Brett Favre drove the New York Jets downfield to set up a game-winning field goal in overtime, lifting them to a 34-31 victory over the New England Patriots and into sole possession of first place in the AFC East. Favre completed 26 of 33 passes for 258 yards, two touchdowns and--very importantly--no interceptions; after the game he admitted that he was very aware during this contest that if he made even one careless throw that the Jets would probably lose. Matt Cassel, who ESPN's Cris Carter repeatedly refers to derisively as a "high school quarterback," had the best game of his brief career--and one of the best performances in team history--completing 30 of 51 passes for 400 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Cassel also led the Patriots in rushing with 62 yards on eight attempts. Cassel is just the third quarterback since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger to throw for at least 350 yards and run for at least 60 yards in the same game, joining former NFL MVPs Rich Gannon and Steve Young. Cassel had the best rushing total for a New England quarterback since noted scrambler Steve Grogan ran for 65 yards in consecutive games in 1978.
The Jets marched downfield after the opening kickoff and took a 7-0 lead on a seven yard pass from Favre to Leon Washington. In the early going, the Patriots moved the ball with ease only to stall in the red zone, kicking two field goals. The Jets also tacked on a field goal but then they broke the game open with two second quarter touchdowns, a 92 yard kickoff return by Washington and a 15 yard pass from Favre to Jerricho Cotchery that put the Jets up 24-6. The Patriots maintained their poise and finally reached the endzone just 15 seconds before halftime when Cassel connected on a 19 yard TD pass with Jabar Gaffney.
During the halftime show, the NFL Network studio crew interviewed Cincinnati wide receiver Chad "Ocho Cinco" Johnson. Deion Sanders asked Johnson what he learned in the wake of all of his offseason "shenanigans." Johnson replied, "OK, this is what I learned the most. This is for anybody else that is coming along after me and for anybody that is playing on the other 31 teams: as an individual, no matter who you are, no matter how good you are, unless you play quarterback you will never dictate or run any organization ever. So don't ever pull what you saw me pull in the offseason, because you will lose." Has Johnson actually learned from his past mistakes or is he just on his best behavior for the moment in order to increase his value so that the Bengals can get trade him (which is what Johnson wanted before the season began)?
The Patriots received the opening kickoff of the second half and moved into Jets territory but their drive was stalled by a Ben Watson fumble. New England's defense held the Jets to 20 yards in the third quarter but the Patriots did not score until the last play of the period when Cassel connected with Watson for a 10 yard TD. Cassel passed to Gaffney for a two point conversion that cut New York's lead to 24-21.
New England forced a Cotchery fumble on the first possession of the fourth quarter and tied the score with a field goal but the Jets countered with a drive that consumed nearly half of the fourth quarter and culminated in a one yard touchdown run by Thomas Jones. After the teams exchanged punts, Cassel and the Patriots got the ball back on their 38 yard line with 1:04 remaining and no timeouts left. Cassel smoothly led the Patriots down the field, making completion after completion and spiking the ball to stop the clock when necessary. As a long suffering Cleveland Browns fan, I have to interrupt this recap briefly to mention that I don't think that the Browns have had a two minute drill--and, technically, this was a one minute drill--run that efficiently since Bernie Kosar was at the helm (the Browns have won some games with last second heroics but usually more out of mad scramble, desperation plays than disciplined execution). I don't know which sin is more unforgivable--that Art Modell fired Bill Belichick or that Modell moved the Browns to Baltimore. During the past decade, Belichick should have been building a dynasty in Cleveland instead of New England; he is the last Browns coach to win a playoff game and, ironically, he did so against New England, then coached by his mentor, Bill Parcells (who has not had nearly as much success as a head coach on his own as he did with Belichick coordinating his defenses). Every time I watch the Patriots play, I can't help but contrast how well coached they are and how disciplined they are with how poorly coached the Browns are. Also, while the Patriots won't use this as an excuse, it is worth mentioning that they are playing without the 2007 NFL MVP (Tom Brady), the heart and soul of their defense (Rodney Harrison), their leading rusher from last year (Laurence Maroney) and two-time Pro Bowl linebacker Adalius Thomas. How many teams could absorb that many blows and still be so competitive? The reason that the Patriots can do this is that they are so well coached; also, Belichick and the team's front office have done a great job of building a deep roster. During the telecast, the NFL Network's Adam Schefter said that the Patriots set an unofficial NFL record for most games missed by starting players during their 2003 Super Bowl season, broke that record in 2004 and could threaten the mark this season.
Back to the Patriots' last drive: they reached the Jets' 16 yard line with eight seconds left. Facing a fourth and one, Cassel rolled out and delivered a strike to Randy Moss, who was "posting up" Ty Law in the endzone like they were playing basketball. Cassel made a brilliant throw and Moss' catch and toe tap were also fantastic.
Unfortunately for Cassel, the Patriots lost the coin toss and never got a chance to take the field in overtime. Favre was sacked on the first play of the possession but made a 16 yard completion to Dustin Keller on third and 15 to keep the drive going. The Jets methodically moved into field goal range and Jay Feely nailed a 34 yard kick at the 7:15 mark.
Earlier this season, ESPN's Steve Young--who may be the most perceptive football analyst on TV--said that it would be a 10 week process for Favre to really become acclimated to the Jets' offense. Young's take directly contrasted with what Tom Jackson and Cris Carter said, namely that Favre could have an immediate impact. Young said of Favre, "I think they (the Jets) got the right guy; they just got him a month too late. The thing dragged on and I think they wanted to get him in early August or late July so that they could have that time before the real bullets flew." I agreed with Young's concerns and really thought that by the time Favre and the Jets got in sync the season would be too far gone. However, the Jets managed to win some games while getting used to Favre (and vice versa) and, lo and behold, in week 10 Favre had arguably his most efficient performance as a Jet. Favre candidly admitted after the game that he has been going through an adjustment process but that the good part is that the team has been productive as that took place.
