2009 Week 16 Recap

Eagles v. Broncos, Sunday, December 27, 2009

In attendance: the regular crew - Chef Spouse, Shoegal, Ex-Navy Cheesehead

Menu: sauerbraten, which turned out OK if a little dry, Spaaten Octoberfest, red cabbage, homemade soft pretzels, pizzelles

Stud of the Week: David Akers, who made a totally clutch kick to win the game. Poo-poohing a 28 yard field goal? Shaun Suisham is now a Cowboy because he couldn't make a field goal from that distance. The Saints lost this week because their kicker couldn't make a field goal from about that distance. Big shout out to Jeremy Maclin, too, who made the clutch catch that set up the field goal. And to Jason Avant. He doesn't get a lot of balls thrown his way. But every catch he makes is important. He's so clutch that when you look up "clutch" in the dictionary, there's a picture of his cute, balding self.

We have an agreement Chez Snark: when things are going badly enough that I'm swearing like a sailor and/or hitting the tequila shots, I voluntarily remove myself to the kitchen so that the rest of the people here can continue to enjoy the game. Things got so bad, between the bad officiating and our bad play, that I had to take myself UPSTAIRS. Away from TVs. Away from the game. There was much slamming of doors. It wasn't pretty.

Philly.com says we can't complain about officiating. Really? Are you nuts? I can complain. Complaint #1: taking away the Patterson TD on the Broncos first series even though Kyle Orton clearly threw a lateral. Complaint #2: the RIDICULOUS unnecessary roughness penalty on Macho Harris that basically took away Asante Samuel's pick and handed the Broncos 7 points. So a 14 point swing (between the two plays) due to bad officiating.

Can we start the "I Hate Mike Carey's Zebra Team" club? I'll be president. Even Chef Spouse, normally someone who sees only the good in people, noted that they're nit-pickers who apply it inconsistently. Look, if you want to make sure the game stays close so that the network doesn't switch games (hello, Panthers/Giants) and deny people the glory of your Mr. Roboto officiating signals, at least own up to it.

Let's see - what else? DMac was hot - then cold - then hot, including a big-time 27-yard scramble. Westy didn't have a big day, but he played and didn't get another concussion, and Dawk got away with MURDER blanketing him on a big pass play on our first offensive possession. Celek had a big day. Peanut did not. Contrary to popular opinion, it *is* possible to overthrow him. Although it's not easy. Avant and Maclin, I discussed above. Up & down day on D. The Broncos were without Eddie Royal and then Brandon Stokley got himself ejected and Buck got himself hurt. And we still needed a clutch kick in the final seconds to win the game. I expected better.

Even more bad news? Jamal Jackson's out with a torn ACL. Great. Just before the playoffs. And he was, I think, the only constant on our offensive line this year. Well, until now.

One thing to remember: we're already in the playoffs (although it sure would be nice to win the NFC East and potentially move up to the #2 spot in the NFC). The Broncos were playing for their playoff lives. They had a lot more to lose, and got a major momentum swing with 14 points in about 27 seconds. And we hung tough and won. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't nice, it wasn't nearly as easy at it looked like it would be when it was 27-10. But we stuck it out and won.

Around the rest of the NFL...

Chargers over Titans. Well, I was right about that part. I was wrong about the "good game" part. In the 3rd quarter, we couldn't take it any more and switched over to TBS's 24 hours of "A Christmas Story." "You'll shoot your eye out!" You know who has the best winning streak in the NFL? Chargers at 10. You know who has the second best winning streak in the NFL? Eagles at 6!

Falcons over Bills. On Monday Night Countdown, they pointed out that, if they can beat Tampa next week, the Falcons have the chance to have their first back to back winning seasons in their 40 year + history. Ouch.

Bengals over Chiefs. By only a TD. Yeah, the Bengals may have won the AFC North this year, but guarantee they're going down early in the playoffs.

Browns over Raiders. Did you know that the Raiders made more appearances on "C'mon Man!" than any other team this year? Did you know that about 1/2 of their appearances were a result of two defenders running into each other and letting the opposing receiver run free? C'mon man, indeed.

Packers over Seahawks. What has happened to Matt Hasselbeck? Bet TJ Housh wishes he'd gone anywhere else. How does Jim Mora keep getting hired?

Texans over Dolphins. Told you! Not that the Texans are going to the playoffs this year - yes, I realize they're not officially out of it yet, but they're out of it. But neither are the Dolphins. Man, am I bad at pre-season picking the AFC divisions.

Steelers over Ravens. OK, the Ravens GAVE that game away. It should've been about 52-23 in the Ravens favor. I would've said they'd get into the playoffs and go far, but not after this game. Ed Reed was out, but they were penalized for over 100 yards and gave away two TDs. Sad. Speaking of sad...

Panthers over Giants. Did the Giants not understand that their playoff hopes depended on winning out? What a disaster. The game was being played on one of the local networks and they cut it off and switched to Saints/Bucs because it was so bad. You know, we lost our final game at the Vet. The Cowboys lost their final game at Texas Stadium. Anyone know about the Redskins and RFK? Seems like a pattern here.

Pats over Jags. Another team that's not going to make the playoffs. Also, the Pats are getting hot at the right time. Be afraid.

Bucs over Saints. WTF? Seriously. I think the Saints peaked too soon. Losing to the Cowboys, who are playing better this December than they have in a really long time, is one thing. But the Bucs are - now - 3-12. That's just painful. OK, divisional games can get wacky and whatnot. But the Saints still should've put the Bucs away. They were playing their starters for God's sake!

Cards over Rams. Speaking of putting away bad teams...did you know that all the Rams have to do to score the #1 pick is lose to the 49ers next week? Hell, for that, throw the game. Not that anyone would be able to distinguish that from the way the Rams usually play.

49ers over Lions. Well, sure, but neither team has anything to play for, so who cares?

Jets over Colts. OK, so there's been the big continuing debate about whether the Colts should risk injury in pursuit of the perfect season, or whether they should start resting people. Obviously, Jim Caldwell decided to rest people. And the Jets are still vying for a playoff spot, so not the Colts not giving their best effort is even doucheyer. And the Colts have been down this road before - wrapping up early, resting people, going down in the first round of the playoffs. Usually to the Chargers. That won't happen this year, since the Chargers have the #2 spot in the AFC, but I'll bet that the Colts go down early.

Cowboys over Redskins. Talk about a bad game. I went to bed at the end of the 3rd quarter. The Redskins are a freakin' disaster. I thought I'd seen the worst with that dumb swinging gate play against the Giants last week. Nope. The Skins didn't win a SINGLE divisional game this year. Good luck to you, Bruce Allen. You're going to need it. Also, the Cowboys have no idea how to psych up on the sidelines. Check it out:



You want to psych up? Learn from the Master, Grasshopper:



And on MNF, the Vikings are doing everything they can to give away the game. Let's see if the Bears can pick up what they're putting down, and help us move into the #2 spot.