NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Senior writer jclombardi reviews Packers loss to Falcons.

Packers lose chance to join NFL elite: The grim reality for the Packers was that another close defeat had just cost them a chance to prove they were among the elite teams in the league. ”We’re not into moral victories,” wide receiver Greg Jennings said after the Packers’ 20-17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in what felt like a playoff. “It’s either we win or we lose, and that’s what really matters.” Matt Bryant’s 47-yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining in the game helped Atlanta (9-2) extend its winning streak to five games and kept the Falcons atop the NFC standings. The loss was the fourth by three points this season for the Packers (7-4). The Packers are now 2-12 in games decided by four points or less since QB Rodgers took over as the team’s starting quarterback in 2008, though this defeat could hardly be blamed on him (alone).

Streak Snapped on Late Field Goal (Deja Vu): QB Rodgers led the Packers to a game-tying touchdown drive in the final minutes but a long return and 15-yard penalty on the ensuing kickoff set up Matt Bryant’s 47-yard field goal that won the game, 20-17. Green Bay Packers now face an uphill climb to reach the playoffs in a jumbled conference. The Falcons beat the Packers 20-17 in a hotly contested battle. The Packers saw their four-game winning streak snapped and are 7-4.

Packers stumble on their Achilles’ heel–failures in running game prove fatal–(photo) Packer QB Rogers fumbles the ball on a critical play inside the Falcons’ 1-yard line in the second quarter and Falcons recovered the ball in the end zone. The Packers’ rushing game was an abject failure Sunday. The inability to gain 1 yard on two occasions at or near the Falcons’ goal line cost the Packers 11 points in 20-17 loss.  The Packers’ ineptitude on the ground caused coach Mike McCarthy to all but abandon the run in the second half. It also raised legitimate questions about whether Green Bay is capable of making a deep playoff run if the offense continues to be one-dimensional. Subtract QB Rodgers’ 51 yards on called keepers and scrambles and Green Bay totaled 26 rushing yards. It was in short-yardage situations in the red zone where the inability to convert was most glaring. On the Packers’ second possession, they faced a third-and-1 on the Falcons’ 4-yard line, trailing, 3-0. Dimitri Nance, who gained 37 hard-fought yards against Minnesota the week before, took the handoff and was met almost immediately by Falcons linebacker Coy Wire for no gain. McCarthy took the blame for the call on Nance’s run. ”That’s a bad play selection on my part, the first third-and-1 down there when we kicked the field goal,” he said. “They substituted their goal-line defense late.“ Midway through the second quarter, with the score still 3-3, the Packers started at their own 15 and drove 83 yards on eight consecutive pass plays. But they couldn’t get the final 2 yards on the ground in two tries. On first and goal, Rodgers’ pass bounced off the hands of fullback Quinn Johnson and fell incomplete. Rodgers then kept for 1 yard, making it third and goal at the 1. With Johnson and Jackson lined up behind him, Rodgers kept again and was hit at the goal line. He tried to reach for the end zone, and linebacker Curtis Lofton knocked the ball out of his hands and into the arms of teammate Mike Peterson.

Packers special teams suffer regression–coverage unit botches kickoff coverage in final minute: It was all there for the taking for the Packers. And then it was all gone. Cover a kickoff. Force overtime. Then maybe Crosby applies the finishing touches to a momentous, memorable comeback. Fifty-six seconds remained Sunday at the Georgia Dome. The Packers and Atlanta Falcons were tied, 17-17. The Green Bay sideline was alive with energy because the offense had just driven 90 yards in 16 plays, overcoming two false-start penalties along the way, to score the equalizer on fourth and long. Crosby’s kickoff had excellent distance and desired hang time. KR Weems fielded the ball and crashed forward to the 36, a return of 40 yards, before linebacker Wilhelm brought him down by the face mask. As the Packers watched officials march off the 15 yards to their 49, they undoubtedly had a sick feeling. DC Capers rushed at least five on the Falcons’ ensuing five passes, but it made no difference. Matt Ryan completed four for 20 yards, positioning Matt Bryant for a 47-yard field goal and sending Green Bay to a crushing defeat.