The Jets face a tough game at Tennessee and a loss in that contest coupled by a New England win at Miami could once again put the division title up for grabs but there is no getting around the fact that so far Favre and the Jets are doing better than I expected. After the 2008 NBA Finals, Kevin Garnett looked straight into the camera and said to all of his critics and doubters, "What can you say now?" What can I say now to Brett Favre and the Jets? All I can say is I was wrong--and congratulations on a big win.
Showing posts with label Randy Moss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Randy Moss. Show all posts
Friday, November 14, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
"Ocho Cinco" is "Loco Cinco"
Cincinnati Bengals' wide receiver Chad Johnson--the self-styled "Ocho Cinco"--enjoyed a free pass from the national media for quite some time; for whatever reason, the media preferred to blast Terrell Owens, who has been a productive player and helped three different franchises make it to the playoffs. ESPN's Skip Bayless loves to call Owens "Team Obliterator," but the reality is that Owens' teams have performed well in no small part due to his excellence; the teams that got rid of him are the ones that have been "obliterated" and are still trying to find a player to take his place. Meanwhile, Johnson has played in exactly one playoff game during his career.
I have pointed out on several occasions that Johnson's conduct has had a negative effect on the Bengals. For instance, here is what I wrote after the Patriots beat the Bengals 27-13 last season:
Everybody loves Bengals receiver Chad Johnson. Tony Kornheiser tells us repeatedly that Johnson's antics are not mean spirited and that they do not detract from his team's focus and Mike Wilbon and others echo those sentiments, all the while portraying Owens as essentially the devil incarnate. Anyone who watched the Patriots-Bengals game knows that Carson Palmer threw an interception just before halftime. The pass was intended for Johnson and it was immediately apparent that there was a serious miscommunication between the two players. Johnson jawed at Palmer all the way back to the bench and gave him an earful on the sideline before walking away. As the players headed to the locker room at halftime, Johnson was in Palmer's ear again. ESPN reported that at least part of his message to Palmer was that he knew what route he was supposed to run and that he did the right thing. After the game, Palmer took the high road and said that the miscue was his fault, though ESPN analyst (and Hall of Fame quarterback) Steve Young insisted that the replay showed that Johnson had made a bad read and that he also should have made a better effort to prevent the pass from being intercepted.
In the locker room, Cincinnati Coach Marvin Lewis screamed so loudly at his players that his tirade was easily audible through the walls to the reporters outside: "If you don't want to be on this team, please don't show up! You don't call the offense, you don't call the plays. You just play. Nowhere in the NFL do guys act like this. We've got to figure this out." He couldn't have been referring, at least in part, to media darling Chad Johnson, could he? Of course, since everyone at ESPN loves Johnson, his conduct and the detrimental effect that it had on his team was almost completely ignored. A couple times, Mike Tirico made comments to the effect that Palmer and Johnson need to work things out because the game is going forward, time is running out and the Patriots are dominating. Kornheiser had nothing to say on the subject. Imagine what his reaction would be if Owens were to have a similar confrontation with Romo. The point here is not whether Johnson or Palmer is right about this particular play and I realize that sideline confrontations happen all the time in the NFL. The important issue here is how the media anoints favorite sons and then accords them nothing but positive coverage while at the same time deeming certain people to be villains and giving those people largely negative coverage. The reality is that sometimes a heated confrontation between two players can clear the air and ultimately be a positive thing and sometimes a heated confrontation is a symptom of a team that is dysfunctional. Without taking the time to really research what happened it is impossible to know the truth--but that does not stop many media members from reflexively bashing certain players while praising others. Coach Lewis' locker room rant and the fact that he has had to admonish Johnson on previous occasions for being disruptive are two strong indicators that Johnson's confrontation with Palmer was not a positive thing.
Three weeks later, I discussed Johnson's interview with Keyshawn Johnson:
It was surreal to see the guy who once said "Just Give Me the Damn Ball!" attempting to be a voice of reason. The sad thing is that, as Keyshawn said afterwards, Chad simply does not get it. Yeah, Chad has put up some numbers in recent years but his team has not accomplished anything and his relentless self-promotion has become a major distraction. Chad's friends in the media tried for a while to act like he was cute but Terrell Owens and Randy Moss were bad guys but that nonsense simply could only be spouted for so long. Owens played a major role on a Super Bowl team and has had several signature playoff games (Green Bay, New York Giants and the Super Bowl versus the Patriots). Moss has also played on very successful teams and had big playoff performances. All Johnson has done is rack up a lot of regular season yardage. Meanwhile, the word out of Cincinnati is that the Bengals believe that they cannot even try to rein in Johnson's act because they fear that his response would be to completely shut himself down. In general, I prefer the Jim Brown/Jerry Rice/Barry Sanders school of act like you've been in the endzone before but what I've never understood is people who blast Owens or Moss but praise Chad Johnson (yes, I mean you, Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon--but you are not the only guys by far). I don't find any of those guys' dances/acts more or less entertaining than the others'. My criticism of Moss, prior to this season, is that he left the field once before a game was over and that he said that nobody else on his team cared about how badly the team was playing so why should he. Moss did not seem to have the same work ethic or focus that Owens does. What we are finding out this year is that when Moss has the right support system around him he can still be a very, very good player; Owens has always been a productive player, even in the midst of various controversies.
There are more examples, but you get the idea. What is interesting to see now is that some members of the national media slowly seem to be catching on to what I have been saying all along about Johnson, who skipped the start of the Bengals' offseason workouts and has vowed to play in the Arena League if the Bengals don't trade him. Do you believe for one second that Johnson is going to give up NFL money to play in a minor league? Johnson is an attention-seeking missile who has been "obliterating" his team for years now. His touchdown "celebrations" may be harmless to the team but his other antics are a major distraction. Speaking of touchdowns, Johnson has just 49 receiving touchdowns in 108 career games, well off the pace set by Owens (129 TDs in 173 games) and Moss (124 TDs in 154 games). Owens is a sensitive player who needs constant praise from his coaches and Moss is a player who requires a solid support structure around him to stay focused but they both have proven that they can be impact players on playoff teams. Johnson is a prima donna who puts up good numbers for bad teams and complains that he is underappreciated. Yet, for several seasons the national media has done its best to turn him into some sort of quirky folk hero while simultaneously demonizing Owens and Moss.
