NFL Week 14 Report Cards: New York Jets Crash and Burn, Atlanta Falcons Soar
Week 14 in the NFL saw the roof fall down on the Minnesota Vikings, Michael Vick escape with a win, Peyton Manning rebound and more.
The NFC West got even crazier as Arizona and San Francisco both scored blowout wins.
Atlanta and New England distinguished themselves in their respective conferences.
Finally, the playoff picture got a little bit more clear.
Read on for team-by-team report cards of Week 14's action.
Arizona Cardinals
1 of 32
43-13 win over the Denver Broncos
It's never a good sign when John Skelton, a rookie out of Fordham, is starting for your team in Week 14. Yet that's the exact scenario that the Cardinals were faced with after a combination of ineffectiveness and injuries left them with no other choices.
Fortunately for Skelton and the Cardinals, they were going up an equally inept team, the Denver Broncos, led by interim head coach Eric Studesville in his first game in the new position.
Skelton wasn't terrible because he avoided turning the ball over and overcame four dropped passes to complete 15 of his 37 throws for 146 yards.
He never got the ball into the end zone though, as that job was left to Tim Hightower and Jay Feely. Hightower ran the ball in twice, both in the fourth quarter, while Feely had a five-yard scamper for a score in the second.
The kicker ended up being the star of the game as he made five field goals and four extra points in addition to his touchdown.
Finally, the defense made Kyle Orton look terrible as they picked him off three times and held Denver to just 13 points.
Grade: A+
Atlanta Falcons
2 of 32
31-10 win over the Carolina Panthers
The super-trio of Matt Ryan, Michael Turner and Roddy White continued to roll right along in their Week 14 game against the Panthers.
Ryan completed 20 of his 37 passes for 227 yards and a touchdown. Eight of the balls were caught by White, who recorded 79 yards through the air.
The real star though was Turner. Atlanta's running back carried the pigskin 28 times for 112 yards and found the end zone three times as the Falcons cruised to a 17-0 lead and never looked back, finishing the game with an 11-2 record.
They've established themselves as the favorite in the NFC and this game did nothing to disprove that theory.
Grade: A
Baltimore Ravens
3 of 32
34-28 win over the Houston Texans
The Ravens jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead thanks to a touchdown run by Willis McGahee and two touchdown passes from Joe Flacco to Derrick Mason.
Once David Reed returned a kickoff in the third quarter for a touchdown, Baltimore had taken a 28-7 lead, but they still let the Texans storm back in the second half.
After Houston scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, the game went to overtime and Josh Wilson returned an interception to the house for the win.
Grade: B+
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Buffalo Bills
4 of 32
13-6 win over the Cleveland Browns
The Buffalo Bills got that elusive third win, but it was more because of the ineptness of the Cleveland Browns than any sort of stellar play by the Bills.
Ryan Fitzpatrick was decent at best, completing just 13 passes for 142 yards and the game's only touchdown.
However, the defense was what stood out in this game. The Browns were held to just two field goals and only 187 yards.
That may speak to the skill, or lack thereof, of Jake Delhomme though.
Grade: B+
Carolina Panthers
5 of 32
10-31 loss to the Atlanta Falcons
It's hard to find many positives with the Panthers' latest loss.
Jimmy Clausen completed less than half his passes, threw a pick and failed to throw a touchdown pass.
The defense allowed the Falcons to walk all over them.
Jonathan Stewart and Mike Goodson combined to make the rushing attack the only real positive. Stewart ran 18 times for 133 yards while Goodson picked up 70 yards and a touchdown on his nine carries.
The march towards Andrew Luck continues.
Grade: F
Chicago Bears
6 of 32
7-36 loss to the New England Patriots
Amidst the snow and cold temperatures, there wasn't a single bright spot to be found on the Bears team.
Chicago let New England jump out to a big lead as the Patriots scored the first 36 points of the matchup.
Cutler completed less than half of his passes and was picked off twice, fumbling once while only leading his team to 185 yards.
The running game only gained 27 yards and scored the Bears' only touchdown in the third quarter, which was already considered garbage time.
