Monday Night Football Afterword: Titans vs Jets

Chris Johnson hand-wrote the names of all the Sandy Hook
victims and had a 94-yard TD run, a franchise record, in them.
Photo credit to Yahoo! Sports.

For once, I actually find myself offering some defense to Mark Sanchez after a 14-10 loss to Tennessee in which he threw four interceptions.

Tim Tebow was given a possession to run for the first time all season. It came in the middle of the second quarter, the play calling on the drive was bad, and it just was not the time to do something like that. Mark Sanchez came back in and was completely out of rhythm, which is what happens when you come out in the middle of the game.

Later interceptions seemed to be more a product of frustration, but it all comes back to poor coaching decisions by the Jets.

Chris Johnson hit a home run with a 94-yard touchdown run in the second quarter as he has quietly rushed for over 1,100 yards with two games left in the season.

The Jets, meanwhile, were eliminated from playoff contention with their narrow loss in the Music City. After the game, Rex Ryan said he was not ready at the time to say who would be the starting quarterback next week or the week after. I think it needs to be Mark Sanchez. I don’t like him, I don’t believe in him, but he’s the quarterback until they make a decisive move for someone more able, whether it’s in the draft or free agency. So unless they actually think Tim Tebow could be their full-time starter in 2013, he should not be starting the rest of the way this year.

Jake Locker was less of a factor than I thought he would be in last night’s game. He threw for less than 150 yards and no scores, but he did run the ball several times for nearly 50 yards and a touchdown to compliment Johnson’s 122 yards and a touchdown of his own.

Thanksgiving Football Afterword

The Lions have played every Thanksgiving
since 1945 while the Cowboys' series
began in 1966.

What a day. I love Thanksgiving. After all, you can’t beat the three F’s – Football, Football and … Football. Oh yeah, family and food are somewhere in there.

The early game was as odd as it was exciting. The Texans are the first team since 1994 to play two overtimes in a five-day span. They are also the first team to win both of those games.

Justin Forsett's (28) elbow is clearly down and his knee
appears to be, too. Photo credit to The Kansas City Star.

The win came after two missed field goals in overtime, one by each team. But the odd moment came in the third quarter. With the ball on the 19-yard line, Matt Schaub handed the ball off to Justin Forsett, who took it 81 yards to the house, the longest run in Texans franchise history. The only problem was, seven yards into the run, both his elbow and knee touched the turf. It wasn’t obvious at first, and the officials did not blow the whistle. But it was a scoring play; it would be reviewed, right? Well, it would have, and the officials would have corrected their mistake through the review, as they have the opportunity to on every scoring play – because officials do make mistakes occasionally. Why didn’t they? Jim Schwartz threw his challenge flag, that’s why. He had thrown it before Forsett even got to the end zone. But, by rule, if a coach illegally challenges a play that is automatically reviewed, the play can no longer be reviewed because the team may not benefit from an illegal challenge.

Had Forsett not scored, there is no telling what would have happened. The fact that Houston won, even though the rules were followed perfectly, left a bad taste in my mouth about this game.

Pierre Garçon has spent much of the
season hurt, but provided a spark on
Thanksgiving. Photo credit to star-telegram.com

The middle game in the Thanksgiving lineup was a homecoming for Robert Griffin III as he met the Cowboys for the first time in his career. Dallas led 3-0 at the first break, but four second quarter touchdowns, three of them passes by RGIII, gave Washington a 28-3 lead at halftime. As we’ve seen so often in these matchups, Dallas came back and looked like the Redskins might be on the edge of a total collapse, but the offense stayed strong and scored just enough to win. After a late Dallas field goal brought the score to 38-31, Dallas attempted an onside kick, which was recovered immediately by DeAngelo Hall who ran all the way to the 1, where he slid down rather than scoring to go up by two touchdowns with just a few seconds left.

RGIII became the first rookie since at least 1950 with consecutive 4+ passing touchdown games. It was also the first time in seven tries that the Redskins beat the Cowboys on Thanksgiving.