Mistakes prove costly: KR Weems came out of the end zone and returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards – and drew a 15-yard facemask penalty on Matt Wilhelm – to set up Matt Bryant's game-winning 47-yard field goal in the Falcons' 20-17 victory over the Packers at the Georgia Dome.  Wilhelm admitted that his penalty was a mistake, but at the same time, it likely saved a touchdown. Weems had nothing but green FieldTurf in front of him had Wilhelm not stopped him. Wilhelm's penalty wasn't the only one, though. After committing only eight penalties combined during their four-game winning streak, the Packers were flagged eight times Sunday for 66 yards. The one defensive penalty, a holding call on CB Woodson in the first quarter, helped the Falcons to a field goal on their opening drive. The offense overcame its two penalties, false starts on left guard Daryn Colledge and right tackle Bryan Bulaga, on its game-tying touchdown drive. The other five penalties were on special teams, including a personal foul on an extra point try on defensive end Cullen Jenkins and a questionable unnecessary roughness penalty on kick returner Sam Shields for what seemed to be a legal stiffarm.

The Rams scored their most points of the season Sunday in Denver and they needed all of them to stave off a late Broncos rally in the 4th quarter to seal their first road win of the season 36-33.  The Rams began the game on the wrong foot and ended it on the wrong foot, but they scored enough points in the interim to beat the downtrodden Broncos.  The Broncos offense continued to exploit the Rams inability to limit the big play, but the Rams offense got some big plays of their own.  A lot went right for the Rams tonight including two turnovers and a triumphant return to the lineup for Danario Alexander, but they struggled at times as well.  It was not a wire to wire perfect victory for the Rams, but with the struggles they have had on the road, the Rams and their fans will certainly take it.

The Broncos started off with their high-flying offense getting a lot of yards on the ground as they pushed the Rams defense off the ball whenever they needed to open a quick 10 point lead.  The Rams finally stormed back through Sam Bradford and the Rams unheralded receivers.  Sam Bradford threw two TD passes to Billy Bajema and one to Michael Hoomanawanui in the second quarter as the Rams began to put the pedal to the metal against the soft Broncos defense.  However, one thing the Rams could not get going was Steven Jackson and the running game.  Adam Goldberg continually was ran over by the undersized Bronco defensive line and the whole line failed to get push against anyone on the Broncos defensive line.  The Rams offensive line is obviously built for pass protection and the Rams play-calling mirrors that construction.

The Rams went into the half up 26-13 and piled on a touchdown in the 3rd quarter before a frantic 4th quarter in which the Broncos scored 3 touchdowns and got within 3 points before the Rams recovered and onside kick and were able to get a key defensive stop with less than 30 seconds remaining.  Chris Long was able to get a key sack and key hit on Kyle Orton on the final series.  It would be easy to focus on the Rams almost falling apart again in the 4th quarter on the road, but they were able to hold on and there are many more positives to look at.

First and foremost, with the win and Seattle's loss, the Rams sit in 1st place in the NFC West after 11 games at 5-6 due to holding the head to head tie-breaker over Seattle.  The Rams were finally able to get the monkey on their back and win on the road.  The whole team from the coaching staff to the equipment manager were tight as a drum in the 4th quarter, but they were able to successfully run out the clock on the Broncos and keep their playoff hopes alive.  And to add a little icing on the cake, Sam Bradford threw his first 300 yard game in the NFL in the winning effort.  Sam Bradford and his receivers led the Rams to a crucial victory on the road against a high-flying Broncos squad and its impossible to look past that fact after a big game in Denver.

Vick has his first interception of the year, and although it wasn't entirely his fault, it had a huge impact on the game. The Eagles were looking to take the lead, but the turnover kept them off the board and gave the Bears all the momentum.

