Things I Noticed: Week 12

The icy chill of winter is starting to emerge, as we saw several games impacted by freezing temperatures and heavy winds this week.  These conditions aren't just a hassle for kickers, as we saw it impact the passing game when quarterbacks wanted to throw deep and in several cases we saw players struggle to hold on to the ball.  It's enough to make you appreciate being able to get cozy in the warmth of your own home to watch the games on a great big flat screen.  If you're daring enough to brave the weather conditions in any of the cold weather cities, make sure to bundle up!

Bye weeks: Buffalo, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Seattle

Here are some things I noticed this week:

• Last week the Saints were saved by a personal foul penalty that negated a Drew Brees fumble on a 4th quarter drive that ended with a game tying field goal.  This week they benefited by the officials missing a clear face masking penalty when Matt Ryan was sacked on a drive where Atlanta had to settle for a field goal rather than a first and goal at the 10 yard line.  The Saints would go on to win by four points, highlighting the importance of escaping with only giving up three on that earlier Falcons possession.  
• There was a slight game delay as the field crew had to fix the goal post after Jimmy Graham hung on it
  
  as part of his TD celebration following a 44-yard score.  Graham tied a record by tight ends with his 6th 100+ yard game of the season.  Who's record did he tie?  Tony Gonzalez, of course.
• Down by four with about 2 and a half minutes left, the Falcons attempted... a field goal??  Granted it was 4th and 15, but doesn't that have to be four down territory anyway?  To make matters worse, Matt Bryant missed the 52 yard FG.  Atlanta wouldn't get the ball back again until there were 5 seconds left in the game, so even if they had made the field goal, it wouldn't have made a difference.
• Despite the loss, the Falcons at least played up to their competition this week.  After suffering four straight blow outs where they appeared to be toast on both sides of the ball, a match up with the division rival Saints gave them a bit of a spark.  There were points where it seemed the defense couldn't make a tackle, an issue that's plagued them for weeks, yet in the end they did manage to hold New Orleans to a season low 17 points and keep Brees to under 300 yards for only the third time this season.
• Facing 4th and 10 from his own 20-yard line, the game was on the line for Cam Newton and the Panthers, when he connected with Steve Smith for a 19-yard gain to extend the drive.  Soon after, Newton found Greg Olson in the end zone for the winning score with 43 seconds left.  Carolina has the longest win streak in the league going, with 7 straight, and are breathing down the necks of the division leading Saints.
• For the second straight week, the Panthers benefited from a flag that was picked up in the end zone against Luke Kuechly.  This time it was a helmet-to-helmet hit that would have given Miami a 1st down inside the 5 yard line, but the officials waved off the penalty.  Miami settled for a FG on the drive... in a game they lost by 4 points.  
• Mike Wallace's 53-yard TD made Miami the first team to find the end zone in the 1st quarter against the Panthers defense all season.  For Wallace, the high price free agent acquisition, it was only his 2nd TD of the season.
• Joe Flacco hit Jacoby Jones with a 66-yard TD pass late in the third quarter, as the Ravens defeated the Jets.  Before you get too excited, the score wasn't a game winner.  The game had long been over by that point, so the TD was essentially meaningless.  Take that away and Flacco really didn't have that great of a game.  But against a miserable Jets offense, it was more than enough.
• On the other side, Geno Smith had another terrible game, completing only 9 of 22 attempts for 127 yards and 2 INTs.  Despite a rocky rookie season from their young QB, the Jets (5-6) somehow remain in the playoff picture.  They are one of six teams with the same record, but four of those teams hold tie-breaker advantages over New York.  
• Just when you thought the Texans season couldn't get any lower... they lose at home to the Jaguars! Seriously, I get that Matt Schaub was horrible early this season and had and shred of confidence left in him shattered by his last pick-six, but is he really "get embarrassed by Jacksonville" bad?  Couldn't he have salvaged something from this mess when Case Keenum clearly wasn't getting it done?  How do you fail to get the ball to Andre Johnson more than twice against what had been one of the league's worst defenses (although after this game, the Jags defense is quickly rising up the ranks from cringe worthy to just plain awful)?
• Keenum wasn't the only Texan having a rough day.  We knew he was no Arian Foster, but we expected a lot more than 1 yard on 7 carries from Ben Tate!  This is a guy that in his short career (and relatively small sample size) has ranked among the league leaders in yards per carry and yards gained after contact.  Granted he's dealing with a trio of injuries (ribs, ankle, toe), but come on!  It's Jacksonville!  Dennis Johnson was given a shot to take over and ripped of 74 yards on 13 carries, so it's not as if the Jaguars defense suddenly learned how to stop people.  Tate was just terrible.
• A skirmish broke out in the Bears-Rams game, which included two brothers going against each other. Rams defensive end Chris Long raced from the sideline toward the pile and made a v-line toward brother Kyle Long, pulling him off a teammate to try to defuse the situation.  Just as he overpowered his brother there, his Rams team overpowered the Bears in a crushing victory.
• The Rams got off to an early start when rookie Tavon Austin took a hand off and sprinted 65-yards for a score.  Austin is the first player this season with 3 TDs of at least 65 yards (including kick returns).  
• The Bears dug themselves into a hole that they could't climb out of, thanks in part to 10 penalties in the game.  One of the more damaging calls against them was a holding penalty that negated a Devin Hester punt return for a score. 
• Philip Rivers found Seyi Ajirotutu for his third TD pass of the game with 24 seconds left to cap a stunning comeback win in Kansas City.  It was only the third catch of the season for the 4th year receiver, yet Rivers still trusted him with the game on the line.  The score answered an Alex Smith TD to Dwayne Bowe less than a minute earlier that had put the Chiefs on top.
• The two teams alternated TDs in a third quarter that saw four lead changes.  On one of those drives for Kansas City, the Chargers were called for pass interference on 3 out of 4 plays, the last of which came in the end zone to give the Chiefs the ball at the 1-yard line.  Jamaal Charles punched in the short score to give Kansas City the lead.
• After being the last of the league's undefeated teams, the Chiefs have now lost two straight games and have a re-match with the Broncos next week staring them in the face.  Making matters worse, their two best pass rushers, Tamba Hali and Justin Houston, went down with injuries and may not be available for that game.  The Chiefs have built enough of a lead that their playoff spot should still be secure, but their division title hopes could slip away if they can't beat Denver.
• Pittsburgh inched closer to .500 and leaped over the Browns to get out of the NFC North basement with a win in Cleveland.  Ben Roethlisberger has never had a losing season in his career and seems determined not to let this be his first.
• Despite being blanketed by Joe Haden for most of the game, Antonio Brown still managed a team high 6 catches for 92 yards.  He beat Haden deep for a 41-yard TD catch to put the Steelers ahead in the second quarter.  Haden recovered to try to rip the ball away from Brown.  The ball did pop loose as Brown went to the ground, but he was able to pull it back in without letting it touch the ground.
• Jason Campbell was knocked out of the game... twice!  The second time was due to a head injury after getting sacked and stripped of the ball, which Pittsburgh returned inside the 10 yard line to set up a quick Steelers score.  Seeing Brandon Weeden enter the game must be painful for Browns fans.  Having to suffer through that twice in the same game is just cruel.
• The lone bright spot for Cleveland was Josh Gordon, who reeled in 14 catches for a franchise record
  
