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| A Word from The Writer: The Monday Analysis - 16 December 2002 Week 15 just didn't fill in enough blank answers. The AFC is still up in the air and undecided, but the NFC has three division leaders and four teams with playoff berths. And while the Pats don't play until tonight, the Monday Analysis is still here to cover the action... Bills, Dolphins keep it interesting the AFC East, Jets falling Drew Bledsoe may have had a lackluster day in the
pocket with 11 for 33 at 107 yards, but Travis Henry made up for that with
22 carries for 144 yards and 2 TDs as the Buffalo Bills shocked the San
Diego Chargers with a late game 20-13 victory in Orchard Park. The Bills
gained 78 yards on pass interference penalties alone. The Chargers even
brought in Doug Flutie after Drew Brees became ineffective, and that
couldn't help, though, he did try a Hail Mary into the endzone that Ricky Williams ran for his ninth 100 plus yard game, a team record as the Dolphins thumped the Oakland Raiders 23-17. Rich Gannon was held to 204 yards passing and only one touchdown, which came late in the fourth quarter. The Dolphins also finally got some action out of Cris Carter who caught a touchdown pass one-handed in the endzone. Miami plays in Minnesota next Saturday and then finishes at the Razor in Foxboro. And the New Jersey Jets blew it in Champaign, Il, when da Bears beat the Jets 20-13. This loss will most likely take Jersey right out of the playoff hunt in the AFC. It is unlikely a 9-7 will make the playoffs without winning the division. Jersey plays the Patriots at the Razor next Sunday night, and then hosts Green Bay.
Weekend Break Down BEARS 20 (4-10), Jets 13 (7-7) - FINAL: Wayne Crebet loses the ball trying to pull a Harry Potter-like jump in the air to fly in for a touchdown, and guess what? It didn't work and he fumbled it and the game was over. Now so is their season. Maybe all that in-fighting last week at the Jets practice worn them out. Colts 28 (9-5), BROWNS 23 (7-7) - FINAL: Late game scoring drives helped out Peyton Manning & Co., but the Browns couldn't get the same luck. At one point, the Browns were up 16-0, but some key plays from Marvin Harrison helped erase that deficit. BILLS 20 (7-7), Chargers 13 (8-6) - FINAL: Drew Bledsoe puts up some of the worse numbers passing, but Travis Henry picks up the slack. Martyball was frozen at Orchard Park. Vikings 32 (4-10), SAINTS 31 (9-5) - FINAL:
Ravens 23 (7-7), TEXANS 19 (4-10) - FINAL: Baltimore wasn't supposed to be a contender in the AFC playoff race, but someone forgot to send them the memo. Jaguars 29 (6-8), BENGALS 15 (1-13) - FINAL: Big deal, two losers duked it out. EAGLES 34 (11-3), Redskins 21 (5-9) - FINAL: The Eagles clinched the NFC East with this win, and they did it with the third string QB. And the Redskins, well, what can we all say about Steve Spurrier? STEELERS 30 (8-5-1), Panthers 14 (5-9) - FINAL: The Panthers might be done, but Tommy Maddox and Co. still have a chance at the playoffs, however, with Cleveland and Baltimore breathing down their neck, that tie could be the killer. Buccaneers 23 (11-3), LIONS 20 (3-11) - FINAL: How does this game get so close? What, was Jon Gruden sleeping this week? Seahawks 30 (5-9), FALCONS 24 (8-5-1) - FINAL/OT: This game might have started the coffin nails for Atlanta. The tie puts them the half game off the Saints that the can't really afford this time of year. DOLPHINS 23 (9-5), Raiders 17 (9-5) - FINAL: No help for the Patriots here, but this could be game one of a three game slide for Oakland with the Broncos and Chief left on the schedule. Packers 20 (11-3), 49ERS 14 (9-5) - FINAL: In the past ten years, a Brett Favre-led Green Bay Packers team has lost to San Francisco only once: Playoffs, 1998. Just keep that in mind. BRONCOS 31 (8-6), Chiefs 24 (7-7) - FINAL: Big win for Denver. They have at Oakland next week. Win there and they could steal this thing away. RAMS 30 (6-8) Cardinals 28 (5-10) - FINAL: I saw something funny: Mike Martz was reaming out Marc Bulger on the sidelines after he threw an INT. Then I saw Kurt Warner doing the same thing. This is the funny part: Both Martz and Warner could be pulling each other's finger in Cincinnati next year, so why don't you two