Defensively, we saw the team give up a ton of big plays, not something they did a whole lot the rest of the year. A large contributor to these big plays was poor tackling. The team just couldn't seem to bring ball carriers to the ground.

The defense also failed to force a turnover, something they had been doing consistently all season. Asante Samuel's absence did not help the matter as the secondary struggled.

The special teams unit also struggled, allowing the Bears to have multiple long returns

As I pointed out in my game preview, I was not my usual self in the upcoming days leading to the Dolphins-Raiders game. The Dolphins seemed like they were flat, and falling apart. But boy did they look the exact opposite of the team that played the Chicago Bears a mere 10 days ago.

The Dolphins offense and defense seemed to be rolling on all cylinders today, even with stars Brandon Marshall out, and Karlos Dansby limited with turf toe and a wrist injury.

A Dolphins offense that usually struggles to hit the big plays, finally hit the jackpot, with 7 plays that churned out more than 20 yards on the play. And all of that was without their main offensive weapon this season, Marshall.

It seemed today that when Dan Henning had to get more creative with Marshall out, and inexperienced receivers in Marlon Moore and Roberto Wallace active, Henning stepped up to the plate.

So the question is why have we not seen this type of play all season? Why have we not seen the original Wildcat all season, you know, where the quarterback is actually on the field? Today the Dolphins ran plays out of the Wildcat formation a season high 12 times. And for the most part it worked, and was a big part in why the Dolphins got their running game back on track, rushing for a combined total of 186 yards.

Miami nevertheless stepped up their play, and showed me something in todays game. They showed resilience. They showed determination. And most of all they showed grit. The Raiders may be 5-6 now, but they are still no slouch. They came into todays game boasting one of the leagues best rushing attacks, with Darren McFadden and Michael Bush. The Dolphins defense held those two to 3 yards on 9 attempts, and the Raiders rushing attack as a whole to only 16 total rushing yards!

The player of the game though was not anyone on the Dolphins defense, but Chad Henne. Yes, the same guy who has been mediocre all season long, and has never single-handidly led the Dolphins to a victory all by himself. Well, today Henne showed us his true potential in throwing for 307 yards, two touchdowns, with only one interception. Henne finished the day on a 17/30 throwing work-day. Not too shabby for someone who was coming off of a displaced knee cap.

But it was not all Henne though that showed that he has something left to say before we write him off. Ricky Williams finished the day with 95 rushing yards on 20 attempts, and a 45 yard touchdown run. Ronnie Brown also had 85 yards on 24 carries. It looked like the Dolphins were re-committing themselves to the run today, finally.

Ball-control wise the Dolphins dominated the time of possession, controlling the ball a grand total of 41:38, compared to the Raiders 18:22. The only other time that I have saw our Dolphins offense control the ball like this was last year during the Colts-Monday Night game, and we all remember how that turned out. This time the Dolphins completely wore down the Raiders defense, and thus dominated the outcome of the game.

After todays showing there is simply no excuse for the Dolphins to go back to their mediocre offensive play. We all know now that we have witnessed an all around thrashing, that the Dolphins have what it takes to put down the teams that are deferior to them. Coming into this game we all were wondering where exactly our team was at in terms of potential and what heights this team could get to. Well after this game we all have our answer. This Dolphins team has some massive potential. When Henne is given the chance to make some plays downfield, he showed he can make them. When the running game is on a role, when we actually emphasize it, we can control the pace of the game, and most importantly, we learned today that our defense is stingy. They shutdown the Raiders run game completely and made Oakland one-dimensional. All around this was one of the Dolphins' best wins of the season, right up there with the Minnesota win in my mind. Now if they can capitalize off of that, and take their momentum back home to play the Cleveland Browns next week, this week can really be used as a major building block.