  237 yards and a score.  Gordon is now 5th in the league in receiving yards, despite missing the first two games of the season with a suspension.  
• After losing their first 8 games, the Tampa Bay Bucs have improbably won three straight.  The Mike Glennon era may have taken a while to get going, but the rookie has improved to 3-5 since taking over as the starter.  He has 13 TDs against only 4 INTs and a passer rating of 91.6 that ranks 9th in the league.  The more advanced Total QBR rating isn't quite as kind, seeing Glennon is a slightly below average QB (49.6), but considering Josh Freeman ranks as the worst in the league by that same metric, the upgrade to Glennon has been significant.  
• With under a minute to play, Matthew Stafford threw deep to Calvin Johnson, who got his hands on it inside the 5-yard line.  Before he could turn toward the end zone looking for the winning score, he was hit and the ball popped out into the hands of Bucs defensive back Jonathan Banks for a game clinching INT.  While the turnover was hardly Stafford's fault, it would go down as his 4th INT of the game, punctuating a sloppy effort for the Lions QB.
• The Vikings and Packers treated us to the season's first tie.  Maybe treat isn't the right word, considering this battle of terrible QBs was somewhat painful to watch.  Scott Tolzien made a highlight scramble with a nifty spin move to score his first career rushing TD, but was ineffective overall and was benched for Matt Flynn.  Unfortunately for the Packers, Flynn wasn't able to put together the type of randomly outstanding one game performance that could earn a guy like him a $26 million deal. He was better than Tolzien, but still not particularly good.  At least Aaron Rodgers may be back soon. The Lions and Bears weren't able to pull away during his absence, so the returning Rodgers gives the Packers a chance to reclaim the division over the final month of the season.
• In his first game back at Lambeau field as a visiting player, Greg Jennings was held to 2 catches for 29 yards and dropped a pass on third down late in the OT period that could have put the Vikings in Green Bay territory.  
• Under the new overtime rules implemented last year, the game can't end in overtime without each team getting a chance to have possession unless there is a TD or safety on the opening drive.  This was the first time a game has ever ended in a tie with both teams having made a field goal in the OT period.  
• Last year the Texans and Jaguars both kicked field goals in OT, but the tie was broken when Houston scored a TD to win the game. 
• At the end of overtime, the Vikings called for a fair-catch on a punt return with 1 second left, setting up a Hail Mary from their own 34-yard line.  Why not try a fair-catch kick?  In this situation, Minnesota could have tried a 76-yard field goal without a pass rush bearing down on him.  A kicker with a strong leg, like Blair Walsh, could conceivably kick that far.  It would be like kicking it through the uprights on a kick-off.  Kickers are able to launch kick-offs out of the back of the end zone all the time and Walsh's attempt would be from slightly closer than a typical kick-off.  It's still a long shot of course (no pun intended), but isn't it more likely than trusting Christian Ponder with a Hail Mary?
• Kendall Wright caught a TD pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick with 10 seconds left to clinch a comeback win over Oakland.  The victory moves Tennessee to 5-6 on the season, which somehow is good enough for the second Wild Card spot in the AFC.  Remember the days when a team could win 11 games and still miss the playoffs (like the 2008 Patriots)?  Let's hope that last playoff spot doesn't actually end up going to a losing team.
• And let's hope it's not the Titans, especially if the Patriots end up falling to the 4th seed.  Not because the Pats couldn't beat them, of course they would.  But not without Bernard Pollard taking someone out along the way.  Who would be the next victim for this known Patriots killer?  I don't want to find out.  Avoid them at all costs!
• The normally reliable Sebastian Janikowski missed two field goals that cost the Raiders as much as their late game defensive lapse did.  The season has been a struggle, as Janikowski has hit a career worst 68.2% of his field goal attempts (he's at 80% for his career).
• Last year, Bruce Arians won Coach of the Year for taking over the Colts while Chuck Pagano recovered from cancer treatment.  Now as head coach of the Cardinals, Arians' new team trounced his old team in a 31 point blowout.  If any opposing coach knows how to stop Andrew Luck, it's the guy that helped coach him last season as a rookie.  His knowledge of one of the league's fastest rising QBs helped allow his defense contain Luck to one of the worst performances of his young career.
• Larry Fitzgerald caught 5 passes for 52 yards, but two of them went for scores.  It's the 2nd multi-TD
  
