Off The Mark: NFL Week 14 in Review

KISS HIM GOODBYE!

Antonio Brown blows a kiss to his Redskin teammates as he scores the go-ahead touchdown on a 91-yard kick return.

Sure it was an ugly win. Mark Brunell didn’t play well. The offense committed too many turnovers. The defense gave up too many sustained drives. The play calling was average at best. The Giants and Cowboys both won. It wasn’t a win that left many Redskins fans feeling good about their team.

But enough with the negatives. The Redskins are back over .500. They get the aforementioned Cowboys and Giants at home the next two weeks. And there were plenty of positives to take out of yesterday’s game against Arizona. For the second straight week, Clinton Portis showed signs of being the Clinton Portis from two years ago. The offensive line gave Brunell eons to throw the ball. The defensive front four was finally able to establish some resemblance of pressure on Kurt Warner. And when it was necessary, the big name players made big time plays down the stretch. The defense bent, but didn’t break. The offense got two crucial first downs. And the Redskins escaped from the desert without committing another fourth quarter choke job.

There were obviously three big plays in the game. The first was Antonio Brown’s kick return. Brown really didn’t have to do much. The wedge was almost 10 yards wide. All he had to do is beat the kicker. But for a guy who has been cut twice this season (and rightfully so), he finally is starting to show off his talents the way he did in training camp and preseason.

The second big play was the third and one tackle made by Ade Jimoh. Over the past two seasons, no Redskin has given up more big plays and missed more tackles than Jimoh from his nickel cornerback spot. And when Jimoh found himself one-on-one with talented and physical Larry Fitzgerald in the flat after a wide receiver screen pass, there weren’t many Redskins fans that liked what they were seeing. But Jimoh hit him low and stuck him hard. Nearly a textbook tackle. Jimoh’s play set up fourth and one.

And on fourth and one, J.J. Arrington lost sight of the first down marker, and when he saw Sean Taylor coming full speed towards him, he got out of the way. Unfortunately for Arrington, the only chance to avoid getting blown up was to go down a yard short of the line of gain.

It may not have been pretty. But it was a game that the Redskins in past years would have lost, and the Redskins of a month ago would of lost. Now the Skins face their two biggest games in the last few years. Should be fun.

Elsewhere around the league:

No complaining here about the end of the Cowboys-Chiefs game. I know a lot of Skins fans accuse the league of giving the Boys generous calls. And for a moment, the defensive holding call on Kansas City on a fourth down play late in the game looked like another horrible call. But several replays showed that the KC defender was clearly mugging Jason Witten as he tried to convert the fourth and goal. We’ll see what happens this week with the refs…

Is Seattle better than Carolina? It’s hard to tell. I still want to say the Panthers are the best team in the NFC. But their crappy performance against Tampa Bay, at home, is making me think twice. On the other hand, it’s hard to tell how good Seattle really is when they keep playing Arizona and San Francisco…

Everyone saw the real Bears team this weekend. Against a decent defense, there is no way the Bears are going to score 10 points. I don’t care if Kyle Orton or Rex Grossman is their quarterback. It wouldn’t matter if Jim McMahon came back in his prime to lead this Bears team. They can’t sustain drives at all. Their defense is getting worn down because of this. I’m guaranteeing a first round loss in the playoffs…if the Bears get in. Minnesota is making up ground quickly in the North…

Why couldn’t Sage Rosenfels and Gus Frerotte play like they have the past two weeks when they were in Washington? First, Rosenfels leads his team from 21 points behind. Last week, Frerotte out dueled a Chargers offense that was completely healthy for the first time in weeks. Maybe Nick Saban knows what he’s doing after all…

Why are the Raiders starting Marcus Tuiasosopo? Is there anyone in the league who thinks this guy can actually be a starting quarterback? He started against an average Jets defense and he had both a healthy Randy Moss and Jerry Porter at his disposal. And he still only threw for 124 yards. Plus, by starting him, it causes me to have to look up and remember how to spell Tuiasosopo. Damn you Norv, screwing me even after you leave Washington…