yards in traffic on 1st down. Haggans jumps offsides, though, to give Jax 2nd-and-3. No room up the middle again for Taylor, 3rd-and-2. MoJo muscles through for the first down, though. Garrard burns a timeout with 1st-and-10 from the J20. They try a counter right with MoJo for maybe 2. Garrard escapes the rush and scrambles for 11 after the Jax line VERY SOLIDLY picks up the Steeler blitz. He again barely avoids a sack and gets a pass off to Marcedes Lewis for 11 more. Taylor off left tackle for 2. A RICHARD ANGULO sighting! Garrard has him open over the middle deep but way overthrows him. 3rd-and-8. Keisel leaps and knocks down the Garrard pass to force the punt, which finds the end zone.
Tony Pashos earned much RamView love in the player intros by announcing "You'll never get rid of the Chief", referring to the University of Illinois' long-time mascot / political-correctness victim, Chief Illiniwek. Maurice Williams, though, just sounds desperate when he declares he's from THE University of Michigan. Leave the pompous use of articles to the Buckeyes, Maurice.
Henderson left with a strained hamstring but is back. Ben rolls and is nearly taken down by Paul Spicer but hits Miller instead for 12. Ben steps away from yet another good Jagwire rush, but Cliff Ingram breaks up a long pass for Santonio Holmes. That's a LB defending a pass to the guy the Rams made look like Lynn Swann a couple of weeks ago. Henderson's out again as Russell plunges forward for about 2 to end the first quarter with the game tied at 7.
Pittsburgh opens the quarter on a bad note; Ben holds the ball forever and Spicer and Landri get to him for the sack. Good punt return by Northcutt, too, and Jax will start from their 39.
Kirschke and Woodley get through to Garrard for a big sack. Garrard claims he threw the ball away but he was in the grasp; good call. Taylor still can't get anywhere; he loses 2 to make it 3rd-and-25. So much for the great field position. Reggie Williams gets them back to the original line of scrimmage on a cross, but that's it. Great punt is fielded by Cedric Wilson at the 5, but he gets almost no return. Jagwire penalty will force a rekick. Wilson is replacing Alan Rossum on punt returns. I still don't understand why Davenport's the returner on kickoffs. Fair catch at the 15 on the rekick.
Najeh can't gain anything sweeping left. Rashean Mathis breaks up a quick slant to Holmes to force 3rd-and-10. Not Immaculate, but an impeccable reception, off Miller's fingers to Ward for a big gain. Madden makes an appropriately ironic remark. Meanwhile, Russell loses 1 to create a 2nd-and-11. Mathis jumps Santonio Holmes' route, picks off Big Ben, and returns it for a TD. Pittsburgh also got a bizarre flag on the play. Russell dove at Mathis trying to make the tackle, and took out another Jagwire below the knees, drawing a penalty for a low block even though he was on defense at the time. Well, they're trying to protect players' knees, so I'll go along with the call. Jagwires lead 14-7 and will kick off from the 45.
Inevitable touchback will start Pittsburgh from their 20. On first down, nobody blocks big mf'er Grady Jackson, who drops Najeh for -5. Um, Grady Jackson shouldn't be real hard to find. That's followed by a STUPID play by Ben on 2nd-and-15: while scrambling right, he flings one up for grabs for a double-covered Davenport, who's behind the DBs, but the pass is too short, Mathis again picks it off and returns it to the 20. Mathis has two INTs in like a minute. The play by Big Ben was the same play stupid Gus Frerotte made twice this year for INTs. Pittsburgh challenges that Mathis was down by contact at midfield where he caught the ball.
Effective challenge. Green calls Mathis down by contact, although we don't see any evidence of it at home. Maybe Green was afraid to call Mathis down because his hair was out of bounds, the call Albino and Madden lobbied for. So, from midfield, a blitz forces a bad swing pass incomplete for Drew, and Taylor only gets 3 on 2nd down. On 3rd-and-7, SWEET play by Jacksonville! Drew comes out of the backfield and beats Farrior; Garrard hits him with a perfect pass, and MoJo slips through a POOR, Jonathan Wade-quality tackle attempt from Tyrone Carter for a 45+-yard TD! 21-7, Jacksonville!
That Jacksonville play looked just like a play Scott Linehan called last week in Az, with the QB flanked by two RBs. Leonard didn't go upfield like Drew did, though, Pittman got hung up at the line of scrimmage, and Bulger got sacked.
Wow, I thought the Steelers would rebound from their home loss to the Jagwires three weeks ago, but it sure doesn't look like it. Jax is pressuring Ben quite effectively and he is off his game, and without Willie Parker, Pittsburgh doesn't have the running game to offset Ben's struggles. Jax opens this drive by engulfing Davenport for a loss. Pittsburgh is completely falling apart. Ben can't find anybody open on 2nd down and gets sacked by Mincy. 3rd-and-16, Jacksonville blows up the screen pass, Ben tries to improvise, and Landri catches him when he tries to scramble right. Roethlisberger has already been sacked four times, and those great Steeler fans are BOOING their team at a home playoff game. Nice.
Jax takes over at their 46 after a bad punt. Taylor bounces to midfield. Nice cutback left by Taylor for 10 more. Another handoff to Taylor for 9; he's just surging up the middle this drive. Drew tags in for the first down. He's the shortest short-yardage back in NFL history. From the P29, Garrard goes up top for Northcutt in the end zone. Ike Taylor's blatant DPI is not called; 2nd down. Taylor loses 4 on 2nd down. HUGE play here. Garrard gets FOREVER to throw but can only find Lewis for 2. VERY big play for Pittsburgh, since it's not a big surprise when Josh Scobee misses from 46.
Steelers from their 36 with 2:08 left in the half. 4 to Miller as we hit the 2:00 warning.
Weird that Pittsburgh felt like they had to rely on quick passing two weeks ago against the Rams but aren't doing it tonight against the Jagwires.
There's a quickie, to Washington for about 10. Ben scrambles for 6. Tick, tick! Swell diving catch by Holmes over the middle for about 16. Pittsburgh calls timeout, which gives the booth a chance to review the play! Looks like a catch all the way, though.
Madden and Albino are now ranting about how Tampa would have gone to Super Bowl XXXIV but for the Bert Emmanuel play, which was like the Holmes catch here, and the two fatheads need to shut the hell up. The Emmanuel play was NOT a catch by the rules of the game in the 1999 season, and was absolutely called correctly. You want to make a clean catch then, you don't let the ball touch the ground. Madden starts howling how Emmanuel's play would have been a catch all the decades leading up until that game, including the 20s and 30s, when I doubt many downfield passes were even thrown, and SHUT UP, YOU WORTHLESS FATHEAD. Instant replay wasn't in the rulebook until the 1990s. All those plays were incompletions before, you fat doofus. Go suck on a turducken.
Christ sakes, I get tired of having to defend the NFC win over Tampa in 2000. It's not like it was the freaking Tom Brady Tuck Rule. A couple of plays later, Shaun King committed a brutal grounding penalty that wasn't called; how come nobody ever complains about that?
Proving himself the master of irony, Scott Green calls the play an incomplete pass, and because I'm so pissed off at the NBC morons for moaning that Emmanuel caught the ball, WHEN HE DIDN'T, I throw myself 100% behind Green's call.
Pittsburgh really screwed themselves with that timeout there, and it's now 3rd-and-4 back at the J45. Davenport makes a great YAC play, takes a 5 yard pass crossfield for about 19. 1:17 in the half. Another dumpoff, to Davis, for 6. Then, with a big rush on, Ben attempts a screen but it's his THIRD INT of the half instead, picked off by the DT Landri. What a terrible first half for Roethlisberger. What's his passer rating tonight, negative twenty-nine and a half?
Those great Steeler fans BOO their team off the field at halftime of a home playoff game, trailing 21-7.
Like Washington in the first game, Pittsburgh is getting dominated in the trenches in the first half of this game. Jacksonville has figured out their bunch formation, which they're lining up in on nearly every play. Spread the field better, dummies; you'll never get Holmes or Ward open 1-on-1 otherwise. They also should do a better job of exploiting Landri and run at him. Steeler D was actually stopping the run pretty well until the end of the half. They'd better get serious about blitzing Garrard on passing downs and make him beat them. The Jagwire O isn't doing that much except for the big play by Jones-Drew; big blitzing would be worth the risk when you're down 14. The Jagwires, otoh, are in perfect position, with a big lead and a running game that can wear down the other team. Come out running and stick a fork in Pittsburgh with play-action. Jags haven't had to blitz Ben at all, and are covering the Steeler WRs like a blanket; I wouldn't change a thing. Their d-line rotation is so deep it's not like they'll get tired out there.
3rd quarter. EXTREMELY short kick is fielded by the up man at the 29 and returned to the 31. Taylor gains a couple. Exactly what the Jagwires do NOT need on 2nd down; not a good throw by Garrard at all, jumped and picked off by Farrior. Steeler ball.
Davenport can't get outside on 1st down. Miller gains 12 out of the bunch pattern again for a 1st down. Steelers at the J32. Russell up the middle for 2. 14 to Holmes on a slant. Ball at the 16. 3 more up the middle for Davenport. Brian Williams blows up a quick hitch to Holmes for -2. 3rd-9, Ben's got nobody downfield and has to dump for Davenport, who gets rocked at the 10 to force a FG. Reed hits it to make it 21-10.
