Sunday Football Afterword: 49ers vs Packers

Clay Matthews spoke all week about hitting the QB. He forgot you can't
hit him out of bounds during Sunday's playoff rematch with the 49ers.

Cory Puffett

San Francisco’s coaching staff banned Colin Kaepernick from running during the preseason and most of training camp. It certainly seemed to help Sunday afternoon as he kicked off his first full season as a starting quarterback with an impressive performance with 412 passing yards. It was his first game with 300+ passing yards, and he became just the fifth quarterback in the Super Bowl era to throw for 400 passing yards, 3 touchdowns and no picks in a season opener.

Green Bay had a tough game as they tried very hard to establish the run but couldn’t get much going against San Francisco’s stingy front seven. Aaron Rodgers had a solid game and Jordy Nelson was fantastic, answering everybody’s questions concerning his time off after knee surgery a month and change ago.

Unfortunately, a late hit out of bounds by Clay Matthews, followed by an error by the officiating crew in replaying a down on offsetting penalties led directly to a San Francisco touchdown that helped keep this game just out of Green Bay’s reach. In most situations, offsetting penalties result in a replay of the previous down, but when the penalties both occur after the play, it is a dead ball foul and the down still counts. It should have been fourth down for San Francisco.

But in football, you have to overcome errors. You prefer not to have to overcome officiating errors, but occasionally it happens. The Packers failed to overcome, just as they failed to cover Anquan Boldin who hauled in 13 passes for over 200 yards in the opener.

San Francisco is looking to return to the Super Bowl this year, and they took a nice first step on Sunday.

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Super Bowl XLVII: San Francisco 49ers

Super Bowl Sunday Countdown: 5 Days

The 49ers have appeared in two consecutive NFC title games, but make
their first Super Bowl appearance in 18 years on Sunday. They beat the
San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX. Photo credit to NFL Network.

It is both exciting and depressing that the week of the Super Bowl is now upon us. There is so much anticipation leading up to the main event, but well before midnight on Sunday, the 2012 season will be over.

It hasn’t felt like a long season, but this 49ers team is more than just a culmination of the past six months. When Jim Harbaugh was hired as San Francisco’s head coach during the 2011 offseason, nobody knew what to expect. Few, if any, expected that he would turn this franchise around and bring it back to the sport’s biggest stage. Even fewer, maybe nobody, expected it to happen so soon.

I still remember how the 2011 season began for the 49ers. I may be a little hazy on which team they were playing, though I’m fairly certain that it was Seattle, but Ted Ginn Jr. returned a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns in the final minutes of the game to carry the 49ers to victory.

It was a fluke as far as the experts were concerned. I certainly didn’t think much of it. But they kept finding ways to win. They won close games, they won in blowouts – most of you may not remember the Tampa Bay game from last year – it didn’t matter how they had to win; they won.

Yet, after losing just three games all season, when we reached the playoffs, nobody expected they could outrun the Saints if it turned into a shootout. They hadn’t beaten a team with a high-octane offense like that of New Orleans all season. Sure enough, the game turned into a shootout. The winner, however, was not the team many of us expected, as Alex Smith and Vernon Davis became Steve Young and Terrell Owens.

The party ended the following week, as errors haunted the team and the Giants advanced to Super Bowl XLVI.

This past offseason, Jim Harbaugh schooled his team in preparation. He never wanted his team to find itself in a close game and let it slip away from them. They had some rough games this season, more than they did in 2011, but to their credit every time they lost a game, they came back the next week with a big win, and they only lost one close game.

This week, though, if they lose, there is no ‘next week’ where they can go out and win a game and make a statement. This is the last game of the season. They won’t play another game that matters until September, and that won’t be counted as a part of this team’s accomplishments.

Many of these players came to San Francisco before Jim Harbaugh took over. He has transformed this team and this Sunday they will attempt to tie Pittsburgh as the owners of the most Vince Lombardi Trophies in the NFL. They also look to keep their perfect 5-0 Super Bowl record intact.

