NFL Week 11

So the Carolina Panthers are pretty good. They topped off a big week in the NFL by edging the Patriots late on to snatch a 24-20 win. Cam Newton and Tom Brady were both very good, but it was Cam whose 3 TDs made the difference. The result puts the Panthers firmly in the playoff hunt, and having beaten New England and San Francisco in consecutive weeks, they’re a threat to go even deeper. Watch out for the Panthers, ladies and gentlemen.

Cam Newton also reminded fellow read-option exploiters like RGIII and Kap just who the king of the QB run is with this beauty, dodging defenders like Madden on amateur and running over 75 total yards for a 14 yard gain. Nobody else could have made this play.

The Kansas City Chiefs finally lost a game – and first place in the AFC West – when the Broncos took them down this week. It was a predictable result, as KC has a superb defence, but a suspect offence, whereas Denver has Peyton Manning, who played a great game in picking apart the Chiefs. And kudos to the Broncos D who played a superb game. Denver’s 27 points were the most conceded by the Chiefs all year (beating 17). The other huge game was New Orleans nailing a couple late field goals to beat San Francisco 23-20 in a possible playoff matchup later in the season. Two losses in a row is troubling for the 49ers, but they needn’t worry yet with their roster. Things’ll straighten out in a few weeks. Realistically, the Niners should win 5 of their next 6.

Pittsburgh topped Detroit after a suffocating second half defensive effort, Houston lost again, the Falcons suck bad, Philly are temporarily top of the NFC East, Miami finally won another game and the NY Giants are on a 4 game win streak.

Matt Stafford & Calvin Johnson: 1st Half vs 2nd Half

1st – Stafford: 16/29 327 yds 2 TD 0 INT

Megatron: 6 catches 179 yds 2 TDs

2nd – Stafford: 3/17 35 yds 0 TDs 1 INT

Megatron: 0 catches

New York Giants Win Streak Explained:

Games 1-6: Played and lost to Tony Romo, Peyton Manning, Cam Newton, Alex Smith, Michael Vick & Jay Cutler.

Games 7-10: Played and beat Josh Freeman, Matt Barkley, Terrelle Pryor & Scott Tolzien.

NFL Power Rankings

Denver Broncos

Seattle Seahawks

New Orleans Saints

Kansas City Chiefs

Carolina Panthers

Teams We Can Safely Eliminate From The Playoff Hunt:

Minnesota Vikings

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Houston Texans

Atlanta Falcons

Jacksonville Jaguars

Foul Or No Foul:

A crucial moment in New Orleans’ crucial win over San Francisco was the tossing of a penalty flag over this hit on Drew Brees. The Niners are still furious after the penalty effectively saved a Saints drive that culminated in the tying field goal, though as far as I see it, if the QBs neck is stretched to cartoon proportions, I’m happy to see the yellow rags go flying. Seriously, I haven’t seen an athlete stretch like this since MJ’s game-winning dunk in Space Jam.

Foul or No Foul II

Tony Allen kicks Chris Paul in the face in the first quarter of yesterday’s Grizzlies vs Clippers game. The Grizz won – in the end, handing the Clips their first loss at home (aka #LobCity). Yeah, this one’s definitely a foul. Allen was ejected for his Bruce Lee impersonation.

Congrats To The 2013 MLB MVPs:

Andrew McCutchen (Pittsburgh Pirates)

583 AB, 97 R, 185 H, 21 HR, 84 RBI, 27 SB, .317 AVG, .404 OBP

Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers)

555 AB, 103 R, 193 H, 44 HR, 137 RBI, .348 AVG, .442 OBP, .636 SLG

Can’t argue with the stats, folks. Two very deserving MVPs.

Good Week:

Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers) – Big Ben had his best game of the season and his defence for once came through for him. It’s strange seeing the Steelers need to score 30 points just to have a shot at winning, but you take ‘em as they come I guess. 29-45, 367 yds, 4 tds is a good day at the office.
Bobby Rainey (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) – who even is this guy? He was cut by Baltimore midseason, but with Doug Martin out, and nobody else doing much in his place, he’s found a home as temporary running back for the TB Buccs. Rainey had 163 rush yards for 2 TDs from 30 carries, helping his team to an unlikely 2 match win streak. Fantasy waiver request already submitted.
Portland Trailblazers – These guys slipped under the radar to start the NBA season, but it’s becoming pretty clear that they’re for real. Damien Lillard is playing every bit as well as he did in his Rookie of the Year campaign. The Blazers are the only team to have beaten the Spurs so far.

Bad Week:

Atlanta Falcons – More like bad season, I guess. No team, not even the Houston Texans, have been more disappointing than the Falcons this season. Suddenly Matt Ryan’s reputation is sinking as he’s forced to fare with subpar receivers. Sure makes a difference when you can toss up a 50 yard floater anywhere near Julio Jones for a near guaranteed reception. Without that get-out-of-jail-free card (and a couple other key injuries), Ryan and the Falcons look awful.
Philadelphia 76ers – After starting so brightly, it’s taken only an injury to Michael Carter-Williams to derail this team. They’ll finish much higher than people thought for sure, but they won’t be making the playoffs conceding a league high 109.9 points per game. Philly’s on a 3 game losing streak.
New York Knicks – It’s all falling apart in NY. Without Tyson Chandler right now, they’re struggling for presence under the basket, and Carmelo is resorting to taking a billion shots a game (he scored 45 in the loss to Houston this week). And to make matters worse, Boston keeps rejecting their trade offers for Iman Shumpert. The Knicks were keen to anchor a trade for Rajon Rondo around Shumpy, but the Celtics aren’t biting. Yet.

Player of the Week:

Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans) – Fear the brow. The 2012 1st overall pick is now coming into his own in a hurry after a slightly disappointing rookie campaign. Remember when it looked like Dwight Howard would win every single Defensive Player of the Year award for a decade? Well Davis is maybe one tier short of that level of elite defence, while averaging over 20 ppg and 11 rpg. He had 8 blocks (5 in the first Q!) against Philly the other day, and the only reason he didn’t run up his other stats is the game was in the bag after 3Qs.

Upcoming Dates (NZ Time):

December 30 - NFL Regular Season Ends

February 3 - Superbowl XLVIII

February 17 - 2014 NBA All-Star Game