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Fourth and Long: Long Live the King

2007 November 7
by Jen DiGiacomo

Back in 2007 and 2008, I wrote a weekly online pro football column dubbed “Fourth and Long” for the late Football for Breakfast website. One hopes the gentle reader will enjoy this blast from 11/07/07…

The king is dead. Long live the king.

This past Sunday, the New England Patriots ventured into the fearsome and deafening den of the undefeated and defending world champions and slew the mighty Colts with an inspiring rally in the final nine minutes of an epic struggle that surprisingly lived up to the hype.

The Colts did their part for the first 51 minutes of this titanic battle, holding Tom Brady to 111 yards passing, two interceptions and a passer rating of 51.9. This to a quarterback so good, that his rating went down last week to 136.2 after shredding the Redskins for 306 yards passing, three touchdowns and no interceptions.

But as the clock ticked away in the fourth quarter in what was beginning to look like the Patriots’ fourth consecutive loss to the Colts, Tom Brady showed why he is the best big-game quarterback since Joe Montana. Down 10, Brady led the Patriots to a come-from-behind victory with back-to-back touchdown drives, completing 8 of 11 passes for 144 yards, two touchdowns and a rating of 156.7.

While Brady butted heads with his offensive linemen as the clock ran out, Bill Belichick celebrated the victory with players and Tedy Bruschi looked like he had just won the Super Bowl again.

After nearly two seasons, the New England Patriots had finally slain their dragon and exorcized their demons.

The Patriots became, without question, the team to beat in the NFL. And it now seems likely that they will sprint through the rest of their regular season unbeaten, untouched and unchallenged while heading for their place in the record books.

The Patriots are back. The road to the Super Bowl once again passes through Foxborough.

But something was lost in the euphoria. Something critical. And something, perhaps, prophetic.

The Patriots looked mortal on Sunday.

After eight weeks of annihilating opponents, of record-breaking offense, of running teams off the field, the Patriots looked shockingly mortal.

Uncharacteristic penalties, visible frustration and Tom Brady screaming at refs.

This was not the look of the greatest team in NFL history.

The Colts, on the other hand, proved that they can match this truly awesome Patriots team drive for drive and hit for hit.

And they did it Sunday without future Hall-of-Fame receiver Marvin Harrison and without starting left tackle Tony Ugoh.

In this game, the Colts showed that they can play the same style of hard-nosed football that won the Patriots three world championships.

The rematch, one suspects, will be held within the frigid confines of Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on January 20, 2008.

And in an ironic twist, it is the Colts and not the Patriots who appear to be the team better equipped to handle the cold intemperate weather of January championship football.

‘Larry King’ Ramblings

What an unbelievable game between the Chargers and the Vikings in the Metrodome.

Adrian Peterson gained over 200 yards for the second time in his eight-game career and broke Jamal Lewis’s single-game rushing record with 296 yards on 30 carries and three touchdowns. 253 yards in the second half alone. Two of those runs were touchdown explosions of 64 and 46 yards reminiscent of Gale Sayers, and after only eight games, this rookie sensation has already gained over 1000 yards. Now if the Viking could only get a quarterback.

Chargers CB Antonio Cromartie, continuing the recent trend of returning missed field goals, scored on an NFL-record 109-yard touchdown return. The 57-yard field goal attempt by Ryan Longwell fell just short, allowing Cromartie to leap into the air and snag the ball, barely keeping his feet in bounds. He then ran untouched 109 yards, scoring his third touchdown in two games. Always-on-the-ball John Madden explained on Sunday Night Football why these returns are so successful, “The secret on that play is to run it along the side of your bench, because the field goal team is made up of big old offensive linemen and they’re headed over to their bench as soon as it’s kicked.”

After climbing back to .500, the Chargers stumbled badly in the loss to the 2-5 Minnesota Vikings, outscored 28-3 in the second half. That takes the Chargers, 14-2 last year, to 4-4 this year. This is a team in genuine crisis with upcoming games against the Colts, Jaguars, Ravens, Chiefs, Titans and Lions. As much as I felt firing Marty Schottenheimer and bringing in Norv Turner and Ted Cottrell was a mistake, I never believed this team would be in such serious danger of missing the playoffs like they are now.

Speaking of top seeds in the NFL from last season, the Chargers, Ravens, Bears and Saints were a combined 50-14 during the regular season. At the midpoint this year, these same teams are at a shocking 15-17.

