WEEK 14 REVIEW

New England’s win over the Cleveland Browns came at a price as Tom Brady had to watch his favorite and best target get carted off  the field with a torn ACL.  After waiting 8 weeks for Rob Gronkowski to come back from a series of surgeries he had on his forearm in the offseason, the Patriots were in a real groove and Tom Brady loved having his big target back.  Gronkowski made a difference and since his return put up 592 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. He will be missed and is wished a rapid recovery.  The game started off in Cleveland’s favor with them leading at halftime 6-0 from 2 Billy Cundiff field goals from 43 and 37 yards. The second half is where the action started. Gary Barnidge scored from 40 yards on a pass from Jason Campbell and they went for 2 points and missed leaving the score at 12-0.  Stephen Gostkowski was able to put points on the board with a 33 yard field goal with 1:37 left in the third quarter. After the ensuing kick off, the Browns had the ball at the 20 yard line when Campbell connected with Josh Gordon for an 80 yard touchdown a mere 12 seconds after the field goal and the quarter ended. With little time taken off the clock, New England moved the ball quickly and Shane Vereen scored a touchdown with 6 seconds left in the third quarter.  Deep in the fourth quarter, Gostkowski kicked a field goal from 50 yards after which the Patriots still trailed 19-14.  The Browns countered a couple of minutes later with a touchdown pass to Jordan Cameron from 4 yards and the lead was now 26-14 with 2:39 remaining in the game.  Tom Brady quickly moved his team into position and threw a 2 yard pass to Julian Edelman for a touchdown with 1:01 left in the game. The Patriots recovered the onside kick and Brady connected with Danny Amendola from 1 yard out for a touchdown with just 6 seconds left. They were unable to complete the 2 point conversion but the New England Patriots won the game 27-26.

The Denver Broncos entered the game on Sunday with the knowledge that Petyon Manning had not performed well when the temperature was below 40 degrees and at game time, the temperature at Mile High Stadium was 15 degrees and that was the high.  In a busy first quarter, the Titans were first on the board with a 1 yard touchdown run from Shonn Greene.  Peyton Manning connected with Wes Welker for his 10th touchdown reception of the season and now the Denver Broncos have 4 players with 10 or more touchdowns which is a new record.  27 seconds later Chris Johnson scored on a 3 yard run and the Broncos trailed 14-7.  Matt Prater made a 25 yard field goal with 25 seconds remaining in the first quarter and the Broncos trailed 14-10. Half way through the second quarter, Shonn Greene scored another touchdown from 28 yards out.  Manning then connected with Julius Thomas on his first game back from injury and the score was 21-7 with the Broncos still trailing.  With 3 seconds left on the clock, John Fox gave Matt Prater a shot at attempting a 64 yard field goal. The previous longest field goal ever was 63 yards, a feat accomplished 4 times in history. In frigid conditions, Prater got a good snap and the hold was perfect and he drove the ball and made the record setting field goal forever putting his name in the record books and giving kickers of tomorrow a new goal to shoot for.  In the third quarter, the Broncos would score two more touchdowns and the Titans would put one on the board as well and the Broncos had the lead 34-28 going into the fourth quarter.  The Broncos went on a tear and put up 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win the game 51-28.  Once again, Peyton Domination.

The Philadelphia Eagles improved their record when they beat the Detroit Lions in Week 14.  The game was played in difficult conditions to say the least and at gametime, the field already had an inch of snow and it was coming down dropping more than 8 inches by half time.  At the end of the first quarter the game was locked at zero and nobody was able to move the ball. Detroit scored a touchdown when Joique Bell ran in from 2 yards out. With the conditions, the Lions went for 2 points and were successful and led 8-0 at the half. The Lions scored a touchdown on a  punt return from 58 yards out and it looked like they might have a significant lead with the conditions and difficulty in moving the ball. That quickly changed as Nick Foles connected with DeSean Jackson for a touchdown from 19 yards out and they missed their 2 point attempt and the Lions  lead was cut to 8 points again. In the fourth quarter, LeSean McCoy put on a show scoring from 40 yards and the Eagles converted their 2 point conversion so the score was now tied at 14 with nearly a whole quarter to play. On the ensuing kick off, Jeremy Ross who ran back the punt in the second quarter, this time ran back the kickoff and scored from 98 yards on the kick return. The Lions went for the point after and it was blocked and the Lions led 20-14. About a minute later LeSean McCoy ran and scored again but this time from 57 yards and they made their 2 point conversion and it was now 22-20 and the Eagles led for the first time all day. From there Nick Foles ran in a touchdown and with 2:58 remaining and Chris Polk scored from 38 yards out and the Eagles beat the Lions 34-20.  In the game, Nick Foles threw his first interception of the season.

