Strangest Week in the NFL...ever?

No, I have not put my crack research team to work, examining every week of every NFL regular season since 1920. However, I have been watching NFL football with comprehension for close to 30 years. Among the 14 NFL games played in week 7, (with the exception of regular season finales) there were more bizarre occurrences and endings than any other weekend that I can remember. I welcome the reply of anyone who can offer an example of a stranger weekend. Let us have a look at the strange and sometimes spooky events that transpired in the NFL on the weekend before Halloween.


Worth Mentioning

Jaguars 20
Chiefs 42

This my have been the most normal game of the day, but Todd Bouman started at quarterback. That's just strange!

This was the best Jack del Rio could scrape up at QB at the last minute? SERIOUSLY? Anyone who thinks I am being too hard on Bouman please look up his career numbers. The man was DEEP on the bench behind Aaron Brooks, for crying out loud! I thought it was an early April Fool's joke when a buddy of mine texted me and told me he was still in the NFL, let alone STARTING.

Bengals 32
Falcons 39



Also a relatively normal game, compared to the rest of week 7. The Bengals, however, did score 22 unanswered points against the Falcons, took a lead into the 4th quarter, and lost. Roddy White also had over 200 yards receiving.


Eagles 19
Titans 37

The good: Receiver Kenny Britt of the Titans had over 200 receiving yards and scored 3 touchdowns.
The bad: Philadelphia had a two possession lead in the 4th quarter. They lost by 18 points.
The ugly: In a league in which players have to be at their absolute best just to ensure they will have a job the following week, the injured Michael Vick may have secured his starting position for the rest of the season from the bench, by letting coach Andy Reid see what the alternative (Kevin Kolb) is, live and in living color.

THIS is the guy that made Donovan McNabb expendable?

49ers 20
Panthers 23

The 49ers appear to have more talent than their record. If you told 49ers Coach Mike Singletary he would win the turnover battle 3-1 on the road against a winless team and have a touchdown lead at the two minute warning, he would probably think his team was going to win. Right? WRONG!


Strange game # 9 - Rams 17 Buccaneers 18


The Rams blow a 14 point lead to a team that could not muster a touchdown for the first 59 minutes and 50 seconds of the game. Steven Jackson, who broke Eric Dickerson's franchise career rushing record, was unstoppable. He was unstoppable until the Rams stopped trying to get first downs and started trying to make the clock unstoppable. This ultimately stopped them from winning.

Strange game #8 -  Vikings 24 Packers 28

Brett Favre returns to Lambeau Field, for, perhaps the final time, in a game that saw nearly 800 yards of total offense. The Vikings fail to challenge a touchdown which would have likely been overturned. Then the Packers successfully challenge a touchdown reception by Visanthe Shiancoe that appeared, by many accounts in the media, to be a completion under the Bert Emanuel Rule (which, in its 11th season, I have still never heard a comprehensive explanation of). Finally, Favre appeared the lead the Vikings to a dramatic, game winning touchdown in the final minute of the game, only to have Percy Harvin's apparent go-ahead touchdown reception overturned on instant replay. Vikings Coach Brad Childress effectively throws Favre under the bus in his post game press conference and Favre appeared to resist the urge to chuckle upon learning of the remarks.


Strange game #7 - Raiders 59 Broncos 14

Denver is one of the most difficult places for a visiting opponent to win, no matter how good or bad the Broncos are. The Raiders, while more competitive in 2010, are still...the Raiders. Darren McFadden has the best game of his professional career with nearly 200 yards from scrimmage, and a tie for the franchise record of 4 touchdowns in a game. The Raiders raced to a 38-0 lead in the first half and finish the game by scoring the most points in the 51 season history of the Raiders franchise.


Strange Game #6 - Giants 41 Cowboys 35

The Giants coughed the ball up twice on the road and effectively spot the Cowboys 10 points before many fans are in their seats. The Giants would score 31 unanswered points, take Tony Romo out, possibly for the remainder of the season, probably seal Wade Phillips doom in his quest to be the Cowboys' coach after this season, and stomp out any last flicker of hope that the Cowboys had of reaching the Super Bowl in 2010. Anyone watching this game would likely describe it as "one sided", yet, mathematically, the door was not slammed on the Cowboys until the final minute with a failed onside kick.



