Sunday Football Afterword: Week 5 Late Games

A high level of respect is present between two of the
Game's all-time passing greats.

A cold has been kicking my butt the past few days. I had hoped to publish this yesterday a few hours after my first Sunday Afterword, but was unable to.

Cam Newton continues to struggle in tight spots, evidenced by a poor pass on 4^th down near the Seattle goal line late in the game. The Seahawks defense, of course, cannot be overlooked, but it also cannot be ignored that this was not the first time Newton has failed in such situations. Seattle won 16-12 in Carolina, a game the Panthers needed to win if they wanted to be considered a legitimate playoff contender in the NFC.

Most of the other games were not all that exciting. Chicago’s offense played well and their defense played better. Granted, it was against the Jaguars, but it was in Jacksonville; that has to count for something, right? Well, maybe not so much, but 41-3 is still a score that you can’t scoff at regardless of the opponent.

Only San Francisco scored a larger margin of victory, backing up a crushing defeat of the New York Jets a week earlier with a 45-3 win back in California against the Bills. For the first time in NFL history, a team – Buffalo – gave up 300+ passing yards and 300+ rushing yards. There had been 122 games in which a team gained 300+ yards on the ground, another 2,316 with 300+ through the air, but San Francisco was the first with both. (source)

Tennessee was manhandled no worse in Minnesota as they lost 30-7 in another ugly contest with an AFC team getting pummeled by an NFC opponent.

The game of the week for many of us, myself included, was the Broncos-Patriots game in New England. On Denver’s first drive, Manning lofted a perfect pass to Demaryius Thomas, which he caught then fumbled. New England took over and turned the takeaway into a touchdown. Manning drove Denver back down the field to tie the score on their ensuing drive, but the Broncos’ offense stalled after that.

New England took off and led 31-7 in the 3^rd quarter. Manning led a furious comeback against a defense that was somewhere between a standard Belichick defense and a prevent scheme. Despite the secondary being backed up a bit, Manning still threw fantastic passes over the top and found receivers deep. When they couldn’t get over top, Manning still found ways to get them the ball on ‘go’ routes. It wasn’t enough, however, when a fumble by Willis McGahee deep in Patriots territory late in the 4^th quarter ended all hope of a full comeback. New England held on, 31-21 in yet another epic Manning v. Brady/Belichick battle. Brady is now 9-4 all-time in their matchups.

Suspended coach, Sean Payton, was in attendance for
Drew Brees' record-breaking performance Sunday.

The final game of the day, the Sunday Night game, was not a particularly exciting game, but there were still plenty of important story lines. The Saints ended their bid for a winless season as Drew Brees beat his old team, the San Diego Chargers, 31-24. Sean Payton and two other Saints executives were permitted to be in attendance for the game and got to see Drew Brees break one of the oldest records in the National Football League. Over half a century ago, Johnny Unitas of the Baltimore Colts set a record of 47 consecutive regular season games played with a touchdown pass. On Sunday night, Drew Brees threw a touchdown in his 48^th consecutive game.


Breaking records is special, and it is even more special at home. Last year, Drew Brees got to break Dan Marino’s single-season passing yards mark at home. This year, on Sunday, he broke an even longer-standing record, and he also broke that mark at home against the team that parted ways with him for their current quarterback. It couldn’t have been written any better for Brees.

Week 1 Monday Recap

I apologize for being a day late posting this.

Going into Monday Night Football, I was most excited for the game in Denver. I felt that that game was the more even matchup, and in the end I was probably right. However, there was plenty of excitement in the first game of the night, too.

Tom Brady recorded 517 passing yards, a fantasy player’s dream (or nightmare), good for the best single-game passing performance in Patriots history, and a spot in the top five for the NFL All-Time list.

What is easy to forget is that Miami’s quarterback, Chad Henne, also had a career game, throwing for 416 yards and two touchdowns while running for 59 yards and another score.

The defining moment of the game came with about six minutes left in the game and Miami trailing 31-17. A big play for the Dolphins was called a touchdown but then overturned on review, the ball placed on the 1-yard line. Three stops later the Dolphins are faced with 4th-and-goal, just inside the one. Miami elected to pass, and Henne threw an incompletion.

With just under six minutes to play, the Dolphins knew that a quick stop, or better yet a safety, could keep them in the game. Brady stepped back to pass, Miami rushed, and Benny Sapp let Wes Welker slip by him. Brady saw the opening, went for it, and 99 ½ yards later the Patriots had a new organization record for the longest play from scrimmage. The Dolphins would score again, but by this time the game was well out of reach.

Denver hosted the Raiders in the late game. Oakland arrived at Mile High on a seven game winning streak against the AFC West. However, they were also on a long losing streak in opening games. Meanwhile, Denver hadn’t lost a home opener since 2000. Only one of those streaks remained intact at the end of the night as Oakland earned a 23-20 win in a game that wasn’t nearly as exciting as I had anticipated.

Neither team played lights out football, though Darren McFadden was quite impressive, gaining 150 yards on 22 carries. One of his carries was probably my highlight of the game. The only other play that particularly impressed me was Janikowski’s NFL record-tying 63-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

Late in the game, Denver fans began a Tim Tebow chant, but I didn’t see what was so bad about Kyle Orton. No, he wasn’t stellar, but he was a little above average from what I saw. He made a couple mistakes, one that should never be made (he lost his grip on the football while scrambling out of the pocket). But he threw for over 300 yards and had a pretty nice 13-yard scramble.

My next post should be up either Friday or Saturday evening, and that will have my predictions for Week 2 as well as my games-to-watch.