SCORES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE

• Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the Houston Oilers 27-20
• Denver Broncos handily beat the Tennessee Titans 51-28
• Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Indianapolis Colts 42-28
• Green Bay Packers narrowly beat the Atlanta Falcons 22-21
• New England Patriots barely win over the Cleveland Browns 27-26
• New York Jets defeated the Oakland Raiders 37-27
• Philadelphia Eagles beat the Detroit Lions 34-20
• Miami Dolphins win over the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-28
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Buffalo Bills 27-6
• Kansas City Chiefs won easily over the Washington Redskins 45-10
• Baltimore Ravens defeated the Minnesota Vikings 29-26
• Arizona Cardinals beat the St. Louis Rams 30-10
• San Diego Chargers won over the New York Giants 37-14
• San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks 19-17
• New Orleans Saints defeated the Carolina Panthers 31-13
• Chicago Bears took the Dallas Cowboys to town beating them 45-28

WEEK 14 HIGHLIGHTS

• Matt Prater entered into the record books in Week 14 when he successfully kicked a 64 yard field goal at the end of the first half in Denver with single digit temperatures.  The previous 63 yard record was co-held by 4 players including Jack Dempsey, Jason Elam, David Akers and Sebastian Janikowski.
• LeSean McCoy carried the ball 29 times running for 217 touchdowns and 2 touchdowns setting a new team record for rushing yards.
• Peyton Manning completed 66% of his passes throwing for 397 yards and 4 touchdowns with 0 interceptions. This win gave Manning his 13th season with at least 10 wins and the 50 touchdowns in a season record which is held by Tom Brady is in jeopardy with 4 games remaining.
• Andre Johnson caught 13 passes for 154 yards averaging 11.8 yards per reception.
• Ben Roethlisberger completed 59% of his passes throwing for 349 yards and 3 touchdowns with 0 interceptions.
• Daniel Thomas ran the ball 16 times for 106 yards and 1 touchdown.
• Antonio Brown caught 5 passes for 137 yards and 1 touchdown averaging 27.4 yards per reception.
• Marcel Reece ran the ball 19 times for 123 yards and 1 touchdown averaging 6.5 yards per carry.
• Andrew Luck threw for 325 yards and 4 touchdowns with 0 interceptions.
• Justin Hunter caught 4 passes for 114 yards and 1 touchdown averaging 28.5 yards per reception.
• Josh Gordon caught 7 passes for 151 yards and 1 touchdown averaging 21.6 yards per reception.  Gordon leads the league in yards over the past four weeks.
• Bobby Rainey carried the ball 22 times running for 127 yards and 1 touchdown.
• Rod Streater caught 7 passes for 130 yards and 1 touchdown.
• Jamaal Charles ran the ball 19 times for 151 yards and 1 touchdown averaging 7.9 yards per carry. Charles also caught 2 passes for 8 yards and 1 touchdown.
• Cordarrelle Patterson caught 5 passes for 151 yards and 1 touchdown.
• Ryan Matthews ran for 103 yards and 1 touchdown.
• Hakeem Nicks caught 5 passes for 135 yards.
• Frank Gore carried the ball 17 times for 110 yards averaging 6.5 yards per carry.
• Andy Dalton completed 69% of his passes throwing for 275 yards and 3 touchdowns
• Eric Decker caught 6 passes for 117 yards and 1 touchdown averaging 14.6 yards per reception.
• Jordan Cameron caught 9 passes for 121 yards and 1 touchdown.
• Marquis Colston caught 9 passes for 125 yards and 2 touchdowns averaging 13.9 yards per reception.
• Josh McCown had another great game completing 75% of his passes for 348 yards and 4 touchdowns with 0 interceptions. He also rushed the ball 3 times for 16 yards and 1 touchdown.
• Shane Vereen caught 12 passes for 153 yards averaging 12.8 yards per reception.
• Drew Brees completed 71.4% of his passes throwing for 313 yards and 4 touchdowns. In the game, Brees eclipsed the 50,000 Career Passing Yards mark and joins an exclusive club including Hall of Fame Quarterback John Elway, Hall of Fame Quarterback Dan Marino and two future first ballot Hall of Famers, Peyton Manning and Brett Favre.  He is the fastest Quarterback to reach this mark and he did it with a pass to his favorite target, Graham.
• Matt Forte carried the ball 20 times for 102 yards averaging 5.1 yards per carry.  He also posted 75 receiving yards and 1 receiving touchdown.
• Jason Campbell passed for 391 yards and 3 touchdowns with zero interceptions.
• Da’Ric Rogers caught 6 passes for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns averaging 17.8 yards per reception.
• Tom Brady threw for 418 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception.
• Calvin Johnson passed Herman Moore as the leading receiver of all time for the Detroit Lions at age 29.
• Chris Johnson scored his 50th Career Rushing Touchdown.
• Its hard not to acknowledge the final two minutes of the Minnesota Vikings / Baltimore Ravens game where there were 5 touchdowns scored in the final 2 minutes of the game making it one of the most exciting finishes this year.

