NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

The Saints played for their proverbial lives Monday night. Offensively, they played very well, but defensively they were spectacular. When no one but themselves and their fans gave them a snowball's chance in hades of winning this game, they marched into the Georgia Dome and took care of business.

The game started off rather uneventfully for Drew Brees and company as they went three-and-out. But the defense kept the Falcons in check as well and so it went until the Saints put together an impressive drive that ended with a 52-yard Garrett Hartley field goal. Next Falcons possession, the Saints caught a huge break when the Falcon's center, Todd McClure mishandled the snap to Ryan and a blitzing Jonathan Vilma alertly fell on it. The Saints were very impressive after the turnover, particularly Pierre Thomas who rumbled through for a critical 16-yard run before walking 2 yards into the endzone for the game's first TD giving his team a 10-0 lead.

The lead was short-lived, however, as the Falcons responed quickly with a 78-yard touchdown drive of their own. With 7:28 left in the first quarter, Matt Ryan hit Roddy White for a 7-yard touchdown pass to narrow the score to 10-7. The Saints made one more impressive drive after that, but were knocked out of scoring range by a couple of big defensive plays by the Falcons. The score was 10-7 at halftime.

In the second half, the Saints defense flexed its muscle in front of the national television audience and showed everyone that they are capable of playing some tough football too. On a penalty-ridden drive in which the Saints literally escorted the Falcons down the field, the goal line defense of New Orleans came up huge. Jeff Charleston hit Michael Turner on the goal line, forcing a fumble that was alertly recovered by Marvin Mitchell. The Saints failed to take advantage of the turnover that time though, even though they put together a few good series to move the ball down the field. Instead they ended up punting after using three minutes and some change off the clock.

The Saints defense kept Atlanta off their game to start the second half. The Falcons offense couldn't seem to get anything going. It was a horribly ill-advised throw by Drew Brees that led to the Falcons only other touchdown when Chauncey Davis intercepted a little flip pass intended for Reggie Bush. Atlanta took its first lead 14-10. Brees subsequently threw his second interception of the night to John Abraham on the Saints very next possession. Worthy of noting though is the fact that Brees was the one who tackled Abraham and prevented him from running it all the way back. It was a great job by the Saints defense to keep Atlanta from capitalizing off the turnover.

The Saints offense drove the field almost effortlessly, capping the drive with a 25-yard touchdown reception from Brees to Colston. But once again, a penalty wiped it out when Jermon Bushrod was flagged for a false start. Talk about a momentum killer! The drive eventually stalled. Fortunately, the Saints defense came to play and was able to keep Atlanta from scoring.

The Saints final scoring drive was nothing short of brilliant. This time, Payton used a balanced offensive scheme that kept the Falcons defense off balance. For the first time all night, New Orleans weathered the blitzes leaving the Falcons looking confused. Brees hit Lance Moore for an 18-yard pickup to move the chains on 3rd and 11. Then Payton called a reverse run by Devery Henderson for 11 yards and another first down. Then the crafty skill and footwork of Pierre Thomas turned a short pass into a critical 22-yard gain! With 3:24 left in the game, Brees threw a strike to Jimmy Graham for a 6-yard touchdown. After marching 90 yards and chewing up more than 7 minutes off the clock, the Saints regained the lead and never looked back. The defense was able to hold the Falcons, forcing them to punt on 4th and 6 with 2:52 left in the game. The Saints subsequently picked up some key first downs and were able to just run the clock out.

This, the final Monday Night Football game of the 2010 season, certainly lived up to all the hype. With this victory, the Saints clinch a playoff berth for the second time in two years. There were so many impressive performances on offense, but I was so very proud of the defense. After being ridicluled last week because of the lack of defense against Baltimore, Gregg Williams had his guys ready to play and they rebounded nicely. Hopefully, they're just getting warmed up for the playoffs.

It’s gut-check week for the Seattle Seahawks.

After losing three straight games and five of its last six, Seattle plays host to St. Louis on Sunday night under the national spotlight provided by NBC and its Sunday Night Football to determine the NFC West division champion.

With that in mind, the Tuesday Two Deep takes an all-Seahawks-and-Rams look this week.

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

James Belushi was everywhere Sunday

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to break down the good and the bad from Sunday's 38-34 win over the Jets. Hell, even the 'other Belushi' could tell you what's working and what's not. And he should know, considering he enjoyed field-level viewing during the game.

The Good:

1) Offensive Line Part 1: Picture perfect pocket on Cutler's three 3^rd-quarter TD tosses.

