WEEK 17 REVIEW

All eyes this week were focussed on the Denver Broncos watching to see if Peyton Manning would indeed break Drew Brees’ Single Season Passing Yards Record and to see how many touchdowns he would eventually throw in the season after breaking Tom Brady’s Single Season Passing Touchdown Record in Week 16.  A win was a must for Denver in order to secure the #1 position in the AFC and home field advantage throughout the Playoffs knowing that a Denver loss and a Patriots win would put Tom Brady in the driver’s seat.  If not for that scenario, Coach John Fox might have sat Manning sat in the final game of the season. Everyone knew that Manning would only play a half game and maybe more if the score was close. Once it started, it was evident that the hapless Raiders had no chance of winning which made the clock seem to tick all that much faster as we all watched to see if history would be made.

Going into the game, Manning needed 265 passing yards to have the most passing yards in a season ever and having already broken Tom Brady’s record for touchdowns in a season in Week 16, it was just going to be a final accounting to see where the new record would wind up.  About half way through the First Quarter, Manning connected with Eric Decker for a touchdown from 3 yards out to put the first points on the board giving Manning his 52nd passing touchdown of the season.  Two minutes later, Manning threw a 7 yard pass to Knowshon Moreno for his 53rd touchdown and giving the Broncos a 14-0 lead. With the Broncos up by 14, everybody wondered how long John Fox would let his star player play in the game as he was still short of the record for passing yards and the Broncos were just 2 points away from posting the highest team total for points in the history of the NFL.  In the Second Quarter, Matt Prater kicked a 34 yard field goal and the Broncos were up 17-0.  Seven minutes later Manning threw a pass to Demaryius Thomas and he scored from 63 yards out and the record was in sight but the clock was ticking as the Broncos led 24-0.  On what looked to be the final drive of the half, Manning marched the ball down the field and again connected with Thomas for a touchdown from 5 yards out with 13 seconds left in the half. That catch put Peyton Manning over the single season passing mark by 1 yard and gave him his 55th passing touchdown of the season and gave the Broncos a 31-0 lead. As expected, Manning and many other starters did not play in the second half and in the Fourth Quarter, Prater kicked another field goal from 54 yards and the Broncos led 34-0.  The Raiders were able to put up 14 points with a 14 yard touchdown pass to Rod Streater and a 9 yard pass to Nick Kasa and would up losing 34-14.

Peyton Manning was the man of the hour and the entire season so far and he was the first Quarterback to throw for more than 5,000 yards and more than 50 touchdowns and he did it with only 11 interceptions all season.  The Broncos Offensive Line allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL and they had 8 opening drive touchdowns.  Manning was voted to his 13th Pro Bowl which is the most for any Quarterback.  In the end, Manning threw for 5,477 yards (beat Drew Brees’ record by 1 yard) and his 4 touchdown passes in Week 17 put the official passing touchdown record at 55 plus he scored 1 rushing touchdown when he ran in on a naked bootleg earlier in the season.  In addition, the Denver Broncos are the first team to ever score more than 600 points in one season.  His weapons were all over the field and the Broncos had 5 players with more than 10 touchdowns each including Demaryius Thomas (14 TDs and 1,430 Yards), Eric Decker (11 TDs and 1,288 Yards), Wes Welker (10 TDs and 778 Yards), Julius Thomas (12 TDs and 788 Yards) and Knowshon Moreno (13 TDs (10 Rushing + 3 Receiving) and ran for 1,038 yards and caught passes for 548 yards this season).  With the win, the Denver Broncos secured the #1 Seed and home field advantage throughout the playoffs finishing their season 13-3 for the second year in a row.  Manning as a Bronco has a regular season record of 26-6 over the two years he has played in Denver.  Peyton Manning was named the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year and he is the current front runner for the NFL MVP Award and deserves the MVP award for his play which would be his 5th NFL MVP Award, also a record. At this point, Manning is currently #2 on the Career Passing Yards list behind future Hall of Fame Quarterback Brett Favre and needs 6,874 yards to tie the record and is also #2 on the Career Passing Touchdown list behind Brett Favre and needs 17 touchdowns to tie the all time record. Football fans witnessed greatness this season and probably the best Quarterback to ever play the game.

