NFL Week 15 Christmas Miracle Part 2

By Dan Rodgers

We will start with my team for Part 2. The Jets were in prime position to make the playoffs after needing help, yet again. Just like two seasons ago, the Jets needed a lot of help to make the playoffs, and took advantage of the help they got.

A few weeks ago, Oakland, Cincinnati, and Tennessee lost to give the Jets the lead for the sixth seed. They controlled their own destiny to make the playoffs, but instead they felt like making it interesting by losing and giving the teams a chance. Not only did they lose to the Eagles, whom they've NEVER beaten (0-9), but they got incredibly embarrassed on offense and defense. Santonio Holmes got a taunting penalty after catching a touchdown to cut the lead to 28-10. All of this after the receiver let a ball go through his hands that was intercepted and fumbled the ball that was returned for a touchdown.

The Jets play the Giants in a game that will most likely decide both team's playoff fate. Surprisingly enough, the Jets still control their destiny based on a lucky tiebreaker with the Bengals. The Giants play the Cowboys in the final week of the season, if they win both games, they are playoff bound.

This madness was just the beginning of the late games. The Raiders scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to take a 13-point lead on the Lions. Matt Stafford led the Lions on a 71-yard drive in under three minutes to cut the lead to six. After forcing a punt, Shane Lechler did what he does best, and pinned the Lions at the two yard-line with just over two minutes to play. Unfortunately, that was way too much time for Detroit.

The game-winning touchdown drive included a 48-yard completion to Calvin Johnson. Megatron also caught the game-winning touchdown, his second on the day. The Lions left over a minute for the Raiders to attempt the tying field goal, which they did. Sebastian Janikowski attempted a 65-yard field goal, which was blocked. If Oakland had won the game, they would have the tiebreaker over the Jets, so New York caught another huge break.

The Cardinals were wetting the bed against Cleveland, but were able to come back and kick the game-winning field goal in OT. I'm not going to spend too much time on this, but it was an incredible game, and the Cards kept their playoff chances alive by getting to 7-7.

The final late game was Tom Brady vs. Tim Tebow, and the game did not live up to the hype. The Broncos actually took a 16-7 lead in the second quarter, but we all know that you can't kick field goals if you want to beat the Pats. After the 16-7 lead, the Pats responded with 20 unanswered points, with three Denver fumbles in the mix. The Denver offense isn't built for huge comebacks, especially when the defense is struggling to stop the opposition.

The Pats scored a touchdown in the third, and everyone thought it was "Tebow Time" when the Broncos cut the lead back to 11. Brady responded with a touchdown drive of his own that killed way too much clock. Tebow and two other Broncos lost fumbles, and the Pats didn't turn the ball over. I hate the Pats, but they shut up the Broncos, Tebow and all of his followers of Tebowism.

The night games only made everything else even more interesting... but we'll get to those tomorrow.

Rodgers That

Happy Thanksgiving

By Dan Rodgers

So, in my eyes, I've been struggling with my picks. I've been around .500 the last few weeks which is below average in my mind because I know what I'm capable of doing. I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving because this is one of the greatest American traditions, eat as much as possible and watch football from noon until midnight. I'll post today's games now and the rest tomorrow or Saturday.

Green Bay Packers -6 at Detroit Lions

The Pack is unstoppable... offensively. Fortunately for the Lions, their defense is suspect at best. A mediocre Josh Freeman and LaGarrett Blount kept it relatively close against Green Bay last week, who at two separate times in the fourth quarter cut the lead to two points. I think that it is tradition for the Lions to play, and lose, on Thanksgiving. While Detroit's offense looked good in the second half last week, they aren't going up against a defense as bad as Carolina's. Also, keep in mind that Detroit gave up 35 points to Cam Newton and Steve Smith. I think that means we are looking at about 50 points from Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Jermichael Finley... (and the list goes on).

It should be a better game than we've seen in recent years, but I don't think Detroit will be able to have the offensive success they had last week to the tune of 49 points. I wouldn't be surprised to see a backdoor cover by either team.

Packers (-6) 31 Lion 23

Miami Dolphins at Dallas Cowboys -7

I'll start by saying that the Miami Dolphins have won three games in a row. That in itself is absolutely amazing, but let us consider the competition (Kansas City, Washington, Buffalo). Dallas played down to their opponent last week as it took overtime and a few missed field goals to beat Washington. However, the Cowboys always get up for Thanksgiving and Tony Romo is 4-0 ATS on Thanksgiving. For some reason, they are the anti-Lions. While the Lions stink it up every year, we can always count on Dallas to take care of business. This year shouldn't be any different. While Dallas' defense might have some issues with Miami's newly impressive passing game, there is no way Miami can stop Romo, Murray, Bryant and Witten.

I like DeMarco Murray to have a good game even though Miami has played well against the run recently. Also, Brandon Marshall is in for a big day because Dallas' secondary has been decimated by injuries.

Cowboys (-7) 34 Dolphins 24

San Francisco 49ers at Baltimore Ravens -3.5

I will be at this game, and it should be a great one. Of course, it has been dubbed the Harbaugh Bowl, or the Harbowl, or whatever you want to call it. The first game in NFL history where the teams are coached by brothers. In my opinion, the NFL shafted the 49ers this week, similar to how they did the Jets last week. The 49ers have to travel from coast to coast (already very difficult), and now they have to do it on a short week.

San Fran has been outstanding this year defensively. They have yet to give up a rushing touchdown, and that will most definitely be put to the test tonight as they face off against Ray Rice. This game will be determined by whether or not San Fran's offense can do anything against Baltimore's defense. This should be a low-scoring affair, but I don't expect sloppy football. Whichever way it goes, it won't be a happy Thanksgiving in the Harbaugh home.

