week 14 game thread

[Jose7]

DeSean is something else.

[Ong_dynasty]

The Reid and Jackson bump = epic..
Jackson is phenomenal..we really does own the Giants!

[Icness]

Hell of a Sunday nighter! Over 800 yards of offense and some great big plays.

Quick thoughts on the day:
--I don't put this Dallas loss on them as much as I think San Diego is just damn good and peaking at the right time.
--Atlanta is an extraordinarily well-coached team to do what they've done with all their injuries
--If Al Davis can't see the night-and-day difference between a low-level journeyman like Bruce Gradkowski and Jamarcus Russell, he's a damned fool. Russell isn't good enough to hold Bruce's clipboard. I feel bad for the guys on that team that truly want to win.
--First time all year that Detroit quit, but to borrow an old line of mine, "quitting would imply they ever started trying."
--Matt Cassel is just awful and Tyson Jackson gets moved backwards on every snap. Those are the two key players in Scott Pioli's KC rebuild. Ouch.
--I always root for first-time starting QBs, but Keith Null was nowhere near ready to play. I still believe my guy who tells me the Charlie WeisJimmy Claussen package is heading to STL this spring.
--I bet Houston fans want to shake Gary Kubiak and ask him why he can't get his team to do that every week. Because they can, but they don't.
--The Bengals are who I thought they were.

[Munchlaxatives]

--I bet Houston fans want to shake Gary Kubiak and ask him why he can't get his team to do that every week. Because they can, but they don't.
--The Bengals are who I thought they were.

Yes, and not just Kubiak, Mario Williams as well. DeMeco Ryans, Brian Cushing, and Bernard Pollard are turning into the leaders of the Texans defense. Dunta Robinson is as good as gone, he's been outplayed by two rookie cornerbacks this season.

And I know how good the Bengals are, my Texans ran over them a few weeks ago.

[Icness]

--I bet Houston fans want to shake Gary Kubiak and ask him why he can't get his team to do that every week. Because they can, but they don't.
--The Bengals are who I thought they were.

Yes, and not just Kubiak, Mario Williams as well. DeMeco Ryans, Brian Cushing, and Bernard Pollard are turning into the leaders of the Texans defense. Dunta Robinson is as good as gone, he's been outplayed by two rookie cornerbacks this season.

And I know how good the Bengals are, my Texans ran over them a few weeks ago.

Picking up Pollard was HUGE for them. Still can't believe a talent-starved team like the Chiefs let him go, another Pioli gaffe. Pollard isn't a great player but he's great for Houston, kind of the way Louis Delmas isn't a great player (yet) but he's perfect for Detroit. Cushing is DROY hands down.

I still think they missed the boat on not dealing Dunta last summer. They could have had a 2nd and a 5th for him and everyone with half a brain knew he was going to be a problem all year.

[lpsevier]

I was pleased with Atlanta's day. I didn't expect us to win, and to even have a chance was pretty amazing.

I predicted a .500 season at the beginning of the year due to the schedule, but given the ridiculous amount of injuries I'm just glad we stayed in the game.

Redman is obviously a solid backup and no one has quit.

[NO-KG-AI]

The Saints look like a team missing their top two CBs.

[lpsevier]

The Saints look like a team missing their top two CBs.

Yeah I'd say giving up 300 yards to Redman, plus Jenkins dropping a wide open 70 yard TD catch is pretty indicative of that!

[Wizards2Lottery]

Why is Brian Cushing DROY?

Briak Orakpo is on pace to beat Jevon Kearse's rookie sack record. If Rak ends up with 15+ sacks this year, he should get it. He's getting all this done while playing as a 4-3 LB. That's ridiculous.

Thank god Buffalo picked up Aaron Maybin instead of him. Orakpo is going to be the best DE in the league. He's 2nd in the NFC and 4th in the league in sacks in his rookie season! I hope we have a chance to draft Suh. Carter + Haynesworth + Suh + Orakpo = nastiest line in football.

[CentralQB5]

Gilbert brings up good points about orakpo but I personally think that jarius Byrd should get it this guy has turned the whole buffalo deffence around. Orakpo has done great things his rookies year and will deff be a huge threat in the near future but before he got drafted by Washington the redskns had playmakers on defence in Carter, hanesworth, landry, and so on so it's not like orakpo turned the whole redskins team around but he has helped in signficant ways. Unlike Byrd who went to buffalo and basically was thrown into the starting role and is most likley going to be Probolwer with I belive 8 INTs with out him idk if buffalo has a shot to win the games they have won. But I think if the skins didn't have orakpo they wouldve still won those games they won. But I do tip my hat to orakpo

[MadCityBucky]

Orakpo played great, though many of his sacks were on Jamarcus Russel who sucks ****. When I turned to this game all the guy did was just stand in the pocket and hold the ball for 6 seconds. That being said, I'd go with Orakpo or Cushing.