Greg Jones muffs the kickoff out of bounds around the 20. Not sure if that was on the way out or not. Taylor opens with a 7-yard run up the middle. Foote and Keisel, who both have had good games, next stop him for 1. 3rd and a long 1. 12 yard scramble by Garrard out of shotgun - may have been the designed play - for a first. Garrard is so strong, that when he gets up from his slide, he unintentionally flips Farrior head over heels. Garrard scrambles and slides again for about 5. 2nd down, Pittsburgh gets to David for a sack, but Taylor commits a costly 15-yard facemask to set Jax up at midfield. Beautiful throw to ER-nest WIL-ford for 21. Wilford drew the facemask penalty earlier, though the catch he just made was his first tonight. Now WILford's open again, at the 10. Pittsburgh really didn't have to worry about the WRs in the 1st half, but Jax is eating away at soft zones here. 1st-goal, MoJo gets a big block from Khalif Barnes at the line and another from Northcutt at the goal line for a 10-yard TD run, and this thing may be over. 28-10, Jacksonville.
Wow, wow, wow.
On the kickoff, Najeh is DRILLED at the 32 and fumbles out of bounds. Under 5:00 left in the 3rd quarter. Empty backfield, Terry Cousin breaks up a dumpoff to Miller. Pittsburgh sure wasn't dumping off all the time like this in St. Louis. Davis runs for about 4. Pretty stupid to be running any more this game, down 18. Ben gets nice time and hits Miller for about 8 and a first. No-huddle now, 9 more to Miller. Davis gets a first down across midfield. Empty backfield, 5 wide, 12-yard completion to Ward. STILL RUNNING, Davis loses one. And now the LT moves. 2nd-16, Ben holds the ball so long he makes Marc Bulger look like Peyton Manning and takes a huge sack. The third quarter expires after a completion to Ward leaves Pitt with 4th-and-12.
On 4th-and-12, the Jagwires ludicrously bring a huge blitz, Ben hits Holmes on a quick slant, he breaks poor tackles by Mathis and Cousin easily for a 37-yard TD. What a stupid defensive call by Jacksonville. No need to guess whether that'll be ripped in TMQ on Tuesday. 28 to 17.
Short kick is returned by the up man to the 39 as Pittsburgh studiously continues to avoid Drew.
A rare hit on Garrard, by James Harrison, forces an incompletion on 1st down. Jax is THROWING AGAIN on 2nd down, and Garrard chucks it away under pressure. Jax needs a first down, or there's officially a momentum swing. And swing it does, as Garrard gets forever to throw, and after Jax picks up the blitz the first time, Harrison and Farrior, who was knocked to the ground initially, break through for the sack.
Three straight passes with an 11-point lead, huh? Jax barely even took 30 seconds off the clock.
Steelers take over from their 31. Ben pump-fakes, then finds Ward on a cross for 12. Quick hitch back to Ward, who breaks three tackles to gain 7. Ben's 2nd down pass is right to LB Justin Durant, but he can't hold it. 3rd-3 from midfield. Ben rolls out of trouble and sidearms it to Ward for 6. 1st-10. Ben goes up top, looks like the pass went through Washington's (bad) hands in the end zone. Yikes. 2nd-10. Miller jukes Cousin badly after the catch and gains about 10 more for a 14-yard gain. Pittsburgh's inside the 30. Draw to Davenport gains 4. Landri nearly brought Ben down before he could hand off. Nice pocket for Ben on 2nd down, and he hits Wilson for 10. Steelers at the J14. DROP by Davenport on 1st down. 2nd-10, play action pass to Miller for the TD. By not abandoning the run, Pittsburgh kept the possibility in Jacksonville's heads and set that play up, because the LBs were completely fooled. Down 28-23, Pittsburgh goes for 2, and an incredible catch by Ward on the back line for 2 is erased by a questionable holding call against the center. Steelers go for 2 from the 12. Ben runs down to the three, at which point he should have just lobbed the ball back over his head and tried for a Stanford-Cal play, but he gets taken down instead, and the Jagwire lead is still 5.
Davis BLOWS UP Scott Starks on the kick return, which only gets Jax out to the 24. I don't think Drew was even back there. Taylor breaks through the middle for 5, but a hold on ANGULO brings it back. 1st-20 from the 14. Taylor to the right for about 5. 2nd-15, Garrard's not expecting Lewis to pull up, but he does, and the pass flies way over him and to Ike Taylor, who breaks a tackled attempt by Wilford, returns the ball to the Jax 16, and puts this game in the FREAKIN AMAZING GAME column.
Davis is wide open on the sideline for 8, and Pittsburgh is inside the 10. Davenport grinds for almost 2; it'll be third-and-a-football-length. Steeler players have to tell their brilliant fans to be quiet for this key play. Ben gets the Bush Push from Davenport for the first down. 1st-goal from the 5. Fake toss left, roll right, completion to Ward close to the 1. 2nd-goal from the 1, and the Pittsburgh Steelers try a rollout pass? Tipped and incomplete. 3rd down. Looks like the 3rd-down play is an attempted screen to Davis, who drops it at the goal line. Pittsburgh goes for it on 4th down. They try their 4th straight pass, a fade to Ward. Brian Williams CLEARLY interferes with him. First and goal at the 1, Pittsburgh FINALLY runs. Davenport gets a TD after a discussion. Good call. Pittsburgh has come all the way back for a 29-28 lead. Ben's fade pass for the two-pointer is terrible and incomplete for Washington.
What a game. 29-28 Steelers, about 6 minutes left.
Poor return by Starks again, only out to the 21. Pittsburgh is figuring out where Drew is and kicking it away from him. That doesn't seem all that brilliant, but few teams ever manage to pull that off. False start on Barnes starts Jax off 1st-and-15. Garrard hits Taylor for 2, as now, it's Pittsburgh shutting down Jax's receivers downfield. Garrard is flushed and gets a pass off to Greg Jones, but he drops it. Would have had the first. 3rd-and-13. All night for Garrard, who hits Northcutt at the 36. Gigantic play with 5:17 left. Inside handoff to Drew for about 3. Again getting all night, Garrard rolls right and slips about three different sack attempts before throwing the ball away. 3rd-and-7, Woodley beats Greg Jones clean for a huge sack to force a punt. Pittsburgh has the ball back at their 22, 3:43 left and a 1-point lead. They'll win it with a couple of first downs.
Five yards for Davenport. Jax lets the clock run down, to 3:00. They stuff Davenport on 2nd down and use their first TO with 2:56 left. 3rd-5. I say play-action to Miller. Pittsburgh gets curious instead, lining up 5 wide and then having Ben try to run for the first. He comes nowhere close, and Pittsburgh will punt with 2:50 left. Nice clock management by Del Rio. I would have used up all my TOs by now. And, uh oh, there's trouble on the punt, which isn't very good and is returned by Northcutt nearly to midfield.
Jax has 2:38 and a timeout left and only needs a FG. They're passing, though, and a long low one to Wilford is called incomplete. Point of the ball hit the ground before he had control of it, so I doubt Del Rio's challenge is going to work. And it'll cost him the last time out. Costly, costly challenge there. Wilford may have hurt his team by arguing the call and not knowing the rule. 2nd-10. 8 to Reggie Williams to beat a blitz. Jax lets the clock run down to the 2:00 warning on 3rd-and-2. Lewis misses a difficult but makeable catch, and it's 4th-and-2.
QB DRAW. What a gutsy call. Garrard not only makes the first down, he jukes Carter and rumbles all the way down to the 11. A 32-yard run. Pittsburgh now has to use their TOs to preserve the clock. They have two left. Farrior BURIES Drew at the 15, and Pittsburgh uses TO#2 with 1:30 left. Drew drives up the middle for 7. 1:25 left, Jax has the ball at the 8-yard line, neither team has a TO left. 3rd-and-7. Drew damn near gets the 1st down, running up the middle for almost 6. At 0:40, Jax takes a delay of game, and Scobee has a 25-yard FG attempt. At least we won't have one of those half-assed sideline timeouts. Great hold by Podlesh the punter/holder, and Jacksonville takes the lead back, 30-29.
37 seconds left. Davenport eats up a LOT of clock getting out to the 29.
29 seconds left. Bobby McCray sends the Steelers home for the holidays, whipping LT Trai Essex AND Davenport and knocking the ball away from Roethlisberger for the win.
Pittsburgh was ultimately done in by their injuries. They've been playing for a while without either of their regular starting tackles, and without Parker, they have a critical lack of speed at RB. And still, if Ben makes one less terrible play in the first half, they probably win. But Jacksonville's ability to generally control the line of scrimmage won it for them.
Plus David Garrard is for real, even if I'm misspelling his name half the time. He's not necessarily pretty, but he wins, and that always makes you dangerous in the postseason.
As I expected, NBC pusses out again and puts both Garrard and Jones-Drew on the stupid horse trailer. Surprised they didn't put Rashean Mathis on there, too. RamView gives the sole game MVP to Jones-Drew for his 3 TDs. He was a threat rushing, receiving and on special teams.
This probably sets up a Jacksonville-New England matchup next week, and a lot of folks have felt for a couple of months that the Jagwires are a team that would give the Patriots trouble. Garrard will have to play a lot better and smarter than he did tonight, though, to pull that off. New England will certainly force Garrard to beat them. The Patriot o-line is banged up, so Jax could give Tom Brady some of the trouble Ben had tonight. But Brady's a lot better under pressure than Ben, should get better protection than Ben got, and Brady's receivers will give Jax even more trouble than Pittsburgh did tonight. Have to like the Patriots there, though I wish the Jagwires all the luck in the world eliminating the evil empire.
