Giant of the week: Eli Manning, QB. It took three quarters of abysmal play before Manning saved the game – and in some ways the season, maybe even his career – with two massive fourth quarter touchdown drives in a 21-16 comeback win over the Bears.
Jet of the week: Leon Washington, RB. All this guy does is make plays. In yesterday’s trouncing of the winless Dolphins, Washington scored two touchdowns himself and set up Thomas Jones’ 1-yard TD with an 18-yard gain off a shovel pass.
Offensive player of the week: Peyton Manning, QB, Colts. So much for the Jaguars thinking they’re ready to win the AFC South. Manning single-handedly led the Colts to victory over the Jags by going 20-of-29 for 288 yards and four TDs.
Defensive player of the week: Lofa Tatupu, LB, Seahawks. He had three interceptions in Seattle’s white-knuckler in Philly.
Special teams player of the week: Rian Lindell, K, Bills. He kicked five field goals, including the game-winner in the final seconds, to lead Buffalo to a 17-16 win over the Redskins.
Most improved award: Tarvaris Jackson, QB, Vikings. This was his best game as a pro as Jackson threw for 204 yards and two touchdowns in a 42-10 romp over the Lions.
Dumb play-call award: Sean Payton, Saints. On a reverse with Reggie Bush lining up as a slot receiver, he took a handoff on what looked like an end-around and then tossed the ball to Devery Henderson on a reverse. The ball never got there, the Bucs recovered and never looked back. “Obviously, I regret the play call,” Payton said afterward. “It cost us the game.” (graph)
It’s-time-to-get-worried award: Willie Parker, RB, Steelers. His fumbling problems are back with a vengeance. There were four of them against the Bengals, and even though the Steelers won, you’d better believe they’re troubled by the trend.
Super sub award: Luke McCown, QB, Buccaneers. Filling in for the injured Jeff Garcia, McCown threw for 313 yards and two TDs in a huge win on the road in New Orleans. Tampa is running away with the NFC South, and might be a dark-horse in the playoffs.
He’s baaaaaack award: LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, Chargers. We haven’t seen this kind of vintage performance very much this season from L.T., but he lit up the Chiefs’ defense yesterday with 177 rushing yards and two touchdowns. With Denver stumbling in Oakland and the Chiefs now out of it, looks like San Diego will win the AFC West.
Stop-the-bleeding award: The Titans stopped a three-game losing streak with a home win over the Texans.
Can’t-stop-the-bleeding award … (also referred to as the in-need-of-a-Heimlich-maneuver award): The Lions were putrid in Minnesota and got their doors blown in. That’s four straight losses for the Lions. So much for Jon Kitna’s vow of double-digit wins this season. For the Lions to get that far, they’d have to win out. Ain’t gonna happen.
Questionable officiating decision: On the final play of the Browns-Cardinals game, Cleveland QB Derek Anderson hit tight end Kellen Winslow with a perfectly thrown pass. Winslow made the catch and was forced out of bounds by two defenders, but it was ruled he didn’t get both feet in bounds. Had the officials called it a force-out – which it was – it would have been a TD.
Questionable coaching decision: Redskins coach Joe Gibbs calling a second timeout right before Rian Lindell was attempting a game-winning 51-yard field goal with 8 seconds to play. Gibbs didn’t know the rule would result in a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and Lindell nailed a 36-yarder after the penalty to win it.
So-much-for-that-idea award: A.J. Feeley, QB, Eagles. Philly fans were clamoring for Feeley to become the permanent replacement for Donovan McNabb after his near upset of New England the week before. But Feeley was the goat in yesterday’s home loss to the Seahawks, as he went 19-of-42 with four – count ‘em, four – interceptions.
Statistical anomaly award: (Yes, because we love the word “anomaly.”) More often than not, teams that turn the ball over more than their opponents lose. Not the Giants. They committed four turnovers, but still beat the Bears, who didn’t have a single turnover.
