Week 14: Sunday Recap

Whoever decided to schedule a Downton Abbey marathon on a Sunday when the know I am supposed to be watching football is on my list...the bad one. I know that Public Television is funded by viewers like me but you mean to tell me they couldn't do the marathon today when they know I am off work? Selfish. The good news is that, thanks to carefully observing my husband's technique, I have become a master of the remote control. I am now able to keep up with 3 football games AND the lives of post World War I English aristocrats. It's not easy, but no sacrifice is. Now on to the 14th Sunday of this NFL season.

I am so in love with this show, hopefully someone is donating money to keep it going.

-It was another emotional week in the NFL, this time for the Dallas Cowboys. Early Saturday morning a practice-squad linebacker for the Cowboys, Jerry Brown, dies in a one-car accident. His roommate and best friend, Josh Brent, was driving the car and has been arrested for intoxication manslaughter. Just like the Kansas City Chiefs were playing for much more than a W last week, this week the Cowboys were playing for their own fallen teammate. Dan Bailey kicked a game winning 40-yard field goal as time expired and the Cowboys beat the Cincinnati Bengals 19-20. 

- The Panthers may be in last place, but they have not given up. That much was certain when they took on the Atlanta Falcons who are tied for the best record in the NFL with the Houston Texans. I was at the game when these two teams played the first time and the Falcons came back to win the game and I would have said that this game would go much the same way if not worse for the Panthers. But we have all learned over the course of this football season that I really have no idea what I am talking about. Cam Newton was like a man on fire. Not only did he throw for 287 yards and 2 touchdowns, but he also led the team in rushing with 116 rushing yards including one 72-yard run that ended in a somersault into the end-zone. The Panthers won 20-30 and I have another all-to-rare excuse to google images of Cam Newton. 

That, my friends, is how you score a touchdown. Nevermind that they are last in the league.

- The Washington Redskins pulled of an overtime victory over the Baltimore Ravens. What's more impressive is that they pulled the win off with back-up quarterback, Kirk Cousins, leading the team in place of RG3 who went down with a sprained knee during the last drive of the fourth quarter. "Impress Him" Face: Kirk Cousins is also a rookie who has played in ONE GAME this season. The Redskins were down by 8 points when Cousins threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon and then ran the ball in himself for a 2 point conversion to tie the game and send it into overtime. The Redskins won 28-31 and while RG3 did not tear his ACL, the Redskins are still waiting to see who their starting QB will be next week.

- The Seattle Seahawks beat the Arizona Cardinals 0-58. I don't really know if I need to say anything else about that.

- It was all about Adrian Peterson when the Minnesota Vikings took on the Chicago Bears. Peterson rushed for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Vikings 14-21 win over the Bears. "Impress Him" Fact: Peterson has 7 straight games with 100+ rushing yards. He has 1600 rushing yards this season with 3 games to play, putting him closer to the goal of a 2000 yard season. Oh and remember that he basically just had his whole knee reconstructed before this season. Man or robot? You decide. The Bears, who were already without linebacker, Brian Urlacher, also lost Jay Cutler in the fourth quarter with a neck injury. 

There are your highlights from Sunday #14! There are 2 regular season Sunday's to go and then the Playoffs start and basically everything that happened the 16 weeks before doesn't matter. Of course, Downton Abbey will also have it's season 3 premier during these "playoffs".... so when you make your donation to PBS (I would donate, but my husband hid my credit card) could you please ask them to start playing Downton Abbey on Saturdays, when I don't have anything to do? That would be great.

Week 9: Guess Who's Back! Sunday Recap

You know when you are watching The Bachelorette and at the beginning almost all of the guys seem like a catch? They are all pretty good looking, relatively successful, and putting their best foot forward in order to get the girl. But after a the first 4-5 weeks you start to realize that there are about 3 guys who will dominate the show, about 6 guys who will intrigue the girl enough to keep them around, and the rest will spend their time lounging by the pool drinking margaritas and picking out their outfit for the rose ceremony. The NFL is a lot like The Bachelorette. Some teams are rising to the top, some are just on the fringe of making a big move, and some are just falling away. The upside of the NFL vs. The Bachelorette?Just as many cute guys but you don't have to watch them go on weird group dates, listen to their mom's talk about how special they are, or listen to the songs they wrote to try and land a record deal impress the girl.