Baltimore, meanwhile, will look to duplicate what it did on Thanksgiving night in 2011. This is a different 49ers team than it was then; perhaps more vulnerable in some ways, but also much more explosive since the move from Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick. This team may have been ready for the Super Bowl last year, but the second year has prepared them even more. Few teams get two years of steady building toward this game. This team did, and they’ve used these two years well.

Tomorrow I will profile the Baltimore Ravens and will continue my Super Bowl XLVII coverage all the way through to Sunday, when I will make my official prediction by noon. For links to new blog posts as they are published, ‘like’ my blog’s Facebook page and follow me on Twitter, @cpuffnfl.

First Impressions: Super Bowl XLVII Matchup

Jim (49ers) & John (Ravens) will lead their teams against each other for the
second time in their careers, this time with a Lombardi Trophy on the line.
Photo credit to ESPN First Take (Facebook).

Over the next three days, I will look back at the 2012 postseason, one round at a time, as a general recap to put a close on yet another fantastic season. Today, however, I want to take the time to give my first thoughts on the upcoming Super Bowl.

The Ravens and 49ers have played four times since Baltimore got their new franchise. San Francisco won the first meeting but Baltimore has won all three since, including last season on Thanksgiving in the first matchup between the Harbaugh brothers.

Despite a pretty low score, just a 16-6 victory, Baltimore pretty clearly was the better team on both sides of the ball.

What has changed since 2011?

The 49ers are pretty similar on defense. They’re still pretty young overall, which means the extra year of experience will pay off a fair amount. On offense, the obvious change is the switch at quarterback from Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick. His rapport with Michael Crabtree and Randy Moss, another acquisition since last season, will make the 49ers look very different against the Ravens than they did in 2011.

On the Baltimore side, Joe Flacco has been hot all postseason. 8 TDs and no interceptions speak for itself. The other quarterbacks who have had similar numbers in a given postseason have all not only won the Super Bowl but been named MVP in it. Torrey Smith is becoming a deep threat, which is important considering the Ravens only attempted one deep pass in last year’s matchup. Smith is quickly inserting himself with guys like Calvin Johnson and A.J. Green as the league’s top possession receivers.

Baltimore’s defense is pretty similar to last year’s group, and everyone has remained healthy throughout the postseason, so there will be no easy pickings for Kaepernick.

Will I have a rooting interest?

I have to. I always do for the Super Bowl. Even if I really don’t care, I always pick a team to root for, for two reasons. First, it makes the game more fun for me. During the regular season I don’t mind just watching a game for the fun of it. Even during the playoffs I can do that. But I want to get excited during the Super Bowl, not just sit there as an emotionless observer.

My other reason for having a rooting interest is for my Madden prediction game, which I’ll explain in my Super Bowl XLVII preview the morning of the game.

So which team will I be rooting for? This is one of the few Super Bowls I can remember where I really don’t care which team wins; I don’t like either but I also don’t dislike either. However, because I’m from Maryland and will have to deal with poor attitudes from Ravens fans if they lose, I will be rooting for Baltimore.

Just a note for the heck of it, keep in mind that if Baltimore wins, Pittsburgh will retain sole possession of the record for most Super Bowl victories. San Francisco would tie them with a win.

The Harbowl

From what I’ve been able to gather, John and Jim Harbaugh never faced each other as coaches before last Thanksgiving.

John started out coaching running backs and linebackers at Western Michigan in the mid-80s and then, after a couple stops elsewhere, took a job as special teams coordinator at the University of Cincinnati, holding that position for eight years. His first NFL experience was in the same position with the Philadelphia Eagles, a job he kept from 1998 until 2007 when he became the defensive secondary coach with the Eagles. He made the jump right from that position to Ravens head coach.

Jim started his coaching career earlier than you would expect. During his final eight seasons as a quarterback in the NFL, beginning when he moved from Chicago to Indianapolis, he was an unpaid assistant coach under his dad, Jack Harbaugh, at Western Kentucky University. When his playing career ended, he became the quarterbacks coach with the Oakland Raiders for two seasons before taking a head coaching position with the University of San Diego. He held that job for three years and his position as head coach at Stanford for four. 2011 was his first season as the head coach with San Francisco.

