Week 14 gave us a new record holder for the tight end with the most receiving touchdowns in a season, it showed us that the Packers are still perfect and we got to see some clutch kicking. With the good came the bad, though. We got to see teams try to fumble their games away and we got to see how the Colts are the exact opposite of perfect.
NFL Week 14, Best And Worst: Rob Gronkowski Is A Record Breaker
From Rob Gronkwoski’s record setting touchdown (and overall performance) to Marion Barber’s costly fumble, here’s the best and the worst from Week 14 of the 2011 NFL season.
Here are the five best and worst plays from Week 14 of the 2011 NFL season.
We’ll start with....
The Best:
| No. 5: Locker Falls Short But Scores Awesome TD |
When Matt Hasselbeck left the Titans' Week 14 game with a left calf injury, many thought that the game, which they were playing against the Saints and their high powered offense, was all but over. That wasn't the case, though. Jake Locker, the Titans rookie quarterback, managed to make many Saints fans sweat. Ultimately, the Titans fell short but not before Locker scored his first (of many?) rushing touchdowns.
It was a beauty.
| No. 4: Matt Prater Can Kick Footballs |
The Broncos won again, but it wasn't all Tim Tebow. Kicker Matt Prater sent a ball through the uprights from 59 yards to send the game to overtime as the last seconds rolled off the clock in the fourth quarter and then, after being set up by a fumble recovery and a few passes, he had another kick from beyond 50 yards. This time he was 51 yards away and again he split the uprights.
Tebow may get all the glory but Prater deserves the game ball.
| No. 3: We Don't Need No Stinking Quarterback |
The Washington Redskins gave the New England Patriots quite the scare on Sunday. The Patriots ended up winning the game but the Redskins got all the awesome points. Early in the second half, they ran a fake end around pass in which wide receiver Brandon Banks threw a 50-yard long touchdown pass to wide receiver Santana Moss.
Who needs Rex Grossman?
| No. 2: Cam Newton Isn't the Only Quarterback That Can Run |
The Vikings couldn't beat the Lions, but after Christian Ponder was pulled due to his three interceptions, which included two pick-sixes, they got a shot in the arm by their back up quarterback Joe Webb. Webb's best play of the game wasn't a pass, though. It was a 65-yard touchdown run, proving Cam Newton isn't the only young quarterback in the NFL that knows how to run for touchdowns.
| No. 1: Gronkowski Breaks Record |
Not only did New England Patriots Rob Gronkowski set the leagues single season touchdown reception record for tight ends against the Redskins on Sunday, and not only did he have his fourth two-touchdown game in five weeks, but he single handedly dominated Washington on Sunday.
Is there really any question that he’s the best tight end in the league right now?
***
And the Worst.
| No. 5: The Bengals Show Opposing Players' Families Where they Can Sit |
Now that rookie quarterback T.J. Yates is the leader of the Houston Texans offense, his family comes to his games. This week they traveled to Cincinnati to watch him play. The Bengals were nice enough to give them seats that required them to buy a telescope to watch their son.
Yates ended up throwing a last second touchdown pass to beat the Bengals by one point. The Texans sealed their first trip to the playoffs in franchise history.
| No. 4: Philip Rivers Tries Not to Win |
In the end, he didn't hand them a victory, but he probably would have looked better if he just handed the ball to Bryan Scott, who ended up recovering that...... whatever that was, in the end zone.
| No. 3: No Time For a Pump Fake |
The Redskins ended up falling to the Patriots by a touchdown. That touchdown could have been the first one scored in the game. Early in the first quarter, the Redskins were playing in the shadow of their own goal posts and it was third-and-10. Grossman dropped back to pass and was standing about five yards deep in his own end zone when he pump faked and then looked for another receiver. I guess he forgot where he was.
He ended up holding the ball, in his own end zone, for about four seconds while he tried to find a receiver. Of course Andre Carter sacked him. Of course Grossman fumbled. And of couse Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork recovered the fumble in the end zone.
If Grossman gets rid of the ball a lot quicker and converts, the Redskins could have scored on that drive and the Patriots wouldn’t have. It would have at least been a 10-point swing and the Redskins would have won.
| No. 2: Always Ice Cowboys Kicker...... ALWAYS! |
Last week Jason Garrett iced his own kicker, Dan Bailey, in the closing seconds of their Week 13 game against the Cardinals. Bailey missed his next attempt. Surely it wouldn't happen again, right? RIGHT?
Well, it wasn't Garrett that iced Bailey while he was attempting to kick a field goal that would have sent the Cowboys to overtime, it was the Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, but it still worked like a charm.
Dan Bailey's Achilles heal is obviously time to think about what he has to do.
| No. 1: A Christmas Gift to The Broncos From Their Friend Marion Barber |
Tim Tebow (and Matt Prater) led the Broncos to overtime after trailing the Bears throughout the majority of their Week 14 game. Once in overtime, it looked like the Bears might give the Broncos a small dose of reality but whatever worked for the Broncos in the last five weeks. This time it came in the form of a fumble from Bears running back Marion Barber.
All the Broncos needed to do after recovering this fumble was get in range for Prater and he did the rest.
The Broncos owe Barber a thank you card.
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