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Week 10 is in the books. The Dolphins are alone at the bottom, the Patriots remain alone at the top, and Adam Viniateri is just plain alone. Now let’s get to the good stuff.

Don’t Miss…

…Steve McNair basically admitting the team should be starting Kyle Boller.

…How a referee helped the Falcons score their game winning touchdown.

…Jesse Chatman’s nerves causing him to lose his lunch.

…The Dolphins talking an excessive amount of trash for an 0-8 team.

…DeAngelo Hall’s touchback-inducing strip of Steve Smith. (:30 mark)

…Tony Dungy taking responsibility for wasting a timeout his team would later need. In addition, Dungy might have iced his own kicker. It’s nice when coaches admit to doing something inexplicable and idiotic.

…the Vikings terrible 4th down play-calling/decision making.

…Justin Gage’s endzone juggling act.

…How the Broncos purged themselves of their sins before the game.

…Numerous Browns taking the blame for the loss. Even Josh Cribbs. I’m not quite sure I would blame him.

…The official call for Brian Billick’s head.

…The story behind the Bears game winning touchdown pass. And guess what? Warren Sapp thinks he was held on the play

…Why the Lions didn’t try to run the ball. According to Rod Marinelli, “We liked our matchups outside.” coach Rod Marinelli said.

And so, 8 Hours After the Steelers Season Ended, it Began Again

The Steelers season was effectively over after they beat the Browns. With a three game lead in the division and little chance of passing the AFC’s top two teams, it looked like the Steelers would be on cruise control for the next seven weeks. But then Adam Vinatieri missed a chip shot and suddenly the Steelers became the #2 team in the AFC. They still have to play at New England and the Colts toughest remaining road game is against the Falcons—so it will be hard for them to hold onto the #2 spot—but at least now the last two months of the season will be interesting.

The same thing might not be able to be said for the Cowboys. It’s now clear that no NFC defense can stop them and no NFC offense can outscore them. When they beat the Packers the week after Thanksgiving the Cowboys will have five weeks to start preparing for their AFC Super Bowl foe (and maybe some potential NFC championship game opponents.)

Shrewd Moves of the Week

Joe Gibbs/Gregg Williams

It’s something you almost never see teams do, but the Redskins coaching staff made the right move when they instructed their defense to let the Eagles score a touchdown in the final minutes of the 4th quarter. If they wanted, the Eagles could have kneeled on the ball, kicked a field goal, and left the Redskins with less than 30 seconds and no timeouts to score the game winning touchdown. Instead, the Redskins defense wisely let Brian Westbrook run right through them and that gave their offense a full two minutes to engineer a game tying touchdown drive. It didn’t pay off, but Gibbs and Williams made the right move. It almost makes up for the inexplicable decision to go for a two point conversion in the first half.

Tony Dungy

Down 23-7 the Colts had 4th and 2 from the Chargers 46 on their first 2nd half possession. There was no hesitation from Dungy—he knew the Colts had to go for it, and Manning ended up completing a first down pass to Aaron Moorehead. The drive was later wiped out by a Manning interception, but that move set the tone for the Colts’ 2nd half dominance.

Bonehead Moves of the Week

Tom Coughlin

The Giants’ coach faced a similar decision to that of Dungy—on his team’s first second half possession they faced 4th and 2 from the Cowboys 45. Although the Giants were in a tie game (instead of trailing by 16), going for it was still a no-brainer. The Cowboys hadn’t been able to stop Brandon Jacobs or the Giants passing game. However, instead of going for it Coughlin punted, and the Cowboys easily marched 86 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

Reggie Wayne

What was Reggie Wayne doing on Antonio Cromartie’s spectacular one-handed interception (1:40)? Wayne obviously didn’t think Cromartie was going to be able to get the football and so he just stood there instead of try to chase Cromartie down. The Chargers cornerback easily made the interception, and because Wayne was just standing there, Cromartie was handed an easy 20 yard return.

This Explains so Much

Apparently David Carr has suffered two concussions this season. The first one (which was unreported) occurred earlier this month in New Orleans. Carr stayed in the game and ending up leading the Panthers on a game-winning field goal drive. So basically, the empirical evidence points to the fact that Carr plays better when his brains are scrambled. Interesting.

Tony Romo is Above the Law

Am I the only one who noticed that Tony Romo was clearly in front of the line of scrimmage on his first quarter touchdown pass to Tony Curtis. Where’s the challenge flag Tom Coughlin?

Joe Jurevicius’ Hands Are Too Good

I don’t know if Joe Jurevicius saw Troy Polamalu coming on the Browns final offensive play, but at some point during the crushing hit it would have been smart for Jurevicius to drop the ball. That would have given the Browns one more offensive play, and if they could have gained more than the three yards Jurevicius’ catch netted them, Phil Dawson’s field goal might have landed on the other side of the crossbar.

Catch of the Week

Mahi Mahi, and Reggie Brown’s much-more-difficult-than-it-looked 4th quarter grab against the Redskins. In the whole scheme of things, that was probably a bigger play than Brian Westbrook’s go-ahead touchdown catch.

Stat O’ the Week

220. The difference in rushing yards for the Titans between their week 1 win over the Jags and last Sunday’s loss.

European Football Goal of the Week

Tarik Sektioui of FC Porto vs. Marseillle

Also See…

Week 9 TPS Report

Week 8 TPS Report

Week 7 TPS Report

Week 6 TPS Report

Week 5 TPS Report

Week 4 TPS Report

Week 3 TPS Report

Week 2 TPS Report

Week 1 TPS Report

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