What We Learned From Week 15

Added on Dec 18, 2012 by Scott in

NFL

It was an ugly Week 15 in the 2012 NFL season. Thirteen of the sixteen games were decided by double digits, including a trio of shutouts. Road teams were also in vogue as eight captured victories. With only a couple of exceptions, it was the difference between the haves and have-nots. In other words, the bad teams (Kansas City, Philly, Jacksonville, Cleveland, etc.) did nothing to sway the belief that they are already thinking about 2013. Here’s what we learned from a lopsided weekend.

Same ol’ Giants – Guess what? Big Blue is being schizophrenic, again. They looked like the worst team in football getting trounced in Atlanta. Eli was awful. Running game was flat. Secondary resembled a clown car. Tom Coughlin was extra red. Hey, it’s the Giants. This is what they do. For them, making the playoffs is the chore. After that, they have a pattern of waking up. That said, they need to REALLY get their act together soon.

An unkindness of Ravens - The first game in the post Cam Cameron era netted 17 points, two Joe Flacco turnovers (including a terrible pick-six near the goal line) and a whopping 15 touches for Ray Rice. Perhaps they didn’t have time to construct a new game plan, or maybe they just don’t know how to design offense. Whatever the case, the Ravens are heading in the wrong direction after three straight defeats. Thus far, jettisoning Cameron hasn’t yielded the expected results.

It’s not all RG III – One might have assumed with wunderkind RG III sidelined on Sunday that the Redskins would struggle to move the ball under the guidance of rookie Kirk Cousins. Yeah, not so much. Doing his best Griffin impression, Cousins engineered four touchdown drives while tossing for 329 yards and chipping in 22 on the ground. The Browns defense isn’t atrocious, so Cousins deserves praise. At this point, Washington is on the kind of roll that can end up “Super.”

Bye, bye Bucs – Well, it was fun while it lasted. That is thinking Tampa Bay could make a legitimate playoff run. Four consecutive losses have left them scrambling for an identity. Josh Freeman was somehow befuddled by a poor Saints defense. Like the Ravens with Flacco, Tampa has to be wondering if #5 is the guy for the future.

All Day… every day – What else is there to say about Adrian Peterson? Is he Superman, or Batman, or both? The man is breathing down the neck of the single-season rushing record less than a year after shredding his ACL and MCL. How is this even possible? If he’s not a new breed of human, he at the very least has the quickest healing powers known to mankind.

The Ugh Bowl – Watching the Chiefs and Raiders attempt to play professional football on Sunday was akin to watching toddlers debate tax codes. Five Sebastian Janikowski field goals was all either team could muster. Jamaal Charles received nine carries in a game that was close up until the fourth quarter. How Romeo Crennel still has a job is a mystery. As for the Raiders, uh, Darren McFadden didn’t get hurt.

Crisis averted – Leading 31-3 late in the third quarter in Foxboro, it appeared the 49ers had sent a clear message they were a team to be feared. Then Tom Brady led four touchdown drives against a supposed dominant defense. Fortunately for San Fran, they sniffed the smelling salts in time to score another ten points to secure victory, but it was perilously close to a monumental collapse. The kind of collapse that could severely damage a contender’s psyche. But they endured, so everything should be a-okay. In theory.