Sundary Wrap Up

I watched the games from a hospital room, where my youngest had been admitted with a case of bronchitis. (She's more or less fine, but y'all will understand why the Quasi Live Blog didn't happen. Had other priorities and all.)

The following five points from today's Chalky Death...

1) Both Norv Turner and Tom Coughlin got away with fairly unconscionable conservative play-calling late in the game. With 2:01 left after the Chargers held on fourth, Turner called a run, despite the fact that the clock was going to stop no matter what. I understand that you were working with your backup and might want to be very safe, but a quick out was probably as safe as a run there, and gave them a much better chance at getting the first down. Instead, three runs into the middle gave the Colts back after only 20 seconds of clock ran and two timeouts were used, and extended the game for the home team. For the Giants, once again it was three runs when a first down would have ended the game in the fourth.

If either road team had blown it, the coaches would have been pilloried, so give it up for them when the play-calling with a stick up your ass works. (The Steelers' Mike Tomlin is going to see that lame QB bootleg call in his nightmares, so...)

2) People always talk about patience in the running game in the first half, but it stands to reason that you need to be patient with it in the second half, too. Marion Barber was a huge part of the Cowboys attack in the first half, and they more or less forgot about him in the fourth quarter. For a team that had worn teams out and dominated them with Barber late all year, it was curious. Of course, it's hard to play call with patience with both hands grasped tightly around your neck...

3) I watched the late game on a scrambled signal with static on the audio. Surprisingly, it actually made Fox even more irritating to deal with, and it also convinced me that I have a serious NFL problem... in that I was watching the equivalent of an '80s porn cable channel, with two teams that I more or less hate. The things I do for you people.

4) The Peyton Manning Haters will be out in force for his failure to get the go-ahead touchdown from four cracks inside the 10, and if you're going to compare him to Tom Brady, maybe you've got an argument. But from where I was watching, the two picks were both from the receivers dropping balls, and the Harrison fumble was absolutely devastating. Finally, he got about 50 yards from his running game, Addai did him no favors, and his defense couldn't get stops on a team without its top three offensive weapons. It wasn't his best day, but without Manning, the Colts lose this game by three touchdowns.

5) Finally, is there a stupider stat than the Number of Fourth Quarter Comebacks that a QB has engineered? Seriously, NFL announcers, this is like telling us that Bob Wickman was the best closer in baseball last year because he had the most saves. Show me a QB with a ton of fourth quarter comebacks, and I'll show you a guy that's played a long time on a team with a weak defense -- not necessarily the best guy to have in that situation. Percentages, please. We're allowed to be smart while still watching football.