Najeh Davenport is returning kickoffs tonight? Who thinks he has anywhere near enough speed for that? Why not Cedric Wilson or Nate Washington? I'm pretty sure Wilson returned kicks in S.F. Not surprisingly, the kickoff's only returned to the 20. 1st down, Big Ben floats it way too high for Ward. 6 to Heath Miller. Steelers do a bunch of fake criss-crossing in the backfield, and Ben hits Hines Ward wide open for 31. Reggie Nelson hits Ward way late out of bounds and in the head, with no penalty. Next play, though, John Henderson stupidly horse-collars Big Ben on the scramble for a 15-yard penalty. Pittsburgh's already at the J35. Quick hitch to Ward for 6. 12 more to Ward on the sideline. Davenport splits right up the middle for 12 down to the 7. Henderson, ironically, was hurt on the horse-collar play, and his replacement, Derek Landri, is MUCH MUCH smaller. Ben hits Matt Spaeth, who loses the ball at the goal line diving for the TD, but his knee was clearly down at the 1. Don't know why Jax challenged the play.
Tonight's referee is Scott Green.
Henderson is being carted off. Uh-oh.
2nd-and-goal, and Jacksonville ain't the Rams, as Davenport is stopped short. He gets a hole on 3rd down, though, and scores to put Pittsburgh up 7-0. Great opening drive put together by Pittsburgh OC Bruce Arians.
Maurice Jones-Drew brings the ensuing kickoff all the way back to the Pittsburgh 1-yard line. He got most of it right up the middle of the field. Fred Taylor vultures MoJo's TD the next play to make it 7-7.
Wow.
Watching the 4th quarter of Washington-Seattle and the first 5:00 of this game, how can you not love football?
Davenport returns a very short kick to the 28. I don't know why you'd do anything but kick deep to him unless you're trying to induce a fumble. Najeh gains 6 inside left tackle. Ben rolls out of trouble and hits Russell on the sideline for 5. Hayward had beaten his man. Najeh inside right tackle for 5. Steelers run out of a 4-WR formation but McCray squirted through and shut it down. Good pass rush from Landri flushes Ben to force a punt. Northcutt fields the punt at the 6 but brings it back only to the 9.
Taylor does well to find 2 yards in traffic on 1st down. Haggans jumps offsides, though, to give Jax 2nd-and-3. No room up the middle again for Taylor, 3rd-and-2. MoJo muscles through for the first down, though. Garrard burns a timeout with 1st-and-10 from the J20. They try a counter right with MoJo for maybe 2. Garrard escapes the rush and scrambles for 11 after the Jax line VERY SOLIDLY picks up the Steeler blitz. He again barely avoids a sack and gets a pass off to Marcedes Lewis for 11 more. Taylor off left tackle for 2. A RICHARD ANGULO sighting! Garrard has him open over the middle deep but way overthrows him. 3rd-and-8. Keisel leaps and knocks down the Garrard pass to force the punt, which finds the end zone.
Tony Pashos earned much RamView love in the player intros by announcing "You'll never get rid of the Chief", referring to the University of Illinois' long-time mascot / political-correctness victim, Chief Illiniwek. Maurice Williams, though, just sounds desperate when he declares he's from THE University of Michigan. Leave the pompous use of articles to the Buckeyes, Maurice.
Henderson left with a strained hamstring but is back. Ben rolls and is nearly taken down by Paul Spicer but hits Miller instead for 12. Ben steps away from yet another good Jagwire rush, but Cliff Ingram breaks up a long pass for Santonio Holmes. That's a LB defending a pass to the guy the Rams made look like Lynn Swann a couple of weeks ago. Henderson's out again as Russell plunges forward for about 2 to end the first quarter with the game tied at 7.
Pittsburgh opens the quarter on a bad note; Ben holds the ball forever and Spicer and Landri get to him for the sack. Good punt return by Northcutt, too, and Jax will start from their 39.
Kirschke and Woodley get through to Garrard for a big sack. Garrard claims he threw the ball away but he was in the grasp; good call. Taylor still can't get anywhere; he loses 2 to make it 3rd-and-25. So much for the great field position. Reggie Williams gets them back to the original line of scrimmage on a cross, but that's it. Great punt is fielded by Cedric Wilson at the 5, but he gets almost no return. Jagwire penalty will force a rekick. Wilson is replacing Alan Rossum on punt returns. I still don't understand why Davenport's the returner on kickoffs. Fair catch at the 15 on the rekick.
Najeh can't gain anything sweeping left. Rashean Mathis breaks up a quick slant to Holmes to force 3rd-and-10. Not Immaculate, but an impeccable reception, off Miller's fingers to Ward for a big gain. Madden makes an appropriately ironic remark. Meanwhile, Russell loses 1 to create a 2nd-and-11. Mathis jumps Santonio Holmes' route, picks off Big Ben, and returns it for a TD. Pittsburgh also got a bizarre flag on the play. Russell dove at Mathis trying to make the tackle, and took out another Jagwire below the knees, drawing a penalty for a low block even though he was on defense at the time. Well, they're trying to protect players' knees, so I'll go along with the call. Jagwires lead 14-7 and will kick off from the 45.
Inevitable touchback will start Pittsburgh from their 20. On first down, nobody blocks big mf'er Grady Jackson, who drops Najeh for -5. Um, Grady Jackson shouldn't be real hard to find. That's followed by a STUPID play by Ben on 2nd-and-15: while scrambling right, he flings one up for grabs for a double-covered Davenport, who's behind the DBs, but the pass is too short, Mathis again picks it off and returns it to the 20. Mathis has two INTs in like a minute. The play by Big Ben was the same play stupid Gus Frerotte made twice this year for INTs. Pittsburgh challenges that Mathis was down by contact at midfield where he caught the ball.
Effective challenge. Green calls Mathis down by contact, although we don't see any evidence of it at home. Maybe Green was afraid to call Mathis down because his hair was out of bounds, the call Albino and Madden lobbied for. So, from midfield, a blitz forces a bad swing pass incomplete for Drew, and Taylor only gets 3 on 2nd down. On 3rd-and-7, SWEET play by Jacksonville! Drew comes out of the backfield and beats Farrior; Garrard hits him with a perfect pass, and MoJo slips through a POOR, Jonathan Wade-quality tackle attempt from Tyrone Carter for a 45+-yard TD! 21-7, Jacksonville!
That Jacksonville play looked just like a play Scott Linehan called last week in Az, with the QB flanked by two RBs. Leonard didn't go upfield like Drew did, though, Pittman got hung up at the line of scrimmage, and Bulger got sacked.
Wow, I thought the Steelers would rebound from their home loss to the Jagwires three weeks ago, but it sure doesn't look like it. Jax is pressuring Ben quite effectively and he is off his game, and without Willie Parker, Pittsburgh doesn't have the running game to offset Ben's struggles. Jax opens this drive by engulfing Davenport for a loss. Pittsburgh is completely falling apart. Ben can't find anybody open on 2nd down and gets sacked by Mincy. 3rd-and-16, Jacksonville blows up the screen pass, Ben tries to improvise, and Landri catches him when he tries to scramble right. Roethlisberger has already been sacked four times, and those great Steeler fans are BOOING their team at a home playoff game. Nice.
Jax takes over at their 46 after a bad punt. Taylor bounces to midfield. Nice cutback left by Taylor for 10 more. Another handoff to Taylor for 9; he's just surging up the middle this drive. Drew tags in for the first down. He's the shortest short-yardage back in NFL history. From the P29, Garrard goes up top for Northcutt in the end zone. Ike Taylor's blatant DPI is not called; 2nd down. Taylor loses 4 on 2nd down. HUGE play here. Garrard gets FOREVER to throw but can only find Lewis for 2. VERY big play for Pittsburgh, since it's not a big surprise when Josh Scobee misses from 46.
Steelers from their 36 with 2:08 left in the half. 4 to Miller as we hit the 2:00 warning.
Weird that Pittsburgh felt like they had to rely on quick passing two weeks ago against the Rams but aren't doing it tonight against the Jagwires.
There's a quickie, to Washington for about 10. Ben scrambles for 6. Tick, tick! Swell diving catch by Holmes over the middle for about 16. Pittsburgh calls timeout, which gives the booth a chance to review the play! Looks like a catch all the way, though.
Madden and Albino are now ranting about how Tampa would have gone to Super Bowl XXXIV but for the Bert Emmanuel play, which was like the Holmes catch here, and the two fatheads need to shut the hell up. The Emmanuel play was NOT a catch by the rules of the game in the 1999 season, and was absolutely called correctly. You want to make a clean catch then, you don't let the ball touch the ground. Madden starts howling how Emmanuel's play would have been a catch all the decades leading up until that game, including the 20s and 30s, when I doubt many downfield passes were even thrown, and SHUT UP, YOU WORTHLESS FATHEAD. Instant replay wasn't in the rulebook until the 1990s. All those plays were incompletions before, you fat doofus. Go suck on a turducken.
Christ sakes, I get tired of having to defend the NFC win over Tampa in 2000. It's not like it was the freaking Tom Brady Tuck Rule. A couple of plays later, Shaun King committed a brutal grounding penalty that wasn't called; how come nobody ever complains about that?
Proving himself the master of irony, Scott Green calls the play an incomplete pass, and because I'm so pissed off at the NBC morons for moaning that Emmanuel caught the ball, WHEN HE DIDN'T, I throw myself 100% behind Green's call.
Pittsburgh really screwed themselves with that timeout there, and it's now 3rd-and-4 back at the J45. Davenport makes a great YAC play, takes a 5 yard pass crossfield for about 19. 1:17 in the half. Another dumpoff, to Davis, for 6. Then, with a big rush on, Ben attempts a screen but it's his THIRD INT of the half instead, picked off by the DT Landri. What a terrible first half for Roethlisberger. What's his passer rating tonight, negative twenty-nine and a half?
Those great Steeler fans BOO their team off the field at halftime of a home playoff game, trailing 21-7.
