Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Best And Worst Of NFL Week Twelve

Ah week twelve has come and gone in the NFL. When we started this whole thing there were two unbeaten teams in the NFL, Carolina and New England. Now we're down to one left, the Carolina Panthers (who came off a big win over Dallas thanksgiving night). The three thanksgiving saw two blowouts and an upset. From a playoff perspective, there's no clear cut locks yet, but its getting a little bit clearer. New England and Carolina have a almost lock to hold down the top seeds in each conference. Washington has overtaken the Giants for the top spot in the NFC East, pushing the Giants out of a playoff spot. So there's a lot going on in the league right now. Featuring some disturbingly poor coaching, brittle quarterbacks, heroic one-handed catches and career-best performances, Week 12 in the NFL provided fans with a wide array of scenarios to experience. With that being said, here's some of the best and worst from the week that was in the National Football League.

Best:
Adrian Peterson, Running Back Minnesota Vikings
Last week wasn't a week to remember for the Vikings. Minnesota got blasted 30-13 by Green Bay and Adrian Peterson was held to 45 yards rushing on 25 carries. This was coming off his 203 yard game two weeks ago. This week, we saw Adrian Peterson return to form, if you want to call it that. He went up against the top run defense in the NFL in the Atlanta Falcons and flat out went off. Peterson vented his frustrations on a suddenly hapless Atlanta Falcons team that is in danger of tanking the season. Thanks to the running of AP, Minnesota walked away with a 20-10 win over Atlanta. Taking the bull by the horns and dishing the Falcons a whole lot of heartache, Peterson rushed for 158 yards at the breakneck pace of 5.4 yards per carry, scoring twice. Both the number of yards and number of carries were tops in the league this week among running backs. Yeah he had himself a pretty good day

Worst:
Chip Kelly, Head Coach Philadelphia Eagles
Things are falling fast for Chip and the Eagles. At one point it appeared to some that Philly would possibly be able to turn the corner. Well that hasn't happened. Philly has now lost three straight, including getting lit up like a cheap cigar by Detroit on Thanksgiving night, falling to the Lions 45-14. Philly was overwhelmingly outplayed by an on-point Lions offense that recorded 108 ground yards, a rushing touchdown, 337 aerial yards, five passing touchdowns by quarterback Matthew Stafford and a 48-yard Matt Prater field goal. Mark Sanchez wasn't on his game either, as Philly's offense was quite most of the day. Sanchez had an ok day, as he wasn't picked off at all, but his lost fumble, six sacks and nine quarterback hits were quite momentum-breaking. Philly also could not gain headway on the ground, ending the miserable outing with just 68 total rushing yards. Kelly I think is hoping things will get better when Sam Bradford comes back next week. But guess what? Your playing a Patriots team that is coming off a crushing loss to the Denver Broncos. Good luck with that one Chipper.

Best:
Russell Wilson, Quarterback Seattle Seahawks
Seattle played a big game, one they needed against Pittsburgh. Russel Wilson was a big factor in the Seahawks 39-30 win over Pittsburgh. Wilson had himself a day, going off against Pittsburgh to the tune of five touchdown throws. He hit Doug Baldwin for three and Jermaine Kearse for a couple on the way. He finished the day going 21 of 30 for 345 yards and those five TD throws. Doug Baldwin was the major beneficiary of Wilson’s big game on Sunday, catching six passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns. Jermaine Kearse, who had four catches for 47 yards, scored the other two touchdowns. Wilson had himself a great day, not a bad way to celebrate a 27th birthday.

Worst:
Tony Romo, Quarterback Dallas Cowboys
This man really can't catch a break this year, no pun intended. Without Romo in the lineup, Dallas hasn't won a game. They won with him under center. He was trying to give them a big help this week but it wasn't ment to be. The guy could have sat out a couple more weeks but chose to come back to help his team for a shot at the postseason. It was not to be as he again broke his collarbone and is now done for the season. As somebody who's broken both of his collarbones I feel bad for Romo, I really do. Trust me Tony I been there its not fun at all. It really hasn't been the year of the Romo.