- The Carolina Panthers are by no means the cream of the crop this season. But there is a key component of the team that makes me keep them around. That key component has been sucking it up lately so I have been too depressed to write about it. But this week he was back to his old self and I am happy to have a reason to search for pictures of him again. I, of course, am talking about my imaginary best friend, Cam Newton, and he couldn't have gotten his mojo back for a better game.The comparisons between Cam Newton and RG3 have been going on all season, so it was inevitable that all the talk before this game would be centered around last year's Rookie of the Year vs. This year's possible Rookie of the Year when the Carolina Panthers took on the Washington Redskins on Sunday. Aside: There might be a reason why girls shouldn't watch football. As a breed we can be a dangerous combination of emotional and unforgiving especially when we feel like one of our people has been attacked. So when I saw an interview where RG3 said that he would rather be compared to quarterback like Aaron Rodgers instead of Cam Newton because Rodgers had been winning,  I naturally saw red and now hate RG3. Rational? Of course not....but it's my right and privilege as a female to decide not to like someone for no reason at all, a character flaw that can get exhausting while watch a highly competitive and ego-charged sport. End of Aside. The Panther defense made life difficult for that little punk, RG3 by sacking him 4 times and holding him to only 53 rushing yards. Cam Newton completed 13 of 23 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 37 yards and had a rushing touchdown of his own. The 21-13 win over the Redskins breaks a 5 game losing streak for the Panthers. Weird Fact: While the win is good news for the Panthers it might be bad news for Obama because of a phenomenon known as the Redskins Rule. As far as superstitions go, this one is pretty specific, click the link to read all of its intricacies. It should be noted that the Redskins have not won the game before election day since 1992.

Good to have you and your smile back, Friend!

- It was a battle between rookie quarterbacks when Ryan Tannehill and the Miami Dolphins traveled to Indianapolis to take on Andrew Luck and the Colts. Both quarterbacks had impressive showings. Tannehill comleted 22 of 38 passes for 290 yards and a touchdown just a week after injuring his knee. Andrew Luck not only had an impressive game, he broke the aformentioned Cam Newton's single passing game record for a rookie with 433 passing yards and two touchdowns. A feat that was probably made even sweeter by the fact that Chuck Pagano, the Indianapolis Head Coach who has been out battling Leukemia, was in the coaches box for the first time since his diagnosis. The QBs traded scores back and forth but in the end it was Luck who led the Colts to the 20-23 win over the Dolphins in a pretty clean game that included 0 turnovers. "Impress Him" Facts: Going into Sunday's game the Dolphins were the best in the NFL when it came to stopping 3rd down conversions. That is until Andrew Luck converted 13 of 19 3rd down attempts. Luck also became the second QB in NFL history to have 4 games with 300+ passing yards in his rookie season. Who is the other one you ask? That would be Peyton Manning, the very same former Colts QB whose very large shoes Andrew Luck is trying to fill.

He may break records, but Luck's "coolness" factor needs some work

- Unless you live on Mars or just genuinely don't care about anyone else, you know that the northeast just got the poo kicked out of them by Superstorm Sandy. So the atmosphere in New Jersey was understandably emotional for the New York Giants vs. Pittsburgh Steelers game. Eli Manning and the Giants tried to provide a few hours of relief to those affected by the storm, but alas even the Great Eli Manning isnt immune to the weather and the Steelers pulled off a sloppy 24-20 win to break the Giants 4-game winning streak. At first, it seemed like the Steelers and maybe even the officials were going to throw the Giants a bone and just let them have the win. The Steelers inexpicably called a fake field goal attempt in the fourth quarter that would have tied the game but instead cost them a yard;  and the officials made some very weird calls against the Steelers that cost Pittsburgh 11 points. But the Steelers are not quitters and walked away with the win with the help of running back, Isaac Redman who had 147 rushing yards and the game winning touchdown. Don't forget to text "redcross" to 90999 to donate $10 to the storm's relief efforts, some people have just lost everything. "Impress Him" Fact: Both Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger were drafted in the first round of the 2004 draft. Eli was the Number One pick and was picked by the San Diego Chargers. Well little Eli didnt want to play in San Diego and made it very clear that he would not go. Meanwhile, Big Ben was all set to be picked by the Giants, until he heard it announced that the Giants were going tpo pick Philip Rivers and then trade with the Chargers to get Eli. Lucky for Ben, he was picked by the Steelers and as we know 8 years later, both quarterbacks are still with the teams who they started with. The 2004 draft is the only draft to produce 2 quarterbacks both with multiple Super Bowl wins.

Let's get this straight. He was picked #1, is an instant millionaire, and no one wants to smile?

