Yet another wacky week of football, yet another week that
needed Runner Ups in all categories. We are nearing the home stretch of the NFL
season and this is when we realize who are the contenders and who are the pretenders.
It is not too late for any of these teams to turn their seasons around and make
a run at the playoffs, but there is also plenty of time for the top teams in
the league to fall off the map.
The Good: John
Skelton throws for over 300 yards and three touchdowns against the most
expensive secondary in the NFL.
I am so happy for Skelton who was brushed aside for the
unproven Kevin Kolb after his rookie season in which the Cardinals continued to
tell Skelton and the media that he was their quarterback of the future. Of
course everyone knew they were lying and were looking for other options at
quarterback for 2011. However, it is Skelton who is having the last laugh. The
Cardinals had lost their last six games under Kolb and their season was sinking
fast before Skelton took over the reigns. In two games, Skelton has looked much
more impressive than Kolb and he has won twice as many games in two weeks as
Kolb did in seven. Most importantly, Skelton is getting the ball to playmaking
receiver Larry Fitzgerald and keeping him happy, which was something Kolb has
struggled with all season. The Cards would be crazy to go back to Kolb anytime
soon and they have a real quarterback controversy, considering they gave Kolb a
six year $65 million and that is a lot of money to pay a backup quarterback.
Maybe they see if the Redskins want to try another under performing quarterback
in their rotation?
Runner Up: The Cowboys put it all together for a commanding
win over the Bills 44-7.
The Bad: The Ravens
fall to the Seahawks on the road.
What is going on with the Ravens? How can they possibly
sweep the Steelers and then put up a stinker like this against the Seahawks?
The Seahawks! They really struggled in all phases of the game. They turned the
ball over three times (their kickoff returner lost two fumbles), Flacco
struggled with keeping drives alive, and they again mysteriously went away from
their run game (Ray Rice only ran the ball five times all game). However, most
surprisingly, the Ravens’ defense really struggled against probably the worst
offense in the entire NFL. Tarvaris Jackson was extremely efficient, Marshawn
Lynch totaled almost 170 yards of offense, and the Ravens only managed to tally
one sack and zero turnovers. The Ravens have not looked particularly good
against anyone besides the Steelers. They need to bounce back quickly before
hosting a much improved Bengals team or else they could be looking up at the
Steelers and those Bengals in their own division.
Runner Up: Falcons’ coach Mike Smith goes for it on forth
down in overtime and hands the game to the Saints.
The Ugly: The Lions
turn the ball over six times and lose to division rival Bears 37-13.
The Lions explosive offense was held to only six points in
the first half, which seems to be around their average. However, against a very
tough Bears defense, they did not have what it takes to overcome yet another
terrible first half. Matthew Stafford threw two interceptions that were
returned for touchdowns and the Bears offense had to do almost nothing to blow
out the Lions who have now lost three out of their last four games after an
impressive 5-0 start. This team cannot continue to struggle in the first half
and expect to come away with miracle wins in the second half. If the Lions
cannot find a way to effectively run the ball with or without Jahvid Best, they
will be sitting at home when the playoffs roll around. Enter yet another injury
to Stafford and that task just got a lot harder.
Runner Up: The Jets get outplayed and out-coached by the
Patriots on offense, defense, and special teams.
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