Monday Morning Hangover: alcohol = bad decisions

 

It was a big weekend at the Cold, Hard Football Facts world headquarters: we picked up the season's first batch of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale on Friday and went on a 48-hour bender of football and karaoke.

 

Sadly, as it so often does, the drunken debauchery led to a series of bad decisions by everybody.

 

Our old pal Bud Adams, drunk with senility, made a classless mistake when he flipped off the Buffalo sidelines Sunday, apparently unaware that his team is 3-6 and has never won a Super Bowl. You made the wrong call, Bud Adams.

 

Good buddy Bill Belichick, drunk with arrogance, made a critical error when he went for it on 4th and 2 from his own 28 and handed his arch-rival  Colts the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs. You made the wrong call, Bill Belichick.

 

And our own Frankie C., drunk with Celebration Ale and mimosas, made a colossal gaffe when he chose "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar" in the finals of the Varsity Club karaoke championships Friday night. You made the wrong call, Frankie C.

 

It was not a pretty weekend.

 

GOTW: Indianapolis 35, New England 34
From the first quarter through the second quarter of yet another New England-Indy epic, the Colts defense was easier to score on than a Troll's mother.

 

From the 6:17 mark of the first quarter to the 7:28 mark of the second, the Patriots scored 24 unanswered points largely behind the combination of Tom Brady to Randy Moss.  In that stretch, Brady completed 9 of 12 for 226 yards and two scores and a near-perfect passer rating of 156.25, as the Patriots raced out to a 24-7 lead.

 

But the Indy defense surrendered just 10 points in the final 37 minutes, and seven of those came from a drive that began on the Colts 7 following a long Wes Welker punt return.

 

Indy forced two turnovers in the end zone to turn back Patriots drives and – in the wake of the most controversial decision of the season – the Colts stopped New England from picking up the final first down they needed to seal the win.

 

Indy held Brady to 19 for 28 passing for 141 yards, 1 TD, 1 pick and a rating of 76.6 over the final two and a half quarters.
 
The game was a microcosm of the flip that has taken place in the Patriots-Colts rivalry. Bill Belichick and the Patriots owned a 7-1 record against Manning and the Colts through the 2004 playoffs. The Colts have now won five of the last six.

 

More importantly, Manning is inside Belichick's head, as evidenced by the New England coach's quick trigger finger on a replay challenge early in the game, and his ballsy move to go for a fourth and 2 from his own 28. You might remember that Belichick also made a similar decision last year with equally disastrous results. The Patriots last year faced 4th and 15 at Indy's 45 yard line. Belichick opted to go for it, and Matt Cassel's pass was picked off by Bob Sanders with 4 minutes remaining.

 

The Colts held on for an 18-15 win.

 

We suggest Belichick make an appointment with world-famous lobotomist Dr. Walter Freeman to have the Peyton Manning removed from his cranium.

 

The once lopsided series now stands at 8-6 in favor of Belichick, and the entire country eagerly awaits their next encounter: five of the last six meetings were decided by 7 points or less. – DZ

 

Cincinnati 18, Pittsburgh 12
The Bengals ran their AFC North record to 5-0 and established a firm choke hold on the division by beating the Steelers for the second time in 2009. It's Cincy's first season sweep of the series since 1998 and puts the Bengals in position to win just their second division title since 1990.

 

The Bengals have been doing it with defense all season long, and Sunday's effort was a perfect example.

 

In CHFF's Real and Spectacular Week 10 picks, we said that the Steelers would win this game. We were wrong. But we did not the one thing that Pittsburgh had to worry about was Ben Roethlisberger's penchant for suffering too many negative pass plays.

 

Indeed, Cincinnati's Defensive Hogs forced Big Ben (20 for 40, 174 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 4 sacks) into five negative pass plays on Sunday and held him to a piddling 3.95 yards per pass attempt, significantly short of his outstanding 8.76 average coming into the game. Roethlisberger's 51.5 passer rating on the day was by far his worst of the season.

 

Cincy's Defensive Hogs climbed from No. 8 entering the game to No. 4 today, while the Bengals have surrendered just 16.3 PPG this year – the franchise's best defense of the Live Ball Era.

