Weekly Recap – Week 16

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Week 16 is in the books and what have we learned? The Colts took a Big L and Colts nation is shakin and stirred…Are the Saints who we thought they were? The Cowboys show the world that they can win in December. The wildcard race in the AFC just got a little bit more interesting with a Denver Broncos loss. Lets go around the league and give you the highlights of all this weeks games!

Denver Broncos vs Philadelphia Eagles
Brian Dawkins pranced, danced and flexed before the game. The Philadelphia Eagles did all the celebrating at the end. David Akers kicked a 28-yard field goal with 4 seconds remaining, lifting the playoff-bound Eagles to a 30-27 victory over the Denver Broncos and spoiling Dawkins’ emotional return to Philadelphia on Sunday. Kyle Orton rallied the Broncos from a 27-10 deficit in the third quarter, but Donovan McNabb led the Eagles on a winning drive in the final minutes.

Kansas City Chiefs vs Cincinnati Bengals
The head coach was dry as he ran off the field after clinching a title—no celebratory sideline dousing. Players’ eyes were dry, too—all the tears had been wrung out. In their finest moment, the Cincinnati Bengals didn’t act like champions. Maybe it was the ugly way they won. Maybe those tearful practices and wrenching eulogies had something to do with it as well. Either way, they were in the playoffs. Carson Palmer’s touchdown pass to Chad Ochocinco completed a 98-yard drive in the closing minutes Sunday, sending Cincinnati to a 17-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs that clinched the AFC North title five days after the Bengals buried teammate Chris Henry.

Buffalo Bills vs Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons’ improving defense left the Buffalo Bills’ offense in a familiar rut. Matt Ryan threw three touchdown passes, including a 42-yarder to Roddy White on Atlanta’s first play from scrimmage, and the Falcons were never challenged in their 31-3 win over Terrell Owens and the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Owens became the sixth player in NFL history with 1,000 career receptions. He reached the milestone with an 8-yard pass from Brian Brohm in the second quarter.

Jacksonville Jaguars vs New England Patriots
Randy Moss stared at the scoreboard after his third touchdown catch and saw a fan wearing a Randy Moss mask on the screen. The real Randy—the one who played hard Sunday—stood on the sideline with a huge grin as he made his parting-of-the-defense motion, sweeping his arms from his chest to his sides. “That was very entertaining,” Moss said after the New England Patriots clinched the AFC East title with a 35-7 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. “I had a lot of my teammates wanting me to mess with the guy. So he put a little humor into it and I enjoyed it.”

Houston Texans vs Miami Dolphins
When it mattered most, the Houston Texans performed like a playoff team—which they might yet be.
The Miami Dolphins played like a team going nowhere, which is likely the case. With both teams seeking to stay alive in the AFC playoff race, the Texans scored on their first five possession Sunday and survived Miami’s comeback to win 27-20. The Texans (8-7) built a 27-0 lead and won despite being outscored 20-0 in the final 31 minutes. They kept alive their slim hopes of making the playoffs for the first time.

Oakland Raiders vs Cleveland Browns
Once thought to be on his way out of Cleveland after just one season, Mangini may be staging a stunning comeback of his own. Jerome Harrison rushed for 148 yards on 39 carries and the Browns won their third straight, 23-9 over the reckless Oakland Raiders on Sunday, extending a surprising streak that Mangini can use to strengthen his case to convince new Browns boss Mike Holmgren to keep him.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs New Orleans Saints
The moment Garrett Hartley’s foot drove through the ball, the Louisiana Superdome crowd erupted and Saints owner Tom Benson raised his arms in triumph. The presumption was that these Saints, in this magical season, were going to pull out another win in the clutch. Not so fast. Hartley’s 37-yarder hooked to the left, and those who’d allowed themselves to celebrate prematurely were sent home soon after in stunned silence. Carnell Williams rushed for 129 yards and a score, and Connor Barth kicked a 47-yard field goal in overtime, lifting Tampa Bay to a 20-17 upset on Sunday that, for the time being, prevented New Orleans from securing home field throughout the NFC playoffs.