I guess the only positive was that this performance came against the red-hot New England Patriots, so it can almost be just thrown out as an anomaly.
Grade: F
Cincinnati Bengals
7 of 32
7-23 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers
After scoring the first points of the game in the first quarter when Carson Palmer hit Andrew Whitworth for a one-yard touchdown, everything unravelled for the Bengals.
Palmer negated his one touchdown pass with three interceptions, two of which were returned for the Steelers' only touchdowns of the game.
The running game was stuffed every time, picking up only 34 yards against a tough Pittsburgh defense.
Cincinnati's defense played well, but not well enough to overcome the overall ineptitude of the offense.
Grade: C
Cleveland Browns
8 of 32
6-13 loss to the Buffalo Bills
Peyton Hillis picked up 101 yards on the ground and another 10 receiving yards, but he was the only bright spot for the Browns in a tough loss to the Bills.
Jake Delhomme was awful, completing just 12 of his 20 passes for 80 yards and an interception. The soon-to-be-benched quarterback could only lead his team to 187 yards and two field goals.
With the loss, the Cleveland Browns were eliminated from playoff contention, which is never something you want to happen. Especially when the team that does the eliminating happens to be from Buffalo.
Grade: C-
Dallas Cowboys
9 of 32
27-30 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles
NFC East showdowns are always tough fights, especially when they're in primetime. This Sunday Night Football classic was no different.
Dallas took a lead into the fourth quarter, but quickly fell behind when they allowed DeSean Jackson to score on a 91-yard touchdown. From there, a late score was the only thing that kept this from being a double-digit win for the Eagles.
The Cowboys did a very good job of keeping Michael Vick in check and Jon Kitna got the offense moving, but it just wasn't enough in the end.
Grade: B+
Denver Broncos
10 of 32
13-43 loss to the Arizona Cardinals
Getting blown out by the Arizona Cardinals?
Is it time for Tim Tebow?
Come on Denver, you're better than this.
Grade: F
Detroit Lions
11 of 32
7-3 win over the Green Bay Packers
In Week 14, the Detroit Lions got quite the unexpected win.
A lot of people will make excuses for Green Bay and say that they would've won had Aaron Rodgers not been knocked out of the game with a concussion. The truth is that the Packers offense was stalling even before Matt Flynn took over at quarterback.
Detroit's offense wasn't much better. They only gained 286 yards in the game and their sole source of points was a 13-yard pass from Drew Stanton to Will Heller.
But hey, for Detroit fans a win is a win.
Grade: B+
Green Bay Packers
12 of 32
3-7 loss to the Detroit Lions
Just like I said on the last slide, a lot of people will make excuses for Green Bay and say that they would've won had Aaron Rodgers not been knocked out of the game with a concussion. The truth is that the Packers offense was stalling even before Matt Flynn took over at quarterback.
The defense played quite well, limiting the Lions to just one score and keeping Calvin Johnson very quite. The star wide receiver from Georgia Tech only had one catch for 44 yards.
Green Bay's problem was definitely the offense. Being held to just three points against Detroit is not very good. Especially when the playoffs are on the line.
Grade: C-
Houston Texans
13 of 32
28-34 loss to the Baltimore Ravens
With their furious second half rally, the Houston Texans managed to put up some big offensive stats, but it wasn't enough to get the victory.
Matt Schaub threw an astounding 62 passes, completing exactly half of them for 393 yards and three touchdowns. However, he also threw two picks, one of which was returned for the game-winning touchdown in overtime.
Arian Foster overtook the NFL rushing yards lead from Maurice Jones-Drew with his 20 carries for 100 yards. The other offensive star, Andre Johnson, hauled in nine passes for 140 yards and two scores.
Sadly for Houston fans, it wasn't enough to complete the comeback.
Grade: B-
Indianapolis Colts
14 of 32
30-28 win over the Tennessee Titans
This game wasn't really as close as the score indicated. The Colts held a sizable lead throughout the contest, but Bo Scaife caught a two-yard touchdown pass as time expired to close the gap to the final margin of two points.
Peyton Manning finally rebounded and ended his slump, completing 25 of his 35 passes for 315 yards and two touchdowns.