It is funny that thus far the Bengals have been reluctant to part with Johnson but that a few years ago they shipped off "malcontent" running back Corey Dillon, who immediately helped New England to win the Super Bowl. Apparently the Cincinnati organization cannot tell the difference between a player who is frustrated because his team is losing and a player whose frustrating actions are one of the reasons why his team is losing. In Bruce Coslet's last game as Bengals coach, Dillon ran for nine yards on 12 carries behind poor blocking and a bad offensive scheme; Dillon became so frustrated by the team's ineptitude that he removed himself from the game, drawing a lot of criticism from the media. A few weeks later, with Dick LeBeau as the coach, Dillon rushed for 278 yards, then an NFL single-game record. Anyone who understands football--or sports in general--should have been able to see that Dillon was frustrated because the Bengals were a second rate, losing operation, not because he is a bad teammate. Perhaps Chad Johnson will thrive in a new situation and help that team to win--but I'll believe that when I see it.
I have pointed out on several occasions that Johnson's conduct has had a negative effect on the Bengals. For instance, here is what I wrote after the Patriots beat the Bengals 27-13 last season:
Everybody loves Bengals receiver Chad Johnson. Tony Kornheiser tells us repeatedly that Johnson's antics are not mean spirited and that they do not detract from his team's focus and Mike Wilbon and others echo those sentiments, all the while portraying Owens as essentially the devil incarnate. Anyone who watched the Patriots-Bengals game knows that Carson Palmer threw an interception just before halftime. The pass was intended for Johnson and it was immediately apparent that there was a serious miscommunication between the two players. Johnson jawed at Palmer all the way back to the bench and gave him an earful on the sideline before walking away. As the players headed to the locker room at halftime, Johnson was in Palmer's ear again. ESPN reported that at least part of his message to Palmer was that he knew what route he was supposed to run and that he did the right thing. After the game, Palmer took the high road and said that the miscue was his fault, though ESPN analyst (and Hall of Fame quarterback) Steve Young insisted that the replay showed that Johnson had made a bad read and that he also should have made a better effort to prevent the pass from being intercepted.
In the locker room, Cincinnati Coach Marvin Lewis screamed so loudly at his players that his tirade was easily audible through the walls to the reporters outside: "If you don't want to be on this team, please don't show up! You don't call the offense, you don't call the plays. You just play. Nowhere in the NFL do guys act like this. We've got to figure this out." He couldn't have been referring, at least in part, to media darling Chad Johnson, could he? Of course, since everyone at ESPN loves Johnson, his conduct and the detrimental effect that it had on his team was almost completely ignored. A couple times, Mike Tirico made comments to the effect that Palmer and Johnson need to work things out because the game is going forward, time is running out and the Patriots are dominating. Kornheiser had nothing to say on the subject. Imagine what his reaction would be if Owens were to have a similar confrontation with Romo. The point here is not whether Johnson or Palmer is right about this particular play and I realize that sideline confrontations happen all the time in the NFL. The important issue here is how the media anoints favorite sons and then accords them nothing but positive coverage while at the same time deeming certain people to be villains and giving those people largely negative coverage. The reality is that sometimes a heated confrontation between two players can clear the air and ultimately be a positive thing and sometimes a heated confrontation is a symptom of a team that is dysfunctional. Without taking the time to really research what happened it is impossible to know the truth--but that does not stop many media members from reflexively bashing certain players while praising others. Coach Lewis' locker room rant and the fact that he has had to admonish Johnson on previous occasions for being disruptive are two strong indicators that Johnson's confrontation with Palmer was not a positive thing.
Three weeks later, I discussed Johnson's interview with Keyshawn Johnson:
It was surreal to see the guy who once said "Just Give Me the Damn Ball!" attempting to be a voice of reason. The sad thing is that, as Keyshawn said afterwards, Chad simply does not get it. Yeah, Chad has put up some numbers in recent years but his team has not accomplished anything and his relentless self-promotion has become a major distraction. Chad's friends in the media tried for a while to act like he was cute but Terrell Owens and Randy Moss were bad guys but that nonsense simply could only be spouted for so long. Owens played a major role on a Super Bowl team and has had several signature playoff games (Green Bay, New York Giants and the Super Bowl versus the Patriots). Moss has also played on very successful teams and had big playoff performances. All Johnson has done is rack up a lot of regular season yardage. Meanwhile, the word out of Cincinnati is that the Bengals believe that they cannot even try to rein in Johnson's act because they fear that his response would be to completely shut himself down. In general, I prefer the Jim Brown/Jerry Rice/Barry Sanders school of act like you've been in the endzone before but what I've never understood is people who blast Owens or Moss but praise Chad Johnson (yes, I mean you, Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon--but you are not the only guys by far). I don't find any of those guys' dances/acts more or less entertaining than the others'. My criticism of Moss, prior to this season, is that he left the field once before a game was over and that he said that nobody else on his team cared about how badly the team was playing so why should he. Moss did not seem to have the same work ethic or focus that Owens does. What we are finding out this year is that when Moss has the right support system around him he can still be a very, very good player; Owens has always been a productive player, even in the midst of various controversies.