Like Washington in the first game, Pittsburgh is getting dominated in the trenches in the first half of this game. Jacksonville has figured out their bunch formation, which they're lining up in on nearly every play. Spread the field better, dummies; you'll never get Holmes or Ward open 1-on-1 otherwise. They also should do a better job of exploiting Landri and run at him. Steeler D was actually stopping the run pretty well until the end of the half. They'd better get serious about blitzing Garrard on passing downs and make him beat them. The Jagwire O isn't doing that much except for the big play by Jones-Drew; big blitzing would be worth the risk when you're down 14. The Jagwires, otoh, are in perfect position, with a big lead and a running game that can wear down the other team. Come out running and stick a fork in Pittsburgh with play-action. Jags haven't had to blitz Ben at all, and are covering the Steeler WRs like a blanket; I wouldn't change a thing. Their d-line rotation is so deep it's not like they'll get tired out there.
3rd quarter. EXTREMELY short kick is fielded by the up man at the 29 and returned to the 31. Taylor gains a couple. Exactly what the Jagwires do NOT need on 2nd down; not a good throw by Garrard at all, jumped and picked off by Farrior. Steeler ball.
Davenport can't get outside on 1st down. Miller gains 12 out of the bunch pattern again for a 1st down. Steelers at the J32. Russell up the middle for 2. 14 to Holmes on a slant. Ball at the 16. 3 more up the middle for Davenport. Brian Williams blows up a quick hitch to Holmes for -2. 3rd-9, Ben's got nobody downfield and has to dump for Davenport, who gets rocked at the 10 to force a FG. Reed hits it to make it 21-10.
Greg Jones muffs the kickoff out of bounds around the 20. Not sure if that was on the way out or not. Taylor opens with a 7-yard run up the middle. Foote and Keisel, who both have had good games, next stop him for 1. 3rd and a long 1. 12 yard scramble by Garrard out of shotgun - may have been the designed play - for a first. Garrard is so strong, that when he gets up from his slide, he unintentionally flips Farrior head over heels. Garrard scrambles and slides again for about 5. 2nd down, Pittsburgh gets to David for a sack, but Taylor commits a costly 15-yard facemask to set Jax up at midfield. Beautiful throw to ER-nest WIL-ford for 21. Wilford drew the facemask penalty earlier, though the catch he just made was his first tonight. Now WILford's open again, at the 10. Pittsburgh really didn't have to worry about the WRs in the 1st half, but Jax is eating away at soft zones here. 1st-goal, MoJo gets a big block from Khalif Barnes at the line and another from Northcutt at the goal line for a 10-yard TD run, and this thing may be over. 28-10, Jacksonville.
Wow, wow, wow.
On the kickoff, Najeh is DRILLED at the 32 and fumbles out of bounds. Under 5:00 left in the 3rd quarter. Empty backfield, Terry Cousin breaks up a dumpoff to Miller. Pittsburgh sure wasn't dumping off all the time like this in St. Louis. Davis runs for about 4. Pretty stupid to be running any more this game, down 18. Ben gets nice time and hits Miller for about 8 and a first. No-huddle now, 9 more to Miller. Davis gets a first down across midfield. Empty backfield, 5 wide, 12-yard completion to Ward. STILL RUNNING, Davis loses one. And now the LT moves. 2nd-16, Ben holds the ball so long he makes Marc Bulger look like Peyton Manning and takes a huge sack. The third quarter expires after a completion to Ward leaves Pitt with 4th-and-12.
On 4th-and-12, the Jagwires ludicrously bring a huge blitz, Ben hits Holmes on a quick slant, he breaks poor tackles by Mathis and Cousin easily for a 37-yard TD. What a stupid defensive call by Jacksonville. No need to guess whether that'll be ripped in TMQ on Tuesday. 28 to 17.
Short kick is returned by the up man to the 39 as Pittsburgh studiously continues to avoid Drew.
A rare hit on Garrard, by James Harrison, forces an incompletion on 1st down. Jax is THROWING AGAIN on 2nd down, and Garrard chucks it away under pressure. Jax needs a first down, or there's officially a momentum swing. And swing it does, as Garrard gets forever to throw, and after Jax picks up the blitz the first time, Harrison and Farrior, who was knocked to the ground initially, break through for the sack.
Three straight passes with an 11-point lead, huh? Jax barely even took 30 seconds off the clock.
Steelers take over from their 31. Ben pump-fakes, then finds Ward on a cross for 12. Quick hitch back to Ward, who breaks three tackles to gain 7. Ben's 2nd down pass is right to LB Justin Durant, but he can't hold it. 3rd-3 from midfield. Ben rolls out of trouble and sidearms it to Ward for 6. 1st-10. Ben goes up top, looks like the pass went through Washington's (bad) hands in the end zone. Yikes. 2nd-10. Miller jukes Cousin badly after the catch and gains about 10 more for a 14-yard gain. Pittsburgh's inside the 30. Draw to Davenport gains 4. Landri nearly brought Ben down before he could hand off. Nice pocket for Ben on 2nd down, and he hits Wilson for 10. Steelers at the J14. DROP by Davenport on 1st down. 2nd-10, play action pass to Miller for the TD. By not abandoning the run, Pittsburgh kept the possibility in Jacksonville's heads and set that play up, because the LBs were completely fooled. Down 28-23, Pittsburgh goes for 2, and an incredible catch by Ward on the back line for 2 is erased by a questionable holding call against the center. Steelers go for 2 from the 12. Ben runs down to the three, at which point he should have just lobbed the ball back over his head and tried for a Stanford-Cal play, but he gets taken down instead, and the Jagwire lead is still 5.
Davis BLOWS UP Scott Starks on the kick return, which only gets Jax out to the 24. I don't think Drew was even back there. Taylor breaks through the middle for 5, but a hold on ANGULO brings it back. 1st-20 from the 14. Taylor to the right for about 5. 2nd-15, Garrard's not expecting Lewis to pull up, but he does, and the pass flies way over him and to Ike Taylor, who breaks a tackled attempt by Wilford, returns the ball to the Jax 16, and puts this game in the FREAKIN AMAZING GAME column.
Davis is wide open on the sideline for 8, and Pittsburgh is inside the 10. Davenport grinds for almost 2; it'll be third-and-a-football-length. Steeler players have to tell their brilliant fans to be quiet for this key play. Ben gets the Bush Push from Davenport for the first down. 1st-goal from the 5. Fake toss left, roll right, completion to Ward close to the 1. 2nd-goal from the 1, and the Pittsburgh Steelers try a rollout pass? Tipped and incomplete. 3rd down. Looks like the 3rd-down play is an attempted screen to Davis, who drops it at the goal line. Pittsburgh goes for it on 4th down. They try their 4th straight pass, a fade to Ward. Brian Williams CLEARLY interferes with him. First and goal at the 1, Pittsburgh FINALLY runs. Davenport gets a TD after a discussion. Good call. Pittsburgh has come all the way back for a 29-28 lead. Ben's fade pass for the two-pointer is terrible and incomplete for Washington.
What a game. 29-28 Steelers, about 6 minutes left.
Poor return by Starks again, only out to the 21. Pittsburgh is figuring out where Drew is and kicking it away from him. That doesn't seem all that brilliant, but few teams ever manage to pull that off. False start on Barnes starts Jax off 1st-and-15. Garrard hits Taylor for 2, as now, it's Pittsburgh shutting down Jax's receivers downfield. Garrard is flushed and gets a pass off to Greg Jones, but he drops it. Would have had the first. 3rd-and-13. All night for Garrard, who hits Northcutt at the 36. Gigantic play with 5:17 left. Inside handoff to Drew for about 3. Again getting all night, Garrard rolls right and slips about three different sack attempts before throwing the ball away. 3rd-and-7, Woodley beats Greg Jones clean for a huge sack to force a punt. Pittsburgh has the ball back at their 22, 3:43 left and a 1-point lead. They'll win it with a couple of first downs.
Five yards for Davenport. Jax lets the clock run down, to 3:00. They stuff Davenport on 2nd down and use their first TO with 2:56 left. 3rd-5. I say play-action to Miller. Pittsburgh gets curious instead, lining up 5 wide and then having Ben try to run for the first. He comes nowhere close, and Pittsburgh will punt with 2:50 left. Nice clock management by Del Rio. I would have used up all my TOs by now. And, uh oh, there's trouble on the punt, which isn't very good and is returned by Northcutt nearly to midfield.
Jax has 2:38 and a timeout left and only needs a FG. They're passing, though, and a long low one to Wilford is called incomplete. Point of the ball hit the ground before he had control of it, so I doubt Del Rio's challenge is going to work. And it'll cost him the last time out. Costly, costly challenge there. Wilford may have hurt his team by arguing the call and not knowing the rule. 2nd-10. 8 to Reggie Williams to beat a blitz. Jax lets the clock run down to the 2:00 warning on 3rd-and-2. Lewis misses a difficult but makeable catch, and it's 4th-and-2.
QB DRAW. What a gutsy call. Garrard not only makes the first down, he jukes Carter and rumbles all the way down to the 11. A 32-yard run. Pittsburgh now has to use their TOs to preserve the clock. They have two left. Farrior BURIES Drew at the 15, and Pittsburgh uses TO#2 with 1:30 left. Drew drives up the middle for 7. 1:25 left, Jax has the ball at the 8-yard line, neither team has a TO left. 3rd-and-7. Drew damn near gets the 1st down, running up the middle for almost 6. At 0:40, Jax takes a delay of game, and Scobee has a 25-yard FG attempt. At least we won't have one of those half-assed sideline timeouts. Great hold by Podlesh the punter/holder, and Jacksonville takes the lead back, 30-29.
37 seconds left. Davenport eats up a LOT of clock getting out to the 29.
29 seconds left. Bobby McCray sends the Steelers home for the holidays, whipping LT Trai Essex AND Davenport and knocking the ball away from Roethlisberger for the win.