Did you see the Sebastian Jankowski’s field goal attempt for the Raiders? 64 yards and he doinked it off the middle of the right upright. That sucker would have been good from 74 yards. With the Raiders not winning, I wouldn’t be surprised if Lane Kiffen gives Janikowski another shot this season to get the record.

‘Heidi’ Chronicles

I promised myself I’d stop criticizing Football Night in America. I’d start watching the NFL Network for a few weeks and find something there to comment upon.

But I can’t. NBC just keeps raising the bar on the ridiculous.

This week, they unveiled this whole ‘Green Is Universal’ campaign. Don’t get me wrong. Saving the planet sounds like a good thing. Promote it all you want on the Today show. But turning off the lights on the NFL’s premiere studio show? Are you kidding me? As I’ve stated before, this is corporate-driven political correctness at its worst. We’ve been forced to endure the fake comraderie, the false banter and forced laughter. And now we are to endure the greening of football.

NBC, I beg, please keep these stunts away from the greatest sport in America and relegate them to morning television where they belongs. The only consolation I can take is that Chris Collinsworth and Keith Olbermann happily mocked the entire endeavor on the air, even incurring the wrath of Today‘s Matt Lauer.

Playoffs?!? Don’t Talk About Playoffs?!?

With apologies to Jim Mora, it’s never too early to talk playoffs…

AFC Playoff Seeds
1) New England Patriots (9-0): The new #1 seed after an impressive victory over the defending champs.
2) Indianapolis Colts (7-1): The Colts may have lost, but they proved even without Harrison and Ugoh that they can match the Patriots.
3) Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2): After routing the Ravens, the Steelers may be the third best team in the NFL.
4) Kansas City Chiefs (4-4): Fortunately for the Chiefs, the Chargers keep losing, too.
5) Tennessee Titans (6-2): They may not win pretty, but the Titans do keep winning.
6) Cleveland Browns (5-3): What a stellar turnaround for the Cleveland Browns.

NFC Playoff Seeds
1) Dallas Cowboys (7-1):
Simply the best team in the NFC.
2) Green Bay Packers (7-1): Another improbable road comeback. Another win for Favre.
3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-4): Lookout, the suddenly resurgent Saints are only a half game back.
4) Seattle Seahawks (4-4): Good thing they play in the dreadful NFC West.
5) New York Giants (6-2): The Cowboys are up next.
6) Detroit Lions (6-2): After thrashing the Broncos, the Lions need to be taken seriously for a change.

‘John Madden’ Wayback Machine

With Adrian Peterson breaking the single-game rushing record on Sunday against the Chargers, it’s time to take a look at the running backs who have held this amazing record since 1933:

Adrian Peterson (Vikings): 296 yards against the Chargers, 11/7/07.
Jamal Lewis (Ravens): 295 yards against the Browns, 9/14/03.
Corey Dillon (Bengals): 278 yards against the Broncos, 10/22/00.
Walter Payton (Bears): 275 yards against the Vikings, 11/20/77.
O.J. Simpson (Bills): 273 yards against the Lions, 11/25/76.
O.J. Simpson (Bills): 250 yards against the Patriots, 09/16/73.
Willie Ellison (Rams): 247 yards against the Saints, 12/5/71.
Cookie Gilchrist (Bills): 243 yards against the Jets (AFL), 12/8/63.
Jim Brown (Browns): 237 yards against the L.A. Rams on 11/24/57 and the Eagles on 11/19/61.
Tom Wilson (L.A. Rams): 233 yards against the Packers, 12/16/56.
Gene Roberts (Giants): 218 yards against the Chicago Cardinals, 11/12/50.
Cliff Battles (Boston Redskins): 213 yards against the Giants, 10/8/33.

Battle for Brian Brohm (or Matt Ryan or Whoever the #1 Pick Will Be)

At the halfway point of the season, the muck de la muck is slowly sinking to the bottom.

#1 – Miami Dolphins (0-8): The good news is that it’s hard to lose during bye week. The bad news? They are still the 0-8 Dolphins.
#2 – St. Louis Rams (0-8): Not as bad as the Dolphins, but perhaps more tragic since the Rams were expected to contend for a playoff spot this season.
#3 – New York Jets (1-8): What a shocking fall from respectability.
#4 – San Francisco 49ers (2-6): Six straight losses with little hope in sight.
#5 – Cincinnati Bengals (2-6): Game over, man. Game over.
#6 – Oakland Raiders (2-6): How long before the JaMarcus Russell era begins?
#7 – Atlanta Falcons (2-6): The Falcons finally win their second game!

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