My top games
this weekend
There were a
few key matchups this weekend that I thought were intriguing. Don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of good
games and some breakout performances. I have
plenty of games that would be easy to hand pick items from, but these three
games really stood out to me. Here they
are:
Texas
Longhorns 36
Oklahoma
Sooners 20
Talk about
unexpected. Mack Brown may have just
saved his job with the gutsy performance the Longhorns put in this weekend at
the Red River Shootout.
Brown has
had many big wins in his career, but this win, due to the timing, has to be one
of his most cherished. All week every
media outlet in the country was calling for Mack to be replaced as the Texas
football coach. A role he has had since
1998. Not so fast everyone!
Texas came
into this game as a two touchdown underdog, and proceeded to give Oklahoma a
Texas sized thrashing. The Longhorns
started this game strong and never looked back.
Texas dominated both offensively and defensively, a team that has owned
them in recent years. The Sooners came
into this game ranked #10 in the country, but they sure did not look ready to
play. Texas QB, Case McCoy, had some
nice deep throws and did a nice job of just managing the game. The shocker for me was Mack Brown realizing
that he has some talented backs on his team, and gave the Sooners big helping
of Johnathan Gray and Malcolm Brown.
This has been sorely missed this season and it seemed to take the wind
out of the Sooners. Big plays on
defense, offense, and special teams were a welcome change for Brown, who was
under fire to step aside and let someone else take over one of the most coveted
jobs in sports. The “Eyes of Texas” were
upon him this Saturday and I for one enjoyed him raising the Golden Hat in
triumph. Nice job Mack!
New England
Patriots 30
New Orleans
Saints 27
I had been
waiting for this game since the season schedules came out, and what a great game
to watch. In the weeks leading up to
this game, I thought the Pats really had no chance. They had been scraping by and not really in
sync. The Saints have been hitting on
all cylinders, and were one of only three unbeaten teams left in the
league. This game was a back and forth
battle. If I showed you the box score for
this game without the score, you would be hard pressed to pick who won this
game. Virtually every item was so close
that this game could have gone either way.
New England did an effective job of running the ball for once, and Steven
Ridley came out of nowhere to rush for 96 yds and 2 touchdowns. This was a surprise since he has done nothing
YTD, and every fantasy player most likely had him sitting on their bench, like
I did. Leading at halftime 17-7 the Pats
went cold in the 3rd quarter, and the comeback was on for the Saints.
They cut the lead to 3 points going into the 4th and had the momentum
to close out New England. The Saints get
behind the defense and score the go ahead touchdown with 5 min remaining. How do the Pats let that happen? Shocking, really!
Tom Brady is
going to lead them to victory....
Not so fast. His first pass is
intercepted and the Saints are going crazy.
Fans start leaving and the cameras are all on Rob Ryan while he celebrates.
The Saints then make the critical error of giving Tom Brady one more chance
with 1.03 on the clock. All they had to
do was get one first down and they win. He overcomes dropped pass after dropped
pass to lead New England down the field and hits Kenbrell Tompkins with 5
seconds left for the go ahead score. You
cannot give Brady three chances and expect a different outcome. I feel like these two teams may meet again
this year, and I like the Saints to win that game. Look for them both in the Superbowl.
Dallas
Cowboys 31
Washington
Redskins 16
It never
seems to matter what the records are coming into this game or how well the
Cowboys might be playing at the time.
The Redskins always seem to play Dallas tough. Coming off of a bye week, and RGIII looking
like the QB of last year to start this game had me scared. Who would have expected special teams to
carry the load? Dwayne Harris took over
this game and Tony Romo had the best seat in the house for the biggest plays of
the game. The Cowboys then lose DeMarco
Murray, and Ware to injury, and put a scare into everyone. As luck would have it RGIII reverted to the
QB that has played most of this year much differently than last year. High balls, missed opportunities, and a lack
luster running game that allowed the Cowboys to pin their ears back and put on
a pass rush that has been lacking in the past weeks. Three sacks and a costly fumble put the game
away and leave the Cowboys tied for first.
At the end of the day, I am not sure the Cowboys win this game without the
heroics of Dwayne Harris. They didn’t look
great, but boy it’s nice to see the Redskins look bad.
Note: I am not sure if you saw Bob Costas at
halftime and the speech he gave on the Redskins name, but it was compelling and
he makes some great points to consider. Here is the link if you missed it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT9wy5xoMcI
<a href=https://plus.google.com/u/0/113767520997320629701#113767520997320629701/about rel=author”>Todd Scartozzi</a>
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