Pittsburgh was ultimately done in by their injuries. They've been playing for a while without either of their regular starting tackles, and without Parker, they have a critical lack of speed at RB. And still, if Ben makes one less terrible play in the first half, they probably win. But Jacksonville's ability to generally control the line of scrimmage won it for them.
Plus David Garrard is for real, even if I'm misspelling his name half the time. He's not necessarily pretty, but he wins, and that always makes you dangerous in the postseason.
As I expected, NBC pusses out again and puts both Garrard and Jones-Drew on the stupid horse trailer. Surprised they didn't put Rashean Mathis on there, too. RamView gives the sole game MVP to Jones-Drew for his 3 TDs. He was a threat rushing, receiving and on special teams.
This probably sets up a Jacksonville-New England matchup next week, and a lot of folks have felt for a couple of months that the Jagwires are a team that would give the Patriots trouble. Garrard will have to play a lot better and smarter than he did tonight, though, to pull that off. New England will certainly force Garrard to beat them. The Patriot o-line is banged up, so Jax could give Tom Brady some of the trouble Ben had tonight. But Brady's a lot better under pressure than Ben, should get better protection than Ben got, and Brady's receivers will give Jax even more trouble than Pittsburgh did tonight. Have to like the Patriots there, though I wish the Jagwires all the luck in the world eliminating the evil empire.
Back to the blog
Well... December's brief flurry of Rams blogging didn't last long.
But now that the regular holidays are over and the NFL holidays are here,
I'll try to get it back on its feet again.
First project for 2008 will be blogging the playoff games, starting with
Washington at Seattle, which is coming right up.
But now that the regular holidays are over and the NFL holidays are here,
I'll try to get it back on its feet again.
First project for 2008 will be blogging the playoff games, starting with
Washington at Seattle, which is coming right up.
NFC Wild Card Playoff: Seahawks 35, Redskins 14
Playoff season is underway. Announcers for the first game are Tom Hammond and Cris Collinsworth, so we should be OK thereAwful opening possession for Washington after Rock Cartwright nearly breaks the kickoff return against Seattle's below-average special teams coverage. Portis stuffed twice and Collins' first throw is a mile over the receiver's head. Punt time.
Seattle unsurprisingly comes out passing. Nate Burleson breaks a tackle for 11. Seattle immediately goes to hurry-up. Pocket is collapsing, but Hasselbeck threads a perfect pass to Bobby Engram for 19. Now Seattle has outsmarted themselves and have to call a TO. Alexander pops a draw for 6+, good block by the fullback. 2nd down, Matt nearly gets sacked but wheels out and throws the ball away. 3rd-4. Obamanu is WIDE OPEN on a sideline corner route, how can Matt miss that pass????? No pressure on him! Plackemeier beautifully kills the punt inside the 5, DONNIE JONES.
What does it say about your city's baseball history when the greatest pitcher in the history of your team is Jamie Moyer? Seattle shouldn't be so hard up for sports heroes to rally their crowd, should it?
Portis sweeps left for maybe a yard. After a quick slant to Santana Moss gets 6, Collins gets all day to throw and finds Randle-El for 10. Huge first down. Reverse to Randle El gains only two. Swing pass to Moss for 7, but Seattle stuffs Portis AGAIN for a loss on 3rd down. Seattle has completely shut the run down early. Justin Babineaux manages to get the Redskin gunner to step out of bounds AND touch the ball first for a five-yard penalty, forcing a much shorter rekick that Burleson brings across the 50. That's positive special teams play.
Seattle from the Wash. 45. 8 yard pass to DJ Freaking Hackett. Quick hitch to Burleson gets squat. Seattle's all about quick passing, quick tempo right now. Skins had Maurice Morris for a loss on 3rd-and-1 but he broke a tackle for 6. 1-10 from the W30. Dumpoff to fullback for no gain. Stretch handoff for Alexander gets a big gain, but the ball comes free. Replay should overrule the fumble call, which Alexander was arguing while Fred Smoot was returning it. Should be Seattle's ball inside the 20, though I'm reminded of his long run in St. Louis a few years ago that Aeneas Williams punched out from behind. Seattle wins the challenge; their ball at the W17.
Draw to Weaver out of a 4-WR set for a TD and a 7-0 Seattle lead. Washington is likely going to have to employ similar tactics to get their running game in gear.
Walt Coleman is the referee for this game, a deserved distinction in my opinion. He called the Seattle game here in St. Louis and it was easily the best-officiated Rams game this year.
Seahawks are getting great special teams play, they're stuffing the run and they really have Washington's defense off balance right now. Some games this year, the Rams achieved one of those three.
Another good kick return by Cartwright, and nice play-action to Randle-El for 21 gets Washington across midfield. Collins barely avoids a sack on a deep drop, unloading a dying quail while Kerney hits him. 2nd-10, timeout now for Washington. Draw to Portis loses 4. Washington can't do a thing with Julian Peterson so far. 3rd-14, they get Peterson blocked but Moss drops the pass. Burleson returns another bad punt to the Hawk 29.
Funny that Al Saunders' most successful calls so far were the play-action pass to Randle-El off a fake reverse and a quick hitch. Same calls never work for Linehan, especially the hitch. I would like to see Linehan pass off that fake reverse a lot more next year; I think the Rams almost always run out of that gimmick.
Matt hits Hackett for 13 to get Seattle moving, and has him open against cover-2 down the sideline but just misses him. 2nd-10 from the 43. Marcus Washington eats up a draw to Morris to make it 3rd-13. Seattle settles for a 6-yard dump to Weaver and will play field position. Plackemeier FOUND THE COFFIN CORNER, DONNIE JONES, and pinned Washington at the 2 while also drawing a penalty for running into the kicker. Seattle might as well take the play, which they do.
Redskins take over at their 2. Offsides on Tapp moves it to the 7. Cooley drops what would have been a first down. Portis finds some room running right and gains 5 as the quarter ends.
Seattle leads 7-0 after a quarter they have almost completely dominated.
To open the 2nd, Kerney hits Collins as he's throwing, and what I swear is a pass is called a fumble. OK, there's the red flag from Joe Gibbs. Coleman, meanwhile, has announced the play was called an incomplete pass, which they've done a very poor job of communicating. And now Seattle can't challenge? Because replay shows that was probably a fumble forced by Kerney. Peterson drops Portis for another big loss, and Washington really needs to quit running plays to Stephan Heyer's side at RT. Heyer is completely outgunned. Seattle calls a completely unnecessary blitz on 3rd-and-long and Collins hits Randle-El for a 1st down at the 25. Tapp nearly gets Collins on 1st down but Todd hits Randle-El for 7. Portis right up the middle for 7. Quick hitch to Cooley to the right side for a loss. Middle or left, Al. Play-action has Moss screamingly wide open, but Seattle hit Collins and made the throw come up short. Delay of game loses 5 more. Collins couldn't get the center to snap it to him in Seattle's formidable crowd noise. Screen RIGHT to Portis on 3rd-and-a-mile gets nowhere, and Burleson returns the punt nearly out to the Seattle 40.
Burleson's wide open down the sideline for 24 after putting a nasty double move on Shawn Springs, who thought he was jumping a short route. Seattle's across midfield again. Alexander gains maybe 2. About 6 to Hackett on a cross leaves 3rd-2. Matt leads Morris too much on a swing pass for an incompletion. Perfect kick by Josh Brown from 50, JEFF WILKINS, makes it 10-0.
Honestly, Seattle should be up by well more than they are. When they've "needed" a clutch throw from Hasselbeck, they haven't gotten it.
Cartwright again returns across the 30. 14-yard gain for Portis, inside right tackle. Fullback picked off the LB. They run right again without a fullback and Tatupu stops Portis for 2. Lesson learned, Al? Skins line up 4-wide and Peterson comes right up the middle to kill Collins. Center let him go, and Portis was consumed with helping the RT Heyer, who's been getting dominated all day. 3rd-down, Kelly Jennings saves a first down by knocking away a sideline pass. Good punt is only returned to the Seattle 19. Skins really need a quick stop here to get field position working for them.
6:46 left in a quick-moving first half. Blitz is picked up, but Hackett draws an OPI to move Seattle backward. Hasselbeck banged his hand off Alexander's helmet. That hand's already injured, which may explain his accuracy issues. Alexander sweeps left for 5. Skins have my permission to blitz hard and often. They do on 2nd - Seattle has the screen set up, but Weaver drops it. 3rd-15. With all day, Hasselbeck is sacked by the LDE on what you'd have to call a coverage sack. Seattle luckily recovers. Still a big stop for Washington, who only used a 4-man rush there. POOR punt by Plackemeier fair-caught by Randle-El at the Seattle 43. Wind is apparently a big factor today.
Portis drops a play-action pass on 1st down. Funny that in Seattle, it's the other team killing itself with dropped passes. Deep ball for Moss in double coverage is nearly picked off by Trufant. 3rd down, Leroy Hill goes right through Ladell Betts and nearly undresses Collins for the sack. Golden field position, and Washington loses yards on the drive. They're 6-for-6. 6 drives, 6 punts.
Seattle from their 16. Alexander up the middle for 4, then is stuffed for no gain on 2nd down. Big play, 3rd-and-6. Skins do not blitz, but Hasselbeck misses the TE for a first down. DT beat the LG to pressure Matt into a poor throw.
Did Collinsworth just say something about "a guy coming right in your face"?
3:00 left in the half. Skins from their 34. Shotgun draw to Portis for 6. Skins in no-huddle. Collins loops one to Moss on the sideline for 8. Quick slant to Randle El across midfield for close to 10.
