The battle for the AFC North continues to heat up and this last week two of the contenders faced off as the Cleveland Browns played host to the Cincinnati Bengals.
The game itself was always going to be spectacle and it became even more so when the announcement was made that Johnny Manziel aka Johnny Football was going to be starting at quarterback for the Browns.
Manziel only played College football for two years but during those two years with Texas A&M he passed for 7820 yards and 63 touchdowns. He was also a major threat on the ground rushing for 2169 yards and scoring 30 touchdowns. I’m sure any college running back would take those rushing stats over a two year period so to achieve those numbers as a quarterback is quite phenomenal really!
Back to the game itself and unfortunately for Manziel his starting performance was pretty lackluster compared to his days at Texas A&M. During the game he was found throwing passes to high for receivers and he was also constantly being pressured by the Bengals who sacked him three times.
Of course like all team sports the blame for the Browns poor performance does not solely rest with one person, the whole team really need to take a look at themselves because one more loss will result in their season being over. You can see the highlights from this one by clicking on the picture below:
Pittsburgh and Baltimore are the other two teams in this division battle and they both had big wins this week against the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars respectively. You can see the highlights from both of their games by clicking on the pictures below:
The AFC North is now finely poised with three teams on nine wins and in week 17 we have the last division games with Cleveland at Baltimore and Cincinnati at Pittsburgh. For your reference here is how the AFC North currently stands with two weeks left to play:
Cincinnati 9 - 4 – 1
Pittsburgh 9 – 5
Baltimore 9 – 5
Cleveland 7 – 7
Cincinnati 9 - 4 – 1
Pittsburgh 9 – 5
Baltimore 9 – 5
Cleveland 7 – 7
Now that’s enough about the AFC North for now, let’s take a look at some of the other AFC teams fighting to get to the post season.
In the AFC East New England were in a position to clinch the division with a victory over Miami. Normally you would say this was a fore gone conclusion but in recent years the Dolphins have had some big victories over the Patriots.
On the first play from scrimmage Ryan Tannehill threw a pass 50 yards down field to a grateful Mike Wallace and it looked as though Miami were here to play. Unfortunately for them just four short plays later the ball was being taken into their endzone by Kyle Arrington following a blocked field goal which he had run back 62 yards.
Despite this setback Miami forced a turnover on the Patriots next drive as Jason Trusnik intercepted a Tom Brady pass intended for Brandon LaFell. Miami then managed a field goal off this turnover and by halftime they were trailing the Patriots by one point.
The second half however was a different story with the New England Patriots putting on a clinic and scoring 27 unanswered points in the process. This was a big win for New England who have now booked their place in the playoffs by clinching the AFC East division title for the sixth straight year. You can watch the highlights by clicking on the picture below:
While I am talking about the AFC East it would be rude of me not to talk about the great performance from my mighty Buffalo Bills this week, I mean this victory literally had me ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’.
The Bills played host to the Green Bay Packers this week and to be honest all week I was not expecting anything from this game and thought that our playoff hopes would come to a crashing end. Then just before the game kicked off I saw a stat that made me think just maybe it was going to be our day. What was the stat? I hear you asking, well it was that Green Bay had never won a game in Ralph Wilson Stadium and are 0 - 5 against the Bills in Buffalo. It was that little glimmer that had me clinging to the edge of my seat for the entire contest.
Rather than talking endlessly about how proud I am of the team and their performance I will let you see how great they are by clicking on the picture below to see the highlights:
I think that is enough for now about the AFC so let us move onto the NFC and in the NFC West the San Francisco 49ers were playing with their season hanging in the balance. This week the 49ers needed a win to stay in contention, anything else and it was season over for another year. Fate can be cruel sometimes and just when they needed an easy game they had quite the opposite against the defending champions, the Seattle Seahawks.
Just two short weeks ago the Seahawks got the better of the 49ers on Thanksgiving by winning 19 - 3. In fact the last few weeks in general the 49ers have not being playing well at all and you have to think that Jim Harbaugh has lost that locker room because none of the players seem to be at their best at all. I know I have not mentioned it much if at all this year but there has been constant speculation throughout the season that this would be his last in charge of San Francisco and that is no way to create a championship winning team!
As you can tell by the tone of my writing it was again not a good week to be a 49ers fan because the Seahawks won this game reasonably comfortably as you will see by clicking on the picture below to view the highlights:
We are near the end of this weeks blog now but before I finish off, here are all of the scores from week 15 with the exception of the game to be played later tonight:
Arizona 12 vs 6 St Louis
Pittsburgh 27 vs 20 Atlanta
Jacksonville 12 vs 20 Baltimore
Green Bay 13 vs 21 Buffalo
Tampa Bay 17 vs 19 Carolina
Cincinnati 30 vs 0 Cleveland
Houston 10 vs 17 Indianapolis
Oakland 13 vs 31 Kansas City
Miami 13 vs 41 New England
Washington 13 vs 24 New York Giants
Denver 22 vs 10 San Diego
New York Jets 16 vs 11 Tennessee
Minnesota 14 vs 16 Detroit
San Francisco 7 vs 17 Seattle
Dallas 38 vs 27 Philadelphia
To be played Monday 15th December 2014
New Orleans vs Chicago
Arizona 12 vs 6 St Louis
Pittsburgh 27 vs 20 Atlanta
Jacksonville 12 vs 20 Baltimore
Green Bay 13 vs 21 Buffalo
Tampa Bay 17 vs 19 Carolina
Cincinnati 30 vs 0 Cleveland
Houston 10 vs 17 Indianapolis
Oakland 13 vs 31 Kansas City
Miami 13 vs 41 New England
Washington 13 vs 24 New York Giants
Denver 22 vs 10 San Diego
New York Jets 16 vs 11 Tennessee
Minnesota 14 vs 16 Detroit
San Francisco 7 vs 17 Seattle
Dallas 38 vs 27 Philadelphia
To be played Monday 15th December 2014
New Orleans vs Chicago
There is so much still to talk about from this weeks action but unfortunately that is all she wrote for this weeks blog. If you want to hear more of my thoughts on this weeks action then check out our podcast ‘Spitball’ when it is posted later in the week.
Until next time football fans stay safe, take care and ‘Thanks for Stopping By’.