Lots of good upsets this week, and a few other almost
upsets. More injuries to high profile guys, while no name players continue to
have big performances for their teams. Loads of teams are still in the playoff
hunt, although a lot of them are not the teams we expected. Can you believe the
Broncos are at the top of the AFC West! This is why the NFL is so fun to watch
and why I have so much to talk about this week. Enjoy!
The Good: The
Packers pull out a last second win over the Giants by driving almost 70 yards
in 50 seconds.
The Giants came oh so close in this one to knocking off the
undefeated Packers, but Aaron Rodgers showed once again why he is the best
quarterback in the league on the final drive of this game. The Giants made the
mistake of leaving almost a full minute left on the clock for Aaron Rodgers to
work with. However, it probably would not have mattered because it only took
Rodgers two throws and 15 seconds to get the Packers into field goal range. The
rest of that drive was just Rodgers making the kicker’s job even easier. The
2011 Packers may not be the best team the NFL has ever seen, but Rodgers showed
why it will be very hard for any team to beat them unless they get out to an
early lead and hold onto it. When it needs to happen, Rodgers will score
touchdowns at will and he has yet to face a defense that has come close to even
slowing him down.
Runner Up: The Texans get a huge win over the Falcon with
T.J. Yates at the helm.
The Bad: The Jaguars
trading up to draft quarterback Blaine Gabbert.
I know it is hard to critique a 22 year old quarterback in
his rookie season, especially when he is running possibly the least talented
offense in the NFL, but anyone who has been watching this guy play can tell it
looks like he does not care about making a play for his team. He is completing
less than 50% of his passes this season and he has taken 30 sacks in less than
11 games. You can blame the offensive line all you want, but Gabbert holds onto
the ball way too long and seems to never
utilize his athleticism to escape the pressure. Against the Chargers, he had
pretty solid passing stats (quarterback rating of 82.3), but the majority of
his yards and touchdowns went to running back Maurice Jones Drew, who made big
plays after the catch and had nothing to do with Gabbert’s talents as a
quarterback. I feel like I saw Gabbert’s knees buckle as he went to the ground
more than I saw him complete a decent pass. He looks jittery in the pocket and
afraid of the defenders. He seemingly rather protect himself than try to make a
play for his offense. This is a trait that none of the big time quarterbacks in the NFL possess.
What made Brett Favre one of the best quarterbacks of all time was his ability
to see the rush, hang in the pocket, and deliver an amazing pass while he was
getting destroyed by a defender. I hate to make this type of comparison so
early in Gabbert’s career, but he looks a lot like David Carr (first overall
pick in the 2002 NFL Draft) did in his time with the Texans. Carr too was part
of one of the worst offenses in the NFL at the time and he took an unbelievable
amount of sacks in his day. People blamed the Texans’ offense for Carr’s
faults, but Carr fell on his face with his other opportunities after the Texans
released him. Whether or not all the sacks ruined his will to play or not, I
see Gabbert as a similarly weak minded quarterback who could fall down a
similar path. With the Jags’ coach being fired, the team being sold, and a
possible move to LA, there will be a lot of distractions surrounding this team.
It does not help that there is no clear light at the end of the tunnel for this
offense getting more productive so Gabbert will be relied on heavily to turn
this team around. I can’t see that happening anytime soon.
Runner Up: The Cowboys fail to get anything going on offense
against a very mediocre Cardinals’ defense and lose in overtime.
The Ugly: The Eagles
get blown out by the Seahawks… yea, those Seahawks.
This game sums up the Eagles’ entire 2011 season. The Eagles
could not stop the run, fell behind early, and turned the ball over numerous
times. Sound familiar? I feel like this happens every week with the “Dream
Team,” but you had to think things would be different against the Seahawks. The
only thing the Eagles did right this week was they got the ball to LeSean McCoy
over 20 times, and he paid off by scoring the Eagles only two touchdowns.
However, they obviously did not get him the ball enough to stop Vince Young
from throwing four interceptions, which must have felt good for Pete Carroll to
be able to dominate the quarterback that ruined his hope of winning three
National Championships in a row while coaching at USC. Not only did the Eagles’
offense struggle, but also their insanely highly paid defense faltered yet
again. They managed to get three sacks, but they allowed Tarvaris Jackson pick
them apart (boy you never hear that sentence), who only threw three
incompletions all day. When it comes down to it, the Seahawks were coached up
and motivated and the Eagles simply didn’t even try. Andy Reid has gotten a
little too used to being an Eagle and it is time to say “Bye Bye Birdie” to
Philadelphia before he gets run out of town with pitchforks.
Runner Up: The Bears lose at home against the Chiefs and
Matt Forte suffers a serious knee injury.
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