NFL Week 14 Recap
Culture Glaze Recaps Week 14 in the NFL!
NFL Week 14 recap in 2014
Week 14 saw the playoff picture starting to form. We started to see some teams be officially eliminated (Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers), some gain some ground on the competition (New England Patriots), and others score victory that counts in the both the record book and as a moral one (Oakland Raiders). Read below for the NFL Week 14 Recap!
Thursday Night
Dallas Cowboys 41 — Chicago Bears 28
One can only imagine that the Dallas Cowboys were salivating at the thought of playing the Bears like a dog watching a steak sizzle on a grill on a warm August day (mmmmm….steak). The Cowboys entered the game at 8–8 with three games left after this one. With a win, they would be above .500 for the first time since 2009 when they went 11–5 and lost to the Minnesota Vikings in the Divisional Round 34–3. The Bears on the other hand were grasping at some thin hope that if they won out and a number of other teams lost the remainder of their games that they would squeak into the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Bears, the Cowboys had no interest in playing a part in their Cinderella story.The game started off slow with neither team scoring in the first quarter, but things soon picked up. DeMarco Murray scored from the goal line as the Cowboys struck first. Shortly after Martellus Bennett scored on a nifty pass from Jay Cutler to tie things up, but it was short lived as the Cowboys marched 72 yards to score on Tony Romo and Cole Beasly hook up. The third quarter was all Cowboys as they scored three more times, two Romo touchdowns and a beautiful Joseph Randle 17-yard run that saw him dodge about twelve Bears tacklers. The Bears would go on to score three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but those were mostly garbage TDs with the Cowboys playing conservatively. The big takeaway is that the Cowboy’s offense seems to be rolling. They’ve won three of their last four games and the offense has scored more than 31 points in those wins. DeMarco Murray rushed for a season high 179-yards and Cole Beasley found the end zone twice thanks to Tony Romo. The Cowboys will look for revenge next week against the Philadelphia Eagles who beat them in Week 13 33–10.
Sunday Games
Pittsburgh Steelers 42 — Cincinnati Bengals 21
The Pittsburgh Steelers gained some ground on the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday after they came from behind in the fourth quarter and put up 25 points and 229 yards to crush the Bengals. The fourth quarter saw two Le’Veon Bell rushing touchdowns and 94-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Martavis Bryant. Big Ben heaved the ball about 40 yards down field and saw Bryant wide open and running like the Flash for the next 54 yards into the end zone. The Steelers are now just half a game back of the Bengals in the AFC North thanks to a Bengals tie against the Carolina Panthers in Week 6. Bummed it up nicely for the Steelers after the game when he said, ”We have a great opportunity in front of us, so I’m going to embrace it. This is the part of the year where things get a little tight, they get more exciting. Everybody in the locker room is excited about this last couple of weeks.” The two teams meet one final time in the last game of the season in Cincinnati which could the deciding factor on who takes home the division crown.
St. Louis Rams 24 — Washington 0
The biggest story out of this game was that Rams Head Coach Jeff Fischer has the best sense of humor in all of football. Before the game he sent out Stedman Baily, Janoris Jenkins, Zac Stacy, Greg Robinson, Michael Brockers, and Alec Ogletree for the pregame coin toss. What makes this group of six so funny? These six players are all on the Rams thanks to draft picks that Washington sent to the Rams in exchange for the second pick in the draft which Washington used to draft Robert Griffin III…who was benched for this game. During Monday’s press conference the move was brought up to Fisher and he responded with, “I think they’ve (Washington) got more issues than the coin toss yesterday.” That they do Jeff…that they do. Colt McCoy started the game but was ineffective, throwing for just 199-yards, two interceptions, and sacked six times as Washington never found the end zone for the second week in a row.
