Paul Bearer's Week 14 Wrap-Up

What's up to my people on The Corner and my fellow fam in The Arena, it's me Paul Bearer again here with you back with my Week 14 Wrap-Up. The regular season is winding down and teams locking up and doing battle for playoff position and bragging rights. So let's take a look back at the week that was week 14.

Sunday's Best

The best game on this week had to be with no question, the shootout at Giants Stadium between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants. Both teams combined for for 83 points and 886 total yards, big plays were abound in this game. The Eagles jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter after a Donovan McNabb 8-yard TD pass to Brent Celek and a 60-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Sheldon Brown. The Giants battled back in the game, helped by a 68-yard catch and run by rookie Hakeem Nicks who atoned for a earlier drop of a wide open pass, the Giants cut it to 14-10, but that's when DeSean Jackson struck. His team up 17-10, Jackson fielded a punt danced his way in between tacklers before shooting up field en route to a 72-yard score and a 24-10 lead for Philly.

An Ahmad Bradshaw 3 yard plunge made it 24-17, followed by a Michael Vick score from the goal line pushed the lead to 30-17 in favor of the Eagles after that point after was blocked. After Vick's score, Eli Manning went to work to keep the Giants in it, he put together a 11 play, 74 yard drive capped off by Brandon Jacobs 1-yard dive for the touchdown, making the score 30-24. Then after an Eagle punt, Eli and Domenik Hixon hookup for a 60 yard touchdown on the second play of the drive, Manning hit Hixon with a short pass after which Hixon made some tacklers miss and sprinted to the end zone giving the Giants the 31-30 lead. But the lead was short-lived however, after the dynamic Jackson struck again, McNabb dropped back in the pocket and seemingly had all day to throw launched a bomb downfield to a wide-open Jackson who caught the pass and walked backwards into the end zone for the 37-31 Philadelphia lead.

Jackson's play proved to be the catalyst for the Eagles win, after a Giant punt the Eagles marched 91 yards in a little over 7 minutes to give themselves a 45-31 lead after a Leonard Weaver touchdown run. The Giants tried to make it interesting after a Manning to Kevin Boss touchdown pass cut it to the 45-38 with under 2 minutes left, but their onside kick attempt came up short and they ran out of time and fell by the final score of 45-38.

Simply put this was a great game played by two division rivals who really wanted it, the Eagles have moved into sole possession of first place in the NFC East and the Giants fell to 7-6 and third place in the division. Three games left for both of these teams and this game was a big win for the Eagles and a tough loss for the Giants.

Bearer's Week 13 Breakdown
The New Orleans Saints survived another tough matchup and stayed undefeated outlasting the Atlanta Falcons, 26-23 on the road. Drew Brees threw for 296 yards and 3 TD's in helping his team improve to 13-0. Atlanta had a chance at the end but questionable playcalling doomed them. The Saints left the Georgia Dome battered but unbeaten and have a showdown on Saturday with the Dallas Cowboys.

The Dallas Cowboys let yet another December game slip away on Sunday when the fell to the still streaking San Diego Chargers 20-17. The Chargers won their 8th straight and improved to 16-0 in the month of December and o to 10-3 while the Cowboys lost their second straight to fall to 8-5. Tony Romo played well again for the second straight week but his team lost as he threw for 2 scores, but two things will haunt Dallas about this game. Them not being able to score from the goal line in the second quarter and their defense not being able to stop San Diego on it's game clinching 15-play drive that took up 7:24 minutes. The Cowboys have to get a win and get a win soon, they have New Orleans coming up on the road a 3 game losing streak this late in the season will not help their playoff hopes. They must get it together

The NFL's other unbeaten team survived a record day by Brandon Marshall and a tough game from the Denver Broncos to prevail 28-16. Marshall played great in a losing cause catching a NFL-record 21 passes for 200 yards and 2 scores, and keeping his team in the game by himself. Peyton Manning had an up and down game with 4 touchdowns but 3 interceptions, 3 of his TD passes went to Dallas Clark the third of which iced the game giving them a 12 point lead with 2:25 remaining. The Colts are now 13-0, and have clinched home field, the question now arises of does Jim Caldwell let his players play or sits them the rest of the way?