Though it felt like a lot of hype was placed on their Thanksgiving matchup last season, it was nothing compared to the hype of what could have been during the postseason. Both John and Jim led their teams to their conference championship games, only to fall to the Patriots and Giants respectively, both due to poor late-game execution.

This year, they led their teams back to the AFC and NFC Championship games, and this time they both won. A lot will be made of their matchup over the next two weeks. I wanted to get mine out of the way. So congratulations to the two brothers, and to their parents, Jack and Jackie, on a fantastic season that will end in New Orleans.

I can’t even begin to imagine what it will be like for their family in the days following the game. There is nothing to base it on. The Manning brothers have never made this matchup happen, and I can’t think of many other brothers who have had the opportunity (Tiki and Ronde Barber both play(ed) in the NFC).

NFC Championship Afterword: Falcons vs 49ers

Frank Gore was very effective once San Francisco's read-option got going
and Atlanta could not stop him. Photo credit to The Arizona Daily Star.

It always seems to be the same story with these Falcons: get out to an early lead, turn ultra conservative, and trust Matt Ryan and/or Matt Bryant to pull off the win after you give up the lead.

Yesterday followed that script to a T. The biggest difference was that Matt Ryan was slammed during their final drive and hurt something in his left chest or shoulder. It wasn’t his throwing arm, but it seemed to be bothering him pretty severely. He couldn’t open up to put much behind his throws, which may have led him to panic on a 4^th down play inside the red zone. I think it also was the reason for the bizarre play call not to throw up a Hail Mary into the end zone and instead throw over the middle to Julio Jones and pray he could do something as time expired.

The better team won. The Falcons deserved to win for about 40 minutes of that game, but conservative offense and prevent defense betrayed them. Colin Kaepernick took full advantage as the Falcons lack of aggressiveness on defense completely nullified any effects of a very loud home crowd.

Once Kaepernick was able to make some plays throwing the ball down the field, it opened things up for the read-option and the Falcons were doomed. Frank Gore ran for 90 yards and a couple of scores, mostly out of the read-option. LaMichael James added another 34 yards on the ground with a score of his own out of the same set.

Neither Jacquizz Rodgers nor Michael Turner reached James’s rushing yards mark in the game.

As I expected, Julio Jones and Roddy White were just too much for the 49ers’ secondary to handle. They are very physical, and Jones in particular made some pretty impressive catches. They also have more speed than a lot of defenses are aware of. When you throw Tony Gonzalez into that mix, this is probably the best receiving corps in football, followed closely by teams like Baltimore and New Orleans.

For Atlanta, their season ends in disappointment, but they finally won a playoff game with Matt Ryan under center. If Atlanta can remain competitive in the NFC South, there will be plenty more over the next several years. One of the biggest hurdles facing them will be replacing Tony Gonzalez if he does in fact retire. Yesterday he said their loss to San Francisco was “probably” his last game. “I’ve been very blessed. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me. I’ve had a great ride, an unbelievable ride. I have no regrets,” he said.

San Francisco, meanwhile, advances to their franchise’s sixth Super Bowl. They are 5-0, putting them one short of Pittsburgh’s record for most Super Bowl victories. They will play as the home team in New Orleans on February 3.

Check back with my blog daily over the next two weeks, especially next week when the focus will be fully on Super Bowl XLVII. For updates on when new blog posts are published, ‘like’ my page on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @cpuffnfl.

NFC Championship Preview: Falcons vs 49ers

Sunday, January 20, 2013

3:00pm – FOX

San Francisco 49ers @ Atlanta Falcons

The 49ers return for a second straight year as they tie Dallas for the most
NFC Championship Game appearances, with 14. This is Atlanta's third
appearance and their first since January 2005.

I did not have an easy time coming up with my predictions for either of Sunday’s games, but this one was definitely the tougher of the two.

San Francisco, of course, has had a fantastic season. Alex Smith played great football early in the season, and when Colin Kaepernick took over, he impressed right away. As bad as I feel for Smith, Kaepernick earned the right to continue starting for the 49ers and he has continued to play great in big games.

Not only has Kaepernick shown an ability to win big games, he’s shown that he can do it regardless of the venue. The Georgia Dome, however, may be the loudest venue in the NFL – no offense to the Superdome or to CenturyLink Field.

