The Hangover: Week 14

By Adam Cancryn

This was one of those weeks that reminds you that sports is exhilarating, frantic, stressful, thrilling, sickening, mind-blowing and above all, a whole lotta fun.

• This week's meaningless statistic: The Titans came into the week having played three consecutive games that ended 23-17. They came within one point of making it four straight.
•  The Jets wasted no time in burning a timeout this week, calling one on the game's first play from scrimmage because they couldn't get the right personnel on the field.
•  Once they did get everyone assembled, however, it paid off, with Shonn Greene breaking off a 31-yard run, his longest of the season. 
• In fact, maybe they should continue calling early timeouts. After that early hiccup, New York played near flawless, pounding the Chiefs into submission early.
• A sign that Tennessee's Chris Johnson is back: The Saints committed an extra player to the box throughout the game, consistently giving them eight players up front rather than the usual seven. It paid off, with Johnson held to just 23 yards on 11 carries.
• Fumbles played a large role in a few of the early games, with New England, Detroit, Washington and Jacksonville all scoring touchdowns off of fumble recoveries.
• Detroit's offense asserted itself early following its anemic showing v. the Saints last week, with Matt Stafford tossing a 57-yard bomb to Titus Young to touch off the scoring. They put up 31 points in the half, all of which they would end up needing.
• New Orleans' Darren Sproles had about 120 yards of offense called back because of penalties, most of which came on an electrifying 82-yard punt return for a touchdown that was nullified due to a hold.
• The Patriots' Rob Gronkowski might get lost in the crowd of great finishes later on in the day, but he was the best player on any field Sunday. Let us count the ways:
• Six catches for 160 yards and two touchdowns
• 49 of those yards came on a catch, roll and run in which Gronkowski made a diving grab, sprung to his feet before getting touched and then broke three tackles.
• He now has 10 red zone touchdowns, which is the most in the NFL
• Gronkowski also broke the NFL record for most TD receptions by a tight end by catching his 14th.
• The 'Skins have something serious in running back Roy Helu, who ran for 100+ yards for the third consecutive game and showed great acceleration for a big back.
• It seemed early on that Pats-Redskins would be the only game worth watching from the 1 p.m. slate. That was severely wrong, but this matchup nevertheless did not disappoint. The Redskins were able to control the ball on offense (TOP in the first quarter: 11:53) and find major holes in New England's secondary in a game that seemed destined to be determined by whoever scored last.
• It came down to that, but after staying close almost all afternoon, quarterback Rex Grossman made a fatal mistake, floating an unsteady pass that was batted around and picked off to end the game.
• Though the game was played in Landover, there were enough Patriots fans there to make it a pretty neutral site. In fact, given that three separate players jumped into the stands after TDs and right onto Patriots fans, New England probably got more TV exposure.
• The Saints lead the league with the fewest three-and-outs.
• Per the Washington Times' Dan Daly, Brandon Banks (5'7") is the shortest Redskin to throw a TD pass since Eddie LaBaron in 1959. He did it on a Grossman to Helu to Banks to Santana Moss reverse pass.
• Ochocinco sighting in New England! One catch, 15 yards.
• Philadelphia's offense looks back to normal with Mike Vick under center. It doesn't mean they're fully functional, but the receivers all looked more in sync this week v. the Dolphins.
• Desean Jackson especially got back in the mix, catching four passes for 59 yards and a touchdown.
• The Jets' 28 first half points were their most since 2008. They had some help along the way, with the Chiefs during one drive committing 81 yards worth of penalties.
• After falling behind 14-0 to the Buccaneers, the Jaguars scored 41 points in a row to win 41-14. Two of those scores came from fumble returns for touchdowns.
• The quick toss up the middle has been gaining popularity throughout this year. It seems like the advantage compared to the normal handoff is that it gets the ball in the back's hands as fast as possible, allowing him to then devote full attention to finding a running lane.
• Minnesota fans have to be asking why they even bothered with Donovan McNabb, after Joe Webb came in for the injured Christian Ponder and nearly led the Vikings to a stunning upset.
