Week Fifteen in Review

Thursday Night:

The Major Story Lines

Did either defense step up in this game? The Chargers defense sure did. The pass defense that was ranked 32nd in the league by Football Outsiders more than held their own against the vaunted Broncos offense. Forcing Manning and company to three consecutive three and outs before the first half was huge. Chargers defensive coordinator John Pagano came up with a masterful pressure package backed by two deep safety looks. This defense has rightfully taken flack all season, so their performance tonight was stunning. The Broncos defense, on the other hand, had by far their worst game. They could not stop the run, and consistently failed to get off the field on third downs. Von Miller too often disappeared, and many of the players looked out of sync with one another. This defensive line has been a nice unit all season, but they were completely blown off the ball tonight. Do not let the “Peyton Manning can’t play in the cold” narrative take the spotlight from a marvelous effort by the Chargers defense.
The preview article laid out for you a number of ways the Chargers could exploit some holes in the Broncos defense. The Chargers took none of those avenues to success. Instead, the Chargers pounded the ball with Ryan Mathews. Mathews was completely left for dead by just about every analyst this summer, but is turning in a stellar season. Tonight was the highest note of his young career. Mathews ran with great vision, determination, and burst. The Broncos had a good run defense coming in, but Mathews consistently darted through gaps on his twenty-nine carries. He powered through defenders for extra yards. Give a lot of credit to Ken Whisenhunt for putting the young running back in position to finally look like the player he was coming out of school a few years ago. The way the Chargers played ball control offense, and the contributions of their defense, negated the need to put up forty plus points.

Reviewing the Biggest Matchup to Watch
Keenan Allen vs. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie

The self-validating Keenan Allen hype train was chugging all over Twitter during the game. Allen only had two catches, but both went for touchdowns. Even more impressive, they both came on third downs. His two scores really showed all the positive traits highlighted about Allen in the preview section for this game. His explosiveness in short areas helped him race to the goal line on his first touchdown, while his fast breaks and good hands helped him net his second. Even though he only had two catches, his impact was felt.
Rodgers-Cromartie actually had some success on Allen; after all, the rookie only had two catches. Though some of that was due to a lack of a need for the downfield passing game by the Chargers. Allen’s first score came on a crossing route across the entirety of the zone defense. His second one came when he beat fellow third-round rookie Keyvon Webster in the end zone. The rest of the defense did not match DRC’s performance, and the Chargers were wise to avoid him for most of the evening.

Whipping Around the Weekend:

The Major Storylines

The Lions did indeed fail to hold onto their division lead. With their losing on Monday night, the Lions will now be completely eliminated from playoff contention if the Bears and Packers win next week. For more on their fall from grace, check out the Monday Night Game Review below.
Kirk Cousins was something of a mixed bag today. He did some incredibly impressive things, but also showed the flaws that should make any team very nervous about sending a premium pick for him in a trade. Cousins showed great pocket presence, and stood tall in the face of the rush. You will likely hear many media outlets wonder why the offensive line suddenly improved with Cousins under center. There really was not much of a difference in regards to the line play. At this point in their respective careers, Cousins is much more advanced in the pocket, and does not create pressure for himself like Robert Griffin does. The former Michigan State quarterback also uncorked a number of phenomenal deep balls, which was pretty shocking. On the negative side, on his two interceptions Cousins showed how his limited physical skill set will always hold him back. Perhaps this was the best possible result for Washington. Cousins may have shown just enough to trick some team into sending them a high draft pick, but not so much to have Redskins fans ludicrously clamoring for him to be the future starting quarterback.
For the second time this season, Matt Flynn turned things around at the half and played out of his mind to carry the Packers to a win. Flynn tossed four touchdown passes to come back from a 26-3 deficit at halftime. He was, however, greatly assisted by the Cowboys atrocious defense and an all too familiar Tony Romo fourth quarter bungle. Nevertheless, Flynn did what was needed of him to keep his team above water for another week. If Superman comes back to rescue this team next week, Flynn can rest knowing he did the Packers well.
The Miami Dolphins did indeed pull off the upset over the Patriots. Ryan Tannehill played very well against the sinking Patriots defense, and his own stop-unit harassed Tom Brady. When the Dolphins took the lead late with less than three minutes remaining, it felt like Tom Brady mounting a game winning drive was a forgone conclusion. Brady took the Patriots into the red zone, but threw a costly interception on the final play of the game. The Dolphins put themselves in a nice position for a playoff spot, if everything else breaks their way.
When Jay Cutler threw two first half interceptions, it certainly looked like Marc Trestman’s call at quarterback was going to blow up in his face. Cuter’s footwork was a nightmare on both of his interceptions. Trestman’s coaching was not apparent, and the time off looked to have allowed old habits to reemerge. However, jumping to conclusions in the NFL is never smart. Cutler was lights out in the second half and showed why, when at his best, he is the best option for this team at quarterback. He will only get better as time wears on. Good move, quarterback whisper.