New York Giants 36 — Tennessee Titans 7
The New York Giants won for the first time in almost two months on Sunday when they defeated the Tennessee Titans by 29 points. Andre Williams rushed for a season high 131 yards and Odell Beckham Jr.caught 130 of Eli Manning’s 260 yards along with one touchdown. In what was a true team effort to break the snap, Josh Brown went 5–5 kicking field goals, and the defense was led by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Quintin Demps, who each intercepted Titans rookie QB Zach Mettenberger and backup Jake Locker, and Jason Pierre-Paul and Devon Kennard who each had two quarterback sacks. There wasn’t much for the Titans to smile about as they have now lost seven games in a row and are 2–11 on the season and possibly their franchise QB Mettenberger thanks to an aggrevated shoulder. Coach Ken Whisenhunt hasn’t counted him out yet as he told ESPN.com that he was “hopeful he will be back this year. Won’t rule him out until we know,” The Giants will certainly be looking to rebuild next year, but if their defense can play like they did today, they won’t need as many pieces to finish the puzzle.
Carolina Panthers 41 — New Orleans Saints 10
Next Monday Night features the Chicago Bears vs. the New Orleans Saints in what critics are now calling the Under Achiever Bowl. Both the Saints and the Bears were expected to teams that could challenge for the NFC Championship crown, but now both are viewed as big disappointments. The only difference now is that the Saints still have something to play for even though they share similar 5–8 records. Thanks to the Saints playing in the NFC South where no team is above .500, the Saints find themselves still at the top of the division rankings and could easily find their way into the playoffs if they could string a couple of wins together to close out the season. This game started off with a tumble that looked like something out of a Royal Rumble match on the WWE. Panthers Quarterback Cam Newton ran in a two-yard run halfway through the the first quarter. After the TD, he started gloating and pretended to pull his imaginary shirt open ala Clark Kent to reveal that he is “Superman.” Saints Linebacker Curtis Lofton didn’t take kindly to the taunt and pushed Cam from behind. Newton turned to jaw some more and within seconds the teams were having a good old fashion slobber knocker at the back of the end zone. Only Panthers tight end Cam Jordan was ejected but I’m sure Commissioner Goodell will throw out some other punishments within the next week, costing a few players some of their pay checks. With this Panthers win, they also find themselves still in the NFC South Playoff hunt. They’ll need the Saints to continue to slide and the Falcons to struggle as well in the upcoming weeks. The Panthers face the Falcons in the last week of the season and are hoping that if they win that game, they win a ticket to the playoffs.
New York Jets 24 — Minnesota Vikings 30
“Wow! What a thriller!” is the thought among most football fans as a game heads into overtime. That may not have been the case this Sunday when the New York Jets took on the Minnesota Vikings. But OT turned out to be not so dull after all. The game started off with a bang as the first quarter saw Gerald Hodges of the Vikings intercept the ball on the first play of the game and return it 27 yards for the a touchdown.The Jets got on board thanks to a safety and recently acquired Percy Harvin catching a 35-yard pass from Geno Smith. Teddy Bridgewater was not to be out done and connected with Charles Johnson for a 56-yard pass for the Vikings’ first offensive touchdown of the day. Skip ahead to overtime with both teams tied at 24 and the Vikings at their own 13-yard line on a 3rd and 5. Teddy Bridgwater finds Jarius WrightD and tosses a screen pass and Wright finds some excellent blockers and not a Jet down field that could stop him. Wright sprints the 87 yards for the touchdown and the OT Win
Baltimore Ravens 28 — Miami Dolphins 13
This game featured two teams, the Ravens and the Dolphins, who both needed the win desperately to keep their playoff hopes alive. Before the game, the Dolphins had control of the last spot in the playoffs with the Ravens just on the outside looking in. Miami came out to an early ten point lead thanks to a Caleb Sturgis field goal and a drive that saw Ryan Tannehill connect with five different players, the fifth one being Brian Hartline who caught a three yard pass for a touchdown. But the Ravens defense turned it up a notch keeping the Dolphins out of the end zone for the next three quarters, only allowing a field goal to start off the third quarter. The defense had six sacks on Tannehill, with linebacker Elvis Dumervil accounting for three and a half of them. Joe Flacco distributed the ball to nine different receivers, throwing for two touchdowns and capping off the game with a goal line rush of his own late in the fourth to put the dagger into the Dolphins playoff dreams who fell from being the projected sixth seed in the playoffs to the 9th. The Ravens still have some work to do as they are behind the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals in a tight AFC North race and also behind the Colts in the Wildcard race.