Quick Hits:

• The Dolphins converted only their second 4th down conversion all season with a 4th and short situation today against the Raiders, with a run up the gut to fullback Lousaka Polite.
• Cameron Wake registered his 10.5 sack this season in the second half today. His total leads the AFC in sacks, and Wake only trails the Packers Clay Matthews, who had 11.5 going into todays game.
• The Dolphins defense forced three total turnovers today, with a fumble recovery and interception by Yeremiah Bell, and an interception in the endzone by Chris Clemons. The defense was all over the field making plays all day.
• Davone Bess finished the day with 111 yards on 9 catches, and was the Dolphins leading receiver today.
• Dan Carpenter was unusually inaccurate today, missing 2/6 field goals. He did make four though, so there is no reason to complain.
• In only his second game active, Marlon Moore made an impression, turning a comeback route into a 57 yard touchdown. That's the big play capability that the coaching staff is looking for. It was only his third career reception in the NFL.

Overall I was very impressed with the win today. Despite what some may say, the Raiders are no pushovers and like the rest of the other teams, have their strengths and weaknesses. It just so happened this week that the Dolphins exploited Oakland's weaknesses to a "T". When most were questioning the gameplanning capability of this coaching staff, they showed they shouldn't be doubted, at least for another week at least, and that they can at least out-think the other team once in awhile. Hopefully this trend continues for the rest of the season. Next week the Cleveland Browns travel to Miami to face the Dolphins, in what will be a tough game nevertheless.

For moments, a stalled Seattle Seahawks offense came to life Sunday at Qwest Field against the Kansas City Chiefs, but would die just as quickly thanks to quarterback Matt Hasselbeck as Kansas City beat Seattle 42-24.

After accumulating just 71 total yards after the first 30 minutes of play, Seattle opened up the second half with a 52-yard bomb from Hasselbeck to wide receiver Ben Obomanu that placed the Seahawks at the Chiefs' 19-yard line. Two plays later, the quarterback found tight end Chris Baker for a 13-yard pass-and-catch over the middle of the field for a touchdown. An Olindo Mare extra point cut the Chiefs' lead to four at 21-17.

Later down 11, Seattle's quarterback turned from hero to villain.

On third-and-four from his own 35 less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Hasselbeck, scrambling in the pocket, was sacked for an 11-yard loss and stripped of the ball by Kansas City linebacker Derrick Johnson. Johnson's teammate, Tamba Hali, recovered and three plays later quarterback Matt Cassel connected with Dwayne Bowe for the receiver's third touchdown of the day.

The three-score performance extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one receiving touchdown to seven games, lengthening his franchise's all-time record, and was enough to finish breaking Kansas City's record of most receiving touchdowns in a season. Bowe's mark of 14 this season surpasses Chris Burford's 12 done 48 years ago.

Following the touchdown, Hasselbeck was at it again. This time an interception by cornerback Travis Daniels forced the Seahawks' offense off the field. The interception was Hasselbeck's second of the game.

The team's defense responded, though, by forcing the Chiefs to go three-and-out, giving Hasselbeck just under ten-and-a-half minutes to climb out of 18-point hole.

Hasselbeck would need just one play to begin to do so, but wouldn't be able to finish the task. An 87-yard touchdown pass to Ben Obomanu and a Mare extra point brought the score to 35-24.

Taking the blow, Kansas City countered back on the following possession with a scoring strike of its own. Tight end Tony Moeaki snared a 9-yard pass from Matt Cassel to cap off a 10-play drive that ate up six minutes and 40 seconds off the game clock.

Cassel finished the day completing 22 of 32 pass attempts for 233 yards and with four touchdowns for the Chiefs (7-4). Jamaal Charles had a touchdown and led all running backs with 173 rushing yards stemming from 22 carries while Dwayne Bowe led all receivers with 170 yards and three touchdowns.

Matt Hasselbeck completed 20 of 37 pass attempts for 282 yards and had two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Seahawks (5-6). Running back Marshawn Lynch led the team with 20 yards on seven carries and Ben Obomanu had 159 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Can't get enough NFLGridironGab?  Follow SeahawksGab Editor Devon Heinen on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DevonHeinen.

Cortland Finnegan did everything he could to get in the head of star wide receiver Andre Johnson. By the end of the game, it was clear that he had.