The Best Matchups to Watch
1) Torrey Smith vs. the Lions corners

Torrey Smith was held to a somewhat modest 69 yards on four catches. Smith's catches were not of his deep bomb specialty, but came more from when he ran over the middle. The Lions clearly respected his deep ball ability. Smith has worked very hard to be become a complete player, but his work has been overshadowed by the lack of other options in this offense. The late season sputter he is in has helped show that he is simply too easy for opposing defenses to take away.
The Lions still played a lot of off coverage when dealing with Smith, but it worked pretty well. Giving him such a cushion did allow him to make some of this catches over the middle, but it did prevent him from going over the top. Rashean Mathis in particular, displayed great technique when he prevented Smith from grabbing a big catch down the sideline. Mathis stay disciplined and did not bite on a nice double move by Smith. The Lions pass rush in the second held also helped to negate any chance Joe Flacco had of finding Smith deep.

2) Hakeem Nicks vs. Richard Sherman

Richard Sherman snaring an Eli Manning interception was an easy call. The fact he grabbed two really was not all that surprising either. For some reason, Manning continually tested Sherman’s side of the field, and paid the price. In addition to his own set of picks, Sherman was really the driving force behind Earl Thomas’ interception in the end zone; tipping the pass into the air for Thomas to secure. Sherman was at his absolute best against the Giants today.
Hakeem Nicks predictably fell back to Earth against Sherman and the Seahawks. He once again showed that he does not yet have the physicality necessary to fight for 50/50 balls. Not so coincidentally, Nicks was the target on the majority of Eli Manning’s five interceptions.

3) Jordan Todman vs. Kiko Alonso

Jordan Todman may well have secured the starting running back job for the 2014 Jaguars. Todman looked quick, explosive, and much more adept at squeezing through the small holes the offensive line opens up. Also a capable receiver out of the backfield, there is little Todman cannot do for this offense. MJD has had a better season than his stats indicate, but Todman presented a visible upgrade over the vetean running back.
Kiko Alonso really struggled to get off blocks against the Jaguars. On Denard Robinson’s almost touchdown run, he was completely washed out of the play. In a bit of a twist for a young linebacker, Alonso is so much better going in reverse than coming downhill. He can make a quick-twitch move to recover from a play action fake, and that is very impressive. However, his struggles against the run are beyond disturbing.

4) Browns running backs vs. Bears front seven from my Roto Rants column

NFL.com’s Marc Sessler accurately predicted that the earth would be forced to collapse into itself when these two teams met. With the Browns running backs being incapable, and the Bears run defense being a sieve, it was not pretty. The Bears still got blown off the ball, but the Browns runners were so slow to the hole, it did not matter. Edwin Baker rose from the ranks of anonymity to lead the Browns with eight carries for 38 yards. From the fantasy perspective, as was predicted in the Roto Rants piece, this was always a situation to avoid.

