Week 12: Thanksgiving Day and Sunday Recap

Welcome to Week 12 and the official start to the Holiday Season! I don't know about all of you but this time of year is the only thing that helps me get through the cold days....even though its only 60 degrees here, but you know what I mean. The Holidays kicked off in the NFL on Thanksgiving Day with 3 games. The NFL also seems to be in the Holiday spirit with one team winning for a sick little boy, one Quarterback growing hair for a cause, and a cheerleader losing some hair for a cause. Since I was too full to recap on Friday, let's start with what the office will be buzzing about from the Thursday games.

- Yet again the New York Jets are the "butt" of countless jokes....this time literally. The Jets had to know it was not going to be their night against their arch-rivals, the New England Patriots when their QB, Mark Sanchez literally ran into the fanny of his offensive lineman, causing him to fall backwards and fumble the ball which was picked up by a Patriot and run into the end-zone for a touchdown. To add insult to injury, the Jets' returner, Joe Mcknight, fumbled the kickoff on the very next play, it was picked up by Julian Edelman who ran it in 22 yards for yet another touchdown caused by a Jets' turnover. In the end the Jets were humiliated 49-19. The fans were calling for Tebow, but it was found out later that he had a rib injury. If you have a second check out Mark Sanchez's fumble below...trust me it's worth it.

- The guys in your life might be getting a little technical this morning if they are talking about the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions game. Turns out the Lions lost this one, 34-31, because of a mistake made by their Head Coach, Jim Schwartz. By NFL rule, all scoring plays are reviewed by the officials. So when Houston's Jim Forsett scored an 81 yard touchdown the officials would have automatically reviewed the play to ensure that the score was, in fact, legit. During this review they would have seen that Forsett's knee and elbow were clearly down before he made the long run down the field and that their was no touchdown. However, Jim Schwartz made the mistake of throwing the challenge flag before the officials could review the play. Again, by NFL rule, throwing the challenge flag on a scoring play is considered unsportsmanlike conduct, carries a 15 yard penalty, and negates the official review. Needless to say, the Lions could have won this one in regulation, instead, it went to overtime and the Texans walked away with another close win, beating the Lions 34-31. Does anyone else find it impossible to hear the name Schwartz without thinking of Spaceballs? 

May the Schwartz be with you

- RG3 and the Washington Redskins did not do Tony Romo any Thanksgiving favors when they traveled to Dallas on Thursday. RG3 threw for 311 yards and 4 touchdowns in their 38-31 win over the Cowboys. 28 of those points came in the 2nd quarter, the first 28-point quarter the Redskins have had in 13 years. Tony Romo made an honest effort at a comeback and had a career-high day with 411 yards and 3 second-half touchdowns. But a hot Romo never seems to be enough for the poor Cowboys this year. "Impress Him" Fact: Tony Romo lost for the first time in 6 consecutive Thanksgiving Day starts. It is Romo's 3rd loss in 3 career 400 yard games and the Cowboys first loss to the Redskins in 7 Thanksgiving Day games.

- Now onto Sunday! Let's start at the end with the absolute smashing of the Green Bay Packers against the New York Giants on Sunday night. The Giants were coming off a bye week and a 2 game slump, while the Packers were hot on a 5 game winning streak. But apparently, there was a sweet little boy at the game who's Make-A-Wish wish was for the Giants to play like the Super Bowl champs they are...so that is what they did, killing Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, 10-38. The Packers were missing key players on Defense including, Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson. They were also missing receiver, Greg Jennings on offense.  The Packers' offensive line didn't do Aaron Rodgers (or his moustache) any favors either, he was sacked 5 times by the Giants and was under pressure all night. Eli Manning had 249 yards and 3 touchdowns. "Impress Him" Fact: The win gives the Giants a 2 game lead in the NFC East, while the loss knocks Green Bay out of a tie for first place in the NFC North.

The Movember Moustache is not working on or off the field, Aaron.

- The San Francisco 49'ers were also in the business of ending winning streaks with their 31-21 win over the New Orleans Saints. What's most impressive about this win? Well, they got it done with back-up QB Collin Kaepernick, in his second start for the 49'ers even after starting QB, Alex Smith was determined to be healthy enough to play on Sunday. Kaepernick threw for 231 yards and a touchdown. The 49'ers defense played a big part in their win, running two interceptions back for touchdowns, and sacking QB, Drew Brees, 5 times. They also held a New Orleans team who had rushed for 140 or more yards in previous games to just 59 rushing yards on Sunday. San Francisco Head Coach, Jim Harbaugh, said that he started Collin Kaepernick to preserve the health of Alex Smith, but he did not say who would start next week against the St. Louis Rams. Could there be some QB drama in San Francisco...I hope so, that is what makes this game so interesting.