I think being at home played a fairly significant role in Kaepernick overcoming an early pick-6 and leading San Francisco to victory last week. I’m not ready to bet on him having as big of a game against Atlanta.

The Falcons have been wanting for a postseason win for several years now, and they finally got one by holding off the Seahawks last week. I think Matt Ryan will benefit a great deal from that confidence boost.

The 49ers dealt with Green Bay’s massive receiving corps quite nicely. They likely won’t get beat too badly by Roddy White or Julio Jones, but I don’t know that they can compete with White and Jones on a physical level.

The one thing that makes me real nervous about this pick is the questionable status of John Abraham, who was severely limited against Seattle with an ankle injury and might not be active at all tomorrow.

Still, I think the home field advantage, a confident Matt Ryan and a defense that is much better than Green Bay’s will be enough to send Atlanta to their franchise’s second Super Bowl appearance.

Puff’s Pick:

San Francisco 49ers – 20

Atlanta Falcons – 31

MVP: Matt Ryan


Follow me on Twitter @cpuffnfl and on my Puff on the NFL Facebook Page.

Divisional Round Afterword: 49ers vs Packers

Colin Kaepernick threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more in his
NFL postseason debut, leading San Francisco to a 45-31 victory over
Green Bay. Photo credit to CBS News.

Colin Kaepernick had nearly identical passing numbers as Aaron Rodgers despite attempting and completing fewer passes. The difference was Kaepernick’s record-setting day on the ground. While Aaron Rodgers carried the ball three times for 28 yards, Kaepernick ran 16 times for an NFL record 181 yards. He broke Michael Vick’s record for rushing yards by a quarterback in a postseason game during the third quarter. By the final gun, he had broken Vick’s overall single-game record.

So Colin had a terrific game, but that wasn’t it for San Francisco’s offense. Frank Gore added 119 yards on the ground and a pair of receptions for 48 yards. In all, the 49ers gained 579 offensive yards, 323 of them on the ground.

The 49ers also possessed the ball for 16 more minutes than the Packers, so Green Bay’s defense was exhausted in the second half, explaining how a 24-21 halftime lead for San Francisco turned into a 45-24 lead until Green Bay scored a garbage-time touchdown with 67 seconds left.

Kaepernick showed terrific poise in the game. Two minutes in, he tried to hit Vernon Davis to the left but Sam Shields picked it off and took it 52 yards to the house. After that, Kaepernick led San Francisco on back-to-back nine-play drives, the first of which resulted in a touchdown.

For Green Bay, it was a painful reminder of their Week 1 loss to this very team. Alex Smith started that early-season matchup, but it apparently didn’t matter which quarterback started for the 49ers.

San Francisco will play in the NFC Championship for the second consecutive season. Last year they lost at home to the eventual Super Bowl Champion New York Giants. They will play in Atlanta this Sunday at 3:00 p.m. for a second chance to advance to the Super Bowl for the sixth time in franchise history.

Divisional Round Preview: 49ers vs Packers

Game 2:

Saturday, January 12, 2013

8:00pm – FOX

Green Bay Packers @ San Francisco 49ers

Since Kaepernick took over as starting QB in San Francisco, Randy Moss (84)
and Michael Crabtree have enjoyed advanced roles in the 49ers' offense.
Photo credit to Bleacher Report.

When I started digging deep into this matchup to come up with a prediction, I had to fight the urge to go back and look at Week 1. These are two completely different teams than they were at that time. The 49ers have a new starting quarterback and the Packers are suffering through their annual late-season injury onslaught.

I also had to avoid using last year’s playoff matchup between San Francisco and New Orleans as a basis for predicting a shootout. It has the feel of a similar matchup, but San Francisco with Colin Kaepernick is very different than with Alex Smith, and Green Bay is different than New Orleans for obvious reasons.

I’m predicting a mostly one-sided affair. The Packers will put up some points, but Colin Kaepernick has played his best games this season on the biggest stages – against Chicago on a Monday night, in New Orleans in a Sunday early evening matchup, and of course in New England on a Sunday night.