Indianapolis Colts 25 — Cleveland Browns 24
For all but the last drive of the game, the Cleveland Defense made life miserable for Colts QB Andrew Luck. Luck had been sacked twice, threw two interceptions (one returned for a touchdown by Justin Gilbert), and had only thrown one touchdown and 246 yards passing. But on the final drive of the game he marched the Colts 90 yards in just over three minutes top set up a one yard T.Y. Hilton touchdown reception for the Colts to go up 25–24. “Some real bonehead mistakes,” Luck said. “Can’t do that, but it feels good to win on the road, in this fashion against a very good team. Made enough plays when it mattered just to get it done.” The will they-won’t they of Cleveland benching Brian Hoyer and starting rookie Johnny Manziel picked up more steam as Hoyer went just 14–31 and threw for just 140 yards and was intercepted twice while never reaching the end zone. Fans cheered most of the game for Manziel, and the cheers only grew louder as the game went on and Hoyer floundered. The Browns are now considered the very last team in the playoff hunt in the AFC, but a win against the Colts might have changed that. Many fans are wondering if Manziel had started the game, could the Browns have put up too many points for Luck and the Colts to come back from. The Colts will face a hungry J.J. Watt and the Texans next week in Houston.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17 — Detroit Lions 24
The Lions entered the game as the projected sixth and final team in the NFC playoff picture. With the Green Bay Packers playing like they won’t lose another game, they know that they need to stay right there with them and hunt for a Wild Card spot. Matthew Stafford and the Lions’ defensive line made sure that no ground would be lost. Stafford had a great game throwing for 311 yards and three touchdowns while not giving up the ball at all. Calvin Johnson aided Stafford in his attempt to dismantle the Buccaneers by catching eight passes for 158 yards and a touchdown. The Lions defense made life tough for Buc’s QB Josh McCown as they sacked him six times for a loss of 43 yards and also intercepted him twice. With most of their players healthy, Detroit figures to be a force to be reckoned with. They are a threat on offense with Stafford and Johnson and running backs Reggie Bush and Joique Bell and a defense that leads the league in stopping the run, tenth in stopping the pass, and tops again in points allowed. “Earlier on in the season, we went through so much turnover in spots. Game to game, we didn’t have certain guys in certain places,” Stafford said. “It took us a second to figure out what we were going to be really good at, and what we could do really well when those guys came back.” With all the wounds mended, the Lions will look to keep scoring and keep fighting as the push for the playoffs continues on.
Houston Texans 27 — Jacksonville Jaguars 13
The Jaguars lost…does this surprise anyone? No. We all expected it. BUT it may surprise some that they did hold on to a 13–10 lead over the visiting Houston Texans into the halftime show and through most of the 3rd quarter. But the Texans knew that they needed a win to keep their playoff hopes a live and bounced back with a pair of rushing touchdowns from Alfred Blue and Arian Foster. Foster led the ground game with 127 yards rushing while Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for just 135 yards on 13 completions. J.J. Watt wasn’t give a chance to show his offensive prowess (but he did have three sacks on Jags’ QB Blake Bortles). After the game he knew that the win was nice, but they still need to keep pace with the Colts (who they face next week) in their division and a pack of other AFC teams to stay in the Wild Card chase. “We are in a must-win situation now,” Watt said. “We have strung two together and we need to continue to do it. We need to go on the road (at Indy) and try to do it again this week.”
