28-20 my records getting better
The key point for this game is whether or not the Colts will rest their starters again. Most likely it will happen. It would be a slap in the face of all the Colts fans if the team were to keep their starters in all game. I highly doubt we’ll see Peyton Manning or any other starter in the game for more than a half. Last week, we saw how bad the Indianapolis backups could be as they allowed 19 points while scoring 0. Add that onto the fact that it will be in snowy Buffalo, and you got a recipe for disaster.
My Pick: Buffalo
Basically this game is a slumping playoff team against a team that just barely missed the playoffs. So who is going to be hungrier in this game? For the Giants, it’s a chance to make up for the 41-9 loss they had at home against the Panthers. A win would also give them their 3rd straight winning season. For the Vikings, it means a couple of things. First off, a win and an Eagles loss would give Minnesota a first-round bye. Even if they don’t get a first-round bye, a win would definitely pick up the spirits of the players. Heading into the playoffs with a 3 game losing streak would be disappointing. I really think that Minnesota needs this game more than the Giants do.
My Pick: Vikings
This game would probably be a little more interesting if it wasn’t Week 17. Both of these teams have clinched a playoff birth. The Packers and Cardinals might actually face each other in the Wildcard round if the Packers win this game. If the Cardinals were to win, they would need the Vikings and Eagles to lose to clinch a first-round bye. If both of those teams were to win, Arizona would stay at the 4th seed. The Packers can either be seeded 5th or 6th as the Vikings already locked up the NFC North. Because of the situation with the back to back games, these two teams might rest their starters.
My Pick: Cardinals
In two weeks New Orleans has gone from a possible 16-0 team to a giant question mark. It’s very disappointing to see the Saints struggling at this point in the season. Now they have to go into Carolina to face a team that has been red hot offensively. A big surprise has been the play of Matt Moore. In his last 4 games, he has thrown for 7 touchdowns and only 1 interception. Also last week, Jonathan Stewart ran for over 200 yards. We’ll see how the Saints do but in my opinion, what’s the point of keeping the starters in for the whole game?
My Pick: Panthers
There’s no doubt that both teams are coming into this game ready to go. For them, the playoffs start this Sunday. Neither of these teams wants to lose to their divisional rival. What’s at stake in this game? Well the Eagles clinch not only the NFC East division but a first-round bye with a win. If the Cowboys win, they clinch the division and can clinch a first-round bye if the Vikings and Cardinals loss. And just to add a little bit of fuel to the fire: Eagles Intro Video (Thanks to dawkinseffect for posting the video on the EA Forum)
My Pick: Eagles
Jacksonville Jaguars over Cleveland Browns
Chicago Bears over Detroit Lions
San Francisco 49ers over St. Louis Rams
Pittsburgh Steelers over Miami Dolphins
Atlanta Falcons over Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New England Patriots over Houston Texans
San Diego Chargers over Washington Redskins
Tennessee Titans over Seattle Seahawks
Baltimore Ravens over Oakland Raiders
Denver Broncos over Kansas City Chiefs
New York Jets over Cincinnati Bengals
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Redskins Get Slaughtered
Holding on to their playoff lifes, the New York Giants went into Washington Monday night and destroyed the Redskins 45-12. Everything seemed to go right with whatever the Giants did. It got so bad that Washington attempted a fake field goal at the end of the half which ended up being intercepted and almost taken for another TD. It was a hard game to watch, especially when the pass rush of the Giants kept nailing anyone that was behind center for the Redskins. The Giants should get a big momentum boost from this win against a rival. Up next for the G-Men: Carolina then a trip over the Minnesota. Two games that will be tough and the Giants need every win they can get.
Cheerful Cowboys
Dallas came in to New Orleans as underdogs and left with another win. Many doubted the Cowboys because of their December blues and because the Saints were 13-0. The Cowboys did allow the Saints to nearly tie the game but it was still an impressive win. Now the question is: has this win lifted the Dallas December curse? In my opinion, it’s only one game so we shouldn’t draw conclusions quite yet. But beating an undefeated team is very impressive. This gives a huge lift to the team and maybe they can use that momentum to get a win streak together. Their last two games are against the recently destroyed Redskins and the Eagles. We’ll see how they play against their two divisional foes.
Oh Those Chargers
A late Nate Kaeding FG won the game for the Chargers as they beat the mourning Bengals 27-24. It wasn’t a convincing win by any means but a win nonetheless. San Diego is now 17-0 in their last 17 games during the month of December. With the win, the Chargers clinched the division and now are in very good position to clinch a first-round bye. The one thing that still should worry Charger fans is how the team will do in January. Year after year, they make it into the playoffs with high hopes but end up messing up their opportunity to make it to the Super Bowl. Momentum has clearly been on their side in the last couple of years yet they have failed to make it to the big game. Maybe this year will be different but in my opinion, this isn’t the best team they’ve had in the last couple of years.