Between Kaepernick and Frank Gore – the only running back not named Adrian Peterson who topped 100 rushing yards against the Packers this season – Green Bay’s defense will likely get torched.

I’m not ready to assume Green Bay’s newfound ground attack will be available Saturday night, especially given San Francisco’s run defense. In fact, San Francisco’s defense, overall, will be very difficult for even Aaron Rodgers to pick apart.

Aldon Smith will finally have his setup man, Justin Smith, back on the line. Justin allows Aldon to get free rushing the passer and his absence has resulted in decreased production on the line from Aldon.

In my preview for the San Francisco/New Orleans game last year, I said it had the makings of an ‘Instant Classic.’ I’m not getting that vibe in this matchup.

Puff’s Pick:

Green Bay Packers – 14

San Francisco 49ers – 37

MVP: Frank Gore

10 Things You Need to Know: NFL Regular Season Week 16

Colin Kaepernick led San Francisco to a big win against the
Patriots and now eyes the division crown.
Photo credit to USA Today.

‘Like’ The All-Sports Crew on Facebook to keep up with updates! The All-Sports Crew will NOT air on WMUC Sports tonight. You can listen to our Week 16 picks podcast on iTunes later in the day.

10.            Broncos will not Consider Resting Manning

Most likely, right about now you’re wondering why this is even worth me having on this list. Of course Denver isn’t going to rest Peyton. They’re still pushing for a first round bye and with New England unlikely to drop another egg against the Jaguars or Dolphins, the Broncos need to win out to get it – New England owns any tie breaker between the two teams.

But who the heck asked John Fox about this in the first place?! We all know the Colts rested Peyton many times, each time a controversial decision that never worked – the team’s Super Bowl win came in a wild-card year in which Peyton did not rest late in the season – so we want to know if Denver would make the same controversial decision. But wait to ask the question until there are circumstances similar to those Indianapolis was in when they rested him, not when the Broncos still have to fight for something over the final two weeks.

9.            Aaron Rodgers Supports Alex Smith

Not only do Rodgers and Smith kind of look alike – seriously, the resemblance is uncanny – but I think Rodgers feels like he shares a connection with Smith, despite them coming from entirely different NFL backgrounds. Rodgers sat patiently behind Brett Favre few a few years while Smith, as a #1 overall draft pick, has been the starter in San Francisco from Day 1.

But both have had to deal with controversy. Smith was often injured and never had any consistency with a coaching staff until Jim Harbaugh came. Rodgers had to deal with Favre’s antics when he unretired the first time. The difference is Rodgers had the support of the entire Green Bay organization. With Colin Kaepernick impressing over his first several starts, Smith doesn’t seam to have support from his team. So I think it’s really cool that Rodgers is stepping up and letting Smith know he’s got his back. Like Rodgers, I think the 49ers need to send Smith somewhere he can start next year. The quarterback with the highest passer rating in the league deserves that.

8.            Playoff Implications: AFC

Houston Texans – A win against Minnesota will lock up home field advantage.

Baltimore Ravens – The Ravens can lock up the AFC North this week with a win over the Giants.

Indianapolis Colts – The playoffs are in reach, and Indy can clinch a spot with a win or a Pittsburgh loss.

Pittsburgh Steelers – In danger of missing the playoff entirely, this week’s matchup against the Bengals is critical…

Cincinnati Bengals – …because the Bengals clinch a spot with a win and the Colts clinch a spot with a win.

7.            Playoff Implications: NFC

Atlanta Falcons – A win clinches home field advantage.

San Francisco 49ers – Beating Seattle will clinch the NFC West and a Green Bay loss would then clinch a first round by for the 49ers.

Seattle Seahawks – Just a win is needed to clinch a playoff birth. There are also no fewer than a half-dozen scenarios where other teams lose or tie that would give Seattle a playoff spot.

Washington Redskins – A win plus loses from the Giants (possible), Chicago (very unlikely), and Minnesota (very likely) would secure a playoff spot for Washington.

New York Giants – A win plus loses from Chicago, Minnesota, Dallas (quite possible) and Washington would secure a playoff spot for the G-Men.