Don't forget about Matthews though, he probably isn't going to be DROY unless he puts up some monster stats in the last 3 games, but he has been the best pass rusher for "no.1" defense in the league.

[Icness]

Why is Brian Cushing DROY?

Briak Orakpo is on pace to beat Jevon Kearse's rookie sack record. If Rak ends up with 15+ sacks this year, he should get it. He's getting all this done while playing as a 4-3 LB. That's ridiculous.

Thank god Buffalo picked up Aaron Maybin instead of him. Orakpo is going to be the best DE in the league. He's 2nd in the NFC and 4th in the league in sacks in his rookie season! I hope we have a chance to draft Suh. Carter + Haynesworth + Suh + Orakpo = nastiest line in football.

Orakpo is (at this point) not real good at anything but rushing the passer. He's progressing nicely in the other facets but he's got a long way to go--and the Skins knew that when they took him. I think he's going to be an excellent impact OLB for a long time. His 11 sacks are a testament to his raw talent and some good defensive coaching.

But look at Brian Cushing's numbers:
112 tackles, 70 solo, playing behind a largely ineffective DL, leads the rookies by 10 tackles over Laurinaitis. 2.5 sacks even though he rarely blitzes. 3 INTs and 14 PDs, which ties for 2nd in INTs and 4th in PDs...and he's predominantly a run-stuffing LB. He has a safety and two forced fumbles and has completely outshined Demeco Ryans on an improving defense.

This is an outstanding rookie class on defense:
Cushing, Orakpo, Matthews, Louis Delmas, Byrd, Derek Cox, Maualuga, Glover Quin, Vontae Davis, the two Colts CBs, Laurinaitis, Curry, Deandre Levy--all these guys are decent to very good starters as rookies, many of them with Pro Bowls in their futures. Even guys like Terrance Knighton, Darcel McBath, Sammie Lee Hill, Kaluka Maiava are playing pretty well. Real deep, real talented class.

[Munchlaxatives]

--I bet Houston fans want to shake Gary Kubiak and ask him why he can't get his team to do that every week. Because they can, but they don't.
--The Bengals are who I thought they were.

Yes, and not just Kubiak, Mario Williams as well. DeMeco Ryans, Brian Cushing, and Bernard Pollard are turning into the leaders of the Texans defense. Dunta Robinson is as good as gone, he's been outplayed by two rookie cornerbacks this season.

And I know how good the Bengals are, my Texans ran over them a few weeks ago.

Picking up Pollard was HUGE for them. Still can't believe a talent-starved team like the Chiefs let him go, another Pioli gaffe. Pollard isn't a great player but he's great for Houston, kind of the way Louis Delmas isn't a great player (yet) but he's perfect for Detroit. Cushing is DROY hands down.

I still think they missed the boat on not dealing Dunta last summer. They could have had a 2nd and a 5th for him and everyone with half a brain knew he was going to be a problem all year.

Eric Winson(Texans RT) says he heard the Chiefs cut Pollard because he would get very upset after a loss and call out his teammates who he thought were underperforming. He's hinted himself that he did not like the new regime at all and joined his former DB coach in Houston.

The thing with Dunta is that he was coming off a nasty knee injury. He hasn't been the same player since, but I'll maintain he never was anything but an average CB. He gained notoriety for his big hits, and his leadership is probably the main reason the Texans kept him, but I'd rank him 4th on the Texans in terms of coverage ability.

The weaknesses in his game are being highlighted with Glover Quin playing so much better, and some would argue Brice McCain has outplayed him recently, who did a great job defending Houschmanzadeh yesterday. Robinson has been a poor tackler this season, and that's one facet of his game that was rock solid.

I'm fairly sure many GMs were aware of the severity of his knee injury in 2007.

As far as Cushing outplaying DeMeco...DeMeco has played a huge role in Cushing's success. He said he's sacrificing a lot of plays to set up Cushing and Cushing hasn't disappointed. He was lit up by Dallas Clark, but he's otherwise been good in coverage as well as run defense. I'll say this though, DeMeco had an off year in 2008 and is still getting back into his 2006-2007 form.

[MadCityBucky]

The Cards sure did lay an egg today. 7 turnovers so far.

[Icness]

This is why I don't trust the Cardinals. Embarrassing effort by their offense, though the SF defense had something to do with it. How do you follow up such an impressive win over Minnesota with that awful performance!?!

Kudos to the Niners OL, which has played well all night. Arizona's defense hasn't been bad, they've just been in too many short fields after all the turnovers.

[Harry Palmer]

Patrick Willis is going to be a halfway decent player when he's all growsed up.

[LAKESHOW]

Why is Brian Cushing DROY?

child pleeeeeeze.