Wednesday, November 23, 2011

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY WEEK 11


There were not too many upsets this weekend, yet there is still plenty to discuss. The Packers being at 10-0 warranted my praise and finally made the “Good” list this week, while both my New York teams put up epic failures that were definitely worthy of being called ugly. 

The Good: Jordy Nelson shows why he is one of the most feared receivers in the NFL and helps his team stay on top of the Bucs to stay unbeaten.

With all the weapons Aaron Rodgers has in that Packers’ offense, it is amazing to me how consistently Rodgers looks to Nelson. Nelson claims he was overlooked by teams thanks to “reverse racism” (good white receivers are far and in between), and maybe that was true, but no one is overlooking him now. Nelson only trails Calvin Johnson in touchdown receptions this season and he is one of the main reasons the Packers are undefeated right now. He consistently comes up with huge plays just when his team needs him the most. We saw a glimpse of his potential in the Super Bowl last year, but he had a lot of big drops in that game as well. He has stopped dropping passes and has become the Packers number one threat on offense. At only 26 years old, he is only reaching the tip of his potential and he should be a lot of fun to watch for years to come.

Runner Up: The Dolphins take down division rival Bills to win three straight.

The Bad: Graham Gano misses two field goals, including one in overtime, to crush the Redskins’ hopes of an upset over the Cowboys.

Make fun of kickers all you want, but any team without a good one always regrets ignoring the least glamorous position in football. The Redskins defense shut down the run and forced Tony Romo to win this game with his arm. Despite not producing much out of their run game, Rex Grossman looked fantastic against a very complicated defensive scheme and scored three touchdowns for his team. This was the best performance the Redskins have put together since possibly the first game of the season, yet they still lost. It is hard to put it all on a kicker, but it is always hard to win when you miss numerous field goals. This was a tough loss for the Redskins, but at least they stay in the hunt for quarterback Andrew Luck.

Runner Up: Cam Newton blows a 17 point lead over the Lions by throwing four interceptions.

The Ugly: The Giants offense had its worst day in years and they lose the top spot in the NFC East.

I have watched almost every Giants game since Eli Manning was a rookie and this might have been the worst an Eli lead Giants’ offense has ever been. They had more three and outs than you could even imagine, mostly because of their lack of running success. They averaged 1.7 yards per carry and were held to under 30 total rushing yards. Despite their lack of success, they stuck with their run game instead of airing it out and it may have cost them the division. The coaching staff clearly decided to put the entire weight of this game on their defense, and despite playing valiantly for the majority of 60 minutes, they could not stop the Eagles offense at the end of the game. This was a huge loss for this team and it puts them in a very difficult position for the rest of the season. The Giants have the toughest schedule of any team in the NFL for the rest of the 2011 season and they might have to beat the Cowboys twice in order to even make the playoffs.

Runner Up: The Jets fall to yet another Tebow miracle.

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