 

The game's only touchdown came from Cincy's Bernard Scott's 96-yard kickoff return in the first quarter, which ended up being the difference. Scott's big play was the third kickoff return TD Pittsburgh's suspect special teams have allowed in the last four games. – TC

 

San Diego 31, Philadelphia 23
Last time the Eagles faced LaDainian Tomlinson, back in October 2005, they held the future Hall of Fame running back to 7 yards on 17 carries.

 

Not this time. LT torched the Eagles defense for 96 yards and two touchdowns, moving past Marcus Allen (145) for third place on the all-time touchdowns list (146). Only Jerry Rice (208) and Emmitt Smith (175) have scored more often than LT.

 

He's now generated 12,145 yards on the ground in his career, and Sunday vaulted over Thurman Thomas (12,074), Franco Harris (12,120) and Edgerrin James (12,121) and into the No. 11 spot on the all-time rushing yards list. With another 99 yards, LT will climb past Allen (12,243) and join the rushing Top 10.

 

Philly's Donovan McNabb had a big outing in a losing effort: he tied his own franchise record with 35 completions, while throwing for 450 yards, the second most of his career. Among quarterbacks who are forced to throw for 50 or more times in a single game, McNabb ranks second in winning percentage (3-1-1), with one of those wins coming in that game against San Diego back in 2005.

 

The 6-3 Chargers moved into a tie for first place in the AFC West, despite trailing the Denver Broncos by three and a half games a month ago. – BS

Green Bay 17, Dallas 7
It wasn't The Ice Bowl, but Green Bay's victory over the 'Boys was huge nonetheless. The Packers captured their biggest win of the season and moved into a tie with the Eagles, Giants and Falcons in the heated NFC race for the final wildcard spot.

 

Cornerback Charles Woodson helped to save Green Bay's season with a pair of forced fumbles and a huge goal-line interception of Tony Romo. The Packers also overcame 12 penalties for 100 yards and two Aaron Rodgers fumbles (Green Bay recovered both). Rodgers was also sacked four more times, boosting his runaway league-lead to 41 sacks this year; but the Packers finally won this battle for once, taking down Romo five times while forcing him into two turnovers.

 

Dallas scored its only points with less than a minute remaining to prevent its first shutout since a 12-0 loss to New England back on November 16, 2003. – BS

 

Frankie C. might have had a better shot at the Friday night karaoke championships if he had opted for this little ditty.

 

show video here

 

 

 

Tennessee 41, Buffalo 17
Buffalo's run defense was the worst in the league coming into this game, while Tennessee boasted the NFL's best running back and the league's top-rated ground attack. Add it all up and you get a 24-point win for the suddenly surging Titans, who have won three in a row since their nationally televised embarrassment in snowy Foxboro in early October.

 

Chris Johnson had another stellar day running the ball (26 carries, 132 yards, 2 TD), becoming the first back in 2009 to top 1,000 yards. He also hauled in nine Vince Young passes for an even 100 yards.

 

Since he was named starting QB after the 59-0 loss to New England and after the bye, Young has completed 71 percent of his passes Tennessee's low-risk offense, he's played relatively mistake-free football (2 TDs, 1 INT), and he's registered passer ratings of 90 or better in all three games. His career record as a starter now stands at 21-11.

 

Two different Bills quarterbacks, Trent Edwards and Ryan Fitzpatrick, threw killer pick-sixes during Tennessee's 24-point fourth quarter scoring binge, as a 17-17 tie quickly devolved into a blowout win for the Titans.

 

One bright spot for Buffalo was rookie Jairus Byrd, who recorded an interception for the fifth consecutive game, giving him a league-leading eight picks just nine games into the season. – TC

 

Carolina 28, Atlanta 19
Don't look now, but Carolina has climbed right back into the playoff hunt in the NFC. The Panthers did it behind the Double Trouble tandem of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, who combined for 174 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.

 

Meanwhile, Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan's sophomore slump continues: he's thrown at least one INT in six straight games, including two costly picks against Carolina Sunday as the Falcons lost for the third time in four games. The Falcons, who began the season at 4-1, are now 5-4 and clinging to life in the NFC wildcard race.

