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Week 12: Extra Points...and Opinions
Monday, November 27, 2006
By Tovash Hatcher
My college basketball coach used to always tell me that when it gets close to season's end, the pretenders and contenders start to show their true colors. Week 12 in the NFL has shown me something as well. The contenders, pretenders, and all those in between have begun to sort themselves out. "All those in between" you ask? Well there are a few teams that the jury is still out on. I'll explain.
One of those "in-between" teams is the New York football Giants. There is no reason to be up in a game by 21 points against a bad team like the Tennessee Titans and find a way to give the game away. Let me put it another way. The Giants were up in the fourth quarter 21-0 and still lost. This team reminds me of a bad tire on my car that I took on a road trip from Texas to Florida. As the trip progressed, the tire got worse and worse. By the time I got back to Dallas, the tire had enough. The rubber flew off the wheel and before I knew it, I was on the side of a major interstate changing a flat tire. The Giants are that tire that needs to be changed. That team is falling apart at the seams and if they're not careful the playoffs will be just an afterthought. However, this is the NFL and next week the G-men could turn the season around in just one game.
There are a lot of players in the New York locker room who are pointing fingers. TE Jeremy Shockey is always blaming the coaching staff for not calling the correct plays and head coach Tom Coughlin is faulting his own quarterback for ill-advised throws. Heck, even Tiki Barber has taken some shots at management. The injury bug made like Godzilla and took a big chunk from this team's starting players. Defensive ends Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora have been sidelined and now the Giants have not been able to get a decent rush on the quarterback. And wide receiver Plaxico Burress is not playing like himself. Dropping balls, giving up on plays, and not showing any toughness or heart have Giants fans booing his efforts on the field. And did I mention that the new NFC East leading Dallas Cowboys are coming to town next week? Week 12 was not good to the Giants (6-5) as they fall to Vince Young and the Titans 24-21.
And speaking of the Cowboys, do you know the hottest name in the NFL right now? No, not Peyton Manning or LaDainian Tomlinson. Give up? Let’s go with Antonio Ramiro Romo, better known as Tony Romo the quarterback of the extremely hot Dallas Cowboys for $200 Alex. This has become Romo's World and no offense to Lebron James, but we are all witnesses. The NFL's passer ratings leader with 110.8 is on a roll in his starting quarterback role. Romo has led the Cowboys in 2 wins in just 5 days. He beat the Indy Colts last Sunday, something that hasn't been done all season, and on Thanksgiving he destroyed the Tampa defense by throwing 5 TDs and going over the 300-yard mark for the first time in his career with 306 yards. Romo has set the NFL and the city of Dallas on fire. He has been the guest on many local TV shows and broadcasts in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. He has also been mentioned in the same breath as Troy Aikman. And you know something else? Romo has even kept your favorite wide receiver out of the media spotlight as well. That could be qualified as breaking news I think. Mr. Terrell Owens has been unusually quiet and that has me scratching my head just a bit. The last time Owens has been this quiet, news broke that he had downed some pain pills. I don’t think a lion has a chance to roar when he has his mouth full. Tony Romo and the Cowboy defense has been the reason why Dallas is atop the NFC East and is looking to seal up the division with a showdown in the Meadowlands next week.
Is New Orleans the only team that can stop Mike Vick and the Falcons ground game? Well, not necessarily because Vick was able to get loose on the Saints on Sunday. With 166 yards on the ground, the Falcons' ground game wasn't the problem. It was the lack of defense and a huge Hail Mary pass from Drew Brees to Terrance Copper at the end of the half that gave the Saints 21 first half points. New Orleans had no problems scoring in this one by racking up 31 points. And even though they made Michael Vick look like the human version of the Roadrunner, New Orleans was too much for the Falcons in this one. The Saints march out of Atlanta with a 31-13 win.
The Indianapolis Colts are now 10-1 and they are back to their usual run-the-scoreboard-up type offense. The Colts are no pretenders and this time, QB Peyton Manning took a backseat to the rookie running back Joseph Addai. Addai gave an impressive national performance by running behind the Colts' offensive linemen on his way to a career-high 4 touchdowns. Addai ran through the Eagles' defense like a naked streaker who nobody wanted to touch. On 24 carries and 171 yards, Addai made Colts fans forget about ex-Colts Edgerrin James. Peyton Manning threw 14/20 with 183 yards and 1 TD to WR Reggie Wayne. With 5 games left, the Colts are well on their way to locking up home field advantage for this year's playoffs. A lot is still to be proven too.
The number 13 can be an unlucky number to some and also good luck to others. We'll see what Week 13 has in store for many NFL teams who are trying to make playoff pushes.
I'm Tovash Hatcher
9:13 AM
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