NFL Week 14

Ten (Not So) Quick Hits:

1/ It's official. In creaming the NFC North leading Bears in the snow in Chicago, the Patriots removed any shadow of doubt that they are the best team in the NFL right now. Not only do they have the league's best record but they have beaten the Steelers, the Colts, the Jets and now the Bears (four teams with a combined record of 35-17) over the last five week. Combined scores of those games: 151-64 in the Patriots' advantage. It's going to take a very special defense to stop that offense in the playoffs (deja vu anyone?).

2/ On a day of moderately entertaining games, the Jaguars-Raiders matchup really stood out. It was marathon of a game, full of big plays, and capped off by an impressive second-half comeback by Jacksonville. I could watch Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden run the ball all day every day.

3/ Can't say as much for the Lions-Packers or Jet-Dolphins games (Man, are the Packers a non-factor without Aaron Rodgers).

4/ Speaking of the Jets, they had two unbelievably bad final possessions as they tried to come from behind in the fourth quarter. They went three-and-out on the first after three straight Mark Sanchez incompletions (bad throws and a drop). On the second, they did manage to squeak two first downs, moving the ball to mid-field. But a spike, an incomplete pass, and two sacks later and the game was done.

5/ Worst day for the Chiefs since they were blown out by Denver in mid-November. Without the threat of Matt Cassel throwing deep, the Chargers defense focused on completely shutting down the Kansas City running game. And they did. San Diego moves to within one game of Kansas City in the AFC West. On the flip side, the Chiefs have three winnable games – at St. Louis, against Titans and Raiders – left to clinch the division.

6/ Neither the Falcons nor the Saints are letting up and it feels like the race for the NFC South is going down to the wire. New Orleans have won six straight, while the Falcons have won seven. Get your popcorn ready now for their week 16 Monday night clash.

7/ No Wade Philips/ Brad Childress effect in Denver. If anything, Josh McDaniels getting the boot translated into the Broncos playing worse against the Cardinals.

8/ Here goes T.O. again. If anyone truly believed that he had turned over a new leaf (and I doubt there were many), never forget that a Bengal doesn't change his stripes.

9/ Amazing footage from inside the Metrodome as the inflatable roof ripped open. It was like something out of “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”

10/ Really, Jets, this is what you're up to? To call this a bush league move would be an insult to the hundreds of highly-professional minor league baseball teams out there.

Studs of the Week:

a. Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson: Tore up the Cowboys with big play after big play. Had a career high 210 receiving yards on only 4 catches. His celebration after his 91 yard touchdown was pretty sweet too. Unless you're a Cowboys fan, of course.

b. Niners quarterback Alex Smith: An impressive 130.9 quarterback rating in his return to the starting line-up. Threw for three touchdowns, 255 yards and didn't turn the ball over. Should hold on to the quarterback job for at least another week.

c. Steelers linebacker LaMarr Woodley: How about this day for a linebacker? A pick-six, a defended pass, two sacks, two other quarterback hits, and five total tackles. The third-year man out of Michigan has become a huge part of Pittsburgh's dominant D.

Duds of the Week:

a. Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton: Had four turnovers, three interceptions and a fumble, on a rough day against Arizona. Completed 19 of 41 passes for 166 yards and a passer rating of 27.1.

b. Jets running backs Shonn Greene and Ladanian Tomlinson: Gained a combined 66 yards on 27 carries against Miami. That's a paltry 2.8 yard per carry average. I thought the Jets prided themselves on running the ball.

c. Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck: Made bad decisions and bad throws repeatedly, even throwing into double coverage once or twice. Had four passes picked off and lost a fumble on a Travis LaBoy hit. Inflated his numbers a little with some garbage time offense, but was poor when it mattered.

Rookie of Week: Cardinals quarterback John Skelton: Didn't post great numbers (15 of 37 passing for 146 yards with no touchdowns or picks) but a winning quarterback is a good quarterback. Particularly in Arizona this season. The key was that he avoided costly mistakes. Indeed, it was the first time this season that the Cardinals have had a quarterback not throw an interception nor take a sack in a game all season.

Play of the Week: Two weeks in a row for Mr. Polamalu.

Ridiculous Play of the Week: The snapper or the holder to blame on this one? Probably a little of both...

Picking NFL Week 14

How I did last week:10-5

A couple of comebacks really helped me out. Thank you Seattle and Atlanta.

Record on the season: 103-68

Up over 60 percent, baby!

Buccaneers at Redskins: The Bucs pleasantly surprised me last week by giving the Falcons a great game in Tampa. They may be hard pressed to make the playoffs this year – they're competing with the Saints, Giants, and Packers for a wildcard slot at this point – but Josh Freeman has proved he's going to a great long-term leader for them. Buccaneers.

Browns at Bills: Buffalo can't stop the run. Cleveland has a human wrecking ball, Peyton Hillis, running the football. Let's move on. Browns.

Giants at Vikings: Is Brett Favre really wise to continue to battle to keep his consecutive games played streak alive? If I was him, the last defensive line I'd want to face would be the Giants'. Minnesota's homefield advantage and ability to stop the run (they're fourth in the league in that statistical category) should keep this one close. But ultimately the G-men will have too much for the Vikes. Giants.