Who will be the guy in SF? That's Kaepernick on the left in case were wondering

- The Atlanta Falcons were also in the business of bringing down winning streaks with a close 24-23 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who were on a 4-game roll. With just over 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Falcons were down 17-23. But Atlanta QB, Matt Ryan, is no stranger to game-winning drives and he put together a 6-play, 64 yard drive that ended with a touchdown run from Michael Turner to give the Falcons the 1-point lead. The Bucs had a chance to pull off the win, but missed a field goal. The hot rookie of the moment, Doug Martin, was also held to just 50 rushing yards for the Bucs. The Falcons can't relax for long though, they host the New Orleans Saints next week, the very same Saints who handed them their first loss of the season just a few weeks ago.

- A cheerleader for the Indianapolis Colts, Megan Meadors, accepted a challenge by the Colts' mascot, Blue. Blue asked the cheerleaders if they would shave their heads if he managed to raise $10,000 for leukemia research in the name of Colt's head coach, Chuck Pagano, who is currently undergoing treatment for leukemia. Meadors accepted the challenge, raised over $22,000, and let blue shave her head on the sidelines. This is the kind of story that gives me goosebumps.

How can Blue see what he's doing? Good for you, Megan!

 I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and is as excited about the Holiday season as I am! Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @gridiron4girls and like Gridiron For Girls on Facebook!

Week 2: Oh When The Saints Come Falling Down

If nothing else, this blog is doing for me what I hoped it would do for other girls who are constantly surrounded by NFL talk. I have been spouting off stats and NFL tidbits all week and the reaction has been priceless.  The only downside so far has been that when it was time to go pick up lunch today neither my husband nor I wanted to go because we were both glued to the NFL Kickoff show, a minor bump in the road during this experiment in marriage and sports. SO MUCH happened this Sunday, here are some of the big headlines. I have also highlighted some "Impress Him" facts that are sure to raise some eyebrows if you have the opportunity to use them.

- The New Orleans Saints are no strangers to adversity. Seven years ago, Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans and Drew Brees and the Saints stepped up to become the face of the recovery effort and the team that everyone was rooting for no matter who their team was. This year the Saints find themselves facing a different kind of adversity, a less friendly kind. Allegations of players being paid bounties for making hits against certain players have left Drew Brees and New Orleans without their head coach, Sean Payton for this season and the eyes of NFL fans everywhere focused on them, this time in a negative way. The Saints lost to the Carolina Panthers, 27-35, for the first time since 2009 and are now 0-2 for the first time since 2007. Cam Newton and the Panthers looked energized in their home stadium. Newton did a little bit of everything, he had 253 passing yards, was the lead rusher with a career high, 71 rushing yards, one rushing TD, and no interceptions,(Disclaimer: I am a HUGE Cam Newton fan, so I may tend to dwell on him a little. I'm sorry, I can't help it, we have a very special connection that only he and I know about. Well, he doesn't actually know but that's neither here nor there.). Anyhoo, on the other side of the ball, the Saints defense looked rough. They have allowed over 900 yards of offense in their last 2 games. Drew Brees threw 2 interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown. Everyone will be talking about how Drew Brees and the Saints can bounce back from this disappointing start to their season. (Aside: A replacement ref was dismissed at the beginning of this game because it came out that he was a HUGE Saints fan, and when I say "huge" I mean that there were pictures of him on Facebook wearing every bit of Saints clothing he could get his hands on. I am willing to bet there is a Saints tattoo somewhere on his body. Good call by the NFL.).


Cam Newton's Signature TD Celebration, "The Superman"

- Are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers really going to beat the NY Giants at home?! Are the Super Bowl Champions going to be 0-2?! Absolutely not, but it looked like it for the better part of 3 quarters. "Impress Him" Fact: Both the Offensive and Defensive Coordinators for Tampa Bay came from the NY Giants. The Giants had developed special signals just for this game in case it seemed like the Bucs were onto them. And it certainly seemed like they were onto them. At halftime, Eli Manning had thrown 3 interceptions for the New York Giants and the Bucs were up by 11. After the half, the Giants changed their tune. Eli Manning came out with 295 yards in the second half, tying for the 8th most in NFL history for a total of 510 passing yards overall (what?!). Tampa Bay scored 21 points off of turnovers but once Eli decided to play like a 2 time Super Bowl Champ, there was little the Bucs could do to stop him. The Giants won 34-41.

- Do you remember when I said a couple of weeks ago that Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys were under a lot of pressure this year? And then they opened this season up with beating the reigning Super Bowl Champion, NY Giants, in New York and I said it looked like the Cowboys had come to play this season? Remember all that? Well forget it. They looked terrible today against the Seattle Seahawks. Just terrible. And it started immediately, Felix Jones fumbled the kickoff return which gave the Seahawks their first 3 points and then Jeron Johnson returned a blocked punt to give the Seahawks a 10-0 lead in less than 5 minutes! Tony Romo started off in the hole and his teammates didn't do much to help him out of it. Jason Witten and Dez Bryant couldn't seem to catch a break, let alone a ball and Demarco Murray, who had over 100 yards against the Seahawks last season, only rushed for 44 yards. Seattle's rookie QB, Russell Wilson didn't look too bad either. He passed for 151 yards and ran for another 28. Marshawn Lynch also did his part for the Seahawks with 122 yards on the ground and one touchdown. Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks got their first win at home in a big way, 27-7 over the Cowboys. "Impress Him" Fact: The last time Tony Romo and the Cowboys played in Dallas was during the 2006 NFC wild card game where Romo bobbled the snap of what would have been the winning field goal, and then tripped up just shy of the goal line for what would have been the winning touchdown. Remember, the Cowboys have only won ONE PLAYOFF GAME during the Tony Romo years.

