The Final Drive: Week 10, 2011

With no teams on a bye this week, we saw a whopping fourteen games on Sunday, with first place on the line in several divisions. So I can’t waste any time in starting The Final Drive!

I’m squarely in the camp that wanted Mike Smith to punt that ball away in overtime. Punting would have at least given your defense (which had stopped Brees before) a chance to get you the ball back. Failing to convert so deep in their own territory just locked them into a loss.

Even though they lost, the Bengals came out of this looking like a legitimate AFC contender. They came back from a 14-0 lead to give the Steelers all they could handle. Can’t wait for the rematch. In the meantime, Pittsburgh’s right back in the divisional driver’s seat.

How could the Bills come out so freaking flat for this game? They get handled by the Jets last week, setting up a must-win if they want to stay in the division race. Instead of getting amped up, they let the Cowboys run and pass all over them. Ryan Fitzpatrick has been on a wicked cold streak since signing that mega-deal. Buyer’s remorse?

Tim Tebow’s stat line. 2 completions (of 8 attempts) for 69 yards, 1 TD. 9 rushes, 43 yards, 1 TD. AND HIS TEAM WON. I’m not even gonna touch this one. Also, don’t be fooled: Kansas City still sucks.

This is the end of the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles. They’re done folks. When John Skelton (who actually looks better than Kevin Kolb) gets a win over you, your defense has issues. When you blow your fifth fourth quarter lead of the season, your team has issues. This might (and probably should) be Andy Reid’s last year in charge.

I was going to write about how well the Texans have looked and how they are primed to be a possible sleeper for a bye week. That was until I read the news about Matt Schaub being done for the year. Now Matt Leinart is in charge. The Texans just went from a first round bye to a first round out.

How could the Ravens get trapped for a third time this season? Losses to the Titans and Jaguars were inexcusable, but to drop a game to the freaking Seahawks is absolutely unforgiveable. I cannot take the Ravens seriously right now.

Conversely, I take the Niners very seriously. With a ton of divisional games coming up, the Niners are right in line for a first round bye as the NFC’s 2 seed. The Giants shouldn’t take this loss too harshly. They might get to try it again down the road…

Poor Jets. You guys built this game up to be your Super Bowl and you were trounced. For each of Mark Sanchez’s “semi-decent” games he manages to toss out two of these clunkers. The Jets are just too dependent on that defense. They’ll be on the outside of the playoffs, which will likely ruin through New England yet again.

Whew. You all caught up yet? Be back Thursday for a preview of the night’s contest between the Jets and Broncos!