Packers at Lions: Aaron Rodgers was almost too good against the Niners last week. And he should have some more fun in Detroit's indoor Ford Field. Packers

Raiders at Jaguars: Two remarkably similar teams. Both run the ball exceptionally well (Jaguars are second while Oakland are third in the league). Neither stops the run particularly well (17th and 23^rd respectively). Both have so-so quarterbacks. Both flew under the radar with slow starts, but have got hot in recently. In a game this tight, give me the home team. Jaguars.

Bengals at Steelers: Remember when the Bengals went 6-0 in divisional games last season? Boy does that feel like ancient history...Steelers

Falcons at Panthers: There's a couple of contenders but this one could be the mismatch of the week. John Fox might want to consider running the ball on every offensive play just to keep the clock moving. Falcons.

Seahawks at 49ers: Seattle can make the NFC West title a two-horse race – between themselves and the Rams – by beating San Francisco here. But this division has been so messy all year, why would we get any more clarity now? 49ers.

Rams at Saints: Just like last week, New Orleans can't afford to give up any more ground to Atlanta. Saints

Patriots at Bears: Undoubtedly the best match-up of the weekend, particularly as the game is being played at Soldier Field. That's a huge advantage for the Bears, because the slippery natural grass of their home stadium will have the Wes Welkers and Danny Woodheads of New England losing their footing as they come out of their sharp cuts. Chicago's defense ain't bad either. I'm going with the upset here. Bears.

Broncos at Cardinals: I gotta to give the Cardinals fans some love here. Despite seven straight losses by the Cardinals, this game won't be blacked out in Arizona on Sunday, which means it sold out. Either people in Glendale don't have many options when it comes to things to do on the weekend, or they have a much more positive attitude than me. Broncos.

Dolphins at Jets: The Jets will remember that Monday night thrashing at the hands of Tom Brady and the Patriots for a long, long time. Miami might just bear the brunt of their humiliation. Then again, if Mark Sanchez plays like he has the past couple weeks, all bets are off. Jets

Chiefs at Chargers: Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel may miss this one, which will put all the more pressure on Kansas City running game. San Diego has been hot and cold at stopping the run: they allowed 251 rushing yards against Oakland last week, but only 24 the week before against Indianapolis (not that the Colts are known for winning games on the ground or anything). Again homefield advantage will be key here. The Chargers are 4-2 at home while the Chiefs are 2-4 away from Arrowhead. Chargers.

Eagles at Cowboys: If the Cowboys could overcome the Eagles, after beating the Giants, Colts and Lions and losing narrowly to the Saints in the four weeks since Wade Phillips was “let go,” that would really be something. But I think the Eagles have been waiting for this game ever since January 9^th when Dallas knocked them out of last season's playoffs. Eagles.

Ravens at Texans: Joe Flacco is beginning to develop a bit of a reputation as someone who struggles in the clutch (witness his bounce pass to a wide-open Ed Dickson on fourth down in crunch time against Pittsburgh last week). He needs a big game against Houston's porous secondary to get his confidence back up. Ravens.

NFL Week 14

-Both the Colts and the Saints keep their quest for an undefeated season alive. As the dust settles from Sunday's action, the NFL has two teams at 13-0. The question becomes: could both go the distance? Almost more importantly, does it really matter?

While only two teams in the history of the NFL have gone undefeated, is that distinction worth harming your team's playoffs chances, even remotely? Everyone remembers the 18-1 2007 Patriots...

History suggests that the Colts, who locked up home field advantage throughout the playoffs by beating the Broncos, will start resting key personnel (read Peyton Manning, in particular) in their final three games at the Jaguars and Bills, and at home to the Jets.

For the Saints, who are not used to this type of league dominance, it is an entirely different proposition. Not only would an undefeated season probably mean a lot more to them, they also could still be caught by the Vikings who are two games behind them in the race for home-field advantage. The Saints won't be relishing a tough possible NFC title game against Minnesota regardless, but having to travel up north, to play in the dome, with the Vikings' rabid support; forget about it. Trust me, that is Sean Payton's number 1 priority right now, not resting players. And if it's not, it should be.

So even though the Colts have extended their win streak far more comfortably than the Saints the last few weeks, I think New Orleans is far more likely to end the year without a big fat zero in its loss column.

-Speaking of the Saints, can we please give some props to someone who doesn't play offense for New Orleans ? Jonathan Vilma, the former NFL rookie of the year, was traded from the Jets when the brilliant coaching mind of Eric Mangini decided he wouldn't fit his scheme.

Two years on and Vilma is the leader of a Saints defensive unit that has transformed from a weakness to a strength for New Orleans.

On Sunday, Vilma made two fantastic defensive plays to keep the Saints undefeated. First dropping back in coverage to pick off a Chris Redman pass, and then bailing out the offense again after they went for it and didn't convert on fourth down.

