Sorry this got out so late, but I have been without internet for about a week and have been extremely busy. Week 16 was yet another exciting week of football and a lot of teams had their playoff hopes squashed, or at least highly diminished. Let's get right into it.
The Good: With one
game left, Drew Brees breaks Dan Marino’s passing record with 5,087 passing
yards.
What a year Brees has had. He is completing over 70% of his
passes and scored 41 touchdowns to only 13 interceptions, way down from 22 last
season. All of those stats might be even more impressive than the 5,087 yards.
In 1984, Marino threw for 5,084 yards, but he scored just 17 touchdowns and had
the same amount of interceptions as Brees does this season. While the rules
have changed to help the quarterback since Marino’s time, Brees 2011 season is
still at least as impressive as Marino in 84. The Saints are ranked 9th
in rushing offense, but this is all a product of defenses focusing on stopping
Brees and the passing game. The Saints do not have a player with more than 600
rushing yards and have used an effective rotation of running backs with Darren
Sproles leading the way. He is averaging seven yards a carry and has also
caught over 80 passes. He runs almost entirely out of the shotgun formation and
is only effective because defenses have to play the pass every time they line
up in the shotgun. They are not prepared for a run and Sproles has exploited
defenses all season for huge chunks of yardage. Sproles has never had more than
350 rushing yards in a season and his production this season goes to show how
Brees gets the most out of every offensive weapon that Sean Payton lays at his
feet. Brees is well deserving of his place in the history books and this season
has most likely made him a first ballot Hall of Famer.
Runner Up: The Colts score their only touchdown of the game
with one second left on the clock to beat the Texans and give them their first
win streak of the year.
The Bad: The
Chargers blow their playoff hopes by coming out flat against the roaring Lions,
who clinch their first playoff berth in over a decade.
The Chargers needed a win more than the Lions, but the Lions
wanted to clinch that playoff berth more than the Chargers wanted to stay
alive. Matthew Stafford was perfect all game long and scored three touchdowns
in the first half. The Chargers could not get anything started in the first
half on offense or defense and they were down 24-0 at the half. They had to
completely forgo their surprisingly strong running game and were forced to pass
for the entire second half and Phillip Rivers could not deliver, much like he
has failed to do for the majority of this season. This was a rough game all
around for the Chargers and it really leaves them scratching their heads about
what could have been this season. They are going to have a long offseason and
there is most likely going to be a lot of turn over on this roster, and
possibly the coaching staff.
Runner Up: The Rams give their fan base no hope for the
future by getting obliterated by the Roethlisberger-less Steelers 27-0.
The Ugly: Tim Tebow
shows why a quarterback needs to be able to throw the ball in order to win
football games.
After going on a 7-1 run, Tim Tebow has lost the last two
games mostly due to the fact that his defense is not spoon-feeding him wins.
Last week, it was no surprise to watch the Patriots steam roll the Broncos’
defense and Tebow being unable to match Tom Brady. However, you had to think
they would rebound against a Bills team that had lost its last seven games and
has not shown a shimmer of light since losing both defensive captain Kyle
Williams and play making running back Fred Jackson for the season. The Bills
rebounded in this game, putting together a great performance on offense,
defense, and special teams. C.J. Spiller had his most impressive game as a pro,
the defense had three sacks and forced four turnovers, and they returned a punt
for an 80 yard touchdown. Despite all of this, Tebow had a chance at the end of
the game to do what he does best, come from behind and miraculously win the
game for his team. However, on back to back drives, Tebow threw interceptions
that were returned for touchdowns and blew the game for his team. We have not
seen Tebow do this all year, but I would not be surprised if this started to
become a trend for Tebow. Defensive coordinators will definitely be watching
tape of the Bills game in order to see how they were able to slow Tebow down
all game, especially in the forth quarter.
Runner Up: The Jets fall flat on their faces against a
Giants team that does not look like a playoff team either.
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