There's no glory in being an offensive lineman. The only time their name is called is when they screw up. But let's give the Bears big uglies some props when they're due: Omiyale, Williams, Kreutz, Garza and Webb only allowed only 2 sacks against an aggressive defense, and one of those came on a play when Jay Cutler had time to throw, but his receivers were covered.

When CBS's cameras paused the replay of each of Cutler three touchdown passes, it didn't take a football mastermind to notice the perfectly formed U-shaped fortress that protected Cutler.

2) Offensive Line Part 2: Plenty of running room for Forte.

Matt Forte averaged almost 6 yards per carry. More impressively, the Bears were only the 2^nd opposing team in Rex Ryan's 2-year tenure as Jets coach to have a 100-yard rusher. Maurice Jones-Drew was the other for Jax last year.

If the NFL had an award for assistant of the year, O-line coach Mike Tice should be the unanimous winner considering the in-season renovation project he's led with a rag-tag bunch of big uglies.

3) Devin Hester.

There are no more superlatives left to describe #23.

First, his 38-yard punt return set up his own TD catch three plays later. Then a 40-yard kick return set up a Cutler-to-Knox TD.

Even when he doesn't touch the ball, teams are so scared shitless of kicking to him that the Bears usually benefit from field position starting around their 40 yard line.

Runner Up: James Belushi's contagious sideline enthusiasm.

When they weren't replaying Cutler's TD bombs, CBS cameras were focused on James Belushi and some other dude celebrating the Bears offensive explosion down on the sideline. Not surprisingly, Belushi and his sidekick 'star' in a cop show on the network's primetime lineup.

While there were obvious alterior motives on the network's part, it was cool to see a B-list celeb displaying genuine excitement about his hometown team.

The Bad:

1) Where's the defense?

Where should we start on defense?

Oh yeah, like Lovie always says, it starts up front.

I thought going into the game the Jets offensive line was the second best the Bears have seen this year, next to the Patriots. And the way they corralled Julius Peppers and crew, they proved me right.

Mark Sanchez, like Tom Brady two weeks before him, benefited from great protection and threw the ball at will against the Bears.

The result was 269 passing yards, a 65% completion percentage and 50% conversion on third downs. Throw in 124 rushing yards (4.1 per carry) and you have all the ingredients for an offensive mauling.

With their soft coverage in the secondary, the Bears MUST get pressure from the front 4 consistently if they want to make a run in the playoffs.

2) Cover 2 exposed

There was one play in particular that exposed the occasional flaw in Lovie's Cover 2.

On their third quarter touchdown that tied the score at 31, Mark Sanchez hit a wide-open Santonio Holmes. Holmes ran free because Bears safety Danieal Manning, who's responsible for covering the deep half of his side of the field, left his area to cover TE Dustin Keller, who was running wide open on an underneath crossing route.

Tim Jennings – the corner assigned to cover Holmes – thought he had deep help from Manning, so he let the receiver run by him. But with Manning running up to help on the TE, Holmes had free sailing into the end zone.

In 2 of the last 3 games, the Bears Cover 2 defense has been exposed by patient offenses that were more than happy to take what the Bears coverage offered them. The Patriots scored 30 points (remember 6 of the Pats points came on a fumble return) and the conservative Jets put up a 27 (7 of the 34 points came on their INT return).

If this defense doesn't get sacks and turnovers, teams can and will move the ball against the Bears. And Sanchez just proved that it doesn't take an All-Pro QB to beat them.

3) Robbie Gould.

This will be the only time Mr. Automatic makes this naughty list.

The Bears usually dependable kicker shanked what is an automatic kick for him. He misjudged the wind and his 35-yarder sailed wide right. It was his first miss inside 40 yards in an amazing 64 attempts.

Perhaps Jerry Angelo should bring in a castoff kicker to compete with Robbie this week in practice.

Or maybe he just needs a Belushi pick-me-up…

Tuesday night in a show on NFL Network, the league will disclose who has been selected to make the Pro Bowl for both the AFC and the NFC. The Steleers, winners of 11 games and with a win Sunday the #2 seed in the conference and the AFC North Champs, should have a number of players on that roster.

Here’s a look at the players that deserve to be at least in strong consideration for the AFC Pro Bowl this season.

Troy Polamalu, Safety - The heart and soul of the defense, Polamalu has been a huge difference maker, and the Steelers may not be in position to be the #2 seed if it were not for his game-saving play on Joe Flacco against the Ravens a few weeks back. He has 62 tackles, six interceptions and one sack. When he’s healthy, the Steelers D is as good as any in the league. A shoe-in for sure to make the team.