QUARTERBACK LEADERS – WEEK 14 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Eli Manning moved up 2 slots into the Top 20 for Career Passing Yards to the #20 position passing Matt Hasselbeck and Jim Hart and is behind Donovan McNabb on the list with 34,781 passing yards.

• Ben Roethlisberger moved up 2 slots to #24 past Phil Simms and John Hadl and is behind Steve DeBerg with 33,568 Career  Passing Yards.  Roethlisberger also moved past John Brodie and Hall of Fame Quarterback Terry Bradshaw into a tie with Philip Rivers at 215 Career Passing Touchdowns.

• Carson Palmer moved into the Top 30 for Career Passing Yards at #30 moving past Ken Anderson and is behind Hall of Fame Quarterback Troy Aikman with 32,923 passing yards.  Palmer also moved past Kerry Collins and Curt Warner into a tie with Jim Hart at #28 with 209 Career Passing Touchdowns.

• Philip Rivers moved up 1 slot to #35 past John Brodie and is sitting behind Mark Brunell with 31,773 Career Passing Yards.

• Tony Romo moved up 2 slots to #31 moving past Matt Hasselbeck, Roman Gabriel and Jim Everett and is currently behind Randall Cunningham with 204 Career Passing Touchdowns.

RUNNING BACK LEADERS – WEEK 14 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Frank Gore joined the Top 30 moving up 1 slot to #30 passing Hall of Fame Running Back Joe Perry and is behind Clinton Portis with 9,770 Career Rushing Yards.

WIDE RECEIVER LEADERS – WEEK 14 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Tony Gonzalez joined the Top 5 for Career Receiving Yards assuming the #5 position passing Tim Brown and is sitting behind Isaac Bruce with 14,946 receiving yards, 54 yards shy of the 15,000 mark.

• Anquan Boldin moved up 1 slot to #29 past Chad Johnson and is beind former teammate Larry Fitzgerald with 11,080 Career Receiving Yards.

• Steve Smith moved up 1 slot past Roy Green, Derrick Mason and Jimmy Moore into a tie at #27 with Cliff Branch, Chad Johnson and Jimmy Smith with 67 Career Receiving Touchdowns.

DEFENSIVE LEADERS – WEEK 14 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Ed Reed moved into a tie at #7 with Dave Brown and Dick LeBeau at 62 Career Interceptions.

• John Abraham moved up 1 slot to #8 passing Hall of Fame Linebacker Lawrence Taylor and Leslie O’Neal and is behind Richard Dent and John Randle with 133.0 Career Sacks.