Professional Football Wrap-Up

Here are my thoughts from Week 13 of the NFL season.

Game of the Week

San Francisco 49ers 48 - New Orleans Saints 46.  I finally have seen a game that compares to the 1982 divisional playoff game in which the Miami Dolphins defeated the San Diego Chargers 41-38. That game featured two separate 400 yard passers (Dan Fouts 406 and Don Strock 403), and the offenses were virtually unstoppable.  This game had both quarterbacks (Drew Brees and Jimmy Garappolo) throw for 349 and both team's leading rushers (Raheem Mostert and Latavius Murray rush for 69 yards.  Both teams also had a receiver go well over 100 yards; for San Francisco it was Emmanuel Sanders with 157 and 1 touchdown and for New Orleans it was Michael Thomas with 134 and 1 TD - on 11 receptions.  Of course the game ended on a last minute drive with Drew Brees throwing a game-winning TD pass to Tre'Quan Smith with :53 left on the clock (but the 2 point conversion failed.}  Except it didn't.  San Francisco took the ensuing possession down the field, aided by a 39 yard George Kittle reception in which he plowed through the Saints defense and was only tackled by his facemask - resulting in 15 more yards.  The ever-reliable Robbie Gould kicks the winning 30 yard field goal as time expired.

Best Team Performance

Tennessee Titans.  Not only playing themselves into a potential wildcard spot, the Titans are now challenging for the AFC South title, a division in which they play the Houston Texans twice in the next (last) 3 games.  Tennessee handily defeated fellow (former) playoff contender Oakland 42-21, led by the dual threat of Ryan Tannehill's 391 yards passing and Derrick Henry's 103 yards rushing.  

Least Impressive Team Performance

Jacksonville Jaguars.  I have rarely seen a team just blatantly give up as bad as this team.  They lost 45-10 at home to the Los Angeles Chargers and made Philip Rivers look like he only had 3 kids.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Offense)

Jameis Winston, QB - Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Winston was 33-45 for 456 yards and 4 TDs (but 3 Interceptions) as the Buccaneers defeated the Indianapolis Colts 38-35.  In most cases this would have been the game of the week.  Also in most weeks Austin Ekeler of the Los Angeles Chargers would have won this award, except he played the Jaguars.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Defense)

Ryan Tannehill, QB, Tennessee Titans.  Huh?  How does this make sense?  Well, he had one of the most important defensive plays of the season.  Yes, Joey Bosa's tackle in the backfield on Alvin Kamara was singularly impressive, but Ryan Tannehill's square tackle and drive to the ground hit on Maurice Hurst after throwing an interception that Hurst returned 55 yards, with a convoy, is the type of play that fires up a defense around a quarterback that previously had questions marks.  This Titans team is now - if they weren't before - solidly behind Tannehill both as a QB and as a football player.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Special Teams)

Jason Sanders, K - Miami Dolphins.  Sanders was 7-8 on field goals (Yes, 8 attempts), including a 53 yarder, as the Dolphins fell to the Jets 22-21.  Honorable Mention to Deonte Harris of the New Orleans Saints who had 194 return yards on 5 kickoff returns and 2 punt returns, constantly switching the field with his dynamic runs.

Most Impressive Team Performance (Premier League)

Everton.  With a new manager at the helm, Everton looked very impressive, and played extremely hard, and well, putting pressure on Chelsea at every turn as Everton won 3-2 to escape the bottom of the table and move up to 14.  Relegation is no longer an issue as long as Everton continues to play with this type of fire and passion.

Most Impressive Individual Performance (Premier League)

Diogo Jota, F - Wolverhampton.  Jota's first-half brace, including the equalizer in the 44th minute, allowed Wolverhampton to steal a point on the road and remain near the top of the table in 6th place, losing out of 5th place by only 3 goals to Manchester United, who also had a big weekend defeating Manchester City at the Etihad.

Goat of the Week

The entire Jacksonville Jaguars.  They have quit.

Goat of the Week (Premier League)

Kepa Arrizabalaga, GK - Chelsea.  Let in a soft goal which started the scoring for Everton, and then a horrible pass out of the goal to Kurt Zouma was intercepted which led to an easy goal, Everton's third.  Second really bad goal scored by a Chelsea opponent late in the game because of a bad pass out of the back by Kepa.

Hit of the Week

Ryan Tannehill on Maurice Hurst.  It was almost as if he had been playing linebacker his entire life.

Breakthrough Performance

Tyler Higbee, TE - Los Angeles Rams.  We have seen flashes from Higbee this season, but as the backup we have not seen how valuable he can be.  Earning the start this week against Seattle, Higbee caught 7 balls for 116 yards, and definitely opens up the field for the Rams' other weapons as Los Angeles won 28-12.

Finally

Ryan Tannehill, QB - Tennessee Titans.  This is the type of performance the Miami Dolphins wanted out of Tannehill in the past few years.  Tannehill was 21-27 for 391 yards and 3 TDs, to go 6-1 as a starter for Tennessee.

Impact Injury

Roquon Smith, LB - Chicago Bears.  There were a lot of injuries this week, but none worse that Smith's, who tore his pectoral muscle while trying to make a tackle on Ezekial Elliott of the Dallas Cowboys.  Smith, the Bears' leading tackler, will be missed as Chicago ends the season with Green Bay, Kansas City and Minnesota.

