He was eating a turducken after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers at home Thanksgiving and gave a shout out to fantasy football players who had him on their roster after kicking a game winning 61 yard field goal against the Detroit Lions.  That’s how you win the hearts and minds of America.  This guy is pretty damn good.  He was 30-33 last season, his rookie year and is 35-37 so far this season with two games to go.  Baltimore as of right now control their own destiny.  They win their final two games against the New England Patriots and the Cincinnati Bengals they win the AFC North.  Pretty amazing considering how up and down their season has been.  You have to know that if the game is close against any opponent they won’t be afraid to let Justin Tucker kick a big field goal.  The only question for Baltimore is why their offense has become so stagnant this year?  Scoring all of your points by way of your kicker is rare. Your next two opponents aren’t the Detroit Lions.

Pick your poison.  Would you rather have Tony Romo or Matthew Stafford as your quarterback?  Most would probably choose neither. After this past weekend even more would rather take a pass, pardon the pun.  Romo and Stafford are capable and have put up incredible numbers in their careers.  They both have a lot of talent around them and yet their teams under perform.  There are many factors involved, but a big theme has been the decision making. They seem to make poor decisions at critical times in a game.  For example, Romo was throwing the football with a lead late in the game against the Green Bay Packers.  It was a short yardage situation and the Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray had well over 100 yards rushing at the time.  Stafford was under pressure with a lead against Baltimore and decided to throw a side arm pass over the middle where the ratio of Ravens to Lions players was in Baltimore’s advantage.  Result was an interception.  Going forward both of these teams are stuck with their $100 million dollar investments and their isn’t going to be an easy fix.  New head coaches might help, but those bad decisions are killing these teams.  Winning is everything and it isn’t happening on a consistent basis.

I figured that the Patriots would struggle in their first game after losing TE Rob Gronkowski to an ACL tear last week.  They sure didn’t look like they would with a halftime lead against the Miami Dolphins, but Patriots QB Tom Brady was actually outplayed by Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill who had a game winning drive with 1:21 left in the game.  Brady was still his usual self leading the Patriots inside the redzone needing a touchdown.  But it was then that I noticed where they would feel the loss of not having Gronkowski.  His height is hard for any defender to overcome and the Patriots didn’t have that advantage anymore.  Going forward there isn’t any danger of the Patriots missing the playoffs, but they could get knocked out of clinching the second seed and getting a first round bye.  They’ll need that bye and they have another tough task going to Baltimore and finishing the season at home against Buffalo.

Come to find out a lot of people actually like watching football in blizzard like conditions.  The powers that be having been freaking out for the last year knowing that it could possibly happen in New York (it’s really in New Jersey) for the upcoming Super Bowl.  Oh those poor people will have to bundle up at the first sign of snowflakes.  If I remember correctly one of the most iconic games in NFL history happened at the ‘Frozen Tundra’ otherwise known as Lambeau Field between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys in the late 60s.  Why would it hurt the NFL if there’s some inclement weather?  Peyton Manning’s only Super Bowl win was in Miami and it was raining throughout most of that game.  Were folks complaining then?  Maybe, but that was my first Super Bowl where I was watching it on a HD television.  Seeing the raindrops coming off the helmets in slow motion was amazing.  Anyway if there is snow at this seasons Super Bowl so what?  Millions will still watch and maybe millions more with pictures like the kind we saw this past weekend.

Finally a game that lived up to its billing.  Just because I’m a fan of one of the teams doesn’t diminish the fact that when you watch the Seahawks and 49ers playing each other, there’s bound to be some interesting moments.  You start with the head coaches who just don’t like each other.  They don’t show it, but Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has had a problem with 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh going back to their days at USC and Stanford respectively.  It’s even better now because they get to play each other twice a year instead of once.  The players for both teams keep it respectful and put all their talk on the field and not with reporters.  It would be nice to see them go at it again in the playoffs, but we’ll have to wait and see on that.  The 49ers close win means that they keep the Seahawks from clinching the division for another week.  If Seattle does end up losing their lead in the division they’ll be looking back at this game as one they shouldn’t have taken lightly.

The Carolina Panthers had an eight game winning streak going into New Orleans this past weekend.  Now after their loss to their division rival some think that this is exactly what Carolina needed. Say the Panthers beat the Saints in the Superdome.  They would be expected to win the division at that point with their next meeting against the Saints coming in North Carolina.  If that were the case the Panthers could be in a position to be the second seed in the NFC and be a contender for the Super Bowl.  Now that the hypothetical scenario is out of the way, with the Panthers loss they now have a chance to get right and learn from their mistakes. There were plenty of them.  Their defense was exposed and couldn’t get a consistent pass rush.  Their offense was stagnant and didn’t have a killer instinct.  This could go badly for them, but the Panthers are still in a good position to clinch a playoff spot. They’re a dangerous team only if they play like it.

They are on an incredible winning streak at home right now. They’ve clinched the first playoff spot in the NFC and it appears that they could be clinching home field advantage in the playoffs with another win or two.  That’s a good thing for them because they certainly are a different team when they play on the road, although they’ve only lost one game so far this season.  I have been impressed with their performance this season.  That includes the thumping they gave the New Orleans Saints on Monday night. Jumping out to a 17-0 first quarter lead just about guaranteed a victory for the Seattle Seahawks.  What all this doesn’t guarantee right now is a trip to New York for the Super Bowl.  They have been exposed in some of their games this year and though their record doesn’t show it they do have lapses both on offense and defense. They seem to forget their identity.  If that happens down the stretch they could lose that home field advantage and maybe the NFC West, but they have a pretty sizable lead going into the final four games of the season.