  game of the season for Fitzgerald, who now has 8 TD catches this season, tied for 8th in the league.
• Arizona quietly has won 4 straight games to pull even with San Francisco at 7-4.  Neither is likely to catch Seattle in the division, but the Niners currently hold the 2nd Wild Card spot in the NFC.  They win a tie-breaker over the Cardinals thanks to their head-to-head victory, but the two teams play again the final week of the season - a game that could decide a playoff spot!  
• Dan Bailey hit a 35-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Cowboys over the Giants.  Of course if Bailey had missed, Tony Romo would probably get blamed.  Somehow there is a misconception that Romo is terrible in late game situations, but he proved capable in the clutch this week.  Since 2011, Romo's 11 game-winning drives in the 4th quarter or OT is the most of any QB in the league.  Shocking, right?
• Giants TE Brandon Myers made a diving catch to convert on fourth and short late in the third quarter, but nobody touched him while he was down!  Two Cowboys defenders literally stood nearby looking at him on the ground, so Myers got back up and strolled into the end zone to cut the Dallas lead to a one possession game.
• Despite the absence of Hakeem Nicks, Eli Manning only targeted top receiver Victor Cruz a season low four times in the game.  On Cruz's first catch of the game he allowed Orlando Scandrick to rip the ball out of his arms for a fumble that the Cowboys returned for a score.  No wonder Manning stopped looking his way.
• It was a nightmare beginning for the Patriots, who fumbled the ball away on their first three possessions to aid the Broncos in opening a 24-0 lead by halftime.  Denver had already put up 17 points before Peyton Manning even cracked double digit passing yards and the undermanned Patriots defense had no answers for Knowshon Moreno (career high 224 rushing yards).  Everything that could have gone wrong, went terribly wrong.  At one point in the first quarter, even the play clock stopped working at Gillette Stadium.  Seriously, New England couldn't get anything right early on.  I half expected one of the hot dog vendors to drop his tray or the power to go out.  It was enough to discourage most teams and send them to the locker room hanging their heads.  Not this Patriots team. 
• Tom Brady (344 yards, 3 TDs) led a spectacular comeback in the second half, scoring 31 unanswered points to take a lead by the mid-way point of the 4th quarter.  As sloppy as New England was taking care of the ball in the first half, the second half was Denver's turn to cough up the football.  The icy cool weather clearly made it difficult for players on both sides to hold on to the ball - possibly because their hands were going numb from the chilling night air.
• Manning had never lost a game that his team led by 22+ points.  I his career, he was 50-0 in the regular season and 2-0 in the postseason protecting such lofty leads.  So much for that.  Manning did engineer a late 4th quarter TD drive to force overtime, but it would end up not being enough.
• What?  Did the Patriots really win the coin toss in overtime and elect to let Denver start with the ball?! A bold decision by Bill Belichick, who clearly valued having the wind on his side over starting with the ball, despite that Manning could have ended the game with a TD drive without giving the Patriots a chance to possess the ball.  As it turned out, it didn't matter much, since each team ended up with multiple possessions in an OT period that became a punting war, but it's a decision that easily could have come back to haunt the Patriots and ruin a dramatic comeback.
• The game looked to be headed toward a tie as the Patriots punted the ball away again late in the OT period, but the ball bounced in front of Wes Welker and deflected off Tony Carter, making it a live ball.  New England recovered at the 13-yard line to set up the game winning FG.  Welker was late giving his teammates the signal to stay clear of the ball and Carter had no chance to get out of the way. The costly hesitation, along with a third down drop on Denver's last drive, made for a return to New England that Welker would rather soon forget.
• With fumbles in three straight games, we may be nearing the end of the Stevan Ridley era in New England.  While he's still the team's best overall running back, he's becoming too much of a liability to be trusted in big games.  After fumbling on the Patriots first drive of the game, Ridley spent the rest of the night planted on the bench.  If he can't get his fumbling issues under control, he may soon find himself sitting in the unemployment line.
• As much of a problem as New England had with it's running game, the run defense was even worse.  After getting run over by Moreno, the Patriots are now giving up 139.7 yards per game on the the ground.  Only Chicago is worse in that category.  The good news is that the 4.5 years per carry they give up isn't quite as bad (yet still bad at 26th in the league) and the longest run they've given up all season went for 30 yards.  Every team in the league (except San Francisco, who's longest run allowed is also 30 yards) has given up a longer run at some point this season.  Silver lining!  Of course, with Vince Wilfork and Jerod Mayo out for the season, the run defense isn't likely to get much better anytime soon.
• Tom Brady is 24-5 in his career in games where the game time temperature drops below freezing.
  