The late game was interesting for about five minutes, during which the Patriots scored 28 points to take a 28-0 lead after going into the first quarter break tied at 0-0. The second half was kind of boring with no more exciting plays to speak of.

Mark Sanchez slams into Brandon
Moore's (65) rear end in the second
quarter. Photo credit to The New York Post.

The slaughter began deep in Patriots territory, when Mark Sanchez threw pass that was undercut by a safety and taken the distance. A couple minutes later, the Patriots had the ball at their 17-yard line and nobody covered Shane Vereen on a swing route and he caught a pass from Brady and took it 83 yards to the house. A minute or so later, Mark Sanchez made a huge mistake by turning the wrong way on a handoff, tried to run with the ball, slammed into his lineman’s rear end, and fumbled the ball when he hit the ground. That turnover was taken the distance. On the ensuing kickoff, Joe McKnight fumbled directly into the hands of Julian Edelman who took it to the end zone.

It was the most bizarre five minutes of football I’ve ever seen, but not nearly as bizarre as the Jets’ meltdown was hilarious.

The Jets build their team to beat the Patriots, and they have now lost four consecutive games to their rivals. If they can’t even beat the team that they focus on throughout the offseason, how do they expect to ever make the playoffs?

Thanks for reading everyone and enjoy the rest of Week 12. I’ll be back Monday with my Sunday Afterwords!

Sunday Football Afterword: Week 11 Early Games

Robert Griffin III became the second rookie QB to post a
perfect passer rating (Drew Bledsoe, 1993). It was the third such
game for a Redskins QB. Photo credit to NY Daily News.

In just one game, Matt Ryan took himself out of the MVP race. Atlanta held off the Cardinals, 23-19, but the fact that the Falcons could win a game in which their quarterback threw five interceptions goes to show that Atlanta is not relying completely on their ‘star’ under center.

Three games went into overtime on Sunday, but, sadly, no more ties. The Buccaneers held off the Panthers in a game that should not have been as close as it was. It took a late touchdown and 2-point conversion just to push the game into overtime, but a wide open Dallas Clark hauled in the winning score on a throw that wasn’t very accurate for having the receiver so open.

In another overtime contest, the Browns gave the Cowboys a run, and Dallas probably should have lost, but ten times the Browns were called for defensive penalties resulting in Dallas first downs. Penalties were the top story of this game and they ultimately led to an overtime loss in Dallas, 23-20.

The Cowboys have a short week as they prepare for their annual Thanksgiving game. This year, they will be playing the Redskins who, fresh off their bye week, exposed every flaw in the Eagles’ game plan to the tune of 31-6. RGIII threw for a career-high four touchdowns, two of them over 45 yards. The Redskins are still an explosive offense, and are not yet out of the playoff race, but it will be tough because one poor game, one loss, will most likely end any chance they have.

The third playoff game of the afternoon was in Houston, where the Texans, arguably the best team in the NFL, hosted division opponent Jacksonville, probably the worst team in the NFL. Not only did the game go into overtime, but it was a shootout that went to overtime. The Texans became the first team in NFL history to score twice in overtime as the teams traded field goals on their opening overtime possessions and the dagger was stuck when Andre Johnson capped off a career day, and by far his best game of the season, with his first and only touchdown catch. The final score was 43-37.

Green Bay didn’t have as easy a time as I expected but still got the win in Detroit. The Lions, like the Cowboys, will have a short week as they prepare for no small task. They will have to defend home field against the Houston Texans. It will be the Texans’ first Thanksgiving game.

Cincinnati took care of the Chiefs, as most of us expected, but the game that really surprised me was in St. Louis, where the Jets handled the Rams, 27-13. Mark Sanchez, yes, our Sanchise who has rarely topped 50% in the completion percentage column in any game this season, went 15/20 for 178 yards and a touchdown. More importantly, the Jets offense did not turn the ball over once. The Jets will play the Patriots in the late game on Thanksgiving Thursday.

Check back later for my Sunday Football Afterword for the four late games. Thanks for reading everyone!