RSSNow That’s What I Call Football
Nov 12
Forget Indianapolis vs. New England, the supposed-Super Bowl 41½ championship game preview. Turned out, that match-up was notable only for the most blatant one-sided refereeing ever in a football contest. The game itself was dull and predictable compared to last night’s romp in San Diego. For New England fans (yeah, them again) it was vindication watching Adam Vinatieri blow two field goals (one at the end of each half) and watch Peyton Manning misstep with poor reads to a 6 interception game with two (count ‘em -- two!) opportunities in the final two minutes of the game to steal the victory.
If you went to bed early, or assumed that San Diego would be walloped by a Colts team seeking revenge after losing to the New England Patriots in the 4th quarter of last week’s game, then you missed a primetime contest for the ages. Sure, it looked like the Colts were going to come back and put a stake in the Chargers season. In the fourth quarter, with :32 elapsed, the Colts had scored a touchdown, made a two-point conversion and recovered a Chargers fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. San Diego’s 16 point lead evaporated in less than a minute, and the only saving grace was a second unsuccessful two-point conversion that allowed San Diego to retain a slim lead.
No one, not in San Diego, not in Indianapolis, and sure as hell not in New England, though the Chargers were going to pull out a win at that point. Many a television switched themselves off on the east coast, with the time rapidly approaching 11 p.m. and Indianapolis verging on another nauseating comeback.
There were two reasons this seemed inevitable. First, on the last drive of the 3rd quarter, the Colts finally reverted to their usual make-it-look-easy form. Manning deftly completed five passes for 66 yards, mixed in a couple of rushing plays and in about four and a half minutes, took the Colts from their 10 yard line to San Diego’ s 10 yard line. Suddenly, it was vintage Colts, even though there injury report looks like a team roster (Marvin Harrison, Dallas Clark and Anthony Gonzalez were all out for the game.) With two snaps in the fourth quarter, the Colts were suddenly a touchdown and a two-point conversion away from tying the game.
Second, San Diego’s offense had sputtered to a halt. Unable to take advantage of the turnovers or the Colts’ injury-riddled defense, the Chargers scored on a kick-off return, a punt return and a field goal in the first half. And anyone who watches the Colts knows that a 16-point lead is a precarious one going into halftime. The Colts can, and did, erase the deficit in the blink of an eye. Only the Patriots adjust better to opponents in the second half of games, and no one doubted Manning, even after four interceptions left the city of Boston giddy with pleasure.
The stats tell an interesting story. San Diego’s 177 total yards were split pretty evenly between the pass and the rush. The Colts only rushed for 75 yards (compared to 119 yards against New England, 112 of those belonging to Joseph Addai) but Manning passed for 311 yards. Indianapolis easily reigned in time of possession. And even stranger, San Diego was vastly more penalized than Indianapolis, 10 for 78 yards versus the colts 4-21. There was no reason for the Chargers to have won this game.
The obvious game-changing stat was Manning’s six interceptions -- a team record, and Manning’s personal best. Vinatieri’s two missed field goals were obviously factors, too (one from 42 yards, the other from 29 yards, for a man of Vinatieri’s reputation, both relative chip shots.)
Though all the focus now will be on the Colts losing two straight, San Diego is now leading its division at 5-4 and it’s hard to give Denver or Kansas City the edge on the second half of the season. Especially since San Diego still has to face each of its division rivals again and it’s only division loss was to Kansas City. San Diego’s defense came through yesterday while it’s offense looked strangled. And when it gets right down to it, that is probably what is going to rub Manning the most. Oh, and that 9-0 team the New England Patriots
More Notes from the Cheap Seats
The Green Bay Packers have found ways to win with the passing attack that sustained them in the first half and suddenly there is a possibility of a rushing attack with Ryan Grant having his second career 100-yard rushing game. Some of the pressure in the division has been relieved by Detroit’s loss yesterday, but what is more amazing is that Green Bay is playing good football. Compared to last year, this is a revelation (and squashing Favre retirement rumors temporarily.) Okay, look, Minnesota rolled over in Sunday’s game, it looked like the Packers versus a practice squad; but it was an important division rivalry. And if the Packers are the elite team this season, they have to beat the teams they are expected to beat. That’s what elite teams do. Though there is still plenty of season left, there is less pressure for Green Bay to win out, and a respectable loss at Dallas, or even a split with Detroit, and the Packers can still handily take the division.
It was tough to watch the Cleveland Browns give away that game to the Steelers. Maybe I should be giving more credit to quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers, but I can’t help thinking about how often emerging teams falter in the second half of games. The elite teams adjust in the second half and that’s exactly what the Steelers did. Roethlisberger made the adjustments to his game, and you could tell in the second half that he had Cleveland’s number.
Aside from a few anomalies (particularly the game against New England,) Browns quarterback Derek Anderson has been pretty good. The Browns need to gel, and a lot of their performance can be chalked up to a combination of inexperience and the specter of losing seasons. Everyone expects the Browns to suck, but a loss to Pittsburgh isn’t the worst thing. It would have been nice to see a better second half performance overall, but you could definitely make the case that Cleveland is on the rise.
A lot of people were amped up about the Dallas Cowboys game yesterday. But didn’t it seem a little business as usual? Quarterback Tony Romo is the kind of QB that does better in the spotlight, and Terrell Owens has managed his game better this year (a lot of unwarranted dropped passes last season.) The Giants did just enough to lose, a typical display of QB Eli Manning prowess combined with what once was chalked up to inexperience. But now? Maybe Manning will always be less than perfect because he gets compared to his brother more often than is really fair.
Either way, while everyone was impressed with the Cowboys performance, the entire game was a little bland. Yeah, it was nice to see the Cowboys play up to their elite position in the NFL, but it was also a disappointment to have the Giants become less competitive in the one game they needed a grander performance.