Two-minute warning. Skins try to run for the one, but Portis can't get it (running RIGHT), followed by Grant batting it away from Cooley. Washington going for it on 4th-and-1, and I don't think Sellers even came close. He didn't. Seattle takes over at midfield with about a minute-and-a-half left. And they get the ball after halftime... I don't see why Gibbs decided to go for it there. The spot's reviewed upstairs but not overruled.
RUNNING from their 43, Seattle gets 7 on a Morris sweep right, followed by an Engram drop. 3rd-and-3. 0:58 to go. Washington blitzes one. Hasselbeck's bailing all the way, and Burleson can't scoop the low pass. It's impressive how STUPID Matt Hasselbeck will look if you put ANY pressure on him at all. Randle-El fair catches the punt at the Washington 9, so the half is probably over.
Yep, both teams content to run out the clock. 10-0 Seattle at halftime. Scratch that. Seattle starts using TOs on defense because Washington's just running the ball. It's 4th-and-2 with 2 seconds left, but the Skins just run again on 4th down to make Seattle's maneuvering the pointless idea it was in the beginning. 10-0 Seattle at halftime.
Offensively, the Redskins had better quit relying so much on plays to the right side, when they're getting dominated over there. Run left more, (at all!) play-action more to try to freeze the Seattle LBs. Their defense is also going to have to really come after Matt with some blitzes, and I think he'd be susceptible to it. Can't say the Seahawks need to change much of anything. I'd like to see them open up the second half in the no-huddle again and try to hang up a quick score. The tempo of their offense lagged as the half wore on, but they can put this thing away quickly after halftime if they try.
What's with the dorky-looking guy on the Budweiser commercials? Is that one raised eyebrow a pathological condition? Are we the viewers supposed to take someone seriously when they look like a complete doofus?
My God, is there anything left from the 70s and 80s that NBC isn't bringing back to TV? Knight Rider? Bionic Woman? American Freaking Gladiators? Thank you, writers' strike, I know I couldn't get enough of idiot roid-raging freaks beating up accountants the first time it was on. (What do you suppose "Ice" looks like these days?) Yeah, I'll bet she aged about as well as chicken salad at room temperature.
Three words, NBC: Dukes. of. Hazzard.
Burleson returns the kickoff to the 25 to start the 2nd half. Alexander gets squat up the middle. 13 to Engram for the 1st down. Center moved the ball two feet and no false start. Short gain left for Alexander, 2nd-and-7. Alexander in motion for the swing pass, but Reed Doughty shuts it down from Sean Taylor's safety position. 3rd-7. I'd blitz here. Washington does, but it doesn't get through, but Seattle can't complete the short sideline route. Bobby Engram broke up a probable pick-six; that may loom as one of this game's "hidden plays". Not a very deep punt; Washington will take over at their 17.
Portis sweeps left for a couple. Are they taking my advice? Quick pass to Randle-El for 11. Portis gains 1 up the middle. Cut it away from left, where he was supposed to go. Collins rolls right and finds nobody, sliding for 2. 3rd-6. Seahawks blitz big and Collins has to throw it away. Punter Frost has to stop Burleson from making a long return. Seattle takes over at their 32.
Quick hitter to Burleson for 7. About 8 more to Engram off a rollout. Alexander gets stuffed up the middle. Neither team has run well today. Pretty throw by Hasselbeck next, 35 to Hackett down the sideline. Pass came off a three-step drop. Seattle's inside the 20. Empty backfield, Matt can't find anybody, dumps it off to Alexander for a loss. Alexander spins out of a tackle for about 4. 3rd-7. Nobody open for Matt again, he takes off and scrambles, and Fred Smoot delivers the best hit of his career, sending Matt spinning to the ground. Brown hits a 33-yard FG to put Seattle up 13-0 despite a high snap.
Cartwright's kickoff return is out to midfield but there's a flag. Low block penalty will start them at their 15 instead. Short gain right for Portis. Beautiful one-handed catch by Cooley at the sideline for 20. Nice throw by Collins, too. Collins hits Portis on a cross for about 5. Sideline pass to Randle El for 6 and a first. Redskins at midfield. No gain left for Portis as the LBs and safeties continue to pour through. Tough catch by Cooley over the middle for 15. He was almost absent in the 1st half; smart effort by the Skins to get him the ball. 7 to Randle El. 2nd down pass appears thrown away. NBC says it's 3rd-and-1 but there's at least 2.5 yards to the marker. Portis gets little running right. Gibbs goes for it on 4th-and-1. Play-action pass; I love the call. The safety slips and grabs Sellers on the way down to draw a pretty obvious DPI. 1st down Washington at the Seattle 11. Play action again; dumpoff to Sellers gets about 3. From the 7, Collins is nearly picked off in the end zone by Grant.
That's the last play of the third quarter with Seattle up 13-0.
Love Washington's adjustments; using more play-action and finally getting the TEs involved, but they're running out of time.
Eh, maybe not. Skins open the 4th quarter in style with a TD pass from Collins to Randle-El. Collins had a long time to throw and bought extra. Seattle has gotten too passive defensively here in the 2nd half. I'd say the Redskins staff won the halftime chess match.
SHORT kickoff but Burleson is cut down at the 25. Burleson loses, then catches, a short pass for 4. Seattle picks up the 2nd-down blitz beautifully, but Deron Landry jumps Engram's route for an interception. He's down by contact so his runback doesn't count, but what a HUGE play!
Redskins from their 42; Portis right up the middle for 9. Quick slant to Moss for 3, and boy, has the momentum of this game shifted. I say a lot of it's because Seattle's lost its aggression on both sides of the ball. Collins up top for Moss, AND IT'S A TD! beating double-coverage for 30 yards.
About a minute ago, I thought the Redskins were running out of time! And now they're up 14-13. Seattle had better start getting after it.
OH MY FREAKING GOD! Burleson and the up back muff the bouncing kick and the Redskins recover it at the 14! Cooley just fails to come up with the ball at the 3. That's another drop. I also don't understand why Washington wasn't allowed to run the kickoff into the end zone. Portis left for about three. Seattle didn't touch it; it wasn't a muffed kick. I know I've seen onside kicks run back for TDs before; what was different there? Anyway, 3rd-and-8, Redskins from the 11. Sellers is confused, forcing a timeout. Kerney saves Seattle's necks for now by hitting Collins' arm on the throw to force an incompletion, THEN SUISHAM MIFFS THE FG.
BRUTAL!!!
Seattle takes over at their 20, down only 14-13. Hasselbeck gets time and hits Engram for 19. Then he barely avoids a sack - he got grabbed - and hits Hackett for 15. Haven't heard London Fletcher's name called at all today, btw. Draw to Alexander for 8, nice call. 2nd-2, Seattle should go up top here. Hasselbeck rolls, has to avoid Rocky McIntosh diving at his feet, and makes a STUPID throw, getting picked off by Landry for the 2nd time at the Redskin 10. Completely forced, completely stupid throw.
False start bumps Washington back to the 5. That's only their 2nd today, I think, so it's not like the crowd noise is killing them. Sellers gains a couple up the middle. 2nd-12. Backtoss to Portis, who tries an immediate cutback but only gains a couple. 3rd-10. Trufant breaks up pass to Moss nicely and Washington will punt. Seattle will take over around their 41 as the wind takes over again. The wind also held up that kickoff that Burleson misplayed earlier, so it's one of the MVPs today.
Flare route to the TE incomplete, 2nd-10 for Seattle. Stretch handoff to Morris for about 5. Hey, there's London Fletcher. Huge play here, 7:30 left in the game. Weird throw by Hasselbeck, but Burleson makes a great play on it for 15, getting away with a shove on Springs. 1st down from the 23. Alexander gains 3. 2nd-7, Hackett beats Preston Prioleau badly with an inside move and catches a 20-yarder from Matt for the TD. 19-14, Seattle goes for two and gets it on a tough throw and catch by Marcus Pollard on the goal line, shedding (there he is) London Fletcher.
21-14 Seahawks.
NFL Digest of Rules confirms that the kicking team may not advance a kickoff unless the receiver had possession and lost the ball. I think I was thinking about the -receiving- team returning onside kicks before.
ANOTHER big kick return by Cartwright, though Sellers had a block in the back right at the end that will knock it back a little. Funny thing is, the guy made the tackle because Sellers knocked him down. Josh Brown may have saved a TD there from his kicker position (Hidden play?).
What a meltdown by Washington the very next play. Collins tries to throw deep but is hit AGAIN as he throws by Rocky Bernard (!). The throw's a mile off; Santana Moss can't even find it, but Marcus Trufant can, and he gets three outstanding blocks en route to an 80-yard, game-clinching, hello-Green-Bay TD return. Seattle scores 15 points quicker than Washington scored their 14, and have their feet on the Redskins' throats, 28-14 with 5:38 left.
Seattle's got this kick covered, and Cartwright only gets out to the 28. Dumpoff to Portis for 14 with Collins' pocket collapsing. 10 to Cooley. Seattle only bringing 4 but getting great push. Heyer was hurt on the Trufant pick six. Craig Terrill drops Collins for a sack. Collins has to dumpoff to Portis on 2nd-long. He gets back across midfield but gets creamed on the way down. Betts replaces him; actually looks like a foot injury. 3rd-8. Interestingly, Seattle blitzes two. Moss makes an impressive leaping grab for the first down. Short pass to Randle El. 2nd-8 from about the 30 with about 3:00 left. Collins goes up top for Randle El but Russell knocks it down. 3rd-8. Looper to the sideline for Caldwell is also knocked down. 4th-8, Collins can't connect with Moss, and this one is over.
Seattle starts running; Washington starts burning timeouts. Seattle will punt with 2:00 left.