Steelers Get a Win
After being down 36-30, the Steelers took the ball and brought it all the way to the endzone. The game winning TD pass was caught by Mike Wallace who did his best Santonio Holmes impression. Many have been blaming the referees for giving Pittsburgh the game but all of those penalties were correctly called. It was a surprisingly high scoring game. Both teams needed a win as neither has clinched a playoff birth. For Pittsburgh, it is necessary to win every game in order to have a chance at the playoffs. They face Baltimore next week which has big playoff implications.
Playoff Picture
AFC
Colts (14-0)
Chargers (11-3)
Patriots (9-5)
Bengals (9-5)
Ravens (8-6)
Broncos (8-6)
In the Hunt: Jaguars (7-7), Dolphins (7-7), Jets (7-7), Steelers (7-7), Titans (7-7), Texans (7-7)
NFC
Saints (13-1)
Vikings (11-3)
Eagles (10-4)
Cardinals (9-5)
Packers (9-5)
Cowboys (9-5)
In the Hunt: Giants (8-6)
Patriot Problems
Wow it’s amazing what can happen when your team loses two straight for the first time since 2006. Tom Brady calls out his team, Adalius Thomas gets benched and now people are speculating that Randy Moss is giving up on his team. Moss made one catch that he fumbled. After the game, Chris Gamble said he knew that Moss would shut it down and give up. But the thing is the Patriots won the game so maybe we should delay the talk of the dynasty crumbling until after the season. The question I’d like answered: Who is more important to that offence, Wes Welker or Randy Moss?
Monster Receiving
Andre Johnson: 11 Catches, 193 yards, 2 TD’s
Brandon Marshall: 21 Catches, 200 yards, 2 TD’s
Enough said right? It’s clear that these two receivers are two of the best in the league. For Marshall, it’s a bitter sweet feeling. He’s 9th in the league for receiving yards and 3rd for receptions even though he only started 11 games. But for Johnson, this was just another day at the office. In my opinion, Andre Johnson is the best receiver in the league. He is also one of the quietest receivers in the league. He’s currently 1st in the league for receiving yards and 7th for receptions. We could see some more great numbers out of these two guys as they both face average pass defences this week.
Cleveland Steels a Game
Yes, the Browns beat the Steelers. Now who is to blame? Well we can’t blame the Steeler defence. They did allow some big runs but they kept Quinn to only 90 yards and the Browns put up only 13 points. The blame should be placed on the execution of the offence and the sacks giving up. Pittsburgh was in position a number of times to score yet they wouldn’t be able to get into the end zone. Plus, Ben Roethlisberger was sacked eight times. Everyone blames the offensive line for the sacks but if you watched that game, you would see that some of the sacks could have been avoided. Roethlisberger had time to pass yet he constantly hung on to the ball for too long. For each of the last four years, the Steelers have been one of the most sacked teams. I don’t think you can continue to place the full blame on the offensive line. Roethlisberger needs to get rid of the ball faster instead of hanging in the pocket hoping for a big play.
Playoff Picture
AFC
Colts 13-0 (Homefield and division locked up)
Chargers 10-3
Bengals 9-4
Patriots 8-5
Broncos 8-5
Jaguars 7-6
In the Hunt: Ravens (7-6), Dolphins (7-6), Jets (7-6), Steelers (6-7), Titans (6-7), Texans (6-7)
NFC
Saints 13-0 (First round bye and division locked up)
Vikings 11-2
Eagles 9-4
Cardinals 8-5
Packers 9-4
Cowboys 8-5
In the Hunt: Giants (7-6), Falcons (6-7), 49ers (6-7)
Just one month away from the playoffs and it’s starting to get exciting. We still got two undefeated teams, the defending Super Bowl champs are declining fast and the playoff picture is starting to take shape. Here are some notes as we look back on Week 13
Still Perfect
Colts and Saints are still unbeaten through twelve games. Colts played great against a surging divisional rival beating the Titans 27-17. Pierre Garçon opened the game with a 27 yard reception and ended up leading the Colts receiving with six catches for 136 yards for the game. The Colts were up 21-3 at one point and just never seemed like they were going to lose. The Saints however had quite a scare against the Redskins. Down by ten with 12:55 left in the fourth quarter, the Saints started their comeback. After scoring on a field goal earlier, Drew Brees led the New Orleans offense downfield ending the drive with a 53 yard touchdown pass to Robert Meachem with 1:27 left in the fourth. In overtime, Mike Sellers lost a fumble, giving New Orleans good field position. They drove the ball down to Washington 1 where kicker Garrett Hartley knocked through the game winning field goal. With the win, the Saints locked up the division and are now only 4 games away from a prefect regular season.
