The Good: Eli
Manning.
Wow was Eli Manning great Sunday night. He threw for 400
yards and made the big plays for his team when they needed him most, again.
This was Eli’s sixth come from behind
win in the forth quarter, which means all but one of the Giants’ wins have come
off of a 4th quarter drive by Eli. Against the Cowboys, Eli lead the
Giants to two touchdowns in the last three minutes to put the Giants up with
very little time left on the clock. Yes, Eli got help from a strong run game
and he did make a few mistakes early in the game. However, he did not make many
mistakes, he overcame a lot of big drops (I am looking at you Mario
Manningham), and he was yet again perfect at the end when he had to be, unlike
Tony Romo who was perfect all game, but failed to make enough plays when the
Cowboys had the chance to put away the Giants. If it were not for Aaron Rodgers
having the best season any quarterback has ever had, Eli would be the top
candidate for the MVP of the league. Eli still has a very solid shot at
breaking Dan Marino’s passing record (he is on pace to come about 20 yards
short) and he has been the only reason this Giants’ team has stayed in playoff
contention.
Runner Up: Unknown rookie quarterback T.J. Yates scores a
last second touchdown to knock off the Bengals by one point and lock up the
Texans’ first ever playoff appearance.
The Bad: Ben
Roethlisberger gets injured in a win over the Browns.
Anyone who bothered to watch this NFL Network showdown saw
how hobbled Big Ben was during the second half of this game. It looked like he
could barely move in the pocket and was clearly in a lot of pain. Sure
Roethlisberger has bounced back from a lot of these injuries in the past and
has played successfully, but with an offensive line that has faced a lot of
injuries and inconsistencies coupled with a struggling rushing attack, things
could get bad for the Steelers fast. Roethlisberger has been the Steelers’ iron
man for years now and he is carrying this entire offense this season. A lot of
Roethlisberger’s success is due to his mobility in the pocket and how difficult
it is to bring him to the ground. His mobility allows him to buy time in the
pocket while his speedy receivers Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown get down
field. If Roethlisberger’s injury lingers, their offense could really struggle
because his injury allows teams to blitz him more often without the fear of
Roethlisberger breaking tackles and throwing a bomb 50+ yards downfield. If the
offensive line fails to give Roethlisberger time in the pocket, the Steelers
could really struggle to score points because so much of their offense relies
on Roethlisberger being a threat to throw a long touchdown anywhere on the
field. I am not saying the Steelers are going to fall out of playoff contention
or anything drastic like that, but in a year where they most likely will not
win the AFC North, they will have to go on the road in the first round of the
playoffs and could easily drop their first matchup. That would be a big
disappointment for this team considering how wide open the AFC is right now.
Runner Up: The Bills get blown out by the struggling
Chargers and look to be chasing another top 10 pick instead of their first
playoff appearance since the 90s. Remember when they were atop the AFC East?
The Ugly: Marion
Barber allows Tebowmania to continue.
Have you heard this one before? The Broncos had zero points on the scoreboard with three minutes left in
the game… and they won! Call it Tebow magic, call it solid team football, call
it whatever you want, but this game was not won by the Broncos, it was lost by
the Bears. The main culprit was running back Marion Barber. For most of this
game, Barber was the star. He was putting this entire offense on his back and
carrying them along with the Broncos’ defenders who were trying to tackle him.
He had 100 total yards and the only touchdown of the game. He was filling in
perfectly for Matt Forte, who has carried the Bears’ offense since he was
drafted in the second round. However, he made two huge mistakes that were both
turning points in the game that gave Tebow a chance to work his magic. After
the Broncos scored their first touchdown of the game, they tried an onside kick
and failed, meaning the Bears should be able to run the ball three times and
pin the Broncos inside the 20 yard line with about 20 seconds left and no
timeouts. The Broncos would have needed a miracle to get into field goal range
in that situation. The Bears did run the ball three times, but Barber got
greedy on one of his runs and ended up falling out of bounds while fighting for
extra yards. This gave the Broncos almost a full minute to work with and Tebow
got it done. Alright fine, the Bears lasted till overtime, which is more than
most teams have who have faced Tebow. The Bears lucked out and got the ball
first. Again Barber looks like the hero and is carrying the Bears into field
goal range while seemingly redeeming himself for his mistake. The Bears got
themselves into field goal range and looked to steal a win from Tebow, until
Barber bursts up the middle for a run and blasts through numerous tackles. For
a split second, it looked like Barber might break off a long run for a
touchdown. However, Barber saw that opening and thought he had a touchdown,
lost his concentration, and a stumbling Broncos’ defender was able to strip the
ball out of his hands before Barber could really break free. The Broncos
recovered the ball, the Bears did not even get a shot to kick a field goal, and
Tebow again worked his magic and the Broncos kicked an incredibly long field
goal to win the game. This might have been the worst way a team could have
possibly lost a game, especially for Barber, and it will be interesting to see
how an injury riddled Bears’ team bounces back this week in order to keep their
playoff hopes alive.
Runner Up: The Buccaneers get blown out by the lowly Jags
41-14. Seriously, who let’s the Jags put up 41 points?
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