The Montauk BeverageWorks Delicious Performance of the Week:
Marshawn Lynch, Seahawks. Lynch had the run of a lifetime to clinch the shocking upset of the Saints. It's hard to put into words--but I will fully admit that I have already Youtube'd it about a dozen times. If it was a game of Madden, the guy playing defense would have thrown his controller through the television screen eight different times. Sure, if you take away this play Lynch's day was rather pedestrian. But I suppose that's the whole mantra behind 'ground and pound.' Lynch got the tough yards early in the game, hoping they would pay dividends later on. By the time the 4th quarter rolled around, Lynch's will to score was bigger than the Saints' will to tackle him. And if it wasn't Lynch who won this award, it would certainly be his own quarterback Matt Hasselbeck. A nearly-flawless performance from the guy who didn't even play in last week's clincher against St. Louis. Hasselbeck chucked four touchdowns to guys that either nobody heard of six months ago or nobody wanted six months ago. What a game. What an upset. And good God almighty what a run.
The Favorite Flop of the Week:
Ok, we all know the real answer. But it's time to talk about another game from the weekend. So this dishonor will have to go to the Philadelphia Eagles. There were so many momentum swings in the Eagles/Packers game...Green Bay dominating early, the Eagles making a few huge plays to rally back, and a topsy-turvy final five minutes that had the Packers clinging to dear life. But Michael Vick's game winning touchdown turned into a game-winning interception going the other way. If there was any doubt about Vick being banged up before the game, the Packers made sure he felt everything with their hellacious blitz on the first play of the game. Vick was noticeably hampered all night. When he ran, things didn't go into video game mode where he's faster than everyone else and picking up insane chunks of yards. He was tracked down by guys yesterday that would have no chance of catching him if he were 100%. Philly's defense wasn't great (no one expected the Pack to have that much running success) but holding Rodgers and the boys to 21 points is commendable. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, their offense that's built on big plays came up one big play short.
The Underdog Uprising of the Week:
The New. York. Football. Jets. Full disclosure: many Colts were hurt, this game is nothing like beating Indy's team last year, Jets fans may overreact a little with the BRING ON THE PATS bravado this week. Fair? Now onto the game. As expected, the Jets never really got near Peyton Manning with any pressure. Based on the results this season, the expectation would be that the Jets blitzes were just failing. But Rex Ryan de-Rex'd himself this week. Gone were the exotic blitz packages and schemes. Arriving were the zone coverages (with Revis on Wayne) that seemed to have Indy confused. The strategy left the Jets naked against the Colts run attack (how many 3rd and 5+ were converted by Addai? It was painful.) But you can't argue with the results. The Colts threw their way to a four-game winning streak to end the season, and 20+ points was a virtual lock for them all season. Except for one blown coverage on the Garcon touchdown, Manning was greatly neutralized. The Jets held strong on every big 3rd down, and gave their offense an excellent chance to win. It would have been a bit easier if Sanchez aimed for receivers' knees instead of their chests, as all of his throws were 5 feet too high for some reason. But the biggest throws were on target and all the receivers were worked into the gameplan nicely. Cromartie and Folk made the biggest plays at the end, and Jets-Pats III all goes down Sunday afternoon.
- Well, we've exhausted three out of four games from this past weekend. Just a few words on Baltimore's beatdown of Kansas City. Matt Cassel was...icky. The Ravens toyed with the Chiefs offense (distracted by Weis leaving?) Jamaal Charles made one big run, otherwise it was a complete and utter destruction. Whenever Kansas City was fortunate enough to gain five or so yards, they would fumble the ball on the tackle. The Chief defense wasn't great, but they weren't given much of a chance either. Baltimore-Pittsburgh will be fun next week.
Go Hawks :)
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