It is hard to believe the 2013 NFL Football season had drawn to a close and the playoff schedules have been set with the Wildcard Playoffs beginning next week while the Division Champions getting the week off waiting to see who they will play in the Playoffs.  It was a fun season with many ups and downs.  Last years Super Bowl Champions got knocked out of the Playoffs with a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals and will be forced to watch the rest of the season from home.

The Wildcard Playoffs will begin this weekend with the following match ups:

Saturday January 4th
#5 Kansas City Chiefs (11-5) at #4 Indianapolis Colts (11-5)
#6 New Orleans Saints (11-5) at #3 Philadelphia Eagles (10-6)

Sunday January 5th
#6 San Diego Chargers (9-7) vs. #3 Cincinnati Bengals (11-5)
#5 San Francisco 49ers (12-4) vs. #4 Green Bay Packers (8-7-1)

The winners will go onto the Divisional Round beginning Saturday January 11th.

SCORES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE

• Denver Broncos defeated the Oakland Raiders 34-14
• Carolina Panthers squeak by to beat the Atlanta Falcons 21-20
• Cincinnati Bengals killed the Baltimore Ravens 34-17
• Tennessee Titans defeated the Miami Dolphins 20-7
• Indianapolis Colts handily beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-10
• New York Jets easily defeated the Miami Dolphins 20-7
• Minnesota Vikings  beat the Detroit Lions 14-13
• New York Giants won over the Washington Redskins 20-6
• Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns 20-7
• Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears 33-28
• New England Patriots won over the Buffalo Bills 34-20
• New Orleans Saints beat up on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 42-17
• San Francisco 49ers won over the Arizona Cardinals 23-20
• San Diego Chargers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 27-24
• Seattle Seahawks beat the St. Louis Rams 27-9
• Philadelphia Eagles won over the Dallas Cowboys 24-22

