NFL 2015 Wrapup — Lessons learned and not learned
The 1972 Miami Dolphins may be getting nervous. The only perfect team in NFL history has had some close calls. The 1985 Chicago Bears made it to 13-0 before losing on Monday Night Football to of all teams, the Dolphins. The 2007 New England Patriots made it to the Super Bowl unbeaten before losing in the final moments. Every year when the last unbeaten NFL team loses, several players from the 1972 Dolphins get together and pop champagne corks.
(In an amusing take on this, ESPN’s Chris Berman plays the sound of a popping champagne cork when the last winless team wins, a tribute to the winless 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.)
In 2014, the corks were popped as early as ever. Not one team made it to 4-0. In 2015, there are four teams at 5-0 and two more at 4-0. Since none of these teams play each other next week, the 1972 Dolphins could be facing a significantly delayed champagne ceremony.
For those who mistake the NFL’s obsession with competitive balance for parity, calm down. Even with six unbeaten teams, there is still the chance of exciting upsets on any given Sunday. With that, here are the NFL 2015 Week 5 lessons learned and not learned.
Indianapolis Colts 27, Houston Texans 20 — With Andrew Luck still injured, old man Matt Hasselbeck pushed the Colts to a 13-0 lead they never relinquished. With the Texans trailing by seven, they faced third and two at the Indianapolis 38 at the two-minute warning. Bryan Hoyer went deep and was intercepted. While good teams find a way to win, more often than not bad teams just find ways to lose. The winless Texans are a bad team.
Chicago Bears 18, Kansas City Chiefs 17 — With the Chiefs leading 17-3 in the third quarter, a 27-yard field goal try by Cairo Santos was blocked. With 3 1/2 minutes left in regulation the Chiefs still led 17-6. Clinging to a 17-12 lead with 2:15 to play, they chose to have Alex Smith throw on third and four rather than run the ball and force the Bears to use their last timeout. The Bears got it back with 2:04 to play, in effect giving them an extra timeout. Jay Cutler threw incomplete on third and ten, but defensive pass interference kept the Bears in business. Cutler has led the Bears to consecutive late game wins, but the Chiefs are 1-4 because they keep blowing games late.
Cincinnati Bengals 27, Seattle Seahawks 24, OT — When Michael Bennett returned a fumble 22 yards for a touchdown, the Seahawks led by the Legion of Boom took a 24-7 lead into the fourth quarter. The fact that the Bengals came back and tied the game and then won it in overtime only leads to one conclusion. The Bengals really are at the next level. They have had a good offense for several years but on this day the defense shut down Seattle in the fourth quarter. The winning field goal was set up by the special teams when Adam “Pacman” Jones returned a punt 19 yards to the Cincinnati 43. Two first downs was all the Bengals needed for the comeback win.
Atlanta Falcons 25, Washington Redskins 19, OT — Washington is the epitome of bad teams finding ways to lose. The Atlanta offense was out of sync most of the day, with two missed field goals keeping them down 7-3 in the third quarter and 7-6 after three quarters. The best teams are complete teams, and on this day the Atlanta defense carried the offense rather than the reverse. Trailing 13-12 and turning the ball over deep in their own territory, the defense held Washington to a field goal. Despite giving up the tying field goal only 24 seconds after retaking the lead, the Falcons got defensive redemption when Rob Alford returned the winning interception 59 yards for the score. The 5-0 Falcons have the elite offense, but on this day the defense bailed the team out.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 38, Jacksonville Jaguars 31 — All three Florida teams are closer to the 1976 Buccaneers than the 1972 Dolphins. This game was a battle to be the fourth best football team in Florida behind the Gators, Seminoles and Hurricanes. The Buccaneers blew a 20-7 second quarter lead and trailed 24-20 in the third quarter. Blake Bortles threw four touchdown passes, but cannot do everything himself. With Jacksonville leading 24-23, a simple running play after a touchback was pure Jaguars ineptitude. A simple run around the end started as a nine yard loss before turning into a fumble that was picked up at the three and run in for the 31-24 Buccaneers lead. A 25-yard punt return gave the Buccaneers a short field to set up the clinching touchdown. Nothing can fix these teams but more drafts.
Philadelphia Eagles 39, New Orleans Saints 17 — Both of these teams are a mess but the main saints problem is that Drew Brees is getting killed behind a patchwork offensive line. With one minute left in the half of a tie game, Brees was sacked. The resulting fumble led to a field goal and a 10-7 Eagles lead. After the Eagles took a 17-10 lead in the third quarter, Brees was again sacked. this time the fumble was recovered at the Saints 13. One play later the Eagles had a 23-10 lead and never looked back. A short pass by Brees led to another fumble that turned into more Eagles points. An interception of Brees was returned to the Saints four yard line as the Eagles led 39-10. Brees is the one turning the ball over, but he is running for his life as the Saints lose the battle in the trenches.
Cleveland Browns 33, Baltimore Ravens OT — The Dawg Pound are some of the NFL’s best fans, but they have been clamoring for Josh McCown to be benched. Yet McCown is not why the team is losing. The Browns defense has been awful. Last week the Browns put up 27 points and tied the game late only for the defense to surrender the winning field goal at the gun. This week, trailing 21-9 in the third quarter, McCown was unleashed. McCown finished 36 of 51 for a franchise record 457 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. The defense was a sieve, but McCown twice rallied the Browns from fourth quarter deficits. By the time he led the winning overtime drive, he had thrown more yards in a game than Bernie Kosar, Brian Sipe, and even Otto Graham. McCown also did not have Jim Brown or even Kevin Mack and Ernest Byner. McCown deserves to stay the starter.
