Monday, December 22, 2014

The Week In Football: San Diego's Enormous Win, Odell Beckham's Monster Year, and Romo's Great Season




Week 16 of the NFL season is in the books, and a lot of important and year-altering things occurred this weekend, including the always scintillating Titans-Jaguars battle that happened Thursday night. Just kidding. Once again, thank you NFL for putting that game on national television in Week 16. We as fans greatly appreciate it.

Without further ado, let’s move onto the rest of the action from Week 16….

Chargers Surge Back

What a great win for the Bolts, in a game they desperately needed. San Diego trailed 21-0 in the second quarter, and 28-7 at halftime, but somehow, despite three Philip Rivers’ three interceptions, were able to come back and win the game in overtime. They outscored San Francisco 31-7 after halftime, and had two touchdowns in the final 5:15 of the game. Their final drive of regulation, the one that tied the game, was probably their most impressive of the season, as they went 80 yards on 14 plays in just over three minutes. On that drive, the Chargers converted on two long fourth downs (fourth-and-eight and a fourth-and-ten), and tied the score with an 11 yard touchdown catch by Malcolm Floyd. They then won it in the extra session on a 40 yard field goal by Nick Novak.

I still can’t believe it. That comeback was incredible. As they were getting dominated in the first half, my Angry Old Man texted me:

“Nice pick on the Chargers this year idiot! I could make preseason predictions by drawing names out of a hat at random and still do better than you! Thanks for making us wonder just how dumb you could be by continuously pushing San Diego on us all year!”

As always, he was a real sweetheart about it. Anyway, I was ready to come on here, write a long, “yeah, I know I’m an idiot, let’s just move on as quickly as we can so I won’t start repeatedly closing my laptop on my head for making such a dumb pick” until the Bolts started showing a little bit of fight, and started to get some stops on defense. And slowly, Rivers got into a little bit of a rhythm, and the points started flowing.

Speaking of Rivers, despite the three picks, he was brilliant down the stretch, finishing with four TDs and 356 passing yards on 54 attempts, all while missing his best wideout, Keenan Allen, and his best running back, Ryan Mathews. San Diego won this game on the strength of his arm, his will, and his guts, and a defense that magically dug in during the second half, and started showing a little bit of a backbone.

And now, after Baltimore’s loss at Houston and Kansas City’s loss at Pittsburgh, the Bolts, who didn’t control their own playoff destiny despite their win on Saturday, are now in the playoffs, assuming they can win in K.C. next week. Amazing, particularly when you look at their daunting schedule in Weeks 13-16; they were at Baltimore, home against New England, home against Denver, and at San Fran. A lot of people thought they’d lose all of those games, but instead, they’ve gone an impressive 2-2, and can get to 10 wins and the playoffs if they take care of business this week. Not bad for a team with the strongest strength of schedule in the last five weeks of the season. Just keep making me look smart guys! I know it’s hard to do, but just keep on doing what you’re doing!

Major Dysfunction In San Fran

Obviously, this loss by the Niners wasn’t as debilitating as it could’ve been, because they were eliminated from playoff contention last Sunday, but this game was the perfect manifestation of everything that’s happened to them this season. Lots of blown games, a ton of poor play, and plenty of head scratching, poor performances. It’s weird, and almost unexplainable, that it’s happened to THIS team, one of the greatest and unshakeable pillars of the NFL the last three seasons. Six of their eight losses this season have been completely out of character for this team, including:

Week 2: Playing Chicago at home, the Niners led the Bears 17-0 with 2:02 left in the first half. However, on the strength of the first bad Colin Kaepernick game of the year (3 picks), San Fran only scored three points in the second half, and lost 28-20. Kaepernick’s horrible play set Chicago up with multiple short fields, something even Jay Cutler couldn’t screw up.

Week 7: Playing at Denver, the Niners got ran off the field from outset, and lost 42-17. Peyton Manning had a field day against their defense, finishing with 318 yards passing and 4 TDs, all while completing 84.6% of his passes.

Week 9: Coming off their bye week, and playing at home against St. Louis, the San Francisco’s offense was absolutely terrible all day, managing to score only 10 points. Late in the game, as they were finally able to drive the ball down around the goal line, Kaepernick had the ball taken away from him on a QB sneak, killing their last chance. The Rams won 13-10.

