Scattered stats and thoughts regarding Week 13 of the 2012 NFL Season…
3. Finally, I’d just like to mention that Heath Miller is really freaking good. For some reason, he never gets the same amount of publicity that Jason Witten or Tony Gonzalez or Jimmy Graham or any other tight end not named Gronk gets. Let the record show he’s every bit as good as them, if not more so.
Quick Thought: How different would Minnesota’s season look right now if Joe Webb had been the starter the entire way? I think probably either much better or much worse – I honestly have no idea if he’s even passable throwing the ball – but it would have certainly been different and likely much more exciting than the Christian Ponder Experience. Just think about how good this Vikings offense could be if it had even an average passing game or alternative method of scoring touchdowns other than Adrian Peterson trucking the entire defense over an 80-yard span. That guy is ridiculous.
Quick Thought: Interestingly, Denver’s getting on a bit of a roll at a point when they’re starting to cool off a little offensively. They only averaged 5.0 yards per play yesterday against a team with a really, REALLY bad pass defense and failed to reach the 20-point barrier against the Chiefs last week. They’re still on a seven-game winning streak because their defense is excellent and they’ve stopped getting killed in the turnover battle. As always, it’s much better to win relatively unconvincingly than to look good while losing.
Quick Thought: Remember when some idiot was saying that he “couldn’t take (the Seahawks) seriously as a playoff contender until they try someone else at quarterback. Russell Wilson isn’t ready?” Yeah, neither do I.
Quick Thought: All right, William Goldman, try to write a better sports movie script than this. The inspirational, never-say-die, always-finds-a-way-to-win team has a semi-miraculous comeback against the more talented, always-say-die, never-finds-away-to-win team who also has a player who likes to kick his opponents in their junk area. I mean, you can’t possibly find a more clearly defined protagonist vs. antagonist battle out of any other combination of teams in the NFL, can you? Well, other than the Raiders vs. anybody, I suppose.
Quick Thought: How hilarious would it have been if Legatron had missed that field goal with 26 seconds left in OT? The thought of the same two teams playing to a tie TWICE in the same season would have been enough to make Donovan McNabb’s head explode. Amazingly, this has actually happened before, to the Steelers and Eagles in 1963. Of course, back then you didn’t play overtime at the end of regulation in the regular season; you just picked yourself up, kissed your sister, and moved on with your life. A measure of respect is due for the 49ers and Rams for trying to accomplish the impossible. Their attempt to make the tie fashionable again is something that we can all attempt to avoid in our own lives.
Quick Thought: Congratulations, New England! You’ve just won your ninth game of the year. Against a division opponent on the road, no less! What are your thoughts on this momentous occasion, Coach Belichick? “It’s always good to win.” All right, but you also clinched your fourth straight AFC East title in the process as well! Isn’t that exciting, Coach? “It’s good to be back in the postseason.” Uh, okay, thanks for your thoughts, Bill.
And we’re there.
Quick Thought: This may have been purely coincidental, but right after Al Michaels finished one of his promo spiels from early in the game, he enthusiastically said “OH YEAH” as footage of dancing Cowboys cheerleaders was shown on-screen. For some reason, this was nearly as hilarious as his intentional comedy last week regarding over/unders. Al’s on some sort of streak lately, I’m tellin’ ya.
Quick Thought: Wanna know a good way to get blown out when you average a half-yard more per play than your opponent (5.2 to 4.7)? Turning the ball over six times usually does the trick. This probably occurred because the Titans fired offensive coordinator Chris Palmer last week and replaced him with someone called Dowell Loggains. That just sounds like the name of a demolition derby driver, doesn’t it?
Quick Thought: So Chad Henne’s NOT going to average over ten yards an attempt EVERY week? That’s it, time to go back to Gabbert.
Quick Thought: OH. MY. WORD. You poor NYC metropolitan area folks. If you didn’t have DirecTV or the Red Zone Channel, you were stuck with that monstrosity of a contest as your only early game, forced to watch Mark Sanchez attempt the dubious achievement of completing more passes to the opposing team than to his own. At least the Jets won, though. How does it feel to be the Arizona defense and know that you HAVE to shut out the other team in order to have any chance? Of course, Ken Whisenhunt says his offense’s struggles are all okay because: “Make no mistake. They want to win.” Glad we cleared that up! Feel free to go on strike, Cardinal defense. You’ve earned it.
Quick Thought: Thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Kasandra Perkins and Jovan Belcher.
Someone Still Loves You, Alberto Riveron 