Hunter Smith, Aaron Rodgers, and The Rest Of Sunday's NFL Low Lights
Each week certain players rise above and triumph to victory. It can be in the form of a fourth-quarter comeback or a big defensive stop or just all around domination of a single game. It really doesn't matter which way these weekly champions do it, the fact is they get it done.
This article isn't about them, you know who those guys are. What about the players that do the opposite? The ones that blow it in a big spot or fail to seize an opportunity given to them? That's exactly what this is about, the low lights.
Let's see who failed this week:
The Jet's Mark Sanchez
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Coming off one of the his, as well as the team's, worst performances of the year against New England the Jets had a chance to rebound against a mediocre Dolphins at home. Well, the defense rebounded alright, but Sanchez did not.
Sanchez had trouble with the conditions it seemed, fumbling the ball four times in the rainy and cold weather. Only one was recovered by the defense luckily. In the passing game Sanchez did throw for over 200 yards, but threw one pick and no touchdowns.
All of Miami's measly ten points came off of Sanchez turnovers. Rex Ryan considered benching him at one point, but deemed he still gave them a better chance to win then Brunell.
Overall, in a chance to get another divisional win and keep it tight with the Patriots and the other wild card teams, Sanchez really blew a big opportunity. He better shape up quickly, they play the Steelers next week.
The Packer's Arron Rodgers
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The Packers were trailing the Bears coming into the weekend, and with Chicago playing the Patriots and themselves playing the Lions, it seemed like they may be able to even their records. The Bears held up they're and lost, but Green Bay couldn't get the win.
Now, usually I wouldn't blame anyone for getting injured, but Aaron Rodgers dove head first instead of sliding after he'd already gotten way past the first down marker. The quarterback slide rule was put in place for a reason, to prevent an injury. Rodgers slides, he doesn't get a concussion, and he most likely leads his team to a victory
Now, the Packers are still trailing the Bears and competing with the rest of the NFC contenders for a wild card spot. He could have himself a major headache, as well as his coaches this game but now they're going to be fighting even harder to make the playoffs.
The Bengals and Steelers Extracurricular Activities
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The Bengals actually won the division last year, which may seem surprising after seeing how bad their team is this year. In that run last year they were able to beat divisional rival Pittsburgh twice on the way. However, this year the tables were turned and Pittsburgh was the victor in both meetings.
The second loss to their rival this season as well as the overall frustration boiled over at the end of the game, when the players from both teams broke out into a small scuffle as the teams took to the field to shake hands. A handful of players had to separated, though it didn't look like any punches were thrown.
Overall, these types of antics show a lack of class by both teams. I don't believe that either of these teams are classless, however there is no room for this garbage after the game is already over. I don't know if they'll be fines or not, but either way it's uncalled for.
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The MetroDome's Roof
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While this list is for players typically, I think this roof deserves a spot. Due to the blizzard like conditions the Giants couldn't even make it to Minnesota, but it didn't really matter any way because they wouldn't have been able to play.
Underneath the weigh of too much snow, the roof of the Vikings' house deflated and burst. Snow poured onto the field and inside the massive structure. There's a video of it Fox cameras captured here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxuxNLf87_Y
The game between the two teams will now be played Monday at Detroit's Ford Field as efforts are made to repair the dome. Oddly enough, the roof collapsing in kind of represents what has happened with the Vikings season thus far.
The Redskins' Hunter Smith
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Gano is the one holding his head in despair, but the man behind him Hunter Smith should be doing the same thing right. Down by seven, Washington took the ball down the length of the field where McNabb was able to fire a slant to Armstrong for what looked like the game tying score.
But, while extra points are usually gimmes, this one was not. The rainy and wet conditions made the ball slip right through the hands of holder Hunter Smith. Unable to get this conversion in the final seconds, the Redskins would go on to lose by a single point.
In the grand scheme of things, this won't really make a big difference for the Redskins because their season is already a loss, but for the Bucs they stay close in the wild card hunt. The play itself brought back memories of Tony Romo's playoff snap blunder, maybe it's something about the NFC East.
Jet's Coach Sal Alosi
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The Dolphins-Jets game took another a new form of ugly when a New York strength coach took out a Miami player in punt coverage. Nolan Carroll was forced out of bounds on the punt along the Jets sideline, where coach Sal Alosi stuck his leg in the path of Carroll, who fell to the ground in pain after taking the sot to his knee. Carroll laid in pain for a brief while. but then returned to action a play later.
Though Carroll was not seriously injured and this play had no impact on the games outcome, this type of thing makes the Steelers-Bengals scrum look classy. The NFL will certainly punish Alosi, and he deserves every bit of it they hand out.
This event will throw even more on the fire that is burning between these two divisional rivals.
The Seahawks' Matt Hasselbeck
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Despite sitting at the .500 mark, the Seahawks are tied with the Rams in the NFC West's best record, though they are second because of the head-to-head loss. With the Rams playing the defending Super Bowl champion Saints, a game they would most likely and did lose, Seattle has a chance to take the lead against the 49ers.
The 49ers have had a terrible year after being predicted by most to win the division, and recently they lost their best offense player in Frank Gore. The matchup looked favorable, but QB Matt Hasselbeck was absolutely awful. While he didn't get much help from his defense, his five turnovers might still have cost his team the game.
Luckily, the Hawks aren't out of the playoffs yet, but in a game they should have won it might have been nice if their quarterback decided to show up to play. It is unlikely Pete Carroll will make a change at quarterback either.
Did I Miss Anything?
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I can't watch every game, so there's a chance I didn't catch every blunder, or maybe I did and i just don't think it was as tragic as you do. Either way, if you think I missed anything please use the comments to let me know.
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