losers knock it off already! The Rams have six wins thanks to Bulger and eight losses thanks to both you, Martz and Warner! And for the Cards, man, Dave McGinnis just can't catch a break. New England (8-5) at Tennessee (8-5) Tonight 9PM ABC Playoff Outlook Right now, the big fight here is for the top spot in April's Draft. Cincinnati (1-13): Draft a Quarterback, a coach, a new owner... Houston (4-10): Draft an O-line. Big time. Chicago (4-10): Draft a new facility. One closer to home Minnesota (4-10): Draft a new attitude - or adopt the one that has won you those four games and nearly that other one in Green Bay. Dallas (5-9): Draft some new traditions, cause the old ones stink. Detroit (3-11): Draft some weapons for Joey Harrington. Carolina (5-9): Draft some big time players who won't abuse the league substance abuse rules. Seattle (5-9): Draft OUT Mike Holmgren. Arizona (6-8): Maybe you should have drafted a new name when you left St. Louis. Washington (5-9): Don't draft any players from Florida. Jacksonville (6-8): Draft new everything in Jax. Things have become stale. St. Louis (6-8): You already drafted Marc Bulger. What else do you want? Teams who are neither here nor there One addition, but no one moved out because everyone on this list won except the Jets and the Browns: Baltimore (7-7): If this is how they play short-handed and young, then I dread playing this team in two or three years. Cleveland (7-7): Giving up a 16 point lead and losing the game doesn't help your playoff chances, but it helps everyone else's. Buffalo (7-7): This is another team who will be mighty and indestructible in the next couple of seasons. Kansas City (7-7): Imagine the Chiefs ruining their whole division's chances. NY Giants (8-6): No division, but there's still that chance at a wild card. New Jersey Jets (7-7): This could be it for the Jets this season. Denver (8-6): They are hanging on. They beat Oakland next week, and they'll swap places with the Raiders. Pittsburgh (8-5-1): The division is breathing down their necks, and if they had had a whole win, the draft wouldn't be so bad. Atlanta (8-5-1): Just to repeat myself from last week: That tie is about to kill them for good. The Good News Teams The list got a little shorter, but anything can move this time of year. Miami (9-5): No help for the Pats here, but they made it tougher in the West. New England (8-5): They need this win on Monday night to sink the Titans and float above Miami. San Diego (8-6): Lost to Buffalo is even worse. The clock is ticking. Oakland (9-5): Here's another team who could just cash it all in with a losing streak. Indy (9-5): Manning and Harrison are going to try and pitch their way right into the playoffs. Tennessee (8-5): A must win on Monday night against the Super Bowl champs, but past records do not matter in December. New Orleans (9-5): Boy, Minnesota just stood up and slapped you hard, didn't they? Those Who Are In Only 12 can be here. Only 12. Green Bay (10-3): NFC North Title. Beating the 9ers gets them home field points. San Francisco (9-4): NFC West Title. Losing to the Pack takes away home field points. Philly (11-3): NFC East Title. Playing with third string QBs doesn't bother the Eagles.. Tampa Bay (11-3): They have a spot, but no division title yet. I don't know what it takes for the Bucs to capture the South, but winning does help. Oddities on Next Week's Matchups All the Games are important now, but as always, we like to point out just a few keys. THREE SATURDAY GAMES: Miami (9-5) at Minnesota (4-10), 1:30 PM CBS. The Vikes are playing spoiler. Must-win for Miami who will need to stay ahead of New England. San Francisco (9-5) at Arizona (5-9), 5:00 PM FOX. NFC West game that means nothing anymore. Philadelphia (11-3) at Dallas (5-9), 8:30 PM ESPN. Philly just needs some home field points. SUNDAY'S GAMES San Diego (9-5) at Kansas City (7-7), 1:00 PM. AFC West game. Diego needs the win to stay in, but KC could steal the show if the division crumbles in the last two weeks. Tennessee (8-5) at Jacksonville (6-8), 1:00 PM. AFC South game. The Titans need all the division wins to have a chance. St. Louis (6-9) at Seattle (4-10), 4:05 PM. NFC West game that means nothing, except the Rams are playing better with Marc Bulger. Denver (8-6) at Oakland (9-5), 