James Harrison, Linebacker - Like him or not, Harrison is another difference maker, and when he’s playing at a high level (which is just about every week), he’s another Steeler defender that is tough to stop. He has 94 tackles, 11 sacks and two interceptions this season, and come the postseason his play will go a long way in determining how far the Steelers go. Will be interesting based on the fines the league has handed him if his peers vote him in.

Mike Wallace, Wide Receiver – The 2nd year wide out has officially taken over as the teams #1 receiver, and his big play ability has been a huge spark to the Steelers offense. He has 53 receptions for 1,152 yards and nine touchdowns, and this season he and Ben Roethlisberger have hooked up for five touchdowns of 40+ yards. He might get overlooked by the players, but trust me, his time to play in this game will come at the latest next season.

Rashard Mendenhall, Running Back – While everyone says the Steelers can’t run and the O-line is crap, all Mendy has done is run for 1,237 yards and 11 touchdowns, and his big games in weeks one and three vs the Falcons and Bucs helped the team while Roethlisberger was suspended. He had a huge game in the OT win over the Bills, and a 99-yard game in the near win over the Jets, a team many don’t have success running against. Another big piece to the playoff puzzle, Mendy deserves a trip to the Pro Bowl.

Maurkice Pouncey, Center – And to think that some in Steeler Nation didn’t like this pick with the 18th overall choice in April’s draft. All Pouncey has done in the past 9 months was push undersized center Justin Hartwig out the door, play every game as the teams starting center without missing much time, and help the team rank 10th in rushing with 121.6 yards per game and a 4.1 yards per carry average. In the mold of Mike Webster and Dirt Dawson, Pouncey is going to be the rock at center for this team for a long time to come barring injury.

NFC

CLINCHED:
Atlanta – playoff spot.
Chicago – NFC North division.
Philadelphia – NFC East division.

ELIMINATED:
Carolina, Detroit, Washington, Dallas, Minnesota, Arizona,San Francisco.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Philadelphia has clinched NFC East division and still has a chance to earn a first-round bye and homefield advantage next week as of Monday.

CHICAGO BEARS
Chicago has clinched NFC North division and still has a chance to earn a first-round bye and homefield advantage next week as of Monday.

ATLANTA FALCONS
Atlanta clinches NFC South and homefield advantage with a win or tie against New Orleans Monday night. If Atlanta loses tonight, it still has a chance to win the NFC South, a first-round bye and homefield advantage next week.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
New Orleans clinches a playoff spot with a win or tie against Atlanta Monday night and still has a chance to win the NFC South, a first-round bye and homefield advantage next week. If New Orleans loses Monday night, it can still clinch a playoff spot next week with:
1) NO win or tie
2) NYG loss or tie + GB loss or tie

GREEN BAY PACKERS
Green Bay clinches a playoff spot:
1) GB win
2) GB tie + NYG loss or tie + TB loss or tie
3) NYG loss + TB loss

NEW YORK GIANTS
NY Giants clinch a playoff spot:
1) NYG win + GB loss or tie
2) NYG win + NO loses twice
3) NYG tie + GB loss + TB loss or tie

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS
Tampa Bay clinches a playoff spot:
1) TB win + NO loss to ATL + NYG loss or tie
2) TB win + NO loss to ATL + GB loss or tie
3) TB win + NYG loss or tie + GB loss or tie
4) TB tie + NYG loss + GB loss

ST. LOUIS RAMS
St. Louis clinches NFC West division:
1) STL win or tie

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
Seattle clinches NFC West division:
1) SEA win

AFC

CLINCHED:
New England – AFC East division and homefield advantage.
NY Jets – playoff spot.
Pittsburgh – playoff spot.
Baltimore – playoff spot.
Kansas City – AFC West division.

ELIMINATED:
Buffalo, Cincinnati, Denver, Cleveland, Houston, Miami, San Diego, Oakland, Tennessee.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Pittsburgh clinches AFC North division and a first-round bye:
1) PIT win
2) PIT tie + BAL loss or tie
3) BAL loss

BALTIMORE RAVENS
Baltimore clinches AFC North division and a first-round bye:
1) BAL win + PIT loss or tie
2) BAL tie + PIT loss

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS
Indianapolis clinches AFC South division:
1) IND win or tie
2) JAC loss or tie

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Jacksonville clinches AFC South division:
1) JAC win + IND loss

Senior writer jclombardi grades Packers win over Giants.

GAME BALLS: NT Raji; LB Bishop; WR Nelson; FB Kuhn; QB Rodgers.

INJURY REPORT: S Bigby (groin).