Green Bay Packers 24, St. Louis Rams 10 — The Green Bay Packers are another unbeaten team that is a complete team. Yes, they have Aaron Rodgers, but the offense has not been stellar the last couple weeks. The defense won a tough 17-3 victory last week. This week, after taking an early 14-10 lead but only leading 14-10 at halftime the Green Bay defense pitched a second half shutout. One pitch and catch between Rodgers and James Jones went for a 65-yard touchdown, but it was the defense that stopped the same Rams offense that last week went on the road and shocked Arizona.
Buffalo Bills 14, Tennessee Titans 13 — The worst offense to ever win a Super Bowl was the 2000 Baltimore team that went five straight games without an offensive touchdown. The defensive line coach for that team was Rex Ryan, son of defensive mastermind Buddy Ryan. Rex Ryan loves to ground and pound. He took the Jets to two AFC Title Games with an average quarterback at best. The Bills trailed in this game 10-0 in the third quarter. Tyron Taylor finished 10 of 17 for 109 yards. Yet Taylor ran for a 22-yard third quarter touchdown and threw the winning touchdown pass with 5 1/2 minutes left in regulation, capping off an 80-yard drive. As for the Titans, they are young and will learn how to finish games at some point. This was hideously ugly football, but for Rex Ryan it remains beautiful.
Arizona Cardinals 42, Detroit Lions 17 — Despite losing a stunner at home last week, the Cardinals are every bit as good as the unbeaten teams. The Lions are a winless mess. After trailing 7-0 after the first quarter, the Cardinals blasted the Lions for a 28-7 halftime lead that reached 35-7 after three quarters. Both of these teams on this day came down to quarterback play. Carson Palmer was only 11 of 14 for 161 yards, but he had three touchdown passes without an interception. Meanwhile, Matthew Stafford threw three interceptions and was benched in favor of Dan Orlovsky. Orlovsky. The 2008 Lions team that went 0-16 was quarterbacked by Orlovsky. Stafford and Orlovsky combined to complete 41 of 60 passes for 379 yards and two touchdowns, but four killer interceptions. The Cardinals have won their four games by an average of over 25 points. They are good in every phase of the game and the Lions are awful as everything. Matt Millen can no longer be blamed.
New England Patriots 30, Dallas Cowboys 6 — Tom Brady is beating healthy teams. Putting him up against an injury-ravaged Dallas squad is just cruel. Brandon Weeden has lost his last 11 starts. A 3-3 second quarter tie was broken open when Brady snuck in from one yard out and Stephen Gostkowski drilled a 57-yard field goal to end the half. Brady marched the Patriots 80 yards for another touchdown and a 20-3 third quarter lead. Good teams win games. Great teams blow out bad teams early. After barely more than one half of football, this game was over. The Patriots are a great team. They are playing like it is 2007 all over again.
Denver Broncos 16, Oakland Raiders 10 — The Broncos do not have the same offense, but they now have a ferocious defense. They are also a very experienced team. The Raiders are an improving but young team. Youth means stupid, dumb things in football and life. The Denver offense failed to score a touchdown. Peyton Manning was intercepted twice by Charles Woodson. Last week the Oakland offense grabbed the lead with two minutes left and the defense melted down. This week the defense was magnificent and the other parts broke down. With Oakland leading 7-3 in the third quarter, Derek Carr was sacked and fumbled, leading to a Denver field goal. Sebastian Janikowski had a 38-yard field goal blocked in the first quarter and just missed a 40-yarder that would have given the Raiders the lead early in the fourth quarter. Rather than leading 13-9, the Raiders still trailed 9-7. This led to the critical third and five at the Denver 31 midway through the fourth quarter. Already in field goal range, Carr threw the interception that Chris Harris returned 74 yards for the clinching touchdown.
New York Giants 30, San Francisco 49ers 27 — The New York Giants have had a double-digit lead in every game this year. In their losses, they blew those leads in the fourth quarter. The 49ers overcame deficits of 13-3 and 20-13 to tie the game as Colin Kaepernick silenced his critics. This game came down to Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning, who have won two Super Bowls together. With the game tied 20-20 and the Giants facing fourth and one at the San Francisco five, Coughlin made the crowd-angering decision to kick the field goal. It was the right decision, but Coughlin would have been pummeled had the Giants lost. With 1:41 to play, the Giants found themselves down 27-23 when Carlos Hyde scored from two yards out. The Giants were 82 yards away but had saved all three timeouts. That is the coaching part. As for Manning, he finished a ridiculous 41 of 54 for a team high 441 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Courage helps, and an injured O’Dell Beckham returning with 45 seconds left despite incredible pain is courage. Luck also helps, and Larry Donnell picked a great time with 26 seconds left to become the reincarnation of David Tyree. Donnell’s winning touchdown catch despite double coverage came with his hands pressing the ball against his helmet.
Pittsburgh Steelers 24, San Diego Chargers 20 — How many coaches play not to lose? How many coaches go for the win and get criticized when the gamble fails? Welcome to Mike Tomlin and his cojones of steel. After the Chargers took a 20-17 lead on a 54-yard field goal with 2 1/2 minutes left, Michael Vick moved the Steelers down the field for a wild finish. The ball was inches from the goal line. Five seconds remained. Mike Tomlin made the call of the year and decided to go for it rather than kick the tying field goal. Making things even more insane, Tomlin decided against a quarterback sneak or a traditional run. He had Vick line up in the shotgun. Vick handed off to LeVeon Bell, who took it all the way back at the seven yard line and appeared to be stopped. Bell kept churning, and stretched the ball as his knee hit the ground. It was a photo finish, but the ball barely broke the plane of the goal.