Pro Football 101

The Cardinals finally got smart. After attempting to play an entire second half of the NFL season without a running game, and getting obliterated by every playoff contender they faced, Whisenhunt got wise: He put Edgerrin James back in the lineup. And his fresh legs showed as he rumbled for 73 yards in the contest.

What this did was keep the Falcons’ defense off balance and make the passing game that much more effective; a tired front four can’t apply the same pressure on QBs late in the game and that’s exactly what happened in this one.

Warner was effective throughout, hitting on one beautiful TD pass to Fitzgerald and then a 70 yard TD pass to Boldin, who managed to catch an eight yard crossing pattern and take it all the way to the house, but the turning point in the game came on the second play of the second half.

On a QB Matt Ryan hand off to RB Michael Turner, who was kept under wraps all afternoon, DE Dockett burst through the line and knocked the ball into the air. S Antrelle Rolle was there to scoop up the gift and take it to the house for six. 21-17 and the momentum had clearly changed.

After going up 30-17 late in the 4th, the Falcons rallied to make it 30-24, but when it came time to get one crucial stop, the defense had nothing left in the tank. On a 3rd and 16, with a chance to get the ball back for the offense with just over two minutes remaining in the football game, the LBs inexplicably left the TE alone and he managed a 1st down. Game over.

So with the win the Cardinals will travel either to the Giants or Panthers, depending on the outcome of the Vikings game today, while the Falcons, who had a heck of a year, are home for the rest of the playoffs.

In the late football game, we witnessed quite a thriller. Not that we should have expected anything different after the battles these teams have had over the past few years. The Colts, confident and riding a nine game winning streak, took on the Chargers in San Diego and were upended in OT 23-17.

The Chargers played one heck of a game defensively. DC Ron Turner mixed his blitzes up beautifully and threw Manning’s rhythm and timing off all night, and with no running game to speak of (Addai and Rhodes combined for 58 yards on 20 carries), the Chargers were able to key against the pass.

And aside from one long TD pass to Wayne, which came courtesy of a defense not ready for the play, Manning had another typical playoff performance: Decent numbers but unable to make the crucial play at the key moment.

And the crucial play came with just over two minutes left on a 3rd and two. Had the Colts made a 1st down, they could’ve run the clock out. Instead, the Colts spread out their offense and after Manning pumped to his first guy, who was not open, he was clobbered by the Chargers LB for a sack at the one yard line. The Colts were forced to punt and the Chargers drove for a game tying FG.

On the other side of the ball, the Chargers were equally unimpressive aside from the speed demon known as RB Darren Sproles. After a groin injury limited Tomlinson to just five carries, Sproles took over and was the man of the night. Having to pick up the slack for Rivers, who was off all night, the scat back reached the 100-yard plateau on his final carry in OT as he made up for an earlier goal line fumble and propelled his team into the 2nd round of the playoffs.

So the Bolts are moving on while the Colts, winners of nine straight games, are sent home early once again in what’s come to be expected from Peyton and his crew in the playoffs. Aside from 2006, and a couple of gifts that season—the top seeded Chargers getting knocked out, Manning’s now 7-8 in the post season.

The Giants sure aren’t saying that they miss Plaxico Burress publicly, but when you watch this offense, you realize that’s not the case. In an extremely uninspiring effort last night, the New York Giants were soundly beaten 20-8 by the Dallas Cowboys and failed to put away a division foe when they had the chance.

After a week of controversy and bickering, T.O., Witten, and Romo put their differences aside, and the team came together to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Dallas’s defense was ferocious from the get-go. On the first play of the football game for NY, DeMarcus Ware, who had three sacks in this game to move his NFL-leading total to 19, raced around LT David Diehl and destroyed Manning. It was a sign of things to come.

Eli, without much in the way of a running game (Jacobs was out), and without a go-to receiver, held onto the ball for an extra second or two, and that was all that Dallas needed to get to the QB. The defense finished with eight sacks, the highest total allowed by NY in over two seasons.