With just over a minute left, and the Falcons driving for the tying field goal, on fourth-and-two, Vilma sniffed out the underneath pass to Jason Snelling, came up and laid the perfect hit on him, stopping him short of a first down and effectively ending the game. An undisputed victory for all fans everywhere who hate the prevent defenses NFL teams too often employ at the end of games.

-At what point does a losing streak start to weigh on the minds of sports' team? How about right now if you're the Dallas Cowboys? All week the Cowboys have been handling questions about their terrible record in December (Following Sunday's loss to the Chargers, they are 18-33 after December 1 since 1996, and 5-10 with Tony Romo under center).

Sunday, they had the perfect opportunity to prove to everyone that they can win in the NFL's crunch month by beating the red-hot Chargers at home in new Cowboys Stadium, where they had won all but one of their games this season.

The thing is they didn't play badly. They didn't turn the ball over, established the run, and Romo passed for 239 yards. However there were two sequences killed the Cowboys chances. First, they failed to convert a 1st-and-goal from the Chargers' 4 at the end of the second quarter. Marion Barber was stuffed four times by the Chargers front seven and Dallas turned it over on downs. Second, the Cowboys couldn't get the Chargers offense off the field in the fourth quarter, as Philip Rivers and co. produced a fabulous 15-play, 73-yard drive that ate up over 7 minutes of clock. The drive ended with a Nate Kaeding field goal that put San Diego up 20-10, an insurmountable lead with under two minutes left.

As if to put an exclamation point on a miserable afternoon for the Cowboys, their best defensive player and pass rusher, DeMarcus Ware, was carted off the field with what looked like a serious head injury in the second half.

None of Dallas' final three games (away to the Saints and Redskins and at home to the Eagles) look easy, meaning that they're going to have to break out of this losing streak the hard way. They certainly have the personnel and talent to do it, but if they let all the talk of the streak get to them mentally, they could be in for another torrid December...

-It was strength against strength as the Bengals running game took on the Minnesota run defense; and the Vikings won. Sure, Benson got 97 yards of rushing on Sunday, but that production was inflated by the 42 yards that came on one rush. Apart from that run, the Vikings held one of the best backs in the league (who would have thought anyone would ever say that about Benson after his 2008 troubles) to 3.6 yards a carry.

Unable to really establish the ground game, the Bengals were forced into a number of long passing situations where they were clearly uncomfortable. Palmer threw for only 94 yards on 15 completions, and didn't get a chance to throw the deep ball all day as he was under constant pressure from the Vikings defensive line.

Unless the Bengals can pass the ball better when the playoffs roll around (and clean up all those penalties, by the way), I don't see them being a major force to be reckoned with in January.

-Sure, Chad Ochocinco gets a lot of attention and publicity for his boisterous and talkative personality, but it also earns him to some huge hits, like the one he took from corner Antoine Winfield on Sunday. Afterward, he was clearly in a lot of pain on the sideline, with a swollen nose, and didn't catch another ball for the rest of the game.

Credit to Chad though, the man is true to himself. No matter how many hits he's taken to it over the years, he isn't about to shut that mouth of his. As he would say, “Child, please!”

-All three of the rookie first-round quarterbacks have had their moments this year, but ultimately they have furnished more proof as to how difficult it is to transition from the college to the pro game for quarterbacks. Mark Sanchez looked like a stud for the first three games of the season, Matthew Stafford had that last-second fourth quarter comeback against the Browns, and Josh Freeman led the Buccaneers to their first win in his first NFL start.

But with both Sanchez and Stafford out nursing injuries on Sunday, it was Freeman's turn to have his first really bad game: he completed only 43% of his passes for 93 yards and threw three interceptions against the Jets.

Last year Matt Ryan, and Joe Flacco surprised everyone by performing so well right out of the gate after being drafted 3rd and 18th overall respectively. But even those two haven't been immune from the dreaded sophomore slump this season.

Sitting your young QB and giving him time to learn the system and get to grips with NFL-quality defenses is looking like a better and better strategy (see Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo, Vince Young, Chad Henne, and even Kevin Kolb).

Of course to do that, you need the luxury of time, which most teams drafting a QB high in the first round don't.

-Eagles top Giants in a nail-biting shootout. At one point in the third quarter, after Eli Manning and Donovan McNabb had traded 60-yard touchdown passes on back-to-back plays, you had to wonder if either team had any interest in playing defense.

The purists would tut and shake their heads at the Eagles secondary's atrocious open-field tackling, or the Giants numerous blown coverages, but at some point, in games like this, you just have to sit back and enjoy the show.

Philly wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who missed last week's game with a concussion by the way, might just be the most explosive playmaker in the NFL, and he made a strong case again, scoring on a 72 yard punt return and a 60-yard reception.

The Giants hit back with a couple of long touchdowns of their own with both Hakeem Nicks and Domenik Hixon evading tacklers for TD receptions of 68 yards and 61 yards respectively.

Not the style of game you would traditionally associate with a NFC East divisional match-up, but the Eagles won't mind. With their third consecutive win, they leapfrog Dallas to first place in the division and have gotten hot at exactly the right time.