X-Factor: Whether or not Ray Lewis plays tonight.

San Francisco (+3.5) 20 Ravens 17

Once again, enjoy your Thanksgiving and all of the games today.

@dhrodgers52

Rodgers That

Winter Classic proves worth

By Dan Rodgers

This 2011 Winter Classic is proving to be a great game. The Washington Capitals currently lead the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1 halfway through the final period of play.

I'm watching with a friend of mine who is a big Caps fan. His dad had tickets to the game, which is being played at Heinz Field, but decided to sell them and watch from home. As a season ticket holder he was given the opportunity to buy them, he did so for $250 per ticket for two seats. He sold the two seats for $700 total only because someone sent him a nice email asking for them as a gift for someone, so he was nice enough to lower the price from $1,000 to $700.

The place is sold out and it's incredible to think that the place is sold out and the tickets are that expensive. There are just over 65,000 seats and imagine how much money was exchanged for all of those seats. Jeez, crazy to think about.

Note: Fehr puts in his second goal of the game on a breakaway with eight minutes left in the game. Caps 3 Pens 1

The game has been fast-paced and hard-hitting. I'm not a huge hockey fan but this is the kind of game someone like me needs to watch to get more into the sport.

Game over, Caps win 3-1.

This is completely unrelated to this post, but it is awesome yet kind of inappropriate. I would be surprised if this guy didn't get fined or punished in some way. If he was on a good team he definitely would be.



Hope you enjoyed it, I certainly did because he came after a Dolphins loss.

Rodgers That

Turkey Day football!

By Dan Rodgers

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving, and it's full of food, family and football. The first game is actually already underway: Pats (-6.5) at Lions. The Lions currently lead 7.3 on a touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson (no surprise).

The Pats just punted back to Detroit. The Lions defense has looked very good since the first drive when they gave up the field goal. Surprisingly, there has been a ton of punts already in a game that I thought would be full of points. Don't get me wrong, it's still early, but I figured the over/under would get blown out of the water (51 points).

I picked New England in the book, mainly because they are the safe choice and everyone else did as well so I can't lose any ground. Obviously I'll be rooting hard for Detroit, and the Lions actually play very well at home. They are 2-2, with both losses by three points each to the Jets and Eagles.

The next game on is at 4:15, the Saints travel to Dallas to take on a recently tough Cowboys team. Dallas is 2-0 since Jason Garrett has taken over the head coaching job. The Saints have looked good as of late and should be able to beat Dallas handily. I like New Orleans to cover the 3.5 point spread.

The late game is between the Cincinnati Bengals and my New York Jets. The Jets host a Thanksgiving game for the first time that I can remember and come into the game tied for the best record in the NFL (8-2). The Jets are nine point favorites and look to make a statement by winning a game before the final 30 seconds. Cincy is terrible this year (2-8), and absolutely sucked in the second half last week against Buffalo getting outscored 42-3.

I have been thinking about the Bengals covering this one because the Jets have been playing close games recently, but after reading some articles I am beginning to believe this has massive blowout potential written all over it. The one thing I am worried about is that we play the Pats Monday night in New England next week. It's the biggest game of the year so this could be considered a 'look ahead' or 'breather' alert. However, hosting the Thanksgiving game tonight should negate that.

Jets will win by 20 plus.

Note: Lions ball, four minutes left in third, tied at 24.

Rodgers That

Wade out, parody in

By Dan Rodgers

Wade Phillips has been fired from being the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, and Jerry Jones is the new Andy Reid.

A while back Reid said that Kevin Kolb would be the starting quarterback of the Eagles, but that didn't last long as Michael Vick was named the starter a few days later.

Earlier in the season, at the beginning of the Cowboys struggles, Jones stated that Phillips would finish the season. Clearly he didn't know the team would fall to 1-7, and this move is probably more to satisfy the fans than anything else. Dallas is not going to make the post-season and everyone hates Wade Phillips. Dallas is without a doubt the most underachieving team in the NFL and is having an extremely disappointing season. They were expected to win the NFC East, and were among the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

Jason Garrett will take over for at least the rest of the season.

In more pleasant news, parody is rocking the NFL. On Sunday, the Browns absolutely manhandled the Pats. Buffalo gave Chicago a run for their money, and the Jets and Vikings staged double-digit comeback wins. The Eagles held on against the unusually not-dominate Colts.

Days like this are good for the NFL; fans want to see comebacks and upsets and it looks like this is a season in which we could see a 'Cinderella' team emerge.

Hopefully next week will be as good as the last.

Rodgers That

Moves around the NFL

By Dan Rodgers

Okay, this post is solely going to be about relatively significant moves made around the NFL, and my opinion about them if I feel necessary.

1. If you didn't know Donovan McNabb was a Redskin by now, quit life. If you were trying to ignore the fact that he wants T.O. to join him in D.C. I can't blame you. The Skins are bad enough, imagine that plus Owens...
2. The Broncos dealt Brandon Marshall to the Dolphins so he could get lost on Revis Island. At least the Broncos made out well getting a second round pick in this and next year's draft.
   
3. The Eagles acquired LB Ernie Sims from Detroit, sent a late round pick to the Broncos, who then sent TE Tony Scheffler to Detroit. Hmm, kind of confusing...Eagles easily got the best end in a good young backer.
   
4. Jason Taylor to the Jets...in the words of the Mighty Ducks, "Just because you wear the uniform, doesn't mean you're a real Duck."
   
5. Rams trade DT Adam Carriker to Skins...who cares?
6. Pats sign WR Holt...ugh, just the Pats bringing another old guy who is going to look like a pro-bowler in that offense?
7. Steelers bring back Byron Leftwich...enough said

I'll post any more as they happen

Rodgers That