Fair catch by Randle-El at the 25, and apparently there is no penalty in the NFL for not giving the returner the opportunity to make the catch, because there was a guy all over him. After several short completions, Collins kills me in the football pool by throwing another INT/TD, brought back by Jordan Babineaux. I only had 37 total points and was looking good until that made it 35-14.
Hard to pick an MVP for this game. Everybody on the Seattle defense made some kind of big play. Kerney made an important play to stop the Skins after the Seahawks screwed up the kickoff down 14-13, and had a huge first half, so he barely noses Marcus Trufant out for the honor. (I detest splitting the award like Madden and Michaels constantly do on the stupid "horse trailer".)
Seattle's D never gets that much national attention, but they just go out and beat people, and they were the winning edge for Seattle today. The Redskins need to get healthier/deeper on their offensive line, and Cooley was a major disappointment. Washington's little WRs couldn't get open, and Cooley disappeared. Then again, porous offensive lines take TEs out of the game. Skins could still use a big receiver. Think they'd take Drew Bennett for Randle-El?
Hard to like Seattle's chances in Green Bay next week, because I think the Packer D will eat Hasselbeck alive. He'll have to play a lot better than he did today just to stay even.
Seattle unsurprisingly comes out passing. Nate Burleson breaks a tackle for 11. Seattle immediately goes to hurry-up. Pocket is collapsing, but Hasselbeck threads a perfect pass to Bobby Engram for 19. Now Seattle has outsmarted themselves and have to call a TO. Alexander pops a draw for 6+, good block by the fullback. 2nd down, Matt nearly gets sacked but wheels out and throws the ball away. 3rd-4. Obamanu is WIDE OPEN on a sideline corner route, how can Matt miss that pass????? No pressure on him! Plackemeier beautifully kills the punt inside the 5, DONNIE JONES.
What does it say about your city's baseball history when the greatest pitcher in the history of your team is Jamie Moyer? Seattle shouldn't be so hard up for sports heroes to rally their crowd, should it?
Portis sweeps left for maybe a yard. After a quick slant to Santana Moss gets 6, Collins gets all day to throw and finds Randle-El for 10. Huge first down. Reverse to Randle El gains only two. Swing pass to Moss for 7, but Seattle stuffs Portis AGAIN for a loss on 3rd down. Seattle has completely shut the run down early. Justin Babineaux manages to get the Redskin gunner to step out of bounds AND touch the ball first for a five-yard penalty, forcing a much shorter rekick that Burleson brings across the 50. That's positive special teams play.
Seattle from the Wash. 45. 8 yard pass to DJ Freaking Hackett. Quick hitch to Burleson gets squat. Seattle's all about quick passing, quick tempo right now. Skins had Maurice Morris for a loss on 3rd-and-1 but he broke a tackle for 6. 1-10 from the W30. Dumpoff to fullback for no gain. Stretch handoff for Alexander gets a big gain, but the ball comes free. Replay should overrule the fumble call, which Alexander was arguing while Fred Smoot was returning it. Should be Seattle's ball inside the 20, though I'm reminded of his long run in St. Louis a few years ago that Aeneas Williams punched out from behind. Seattle wins the challenge; their ball at the W17.
Draw to Weaver out of a 4-WR set for a TD and a 7-0 Seattle lead. Washington is likely going to have to employ similar tactics to get their running game in gear.
Walt Coleman is the referee for this game, a deserved distinction in my opinion. He called the Seattle game here in St. Louis and it was easily the best-officiated Rams game this year.
Seahawks are getting great special teams play, they're stuffing the run and they really have Washington's defense off balance right now. Some games this year, the Rams achieved one of those three.
Another good kick return by Cartwright, and nice play-action to Randle-El for 21 gets Washington across midfield. Collins barely avoids a sack on a deep drop, unloading a dying quail while Kerney hits him. 2nd-10, timeout now for Washington. Draw to Portis loses 4. Washington can't do a thing with Julian Peterson so far. 3rd-14, they get Peterson blocked but Moss drops the pass. Burleson returns another bad punt to the Hawk 29.
Funny that Al Saunders' most successful calls so far were the play-action pass to Randle-El off a fake reverse and a quick hitch. Same calls never work for Linehan, especially the hitch. I would like to see Linehan pass off that fake reverse a lot more next year; I think the Rams almost always run out of that gimmick.
Matt hits Hackett for 13 to get Seattle moving, and has him open against cover-2 down the sideline but just misses him. 2nd-10 from the 43. Marcus Washington eats up a draw to Morris to make it 3rd-13. Seattle settles for a 6-yard dump to Weaver and will play field position. Plackemeier FOUND THE COFFIN CORNER, DONNIE JONES, and pinned Washington at the 2 while also drawing a penalty for running into the kicker. Seattle might as well take the play, which they do.
Redskins take over at their 2. Offsides on Tapp moves it to the 7. Cooley drops what would have been a first down. Portis finds some room running right and gains 5 as the quarter ends.
Seattle leads 7-0 after a quarter they have almost completely dominated.
To open the 2nd, Kerney hits Collins as he's throwing, and what I swear is a pass is called a fumble. OK, there's the red flag from Joe Gibbs. Coleman, meanwhile, has announced the play was called an incomplete pass, which they've done a very poor job of communicating. And now Seattle can't challenge? Because replay shows that was probably a fumble forced by Kerney. Peterson drops Portis for another big loss, and Washington really needs to quit running plays to Stephan Heyer's side at RT. Heyer is completely outgunned. Seattle calls a completely unnecessary blitz on 3rd-and-long and Collins hits Randle-El for a 1st down at the 25. Tapp nearly gets Collins on 1st down but Todd hits Randle-El for 7. Portis right up the middle for 7. Quick hitch to Cooley to the right side for a loss. Middle or left, Al. Play-action has Moss screamingly wide open, but Seattle hit Collins and made the throw come up short. Delay of game loses 5 more. Collins couldn't get the center to snap it to him in Seattle's formidable crowd noise. Screen RIGHT to Portis on 3rd-and-a-mile gets nowhere, and Burleson returns the punt nearly out to the Seattle 40.
Burleson's wide open down the sideline for 24 after putting a nasty double move on Shawn Springs, who thought he was jumping a short route. Seattle's across midfield again. Alexander gains maybe 2. About 6 to Hackett on a cross leaves 3rd-2. Matt leads Morris too much on a swing pass for an incompletion. Perfect kick by Josh Brown from 50, JEFF WILKINS, makes it 10-0.
Honestly, Seattle should be up by well more than they are. When they've "needed" a clutch throw from Hasselbeck, they haven't gotten it.
Cartwright again returns across the 30. 14-yard gain for Portis, inside right tackle. Fullback picked off the LB. They run right again without a fullback and Tatupu stops Portis for 2. Lesson learned, Al? Skins line up 4-wide and Peterson comes right up the middle to kill Collins. Center let him go, and Portis was consumed with helping the RT Heyer, who's been getting dominated all day. 3rd-down, Kelly Jennings saves a first down by knocking away a sideline pass. Good punt is only returned to the Seattle 19. Skins really need a quick stop here to get field position working for them.
6:46 left in a quick-moving first half. Blitz is picked up, but Hackett draws an OPI to move Seattle backward. Hasselbeck banged his hand off Alexander's helmet. That hand's already injured, which may explain his accuracy issues. Alexander sweeps left for 5. Skins have my permission to blitz hard and often. They do on 2nd - Seattle has the screen set up, but Weaver drops it. 3rd-15. With all day, Hasselbeck is sacked by the LDE on what you'd have to call a coverage sack. Seattle luckily recovers. Still a big stop for Washington, who only used a 4-man rush there. POOR punt by Plackemeier fair-caught by Randle-El at the Seattle 43. Wind is apparently a big factor today.
Portis drops a play-action pass on 1st down. Funny that in Seattle, it's the other team killing itself with dropped passes. Deep ball for Moss in double coverage is nearly picked off by Trufant. 3rd down, Leroy Hill goes right through Ladell Betts and nearly undresses Collins for the sack. Golden field position, and Washington loses yards on the drive. They're 6-for-6. 6 drives, 6 punts.
Seattle from their 16. Alexander up the middle for 4, then is stuffed for no gain on 2nd down. Big play, 3rd-and-6. Skins do not blitz, but Hasselbeck misses the TE for a first down. DT beat the LG to pressure Matt into a poor throw.
Did Collinsworth just say something about "a guy coming right in your face"?
3:00 left in the half. Skins from their 34. Shotgun draw to Portis for 6. Skins in no-huddle. Collins loops one to Moss on the sideline for 8. Quick slant to Randle El across midfield for close to 10.
Two-minute warning. Skins try to run for the one, but Portis can't get it (running RIGHT), followed by Grant batting it away from Cooley. Washington going for it on 4th-and-1, and I don't think Sellers even came close. He didn't. Seattle takes over at midfield with about a minute-and-a-half left. And they get the ball after halftime... I don't see why Gibbs decided to go for it there. The spot's reviewed upstairs but not overruled.
RUNNING from their 43, Seattle gets 7 on a Morris sweep right, followed by an Engram drop. 3rd-and-3. 0:58 to go. Washington blitzes one. Hasselbeck's bailing all the way, and Burleson can't scoop the low pass. It's impressive how STUPID Matt Hasselbeck will look if you put ANY pressure on him at all. Randle-El fair catches the punt at the Washington 9, so the half is probably over.
Yep, both teams content to run out the clock. 10-0 Seattle at halftime. Scratch that. Seattle starts using TOs on defense because Washington's just running the ball. It's 4th-and-2 with 2 seconds left, but the Skins just run again on 4th down to make Seattle's maneuvering the pointless idea it was in the beginning. 10-0 Seattle at halftime.