• Webb was also the victim of a blatant facemask at the end of the game that went uncalled. As a result, he fumbled the ball and the game was over. Call that facemask, and it could've been a heroic comeback rather than a near miss.
• The Dolphins are 4-0 when Reggie Bush scores a touchdown. They are 0-9 when he doesn't.
• It took until the fourth quarter, but New Orleans' Drew Brees got his touchdown, extending his streak of consecutive games with at least one passing TD to 40. He trails only Johnny Unitas, who sits at 47 straight games.
• Brees also tied Peyton Manning for the NFL record for 300-yard games in a season with 10.
• The Colts' TD on the last play of the game covered the spread, making it the only reason their 24-10 loss to the Ravens mattered.
• Just as Joe Webb was on the comeback trail for Minnesota, rookie T.J. Yates was doing the same for the Texans. He marched Houston down the field and, following a pass interference call that set them up on the six yard line, hit Kevin Walter in the end zone for the game-winner.
• Yates is now 2-0 for his career, despite his poor to middling performance. HE JUST WINS.
• Maurice Jones-Drew had a monster of a fantasy day: three touchdowns from within the five-yard line. The Jaguars' win was interim coach Mel Tucker's first.
• The Titans will have a major decision to make if Matt Hasselbeck is healthy next week. Hasselbeck has played decently the past couple of weeks, but rookie Jake Locker has also shown he's more than ready. Locker kept Tennessee in the game to the very end, finding his receivers for big gains and driving the team to within the Saints' 10-yard line. 
• Unfortunately, it was there that inexperience reared its head, and after getting flushed out of the pocket on the final play, Locker never got rid of the ball. He took the sack, and the game was over.
• Ryan Grant is healthy, seemingly giving the Packers their 11th offensive weapon. During a drubbing of the Raiders, Grant scored his first touchdown of the season on a 47-yard run.
• To Tebow: Once again, his opponent has the game all but in the bag before frittering it away in unbelievably boneheaded fashion.
• The Broncos are 6-1, and there is no doubt that Tim Tebow has played a big part in that.
• How big a part is harder to discern. He has consistently played terrible for three quarters (11 straight incompletions across the second and third quarters v. the Bears) before morphing into a bona fide professional quarterback in the last period.
• The fairest thing to say about Tebow is this: He deserved much but certainly not all of the blame for getting shut out for three quarters. He also deserved much but certainly not all of the praise for pulling out a 13-10 overtime win.
• What it means at the end of the day is that Denver is in line for the playoffs thanks to the Raiders' bludgeoning at the hands of the Packers, and once there, no one is going to want to play them.
• The Bears did a decent job forcing Tebow to roll right, where he is much less accurate. But it backfired late, because that contain approach allowed him to sit in the pocket for several seconds and wait for a receiver to come open.
• Without Matt Prater, the Broncos are nowhere near 6-1. 
• Aaron Rodgers tied Brett Favre's single-season team touchdown record at 39 following his 37-yard hook up with Jordy Nelson.
• The touchdown came despite the Raiders having 12 defenders on the field.
• CNBC's Darren Rovell: Tim Tebow is making $866,250 more than Aaron Rodgers right now.
• The Falcons' 16-point comeback v. Carolina is their largest since a 17-point rally in 1993, according to NFL RedZone's Andrew Sicilano.
• The Cowboys are dreadful in the fourth quarter, and thanks to that the night game topped off one of the most exciting days of football in months.
• Dallas is simply terrible in December for whatever reason, and the Giants were happy to take advantage, scoring twice in less than four minutes to take the lead late.
• Kicker Dan Bailey had a chance to force overtime, and did. But for the second straight week, a timeout was called before the snap. His second attempt was blocked.
• The latest in a long line of shrewd Giants draft picks, Jason Pierre-Paul was simply the best player on the field. He blocked the kick, forced a fumble and sacked Tony Romo for a safety to open the game.
• Summing up the best week ever for middling-to-suddenly-superstar quarterbacks: Via The Record's Art Stapleton, Eli Manning has thrown 14 touchdowns in the fourth quarter this year, tying the all-time mark set by Johnny Unitas (1959) and Peyton Manning (2006).

And dear God, do not watch the Monday night game.