Buffalo Bills 17 — Denver Broncos 24
The Broncos continue to find new ways to beat teams. One week it may be Peyton Manning throwing for 5 touchdowns (Week 10), maybe it will be Demaryius Thomas catching over 225 yards (Week 5), or Kicker Connor Barth connecting on five field goals (Week 13). But this week it was running back C.J. Anderson who rushed just 58 yards on 21 rushes, but 3 of those rushes resulted in touchdowns. The game wasn’t as close as it sounds as the Broncos took a 24–3 lead into the 4th quarter and gave up two touchdowns in the in the last quarter with the last touchdown in the final minute of the game. The Bills playoff hopes are next to nil with the loss to the Broncos dropping them to a projected 11th place in the AFC with just three weeks left. The Broncos on the other hand continued a push to keep the best record in the AFC (10–3) along with the New England Patriots. Currently the road to the Superbowl will have to pass through Foxborough, MA as the Patriots hold the tie breaker after beating the Broncos 43–21 in Week 9.
Kansas City Chiefs 14 — Arizona Cardinals 17
A few weeks ago after Carson Palmer went down with a season ending injury, Drew Stanton said that he was the man to lead the Cardinals to victory and into the playoffs and then the Superbowl. After back to back losses for the first time this year, some were wondering if Drew was still believing in himself. But when it mattered most on Sunday against the Chiefs, Stanton came up big. In the 3rd quarter he capitalized on a short field thanks to an interception from Alex Okafor and the Cardinals defense. Starting at the Chiefs 42-yard line, running back Kerwynn Williams had two rushes for 24 yards and got the Cardinals inside the red zone. But Stanton took a nasty sack from KC DB Kurt Coleman and lost eight yards. Now 3rd down and 18 at the KC 26, Stanton lobbed a pass just in front of a streaking Jaron Brown who ran the next ten yards into the end zone six points that put the Cardinals ahead. Not taking any chances, the Cardinals went for two and Stanton connected with tight end John Carlson just on the edge of the goal line to make it a three point game. The Cardinals defense took over from there, keeping the Chiefs out of the end zone and recovering a fumble late in the fourth as the Chiefs were driving and reached Arizona territory. The Cardinals win overshadowed a great game from Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles who rushed for 90 yards and a touchdown and also caught two passes, one of them being an 18-yard pass that saw him dodge three Cardinals on his way into the end zone. The Cardinals moved to 10–3 and stay as the number one seed in the NFC as they hold the tie breaker with fellow 10–3 Green Bay. The Cardinals have a short week ahead of them as they travel to St. Louis to take on the Rams on Thursday night.
Seattle Seahawks 24 — Philadelphia Eagles 14
Russell Wilson came up big against the Philadelphia Eagles as he threw for two touchdowns and ran into the end zone himself. Wilson and the Seattle offense was on the field for most of the game as they flat out dominated the time of possession, 41:56 to the Eagles’ 18:04. Philly scored early in the first, but Mark Sanchez couldn’t move the ball against the Seahawks defense and were forced to punt eight times. “I might be the most uptight guy on the defense, but even I was dancing today,” said Safety Earl Thomas. “We expect to dominate every time we step out.” With the win, the Seahawks have now one three in a row and ready to secure a Wild Card spot. The Eagles still hold on to the three seed in the NFC, but are now tied with the Dallas Cowboys who they face next week on Sunday Night Football. but they have to hope to not face this Seattle team in the first round of the playoffs. “If you don’t get as many opportunities, you have to make the ones you get count and we didn’t do that,” Sanchez said. “We expected to do a lot of things better.” They better do a TON of things better if they have to face this Seattle team in the first round of the playoffs.
San Francisco 49ers 13 — Oakland Raiders 24
The Raiders won. Can you believe it? Many didn’t know if they’d win one game this season but now they’ve won two. They stunned the 49ers much to the delight of the home crowd. Derek Carr proved to be the best quarterback on the field this Sunday in the Bay area, something that no one would have thought a year ago. Carr had three touchdowns and threw for 254 yards and didn’t turn the ball over. For the 49ers, bad got worse as they faltered and are now likely to miss the playoffs after making the Conference Title game last year and the Superbowl the year before that. Colin Kaepernick threw for just 174 yards but was intercepted twice and sacked five times and he only reached the end zone once on a first quarter pass to Bruce Miller. There is a lot of talk in San Francisco on what to do with Kaepernick who has not lived up to the $126 million contract that he signed in the off season. As many have said, the contract comes with a lot of outs for the 49ers who could essentially cut him at any time (as long as he is healthy) and not have to pay him any of his remaining salary. But other questions arise with head coach Jim Harbaugh who’s name has come up in trade rumors to multiple teams, including the Oakland Raiders, or returning to college to coach his alma matter Michigan. The 49ers are starting to look more like a soap opera than a Superbowl contender.