The corner and receiver got into a brawl after the snap and both players were ejected from the game. Johnson landed a hard punch on Finnegan after both players’ helmets were removed during the fight.

“He kept doing little things and I told him: ‘Just because you’re frustrated, you need to stop what you’re doing,’” Johnson said. “I guess he thought it was funny.”

Johnson has never been seen in altercations similar to that, but it was apparent that Finnegan had agitated the receiver enough.

“It’s just a buildup of things over plays,” Johnson said. “I just lost my cool.”

Cortland Finnegan has already been fined three times this year by the league, and two of those times were for fighting. Titans Coach Jeff Fisher was visibly upset about the altercation after the game.

“It’s not good for the game, no,” said Titans coach Jeff Fisher, co-chairman of the NFL’s competition committee. “You don’t want to see that stuff.”

The Titans were torched on the ground as Arian Foster ran for 143 yards and caught nine passes. The Titans were unable to get anything going on the ground or air, as they combined for a total of 162 yards of offense. Chris Johnson was held in check all day as he only carried the ball seven times for a career low five yards.

“We weren’t able to run the ball at all,” Johnson said. “I don’t know why we couldn’t run it.”

The league is looking into the fight and will investigate all aspects of the game to determine the proper punishment.

“I wish that I could take back what happened, but I can’t,” Johnson said. “I’m pretty sure I’ll be disciplined for it.”

The loss marks the fourth straight loss for the Titans, who are now 5-6.

Tennessee will host Jacksonville as they look to break the losing streak.

In a game between two powerhouses in the NFC, the Falcons made another statement in looking to secure home field advantage in the NFC by beating the Green Bay Packers 20-17 at the Georgia Dome.

The Falcons stayed atop the NFC when Matt Bryant kicked a 47-yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining Sunday for the victory. "I have no plans of going to Lambeau Field in January," Atlanta receiver Roddy White said. "I plan on staying right here and sleeping in my own bed in the playoffs."

And the win for the Falcons brings them a whole lot closer to being at home. They are 9-2, and if they can secure home field in the NFC, they will be that much closer to a trip to Dallas to play the team in the AFC in Super Bowl XLV.

“We talked all week about controlling the tempo in all three phases of the game and I think we did that today,” said Atlanta head coach Mike Smith. “We played a very good team today. We made plays, they made plays. We made mistakes and they made mistakes. But I’m really proud of the way the guys played today.”

Matt Ryan was 24-for-28 with 198 yards and a score and Michael Turner added 110 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries for the Falcons (9-2), who have won their past five games. Tony Gonzalez had six catches for 51 yards and a touchdown in the victory.

The win also allowed Atlanta to stay a game ahead of New Orleans, which defeated Dallas on Thanksgiving, for the top spot in the NFC South. “It was a really big win for the team today,” said Ryan. “We have a tough stretch coming up here with three road games and we have to prepare for a big game in Tampa next week.”

Aaron Rodgers finished the contest with 344 yards and a score on 26-of-35 passing and added 51 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown for the Packers (7-4), who came into the contest with a four-game winning streak. Jordy Nelson caught a touchdown pass that had tied the game in the final minute.

The Falcons got the win though when Eric Weems returned the kickoff to the Atlanta 36 and a facemask call against Matt Wilhelm moved the ball past midfield.

“To get the ball near midfield to start the drive and knowing you need only 20 yards or so makes things a lot easier on the offense,” said Ryan.

Four straight completions by Ryan totaled 20 yards and moved the ball to the Green Bay 29. After an incompletion, Bryant connected on his first attempt, but Green Bay had called timeout prior to the kick. Unfazed, Bryant hit the next one true with nine seconds left for a 20-17 lead.

“I can’t say enough about Matt, he kicks it between the pipes every chance he gets,” said Smith.

The Falcons will look to stay atop the division next week when they play in Tampa vs the Bucs.