- If you follow this blog at all you know that the Dallas Cowboys are a marked team this year. If QB, Tony Romo, has a bad game they lose. If Romo has a good game...they lose. There doesnt seem anything they can do to finish games. So when they went to the Georgia Dome to take on the undefeated Atlanta Falcons we had to know that even though they looked better than the Falcons in the first half...they would inevitably...let's say it together...Lose. During the first half of this game the Falcons seemed to be struggling. running back, Michael Turner couldnt get anything going (he had only 18 yards in the first half) and kicker, Matt Bryant missed 2 field goals. But something changed with Turner in the second half when he broke off a 43 yard run with 2 minutes left in the third quarter. Turner finished the game with 102 yards and a touchdown. "Impress Him" Fact: The Falcons are 16-3 when Turner has a 100+yard rushing game. Turner's burst of energy seemed contagious as the Falcons' receivers, Julio Jones and Roddy White also had 100+ yard receiving. In the end the Falcons pulled off another squeaker to beat the Cowboys 13-19 and remain the NFL's only undefeated team and the Cowboys need to win at least 6 of their next 8 games to even have a shot at the playoffs. "Impress Him" Fact: New Orleans Head Coach, Sean Payton, has been suspended for the season. Before being suspended Payton signed a multi million dollar contract with the Saints which the NFL voided this weekend. That means that the Super Bowl winning, Payton can go wherever he wants once his suspension is over and rumor has it that Cowboys' owner and all around moneybags, Jerry Jones, will come knocking. 

Quick Notes:

- Quarterbacks weren't the only rookies having a big day on Sunday. Tampa Bay Bucanneer, Doug Martin, rushed for a franchise record 251 yards and 4 touchdowns, tying the record for most rushing touchdowns in a game. Only Adrian Peterson and Demarco Murray had more yards in their rookie seasons. Tampa Bay beat the Oakland Raiders 42-32.

- Speaking of Minnesota Viking, Adrian Peterson, he had his best first half ever with 144 rushing yards, his most ever in the first half. The Vikings lost to the Seattle Seahawks 20-30.

What do you think, does my Bachelorette  comparison hold any water at all? And speaking of that weirdly addicting show will you watch The Bachelor even if this doofus is playing the part of Mr. Wonderful?

Seriously, ABC? Did Jake Pavelka say no and this is as close as you could get? Gross.

Week 3: NY Giants at Carolina Panthers

Welcome the Week 3 and perhaps my most painful post to date. The only good thing I can say about this game is that I was in the car on my way to my hometown, Birmingham, AL listening to it on the radio so I didn't have to actually watch Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers get destroyed 36-7 by Eli Manning and the NY Giants, but it was hard to listen to nonetheless.

- Going into this game it seemed like it might actually be a good one. If for no other reason than the NY Giants were missing key pieces of their offense with running back, Ahmad Bradshaw and wide receiver, Hakeem Nicks, both out with injuries. Add that to the fact that the Panthers offense looked great against the New orleans Saints last week, it sounded like we were all in for a hell of a game. Well it was a hell of a game, but maybe only for Giants fans. "Impress Him" Fact: Thursday Night was Eli Manning's 122nd consecutive NFL start, putting him in 3rd place behind Brett Favre and big brother, Peyton.

- The Giants scored on their opening drive and then went on to score on their next 3 possessions to take an early 20-7 lead. Andre Brown, who happened to be cut by the Panthers, had a career high 113 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Panthers defense, I assumed they played defense, had absolutely no answer for him. Brown told reporters that he thought about how the Panthers had cut him right before he walked into the Stadium and it lit a fire in him. I'll say. It was Brown's first NFL start and he put on a show. "Impress Him" Fact: The Carolina Panthers have allowed an opening game touchdown in every game this season.

- So the Giants found a fix for the running back hole, surely they will still struggle with the hole left in the passing game by Hakeem Nicks....wrong again. Ramses Barden filled in for the injured Nicks and also decided to have a career high game in his first NFL start. He had 9 receptions for 138 yards.

- Thursday night was Cam Newton's first career night game as an NFL quarterback....and he did not look ready for Prime Time. He threw 3 interceptions and was held to just 6 rushing yards, a week after rushing for a career high 71 yards. Newton was famous for second half comebacks when he led the Auburn Tigers to the National Championship in 2010, but any hope of tapping into that magic was lost when the Panthers fumbled the kickoff punt to open the second half and gave the ball back to the Giants. Cam did put one drive together and scored a 1 yard rushing touchdown. Aside: you have no idea how much it pained me to type this paragraph, so I am including this picture to make me (and Cam Newton) feel better.

Happier Days for Cam...and me. (Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated)

 I guess the jury is still out on Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers, but the verdict is definitely in on Eli Manning and the Giants. While I may never see another cover of SI like the one to the left, Eli Manning is not giving up on his back to back Super Bowl dreams just yet.

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.