Week 13: After a few weeks of hype and, “Yeah, this team is going to be fine! They’re starting to figure some things out!” from lots of people (including me, stupidly), the 49ers, at home, on Thanksgiving, got absolutely physically dominated in all facets of the game by Seattle, as they were defeated 19-3. The score doesn’t look THAT bad, but just watching the game, it was obvious that San Francisco was badly outplayed. The Seahawks squashed each and every thing the Niners tried to do, and they punched them in the mouth time and time again. Very uncharacteristic for this team since Harbaugh got there.

Week 14: Once again, this time in Oakland, the 49er offense was completely inept, as they only scored 13 points, all while allowing rookie Derek Carr to stand upright for most of the day, and throw for three touchdowns. The Old Niners would never allow for a rookie quarterback to stand in confidently and pick them apart.

Week 16: Really? Was their any way the San Francisco teams from 2011-13 would squander a 21 point lead? Of course not.

It’s a lost year for this team, one that was full of injuries, suspensions, incredibly average to bad play from the quarterback position, and constant swirling and speculation about their head coach’s future. It was a great three year run for this team, but now, it’s over. It will be interesting to see what happens with this team in the off-season. Where will Harbaugh end up (My guess: Oakland)? Will Kaepernick be back with this organization next year (Yes, I think so)? Who is going to be the new head coach (No clue)? Regardless, I know I’ll be keeping my eye on the Bay Area throughout the spring and summer.

Dallas Impresses In December…. Again?

What a weird, very un-Dallas-like game from the Cowboys. Their 35 point beat down of Indianapolis was their largest margin of victory in this month since Tony Romo began starting in 2006. Did they exorcise all their December demons after last week’s enormous win in Philadelphia? Maybe they did. I have no idea. Regardless, they certainly looked impressive yesterday, and that defense, which has been discredited all season, absolutely took Andrew Luck apart, holding him to just 109 yards passing and two interceptions. It was the Cowboys’ best game of the season, and with the Eagles’ loss on Saturday to the Redskins, it clinched the division for Dallas, meaning they won’t have the inevitable Week 17 game, on Sunday Night, when they show up, get a few soul-crushing Romo interceptions, embarrass themselves on national television, and break their fans’ hearts, as they are eliminated from playoff contention.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but if I was all the other NFC playoff teams, Dallas would be the last squad I’d want to play. Their running game is so overwhelmingly dominant and physical, and they don’t ask Romo to do all that much, meaning other teams won’t get those gift interceptions from him like they used to. Their defense isn’t great, but it doesn’t matter all that much, because the Cowboys, with that running game, can control the clock like no one else, keeping that unit on the sidelines as long as possible.

Back to Romo for a second. I realize this is going to sound like an insult, and I don’t mean it to be one, but isn’t he having one of the greatest “game manager” seasons of all time? He’s completing over 70% of his passes, has thrown for 3,406 yards, and has 32 TDs, while only throwing eight interceptions. He’s only attempting 28.6 passes per game, his lowest since 2006, and down seven attempts per game from last season (and incredibly, about 12 from two years ago!). The Cowboys, smartly, have realized this season that it’s a terrible idea, and impossible to attain their goals, if they ask Romo to drop back and win every game for them with his arm. He just makes too mistakes if he’s asked to sling the ball down the field as much as he has been throughout his entire career. But in the role he has this season? That’s perfect for him, and exactly what Dallas needed.

The NFC Goes Through The 12th Man?

Shockingly, incredibly, and amazingly, if Seattle wins next week at home against the Rams, they’ll have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Crazy, considering how everybody declared them done (ok, I kind of thought they were in a lot of trouble too) after their embarrassing loss at Kansas City in Week 11 that dropped them to 6-4. Since then, they’ve gotten Bobby Wagner back at the linebacker spot, won five games in a row, and allowed just 33 points in those five contests. The Legion of Boom is flying around like old times, and the pass rush is humming just like last season. This team isn’t as good as last year’s group, because the offense is extremely limited, but they’ll be a tough out, at home, in the playoffs. When Seattle is great (like they are now), that’s the most challenging place to play in the NFL. They, along with Green Bay and Dallas, are clearly the best teams in the NFC.

Odell Beckham Jr. Is A Monster

Beckham busted onto the national scene with this incredible catch on Sunday Night Football in Week 12, and since then, people have started to notice just how great this guy actually is, as well as how impressive his stats actually are. On the season, he has 79 catches, 1120 yards, and 11 TDs. That’s a really nice year, but not legendary, until you remember that he missed the entire month of September with a hamstring injury, meaning he’s attained all those numbers in just 11 games.