Report Card Grades–Good, Bad, & Ugly (JC vs. SE):

PASSING OFFENSE:  A vs A. Rodgers threw for 404 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 139.9 passer rating, returning from a concussion to lead the Pack past the Giants 45-17.  Rodgers completed passes to nine different targets and challenged the Giants downfield.  With good protection and scrambling against a strong pass rush, Rodgers connected seven passes for longer than 20 yards. Though the Giants sacked Rodgers twice, they generally didn't get much pressure. When they did, Rodgers escaped the pocket and either completed a pass or ran for a first down. WR Jennings had 7 catches for 142 yards. WR Nelson had 4 catches for 124 yards and 1 touchdown.

RUSHING OFFENSE: C+ VS C+. The Packers rushed for 118 yards averaging a poor 2.8 yards.  Yet, they kept the Giants defense honest running often enough and well enough to open up play- action pass plays with these running plays and tough yards. The Giants have a swarming defense. And what the Packers essentially did was use their strength against them. They got the Giants defenders running to the ball and then threw over the top of them. It also slowed down the Giants defensive ends on the pass rush.  And the Packers accomplished that by the number of times they ran. The ball-carrying committee of RBs Jackson and Nance and FB Kuhn combined for 93 yards in 33 carries. Although FB Kuhn had only 29 total yards, Kuhn scored three touchdowns on an 8-yard run, a 5-yard pass from Rodgers and a 1-yard plunge.

PASSING DEFENSE: B- vs C. The defense gave up two big touchdown pass plays on two freak plays. Manning (17-for-33, 301 yards) did have his good moments and capitalized on one-on-one coverage breakdowns by cornerback Charles Woodson and Williams for touchdown throws of 36 and 85 yards to Nicks and Manningham, respectively. The Nicks touchdown was the plays in culmination of three consecutive which Woodson slipped, committed an illegal-contact penalty and slipped again. Yet, the defense got 6 big takeaways including 2 fumbles. With a decent pass rush against QB Manning, the Packers got good pressure forcing 4 crucial interceptions. Manning completed only 17 of 33 passes for 301 yards, 2 TDs, 4 INTs, and 63.6 passer rating. The Packers scored 24 points from turnovers. After CB Williams' interception set up the Packers' second touchdown, fumbles forced by CB Woodson and LB Matthews and interceptions by CB Shields, S Collins and LB Hawk turned the game into a rout.

RUSHING DEFENSE: A- vs A-. The Packers held the Giants to 21 carries for only 90 yards. The two momentum changing takeaway fumbles were caused by CB Woodson and by OLB Matthews.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B- vs B-. The Giants averaged only 18.6-yard on kickoffs and only 4.3 on punts. Punter Masthay did okay with five punts averaging 39 yards including a 54 yard one. The return combination of Shields on kickoffs (15.0 average) and Williams on punts (3.5 average) looked very average.

COACHING: A vs A. For the game, the Packers were 5 for 6 in the red zone. The Packers had season highs in total yards (515), points (45), and defensive takeaways (six). A second straight week of well-balanced play-calling between the pass and run enabled Rodgers to thrive with play-action and by going deep as the Packers piled up a season-high 515 yards and held the football for more than 37 minutes. The combination of never trailing and controlling the line of scrimmage when the Giants did run allowed defensive coordinator Capers to have his ball-hawking charges zero in on Manning and generate a season-high six takeaways.

OVERALL: A vs CBS Sportsline A-. Rodgers threw for 404 yards and 4 TDs in his return. The offensive line held up against the Giants’ active front four and the WRs were too much for the Giants cornerbacks. Eli Manning was forced into four INTs and the Giants turned the ball over six times. The Giants were held to 90 yards rushing on 21 carries.

In a game that will decide the NFC West title, the Seahawks will be turning their offense over to little known QB Charlie Whitehurst, as coach Pete Carroll said today he will start for the injured Matt Hasselbeck.

Carroll said Monday he wasn’t ready to rule out Hasselbeck after he left Sunday’s 38-15 loss to Tampa Bay after running for a 1-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Hasselbeck suffered a strain to his lower back/hip/gluteal area that did not allow him to return.

Hasselbeck underwent an MRI and additional tests Monday morning and the results were positive enough that Carroll remained somewhat optimistic.

“It’s something (that) it may be manageable. It may be,” Carroll said. “The MRI results were not such where he doesn’t have a chance. They were very hopeful that he has an opportunity to get back, but we won’t know for days. So it’s kind of a difficult situation for us because we don’t know and we’re not sure what is going to happen until we find out the news probably by Saturday, or it may go all the way to game time.”

Whitehurst would be making just his second career start, with Seattle going for its first division title since 2007.