Sunday Night
New England Patriots 23 — San Diego Chargers 14
For the last 12 years, the New England Patriots have been the Golden Child of the NFL. They’ve won the Superbowl three times, had a perfect regular season back in 2007, and have won at least ten games in these past 12 years. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have been the constant in a sea of change that has seen a revolving door of wide receivers, offensive/defensive coordinators, linebackers, and more come and go. Going into this game, the Patriots knew that they needed a win to stay ahead of a crowded AFC. “We worked very hard this week,” Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork said. “Being in San Diego for a week gave us a chance to bond a little bit, watch extra film because we was at the hotel, and basically hung out and talked football. … A lot of times we talked about what it’s going to take to win a football game. Everybody prepared well. … The focus was unbelievable.” Brady was his usual solid, self minus a interception returned for a touchdown from Manti Te’o. He threw for over 300 yards and connected with his safety blankets Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski eight times each and for touchdowns. The Chargers were competitive in the first half, but could not get their offense going in the second half. The run game was virtually non-existent and the big arm of Phillip Rivers was no where to be seen. The Patriots will trade the sunny beaches of San Diego for the sunny beaches of Miami as they take on the Dolphins next week and hope to keep a lock on the 1st seed in the AFC. The patriots will turn into Chargers fans next week when San Diego travels to face the Denver Broncos.
Monday Night Football
Atlanta Falcons 37 — Green Bay Packers 43
Points! Scoring! A close game! That was the name of the game last night on Monday Night Football. The Green Bay Packers welcomed the Atlanta Falcons to the “Frozen Tundra” of Lambeau Field and it was a shootout that would have made Brett Favre (who returned to Wisconsin) smile. There were 14 scoring plays between the two teams but unfortunately for the Falcons, the Packers had eight of them, with 31 points coming in the first half. It was an uphill battle for the Falcons, but they did their best to roar back in the second half. Matt Ryan threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers (Eric Weems, Julio Jones, Roddy White, and Harry Douglas) in the third and fourth quarters. But a Aaron Rodgers to Jordy Nelson touchdown in the fourth and a pair of Mason Crosby field goals kept the Packers ahead of the Falcons. The Packers are now 10–3 and sit as the 2nd seed in the NFC, losing out on a tie to the Arizona Cardinals. They would love to nab the 1st seed and have the road to the Superbowl in the NFC go through Lambeau. The home field advantage was a big factor in their win on Monday according to Rodgers: “There’s been some ups and downs on both sides of the ball all season,” he said. “But we’re really getting this home-field advantage thing going, with the crowd noise, with the footing, with the way we’re playing, being really balanced on offense.” Rodgers has been on fire over the last five games throwing 16 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. They’ll need him to continue that streak as the Packers will travel to to Buffalo and Tampa Bay over the next two weeks before they return home for an NFC North showdown with the surging Detroit Lions. The Falcons are trying to hold on to their NFC South division lead but have a tough schedule ahead of them. They host Pittsburgh next week, then have to travel to New Orleans against the Saints, and then host the Panthers. Those last two games against divisional foes will have a big impact on who makes the playoffs and what the seeding looks like.
The Week Ahead
- Johnny Manziel is expected to make his first start of the season for the Cleveland Browns when they take on the Cincinnati Bengals. Manziel will be extra motivated to prove himself after Bengals’ head coach Marvin Lewis referred to Manziel as a “midget”
- Indianapolis will host the Houston Texans in a game that could help the Colts clinch the AFC South and knock the Texans out of the playoffs
- Division foes Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys (both 9–4) play on Sunday Night Football