Strange Game #5 - Bills 34 Ravens 37 (Overtime)

The Ravens trailed the Bills by 14 points. Is that not strange enough? Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 382 yards and four touchdowns...against the Ravens...possibly the best defensive team of the past 10 years. Do I really need to continue? The Bills turned the ball over four times but took the Ravens to overtime. Actually, the only reason this game is not #2 (#1 is in a class by itself) is because the Ravens won like they were "supposed" to.

Strange game #4 - Browns 30 Saints 17

The previously 1-5 Cleveland Browns march into the house of the defending Super Bowl champions. Drew Brees throws four interceptions, two for touchdowns, both scored on returns by aging, salt-and-pepper bearded, large Browns linebacker David Bowens. Drew Brees' son, Bowen, was born in the week prior to the game. Former Saints and Browns signal calling linebacker Scott Fujita may have kept his copy of the Saints playbook, because he was everywhere that the Saints did not want him to be. Did I mention that this was Cleveland...CLEVELAND!!!!



Strange game #3 - Patriots 23 Chargers 20

The Patriots win the turnover battle 4-0 and still nearly found a way to lose. San Diego wide receiver Richard Goodman caught the first pass of his career, an impressive 25 yard reception, then, possibly forgetting that he was in the NFL and not the NCAA, leaped up and left the ball on the ground. This would be fine if he had actually been touched while he was on the ground. The Patriots recovered the live ball.

On the ensuing drive, quarterback Philip Rivers delivers the ball to fullback Jacob Hester, but the ball skips off of Hester's fingers and he watches the ball on the way to the ground. Unfortunately, Rivers threw the ball backward, not forward. The Patriots recover the live ball.

In spite of four first half turnovers, the Chargers have an opportunity to tie the score after scoring 17 fourth quarter points and stopping the Patriots on a very questionable decision to attempt to convert a fourth down. One may think that Patriots Coach Bill Belichick would have remembered a failed 4th down conversion against the Colts in 2009, which ultimately gave Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts a short field to seal the Patriots' doom. In the end, Chargers kicker Kris Brown's game tying field goal attempt had the distance, but bounced off of the right upright in the final minute.

Is it really fair to ask for one great kick to overcome a whole afternoon of "stupid"?

Strange game #2 -Redskins 17 Bears 14


The dysfunctional relationship between the Chicago Bears, quarterback Jay Cutler, mad-scientist and stubborn jackass offensive coordinator Mike Martz, and possibly the worst offensive line in the NFL continues. Redskins cornerback Deanglo Hall tied an NFL record with four interceptions. Equally mind boggling is that Cutler chose to throw in Hall's direction after the first three interceptions, but winners never quit; I suppose. Jay Cutler was sacked four times, which is an improvement over prior abominations like the 10 sack meltdown at the hands of the New York Giants, but still unacceptable by any standard. In addition to anointing their quarterback President of the NFL's Eat Grass Club, the Bears turned the ball over a total of six times. The irrational play calling and consistent bumbling by the Bears offense may have been best viewed with the accompaniment of circus music instead of broadcasters and crowd noise. The most shocking element of this entire Bears fiasco? The Bears led in the second half and never trailed the Redskins by more than three points.

Strange game #1 - Steelers 23 Dolphins 22

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good. Trailing by two points late in the 4th quarter, Ben Roethlisberger of the Steelers attempts to dive into the end zone but the ball is stripped from Roethlisberger's grasp. The call on the field, however, is that the ball crossed the plane of the goal line before the ball is knocked loose from Roethlisberger. Several players jump on the loose ball, but there are several problems. 1) Once the officials signal "touchdown", the play is dead and Miami cannot recover the ball. 2) As sophisticated as instant replay and high definition broadcasting have become, there is simply no way to definitively determine who recovered a fumble under a pile. Pittsburgh was denied the touchdown, but received the ball at the spot of the fumble, in accordance with the NFL's rules. The Steelers kicked a field goal and won, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and causing Dolphins Head Coach Tony Sporano to go as ballistic as mob boss Tony Soprano.  

Loading...

Not so fast, my friend!!

All images from espn.com