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Nobody’s perfect.Once again, the 1972 Miami Dolphins can rest easy. Their status as the only team in the Super Bowl era to go through an entire NFL season without defeat is safe for another year. This year’s last unbeaten team, the Kansas City Chiefs, fell to their division rivals Denver on Sunday night at Mile High Stadium, 27-17.
Does this mark the end of Kansas City’s remarkable season? Hardly. They are still 9-1, with only two games left on their schedule against teams with winning records. One of those is against the Broncos, at home. Win that game, and they will have a very real opportunity to claim the No1 seed in the AFC. When your stadium happens to be the loudest in the world, homefield advantage matters.
But the bigger question that people were asking on Monday was whether this defeat had exposed the Chiefs as impostors. Despite all those wins, was this team too flawed to be considered as a serious contender?
That was the argument made by Mark Kiszla in the Denver Post:
“Here’s what makes Kansas City a fraud as a championship contender in 2013: an inept offense. Oakland, Jacksonville and every one of the previous nine teams on Denver’s schedule scored more points against the Broncos than K.C. was able to muster.”
Kiszla was playing to his audience, of course, indulging in hyperbole and talking a little trash as he went. He ended his piece by addressing the Chiefs directly, adding:
“Hey, Frauds. You served a noble purpose, forcing the Broncos to earn a victory that was more grit than glamour. Now, go sit on the porch, young pups, and leave the real AFC fight to the big dogs.”
He was not alone in dismissing the Chiefs. Their offense had indeed sputtered in Denver, with Alex Smith completing just 20 of 45 passes and never truly looking capable of engineering a comeback after his team fell behind. And while the Kansas City defense did hold the Broncos to their lowest points total of the season, they also failed to sack Peyton Manning – or even really hit him.
But there are always two ways to tell a story, and a change in the outcome of one single play could have given this game a very different complexion. After recovering a first-quarter fumble, Kansas City took over at the Broncos’ 18-yard line, trailing by just three points and with the opportunity to take an early lead. Instead, Anthony Sherman coughed the ball up on the very next play and Denver got it back. Two Peyton Manning passes later, the Broncos led 10-0.
That was a mistake Kansas City – who have built their success this year on punishing opponents’ turnovers – simply could not afford. They might well have lost in any case, but certainly it would have lent a very different complexion to the game for Denver to be forced to play from behind.
For now, then, the Broncos would be wise not to take lightly their trip to Arrowhead Stadium in two weeks’ time. And Kansas City can take solace from the fact that each of the last two Super Bowl winners – the Ravens and Giants – suffered more emphatic regular season defeats than this one en route to their success.
But the Chiefs do also need to learn some lessons. More creativity may be required to help this offense keep pace with a team like Denver. And this team urgently needs to work out what stopped working for a pass rush that has 36 sacks this season, but only one in the last three games.
Newton shows he can be clutch
While the Chiefs failed their first big test, Carolina keep on passing theirs. Eight days after beating the 49ers 10-9 in San Francisco, the Panthers defeated the New England Patriots 24-20 back in Charlotte on Monday Night Football.
It was a significant victory on many levels, but most of all it felt like a night when Cam Newton proved that he could hold his nerve on a grand stage. The Carolina quarterback’s talent has never been in doubt, but his record in close games during his first two seasons as a professional was abysmal. Prior to the win in San Francisco, he was 2-14 in match-ups decided by seven points or fewer.
He had made good decisions against the 49ers, understanding when to cut his losses and throw the ball away, but against New England on Monday more was required. A single touchdown was never going to suffice to beat Tom Brady and co.
Instead, Newton put his team on his shoulders, completing 19 of 28 passes for 209 yards and three touchdowns, and also leading his team’s rushing attack with 62 yards on seven carries. He was not always perfect, and missed an open receiver more than once, but time and again he found ways to keep drives alive.
Most impressive of all was Carolina’s final possession, when Newton steered his team 83 yards on 13 plays for the go-ahead touchdown – chewing more than five and a half minutes off the clock and overcoming a frustrating false start penalty at the New England 20-yard line. He also avoided a single turnover against opponents who had forced at least one in all of their last 36 games.
New England left feeling aggrieved after a flag seemingly thrown for pass interference in the end zone was waved off on the game’s final play. Replays suggested that the linebacker Luke Kuechly did impede Rob Gronkowski unfairly, but also that the ball, which was intercepted, would have been uncatchable for the tight end.
Either way, the Panthers can feel pretty good about themselves after a second impressive win in as many weeks. Not only have they proved they can beat some of the better teams in the league, they have shown that they can do it in a tight game, too.
Quarterbacks will remain a protected species
Not a week goes by in the NFL without fresh debates flaring up around the subject of whether offensive players – and quarterbacks in particular – receive too much protection from officials. The consensus among most fans seems to be that they do. But for better or worse, this is the path that the NFL has chosen. At a time when concern about football’s safety is running high, and many parents are steering their kids into other sports, the league’s rules committee is doing what it believes necessary to secure the long-term success of their product. Anyone hoping for an imminent change of approach is set to be disappointed.
This weekend’s most contentious incident took place during the Saints’ win over San Francisco on Sunday afternoon. New Orleans had been down by three points with just over three minutes left to play when Drew Brees was sacked by Ahmad Brooks at the 49ers’ 35-yard line. The quarterback lost control of the football, and Patrick Willis recovered for the defense.