Offensively, the Redskins had better quit relying so much on plays to the right side, when they're getting dominated over there. Run left more, (at all!) play-action more to try to freeze the Seattle LBs. Their defense is also going to have to really come after Matt with some blitzes, and I think he'd be susceptible to it. Can't say the Seahawks need to change much of anything. I'd like to see them open up the second half in the no-huddle again and try to hang up a quick score. The tempo of their offense lagged as the half wore on, but they can put this thing away quickly after halftime if they try.
What's with the dorky-looking guy on the Budweiser commercials? Is that one raised eyebrow a pathological condition? Are we the viewers supposed to take someone seriously when they look like a complete doofus?
My God, is there anything left from the 70s and 80s that NBC isn't bringing back to TV? Knight Rider? Bionic Woman? American Freaking Gladiators? Thank you, writers' strike, I know I couldn't get enough of idiot roid-raging freaks beating up accountants the first time it was on. (What do you suppose "Ice" looks like these days?) Yeah, I'll bet she aged about as well as chicken salad at room temperature.
Three words, NBC: Dukes. of. Hazzard.
Burleson returns the kickoff to the 25 to start the 2nd half. Alexander gets squat up the middle. 13 to Engram for the 1st down. Center moved the ball two feet and no false start. Short gain left for Alexander, 2nd-and-7. Alexander in motion for the swing pass, but Reed Doughty shuts it down from Sean Taylor's safety position. 3rd-7. I'd blitz here. Washington does, but it doesn't get through, but Seattle can't complete the short sideline route. Bobby Engram broke up a probable pick-six; that may loom as one of this game's "hidden plays". Not a very deep punt; Washington will take over at their 17.
Portis sweeps left for a couple. Are they taking my advice? Quick pass to Randle-El for 11. Portis gains 1 up the middle. Cut it away from left, where he was supposed to go. Collins rolls right and finds nobody, sliding for 2. 3rd-6. Seahawks blitz big and Collins has to throw it away. Punter Frost has to stop Burleson from making a long return. Seattle takes over at their 32.
Quick hitter to Burleson for 7. About 8 more to Engram off a rollout. Alexander gets stuffed up the middle. Neither team has run well today. Pretty throw by Hasselbeck next, 35 to Hackett down the sideline. Pass came off a three-step drop. Seattle's inside the 20. Empty backfield, Matt can't find anybody, dumps it off to Alexander for a loss. Alexander spins out of a tackle for about 4. 3rd-7. Nobody open for Matt again, he takes off and scrambles, and Fred Smoot delivers the best hit of his career, sending Matt spinning to the ground. Brown hits a 33-yard FG to put Seattle up 13-0 despite a high snap.
Cartwright's kickoff return is out to midfield but there's a flag. Low block penalty will start them at their 15 instead. Short gain right for Portis. Beautiful one-handed catch by Cooley at the sideline for 20. Nice throw by Collins, too. Collins hits Portis on a cross for about 5. Sideline pass to Randle El for 6 and a first. Redskins at midfield. No gain left for Portis as the LBs and safeties continue to pour through. Tough catch by Cooley over the middle for 15. He was almost absent in the 1st half; smart effort by the Skins to get him the ball. 7 to Randle El. 2nd down pass appears thrown away. NBC says it's 3rd-and-1 but there's at least 2.5 yards to the marker. Portis gets little running right. Gibbs goes for it on 4th-and-1. Play-action pass; I love the call. The safety slips and grabs Sellers on the way down to draw a pretty obvious DPI. 1st down Washington at the Seattle 11. Play action again; dumpoff to Sellers gets about 3. From the 7, Collins is nearly picked off in the end zone by Grant.
That's the last play of the third quarter with Seattle up 13-0.
Love Washington's adjustments; using more play-action and finally getting the TEs involved, but they're running out of time.
Eh, maybe not. Skins open the 4th quarter in style with a TD pass from Collins to Randle-El. Collins had a long time to throw and bought extra. Seattle has gotten too passive defensively here in the 2nd half. I'd say the Redskins staff won the halftime chess match.
SHORT kickoff but Burleson is cut down at the 25. Burleson loses, then catches, a short pass for 4. Seattle picks up the 2nd-down blitz beautifully, but Deron Landry jumps Engram's route for an interception. He's down by contact so his runback doesn't count, but what a HUGE play!
Redskins from their 42; Portis right up the middle for 9. Quick slant to Moss for 3, and boy, has the momentum of this game shifted. I say a lot of it's because Seattle's lost its aggression on both sides of the ball. Collins up top for Moss, AND IT'S A TD! beating double-coverage for 30 yards.
About a minute ago, I thought the Redskins were running out of time! And now they're up 14-13. Seattle had better start getting after it.
OH MY FREAKING GOD! Burleson and the up back muff the bouncing kick and the Redskins recover it at the 14! Cooley just fails to come up with the ball at the 3. That's another drop. I also don't understand why Washington wasn't allowed to run the kickoff into the end zone. Portis left for about three. Seattle didn't touch it; it wasn't a muffed kick. I know I've seen onside kicks run back for TDs before; what was different there? Anyway, 3rd-and-8, Redskins from the 11. Sellers is confused, forcing a timeout. Kerney saves Seattle's necks for now by hitting Collins' arm on the throw to force an incompletion, THEN SUISHAM MIFFS THE FG.
BRUTAL!!!
Seattle takes over at their 20, down only 14-13. Hasselbeck gets time and hits Engram for 19. Then he barely avoids a sack - he got grabbed - and hits Hackett for 15. Haven't heard London Fletcher's name called at all today, btw. Draw to Alexander for 8, nice call. 2nd-2, Seattle should go up top here. Hasselbeck rolls, has to avoid Rocky McIntosh diving at his feet, and makes a STUPID throw, getting picked off by Landry for the 2nd time at the Redskin 10. Completely forced, completely stupid throw.
False start bumps Washington back to the 5. That's only their 2nd today, I think, so it's not like the crowd noise is killing them. Sellers gains a couple up the middle. 2nd-12. Backtoss to Portis, who tries an immediate cutback but only gains a couple. 3rd-10. Trufant breaks up pass to Moss nicely and Washington will punt. Seattle will take over around their 41 as the wind takes over again. The wind also held up that kickoff that Burleson misplayed earlier, so it's one of the MVPs today.
Flare route to the TE incomplete, 2nd-10 for Seattle. Stretch handoff to Morris for about 5. Hey, there's London Fletcher. Huge play here, 7:30 left in the game. Weird throw by Hasselbeck, but Burleson makes a great play on it for 15, getting away with a shove on Springs. 1st down from the 23. Alexander gains 3. 2nd-7, Hackett beats Preston Prioleau badly with an inside move and catches a 20-yarder from Matt for the TD. 19-14, Seattle goes for two and gets it on a tough throw and catch by Marcus Pollard on the goal line, shedding (there he is) London Fletcher.
21-14 Seahawks.
NFL Digest of Rules confirms that the kicking team may not advance a kickoff unless the receiver had possession and lost the ball. I think I was thinking about the -receiving- team returning onside kicks before.
ANOTHER big kick return by Cartwright, though Sellers had a block in the back right at the end that will knock it back a little. Funny thing is, the guy made the tackle because Sellers knocked him down. Josh Brown may have saved a TD there from his kicker position (Hidden play?).
What a meltdown by Washington the very next play. Collins tries to throw deep but is hit AGAIN as he throws by Rocky Bernard (!). The throw's a mile off; Santana Moss can't even find it, but Marcus Trufant can, and he gets three outstanding blocks en route to an 80-yard, game-clinching, hello-Green-Bay TD return. Seattle scores 15 points quicker than Washington scored their 14, and have their feet on the Redskins' throats, 28-14 with 5:38 left.
Seattle's got this kick covered, and Cartwright only gets out to the 28. Dumpoff to Portis for 14 with Collins' pocket collapsing. 10 to Cooley. Seattle only bringing 4 but getting great push. Heyer was hurt on the Trufant pick six. Craig Terrill drops Collins for a sack. Collins has to dumpoff to Portis on 2nd-long. He gets back across midfield but gets creamed on the way down. Betts replaces him; actually looks like a foot injury. 3rd-8. Interestingly, Seattle blitzes two. Moss makes an impressive leaping grab for the first down. Short pass to Randle El. 2nd-8 from about the 30 with about 3:00 left. Collins goes up top for Randle El but Russell knocks it down. 3rd-8. Looper to the sideline for Caldwell is also knocked down. 4th-8, Collins can't connect with Moss, and this one is over.
Seattle starts running; Washington starts burning timeouts. Seattle will punt with 2:00 left.
Fair catch by Randle-El at the 25, and apparently there is no penalty in the NFL for not giving the returner the opportunity to make the catch, because there was a guy all over him. After several short completions, Collins kills me in the football pool by throwing another INT/TD, brought back by Jordan Babineaux. I only had 37 total points and was looking good until that made it 35-14.
Hard to pick an MVP for this game. Everybody on the Seattle defense made some kind of big play. Kerney made an important play to stop the Skins after the Seahawks screwed up the kickoff down 14-13, and had a huge first half, so he barely noses Marcus Trufant out for the honor. (I detest splitting the award like Madden and Michaels constantly do on the stupid "horse trailer".)
Seattle's D never gets that much national attention, but they just go out and beat people, and they were the winning edge for Seattle today. The Redskins need to get healthier/deeper on their offensive line, and Cooley was a major disappointment. Washington's little WRs couldn't get open, and Cooley disappeared. Then again, porous offensive lines take TEs out of the game. Skins could still use a big receiver. Think they'd take Drew Bennett for Randle-El?
Hard to like Seattle's chances in Green Bay next week, because I think the Packer D will eat Hasselbeck alive. He'll have to play a lot better than he did today just to stay even.
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