There are more examples, but you get the idea. What is interesting to see now is that some members of the national media slowly seem to be catching on to what I have been saying all along about Johnson, who skipped the start of the Bengals' offseason workouts and has vowed to play in the Arena League if the Bengals don't trade him. Do you believe for one second that Johnson is going to give up NFL money to play in a minor league? Johnson is an attention-seeking missile who has been "obliterating" his team for years now. His touchdown "celebrations" may be harmless to the team but his other antics are a major distraction. Speaking of touchdowns, Johnson has just 49 receiving touchdowns in 108 career games, well off the pace set by Owens (129 TDs in 173 games) and Moss (124 TDs in 154 games). Owens is a sensitive player who needs constant praise from his coaches and Moss is a player who requires a solid support structure around him to stay focused but they both have proven that they can be impact players on playoff teams. Johnson is a prima donna who puts up good numbers for bad teams and complains that he is underappreciated. Yet, for several seasons the national media has done its best to turn him into some sort of quirky folk hero while simultaneously demonizing Owens and Moss.
It is funny that thus far the Bengals have been reluctant to part with Johnson but that a few years ago they shipped off "malcontent" running back Corey Dillon, who immediately helped New England to win the Super Bowl. Apparently the Cincinnati organization cannot tell the difference between a player who is frustrated because his team is losing and a player whose frustrating actions are one of the reasons why his team is losing. In Bruce Coslet's last game as Bengals coach, Dillon ran for nine yards on 12 carries behind poor blocking and a bad offensive scheme; Dillon became so frustrated by the team's ineptitude that he removed himself from the game, drawing a lot of criticism from the media. A few weeks later, with Dick LeBeau as the coach, Dillon rushed for 278 yards, then an NFL single-game record. Anyone who understands football--or sports in general--should have been able to see that Dillon was frustrated because the Bengals were a second rate, losing operation, not because he is a bad teammate. Perhaps Chad Johnson will thrive in a new situation and help that team to win--but I'll believe that when I see it.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Perfection! Long TD Pass from Brady to Moss Preserves Unprecedented 16-0 Season for Patriots
It was not easy and at times it was not pretty but the New England Patriots defeated the New York Giants 38-35 to complete the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history, setting numerous individual and team records in the process. The Patriots had several lapses, most notably in their kickoff coverage and in the red zone (both offensively and defensively) but even those shortcomings ultimately testify to this team's unique greatness: it is not possible to play perfect football for 16 straight weeks, so overcoming mistakes well enough to post a perfect record is most impressive indeed. Coach Bill Belichick will no doubt be able to bake several "humble pies" with the ingredients that his team provided him against the Giants but what this team has accomplished is remarkable. Obviously, this story is not complete until and unless the Patriots win the Super Bowl--as they are the first to admit--but this squad, more than any other NFL team that I have ever seen, reminds me of the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls team that set an all-time record by going 72-10 in the regular season and then went 15-3 in the playoffs en route to winning the NBA championship. Those Bulls tried to kill everybody every single night, regardless of what had been clinched or if the game was the fourth road game in five nights and that kind of extreme focus and dedication is unique even among championship teams; NBA champions often lose 20 or more regular season games and the past two NFL champions lost four and five games respectively.
Tom Brady completed 32 of 42 passes for 356 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Wes Welker had 11 receptions for 122 yards, setting a new single-season franchise record for receptions (112; Troy Brown had 101 in 2001). Randy Moss caught six passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Laurence Maroney only gained 46 yards on 19 carries but he scored two touchdowns. Eli Manning completed 22 of 32 passes for 251 yards and four touchdowns but his fourth quarter interception was a pivotal play; the Patriots converted that opportunity into a Maroney touchdown that gave them a 10 point lead with less than five minutes remaining in the game.
There was a lot of talk about this game being "meaningless" in terms of playoff seeding but the Patriots and the Giants acted as if this were a playoff game. There were many hard hits and several after the play skirmishes. The Giants struck first, moving straight down the field with a seven play, 74 yard opening drive that culminated in a seven yard Manning touchdown pass to Brandon Jacobs. The Patriots only got a field goal on their first drive but after forcing a three and out they took the lead on a four yard touchdown pass from Brady to Moss; three records were set or tied on that play: touchdown passes in a season (49, tying Brady with Peyton Manning), touchdown receptions in a season (22, tying Moss with Jerry Rice) and points scored in a season (561, breaking the mark of 556 held by the 1998 Minnesota Vikings).
The joy from that moment did not last long for the Patriots, because Domenik Hixon ran the ensuing kickoff back 74 yards for a touchdown to put the Giants up 14-10. The Patriots answered that score with two good drives that stalled in Giants' territory and only resulted in field goals. The Giants received the ball deep in their own territory with less than two minutes remaining in the half but rather than playing it close to the vest they drove 85 yards and took a 21-16 halftime lead on Manning's three yard touchdown pass to Kevin Boss.
New England went three and out on the opening possession of the second half and the Patriots faced their biggest deficit of the season after Manning's 19 yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress put the Giants up 28-16. It was stand and deliver time for the Patriots, who did just that with a 73 yard drive that ended with a six yard Maroney touchdown run. The teams traded punts and the Giants received the ball with a 28-23 lead and 12:46 left in the game. One long touchdown drive would put a lot of pressure on the Patriots, who would need two scores in a short amount of time. Instead, Manning recovered his own fumble for a loss of one yard on first down, threw an incomplete pass on second down and completed a four yard screen pass on third down. The Giants failed to go for the kill--and promptly got killed. Brady threw an incomplete pass to Wes Welker on first down and just underthrew Moss on a long bomb on second down but, undeterred by those plays, Brady uncorked another bomb that Moss caught in stride for a 65 yard touchdown. That play gave the Patriots the lead for good while also breaking the single season records for touchdown passes and touchdown receptions; it will no doubt take a prominent place in NFL Films' library of seminal NFL moments, particularly if the Patriots cap off this season by winning a Super Bowl title. Maroney capped things off by running for the two point conversion to put the Patriots up 31-28.