In a time where players are clamoring to shorten the amount of preseason games (and money- grubbing owners itching to turn those preseason games into regular season games), the Redskins last three games of the 2010 season (last week's loss against Dallas, this week's win over Jacksonville, and next week's finale against the Giants) are ironically nothing more than three extra preseason games for the 2011 season.

When you boil it all down, they're nothing more than a few extra 2011 exhibition games that take place at the end of 2010, serving as auditions for players to keep their jobs and earn invitations to the 2011 training camp in Ashburn.

And like a late preaseason game where the coaches withheld the majority of their starters to prevent injuries heading into the regular season, the group of starters that the Redskins trotted out on Sunday looked like a rag-tag menagerie of football players thrown together and duct-taped for the purpose of finishing an NFL game.

Here's a fact to digest: thirteen of the Redskins 22 opening-day starters did not start against the Jaguars yesterday. That includes the starting quarterback, running back, tight end, 3/5ths of the offensive line, 2/3rd of the defensive line, and half the secondary. Their starting running back on Sunday (and overall leading rusher) wasn't even on the active roster when they played Dallas in September. Neither was their nose tackle, the lynch-pin for the much-discussed 3-4 defense. Both of the starting safeties were guys who were originally drafted as cornerbacks within the last three years, and one wasn't even on the team as recently as Thanksgiving day. I really wound't be surprised if the Redskins coaches made players where those "Hi, My Name Is:" stickers on their practice jersey during the week.

So like any other preseason game, the Redskins coaches undoubtedly spent Sunday sifting through the this hodge-podge of passed-over veterans and newly signed & promoted youngsters to determine if any of them can legitimately make a difference for this team next year, and who should be updating their resume(s).

Sunday was day for defensive players like nose tackle Anthony Bryant and linebacker Rob Jackson to make impressions on their coaches. Bryant has the size to be a nose tackle in the NFL, and while he isn't the most dominant guy in the league at that position, he's played a lot better than the disappointing Ma'ake Kemoeatu has. Jackson showed glimpses of being a very effective situational pass rusher on Sunday, just a few days after being promoted off the practice squad. His speed and hand placement on pass rushers frustrated Jaguars offensive tackles for a good part of the afternoon.

Sunday was also a day for someone like Kevin Barnes to showcase his skills. Barnes was drafted as a cornerback yet started the game at safety for the Redskins, since they had almost nobody else healthy enough to start there. And ironically, probably just as Barnes was getting comfortable in his new position, he was flippled right back to cornerback after Carlos Rogers went down with an injury. So it was a game like this where Barnes could showcase his ability to help out against the run (which he did very effectively, both as a safety and as a corner), and his coverage ability (leading to the game-deciding interception in overtime).

In the end, all the 2010 standings will tell you is that the Redskins dropped almost 5-7 slots down the first round of the 2011 draft, and simultaneously took a big dump in the punch bowl that was the Jaguars playoff aspirations.

But it in reality, it gives the Redskins players, coaches, and fans something to hold on to and discuss as this season comes to a close and we begin to spout the inevitable mantra of "we'll get 'em next year."

As expected after a 25-17 loss to the Rams which officially kicks them out of a chance at making the playoffs, the 49ers have canned head coach Mike Singletary.

The team fell to 5-10 Sunday, and the loss to the Rams knocks them from playoff contention in a wide-open NFC West.
A preseason favorite to win the division, San Francisco underachieved all the way, never living up to its expectations.

Defensive line coach Jim Tomsula will replace Singletary for the final game against Arizona.

Singletary went 18-22 in two-plus seasons as 49ers head coach, including a surprising 8-8 mark last year. But this season has been an almost wire-to-wire disaster.

Flip-flopping between starting quarterbacks, Singletary had a confrontation with his last choice during Sunday’s loss in St. Louis, jawing with Troy Smith on the sideline after he threw an interception.

Singletary is known, of course, as a Hall-of-Fame linebacker with the Chicago Bears. But he called coaching the 49ers one of the greatest experiences of his life.

“What made it so special were the players,” Singletary said in a release issued by the team. “They were some of the most outstanding men I have ever been around in my life.”

Singletary called the coaches “professionals” and said he wished the team “nothing but the best.” He thanked the owners for giving him an opportunity to coach in the NFL.

“I am indebted to them for that,” Singletary said. “I am also thankful for the faithful fans, I am just sorry I couldn’t give them more.”

Tomsula was in his fourth season as the 49ers defensive line coach after a nine-year career in NFL Europa.

A full-time head coach isn’t the only position the team will have to fill in the offseason. The 49ers have been working without a general manager since firing Scot McCloughan back in March.