-The Colts made the right call pulling Peyton Manning. I know a lot of Colts fans and neutrals would have loved for Manning to play the whole game against the Jets. I suspect Manning himself may have been leaning that way.
But up 15-10, with a little over 5 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Jim Caldwell made the call everyone had been anticipating all day. He pulled his star quarterback and, as it turned out, the plug on his perfect season.
The Jets scored 19 unanswered points as Manning's replacement, Curtis Painter, went 4 of 11 with an interception and a fumble, much to the frustration of the home fans.
But here's the truth of the matter. Even if the chances of Manning (who has never missed a professional start because of injury) getting injured in those final twenty minutes were very slim, it was not a chance Caldwell needed to take. 16-0 would have been a great achievement and very special. But according to how we measure football greatness, Superbowl victories, also entirely irrelevant.
The very fact that Painter looked so inept running the Indy offense should convince Colts fans that Caldwell made the right call. The drop-off at quarterback, should Manning get hurt, is just too big for them to risk it, whether Jim Sorgi or Painter steps in. Without Manning, I don't know if they'd even be a playoff team.
Now the hope of 16-0 is gone, don't expect Manning to take more than a few token snaps in Week 17.
-Way to back your way into the playoffs Saints. In their week 12 win over the Patriots, the Saints could nothing wrong. Drew Brees threw every pass with pinpoint accuracy, and shredded the New England defense for 371 yards and 5 TDs. People were starting to compare the explosiveness of their offense to that of the 2007 Patriots.
Four weeks later, and we have a very different picture of the Saints in our minds. They needed to overtime to overcome the Redskins, then squeaked by the Falcons. Last week, the Cowboys silenced the Superdome by handing New Orleans their first loss. Now the Saints give up a 17 point lead and lose in overtime to the 3-12 Buccaneers!?
You can't ignore their 13-0 start, but this team has weaknesses. You can run on them, as Carnell Williams did for 129 yards Sunday, and you can move the ball through the air (their secondary has given 583 passing yards the last two weeks). DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer of the Cowboys proved that a good pass rush can get to Drew Brees (You hear that Jared Allen, Trent Cole, and Clay Matthews?).
Sean Payton has got some tweaking to do if the Saints are to sizzle in the playoffs as they did earlier this season.
-After his explosive performances in the last few weeks, Eagles fans must have thought no one could stop DeSean Jackson....Champ Bailey proved them wrong. Make no mistake, this is exactly the kind of matchup the wily old cornerback looks forward to: left on a island, one on one, with a cocky young gun with a ton of speed and a ton of yards to his name this season.
The past two games Jackson had been on fire. 6 receptions for 178 yards and a TD against the Giants, 6 more for 140 yards and a TD against the Niners.
Ten minutes into the first quarter, it looked like business as usual. Jackson had caught three passes for 24 yards and a touchdown. Then the “Champ Clamp” went to work. DeSean's stats for the rest of the game: 1 catch for 9 yards.
Bailey picked off a pass intended for Jackson in the third quarter, and then in the fourth came his best play of the game.
On 3rd and 8, Jackson ran a crossing pattern from right to left across the middle of the field. Donovan McNabb locked on to him and delivered the perfect pass, leading Jackson and seemingly just out of Bailey's reach. But the veteran hurled himself in front of Jackson and with his fingertips tapped the ball away, leaving both McNabb and Jackson shaking their heads in disbelief.
Donovan didn't look Jackson's way again for the rest of the game, picking on Andre Goodman's coverage of Jeremy Maclin instead to get the Eagles in range for the game-winning field goal.
Bailey sometimes doesn't get the recognition he deserves as one of the league's premier cover corners, but if Elvis Dumervil and the rest of the Broncos pass rush was able to get to McNabb in the second half, it was because of the coverage Bailey was providing down the field.
-The Oakland Raiders are the most undisciplined team in the NFL. 13 penalties, which cost Oakland 126 yards. Four of those were 15-yarders for unsportsmanlike conduct (twice), unnecessary roughness and taunting. Two Raiders, CB Stanford Routt TE Tony Stewart, were tossed from the game.
Got to do something about that Mr. Cable, got to.
-One more thing I know about the Raiders: Charlie Frye is not the answer at quarterback. Don't be fooled by the 333 yards passing. Three interceptions, and it would have been four had Eric Wright not come down with one foot out of bounds in the end-zone. Trust me on this, Frye is just as much as of project as JaMarcus Russell.
-Five Things I Liked on Sunday:
+The AFC Wild Card race staying murky till the very end.
+The 49ers giving more of the ball to Frank Gore in the second half and riding him to victory.
+The Texans showing some guts, and finally winning a big game this season.
+Matt Moore, in for Jake Delhomme, clocking his third straight good performance at QB for Carolina.
+Asante Samuel getting up high to pick Kyle Orton.
-Five Things I Didn't Like:
+All the NFC playoff teams being determined with a week still to play.
+The Giants, Jaguars, Seahawks and Bills pretty much not showing up for their Sunday games.
+The Chiefs losing their fifth straight after their potential season-changing win against Pittsburgh.
+Matt Hasselbeck throwing four interceptions for the second week in a row.
+Alex Smith, 6'4”, getting pass after pass batted down at the line of scrimmage. At least five by my count.
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