Welcome to the week fourteen edition of 'The Lo Down'. This week we have seen close games, blow-out wins and crazy weather!
The Green Bay vs Detroit game was always going to be a great match between NFC North rivals and the snow just added to the occasion.
The Lions at first did not seem to be fazed by the occasion or weather as they built an early 14 point lead. Unfortunately as the weather worsened so did the Lions grip on the game with the turning point coming when Mike Daniels returned a Matthew Stafford fumble 43 yards for a score with just over six minutes left in the second quarter. Daniels score made it 14-10 to the Lions going into halftime and proved to be just the inspiration that Aaron Rodgers required to bring the Packers back to beat the Lions 27 - 20.
I have also seen a great stat this week and that is that Green Bay have not lost to Detroit in 22 home games, and I thought our (Buffalo Bills) seven year losing streak to the Patriots was bad ;)
The Green Bay vs Detroit game was always going to be a great match between NFC North rivals and the snow just added to the occasion.
The Lions at first did not seem to be fazed by the occasion or weather as they built an early 14 point lead. Unfortunately as the weather worsened so did the Lions grip on the game with the turning point coming when Mike Daniels returned a Matthew Stafford fumble 43 yards for a score with just over six minutes left in the second quarter. Daniels score made it 14-10 to the Lions going into halftime and proved to be just the inspiration that Aaron Rodgers required to bring the Packers back to beat the Lions 27 - 20.
I have also seen a great stat this week and that is that Green Bay have not lost to Detroit in 22 home games, and I thought our (Buffalo Bills) seven year losing streak to the Patriots was bad ;)
Okay so lets move onto one of the more intriguing matches of the week and that is the Ravens vs the Redskins. For those who listen to my podcast 'Spitball' you will know that this was my schwing of the week with the Redskins to come out on top! This match started out as expected with the way Robert Griffin III has been playing lately and that is with him completing a four yard pass to Joshua Morgan. On this drive we also saw why Alfred Morris is so highly rated as he bust off a few big runs over 20 yards, although one of these was pulled back for a holding penalty against Washington.
Not wanting to be left behind the Ravens had the game tied at seven all thanks to one of my favourite receivers Anquan Boldin who caught a 19 yard pass from Joe Flacco. I have a lot of time for Anquan and think that he often gets overlooked in an offence that contains Ray Rice, Torey Smith, Joe Flacco etc. In his ten seasons in the league he has accumulated over 10,000 yards receiving and has scored 58 touchdowns. In my eyes he is the best receiver, talent wise they have on the roster, I mean sure he does not have the speed of Torey Smith but he makes up for this with his body control and ability to make clutch catches in big situations.
Okay so on with the game itself and the rest of the first half which continued in the same vain of trading scores leaving the half time score 21 - 14 in favour of the Ravens. The second half was a different story however with the Redskins scoring two field goals in the third quarter making it 21-20 to the Ravens as the fourth quarter began. The first 11 minutes of the fourth quarter saw both defences stepping up the heat forcing the opposition to punt on multiple occasions. The game was deadlocked until Ray Rice scored on a seven yard run with less than five minutes to go in the game. With the Redskins down by eight points late in the game it was almost too predictable with what happened next!!!
RG III began to drive his team down the field looking for the tying score and all was going well until the end of a 13 yard scramble by the quarterback. During the tackle by Ngata Griffin seemed to fall and land awkwardly on his knee. Griffin came out for one play and then back in for four plays but after his deep completion could no longer continue. Cue another Redskins rookie Kirk Cousins who came in and completed two of two passes including the tying 11 yard score to Pierre Garcon before running in the two point conversion to tie the game.
RG III began to drive his team down the field looking for the tying score and all was going well until the end of a 13 yard scramble by the quarterback. During the tackle by Ngata Griffin seemed to fall and land awkwardly on his knee. Griffin came out for one play and then back in for four plays but after his deep completion could no longer continue. Cue another Redskins rookie Kirk Cousins who came in and completed two of two passes including the tying 11 yard score to Pierre Garcon before running in the two point conversion to tie the game.