WEEK 17 HIGHLIGHTS

• Peyton Manning was on a mission in the final week of the season and his teammates helped him attain his goals in just one half of a football game against the Oakland Raiders. Throughout the season, Manning had been racking up record breaking numbers and with just one game left to play, had two milestones he wanted to add to his long list of accolades. Going into the game, Manning was 265 yards away from having the most passing yards in a season ever. Having broken Tom Brady’s record for touchdowns in a season in Week 16, it was just going to be a final accounting to see where the new record would wind up and Manning threw 4 touchdowns in Week 17 to put the new record at 55 touchdowns.  Manning ended the 2013 regular season with 5,477 passing yards (beat Drew Brees’ record by 1 yard) and 55 touchdown passes.  Manning also ran for 1 touchdown earlier in the season for a total of 56 touchdowns on the season. The win in Week 17 clinched the first place spot in the AFC and the Denver Broncos have a first round bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.  Peyton Manning deserves the MVP award for his play which would be his 5th NFL MVP Award, also a record. At this point, Manning is currently #2 on the Career Passing Yards list behind Brett Favre and needs 6,874 yards to tie the record and is also #2 on the Career Passing Touchdown list behind Brett Favre and needs 17 touchdowns to tie the all time record.
• LeSean McCoy carried the ball 27 times for 131 yards and caught 1 pass for 3 yards for a touchdown ending the 2013 season with the most rushing yards at 1,607 yards along with 9 rushing touchdowns.
• Tony Gonzalez, in what could be his last game of his long and distinguished career, caught 4 passes for 56 yards finishing the season at #5 for Career Receiving Yards with 15,127 yards and 111 Career Receiving Touchdowns which is #6 all time. Amazing numbers for the future Hall of Fame Tight End.
• Aaron Rodgers came back after being sidelined for 6 weeks with a broken collar bone and completed 64.1% of his passes for 318 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions and knocked the Chicago Bears out of the playoffs.
• LeGarrette Blount ran the ball 24 times for 189 yards and 2 touchdowns averaging 7.9 yards per carry.
• Kyle Orton completed 65.2% of his passes for 358 yards and 2 touchdowns along with 2 interceptions.
• Demaryius Thomas caught 6 passes from Peyton Manning for 113 yards and 2 touchdowns with the final catch of the first half putting Peyton Manning over the career yards in a season mark and securing his 55th passing touchdown of the season. Thomas ended a career high season with 1,430 receiving yards and 12 receiving touchdowns.
• Chad Henne threw for 331 yards and 1 touchdown with 1 interception in the Jacksonville loss.
• Chris Johnson ran the ball 27 times for 127 yards and 1 touchdown.
• T.Y. Hilton caught 11 passes for 155 yards.
• Matt Asiata ran the ball 14 times for 115 yards averaging 8.2 yards per carry.
• Golden Tate caught 8 passes for 129 yards and 1 touchdown averaging 16.1 yards per reception.
• Marshawn Lynch ran the ball 23 times for 97 yards and 1 touchdown.
• Josh Gordon caught 7 passes for 82 yards and secured the top spot for receiving yards for the season with 1,646 total receiving yards and 9 touchdowns in the season.
• Carson Palmer threw for 407 yards and 2 touchdowns along with 1 interception.
• C.J. Spiller carried the ball 19 times for 105 yards.
• Anquan Boldin caught 9 passes for 149 yards and 1 touchdown averaging 16.6 yards per reception.
• Ryan Matthews ran 24 times for 144 yards averaging 6.0 yards per carry.
• Larry Fitzgerald caught 6 passes for 113 yards averaging 18.8 yards per reception.
• Drew Brees completed 77.4% of his passes for 381 yards and 4 touchdowns with zero interception and eclipsed 5,000 yards in a season for his third year in a row finishing the season with 5,162 passing yards and 39 passing touchdowns.
• Jordy Nelson caught 10 passes for 161 yards.
• Matt Forte carried the ball 22 times for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns.
• Randall Cobb made it back after suffering an injury in week 5 and caught 2 passes for 55 yards and 2 touchdowns.
• Colin Kaepernick threw for 310 yards and 2 touchdowns.
• Jimmy Graham caught 5 passes for 73 yards and 1 touchdown which put him at the top of the 2013 receiving touchdown list with 16 this season.

QUARTERBACK LEADERS – WEEK 17 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Carson Palmer moved up 2 slots to #25 passing John Hadl and Phil Simms and is behind Ben Roethlisberger with 33,739 Career Passing Yards.  Palmer also moved past Hall of Fame Quarterback Terry Bradshaw to take over the #28 slot with 213 Career Passing Touchdowns and is currently behind John Brodie on the list.

• Philip Rivers moved up 2 slots past Hall of Fame Quarterback Sonny Jurgensen and Kurt Warner to #32 behind Ken Anderson with 32,369 Career Passing Yards.

• Aaron Rodgers knocked Hall of Fame Quarterback Sammy Baugh out of the Top 40 and assumed the #40 slot behind Hall of Fame Quarterback Bob Griese with 188 Career Passing Touchdowns.

RUNNING BACK LEADERS – WEEK 17 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Marshawn Lynch moved into a tie at #31 with Jamal Lewis and Mike Alstott with 58 Career Rushing Touchdowns.

WIDE RECEIVER LEADERS – WEEK 17 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Antonio Gates moved up 1 slot into a tie at #11 with Andre Rison and Larry Fitzgerald with 87 Career Receiving Touchdowns.

DEFENSIVE LEADERS – WEEK 17 PLAYERS ON THE MOVE

• Ed Reed moved past Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott and Darren Sharper to the #6 slot behind Hall of Famer Dick “Night Train” Lane with 64 Career Interceptions.

• Jared Allen moved into the Top 10 at #10 passing Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas and Hall of Famer Ricky Jackson and is behind Hall of Fame Linebacker Lawrence Taylor and Leslie O’Neil with 128.5 Career Sacks.

• Robert Mathis moved up 2 slots passing Dwight Freeney and Greg Townsend to #18 behind Sean Jones with 111.0 Career Sacks.