6.            Fantasy Disappointments

Not many leagues continue this late into the season, but mine uses all 17 (this is the last year of that nonsense). There were plenty of fantasy disappointments this week, so I’ll just list a few that stood out to me.

• Demaryius Thomas hasn’t scored fewer than 10 points since his Week 3, 2.5-point outing against Houston, so 3 points against Baltimore (4 catches for 13 yards) had to be rather disappointing.
• Normally I don’t include kickers on this list, but he missed a field goal from inside 40 yards on his only attempt of the day to finish with -2 fantasy points. Shame!
• Josh Freeman has been on fire this entire season, with his only remotely bad game coming early against Dallas. Four interceptions and a fumble lost against New Orleans and suddenly people are questioning him.

5.            Fantasy Surprises

• In Seattle’s second straight 50-burger, Wilson outdid his 9-point fantasy performance against Arizona with a 40-point performance against Buffalo.
• Sam Bradford’s 30-point game against Minnesota came out of nowhere.
• Nothing surprised more than Dennis Pitta in Week 15. 29.5 fantasy points on the strength of 7 catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns.

4.            Games to Watch

Like last week, I’ll be more specific on why these are the biggest games to watch in my predictions post tomorrow.

• Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• New Orleans Saints at Dallas Cowboys (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• Minnesota Vikings at Houston Texans (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
• New York Giants at Baltimore Ravens (Sunday, 4:25 p.m.)
• San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks (Sunday, 8:20 p.m.)

3.            Power Rankings

For the sake of space, I will list just the top 6 and the bottom 6 here. You can see the rest on NFL.com.

1. San Francisco 49ers	27. Tennessee Titans
2. Atlanta Falcons	28. Detroit Lions
3. New England Patriots	29. Philadelphia Eagles
4. Houston Texans	30. Oakland Raiders
5. Denver Broncos	31. Jacksonville Jaguars
6. Green Bay Packers	32. Kansas City Chiefs

The 49ers leapfrogged four spots to the #1 position in the Rankings and also garnered the most votes in the Power Poll, which you can view here.

The Bengals and Redskins jumped 4 and 5 spots to the #8 and #9 positions, respectively. Meanwhile, the Ravens and Giants both fell three spots and are out of the top 10.

2.            Atlanta Falcons

Well, Atlanta moved to the #2 spot on the strength of the Patriots’ loss and of the Giants poor game. Don’t get your hopes up on Atlanta. They always play well at home and this is not the first, or second, or even third time the Giants have suffered a December collapse. There are still three or four NFC teams better than the Falcons, in my opinion.

1.            San Francisco 49ers

And of course one of those teams is San Francisco. After a couple terrific starts, Colin Kaepernick struggled against St. Louis and didn’t look great against Miami. But he silenced any critics with an impressive performance against the Patriots in New England, where they almost allowed a 28-point comeback to Tom Brady but managed to score just enough down the stretch to get a 41-34 victory, which really helped their cause heading into Seattle this week. With a game left against Arizona, there isn’t much chance of them losing the division crown, but this week is a major statement game for the 49ers.

Sunday Football Afterword Deluxe: Week 14 Late Games & Monday Night Football

Rookie running back David Wilson celebrates after scoring
in New York's key victory over New Orleans on Sunday.
Photo credit to Yahoo! Fantasy Sports.

Because I had other things I had to get done yesterday, I have to combine my second Monday post with my usual Tuesday post, which isn’t all that bad really considering it’s only five games to cover, so let’s get to it.

The 49ers were one of the few teams who easily did what they expected to on Sunday with a 27-13 home win over the Dolphins. Colin Kaepernick bounced back nicely from a disappointing Week 13 performance against the Rams.

The Redskins were looking for some help from the Saints, but got none as New Orleans put up decent points but allowed Eli Manning and rookie David Wilson to put up a 50-berger and suddenly we’re right back where we were after Week 12, with the Giants looking like clearly the best team in the NFC East.

New York wasn’t the only team to KO a scoreboard on Sunday. The Seahawks demolished the Cardinals. Well, not exactly. ‘Demolished’ isn’t nearly strong enough of a word for a 58-0 beat down on the strength of eight turnovers by Arizona. Seattle looks more and more like a legitimate NFC title contender every week.

