WEEK 15 REVIEW

New England’s loss to the Miami Dolphins was big news for the Denver Broncos who lost earlier in the week to the San Diego Chargers.  The Patriots loss gives the Broncos Home Field Advantage in the Playoffs.  The game started off in the Patriots favor leading 3-0 after the First Quarter.  In the Second Quarter, touchdowns were traded after Brady connected with Michael Hoomanawanui from 13 yards out and then Ryan Tannehill hooked up with Mike Wallace for a 39 yard score with the Patriots leading 10-7 at the half.  In the Third Quarter, Caleb Sturgis tied the game at 10 with his 32 yard field goal.  There was a lot of action in the Fourth Quarter and with 14:54 remaining in the game, Tannehill threw a 2 yard touchdown pass to Daniel Thomas and the Dolphins had their first lead of the game at 17-10. Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 23 yard field goal cutting the deficit to 4 points.  With 4:07 left in the game, the Patriots regained the lead when Tom Brady connected with his favorite target of the day, Julian Edelman, for a 24 yard touchdown and the Patriots once again led with a score of 20-17.  The Dolphins then started their 4 minute offense and moved the ball steadily down the field and Tannehill threw a touchdown from 14 yards out to Marcus Thigpen with 1:15 left in the game and the Dolphins were able to hold on and beat the Patriots 24-20.

With a lot of controversy going into the game, two of the lower end teams in the league this year hosted a really good game with a lot of action. The Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan decided to bench Quarterback Robert Griffin III in the game against the Atlanta Falcons.  Shanahan already on the hot seat and in jeopardy of losing his job after the season decided to start Kirk Cousins in place of Griffin.  Atlanta started the game off strong with Steven Jackson capping of a drive with a 3 yard touchdown score and then Matt Ryan connecting with Tony Gonzalez for a touchdown from 13 yards out giving the Falcons a 14-0 lead with 3:52 left in the First Quarter.  The Redskins countered with a touchdown when Fred Davis caught a pass for 23 yards from Cousins and the Redskins trailed the Falcons 14-7 after the First Quarter.  In the Second Quarter Matt Bryant extended the Falcons lead with a field goal from 20 yards out.  The Redskins proceeded to put up 3 consecutive scores in the quarter with the first being a 53 yard reception by Pierre Garcon for a touchdown followed up by 2 Kai Forbath field goals from 33 and 37 yards respectively giving the Redskins the lead at 20-17 at the half.  Steven Jackson ran in a 2 yard touchdown in the Third Quarter and the Falcons led 24-20.  In the Fourth Quarter, Matt Bryant crushed a 51 yard field goal increasing the Falcons lead to 7 with 3:25 left in the game.  On the ensuing drive Kirk Cousins moved the ball steadily down the field and capped it off with a 3 yard touchdown pass to Santana Moss.  Mike Shanahan decided to go for the win rather than the tie with 18 seconds left in the game and was unsuccessful in converting the 2 point conversion and the Washington Redskins lost to the Atlanta Falcons by 1 point with a final score of 27-26.  Neither team will make the Playoffs this year but it was a hard fought battle and Kirk Cousins ended up completing 64% of his passes for 381 yards, 3 touchdowns with 2 interceptions and played much better than the struggling Robert Griffin III.

It was a Defensive battle in Detroit when the Lions faced off with the Baltimore Ravens who were able to control the explosive offense of the Lions holding Matt Stafford to just 235 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions.  In the First Quarter, the Lions struck first with a 14 yard touchdown run from Reggie Bush giving them a 7-0 lead at the end of the quarter.  The Second Quarter was all Ravens and Justin Tucker kicked 3 field goals in the quarter from 29, 24 and finally 32 yards with no time left in the half and giving the Ravens a 9-7 after two quarters.  About midway through the Third Quarter, Tucker successfully kicked a 49 yard field goal and with 1:49 left in the quarter, David Akers countered with a 40 yard field goal closing the Ravens lead to just 2 points at 12-10.  In the Fourth Quarter, Justin Tucker kicked a 53 yard field goal and the Ravens led 15-10 with 8:06 left in the game.  Matt Stafford then put together a drive which ended up with a 14 yard touchdown to Joseph Fauria with 2:21 left in the game giving the Lions the lead.  In an attempt to increase the lead to 3 points, the Lions attempted the 2 point conversion and failed.  On the next drive Joe Flacco moved the ball and on 4th down and 38 seconds left on the clock, the Ravens kicked a 61 yard field goal and regained the lead 18-16 and won the game.  Justin Tucker was the player of the game with 6 field goals.