It helps that the 49ers are starting to look more balanced on offense.  With the return of WR Michael Crabtree from an achilles tear in May it seems to have rejuvenated QB Colin Kaepernick. The St. Louis Rams are a good defense, but the Niners were able to expose their flaws and Kaepernick had a good performance throwing the football.  Can this continue to finish the season with games against the Seahawks, Buccaneers, Falcons and Cardinals? It’s certainly possible.  They are the defending NFC Champions and they still boast one of the best defenses in the league and have a pretty good leg up on their competition that is stumbling behind them.  Health and consistency will be keys for the 49ers as it will be with their rivals the Seahawks.  If San Francisco beats Seattle this Sunday it could be an interesting finish in the NFC West.

To be this obvious is really a disservice to cheaters.  It’s hard to say which one was more obvious.  Mike Tomlin on the sidelines (pictured above) or Brooklyn Nets head coach Jason Kidd clearly telling his player to “hit me” that resulted in Kidd’s cup being spilled on the basketball court.  Both of them are dumb for doing it and were rightly punished with fines for their actions.  Is that to say they won’t do it again or something similar to get their way?  Absolutely not.  Coaches have done things that can be called cheating or getting an edge on the competition, but that’s with far fewer television cameras watching their every move.  I’d expect this kind of stuff at the high school level or at some college venues with fewer eyes.  During a nationally televised game?  Hardly.  A lot was discussed about their actions, but only reaction was that it was stupid and they were caught doing it.  Trying to pass it off as if nothing was done, like Jason Kidd did made it even worse.  Tomlin knew he was screwed, judging by his smile after the play.  He is a more seasoned coach and should know better, but Kidd is a new head coach and was a desperate play to steal a win.  Whatever the reasoning behind it the key to cheating is not getting caught.  That’s usually an easy thing to remember.

I figured it was to good to be true that the Broncos would shut out the Patriots.  Denver was up 24-0 at halftime and then as soon as the second half started, New England had scored 31 unanswered points.  It’s a bad sign for a team to give up that many points after being ahead by nearly the same amount.  Also what was weird about this game is that Peyton Manning once again looked lost playing in Foxboro.  The weather wasn’t great by any means, but Patriots QB Tom Brady had by far his best game of the season with the wild wind.  Granted New England made sure that Tom Brady wasn’t throwing into the wind with them deferring to Denver after winning the coin toss in overtime.  I thought that would be a mistake, but it wasn’t after all.  The Patriots made the necessary adjustments and the Broncos looked lost once they left the locker room for the second half.  This game could have a big impact later in the season if the Broncos lose a few more games and don’t get a first round bye.  That could come back to haunt them if they have to play in Foxboro with the same weather conditions.

For far too long Philip Rivers has been an average quarterback.  He showed a lot of good promise earlier in his career, but that was with more weapons at his disposal.  Soon after most of those players left Rivers started to struggle and the offensive line wasn’t as effective in pass protection.  Rivers is the definition of a pocket passer.  Seeing him throw on the run is painful to watch, but he can make a play if given time.  The most important thing the Chargers needed to do was give Rivers a safety net and seeing how he interacts with RB Danny Woodhead in the passing game reminds me of when he had LaDainian Tomlinson and Darren Sproles bailing him out.  That was the reason why the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t have an answer for the Chargers.  Those plays setup the big completions that San Diego would need later on to win the game.  I don’t think San Diego will clinch a playoff spot this year, but going forward if they can keep the offense running like this the Chargers will bounce back next year and beyond.  Their defense still needs some work, but San Diego could make a move next year and for the rest of this one.

The Green Bay Packers desperately need Aaron Rodgers back. The Chicago Bears seem to be doing okay without Jay Cutler, but their defense looks uninspired.  The Detroit Lions don’t seem to want to increase their lead in the division and the Minnesota Vikings are playing spoiler right now.  If it weren’t for the NFC East, the NFC North could be considered the worst division in the NFL. Detroit and Green Bay, once Aaron Rodgers returns, are playoff teams, but I don’t think they will go very far.  If Chicago could be consistent week to week they might be in the conversation as well, but that’s a big question when Jay Cutler comes back.  If he struggles do they bench him in favor of Josh McCown who has played well in his absence?  With the case of the Lions I don’t know what to think. Their offense is so good that it puzzles me to see Matthew Stafford throw 4 interceptions against the lowly Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  If he threw one less interception they would have probably won that game.  The Packers are a different team with Aaron Rodgers and it showed with their tie agains the Minnesota Vikings at Lambeau Field.  They had no life in them going into overtime and their confidence fell early with Scott Tolzien’s struggles.  Matt Flynn was signed earlier in the week and led the Packers in a comeback to take the game to overtime, but Green Bay couldn’t do anymore.  Once Rodgers returns the Packers should get back to normal and Detroit should be better than those 4 interception performances.  Chicago is the wild card here, but there isn’t much time left for them to do something about it.