 

Michael Turner remains the team's brightest talent: He rushed for 111 yards on just nine carries in the losing effort, for a dainty 12.33 yards per carry. – BS

 

Washington 27, Denver 17
The 2009 Broncos got off to a surprising 6-0 start behind some great play by their defense. But they've now lost three in a row, as their defense has surrendered 85 points over the last three weeks, including a shocking 27 against the offensively challenged Redskins on Sunday. Washington entered the game scoring just 14.1 PPG.

 

Denver's suddenly slumping defense allowed Washington to rush for 174 yards on 40 carries (4.4 YPA), including 114 from Ladell Betts. The Broncos also allowed maligned Redskins QB Jason Campbell to submit one of his best performances of the season (17 for 26, 193 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, 100.3 rating). It was just the sixth time in Campbell's five-year career that he topped a 100 passer rating, and second time this year.

 

It didn't help the Broncos to lose Kyle "the Horseshoe" Orton at halftime to an injury.

 

Orton was off to a hot start (11 for 18, 193 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, 10.7 YPA) after two back-to-back terrible performances against Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

 

But his replacement, the long-lost Chris Simms, could get nothing done in relief  (3 of 13, 13 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 7.5 passer rating) against Washington's solid pass defense (No. 10 Defensive Hogs, No. 12 Defensive Passer Rating coming into the game).

 

It was the first significant action Simms had seen since 2006, when he played for the Bucs and suffered a gruesome spleen injury against the Panthers. – TC

 

Kansas City 16, Oakland 10
Oakland's loss at home to the pathetic Chiefs was a living testimonial to the organization's complete inability to work the NFL draft properly.

 

Former No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell submitted his sixth game this year with a passer rating below 50 (9 of 24, 67 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT, 45.8 rating) and dropped his overall season rating to 47.9.

 

Russell was finally yanked in favor of the immortal Bruce Gradkowski.

 

Not to be outdone, rookie receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2009 draft, whom the senile Al Davis selected ahead of Michael Crabtree, had a Gradkowski pass bounce off his chest and into safety Mike Brown's hands for the game-clinching interception inside the Kansas City red zone in the final 30 seconds of play.

 

Kansas City's offense isn't much better than Oakland's offense. But Kansas City second-year back Jamaal Charles did produce 103 yards on just 18 carries (5.7 YPA), including a 45-yard touchdown run, as he's ably filled the shoes of the recently-suspended-then-released Larry Johnson.

 

As bad as Oakland's passing game was on Sunday, their ground game registered 182 yards on just 30 carries (6.1 YPA), led by Michael Bush's 119 yards on 14 carries (a whopping 8.A YPC average).

 

But as CHFF has said repeatedly over the last few years, it doesn't matter how well you run the football if you can't throw it effectively. And the Raiders throw the football as poorly as any team in recent history – and they once again emerged as losers on Sunday. – TC

 

Jacksonville 24, N.Y. Jets 22
The Jags and Jets entered their Week 10 clash with the same records (4-4). They completed the same number of passes on Sunday (16). They converted the same number of third downs (7 of 13) and fourth downs (1 of 1). They finished within 25 net yards of one another (347 for the Jags, 322 for the Jets).

 

These two teams were as close as possible on the field – and that's not a good thing when both clubs are terminally inconsistent. The game was a tight but sloppy matchup of perpetually unpredictable teams as illustrated by a bizarre span of nine plays in the third quarter.

The sequence essentially summarizes the seasons of both teams.

 

The only thing that differentiated the two clubs was the running of Jacksonville's Maurice Jones-Drew (123 yards, TD) and two critical interceptions by Sanchez. 

 

MJD (24 attempts, 123 yards, 1 TD) made the play of the day by dropping to a knee at the one yard line with the Jets conceding a touchdown, allowing the Jags to kill the last minute of clock before Josh Scobee's game-winning field goal in the final seconds.

 

For the Jets, turnovers make all the difference. They've turned the ball over four times in their four wins, and 14 times in their five losses. – DZ

 

Miami 25, Tampa Bay 23
The Dolphins know how to blow a lead. On Sunday, they figured out how to get one back.

 

Miami sported a 19-9 lead on the one-win Bucs going into the fourth quarter, and for the third time this season the Dolphins watched a lead of at least 7 points evaporate in the final frame.  The Dolphins have given up 82 fourth quarter points this season, more than a third of the 227 they've surrendered all year.

 

Facing another crushing come-from-ahead loss, quarterback Chad Henne and running back Ricky Williams exploded in the final seconds.