Best:
Odell Beckham Jr., Wide Receiver New York Giants
Is there anything that this man can't do. He had a solid day again this week, hauling in 9 catches for 142 yards and a touchdown. Those are numbers you would expect from a guy like him. What most people are talking about though is the grab. Everybody remembers the one handed TD catch he made against Dallas last season. Well he proved that he doesn't do it with just his right hand. He did the same thing, sort of with his left hand. Here's the proof:

Is there anything this guy can't do?

Worst:
New Orleans Saints Offense
Talk about a bad day in New Orleans. They were embarrassed in all phases of the game, getting outplayed in a 24-6 loss to the Houston Texans. With the Saints only able to manage two field goals, this game marked the first game in 155 that the team did not score a touchdown. This was also the team’s first game without former defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, who was fired after Week 10. We can ascertain from the disgusting play of New Orleans’ defense in this contest that the decision hasn’t provided any rewards just yet. A struggling Brees, who took two sacks by J.J. Watt, completed just 25-of-44 passes for 228 yards and an interception. Adding insult to injury, the ground game consisted of a paltry 50 rushing yards. The fact that New Orleans wasn't able to score at all against Houston says a lot as to how bad the year has been for New Orleans this season.

Best:
Matt Hasselbeck, Quarterback Indianapolis Colts
Due to injuries to starter Andrew Luck, Indy had to go with 40-year old Matt Hasselbeck as the starting QB. It had me wondering going into this one whether he could still do this thing in the NFL. Well he did. Hasselbeck, who improved his personal record to 4-0 this year, passed for 315 yards — his first 300-plus yard outing in four years. And might we point out that he vastly out-performed his rookie counterpart Jameis Winston, who passed for 245 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Capping off Hasselbeck’s squeaky clean performance, he threw two passing touchdowns to T.Y. Hilton, who totaled 95 yards along the way.

Worst:
New England Patriots Injuries
Talk about a team getting hit with a rash of injuries. Last week it was the Baltimore Ravens, who lost Justin Forsett and Joe Flacco due to injury. Now its the Patriots turn. Rob Gronkowski was carted off the field in Denver with a knee injury. The big man was in a lot of pain, but the hit didn’t look terrible like you might see with a player’s foot planted taking a hit. It was more of a glancing blow with Gronk’s leg still in the air. The Pats are hopeful the injury isn’t as serious as it looked from Gronk’s reaction. Still factor that in with the loss of Danny Amendola and Julian Edelma, it makes things tougher on the Patriots heading for the playoffs.

Best:
Brock Osweiler, Quarterback Denver Broncos
Not a bad way to get your first start in the NFL. Think about the pressure this kid was under. Replacing a legend like Peyton Manning, who was out due to injury. Its prime time football, your on Sunday Night. Oh and your going up against the unbeaten New England Patriots. Talk about bigtime pressure. Young QBs don’t beat Tom Brady, but Osweiler is a different kind of cat. Denver got the big win over the Patriots in overtime with a walk-off touchdown by CJ Anderson. The Pats couldn’t move the ball at all with their only overtime possession and are undefeated no more. Osweiler was sacked three times but did have himself a good game, going 23 of 42 for 270 yards a touchdown and a pick Still say that's a pretty good day.

Worst:
Travis Coons, Kicker Cleveland Browns
Monday night football. Big game, big stage and a battle between two bad teams. Baltimore and Cleveland were both down to their backup QB's by the time we got near the end of this ballgame. It came down to kicking and Travis Coons. Coons lined up to kick a potential game-winning 51-yard field goal with 3 seconds to go. The kick was set up perfectly, but it was deflected by defensive end Brent Urban, who was playing his first NFL game for the injury-riddled Ravens. Will Hill scooped it up and rumbled down the left sideline for an improbable win, stunning a Cleveland crowd which moments earlier was ready to celebrate. Coons had been perfect two for two on the day leading to this kick. Not exactly the way you wanted to try and hit your first 50+ yard career field goal.

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