Of course, more than enough time remained for New York to come back but the Giants went from being too conservative when they had the lead to being a bit too reckless when they were only down three. Manning tried to force a second and six pass into coverage and Ellis Hobbs intercepted the ball near midfield. That led to a Maroney touchdown run and a 38-28 lead. The Giants needed to score 10 points in just 4:36. They did not do a great job of time management on the next drive; one thing that they could have at least considered--but was not mentioned by NFL Network commentators Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth--was to kick a field goal, leaving more time on the clock to try to get the tying touchdown. In any case, Burress' one handed touchdown reception with a little over a minute left gave the Giants one last chance. Fittingly, Mike Vrabel--the sure-handed Pro Bowl linebacker who also catches touchdowns--recovered the onside kick to preserve the perfect season.
Some people questioned why the Patriots kept their first stringers in some of the earlier games in which the Patriots had huge leads, but this team is always sharpening its tools and that relentless focus on trying to play correctly regardless of the time or the score has been vindicated several times in recent weeks when the Patriots were able to execute under pressure; all season long they have held themselves to a high standard of performance, so they have never gotten stale or rusty, unlike some teams in previous seasons that shut some things down after clinching a game or clinching a playoff berth and then were never able to fire those things back up in the playoffs. Perhaps New England risked injury or risked getting some negative media coverage but the reward so far has been, as the commercial tag line goes, priceless: a 16-0 season that will be talked about as long as the NFL exists.
---------------
NFL records set by the Patriots (previous record):
--19 consecutive regular season wins (New England Patriots, 18--2003-04)
--16-0 record (Miami Dolphins, 14-0--1972)
--Tom Brady, 50 touchdown passes (Peyton Manning, 49--2004)
--Randy Moss, 23 touchdown passes (Jerry Rice, 22--1987*)
--589 points (Minnesota Vikings, 556--1998)
--75 touchdowns (Miami Dolphins, 70--1984)
--Scoring differential of 315 (589 points scored, 274 points allowed; the 1942 Chicago Bears scored 376 points while allowing just 84 points for a scoring differential of 292)
*Rice played in only 12 games in that strike-shortened season
Tom Brady completed 32 of 42 passes for 356 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Wes Welker had 11 receptions for 122 yards, setting a new single-season franchise record for receptions (112; Troy Brown had 101 in 2001). Randy Moss caught six passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Laurence Maroney only gained 46 yards on 19 carries but he scored two touchdowns. Eli Manning completed 22 of 32 passes for 251 yards and four touchdowns but his fourth quarter interception was a pivotal play; the Patriots converted that opportunity into a Maroney touchdown that gave them a 10 point lead with less than five minutes remaining in the game.
There was a lot of talk about this game being "meaningless" in terms of playoff seeding but the Patriots and the Giants acted as if this were a playoff game. There were many hard hits and several after the play skirmishes. The Giants struck first, moving straight down the field with a seven play, 74 yard opening drive that culminated in a seven yard Manning touchdown pass to Brandon Jacobs. The Patriots only got a field goal on their first drive but after forcing a three and out they took the lead on a four yard touchdown pass from Brady to Moss; three records were set or tied on that play: touchdown passes in a season (49, tying Brady with Peyton Manning), touchdown receptions in a season (22, tying Moss with Jerry Rice) and points scored in a season (561, breaking the mark of 556 held by the 1998 Minnesota Vikings).
The joy from that moment did not last long for the Patriots, because Domenik Hixon ran the ensuing kickoff back 74 yards for a touchdown to put the Giants up 14-10. The Patriots answered that score with two good drives that stalled in Giants' territory and only resulted in field goals. The Giants received the ball deep in their own territory with less than two minutes remaining in the half but rather than playing it close to the vest they drove 85 yards and took a 21-16 halftime lead on Manning's three yard touchdown pass to Kevin Boss.
New England went three and out on the opening possession of the second half and the Patriots faced their biggest deficit of the season after Manning's 19 yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress put the Giants up 28-16. It was stand and deliver time for the Patriots, who did just that with a 73 yard drive that ended with a six yard Maroney touchdown run. The teams traded punts and the Giants received the ball with a 28-23 lead and 12:46 left in the game. One long touchdown drive would put a lot of pressure on the Patriots, who would need two scores in a short amount of time. Instead, Manning recovered his own fumble for a loss of one yard on first down, threw an incomplete pass on second down and completed a four yard screen pass on third down. The Giants failed to go for the kill--and promptly got killed. Brady threw an incomplete pass to Wes Welker on first down and just underthrew Moss on a long bomb on second down but, undeterred by those plays, Brady uncorked another bomb that Moss caught in stride for a 65 yard touchdown. That play gave the Patriots the lead for good while also breaking the single season records for touchdown passes and touchdown receptions; it will no doubt take a prominent place in NFL Films' library of seminal NFL moments, particularly if the Patriots cap off this season by winning a Super Bowl title. Maroney capped things off by running for the two point conversion to put the Patriots up 31-28.
Of course, more than enough time remained for New York to come back but the Giants went from being too conservative when they had the lead to being a bit too reckless when they were only down three. Manning tried to force a second and six pass into coverage and Ellis Hobbs intercepted the ball near midfield. That led to a Maroney touchdown run and a 38-28 lead. The Giants needed to score 10 points in just 4:36. They did not do a great job of time management on the next drive; one thing that they could have at least considered--but was not mentioned by NFL Network commentators Bryant Gumbel and Cris Collinsworth--was to kick a field goal, leaving more time on the clock to try to get the tying touchdown. In any case, Burress' one handed touchdown reception with a little over a minute left gave the Giants one last chance. Fittingly, Mike Vrabel--the sure-handed Pro Bowl linebacker who also catches touchdowns--recovered the onside kick to preserve the perfect season.
Some people questioned why the Patriots kept their first stringers in some of the earlier games in which the Patriots had huge leads, but this team is always sharpening its tools and that relentless focus on trying to play correctly regardless of the time or the score has been vindicated several times in recent weeks when the Patriots were able to execute under pressure; all season long they have held themselves to a high standard of performance, so they have never gotten stale or rusty, unlike some teams in previous seasons that shut some things down after clinching a game or clinching a playoff berth and then were never able to fire those things back up in the playoffs. Perhaps New England risked injury or risked getting some negative media coverage but the reward so far has been, as the commercial tag line goes, priceless: a 16-0 season that will be talked about as long as the NFL exists.