So yet another game this year found it's way into overtime and the Ravens chose to receive the ball first. Unfortunately for them they were unable to move the ball and were forced to punt the ball to Washington. The punt was then returned to the Baltimore 24 yard line by another rookie called Richard Crawford. This return then set up the game winning field goal which was kicked from 34 yards by Kai Forbath. I don't know about all of you out there but I'm certainly starting to get Redskins fever thanks to Alfred Morris, Robert Griffin III and one my favourite linebackers London Fletcher (coincidently he is an ex Buffalo player) ;)
Before we move onto my final thoughts of the week let us take a look at all the scores from week 14:
Broncos 23 vs 16 Raiders
Rams 15 vs 12 Bills
Ravens 28 vs 31 Redskins
Chiefs 7 vs 30 Browns
Falcons 20 vs 30 Panthers
Bears 14 vs 21 Vikings
Cowboys 20 vs 19 Bengals
Titans 23 vs 27 Colts
Jets 17 vs 10 Jaguars
Chargers 34 vs 24 Steelers
Eagles 23 vs 21 Buccaneers
Dolphins 13 vs 27 49ers
Saints 27 vs 52 Giants
Cardinals 0 vs 58 Seahawks
Lions 20 vs 27 Packers
Texans 14 vs 42 Patriots
Broncos 23 vs 16 Raiders
Rams 15 vs 12 Bills
Ravens 28 vs 31 Redskins
Chiefs 7 vs 30 Browns
Falcons 20 vs 30 Panthers
Bears 14 vs 21 Vikings
Cowboys 20 vs 19 Bengals
Titans 23 vs 27 Colts
Jets 17 vs 10 Jaguars
Chargers 34 vs 24 Steelers
Eagles 23 vs 21 Buccaneers
Dolphins 13 vs 27 49ers
Saints 27 vs 52 Giants
Cardinals 0 vs 58 Seahawks
Lions 20 vs 27 Packers
Texans 14 vs 42 Patriots
I'm sure you can all now see what I meant when I said that this week was home to the blow-out win. The Seattle Seahawks just absolutely destroyed the Arizona Cardinals and the New York Giants did not hold back against New Orleans Saints either.
With the playoffs just around the corner, instead of my weekly awards we will have a catch up on the playoff picture between now and the end of the regular season. For the loyal fans of the 'Megatron' and 'Ray Lewis' awards have no fear as myself and Marcus will continue to include them on the podcast 'Spitball'.
The New England Patriots sent shock waves through the AFC on Monday Night with the way the dominated the game against the conference leading Houston Texans. To get a feel for the game please click on the picture to the left to view the game highlights.
The Patriots moved back to the number two spot in the AFC just one game behind the Texans with three games left to play. The Denver Broncos also improved their record to 10-3 this week and if they are not careful the Texans could fall out of the top two costing them home field advantage in the playoffs.
The Patriots moved back to the number two spot in the AFC just one game behind the Texans with three games left to play. The Denver Broncos also improved their record to 10-3 this week and if they are not careful the Texans could fall out of the top two costing them home field advantage in the playoffs.
The teams behind the top three at the moment are the Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers. The only one of these three teams to win this week were the Colts and so it looks as though the AFC North is still up for grabs with some key divisional games left to play.
Let's turn the spotlight over to the NFC where the Atlanta Falcons have already sealed their place in the post season. If you happened to catch their game with Carolina this week you wouldn't have known they were a playoff bound team let alone the top seed in the NFC!
Other teams in playoff contention are the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, Chicago Bears and the Seattle Seahawks. All of these teams won this week staying in the same positions as last week with the exception of the Chicago Bears. The Bears met a Vikings team who were no longer going to put up with being handled by them. This week we again saw the difference Adrian Peterson can make on any game as he rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns. The Vikings defence also really stepped up this week as they held the Bears to 14 points by intercepting Jay Cutler twice, one of which was returned for a 56 yard touchdown. Not only did Minnesota manage a win against their division rivals but they also kept their playoff hopes alive by moving onto a 7-6 record!
Other teams in playoff contention are the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, New York Giants, Chicago Bears and the Seattle Seahawks. All of these teams won this week staying in the same positions as last week with the exception of the Chicago Bears. The Bears met a Vikings team who were no longer going to put up with being handled by them. This week we again saw the difference Adrian Peterson can make on any game as he rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns. The Vikings defence also really stepped up this week as they held the Bears to 14 points by intercepting Jay Cutler twice, one of which was returned for a 56 yard touchdown. Not only did Minnesota manage a win against their division rivals but they also kept their playoff hopes alive by moving onto a 7-6 record!
Well that is just about it from me this week but before I go I just want to say that we are in for a rollercoaster ride over the next few weeks as the season draws to a close and I for one will be glued to the TV. Until next week football fans stay safe and take care.