On the 62nd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, NFL schedule makers put together some wars of their own, with direct bearing on the post season. Games in the NFC East, and entire AFC pitted first against second place.
Dallas at Philadelphia
Only a drug addicted right wing radio commentator would think Donovan McNabb wasn’t up to the task of leading an NFL team to the playoffs.
McNabb, who said all along the Philadelphia Eagles were the team to beat in the NFC East, threw for 248 yards and three touchdowns, helping the Eagles clinch a playoff spot with their eighth straight victory, 36-10 over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
The Eagles (10-3), now have the best record in the NFC and clinch their third straight division title with two more victories or one win and another loss by the Cowboys (8-5). Philadelphia hasn’t lost since a 23-21 defeat in Dallas on Oct. 12.
Miami at New England
Miami’s annual December collapse may be underway.
Tedy Bruschi returned an interception 5 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown, and the New England Patriots beat the Dolphins 12-0 Sunday to become the first team to clinch a division title this season.
The Patriots (11-2) won their ninth consecutive game, including two over division rival Miami (8-5) which would give them an edge in a tiebreaker. The shutout was New England’s second in four games, both 12-0, and the first sustained by the Dolphins in 32 games. The Patriots won without an offensive touchdown.
With Ricky Williams leading their running game, the Dolphins were expected to benefit more from a field made sloppy by a nor’easter that dumped 28 inches of snow on Foxboro. Instead, they struggled to move the ball all game, and he finished with 68 yards on 25 carries.
The closest the Dolphins came to scoring was late in the third quarter when they moved from their 37-yard line to a third-and-3 at the Patriots 10. Then a blitzing Rodney Harrison jarred the ball loose from Fiedler and Mike Vrabel recovered for New England at the 30.
Cincinnati at Baltimore
The battle of the Baltimore Ravens defense versus their former defensive coordinator ended in a victory for the Ravens, who gained sole possession of first place in the AFC North with a 31-13 victory over Marvin Lewis and the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday.
Cincinnati committed five turnovers, yielded a season-high six sacks and had no answer for the punishing runs of Ravens running back Jamal Lewis, who scored a career-high three touchdowns on runs of 1, 3 and 13 yards and 180 yards total rushing.
The Bengals (7-6) came in looking to enhance their turnaround season with a fifth straight win. Baltimore (8-5) moved a game ahead of the Bengals in the AFC North.
Indianapolis at Tennessee
Edgerrin James ran for two touchdowns and Mike Vanderjagt kicked five field goals as the Indianapolis Colts beat Tennessee 29-27 to sweep the defending division champion Titans, taking control of the AFC South with three games remaining.
The Colts (10-3) improved to 6-1 on the road by scoring 19 straight points and forcing four fumbles, which they turned into nine points.
In this game featuring would-be MVP quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Steve McNair, Manning easily outplayed McNair, even using his legs to scramble for a couple of first downs. He ran for 20 yards and was 22-of-34 for 228 yards.
McNair still nearly rallied the Titans (9-4) to a tie, throwing two touchdown passes in the final 9:24 and even running for a 2-point conversion.
McNair pulled the Titans within 29-27 with 1:52 to go with his second TD toss, a 2-yarder to Derrick Mason. McNair tried to find Mason again on the 2-point conversion, but defensive end Dwight Freeney, held to one sack, tipped the ball, and it fell incomplete.
Kansas City at Denver
A battle of AFC West rivals didn’t disappoint and tightened the playoff picture to boot.
Clinton Portis had 218 yards and a team-record five touchdowns, leading Denver to a wild 45-27 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday that kept the Broncos within reach of their first playoff appearance in three years.
He had touchdown runs of 11 and 1 yards in the first half, then added scores of 59, 28 and 53 yards in the second to turn the game into a rout. Portis had 188 yards after halftime and finished with his fifth consecutive 100-yard game - third straight with at least 160 yards.
Portis’ effort helped Denver (8-5) tie Miami for the final AFC playoff spot and prevented Kansas City (11-2) from winning its first division title since 1997.
And in meaningless football action….
Of course with all of these exciting football games going on, wouldn’t you know here in New York City we were subjected to watching our home teams. I had to suffer through a matchup of bottom feeders, the previously-tied-for-last-place-in-the-NFC-East Washington Redskins against the Giants. New York now has last place all to themselves. The Skins Bruce Smith also has the all-time career sack leadership with 199.
‘Nuff said about that.
College football needs a tournament
USC, despite being ranked No. 1 in both the AP and ESPN/coaches, will not play for the national championship. LSU, ranked second on both polls, and Oklahoma which was drilled in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday, will. According to the final BCS standings announced Sunday, the Trojans – who were hurt by their marginally weaker strength of schedule – will play Michigan in the Rose Bowl while LSU faces Oklahoma in the Sugar.
It’s a miscarriage of justice, plain and simple. Either USC should play LSU for the national championship, or there should be a tournament to decide on the field once and for all who is the best team. The answer is probably both.
Because both polls will have to pick a number 1 finisher after the bowl games, there is still a chance USC can get the title. But it all seems so unnecessary and certainly calls into question the very need for the BCS system which was designed to address such inconsistencies.