-All in all, you could not wished for a less suspenseful final week of season. Blow-out to my left, blow-out to my right... Even with two AFC playoff spots, an NFC East title,and an NFC number 2 seed still up for grabs, Sunday's set of games failed spectacularly to deliver the suspense and drama we have come to expect from America's favorite game.
There was some drama at Reliant Stadium where the Texans scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter against New England, and Ben Roethlisberger had to shake off a tough hit to his throwing arm to lead a crucial drive which prevented a similar comeback by the Dolphins.
But all in all, much the excitement of the day in the AFC was sapped by the simple fact that the two teams who controlled their own playoff destiny, the Ravens and the Jets, had very winnable games against the Raiders and the already playoff-bound Bengals to punch their tickets for the big tournament. Both won without much difficulty leading the whole game.
In the NFC, the two important games to determine the NFC East title and the NFC playoff seedings both ended in blow-outs with the Vikings destroying the Giants and the Cowboys blanking the Eagles.
Ah well, you can't hope for gold every week...
-If week 17 was a dress rehearsal for the wild card games, let's hope things don't quite go as planned when the real thing rolls around. We got sneak-peeks at three of the four wild card playoff games we'll be seeing next weekend, and 24 points was the smallest margin of victory in those games.
Which begs the question: are the Jets, Cowboys and Packers really that much better than the Bengals, Eagles and Cardinals? Or was Ken Whisenhunt's thinking of “showing the opposition nothing” the main reason for the lack of competition?
My gut leans towards the latter, but you never know, we could be in for another uncompetitive weekend.
-Rating the backup quarterbacks: One fun thing about having so many teams with nothing left to play for was that we got to see a bunch of guys under center who we aren't used seeing. Here's how the backups did:
+Charlie Frye, Raiders: Bounced back from a nightmare game against Cleveland, to finish with a QB rating over 100. Threw for 180 yards and a TD, and completed 72% of his passes. JaMarcus Russell may well be third string by the time August rolls around. A
+Matt Moore, Panthers: Can we even call him a backup anymore? A 4-1 record as a starter and a 98.5 QB rating this season. Provides exactly the type of solid, mistake-free quarterbacking that a strong running team like the Panthers needs. A
+Daunte Culpepper, Lions: The veteran turned back the clock to have his best game of the season, hitting 67% of his passes and throwing for 262 yards. No W though. A-
+Billy Volek, Chargers: The career backup man provided exactly what you'd expect from a backup QB. 63% completion rate, a TD and an interception, and an 82 QB rating. A-
+Tyler Thigpen, Dolphins: The former Chiefs signal caller came on in the worst possible circumstances, down 27-10 to the Steelers after both the first and second string quarterback had been knocked out of the game with injuries. Thigpen led the Dolphins on two quick touchdown drives and threw a beautiful TD pass to Davone Bess. He did throw two interceptions though affects his score. B
+Mark Brunell, Saints: Brunell was inaccurate (just over 50% completion and an interception), and just scraped by 100 yards passing. Was working with primarily backup receivers though. B-
+Brian Hoyer, Patriots: The rookie out of Michigan State came on for two series, one at the end of each half. He went a solid yet unspectacular 8 of 12 with no TDs or picks. B-
+J.T. O'Sullivan, Bengals: The journeyman QB actually completed more passes than Carson Palmer on the day (3 to Palmer's 1), but he also fumbled twice. Both fumbles were undoubtedly on him, as he held the ball loosely and too long on both plays. D+
+Matt Leinart, Cardinals: The former first round pick out of USC got his third chance to start in place of Kurt Warner this season, and yet again failed to live up to expectations. He did complete 13 of 21, but his rating dropped to 33.1 after two bad interceptions. He avoids an F though because he does throw a nice tight spiral. D-
+Curtis Painter, Colts: 4 of 17, that's a 24% completion rate. On top of that, Painter fumbled for the second game in a row and also threw an interception. Two weeks, two awful cameos for the rookie out of Purdue. F
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