Team Rising

Tennessee Titans.  Now at 8-5, the Titans have pulled into a tie atop the AFC South with the Houston Texans, two games ahead of the Indianapolis Colts (with three to play).  As stated earlier, Tennessee and Houston play twice in the last three games, including in Nashville this weekend.

Team Falling

Carolina Panthers.  In a free-fall.

Best Teams

(All teams will be ranked by record, even if teams with more losses may be better than a team with fewer losses, since Bill Parcells always said that you are what your record says.  The inverse is true for the Worst Teams rankings.) (Yes, I know that you could have a worse record and be better, see e.g., Baltimore Ravens, but we are working off record.)

1. Baltimore Ravens

2. San Francisco 49ers

3. New Orleans Saints 

4. Green Bay Packers
5. Seattle Seahawks

Worst Teams

32. Cincinnati Bengals

31. New York Giants

30. Washington Racists

29. Miami Dolphins

27b. Detroit Lions
27a.  Arizona Cardinals 

Note - The Lions and Cardinals have identical 3-9-1 records, and actually tied each other when they played, so they might as well be tied on this list.

Middle Teams

15. Philadelphia Eagles
16. Indianapolis Colts
17. Cleveland Browns
18. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Note - all of these "middle teams" have sub-par records of 6-7, along with Dallas and Oakland, which I rank lower right now.

Last Week's Trivia Question/Answer

Last Entry's Trivia Question was:

Earlier this year, Frank Gore passed Curtis Martin for fourth place in the all-time career rushing yards.  He is now closer to third place than he is to fifth place Martin.  Who is in third place, and how many yards behind third place is Gore?

Answer:  Barry Sanders - at the time I wrote the question.  Gore has since passed Sanders and leads Sanders by 37 yards.  He is 1,420 yards behind Walter Payton.

Preview - Game(s) of the Week

6. Denver Broncos v. Kansas City Chiefs.  By record, this isn't a special game to watch, except for the fact that Denver has been better, and more exciting, in the two games that Drew Lock has started.  So, that makes this game a potential offensive explosion.  

5. Buffalo Bills v. Pittsburgh Steelers.  This game may be traditionally boring, but it is incredibly important for the playoff race, as right now, these two teams hold the two AFC wildcard spots.  This game is incredibly important.

4. Minnesota Vikings v. Los Angeles Chargers.  Minnesota is only 1 game behind the Green Bay Packers for the division lead, but 2 ahead of the Chicago Bears with 3 to play.  Green Bay and Chicago play this week, and Minnesota and Green Bay play next week, with the Bears and Vikings closing out the season.  This game is incredibly important for Minnesota.  The Chargers looked great last week, albeit against the Jaguars.  Can they keep it up?

3. Arsenal v. Manchester City.  Manchester City is in a bit of a rut and Arsenal look much improved as of late.  This game is vital for Manchester City to try to gain ground in the table on Liverpool, and important for Arsenal if they think they can make Europa League next year.

2. Chicago Bears v. Green Bay Packers.  The greatest rivalry in football is important as Green Bay shoots for a bye and possibly home field advantage while the Bears are barely hanging on for a possible playoff spot.

1. Houston Texans v. Tennessee Titans. The resurgent Titans have tied the Texans for the division lead.  This is the first of two times these teams will play in the final three games of the season, and would obviously give the winner a leg up for the division crown.

Trivia

Phillip Rivers has 63 career losses of 3 points or less in his career.  He is tied with this other current starting NFL quarterback.  Who is it?

Sports Bar Review of the Week

My usual crew was somewhat busy, so instead of a sports bar, I headed out to a cigar bar of mine that has televisions - Sunset Cigar Lounge in Jupiter, Florida.  Not sportscentric at all, but on Sundays they did show 3 games, with the sound on the New Orleans - San Francisco game, which turned out to be the best one.  Not super crowded, mostly regulars, but all really nice - albeit interesting people.  The bar/cigar tenders Dawana and Tiffani are always fabulous, and given that it wasn't busy - super attentive (which they usually are anyway). I had never been there on a Sunday before so I do not know if this is usual, but they had several pizzas and pastas, which was free for whomever wanted it - that was a nice perk, although I did not partake because I had already eaten.  Also because I wanted a lowkey day, I only drank Bud Light, but the whiskey selection is great for as small a bar as it is, and it has Clase Azul tequila, one of the bellweathers of the tequila world as far as I am concerned.  I had a couple of light, easy Padron cigars with my day, and it was great.

Now, the bar did have to call the cops on an unruly customer, as she was getting incredibly out of control yelling and cursing at other customers, that were all regulars, and the cops escorted her out at about 2:00 p.m. (she came from somewhere else already drunk), but other than that, it was a good place to watch the games.  Being a smaller location, everybody was talking and arguing the games with everyone else, which was fun.

The only real knock is that they don't have all the games - which isn't really a knock on the place as much as my choice of venue -but it does get downgraded as a sports bar

Sunset Cigar Lounge
251 South U.S. Highway 1
Jupiter, FL 33477
561/203-2096

Final Rating: Philip Rivers - a little old and flawed, but still very consistently good with occasional greatness.