Minnesota Vikings vs Chicago Bears
Brett Favre cranked up and made one more impossible throw, zinging a touchdown pass in the fading seconds. Too bad for the Minnesota Vikings, that merely put them into overtime. Once again, they came up short. And the way Favre sees it, they’re headed to an early playoff exit. The Vikings lost again Monday night, beaten by the Chicago Bears 36-30 when Jay Cutler tossed a 39-yard strike to Devin Aromashodu. Minnesota fell for the third time in four games, and the defeat gave the New Orleans Saints homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

New York Jets vs Indianapolis Colts
Little did Rex Ryan know that when he joked about wanting the Indianapolis Colts to rest their starters for this game, that he’d get his wish. With Peyton Manning and a handful of other key players standing on the sideline for most of the second half, the New York Jets made their coach’s Christmas wish come true. They ended the Colts’ pursuit of perfection and their NFL-record 23-game winning streak with a 29-15 victory Sunday. Fans booed lustily, but Manning defended coach Jim Caldwell’s game plan.

Baltimore Ravens vs vs Pittsburgh Steelers
There’s still a tomorrow for the Pittsburgh Steelers, all they could have asked for only days ago. There’s also a next week for the Baltimore Ravens, or exactly what they didn’t want. Jeff Reed’s 38-yard field goal put Pittsburgh ahead with 5:25 remaining and the Steelers finally preserved a fourth-quarter lead, beating rival Baltimore 23-20 on Sunday to further jumble the complicated AFC postseason race. The Steelers (8-7), their season seemingly ended by a late-season five-game losing streak, followed their last-second 37-36 victory over Green Bay with another tight victory helped by Reed’s three field goals and Rashard Mendenhall’s touchdown run. Now, their final regular season game at Miami will have some meaning, although the Steelers could win and still be eliminated.

Detroit Lions vs Sanfrancisco 49ers
A week after getting knocked out of playoff contention, the San Francisco 49ers started slowly against Detroit. They put it together in the second half to move one step closer to their only big goal left—avoiding a seventh straight losing season. Frank Gore scored on a 1-yard run and topped the 1,000-yard mark for the fourth straight year, and the 49ers took advantage of six turnovers to beat the Lions 20-6 on Sunday.

Arizona Cardinals vs Detroit Lions
The Arizona Cardinals blew a 17-point lead to the lowly Detroit Lions and needed to make a pressure-packed play in the closing minutes to avoid an embarrassing defeat. Kurt Warner threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin with 1:54 left, lifting Arizona to a 31-24 win over Detroit Lions on Sunday. Arizona (9-5) took the final step later in the day, clinching the NFC West when San Francisco lost at Philadelphia. The Cardinals have won consecutive division titles for the first time since 1974-75.

Seattle Seahawks vs Green Bay Packers
As the Green Bay Packers piled up points on the hapless Seattle Seahawks, Aaron Rodgers had more than a passing interest in the out-of-town scoreboard. With a blowout victory over the Seahawks secure, the Packers needed the Carolina Panthers to beat the New York Giants to clinch a playoff berth with a week left in the season. What was Rodgers thinking? “Hang on, boys,” Rodgers said. “Hang on.” Carolina did, routing New York and sending the Packers to the postseason. For Green Bay (10-5), Sunday’s 48-10 victory completed an impressive rebound from last year’s 6-10 finish and a disappointing 4-4 start to this season.

San Diego Chargers vs Tennessee Titans
The San Diego Chargers have their first-round bye, and Philip Rivers is still perfect in December. Tennessee’s bid for NFL history? The Titans lost that right along with their postseason dream, looking like a throwback to the team that started the season 0-6. Rivers threw two touchdowns passes, LaDainian Tomlinson ran for two scores and the Chargers beat the Titans 42-17 on Friday night to grab the AFC’s No. 2 seed and that first-round bye in the playoffs.

Dallas Cowboys vs Washington Redskins
The Dallas Cowboys finally have a handle on their December blues. Now it’s time to work on January.
The Cowboys returned to the playoffs Sunday night, pitching a 17-0 shutout in their 100th meeting with the Washington Redskins and setting up an NFC East title showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles. After starting 0-2 this month, Dallas recovered to win back-to-back December games for the first time since 2003. The latest victory eliminated the New York Giants from playoff contention.

Carolina Panthers vs New York Giants
Justin Tuck has been to the mountain with New York Giants, winning an NFL title. The defensive end and the rest of the Giants tumbled into a deep valley in their final game at Giants Stadium. It was a complete embarrassment, and it went a long way in ending their playoff hopes.
Matt Moore and the Carolina Panthers (7-8) turned the Giants’ 273rd and final game in the 34-year-old stadium into one of their ugliest moments in their franchise history with a 41-9 rout on Sunday. Coupled with Green Bay’s win over Seattle and Dallas’ victory over Washington on Sunday night, the loss eliminated the Giants (8-7) from playoff contention for the first time in five years, something totally unexpected after a 5-0 start.