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Line of Scrimmage: Monday Morning Sentence Fragments (Week 15)

Sun 20th, December 2009

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - If you were one of the millions of east coast residents who were stuck in their homes due to this past weekend's blizzard for the ages, consider yourself lucky.

Though retailers weren't too happy to have you away from their storefronts less than a week before Christmas, you saw an incredible Sunday (which actually started Saturday night) of action that included the unbeaten Saints falling for the first time, a gaggle of AFC wild card contenders all somehow maintaining their footing in the playoff race, and down-to-the-wire finishes in a majority of contests.

Better catch your breath, because if the season's final two Sundays are anything like Week 15, respirators are going to be the hot new item of the New Year. Some observations from around the league:

I WAS SURPRISED THAT...

...Denver found a way to lose to Charlie Frye AND JaMarcus Russell in a 20-19 home defeat to the Raiders. In a game that seemingly shook up survivor pools from coast to coast, the Broncos fell behind by a 13-6 count at the half thanks in part to Frye, who completed 9-of-17 passes for 68 yards and an interception, but left in the fourth quarter due to injury, and with Oakland trailing, 16-13. Things looked great for the Broncos when Russell entered the game, but the former No. 1 pick broke Denver's heart by executing a 10-play, 62-yard drive in the closing moments, keeping the Raiders alive with a 4th- and-10 completion to Tony Stewart, then throwing a 10-yard touchdown pass to Chaz Schilens with 35 seconds to play. Though the quarterbacks were the story, Oakland was really led by running back Michael Bush, who carried 18 times for 133 yards and a touchdown. The Broncos (8-6) paid the price both for not being able to stop the Oakland offense when it mattered, and for settling for four Matt Prater field goals in five scoring drives.

...the Browns scored 41 points, got 286 yards and three touchdowns from running back Jerome Harrison, and played the most entertaining game of the day in a 41-34 win over the Chiefs. The Browns and Chiefs have been mostly unwatchable this season, but brought the best out in each other in a game that featured over 900 yards of total offense. Harrison, who broke Jim Brown's single-game rushing record, provided the dagger with a 28-yard touchdown run with 44 seconds left. His efforts somehow managed to overshadow those of teammate Joshua Cribbs, who scored on kickoff returns of 100 and 103 yards in the first half to set the league record for kickoff returns in a career (8). For the Chiefs, Matt Cassel (22-of-40, 331 yards, 2 TD) played well but could not prevent Kansas City from going an embarrassing 0-3 on its three-game homestand. The Chiefs, once dominant at Arrowhead Stadium in December, are now 0-7 during the month there since beating the Jaguars on Dec. 31, 2006.

...Tennessee was not affected by Vince Young's injury in its 27-24 overtime win over the Dolphins. I had theorized earlier in the week that even if Young was able to battle through his hamstring injury and start a critical contest against the Dolphins, that his reduced mobility would make him, and by extension the Titans attack, ordinary against a tough Miami defense. But Young showed no ill effects of the ailment, completing 14-of-27 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns to just one interception, also scrambling for 24 yards as Tennessee moved to 7-1 with Young as the starter in 2009. A 46-yard field goal for Rob Bironas in OT helped Tennessee hold off Miami, which had forced the extra session after trailing, 24-6. Young engineered the win on a day when the Fins "limited" Tennessee running back Chris Johnson to just 104 yards on 29 carries. Johnson, who now has 1,730 yards on the year, needs 270 over his final two contests to reach 2,000.

...the Jets squandered their new-found place in the playoff race with a 10-7 home loss to the Falcons. Probably best to have a team intern start your car this week, Jay Feely. The Jets kicker, who had caused controversy after posting insensitive Twitter comments about deceased Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry earlier in the week, came up small on field goal tries of 38 and 37 yards, and three interceptions by quarterback Mark Sanchez (18-of-32, 226 yards, 1 TD) didn't help a lot either. The Jets wasted another terrific effort from their defense, which forced punts on eight of Atlanta's 11 meaningful possessions, and a missed field goal on a ninth. But it was that 11th and final drive that sealed the Jets' fate, as Matt Ryan led an 11-play, 58-yard march culminating in a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tony Gonzalez on a fourth-down play with 1:38 left.

...the Vikings showed no motivation in a 26-7 loss to the Panthers. Are the Vikings fading? The question would seem legitimate to anyone who has watched this team absolutely fail to answer the bell in Sunday night losses at Arizona and Carolina over the past three weeks. The Vikings did nothing well against the Panthers, generating just 237 yards of total offense behind Brett Favre (17-of-27, 224 yards, 1 INT) and Adrian Peterson (12 carries, 35 yards, 1 TD), allowing Jonathan Stewart (25 carries, 109 yards, 1 INT) to become the first opposing rusher to hit triple-digits against them in 36 games, and making Matt Moore (21-of-33, 299 yards, 3 TD) look like an NFL quarterback. Minnesota (11-3) had already clinched the NFC North thanks to the Packers' loss in Pittsburgh moments before they kicked off, but the Vikings are now just a game up on the Eagles in the quest for a first-round bye. If Minnesota doesn't wake up soon, it's going to be the first-round and bye-bye for Brad Childress' squad.

