Mike Singletary Fired by San Francisco 49ers and the Top NFL Week 16 Storylines
It was another exhilarating NFL week. There were a lot of big games in Week 16 and they did not disappoint, depending on your point of view, of course.
The New York Giants went on the road set to clinch a playoff berth. Instead, their Week 15 collapse to Philadelphia haunted them against Aaron Rodgers’ Packers in Green Bay.
The New York Jets backed their way into the playoffs after stumbling on the road to the surging Chicago Bears.
The Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts all took care of business.
The most exciting part of Week 16? Mike Singletary.
Thanks for playing, Mike!
Where does Singletary’s heated exchange with backup quarterback Troy Smith rank among the top storylines of Week 16?
Week 17 Matchup of the Century
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Not so much.
The Week 17 matchup between the St. Louis Rams and Seattle Seahawks, in Seattle, will finally determine the winner of the brutal NFC West division. Whoever wins the division will actually, undeservingly, of course, host a playoff game. Neither team deserves to host a playoff game, especially if Seattle sneaks in with a losing record, but the rules are the rules.
At least with the division on the line, both teams will give it everything they have to win the game, which will make it an exciting primetime Sunday Night game.
Whether it’s the Rams or Seahawks, though, neither team projects to make it out of the first round.
Tom Brady’s Historic Pace Continues
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Tom Brady’s historic pace continued on the road in Buffalo against the Bills.
Brady threw three touchdowns in the game. Brady has now thrown at least two touchdowns and zero interceptions in eight straight games.
Brady is playing at an all-time level right now. He is so focused and determined he looks just about as unstoppable as anybody has in this decade.
Since the Week 9 loss to the Cleveland Browns, Brady now has thrown 20 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He has not thrown an interception in 10 consecutive games.
Detroit Lions Three-Game Winning Streak
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The Lions went on the road and defeated the Miami Dolphins.
Let that sink in for a second.
The Detroit Lions went into Miami and beat the Dolphins.
This means the Lions now have a three-game win streak. Even better, one week after snapping their historic 26-game road losing streak, the Lions now have won two consecutive road games.
The Lions have played very well all season and are finally figuring out how to close out games.
This will be a dangerous team in a couple of years with their fantastic young pieces like Calvin Johnson and Ndamukong Suh.
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Tim Tebow Terrific Again
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Tim Tebow made his second straight start and performed very well once again.
This team, Tebow led his Denver Broncos to a home victory over the Houston Texans 24-23.
Although the Texans have won of the worst defenses in the league, this was still a great performance for the often ridiculed rookie quarterback.
Tebow rushed 10 times for 27 yards and a touchdown. He also completed 16 of 27 attempted passes (55.2 completion percentage) for 308 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
The future looks great in Denver with Tebow leading the charge.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Still Alive
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The Bucs slipped up last week in overtime against the Detroit Lions.
If they won, they would sitting pretty in the driver’s seat to a wild card spot in the playoffs.
Now, they need help.
Even if the Buccaneers don’t make it in, this was a fantastic season for this young team.
Josh Freeman looks like one of the brightest young quarterbacks in the league, eerily resembling Ben Roethlisberger.
Freeman completed 21 of 26 attempted passes (80.0 completion percentage) for 237 yards and five touchdowns. Both Kellen Winslow and Mike Williams caught two touchdowns a piece.
Rookie running back LeGarrette Blount rumbled for 164 yards on 18 carries.
Kansas City Chiefs Clinch AFC West
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The Chiefs clinched the AFC West division after defeating the Tennessee Titans at home.
Simply put, Todd Haley and his fantastic coaching staff had his Chiefs fully focused and determined once again. The Chiefs remain undefeated at home this season. More importantly, they play fundamental football based on running the ball and not turning the ball over. The Chiefs will be a difficult team to battle in the playoffs because they enter each week well-coached and well-prepared.
New York Jets Back Into the Playoffs
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Last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers backed into the playoffs despite losing to the New York Jets.
This week, the New York Jets backed into the playoffs despite losing to the Chicago Bears.
The Jets have been extremely inconsistent over the past month. Really, that’s an understatement. They’ve actually been awful. The Jets need to regain their momentum, quickly, if they hope to advance out of the first round in the playoffs.
They desperately need to get the running game going with LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene. More importantly, the Jets need Mark Sanchez to regain his early season confidence.
All that matters for the time being: The Jets have clinched a playoff berth.
NFL Postpones Vikings Vs Eagles Until Tuesday, December 28
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Two weeks ago, the NFL was forced to postpone the Vikings vs Giants game until Monday Night after the Metrodome roof collapsed due to heavy snow.
Once again, weather conditions forced another game to be postponed.
Terrible weather conditions forced the NFL to postpone the Vikings vs Eagles game until Tuesday Night, December 28.
The NFL is setting an interesting precedent, but one that must take place for the safety of the players, stadium staff and fans.
Green Bay Packers Rout New York Giants
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The Giants lost in devastating fashion to Michael Vick’s Philadelphia Eagles last week.
The Giants went on the road to Green Bay ready to clinch a playoff berth.
Looks like Tom Coughlin forgot to tell his team they actually had to play the game in order to win.
The Giants didn’t show up. Aaron Rodgers did. Rodgers threw for 404 yards and four touchdowns.
Rodgers returned from the concussion suffered in Week 14 and his Packers proceeded to rout the New York Giants.
Eli Manning threw four interceptions in the contest and both Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs fumbled the rock.
The Packers are now in the driver’s seat for a wild card berth while the New York Giants appear to be done.
1. Mike Singletary Fired
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With one week left in the NFL regular season, San Francisco 49ers management decided to fire underachieving head coach Mike Singletary. Singletary never seemed to have full control of his team throughout his tenure as head coach. He has had numerous odd incidents occur under his watchful eye.
His blowup with backup quarterback Troy Smith was the last straw. Singletary and Smith appeared to be going spit for spit during their heated sideline argument. Ted Ginn, for some reason, got involved. That’s beside the point, though. Singletary’s methods never sat well or worked with his team.
Singletary should get another chance with another team at some point, he did show some potential during his brief coaching era.
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