Indianapolis' defense though was pretty weak. The squad allowed Kerry Collins to throw three touchdowns in addition to Chris Johnson's 111 yards and a score.
The win was big for the Colts, who are now in position to take over the AFC South next week with a win over the Jaguars, but there were still some bad signs.
Grade: B+
Jacksonville Jaguars
15 of 32
38-31 win over the Oakland Raiders
After watching the Colts win on Thursday night, the Jaguars needed a big win to maintain their one-game lead in the AFC South going into the Week 15 showdown with Indianapolis.
While the Jaguars' defense struggled against both the run and the pass, their offense turned it up a notch and still got the victory.
Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 101 yards and a touchdown, his sixth-straight 100-yard game. Rashad Jennings ran for 109 yards and another touchdown on just four touches.
As for David Garrard, the quarterback threw three touchdown passes and only one interception.
Grade: B+
Kansas City Chiefs
16 of 32
0-31 loss to the San Diego Chargers
The Chiefs went into this AFC West clash with the intention of solidifying their division lead and came out embarrassed.
Brodie Croyle got the start at quarterback after Matt Cassel's appendectomy, but come on now.
Croyle was 7-for-17 for 40 yards. Jamaal Charles ran for another 40.
The Chiefs gained 67 net yards in the game. They crossed midfield once.
And they allowed 31 points.
Grade: 0
Miami Dolphins
17 of 32
10-6 win over the New York Jets
After scoring 10 points in the first quarter thanks to a Dan Carpenter field goal and a touchdown pass from Chad Henne to Brandon Marshall, the Dolphins offense absolutely stalled.
They only gained 131 net yards in the game without scoring another point.
Fortunately for Dolphins fans, their defense was excellent, holding the Jets to just two touchdowns.
While they got lucky and watched as Santonio Holmes dropped an easy touchdown pass, the defensive squad still made Mark Sanchez look awful again.
Grade: B+
Minnesota Vikings
18 of 32
3-21 loss to the New York Giants
In case you missed the news this week, the Metrodome's roof collapsed under the weight of the snowfall and Minnesota's game against New York was pushed back until Monday night and moved to Detroit.
Even that wasn't enough for Brett Favre to recover from his injury and the Iron Man's streak came to an end.
Tarvaris Jackson was ineffective in relief of Favre, completing 15 of his 30 passes for 118 yards and an interception.
Adrian Peterson had similar struggles, rushing 14 times for just 26 yards.
The Vikings failed to score an offensive touchdown while allowing three. That's the recipe for a loss right there.
Grade: C-
New England Patriots
19 of 32
36-7 win over the Chicago Bears
In the snow, the Patriots staked their claim as the best team in the NFL.
Scoring the first 36 points of the game against a very good Chicago Bears defense is quite impressive.
Tom Brady also had yet another great game, completing 27 of 40 passes for 369 yards and two touchdowns.
What is there not to like?
Grade: A+
New Orleans Saints
20 of 32
31-13 win over the St. Louis Rams
With the Saints winning a few close games and the Rams drastically improving, St. Louis became a bit of a trendy upset pick, but New Orleans put all thoughts of that to bed.
Whenever Drew Brees and Marques Colston get going, the Saints are tough to beat.
Brees threw for 221 yards and three touchdowns, two of which were to No. 15.
Their defense also picked off Sam Bradford twice and held the Rams offense to just one touchdown.
Grade: A-
New York Giants
21 of 32
21-3 win over the Minnesota Vikings
Thanks to the two men pictured here, the Giants overcame a bad performance by Eli Manning.
Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs combined to rush for 219 yards and two touchdowns, carrying the team on their backs for large portions of the game.
The defense also stepped up and made both Adrian Peterson and Tarvaris Jackson look pretty bad.
Grade: A
New York Jets
22 of 32
6-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins
Another game played, another game without a touchdown for the New York Jets. Suddenly questions pop up about Mark Sanchez's status as the starting quarterback.
It's never good when there are questions about whether or not to panic about a 9-4 team, but that's exactly what's happening in New York right now.
The Dolphins only had 131 yards of offense but still won.
Grade: F
Oakland Raiders
23 of 32
31-38 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars
The offense was working for the Raiders, the defense not so much.