So here’s the real question: is Beckham having the greatest rookie receiver season of all time? I think so. If we averaged his numbers out over a 16 game season, here’s how Odell would look compared to other great rookie years by receivers:

Odell Beckham Jr: 115 catches, 1629 receiving yards, 16 TDs

Randy Moss: 69 catches, 1313 receiving yards, 17 TDs

Anquan Boldin: 101 catches, 1377 receiving yards, 8 TDs

Bill Groman: 72 catches, 1473 receiving yards, 12 TDs

Billy Howton: 53 catches, 1321 receiving yards, 13 TDs

It’s important to note that Groman accomplished his numbers in a 14 game season, and Howton achieved his numbers in a 12 game season, which makes them even more impressive, but Beckham’s actual numbers, through only 11 games, are comparable to theirs. And if he’d gotten a full season, he would’ve passed them by.

It’s been a fun ride with Beckham this year, and I hope it continues for years to come. Any time a guy practices one-handed catches in warm-ups, you know he’s going to be exciting to watch. Oh yeah, and great at the game of football.

One more thought on him, quickly; Odell Beckham Jr…. what a great name for an athlete! Congrats to his parents on that one.

The Curious Case of Chicago

The Bears lost to the Lions yesterday, but the game was secondary to the biggest story surrounding this team, the day-to-day drama around their former starting quarterback, Jay Cutler, who was benched by head coach Marc Trestman last week. Cutler has been pretty terrible this season, but his struggles have only been a part of Chicago’s problems. For the Bears to be competitive next year, they’ll need a major overhauls pretty much everywhere, mainly on defense. That unit has been one of the worst in football, allowing 28.6 points per game, the most in the NFL. All their big signings on the defensive side of the ball haven’t panned out (Jared Allen, their biggest free agent grab, has just 5.5 sacks, and had just 1.5 through the team’s first eight games). Mel Tucker, their defensive coordinator, should be fired, and I’d cut whoever I could get away with on that defense. That side of the ball hasn’t gotten enough blame for the team’s shortcomings this season, because the football media and fans tend to just gravitate towards the lowest common denominator, in this case, the quarterback position, giving that guy all the credit or all the blame for the results on the field. Clearly though, Cutler and his 24 turnovers through 14 games has been unacceptable. And since he’s making more money than anyone on that roster (or in the NFL), he’s going to have a target on his back.

So what should the Bears do with him? “Trade him” has been a popular opinion that’s been floated around, but my question is, who in their right mind would want to trade for that guy and his guaranteed 36 million dollars? I know I wouldn’t. And why would the Titans want him? I’ve heard their name mentioned more than a few times, but they’d be insane to give Chicago anything for him. They’ve got a chance to draft a guy like Marcus Mariota, develop him, and pay him a hundredth of what Cutler is making. And I don’t care that Jay played at Vanderbilt, or that Tennessee’s head coach, Ken Whisenhunt, is a “quarterback whisperer”. It would be an incredibly dumb mistake, and one I hope the Titans don’t make.

The NFC South Is Stupid

I can't put into words how dumb it is that the 6-9 Falcons, and the 6-8-1 Panthers, are playing for the division title, a playoff spot, and a HOME playoff game in Atlanta on Sunday. Both these teams are among the 12 worst in the league, and it's stupid that there's so much attached to a game between to below .500 teams in Week 17.

And here's the crazy thing; if Arizona ends up getting the 5 seed, which is entirely possible, they could be at Atlanta or Carolina with Ryan Lindley or Logan Thomas starting at quarterback for them. I'm sorry, but you aren't ever winning a playoff game with one of those dudes playing that position for you. Does that mean the winner of the game this weekend is going to be in the Divisional Playoffs? I think so. 

I'm fine with every division winner getting into the playoffs, but I'm not sure you should be hosting a playoff game on Wild Card Weekend if you can't at least go 8-8. That's not unreasonable is it? 

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And now, from my Angry Old Man, who, besides (mistakenly) harassing me about the Chargers, has been relatively tame this week. I think it’s the Christmas spirit. He told me to tell everyone:

“The only thing on my Christmas list is for you to turn off the boom boom music, start listening to the wisdom of your Pa, and stop making crappy football picks every week that insult our intelligence, and bring shame to the Peace family name. But Merry Christmas to every one else, and a Happy New Year.”

There you have it. I’ll be back on Friday with my Week 17 picks, and predictions for the rest of the bowl season.


Merry Christmas. I hope you guys have a great day.

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