And a perfect season for either of these teams is very possible. The Colts face possibly their toughest test in Denver next week. However, the Colts are at home. Their last three games are at Jacksonville, at home versus the Jets and finish up on the road against Buffalo. Keep an eye on the Jacksonville game, the Jags might shock. They are divisional rivals that have faced each other before. Back in week one, the Jags kept the Colts to 14 points and only lost by two. As for New Orleans, their road to perfection starts against a divisional foe in the Falcons. It is unclear whether Matt Ryan or Michael Turner will play in this pivotal game as the Falcons need a win to keep in the hunt. The following games for the Saints includes a home game against Dallas on Saturday, then two divisional games against the Bucs at home then the season finale at Carolina. A loss to Tampa Bay or Carolina would be quite a shock but not unreasonable. As for the Cowboys, well we all know their history for the month of December.
On The Road of Greatness
LeDainian Tomlinson added two more records to his already impressive, Hall of Fame resume as he is now the fastest player to reach 150 touchdowns. It took him only 137 games to reach the feat, 23 games faster than previous record holder Emmitt Smith. He also passed Marshall Faulk and Jim Brown to claim eighth place on the all-time rushing list. Jim Brown, arguably one of the best running backs of all time, was in attendance to see LT surpass him on the rushing list. Tomlinson is now 418 yards away from passing Tony Dorsett for seventh on the list and 6034 yards from first, currently held by the aforementioned Smith. Expect to see LT pass Dorsett next season barring some kind of injury. But don’t expect to see Tomlinson passing Emmitt though. Tomlinson has rushed for a disappointing 561 yards this year and has been averaging 3.3 yards a carry.
Vick’s Return
After all the controversy, Vick finally got his chance to play in the Georgia Dome once again. Two questions were asked before the game: How would the crowd react to Vick and will Vick get a chance to take more snaps? Well the crowd, for the most part, cheered Vick and he got enough snaps to score a rushing and passing touchdown. Vick’s best performance so far this year came against the team he led through the highs, and the very lows. The question now: Is Matt Ryan better for the Falcons than Michael Vick? I guess we’ll see in a couple of years. It does help that the Falcons have Michael Turner running the ball.
Upsets!
If I was Jerry Seinfeld, I would probably ask ‘So what’s the deal with the Steelers?’ But then again if I was Jerry Seinfeld, I probably wouldn’t be writing blogs for this website. But seriously, what is going on with them? Does Troy Polamalu make that big of an impact for their defence? If you’re a Steelers fan, you got to be scratching your head. This is their third straight games where they have lost in a close game. That just doesn’t happen to the Steelers. Now they’re sitting at 6-6, with the Bengals three games ahead with the divisional lead and the tie breaker. But don’t worry Steeler fans, you got Cleveland next week.
There might also be a few Patriot fans that are wondering what’s wrong. Losing to an unbeaten team isn’t bad, but losing to a 5-6 team? Chad Henne threw 55 passes, completing 29 of them while Ricky Williams was held to 75 yards. The one surprise of this game: Brady’s late interception. One of the most clutch quarterbacks in the game made a poor decision and it cost his team the game. But no need to panic for Patriot fans, New England is 7-5 and their next two games are against Carolina at home and then at Buffalo, two games they should be able to take care of.
Playoff Picture
AFC
1. Colts (12-0)
2. Chargers (9-3)
3. Bengals (9-3)
4. Patriots (7-5)
5. Broncos (8-4)
6. Jaguars (7-5)
In the hunt: Ravens (6-6), Dolphins (6-6), Jets (6-6), Steelers (6-6)
NFC
1. Saints (12-0)
2. Vikings (10-2)
3. Cardinals (8-4)
4. Cowboys (8-4)
5. Eagles (8-4)
6. Packers (8-4)
In the hunt: Giants (7-5), Falcons (6-6)
Getting Started
The effectiveness of the rocket catch has been turned down a lot since last year, but this doesn’t mean you can’t use it in your game plan this year. Mixed in with short passes and runs, the rocket catch can be deadly if used correctly.
Many people still don’t know where to even begin trying to rocket catching. In Madden 09, you would use the strafe button to rocket catch, this year you use the right stick. What we suggest you do first is go to practice mode on offense only. If you use a team with a QB who has a terrible “Pass Accuracy” rating, consider switching to a team with an accurate QB if you plan to rocket catch with frequency.
Lets begin with learning how the right stick works. Choose any passing play (shotgun is strongly recommended if your opponent nanos) that sends at least one player deep (or you can just hot route a player to a streak). When you hike the ball, wait for your target to get deep, then lob him the ball. Switch to the receiver (Circle on PS3 and B on Xbox 360) and play around with the right stick to see what it does. Do this a few times until you feel confident that you understand what the right stick does. You should be getting sharp cuts with the receiver.
Now, you want to practice your rocket catching. Throw to streaks and use the right stick to turn around. Pressing the catch button is not always required, but the CPU won’t always try to catch for you, so always press the catch button just to be safe. Keep practicing until you start getting it right. Next, you will want to choose a play that has a post route towards the outside, or one that slants to the inside the turns into an outside post (which is what I use) and try to rocket catch those. This may take a lot of practice if you’re not used to controlling your receivers on their routes.
Gun Split Slot Shakes, which can be found in the Miami Playbook and several others, is a perfect play for rocket catching:
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