---------------
NFL records set by the Patriots (previous record):
--19 consecutive regular season wins (New England Patriots, 18--2003-04)
--16-0 record (Miami Dolphins, 14-0--1972)
--Tom Brady, 50 touchdown passes (Peyton Manning, 49--2004)
--Randy Moss, 23 touchdown passes (Jerry Rice, 22--1987*)
--589 points (Minnesota Vikings, 556--1998)
--75 touchdowns (Miami Dolphins, 70--1984)
--Scoring differential of 315 (589 points scored, 274 points allowed; the 1942 Chicago Bears scored 376 points while allowing just 84 points for a scoring differential of 292)
*Rice played in only 12 games in that strike-shortened season
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Sixteen Reasons the Patriots Will Go 16-0
Here are 16 reasons that the New England Patriots will beat the New York Giants tonight to cap off the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history.
1) Although the Giants are 10-5, they have only outscored their opponents by a total of 25 points. The Giants fattened up their record with wins against weak teams like the Jets, the Falcons, the Dolphins and the 49ers.
2) Although neither team has "anything to play for," as the cliche goes, the Patriots have shown consistently during this season that they will keep their starters in and play aggressively in situations when many other teams would not do so.
3) The Patriots and several of their key players are close to setting all-time NFL records in various categories, most of which have to do with touchdowns and points scored. No matter how much the Patriots publicly downplay such things, they will do their best to make sure that all of those records fall. The toughest one will probably be the single-season touchdown receiving mark; the Giants may be able to deny Randy Moss from getting that but only at the expense of leaving someone else open, enabling Tom Brady to get the single-season mark for touchdown passes.
4) Tom Brady--enough said.
5) Randy Moss--enough said.
6) Bill Belichick versus Tom Coughlin--enough said.
7) The 1972 Miami Dolphins could not beat the New England Patriots--at least, according to Bill Parcells, whose last duty for ESPN was to choose the five best teams that he has seen (excluding ones that he coached) and assess their chances to beat this New England team. Parcells says that the Dolphins' defensive backs would not have been able to cover the Patriots' receivers (this will be a recurring theme, both in this list and in tonight's game).
8) The 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers could not beat the New England Patriots--again, according to Bill Parcells, who says that of all the teams he looked at this one would have the best chance. I agree with him on that score; you could open a small wing of the Hall of Fame with that Steelers team. While some of the earlier Steelers' teams relied more on the running game, this team had a more dynamic passing attack due to the liberalization of the NFL's rules to open up the passing game.
9) The 1985 Chicago Bears could not beat the New England Patriots--Parcells points out that in the one game that the Bears lost, the famous Monday Night Football showdown with the Miami Dolphins, the Bears had trouble defending against three wide receiver formations, a staple of the Patriots' attack. Mike Ditka, who of course coached those Bears, agrees that the famed "46" defense would not work against New England but he says that teams win because of players, not schemes, and that, man for man, his Bears match up with anyone. The Bears won two of their three postseason games by shutout and outscored their playoff opponents 91-10 but I agree with Parcells that they would have struggled to cover New England's deep wide receiving corps.
10) The 1989 San Francisco 49ers could not beat the New England Patriots--Parcells says that of all the hypothetical matchups this is the one that most likely would have been a shootout but he still likes the Patriots because (stop me if you've heard this before) the 49ers would have trouble covering New England's wide receivers.
11) The 1993 Dallas Cowboys could not beat the New England Patriots--Parcells likes Dallas' overall balance and huge offensive line but says that New England would prevail. Speaking in general terms about all of the hypothetical matchups, Parcells concludes, "It's 2007. They're bigger and they're faster and their quarterbacks are better schooled."
12) The New York Giants are not better than the 1972 Dolphins, 1978 Steelers, 1985 Bears, 1989 49ers or 1993 Cowboys.
13) Against common opponents this year, New England went 9-0 with a point differential of 222 (360-138), while New York went 6-3 with a point differential of just 21 (207-186)
14) Bill Belichick is unparalleled in his ability to devise the correct game plan to use against each opponent; two of his game plans--the one he came up with as a defensive coordinator for the Giants in their Super Bowl XXV win and the one he used as New England's head coach in the Patriots' Super Bowl XXXVI win--are on display in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
15) Belichick only keeps around players who have the mental ability/physical capability to not only implement his masterful game plans but to incorporate in-game adjustments to those plans if necessary.
16) This whole season has been one seek and destroy mission by a highly intelligent, highly skilled and highly motivated Patriots team that is not about to let up with the finish line (at least in terms of the regular season) in sight.
Prediction: Patriots 38, Giants 14; Brady, Moss and company will not leave the game unless they are injured or the Patriots have at least a three touchdown lead in the fourth quarter--and possibly not even in that case.
1) Although the Giants are 10-5, they have only outscored their opponents by a total of 25 points. The Giants fattened up their record with wins against weak teams like the Jets, the Falcons, the Dolphins and the 49ers.
2) Although neither team has "anything to play for," as the cliche goes, the Patriots have shown consistently during this season that they will keep their starters in and play aggressively in situations when many other teams would not do so.
3) The Patriots and several of their key players are close to setting all-time NFL records in various categories, most of which have to do with touchdowns and points scored. No matter how much the Patriots publicly downplay such things, they will do their best to make sure that all of those records fall. The toughest one will probably be the single-season touchdown receiving mark; the Giants may be able to deny Randy Moss from getting that but only at the expense of leaving someone else open, enabling Tom Brady to get the single-season mark for touchdown passes.
4) Tom Brady--enough said.
5) Randy Moss--enough said.