This was also the second week that NY failed to score an offensive TD outside of the garbage time TD they managed vs. the Eagles at the end of the game last week.

On the other side of the ball, the Giants got after Romo. At one point, after a sack in the second quarter, it appeared that Romo might have to come out of the game because his back was giving him problems.

However, on the next series, after a sack on the first play, he led his team down the field and capped off the four-play, 58-yard drive with a 34-yard TD to Patrick Crayton after he broke containment to get out of the pocket and hit the receiver on the run.

It became a bit interesting towards the end of the game, after NY sacked Romo for a safety and then followed up with a FG to put the score at 14-8, but with five minutes left in the game, Romo hit Witten on a key third down play after the Giants had used their final TO—that first down essentially ended the day.

On the next play, RB Tashard Choice raced up the middle for a 38-yard TD untouched and cemented the victory, 20-8.

The Cowboys move to 9-5 on the season, and their playoff hopes are very much alive. They currently sit as the fifth seed in the NFC but know that they must beat the Ravens at home next week and then the Eagles in Philly to have any realistic shot at the playoffs.

The Giants, on the other hand, fall to 11-3 and head home now to face the 11-3 Carolina Panthers in a game that will decide the top seed in the NFC. Carolina is coming in playing their best ball of the season, and the Giants will need to make offensive adjustments if they are going to get back into the win column.

The lingering effects of a long week that included the arrest of receiver Plaxico Burress, the suspension of Burress by the Giants for the remainder of the season, and the police questioning of Antonio Pierce, might have spilled over to their game vs. the Eagles, but in the end, we’ll never know.

One thing we do know is that the Giants came out flat on Sunday and were thoroughly beaten at their own game by the division rival Philadelphia Eagles.

On a cold, windy day at the Meadowlands, the Eagles did to the Giants what the Giants normally do to the league: punished them physically. Sticking with their running game, which is something Andy Reid is normally quick to abandon, Westbrook was able to find holes behind his mammoth line all afternoon.

Late in the second quarter, when the Giants put nine guys into the box, Westbrook was able to sneak through a hole and go untouched for a 30-yard score to put the Eagles up 10-0.

A major reason that the Eagles’ offense was able to create such rhythm was because the Giants were without starting LCB Aaron Ross from the end of the first quarter on. With fourth-string CB Kevin Dockery forced to play on the outside, the Giants kept a safety back to help in the passing game and the Giants were unable to bring a man up to help out vs. the run and bring extra pressure at McNabb.

The Giants on the hand, never found their rhythm on this day. The media will question Burress’ loss and what it meant to the offense, but New York had its chances. In the beginning of the second quarter, from their 15-yard line, Manning threw a beautiful pass 50-yards down the field that should have resulted in an 85-yard TD.

Only the football went right through Domenik Hixon’s hands. It was that kind of day all afternoon.

Then trailing 10-0 right before the break, the Eagles tried a FG attempt which would have put them up 13-0. Instead, DE Justin Tuck broke through the line, got his hand on the football, blocked the attempt, and it was picked up by CB Kevin Dockery and returned 71-yards for the score. 10-7 at the break.

The Giants felt this might have been the play to ignite their sluggishness but that wouldn’t be the case.

In the ever important third quarter, when the Giants would have the wind with them, they only managed one drive and six total plays because McNabb and Westbrook methodically executed in the running game and short passing game and kept converting third downs to move the chains.

And to cap off the third quarter, after holding the ball for over 12 minutes, on a 3rd-and-11 from the 40-yard line, McNabb was able to buy time and locate his fourth read on the play, Brian Westbrook out of the backfield, and he raced away from Antonio Pierce for the 40-yard TD reception.

Game over.

The Eagles moved to 7-5-1 and kept their slim playoff hopes alive and the Giants, who actually won the NFC East Division a short time later when the Steelers reallied to beat the Cowboys late, moved to 11-2 and still hold a one-game lead for home field advantage throughout.