It was a game-changing play, one that would have put San Francisco in position to at least make New Orleans burn all of their remaining time-outs before getting the ball back, or in a best-case scenario to drive down the field for a game-winning score. Instead, a flag was thrown against Brooks, whose hit on Brees was deemed to have been illegal.
This was a correct application of the NFL’s rules, which prohibit hitting a passer in the “head or neck area with the helmet facemask, forearm or shoulder, even if the initial contact of the defender’s helmet or facemask is lower than the passer’s neck”. Although this was almost certainly not an intentionally high hit from Brooks, his arm certainly wound up around the quarterback’s throat.
Of course, not everyone in San Francisco agreed. Brooks defined it as a “bullshit” call, claiming that Brees had ducked into the contact. The 49ers’ head coach Jim Harbaugh also stuck up for his player, telling reporters on Monday that he felt the linebacker had made a great play, even if he did qualify that position by adding: “I’m going to see it the way I see it, and that’s a slanted view.”
Beyond dispute, however, is the significance of this defeat to San Francisco’s season. Falling to 6-4, the 49ers are now three games behind the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West. Their hopes of a division title are fading, and even a wildcard spot cannot be taken for granted, with at least five other teams in the hunt in the NFC.
Fantasy Football thoughts
The best individual performance of this weekend might have belonged to Bobby Rainey. Taking over as the Buccaneers feature back after injuries to Doug Martin and Mike James, the second-year player rushed for 163 yards on 30 attempts, twice finding his way into the end zone, as well as adding a third touchdown on a short reception. Not bad for an undrafted player who was scratching around for a job after being released by Cleveland last month.
Will any of this week’s suggested waiver wire pick-ups emulate his success? Almost certainly not, but they might just have a role to play down the stretch.
1) Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker has put in three strong showings in his last four games, catching touchdowns against each of San Francisco, Jacksonville, and Indianapolis – as well as reeling in 10 passes for 91 yards against the latter. The injury suffered by starting quarterback Jake Locker seems to have worked in Walker’s favour, with backup signal caller Ryan Fitzpatrick looking his way often so far.
2) In general, it is probably wisest not to invest too much hope in the New York Jets’ passing game. Starting quarterback Geno Smith had to be benched this week after struggling badly amidst windy conditions in Buffalo. But Santonio Holmes nevertheless remains the best wide receiver on that roster, and after returning from a hamstring injury this week, led the team with 71 yards receiving. He might only have caught two balls, but he had eight thrown his way, and there is a good chance he will have better days ahead when not battling inclement weather.
3) It is not yet clear when Michael Crabtree will make his return from the Achilles injury that has sidelined him since May, but after taking part in his first team practice of the season last week, we can say that the 49ers wide receiver is getting closer. He is likely to be rusty once he does return, but with match-ups against Tampa Bay and Atlanta in weeks 15 and 16, he also has the potential to be a game-changer in the Fantasy playoffs. If you have room on your roster, he is worth adding if you still can.
Quick outs
• Undoubtedly the strangest game of the weekend was the one that went down at Soldier Field, where play had to be suspended for an hour and 53 minutes due to a storm so severe that fans were ordered to leave their seats and take refuge in the concourse. Although no tornadoes appeared in the immediate vicinity of the stadium, they did hit several communities within a less-than-100-mile radius. Given that the impending storms were known about long before kickoff, should the game even have gone ahead? On the one hand, not doing so would have created a scheduling headache, and might have meant playing to an empty house on Monday afternoon. But on the other, you do have to ask how responsible it was to bring all those fans onto the roads and out to the stadium with a Tornado Watch in place.
• Earlier this season, the Arizona Cardinals safety Rashad Johnson lost the top of his finger during a game. On Sunday, his team-mate Andre Ellington lost a fistful of his hair – Jacksonville’s Jason Babin emerging from a tackle clutching the tailback’s locks like a trophy. But as dramatic as that image was, Ellington was quick to reassure fans that it looked worse than it was. “Will get it stitch back in,” he wrote. “Birdgang got the win!”
• And while we are on the subject of the Cardinals, how good of a job is Bruce Arians doing in Arizona? They were supposed to be the odd team out a fiercely competitive NFC West, and yet 10 games into the season they have the exact same record as their division rivals San Francisco.
• Rex Ryan caught plenty of flak after it emerged that the Jets head coach had taken his team to family restaurant-and-arcade chain Dave & Buster’s on the night before their 37-14 defeat to Buffalo. He would later defend the decision – characterising it as nothing more than a team-building exercise designed to build camaraderie and take advantage of the players’ time together on the road. And in truth, there really is nothing that unreasonable about the idea of coaches arranging for a team out for dinner together. But Ryan has been around long enough to know how the New York media were going to treat a story about players larking around in an arcade the night before a lost game.
• Just how unpopular is Matt Schaub in Houston these days? Put it this way: when he replaced Case Keenum in the third quarter of the Texans’ loss to Oakland, the boos were so loud that the team had to use a silent snap count. At home.
• This is fast becoming the year of the backup quarterback. After Keenum in Houston (before Sunday, at least), Nick Foles in Philadelphia, Brian Hoyer/Jason Campbell in Cleveland and Mike Glennon in Tampa Bay this weekend it was Matt McGloin’s turn to step in and excel for Oakland. The undrafted rookie completed 18 of 32 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns as the Raiders upset Houston on the road.