6) Bill Belichick versus Tom Coughlin--enough said.
7) The 1972 Miami Dolphins could not beat the New England Patriots--at least, according to Bill Parcells, whose last duty for ESPN was to choose the five best teams that he has seen (excluding ones that he coached) and assess their chances to beat this New England team. Parcells says that the Dolphins' defensive backs would not have been able to cover the Patriots' receivers (this will be a recurring theme, both in this list and in tonight's game).
8) The 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers could not beat the New England Patriots--again, according to Bill Parcells, who says that of all the teams he looked at this one would have the best chance. I agree with him on that score; you could open a small wing of the Hall of Fame with that Steelers team. While some of the earlier Steelers' teams relied more on the running game, this team had a more dynamic passing attack due to the liberalization of the NFL's rules to open up the passing game.
9) The 1985 Chicago Bears could not beat the New England Patriots--Parcells points out that in the one game that the Bears lost, the famous Monday Night Football showdown with the Miami Dolphins, the Bears had trouble defending against three wide receiver formations, a staple of the Patriots' attack. Mike Ditka, who of course coached those Bears, agrees that the famed "46" defense would not work against New England but he says that teams win because of players, not schemes, and that, man for man, his Bears match up with anyone. The Bears won two of their three postseason games by shutout and outscored their playoff opponents 91-10 but I agree with Parcells that they would have struggled to cover New England's deep wide receiving corps.
10) The 1989 San Francisco 49ers could not beat the New England Patriots--Parcells says that of all the hypothetical matchups this is the one that most likely would have been a shootout but he still likes the Patriots because (stop me if you've heard this before) the 49ers would have trouble covering New England's wide receivers.
11) The 1993 Dallas Cowboys could not beat the New England Patriots--Parcells likes Dallas' overall balance and huge offensive line but says that New England would prevail. Speaking in general terms about all of the hypothetical matchups, Parcells concludes, "It's 2007. They're bigger and they're faster and their quarterbacks are better schooled."
12) The New York Giants are not better than the 1972 Dolphins, 1978 Steelers, 1985 Bears, 1989 49ers or 1993 Cowboys.
13) Against common opponents this year, New England went 9-0 with a point differential of 222 (360-138), while New York went 6-3 with a point differential of just 21 (207-186)
14) Bill Belichick is unparalleled in his ability to devise the correct game plan to use against each opponent; two of his game plans--the one he came up with as a defensive coordinator for the Giants in their Super Bowl XXV win and the one he used as New England's head coach in the Patriots' Super Bowl XXXVI win--are on display in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
15) Belichick only keeps around players who have the mental ability/physical capability to not only implement his masterful game plans but to incorporate in-game adjustments to those plans if necessary.
16) This whole season has been one seek and destroy mission by a highly intelligent, highly skilled and highly motivated Patriots team that is not about to let up with the finish line (at least in terms of the regular season) in sight.
Prediction: Patriots 38, Giants 14; Brady, Moss and company will not leave the game unless they are injured or the Patriots have at least a three touchdown lead in the fourth quarter--and possibly not even in that case.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Two Minute Drill: The Patriots Void Pittsburgh's Guarantee
While many pundits jumped off of the Patriots' bandwagon this week--or at least cautioned that the New England-Pittsburgh game would be close--I declared, "a game that is going to be touted all week as an upset in the making will turn out to be a 14 point New England win. You heard it here first." I even offered three possible offensive tactics that the Patriots might employ to good effect: (1) flooding the Pittsburgh secondary with five receivers to burn the Steelers' blitz; (2) using screen passes to the running backs to beat the blitz; (3) running Maroney right at the blitzers to keep them on their heels. The latter two scenarios did not play out (Kevin Faulk only caught three passes for 15 yards and the Patriots only ran for 22 total yards) but the Patriots definitely flooded the Pittsburgh secondary with receivers as Randy Moss (seven receptions for 135 yards and two touchdowns), Jabar Gaffney (seven receptions for 122 yards and one touchdown) and Wes Welker (nine receptions for 78 yards and one touchdown) all had big days. Tom Brady completed 32 of 46 passes for 399 yards, tossing four touchdowns without throwing an interception or being sacked even once. So much for the theory that Philadelphia and Baltimore provided a "blueprint" for slowing down New England's record-setting offense. New England shut out Pittsburgh 17-0 in the second half en route to a 34-13 victory and the Patriots did all of this against a defense that still ranks first in the NFL in both points per game (14.5 ppg) and yards per game (245.5 ypg) even after the numbers from this contest are included in their totals.
Of course, little-used Pittsburgh safety Anthony Smith--whose 15 minutes of fame are now officially over--authored the prologue to one of this game's subplots by guaranteeing a Steelers victory; the Patriots wrote the remaining chapters with their play on the field. "No matter what you say during the week, it comes down to how you play," said Brady. "I think the receivers probably get more motivated than the quarterback. He just happened to have those plays on him. He's the one who has to go back to his team." Coach Bill Belichick does not often comment about players from other teams but even he took a shot at Smith after the game, saying, "We've played against a lot better safeties than him, I'll tell you."
ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli notes, "the Patriots called 33 consecutive pass plays, and they didn't have a designed run in the second half until only 2:49 remained in the game." Do you think that Smith's remarks influenced the Patriots' play calling a little bit? Is the sky blue? Does Bill Belichick wear a hooded sweatshirt? Are the Patriots trying to kill everybody? Yes, yes and yes. Moss offered this description of Brady, who is on the verge of rewriting the single-season records for quarterbacks: "Poise. Patience. And the determination to go out and kill you at any given time." Next up for the Patriots are the New York Jets, a 3-10 outfit coached by Eric "I sent the NFL after Bill Belichick and now I will have to pay the price" Mangini. No extra motivation there, right?
Moss is not impressed by what he has seen or heard from New England's two most recent opponents: "The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, as far as toughness and their mouths, have a lot in common. They do their talking during the week, and we do our talking on the field. I've played in the league 10 years, and I don't think I've ever heard a player say anything like that. To guarantee a victory--that was something hard. I don't know if his team had his back or not."
