NFL Rewind + Weekend Preview

A look back on Week 11 in the NFL, before we get to the upcoming weekends preview:

Cheers: The Chicago Bears defensive effort last Thursday night against Miami. The Bears and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli took full advantage of the Dolphins quarterback injury woes, burying Tyler Thigpen with six sacks and an interception. Jay Cutler was mostly bad as quarterback again for Chicago, which didn't matter, because the Bears scored and the Dolphins didn't.

Jeers: The Cincinnati Bengals. As a fan of the team, it's hard for me to comment at all, but the Bengals blew a 31-14 halftime lead to the Buffalo Bills and eventually lost 49-31. The implosion led wide receiver Terrell Owens to comment after the game that the Bengals are clearly playing horrible football...."What's crazy is the fact that we're just terrible. That's just plain and simple. When I say we, that's me included," said Owens following the loss. Owens concluded his comments with ,"We may go 2-14 at the rate we're playing."

Cheers: Jason Garrett and the Dallas Cowboys, who beat the Detroit Lions 35-19 on Sunday to move to 2-0 under their new coach. For the 'Boys, it was a much needed win at home versus an inferior opponent. Dallas' chances to make the postseason are still slim, but at this point it's hard to consider them a pushover in any game, as we might have prior to Garrett's promotion to head coach.

Jeers: Vince Young. And sort of Jeff Fisher. I'm not going to read you the whole story, so instead check it out through Will Robinson's post on the SACK Lunch Blog. One of both of these guys will not be in Tennessee in 2011.

Cheers: The NY Jets game-winning touchdown drive to beat the Houston Texans. The Jets blew a 23-7 lead at home against the Texans, but rallied for a 30-27 win courtesy a Santonio Holmes touchdown catch with ten second left in the game. Houston scored twice within three minutes to cut the lead to 23-17, then scored again with 2:18 left to go ahead 24-23. Mark Sanchez promptly threw an interception, but Houston did not run out the clock and settled for a field goal. Down 27-23, Sanchez took the Jets 68 yards in 5 plays elapsing 45 seconds for the home win. The Jets last three wins have included two overtime victories and this late game score.

Jeers: Richard Seymour punching Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in Sunday's game. The video will appear below. Roethlisberger threw a touchdown pass in the second quarter to add to Pittsburgh's lead (eventual 35-3 victory), and Big Ben felt inclined to go say something to Raiders' defensive lineman Seymour, or just get in his face. Seymour said after the game that "it was a lot of ongoing stuff, and you're out there to protect yourself.....I just turned around, and he just ran up on me quick. It was just natural reaction." I don't even like it when guys get in each other's faces talking smack like Roethlisberger may or may not have done, but it's even worse to actually hit a guy like Seymour did.



Cheers: Seymour punching Roethlisberger. Now, hear me out on this one for just a second. It may not be ethical, logical, nice or any other synonym, but I personally admired Seymour for hitting Roethlisberger. Personally I am a Bengals fan and hate Pittsburgh and Big Ben, so I gloated in seeing him get knocked down. He is a punk for being on Pittsburgh, and a punk for getting in legal trouble multiple times and getting suspended.

Jeers: The two Bay Area football teams losing a combined 56-3. The aforementioned Raiders were stomped on the road, and the San Francisco 49ers were beating 21-0 at home. Troy Smith struggled in a game where he actually was asked to do a bit more than simply manage the game. In recent wins over St. Louis and Denver, Smith only had to do so much in order to get the 49ers a win. This game, the team fell behind because Tampa Bay stuffed the box with 8-9 guys to stop Frank Gore from rushing. Smith threw an interception and was sacked six times.

Cheers: Having 16 NFL games over the weekend. For the first time since Week 3, nobody had a "bye" which packed the weekend with games and gave no excuses for bad fantasy football performances because star players had the week off.
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Alright, onto the preview for this upcoming weekend:

Thanksgiving football is always a pleasure to watch. These year's games don't necessarily feature marquee matchups in the sense of even or close records, but nonetheless there are some good games. In the morning game, the New England Patriots (8-2) travel to Detroit to take on the Lions (2-8), who are a staple of Turkey Day football. In the midday, the Dallas Cowboys (3-7) host the New Orleans Saints (7-3). The Saints might have running/receiving/special teams threat Reggie Bush back in uniform for the first time since Week 2. Dallas is playing much better, and is at home, so my best is this could be a close game. The evening game (on that darn NFL Network) features a rematch of an opening round playoff game from this past January. The struggling Cincinnati Bengals (2-8) head to New York (technically, New Jersey) to take on the Jets (8-2). The Bengals have lost six straight, including what I mentioned about the disaster last weekend against Buffalo. The Jets have won three straight games that came down to the wire. Terrell Owens is already fueling the fire, probably something he shouldn't do. Despite being a Bengals fan, I hope Owens winds up with one catch for seven yards.

As for Sunday's slate, there are 3-4 terrific matchups, depending on what your definition of that is. In the morning, the red hot Green Bay Packers (7-3) take to the road to play the Atlanta Falcons (8-2) who are a nearly-impossible team to beat inside the Georgia Dome. Michael Vick at the Philadelphia Eagles (7-3) take on the Chicago Bears (7-3) at Soldier Field, a team who's quietly tied for first atop the NFC North. One of this season surprise teams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-3), will be in Baltimore to take on the Ravens (7-3). It's taken all year to convince me, but at this point I am 93.7% convinced that the Buccaneers are for real. If they win this game, or even make it close on the road against the gritty Ravens, I'll move that number towards 100%. In the night cap, the San Diego Chargers (5-5) play at the Indianapolis Colts (6-4). The San Diego Chargers are heating up, as they always do this time of year. In 2008, the Chargers entered November with a 3-5 record, and wound up 8-8 in the playoffs. In 2009, San Diego entered November 3-3, and won out, finishing 13-3. San Diego entered November this season 3-5, and has won both of their November contests. Classic Chargers football. The Chargers get wide receiver Vincent Jackson back this week, which will be a great boost to their already top ranked pass offense.

Here's how we guarantee that Week 12 will go down:
Thursday-
New England over Detroit
Dallas over New Orleans
NY Jets over Cincinnati

Sunday-
Atlanta over Green Bay
Pittsburgh over Buffalo
Cleveland over Carolina
NY Giants over Jacksonville
Minnesota over Washington
Houston over Tennessee
Oakland over Miami
Seattle over Kansas City
Philadelphia over Chicago
Denver over St. Louis
Baltimore over Tampa Bay
San Diego over Indianapolis

Monday-
San Francisco over Arizona (3-7 team versus 3-7 team, worst MNF matchup ever)