 

Henne threw for 41 of his 175 yards on Miami's final drive, while Williams rushing for 27 of his 102 yards in the last 1:10 of the game to drive the Fins into range for Dan Carpenter's game-winning 25-yard field goal. For Henne, it was a chance to atone for his miserable interception only moments before that set up Tampa's go-ahead score.

 

There were encouraging signs for the 1-8 Buccaneers, as the Josh Freeman Era is off to a promising start. The rookie led the Bucs to their only win of the year last week in his first NFL start, and rallied the team back from a 13-point deficit against the Dolphins to put his club in position to win another contest. 

 

His passer rating of 79.9 is easily higher than that of the other two QBs taken in the first round of the 2009 draft (Matt Stafford, 59.5; Mark Sanchez, 66.5). Both were taken well ahead of Freeman in the draft (Stafford No. 1, Sanchez No. 5, Freeman No. 17)and with much more fanfare. – DZ

 

New Orleans 28, St. Louis 23
Drew Brees' potent right arm has led the Saints to a top four ranking in total offense every season since he arrived in the Bayou in 2006.

 

But this season, the New Orleans running game has become a much bigger threat.

 

From 2006-2008, the Saints averaged 100.4 YPG on the ground and 3.8 YPA. This season, thanks to a three-headed attack of Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell and Reggie Bush, the Saints average 151.1 YPG (fifth) on the ground and 4.77 YPA (also fifth).

 

In a much-closer-than-the-experts-expected win over St. Louis Sunday, the Saints rushed for 203 yards, their second 200-yard game of the season and the first time they've produced two 200-yard games on the ground in one season since the 2000.

 

But the Saints must be concerned about the state of their defense after surrendering 23 points to the worst offense in football. The Rams had scored just 77 points in their first eight games (9.6 PPG).

 

New Orleans has now surrendered 131 points in their last five games (26.2 PPG) and has not held anybody below 20 points since a 24-10 win over the Jets back on October 4. – MS

 

Arizona 31, Seattle 20
The Seahawks offense had generated just 128 yards (14 rushing) and seven first downs in their 27-3 Week 6 loss to Arizona.

 

They got much better production this week, outgaining the Cardinals 472 to 462, including 164 yards on the ground and 29 first downs. But the result was the same: another double-digit loss for Seattle.

 

Blame inept red zone offense: the Seahawks turned four second-half trips deep into Arizona territory into just 3 points, as the Cardinals overcame a 17-10 halftime deficit.

 

Seattle's Matt Hasselbeck attempted 52 passes but completed just half of them for 315 yards (6.1 YPA) with 1 TD and 2 INT.

 

Kurt Warner, meanwhile, continues to rebound impressively from his five-pick mulligan against the Panthers two weeks ago. In the two games since, he's completed 51 of 70 (72.9%) for 601 yards, 8.6 YPA, 7 TD, 0 INT and a 131.9 passer rating.

 

More importantly, Arizona has scored 72 points in those two games, won both, and now stand at 6-3. The Cardinals hold a two-game lead over the 49ers, look like they'll cruise to the NFC West title and look better than the 9-7 team that reached the Super Bowl last year. – MS

 

Minnesota 27, Detroit 10
(See more on Brett Favre & the Favrkings here in our Week 10 first response)

 

Sidney Rice had played a minimal role for Minnesota in his first two seasons, catching just 46 passes for  537 yards. Paired with BrettFavre, he's become one of the most explosive players in the NFL. In his last four games this season, Rice has hauled in 27 passes for 553 yards and a whopping 20.5 average per catch.

 

Rice caught seven passes for 201 yards Sunday, the highest total of his career, but did not score a touchdown. It was the 10th time since 1960 that a receiver has gained more than 200 yards without scoring a touchdown.

 

The Lions, meanwhile, continue to make every opposing passer and receiver look good. They're still dead last in Defensive Passer Rating (107.8), though marginally better than the 2008 Lions, who set an all-time NFL record for futility with a 110.8 DPR. The 2009 Lions have also allowed opposing passers to complete 71 percent of their throws this year. Only one team in history has allowed opposing teams to complete more than 70 percent of their passes over the course of a season: the 2007 Lions. – MS

By Kerry Byrne