Speaking of Baltimore, the real Ravens stood up--or, more precisely, meekly submitted--versus the Indianapolis Colts in the Sunday night game. The Ravens are apparently so impressed with themselves for playing a close game with the Patriots--and so indignant about how the officials allegedly stole that contest from them--that they have nothing left in the tank. The Colts scored the game's first 30 points, cruising to a 44-20 win.
Baltimore and Cincinnati are surprise teams this season in the AFC North--but not for good reasons. The pleasant surprise in the division is the Cleveland Browns, who improved to 8-5 with a 24-18 victory over the New York Jets. The Browns made the win more difficult than it should have been, nearly squandering a 17-6 fourth quarter lead, but this is the kind of game that recent Browns squads have lost with depressing regularity; it is worth noting several reasons why this time was different:
(1) the Browns spent the third overall pick in the draft on left tackle Joe Thomas, who has shored up the offensive line, which now provides time for the passing game to click and also blasts open holes for the running backs. The Browns sealed the deal versus the Jets when Jamal Lewis' 31 yard touchdown run on third and four put Cleveland up 24-15 with 1:31 left in the game.
(2) Lewis is the most productive running back that the Browns have had literally in decades.
(3) Derek Anderson is a top notch quarterback who has a strong arm and usually does not look confused, two traits that have been sorely lacking in most of the Browns' recent quarterbacks.
The Achilles' heel for the Browns--and the reason that this team is competing for a wild card spot but is not a legitimate contender for a championship--is their defense. CBS' Randy Cross said that the defense plays well but it lacks consistency. Unfortunately, a couple things that the Browns' defense consistently does are give up a lot of yards (387 versus the Jets, nearly matching the team's league-worst average yield of 389.7 yards per game) and points (an acceptable 18 versus the Jets but a league-worst 27.4 ppg overall). If General Manager Phil Savage can add some playmakers to the defense to match the exploits of Anderson, Lewis, wide receiver Braylon Edwards, tight end Kellen Winslow and special teams wunderkind Joshua Cribbs then the Browns will finally be able to compete with Pittsburgh for supremacy in the AFC North.
Of course, little-used Pittsburgh safety Anthony Smith--whose 15 minutes of fame are now officially over--authored the prologue to one of this game's subplots by guaranteeing a Steelers victory; the Patriots wrote the remaining chapters with their play on the field. "No matter what you say during the week, it comes down to how you play," said Brady. "I think the receivers probably get more motivated than the quarterback. He just happened to have those plays on him. He's the one who has to go back to his team." Coach Bill Belichick does not often comment about players from other teams but even he took a shot at Smith after the game, saying, "We've played against a lot better safeties than him, I'll tell you."
ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli notes, "the Patriots called 33 consecutive pass plays, and they didn't have a designed run in the second half until only 2:49 remained in the game." Do you think that Smith's remarks influenced the Patriots' play calling a little bit? Is the sky blue? Does Bill Belichick wear a hooded sweatshirt? Are the Patriots trying to kill everybody? Yes, yes and yes. Moss offered this description of Brady, who is on the verge of rewriting the single-season records for quarterbacks: "Poise. Patience. And the determination to go out and kill you at any given time." Next up for the Patriots are the New York Jets, a 3-10 outfit coached by Eric "I sent the NFL after Bill Belichick and now I will have to pay the price" Mangini. No extra motivation there, right?
Moss is not impressed by what he has seen or heard from New England's two most recent opponents: "The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, as far as toughness and their mouths, have a lot in common. They do their talking during the week, and we do our talking on the field. I've played in the league 10 years, and I don't think I've ever heard a player say anything like that. To guarantee a victory--that was something hard. I don't know if his team had his back or not."
Speaking of Baltimore, the real Ravens stood up--or, more precisely, meekly submitted--versus the Indianapolis Colts in the Sunday night game. The Ravens are apparently so impressed with themselves for playing a close game with the Patriots--and so indignant about how the officials allegedly stole that contest from them--that they have nothing left in the tank. The Colts scored the game's first 30 points, cruising to a 44-20 win.
Baltimore and Cincinnati are surprise teams this season in the AFC North--but not for good reasons. The pleasant surprise in the division is the Cleveland Browns, who improved to 8-5 with a 24-18 victory over the New York Jets. The Browns made the win more difficult than it should have been, nearly squandering a 17-6 fourth quarter lead, but this is the kind of game that recent Browns squads have lost with depressing regularity; it is worth noting several reasons why this time was different:
(1) the Browns spent the third overall pick in the draft on left tackle Joe Thomas, who has shored up the offensive line, which now provides time for the passing game to click and also blasts open holes for the running backs. The Browns sealed the deal versus the Jets when Jamal Lewis' 31 yard touchdown run on third and four put Cleveland up 24-15 with 1:31 left in the game.
(2) Lewis is the most productive running back that the Browns have had literally in decades.
(3) Derek Anderson is a top notch quarterback who has a strong arm and usually does not look confused, two traits that have been sorely lacking in most of the Browns' recent quarterbacks.
The Achilles' heel for the Browns--and the reason that this team is competing for a wild card spot but is not a legitimate contender for a championship--is their defense. CBS' Randy Cross said that the defense plays well but it lacks consistency. Unfortunately, a couple things that the Browns' defense consistently does are give up a lot of yards (387 versus the Jets, nearly matching the team's league-worst average yield of 389.7 yards per game) and points (an acceptable 18 versus the Jets but a league-worst 27.4 ppg overall). If General Manager Phil Savage can add some playmakers to the defense to match the exploits of Anderson, Lewis, wide receiver Braylon Edwards, tight end Kellen Winslow and special teams wunderkind Joshua Cribbs then the Browns will finally be able to compete with Pittsburgh for supremacy in the AFC North.
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