Lance the Broncos fan heartbreak award: The Broncos, who have stuck a dagger in our man Lance's heart yet again. Perhaps there is some closure here for the poor fellow. After all, it looks like the Broncos are done. Then again, they'll probably win next week and San Diego will lose, setting up more misery in the final month.
Comments (11)
I thought Winslow was going to come down out of bounds either way. That's why it's called a judgment call. I'm with Madden. Last night we had to sit through challenge after challenge on Parker's 4 fumbles. It interrupted the flow of the game ridiculously. As Madden stated, for decades the refs made those calls and you moved on. Nowadays we use super slow motion replay for virtually every call. Yes, I want the calls to be right, but come on already. Find a way to reduce these interruptions so I can get to bed at a decent itme :-)
How about that Heinz Field? Where's the love for the way it held up to pouring rains? That grounds crew rules! Giant fans on the field during the week to dry it out, fresh paint on the field, no pool-sized puddles....and no mention. The field should have won: "Most Improved Playing Surface of the Week".
Poor Lance. Cutler is a big-armed, accurate QB but he just isn't a winner. Some guys are like that and his comments right after graduating college ("just think how good I would have been with the receivers other SEC teams have") is a great example of an attitude that isn't conducive to leading teams to victories. I can hear the offense now, "let's all rally around the egocentric, me-first kid and get him a win!" Case study #2: Jimmy Claussen at ND. Makes his college announcement on the steps of the College Football HOF after arriving in a Hummer Limo. Good call kid. Your teammates must love you.
BBiB!
I see we have plenty of time on our hands this fine day. Not much doing at work?
A little lunch time rant over Chinese food never hurt anybody....
I can't believe Lafu Tatupu didn't garner a "All Name Team" nomination.....
1) Thank you Tom Coughlin of getting Armani Toomer into the game. Have I been bitching about this the last month or so?
2) Ward needs a Tiki clinic. They better be working on it.
3) Team Discipline. I see Coughlin doesn't have control of this team. McQuarters making this dumb ass appearance into the camera like he did something wonderful running around the sideline with a smile, after he slipped on that punt return and there was a possibility the ball hit him.
4) The Giants Defensive secondary is worse then I believed. Madison is done, and everyone around him are too young and inexperienced. Thank goodness Grossman can't throw consistency because the corners were getting burnt every time.
5) The Referee's were woeful at best. It is becoming ridiculous how bad they are.
Ok, you know you've made it when you get an award named after you. I can now die in peace.
So Cutler clearly had a bad game, but what's with the defense giving up three touchdown passes to some wannabe quarterback. I still have faith in Cutler and think he's a real winner. I think Bailey hasn't been himself since getting injured early on. Remember, he missed a game following the bye, which was a clear indicator of the severity of the injury. The team really got deflated of the loss to the Bears apparently, which was a game that it should have won.
Hey Bob, what's with Eli getting Giant of the week? He played awful until the end and then was really bailed out by an awesome grab by Toomer. I think Derrick Ward really kept the team in the game, especially because the coaches basically stopped trusting Eli.
Btw, how was the duck? Mmmm duck.
Rottweilertom ...
You say the Giants secondary is worse than you believed. Don't forget that they played yesterday without Gibril Wilson and Aaron Ross.
The Giants secondary was good yesterday except on the long pass that Hester dropped and that was with 2 backup safeties chasing him. Madison has been healthy all year and has been great. Even the passes that Grossman completed were good throws. You expect the Giants opponents to be 0 for 30 every week?
Bob,
Do you still think the Jags are better than the injured Colts?
I don't want to say I told you so,but I did!!! Peyton Manning is
THE MAN,will not let the team lose,especially after Spicer ran his mouth.The Jags are huge and outweigh the Colts but they always lose their composure and the game.Does Del Rio think constantly screaming and arguing every play is going to help him with the refs?He needs some thorazine.
Peyton:
Where were you last week? I had the Colts ranked above the Jaguars heading into yesterday's game ... love the thorazine line.
Since Big Ben mentioned Jimmy Clausen, I've always thought that he and Newsday's own Jim Baumbach could approximate Look-a-likes.