Parting Shots

Matt Ryan was pretty unimpressive today. He put up some decent numbers against a porous Redskins secondary, but those stats lie in a way. Usually a well-oiled machine, Ryan made several mechanical mistakes and poor decisions. He has done nothing to dispel the notion that he is not an elite player without top weapons around him.
Conversely, the Falcons running back looked good. Steven Jackson is still one of the toughest runners in the NFL and plowed over several defenders. Running back should not be an offseason target for the needy Atlanta Falcons.
More Andy Dalton inconsistencies. He has passes batted down far too often and throws what might be the worst out route amongst starting quarterbacks. Luckily for him, he cannot take all the blame for this loss. The entire Bengals team looked to be asleep in the first half. Falling down 24-0 against the average Steelers is damning to any hope that the Bengals are not just the same old Bengals of the last two seasons.
The NBC commentators were determined to make the Steelers out to be a better team than they truly are. As Chris Collinsworth rattled off excuse after excuse for this team, he might as well have just said "you have to wonder what the Steelers could have been if they just played better!" The truth is, the Steelers roster and coaching has deteriorated and they are just an average team. They are capable of beating teams like this, but just as capable of losing them as well.
The Saints have put themselves in an awkward position. Losing to the Rams only validates the concerns many have about them as a road team. Everything from Drew Brees to the defense underperformed for the Saints on Sunday. Just like against the Jets several weeks ago, the Saints allowed an inferior, but more physical, team to push them around. The Panthers can absolutely beat them that same way when the Saints come to Carolina next week. They must do so to steal the NFC South crown, and prove they are legit.
The Eagles caught a lucky break today. They lost a game they should have won to the Vikings, but were fortunate that Dallas also squandered a win. The Eagles retained first place of the NFC East, but they must tighten up a defense that had been looking very good prior to this week.
The man who picked apart that Eagles defense, Matt Cassel, was once again very solid. Quietly Cassel has put up a few quality performances when called upon. The Vikings would be wise to bring him back as a bridge to a rookie quarterback.

Monday Night Game:

Baltimore Ravens- 18 at Detroit Lions- 16
Reviewing the Game:

Frankly, neither team was all that impressive in this game. The Ravens once again could not run the ball a lick, and their pass protection completely crumbled in the second half. The Ravens needed six field goals from their kicker to win this game. It will be hard to be succesful with that formula if they get into the playoffs. The Lions saw two of their best players Matt Stafford and Calvin Johnson turn in pretty bad performances. In the end, the conclusion of this game really summed up both teams pretty well. The Ravens did just enough to win, and the Lions completely folded in the clutch.

The Lions Perspective:

This is the type of loss that gets people fired, and rightfully so. The Lions were their typical undisciplined selves all game, but were painfully bad in the biggest moments. Their best player dropped three passes, and one that would have netted a crucial two-point conversion. This team lacks composure and has now all but choked away the easiest path to winning their division they will ever be granted. That all comes back to their head coach. It’s usually never wise to feel this way, but Jim Schwartz must be shown the door in the wake of this atrocity.
Matthew Stafford is in the middle of another regression. Part of it has to do with the team’s ridiculous insistence to throw the ball way too often, despite having two talented running backs. However, his decision-making was atrocious tonight. He side-armed another interception and threw away the game on the final drive.

The Ravens Perspective:

It is never pretty for the Ravens, but they got the job done once again. They owe most of this win to their defense and kicker. The defense put just enough heat on Stafford to pressure him into some bad throws, and wiped out the running game after the first quarter. Justin Tucker nailed six field goals, including the game winning sixty-yarder, and was the MVP on the night. He only improved his standing with America when he gave a postgame shout out to all his fantasy football owners.
The way the Ravens played tonight, it is hard to believe they would do much if they managed to fall ass-backwards into the playoffs. Of course, that was pretty much the same feeling you had with them last season. There does seem to be an unquantifiable aspect with this team that gives them the presence to calmly win big games.

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