4:15 PM. Another AFC West game. Both need the win. Loser could be done. Cleveland (7-7) at Baltimore (7-7), 4:15 PM. AFC North game that suddenly matters a whole lot. Winner gets to keep hoping. Loser has lost hope. N.Y. Jets (7-7) at New England (8-5), 8:30 PM. Big AFC East game at the Razor. Pittsburgh (8-5-1) at Tampa Bay (11-3), 9:00 PM. Pitts needs the win to stay in, the Bucs need home field points. Notes & Quotes Joey Harrington had an irregular heartbeat that returned to a normal rhythm before he left [taken to local hospital for further tests and observations]. Because Joey had no previous history of an irregular heartbeat, we had to make sure we took precautionary measures. - Kyle Anderson, M.D., Detroit Lions team physician. Joey Harrington is doing fine right now I suspect that if we find nothing through the workup, that he'll maybe miss one game and be back, and then maybe even play in the next game, depending on what they find. He could miss the remainder (of the season) because there are only two left. That's a possibility. - Internist Keith Burch, the Lions' team physician said of Harrington's irregular heart beat after the Lions were beaten by Tampa Bay. They should take the game ball they got and throw it at us. - Houston quarterback David Carr of the Defense in comparison to the Offense's 47-yards total in Week 14. I shut it down at about 4, went home and got about six seconds of sympathy from [wife] Kim. She started spraying me with Lysol and said, 'Go back to work. You haven't won enough games.' - Arizona head coach Dave McGinnis, who left work early on Monday with a stomach virus. I think in my next life, I'm going
to be cheerleader. - San Fran's Terrell Owens on his pom-pom celebration after a 45-yard TD catch in Sunday's loss to the Packers. I love seeing Terrell celebrating in the end zone. Nobody does it better. - 49ers Head Coach Steve Mariucci on the pom-pom act. You can't get mad at him. If he's making plays like he made and scoring touchdowns like that, he can do pretty much whatever he wants. I don't think he means any disrespect. - Packers running back Ahman Green on the Owens pom-pom act. The one difference is he relocated with his team and I didn't relocate with mine. They relocated without me. - Pats Head Coach Bill Belichick when asked about the similarity of being with a team that was relocating (Cleveland to Baltimore, Houston to Tennessee) he has with Titans Head Coach Jeff Fisher. Indy receiver Marvin Harrison set a single-season record with receptions Sunday, breaking Herman Moore's 123 from 1995. It's currently 127 with 2 games left. Harrison and Jerry Rice are both on the 37-main 100 reception list four times. Top Ten List of the Week 1. A great party at friends' Shawn and Heather's house Saturday. Lots of hangovers the next morning, but nothing was funnier than Jeff thinking the Colt .45 was Champaign. 2. The Eagles on getting the NFC East again, and playing like a team. If I were to put money on a team to win it all, it would be Philly. 3. Rams QB Marc Bulger is 6-0 in as many starts this season. He was the third stringer in St. Louis at the beginning of the season. Sound familiar? 4. Al Gore isn't going to embarrass himself - or anyone else in 2004. He isn't running, and thank God for that. I can't take any more of his "I know more than you" attitude. 5. Terrell Owens' pom-pom celebration is just classic. 6. Colts receiver Marvin Harrison has quietly set the reception record for a single season when he broke Herman Moore's 123 reception record with the 127th. And there are still two games left. On the 37-man 100 reception list, Harrison appears four times. So has Jerry Rice. 7. Duante Culpepper, who got a very late game pass into the endzone to Randy Moss to get within a point of tying, then controlled a fumble to get two more and steal one from the Saints. 8. Tampa Bay has yet to get the South, but they did get a playoff spot. 9. The Bears for taking the Jets out. One less team to worry about. 10. There is no better song on a snowy day during the Christmas season than Queen's "A Winter's Tale" from Made in Heaven. It was the very last song Freddie Mercury ever wrote and recorded. Have a great week, folks! 16 December 2002 | ||
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