Detroit took an early 14-0 lead in snowy Green Bay on Sunday Night and it looked like Chicago would get the help they needed and a strange Sunday would be complete, but Aaron Rodgers slowly got his team back in the game. Calvin Johnson continued to chase Jerry Rice’s single-season receiving yards record, but it was not enough in a 27-20 losing effort.

After a Sunday of fairly boring games – even the Packers/Lions ordeal lacked a certain level of excitement for me – I had hoped that the Monday Night game on ESPN would reveal itself as Week 14’s true game of the week.

Instead the Patriots scored on each of their first three drives while their often-struggling defense shut down Arian Foster and contained the Texans’ passing attack. Houston’s defense settled down and kept New England from scoring on their next four drives, but their offense had no such luck. The Patriots did get things rolling again later and eventually finished with 42 points against arguably the best overall defense in the NFL.

Tom Brady threw for 4 touchdowns and no interceptions and has now done so twice more than any quarterback in NFL history and he did so on fewer than 300 passing yards, a testament to a better rushing attack than we’ve seen from New England in recent years. Brady also tied former Chiefs great Len Dawson for the most starts at quarterback resulting in 40 or more points, an impressive feat for Dawson to have his name anywhere near considering he threw for fewer than 30,000 yards in his 19-year career.

Thank you for reading and be sure to come back tomorrow for my Week 15, 10 Things You Need to Know post.

Sunday Football Afterword: Week 12 Late Games

Colin Kaepernick improved to 2-0 as a starter and scored
on this early touchdown run against the Saints.
Photo credit to ESPN.

The Cardinals got out to a solid start, but Janoris Jenkins returned an interception for a score early in the second quarter to give the Rams a spark. Jenkins scored on another pick-6 in the third quarter and Ryan Lindley threw four picks to no touchdowns in the 31-17 home loss. The Cardinals started off the season as a possible surprise playoff team, but after their 4-0 start they have now lost seven straight. Ken Whisenhunt announced today that if Kevin Kolb is unavailable next week against the Jets, Lindley will start again despite his very shaky performance against St. Louis.

Baltimore allowed San Diego to outplay them for must of yesterday’s contest in southern California, but as their story has been all season, the Chargers collapsed in the second half to the tune of allowing a short pass to Ray Rice turn into a conversion on 4^th & 29 late in the game. The spot didn’t look accurate to me, but with how poorly San Diego opposed that play, they didn’t deserve the stop anyway. The Ravens netted a field goal on the drive to force overtime and ultimately won the game with another Justin Tucker field goal.

We had a very exciting game down in NOLA. The Saints led the 49ers late in the second quarter, but a pick-6 by Ahmad Brooks off Drew Brees tied the game going into halftime. San Francisco opened up the second half with a touchdown drive and then sacked Drew Brees before returning another interception for a score to take a 14-point lead. Brees led his Saints on another scoring drive right after but the 49ers defense buckled down and didn’t allow anything else from New Orleans after that. It was a rare day for Drew Brees as only three of his touchdown passes went to teammates and the 49ers reaffirmed, for me, their position as the top team in the NFC.

For the moment, Eli Manning has silenced questions about
arm fatigue with a huge game against the Packers on SNF.
Photo credit to Sports World Report.

If San Francisco is the NFC’s best, the Giants might just be number 2 after their 38-10 shellacking of Green Bay on Sunday Night Football. After an opening-drive touchdown by the Giants, the Packers scored on their fourth play on 61-yard pass from Aaron Rodgers to Jordy Nelson. I thought we were looking at an instant classic, but the Giants defense tightened up and allowed only a field goal the rest of the way.

Eli Manning, meanwhile, was the story of the game. The Giants went 1-2 in their final three games before their bye week; but that one victory could have easily been a loss in Dallas. A big part of that was that Manning was struggling. He had thrown four picks and no touchdowns in those three contests, totaling ten fantasy points in my league. Last night, he threw three touchdown passes and no interceptions and more than doubled his fantasy total from the three previous games combined.

Check back tomorrow for my Afterword on tonight’s Monday Night Football matchup between the Panthers and Eagles in Philadelphia. Thanks for reading!