Eli thrived with a depleted receiving crew, led by Manningham

Well, there was no dramatic finish for the Jacksonville Jaguars this time around.

The Jacksonville Jaguars played very well in the first half of their game but the offense sputtered in the second half and the defense allowed too many big plays to Eli Manning and the Giants and it would cost them the game.

David Garrard finished the game completing 20 of his 35 passes for 162 yards and an INT. The INT came on their opening drive of the 2nd half. The rest of the way, the Jags offense was inconsistent and did not find the success that they had in the first half. The first half saw them rush for 145 yards and score 17 points. In the second half, they only put up 3 points and a total of 92 yards. A turnover with about a minute and half remaining threw away any hopes for a comeback. Meanwhile, the Giants who came into the game leading the league in turnovers had zero on the day.

Had they won, the Jaguars would have increased their lead in AFC South and be in absolute control of their playoff destiny. Now, things have gotten a little tougher and they will need to start relying on other teams to beat their opponents from the AFC South if they want to win the division. The last month of the season will be a tough one and hopefully this loss does not come back to haunt them.

While the Jaguars put up some fabulous numbers against one of the best defenses in the NFL, they did not have the upper hand in the number that matter most-the score. They had 26 first downs (most for any team against Giants defense), converted 10 of 16 third downs and had a total of 207 rushing yards. But, the final score read 24-20 in favor of the Giants and the Jaguars are now 6-5.

The Jaguars will travel to Tennessee and face the Titans next Sunday at 1:00 pm.

The way the season has gone for the Browns, it was somewhat justice on Sunday that Panthers kicker John Kasay was wide on a 42-yard field goal attempt that would have sent the Browns to 3-8 on the season instead of 4-7.

Kasay's 42-yard field goal attempt grazed the left upright as time expired, allowing the Browns to escape with a 24-23 win on a day when Jake Delhomme did little to make others forget about Colt McCoy.

Delhomme, the former Panther making his first start since week one, was 24-for-35 for 245 yards with two interceptions, one of which was returned for a score that took a Browns 21-13 lead to 21-20 in the third quarter.

“We just need to try to play better,” Delhomme said. “I wish I could give you something, we started off fast, but we hit a wall in the second quarter and certainly in the third. For the most part, we just had to do what we needed to do to win.”

Then after the teams traded field goals, the Panthers had a shot to win it after the Browns couldn’t put the game away after a late Joe Haden pick.

Kasay had a chance to win it after rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen drove them to Cleveland's 25, completing a sideline pass to Brandon LaFell with five seconds left.

It would have been a crushing loss for the Browns, who led 21-7 at halftime. Peyton Hillis was the bulk of the Browns offense again, going for 131 yards and three touchdowns, and Delhomme passed for 245 yards in his first start at home for the Browns.

“It does mean a lot to win today,” Browns CB Sheldon Brown said. “At the end of the day, that’s what you fight for, and obviously we feel like we’ve been rewarded for practicing hard.”

The Browns improved to 2-5 in games decided by seven points or less.

Clausen was 16-for-28 for 195 yards with a pick. He did get the team in position to win though, but Kasay just couldn’t convert, much to the delight of Browns fans.

Next week the Browns head to Florida for the third time this year as they will take on the Miami Dolphins.

An offense stuck in neutral for much of the first half leaves the Seattle Seahawks down 11 at the half against the visiting Kansas City Chiefs.

Seattle has 71 total yards and just three first downs thus far.  All three of the first downs came within the final six minutes of the first half.

While Seattle’s offense stalled, Kansas City’s hasn’t.

The Chiefs ate up 302 yards in the game’s first 30 minutes.  Dwayne Bowe accounted for 120 of those yards as the wide receiver hauled in eight balls – two of them resulting in touchdowns.  Complementing the team’s aerial attack, Jamaal Charles ran for 83 yards on 10 attempts.

At the half, the Chiefs lead the Seahawks in Seattle, 21-10.

Can't get enough SeahawksGab?  Follow Editor Devon Heinen on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DevonHeinen.