The game of the week took place in Pittsburgh on Sunday. The 8-4 Cowboys gave the 9-3 Steelers all they could handle, but with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Dallas self-destructed like they've done in each of the last two Decembers.
After thoroughly dominating the first three quarters, and overcoming four turnovers in the first half (three for Romo alone), Dallas stopped the Steelers on a key fourth-down and goal at the one and appeared to suck the life out of Pittsburgh and their fan faithful.
But after Roethlisberger guided the team down the field for a FG to move the game to 13-6, the Steelers forced a three-and-out and got the ball back with under five minutes left.
Big Ben drove down the field to score the game tying TD and then Romo, after Dallas received the ball at the 20 with two minutes left and score 13-13, overthrew TE Witten on a miscommunication which was intercepted and returned for six. And game over.
With the win, the Steelers moved to 10-3 and closer to a first-round bye while the loss put Dallas at 8-5 and into a situation they were desperately trying to avoid.
In New York, the Giants fell to the Eagles 20-14. Unless you were a fan of either football team, it was a boring game to watch, but the Giants saw their six-game winning streak come to a crashing halt as McNabb and Westbrook methodically took apart the Giants' defense with a mixture of smart running and short pass plays.
There's no way to measure how much the distractions of Plaxico Burress and Antonio Pierce were to the team today, but one thing that was evident is the team came out flat on Sunday.
They missed a few huge opportunities (WR Domenik Hixon saw an 80-yard TD go through his hands), and just seemed to be elsewhere mentally throughout the game.
But the Eagles deserve a lot of credit because they were left for dead after two horrific games vs. the Bengals and Ravens a few weeks ago, but after beating the Cardinals on Thanksgiving night and defeating the Giants today, their playoff hopes are still alive.
With the Dallas loss on Sunday, the Giants actually clinched the NFC East Title to guarantee a first-round playoff game, but they know there's work to be done before next week's game in Dallas where they have a chance to end the Cowboys' playoff chances.
The Falcons allowed a golden opportunity to slip through their fingers today. Division games are never easy, but losing to the Saints didn't help their playoff chances as they remained tied with the Cowboys for the sixth seed in the NFC.
QB Matt Ryan was once again solid, but the defense couldn't keep the Saints out of the end zone late in the game and fell 29-25.
The Cards clinched the NFC West with a 34-10 romping over the St. Louis Rams. It was 33 years in the waiting, but if finally happened.
0 commentsLeave a Comment
Leave a Comment
You must register to post a comment.