I WAS NOT SURPRISED THAT...

...the Bengals, honoring their fallen teammate Chris Henry, came to play in San Diego. Cincinnati ultimately fell short when a 52-yard Nate Kaeding field goal handed them a 27-24 loss in the closing seconds, but the very hard-fought defeat against showed that the Bengals are capable of competing with the best. Quarterback Carson Palmer had his best day of the season, completing 27-of-40 passes for 314 yards with two touchdowns and a pick, including TD strikes to Chad Ochocinco and Laveranues Coles. After his TD in the second quarter, Ochocinco fell to one knee and looked skyward, an obvious reference to his friend Henry. Cincinnati surrendered a chance at a first-round bye with the loss, but still needs only to beat Kansas City at home next week (or a Ravens loss in Pittsburgh) to wrap up the AFC North title.

...the Bears didn't show up in Baltimore, after managing to show up in Baltimore. Due to the winter storm that blanketed the east coast, along with some poor foresight and planning by the organization, Chicago didn't arrive in the Baltimore area until 11pm on Saturday night, and played like a team that was very much snowed in during their 31-7 loss. The Bears committed six turnovers and did not have an offensive touchdown in the loss, as Jay Cutler (10-of-27, 94 yards) threw three more picks to run his league-worst total to 25. Afterward, head coach Lovie Smith deflected several questions about his job status, which seems very much up in the air following a listless 2-6 stretch of football. Meanwhile, for the Ravens, Joe Flacco threw a career-high four touchdown passes as Baltimore grabbed the top wild card spot from Denver.

...the Steelers looked like an NFL team again in a 37-36 win over the Packers. The Steelers clearly have their problems, of which a great many figure to be addressed by head coach Mike Tomlin in the offseason, but it was still hard to imagine Pittsburgh finishing 6-10 just one year after winning the Super Bowl. And so, although it's likely to mean nothing in the big scheme of things, the Steelers ended their five-game losing streak (what a strange phrase to write) and showed a glimpse of what they were supposed to be against a pretty good Green Bay team on Sunday. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was mostly magnificent, completing 29-of-46 passes for a career-high 503 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, providing the NFL's highlight of the week with a 19-yard TD dart to Mike Wallace as time expired in the fourth quarter. The Steelers still need to win out (vs. Baltimore, at Miami) and get an incredible amount of help due to their 4-6 conference record, but they're still ticking.

...San Francisco couldn't make things interesting with a win in Philadelphia. The 49ers looked terrific in completing a sweep of the Cardinals on Monday night, and with a win would have been in decent wild card shape entering a final stretch against the hapless Lions and Rams. But on a short week that followed a physical and emotional game with a division rival, and after a long trip to the east coast, it was hardly a surprise that the 49ers fell rather harmlessly, 27-13, in blustery Philadelphia. The Niners looked lost in space from the outset, committing four first-half turnovers and digging themselves a 20-3 halftime hole that they never seriously looked capable of emerging from. San Francisco did get one crack with the ball after cutting the lead to 20-13, but a drive sputtered just inside of midfield. The 49ers were eliminated from the playoff race with the loss, while the Eagles (10-4) clinched a playoff berth behind 306 passing yards from Donovan McNabb.

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY (WHICH THEY PROBABLY WON'T)

AFC Byes: No. 1 Colts (14-0), No. 2 Chargers (11-3) AFC Playoffs: No. 3 Patriots (9-5) vs. No. 6 Broncos (8-6); No. 4 Bengals (9-5) vs. No. 5 Ravens (8-6)

NFC Byes: No. 1 Saints (13-1), No. 2 Vikings (11-3) NFC Playoffs: No. 3 Eagles (10-4) vs. No. 6 Cowboys (9-5); No. 4 Cardinals (9-5) vs. No. 5 Packers (9-5)

GRAB YOUR SPORCLE, DIVE IN

How's your knowledge of Chargers and Saints pass-catchers of the current decade? This quiz, which tests your ability to name the men who caught the first 200 touchdown passes of Drew Brees' career, will help you find out. I came up with 172 of 200, and most of those I didn't get helped me remember what a poor supporting cast Brees had around him at the beginning of his time in San Diego.

http://www.sporcle.com/games/djohnson87/drew_brees_td_passes