Chin up, Romo. At least you don't have to go home to Jessica Simpson

- Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles did it again this week against the Baltimore Ravens. Vick turned the ball over 4 times but in the end Michael Vick came through with a 1 yard rushing touchdown to win the game 24-23. Just as he overcame throwing 4 interceptions last week against the Cleveland Browns, to win the game 17-16. Whether or not you have forgiven him for his past, Michael Vick is proving that he still has plenty of life as a premier NFL quarterback.

- Rookie Quarterback, Robert Griffin III (RG3), almost had more to prove this week after the dazzling display he put on during his debut as the Washington Redskins starter last week. This week the Redskins took on Sam Bradford and the St. Louis Rams. At one point in the first half the Redskins led 21-6; but Rams receiver, Danny Amendola, decided to make things tricky with 12 receptions in the first half (an NFL record) including a 1 yard touchdown to cut the lead to 21-6 at the half. In the fourth quarter the Rams were up 31-28, but RG3 had managed to get the Redskins in easy field goal position to tie the game...that is until an unsportsmanlike conduct call went against the Redskins who now had to try for a 62 yard field goal attempt...which they missed and lost the game 31-24. Does this mean RG3 isn't the real deal? Not at all, he had a solid game with 206 passing yards, 82 rushing yards, and 2 rushing touchdowns. This guy is something special. "Impress Him" Fact: Mike Shanahan, the head coach of the Washington Redskins, wanted to draft Sam Bradford when he was #1 overall pick in the 2010 Draft but was not able to make the necessary moves to secure a higher draft pick.

- Last time the San Francisco 49'ers and the Detroit Lions played their head coaches , Jim Harbaugh and Jim Schwartz, almost got in a fist fight during their post-game handshake. So naturally, all the talk before this game was focused on whether they would kill each other during their handshake this year. They didn't. Not before the game, not after. And the San Francisco 49'ers won their second game of the season. Alex Smith threw for 226 yards and 2 touchdowns, Michael Crabtree was clutch in converting 3rd downs for SF. The SF managed to shut down Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions and stopped him from having another big yardage game. The San Francisco 49'ers won 27-19 over the Detroit Lions.

Quick Notes:

-The New England Patriots lost in a heartbreaker in their home opener against the Arizona Cardinals. Tom Brady and the Pats were stopped on an attempted 2 point conversion and then missed a field goal that would have won the game for them. They lost 20-18 to the Cards. (Aside: I know girls tend to swoon over Tom Brady, but I am not one of those girls. No offense to Gisele but I think he is a First Class Goob, and I think the picture below proves that I am not far off.)

married to Gisele, but snuggling a goat

-Miami Dolphins rookie QB, Ryan Tannehill, led the Dolphins to their first win (35-13) against the Oakland Raiders. Tannehill had 200 passing yards and Reggie Bush (another Kim Kardashian casualty) clenched the win with 172 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns.

- In other rookie QB news, Andrew Luck also got a "W" for the Indianapolis Colts against the Minnesota Vikings. Luck completed 20 out of 31 passes for 224 yards.

- Following their big win last week against the  NY Jets struggled against the Pittsburgh Steelers who were trying to avoid losing 2 in a row. The Jets lost to the Steelers 27-10 even though the Steelers were without key defensive vet, Troy Polamalou and linebacker James Harrison, who were both out with injuries. Tim Tebow only played for one snap on which he rushed for 22 yards...and was then booed when he came off the field. No one likes this guy, not even his own fans.

- C.J. Spiller led the Buffalo Bills to a big win over the Kansas City Chiefs. The former Clemson Tiger carried the ball 15 times for 123 yards (8.2 yards per carry) and rushed for 2 touchdowns. The Bills won 35-17 at home.

- Frustration is growing when it comes to the replacement refs. They are making inconsistent calls and one quarterback, the usually mild mannered Joe Flacco, has called them out for effecting the outcome of the game. They are also being criticized for taking too long making decisions and slowing down the game.

With everything that happened on the field this Sunday, I know that there is something that you might hear people talking about that I missed. If you ever need me to elaborate on games or story lines please feel free to hit me up on Twitter @gridiron4girls or you can email me at gridironforgirls@gmail.com. See you all Tuesday morning for a recap of the Denver Broncos vs. the Atlanta Falcons. All I can say is, thank god the Bachelor Pad is over.