  Manning is now 3-7 in cold weather games.  Over the past 10 years, only Michael Vick has a worse winning percentage in cold weather games.  If these teams meet again in January, regardless of if it's played in Denver or Foxboro, then guess what?  It's not going to be warm out.
• Colin Kaepernick tossed a trio of TD passes to lead the Niners over Washington on Monday night. Of course the scores went to Anquan Boldin (twice) and Vernon Davis, because those are the only two options Kaepernick throws to around the end zone.  
• Few passes into the end zone come as easily as the one to Davis.  The 49ers lined up at the 1-yard line looking like they were going to power rush with Frank Gore.  Davis slipped past the defense, which sold out on the run, apparently assuming Davis had just missed his block.  Instead, Davis found himself wide open in the end zone for an easy lob.  Sweet play for the Niners.
• Robert Griffin III struggled again, completing only 17 of 27 pass attempts for 127 yards and a pick, while getting sacked four times.  After shining as a rookie last year, Griffin is suffering through a sophomore slump.  His early season woes could be blamed on his recovery from off-season knee surgery, but that concern should be behind him by now.  The bigger concern is that NFL defenses have adjusted to the read-option and forcing young QBs like Kaepernick and Griffin to adjust.  While Kaepernick hasn't played quite as well either, he hasn't declined to the extent that Griffin has.  The other issue with Griffin is that he's not throwing the ball deep as well this year.  Last year he led the league with 8.14 yards per pass attempt, but he currently ranks outside the top 15 this year (7.12). Many of his completions in this game came on quick outs and screens, which the 49ers were able to contain.  There has even been talk that Griffin could be benched in favor of Kirk Cousins.  As Jon Gruden discussed on the MNF broadcast, if Mike Shanahan loses the head coaching job after this season, who knows what a new coaching staff would do.  If they can't fix whatever is wrong with him, he may find himself relegated to the bench.  That's a sad reality for a young QB that showed so much potential out of the gate last year.
• Atlanta and Houston were both division winners last year.  Atlanta was the NFC's top seed and was minutes away from a trip to the Super Bowl.  Both teams entered as strong contenders this season, but it is now looking conceivable that they will have the top two picks in next year's draft.  Oh how the mighty have fallen.
• Peyton Manning is still running away with the MVP race, but is Nick Foles emerging as a dark horse candidate?  He's only started 5 of the Eagles 11 games, which is likely enough to take him out of the running to begin with.  However the Eagles are 4-1 since he took over as the starter and that one loss came in a game that he left early with a head injury.  If you only count the weeks he played a full game, he's averaging 307 yards per game, which would tie him for 4th in the league (admittedly with a a much smaller sample size than anyone else).  He's leading the league in passer rating (128.0) and yards per pass attempt (9.59) and is right behind Manning in Total QBR (78.2).  It would take an enormous collapse from Manning for Foles to steal the award, but if he can keep this up and lead the Eagles to the NFC East crown, he has to at least be in the discussion.