Heading into Week 15, the New York Giants and Tennessee Titans both held the best records in their respective conferences. However, they both fell as victims to divisional rivals on the road.
AFC: The Titans should have won this week against the Houston Texans, but head coach Jeff Fisher sure blew it for them. On fourth-and-three, with a score of 13-12 in favor of the Texans, there is no way in hell he should (although he did) have tried to pick up the first down, especially since long distance field goal-kicking specialist Rob Bironas was sitting on the sidelines. Bironas, a 2007 Pro Bowler, is almost a lock to nail any kick over 40 yards. It almost seems as if the further he goes, the better he gets.
I’m going to award Fisher with Kwanzoo’s first Bonehead of the Week Award. The Titans (12-2) may have the best record in all of football, but I’m sure not buying into them as a powerhouse force to be reckoned with. They, after all, did lose to the Jets and the Texans!
The Titans have already clinched a bye week in the first round of the playoffs, although it is more than likely that no matter who (be it Indianapolis, Baltimore, New England, Miami …) they face in their first playoff game (even with home field advantage), the Titans are going to fall, and they are going to fall hard.
A team that can have possession of the ball for just 23:38 seconds against a mediocre Texans squad sure does not deserve to go anywhere, not even the playoffs as a divisional leader.
The AFC has completely fallen apart this season and it seems to me as if there are only a few teams that are real Super Bowl contenders. Of the top ten teams in the conference, the only three I see as legitimate contenders are the Steelers, Ravens and Colts.
The Steelers and Ravens, though, are not likely to succeed in the playoffs because they are both one dimensional teams; that is, they have superb defenses and sub-par offensive units.
The Colts, who have won seven straight games (currently the longest active streak in the league, minus the Rams 8-game losing streak and the Lions 14-game streak), look like they are out on a mission to go to the Super Bowl.
NFC: The Giants (11-3) have now lost two games in a row, after it seemed almost inevitable that a Super Bowl repeat was going to occur. It’s not that the Giants defensive played a bad game against the Cowboys, nor in my opinion, that Burress shot himself in the leg off the field, but the Giants offensive line and star quarterback are not playing like they were just a few weeks ago.
Last year’s Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning had completed just 13 of 27 for 123 and a score against Philadelphia in New York two week’s ago and he didn’t do much better at Dallas this week. Against the Cowboys, Manning completed just 18 of 35 for 191 yards and was picked off twice.
The biggest reason the Giants lost on Sunday night: Manning was sacked a season-high eight times. If the Giants don’t start to protect Manning better, they may want to ditch their insurance plans for a back-to-back ring.
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