Darren McFadden carried the ball 16 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 86 yards and a third touchdown.
Even Jason Campbell was excellent, going 21-for-30 for 324 yards and two scores.
The defense was another story, allowing 38 points and two 100-yard rushers to the Jaguars.
Grade: B-
Philadelphia Eagles
24 of 32
30-27 win over the Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys had the lead going into the fourth quarter, but the Eagles came out with the win thanks to DeSean Jackson's 91-yard touchdown and the Eagles' 13 fourth quarter points.
Michael Vick actually looked human in this game, throwing two interceptions and failing to break the 300-yard mark. He did pass for two touchdowns and run for another.
Jackson stole all the headlines with his 210 receiving yards and his premature touchdown celebration.
The defense wasn't great for Philly, but they got the big win.
Grade: A-
Pittsburgh Steelers
25 of 32
23-7 win over the Cincinnati Bengals
The man with the million-dollar hair was the star of this contest.
Troy Polamalu picked off two Carson Palmer passes, returning one for a touchdown. The third Palmer pick was caught by LaMarr Woodley and also taken back for a touchdown.
While the defense was superb, the offense was the opposite. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 258 yards but failed to lead his team into the red zone, settling for just three lengthy field goals.
Grade: B+
San Diego Chargers
26 of 32
31-0 win over the Kansas City Chiefs
This game was just absolute domination.
The Chargers continued their trademark December comeback in the division with a blowout, shutout win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
426 yards to 67 yards. Enough said.
Grade: A+
San Francisco 49ers
27 of 32
40-21 win over the Seattle Seahawks
With a win, the 5-8 49ers somehow pulled within a game of the NFC West division leaders.
A quarterback switch from one Smith to another worked out as Alex Smith threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns, one each to Vernon Davis, Josh Morgan and Brian Westbrook.
The defense also picked off Matt Hasselbeck four times and managed to win by 19 points despite allowing the Seahawks to score 14 unanswered points at the end of the game.
Grade: A
Seattle Seahawks
28 of 32
21-40 loss to the San Francisco 49ers
The Seahawks are still tied for the division lead, but they're going the wrong way in the NFC West.
After a dismal loss to the 49ers, it's tough to imagine this Seattle team in the playoffs.
First of all, they allowed 40 points to Alex Smith and the rest of the 49ers.
Then there's the fact that the offense was pretty bad throughout the game.
Finally, Matt Hasselbeck threw another four interceptions. I can hear the Charlie Whitehurst chants starting now.
Grade: F
St. Louis Rams
29 of 32
13-31 loss to the New Orleans Saints
The Rams were a popular upset pick because they had appeared to be on the rise while the Saints were having trouble winning games by more than a touchdown or so.
Sam Bradford, the Rams' rookie quarterback, threw two interceptions and couldn't generate much offense against a superior Saints team.
Fortunately for them though, they're still tied for the NFC West division lead.
Grade: C+
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
30 of 32
17-16 win over the Washington Redskins
Josh Freeman completed his fifth fourth quarter comeback of the season with this win over the Redskins.
They probably didn't deserve to win the game though. Tampa Bay's defense allowed Ryan Torain to run for 171 yards and Donovan McNabb to throw for two scores.
The Buccaneers never really got that much going on offense either except for in the final quarter. Had Washington not missed a PAT with 0:03 left, the game would have gone to overtime.
Anything could have happened.
Grade: B
Tennessee Titans
31 of 32
28-30 loss to the Indianapolis Colts
The Tennessee Titans played quite well in this loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Kerry Collins tossed three touchdown passes and had 244 yards on 28-for-39 passing.
Chris Johnson finally got it going, rushing for 111 yards and a touchdown.
The problem is, the defense couldn't stop Peyton Manning and his misfit cast of receivers.
Grade: B-
Washington Redskins
32 of 32
16-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
You can't miss two short field goals and expect to win a close game, yet the Redskins were in position to do just that.
But then Hunter Smith mishandled the snap on what would have been a game-tying PAT with three seconds left, ruining the Redskins' effort.
Ouch...
Grade: C
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