SCORES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE

• San Diego Chargers defeated the Denver Broncos 27-20
• Atlanta Falcons beat the Washington Redskins 27-26
• Chicago Bears defeated the Cleveland Browns 38-31
• Indianapolis Colts handily beat the Houston Oilers 25-3
• Miami Dolphins won over the New England Patriots 24-20
• Minnesota Vikings defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 48-30
• Seattle Seahawks blanked the New York Giants 23-0
• San Francisco 49ers won over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 33-14
• Buffalo Bills defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-20
• Kansas City Chiefs won easily over the Oakland Raiders 56-31
• Carolina Panthers defeated the New York Jets 30-20
• Green Bay Packers barely beat the Dallas Cowboys 37-36
• Arizona Cardinals won in overtime over the Tennessee Titans 37-34
• St. Louis Rams beat the New Orleans Saints 27-16
• Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 30-20
• Baltimore Ravens squeaked by the Detroit Lions beating them 18-16

WEEK 15 HIGHLIGHTS

• Nick Foles threw for 428 yards and 3 touchdowns with 1 interception in their loss to the Vikings.
• Ryan Matthews ran the ball 29 times for 127 yards and 1 touchdown averaging 4.4 yards per carry.
• Andre Caldwell caught 6 passes for 59 yards and 2 touchdowns.
• Kirk Cousins stepped in for Robert Griffin III and completed 64.4% of his passes for 381 yards, 3 touchdowns with 2 interceptions.
• Tony Gonzalez caught 6 passes for 62 yards and 1 touchdown and eclipsed the 15,000 Career Receiving Yards mark.
• Justin Tucker kicked 6 field goals with the longest from 61 yards out accounting for all 18 points thee Ravens scored in Week 15.
• Jay Cutler returned to action and after throwing 2 interceptions connected with his receivers for 266 yards and 3 touchdowns.
• DeSean Jackson caught 10 passes for 195 yards and 1 touchdown averaging 19.5 yards per reception.
• Jamaal Charles caught 8 passes for 195 yards and 4 touchdowns and ran the ball 8 times for 20 yards and 1 touchdown giving him 5 touchdowns for the day.
• Matt Cassel completed 74.3% of his passes for 382 yards and touchdowns while throwing 1 interception.
• Kendall Wright caught 12 passes for 150 yards.
• Drew Brees threw for 393 yards and 1 touchdown and had 2 intercepted passes.
• Zac Stacy carried the ball 28 times for 133 yards and 1 interception.
• Dez Bryant caught 11 passes for 153 yards and 1 touchdown.
• Tom Brady threw for 364 yards and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception.
• Mike Wallace caught 6 passes for 105 yards and 1 touchdown.
• Ryan Fitzpatrick completed 62.1% of his passes for 402 yards and 2 touchdowns along with 2 interceptions.
• Pierre Garcon caught 7 passes for 129 yards and 1 touchdown.
• Matt Forte carried the ball 27 times for 127 yards.
• Ryan Tannehill completed 67.7% of his passes for 312 yards and 3 touchdowns.
• Julian Edelman caught 13 passes for 139 yards and 1 touchdown. In the same game, Danny Amendola caught 10 passes for 131 yards.
• Jordan Todman ran 25 times for 109 yards.
• Tony Romo threw for 358 yards and 2 touchdowns with 2 interceptions.
• Eddie Lacy carried the ball 21 times for 141 yards and 1 touchdown averaging 6.7 yards per carry.
• Eli Manning had a terrible day throwing 5 interceptions completing only 58.1% of his passes for 156 yards and zero touchdowns.
• Greg Jennings caught 11 passes for 163 yards and 1 touchdown.
• Alex Smith threw for 287 yards and 5 touchdowns with zero interceptions.
• Calvin Johnson caught 6 passes for 98 yards.
• Brandon Marshall caught 6 passes for 95 yards and 1 touchdown.

QUARTERBACK LEADERS – WEEK 15 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Eli Manning moved up 1 slot to #19 passing Jim Everett and is behind Jim Kelly with 34,937 Career Passing Yards, 63 yards short of 35,000 for his career.

• Carson Palmer moved up 3 slots to #27 past Hall of Fame Quarterback Troy Aikman, Hall of Fame Quarterback Y.A. Tittle and Hall of Fame Quarterback Steve Young and is behind Phil Simms with 33,154 Career Passing Yards.  Palmer also threw 1 touchdown in Week 15 and moved past Jim Hart to #29 behind Hall of Fame Quarterback Terry Bradshaw with 210 Career Passing Touchdowns.

RUNNING BACK LEADERS – WEEK 15 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Steven Jackson scored 2 touchdowns in Week 15 and moved up 2 slots passing Brandon Jacobs, Terrell Davis and Ahman Green into a tie at #28 with Herschel Walker and Hall of Fame Running Back O.J. Simpson with 61 Career Rushing Touchdowns.

WIDE RECEIVER LEADERS – WEEK 15 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Steve Smith moved up 1 slot to #19 passing Hall of Fame Wide Receiver Charlie Joiner and is behind Jimmy Smith with 12,153 Career Receiving Yards.

• Santana Moss moved up 1 slot to #38 past Donald Driver and is behind Andre Rison at 10,141 Career Receiving Yards. Moss caught 1 touchdown in Week 15 and moved past Sterling Sharpe, Sonny Randle, Bobby Mitchell, Charlie Joiner, Hall of Fame Wide Receiver Michael Irvin, Henry Ellard and Gary Clark into a tie at #28 with Jimmy Orr, Derrick Mason, Roy Green and Calvin Johnson with 66 Career Receiving Touchdowns.

• Brandon Marshall moved up 1 slot past Ricky Proehl, Amani Toomer and Wesley Walls into a tie at #39 with Chris Burford and Ed McCaffrey with 55 Career Receiving Touchdowns.

DEFENSIVE LEADERS – WEEK 15 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Osi Umenyiora moved up 1 slot into a tie at #39 with Lee Williams and Patrick Kerney with 82.5 Career Sacks.

• Justin Smith entered the Top 40 at #40 tied with Tim Harris with 81.0 Career Sacks.