The Minnesota Vikings bounced back in a big way after their tough loss to Arizona by beating the Cincinnati Bengals, 30-10 at home. Adrian Peterson had a nice game after being shut down by the Cardinals running for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns. Antoine Winfield made his return for the Viking secondary and went back to his usual self, anchoring that secondary that has struggled without him. Cincy got down early and their slow offense couldn't do enough to help them get back in the game. The Vikings are now 11-2 and the Bengals are now 9-4, Vikings have clinched a playoff berth and look to clinch the NFC North soon also.

The New England Patriots beat the Carolina Panthers 20-10 at home on Sunday. Wes Welker had a big day catching 10 passes for 105 yards, Tom Brady had a pedestrian day with just 192 yards passing and 1 touchdown. But the Pats got a win and avoided a 3-game losing streak. However the biggest news from this game was the questions about Randy Moss's effort provided by the Carolina Panthers secondary. If this a big thing or not, will remain to be seen and if Belicheck still has this team will also remain to be seen.

The Baltimore Ravens steamrolled the Detroit Lions, 48-3. Ray Rice ran for 166 yards and a score on 13 carries, and Willis McGahee also ran for 2 scores in a game that was never in doubt. The Ravens won this game and jumped back into the wild-card party in the AFC.

Green Bay keeps on rolling towards the playoffs with a 21-14 win over the rival Chicago Bears. The Packers have won 5 straight and now 9-4, this team is a team that is playing well and will scare some of the top seeds in the NFC playoffs. Ryan Grant had one of his best games in a long time with 137 yards and 2 touchdowns, Charles Woodson once again had another great day for Green Bay.

Miami beat Jacksonville in their matchup of two battling AFC playoff hopefuls, 14-10. Ricky Williams grinded and pushed his way to 108 tough yards and a score for the now 7-6 Dolphins who remain one game behind the Patriots in the NFC East. Jacksonville fell to 7-6 and have to win tough games against Indy and New England most likely in order to make the playoffs.

Andre Johnson put on a show for the fans in Houston catching 11 passes for 193 yards and 2 touchdowns and led his team to a 34-7 win over the Seattle Seahawks. The Texans are now 6-7 and still on the outside looking in of the AFC playoff race.

Arizona just had a up and down 2 weeks to say the least. The week before they dominated Minnesota in a great Sunday night win, that seemed to establish their place back among the NFC elite, however they came out on Monday and got beaten up by the San Fransisco 49ers 24-9. 7 turnovers and and healthy dosage of Frank Gore proved to be their downfall on Monday night. Gore ran for 167 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries for the 49ers and lead them to a victory and keep the Niners in the playoff hunt

Chris Johnson kept on running and the Tennessee Titans ran over the St. Louis Rams, 47-7. Johnson ran for 117 yards and 2 touchdowns and caught a 66 yard touchdown pass from Vince Young. Young left the game with a hamstring injury so his status will be monitored through the week for the now 6-7 Titans.

Washington and their embattled quarterback Jason Campbell routed the Oakland Raiders, 34-13. Bruce Gradkowski was knocked out of the game by Washington and the Redskins took the game over from there. Campbell threw for 222 yards and 2 touchdowns for the Redskins.

The New York Jets dominated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-3 on Sunday. Thomas Jones ran for 99 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Jets cruised past Josh Freeman and the Bucs. The Jets have won 3 straight to improve to 7-6 and push their way into the playoff contention in the AFC.

The Buffalo Bills beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 16-10 in an absolutely ugly game to watch on Sunday. The Bills defense forced 4 interceptions by Matt Cassell, and their running back duo of Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch combined for 216 total yards on Sunday.

Paul's Players Of The Week
Offense: Brandon Marshall, 21 catches, 200 yards, 2 TD's
Defense: Brian Orakpo, 4 sacks


How Did I Do? 12-3 last week, 53-24 total

Well people another week down another write-up in the books. Good week of football in week 14, hopefully week 15 will be just as good. Be on the lookout for my week 15 preview on Friday. Also, be sure to follow my blog there will be NFL writeups, NBA writeups, college football writeups, etc.

That's it until next time, shoutout to all my fam in The Arena: HHS, Touche, HK, Dark, Lakersandravens. Along with props to anybody with an Arena sig in their name, don't forget to come in and drop feedback, comments, posts about what you read, etc. Remember y'all the ones I do it for.

Later folks, peace........The Arena Stay Winning!