Week 14 Recap

Pittsburgh 27, Cleveland 7 - The way the Steelers dismantled the Browns last Thursday night was reminscent of their Super Bowl run of a year ago. Willie Parker rolled for over 220 yards rushing, Ben Roethlisberger played mistake-free football and the defense suffocated the Browns from start to finish. Unfortunately for the Steelers, the game was utterly meaningless in the AFC playoff race.

Cincinnati 27, Oakland 10 - Cincinnati is playing so well, not even another arrest (CB Deltha O'Neal was popped for a DWI the other night) or a trio of interceptions from Carson Palmer could keep the Bengals from getting to 8-5 and keeping their playoff hopes alive. Cincy got some help in their playoff run from Baltimore and Denver, who knocked KC and Denver back to 7-6 with 3 to play.

Minnesota 30, Detroit 20 - If you're a Lions fan, you're likely not admitting it today. Not only did your team run for a grand total of -3 yards today, but Jon Kitna attemped 41 passes (never a good idea) and former Lion Artose Pinner, playing for the injured Chester Taylor, gashed the Leos for 125 yards and 3 touchdowns. Three more weeks until we see Matt Millen's resume on Monster.com, right?

NY Giants 27, Carolina 13 - Chris Weinke attempted 61 passes. How do you think today went for the Panthers?

Philadelphia 21, Washington 19 - Shhh...Don't look now, but the Eagles are back in the playoff race. Jeff Garcia has become a "game manager" with McNabb out for the year, the offense has balance (Sunday's play selection: 23 pass, 22 run) and the defense is starting to make plays. At 7-6, they're in the thick of things.

Atlanta 17, Tampa Bay 6 - Wasn't pretty, and if Warrick Dunn is going to miss some time it'll be costly, but the Falcons did just enough to beat the Bucs, a team that usually has Vick's number. Now comes the real test for the Falcons: It's time to go home, and it'll be interesting to see if they've forgiven Vick for his one-finger salute from two weeks ago.

Baltimore 20, Kansas City 10 - Herm Edwards is a former DB and the Chiefs spent some cash in the off-season to improve the secondary. Those things happened, right? If so, can someone tell me how Baltimore's pass offense was so efficient today? Stick a fork in the Chiefs. They. Are. Done.

Miami 21, New England 0 - I'd bet whatever money I have in between the seat cushions of my couch that right now, Ron Borges is writing a scathing column about the Patriots and how the decision of the front office to allow David Givens and Deion Branch go is to blame for it. I watched a lot of this game, and I got to be honest, I can't say I'd disagree with him. While much of the time, Tom Brady didn't have any time to make a throw. However, there were times when he had the time, but had nobody to throw the ball to.

Jacksonville 44, Indianapolis 17 - When the Colts are one-and-done in January, the blame won't rest on Peyton Manning's shoulders. Indianapolis' inability to stop the run is going to kill them in January.

Tennessee 26, Houston 20 (OT) - Hell hath no fury like Vince Young scorned. In his hometown, playing against the team that jilted him last April, Young took off for a 39-yard touchdown run in overtime to beat the Texans in overtime. Incredible run by a guy who's turning out to be an incredibly fun player to watch...even with the Uncle Rico delivery.

Green Bay 30, San Francisco 19 - Even after getting shelled by the Jets a week ago, I had a hunch the Packers were going to win this one. I have no idea why I picked them, but I'm pretty sure the depleted 49ers secondary and Brett Favre had a lot to do with it.

Arizona 27, Seattle 21 - Besides tackling, the biggest problem the Seattle Seahawks have is tardiness. Nobody on the Seahawks team, coaches on down, appear ready when the game begins, choosing to wait until they're down 10 or more points to start playing like they want to win. They did it again today, but thanks to three crushing turnovers, they weren't able to overcome their early game malaise.

Seattle has a chance to wrap up the NFC West, the first of their goals, on Thursday when they host the 49ers, but that is something they could've wrapped up today and they blew it. Perhaps spending 20 days at home before the season finale will help get this team on track. With the way they're currently playing, they might not have many home games in January.

San Diego 48, Denver 20 - Jay Cutler is 0-2 as an NFL starter, but in all fairness, I don't think John Elway would've had much luck against the Chargers. In my opinion, San Diego is by far the best team in the NFL.

Buffalo 31, NY Jets 13 - Word is, when Chad Pennington was going to his car after the game, Aaron Schobel sacked him two more times. Good moral victory for the Bills, as they let the Jets know that they're not ready for the playoffs just yet.

Mac's Game Balls

Offense - (tie) LaDainian Tomlinson, RB, San Diego; Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, Jacksonville - Congratulations to the game's best player and clear-cut MVP, LaDainian Tomlinson, who scored his 27th, 28th and 29th touchdowns of the season, surpassing the NFL record set a year ago by Seattle's Shaun Alexander.

Meanwhile, Jones-Drew averaged over 11 yards per carry against Indianapolis, and had touchdown runs of 18 and 48 yards, and added a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

Defense - Jason Taylor, DE, Miami - His numbers aren't overly gaudy (6 tackles, 1 sack and a forced fumble), Taylor lived in the Patriots backfield this afternoon, making the normally unflappable Tom Brady...um...uh...flappable. Or is it flapped? I have no idea.

Special Teams - Chris Kluwe, P, Minnesota - Kluwe averaged 53.2 yards per punt on Sunday and pinned the Lions inside their own 20 on two occasions. I was going to give this award to Nick Harris, his counterpart on Sunday, because Harris is going to collect a paycheck this week and thanks to the Lions giving the ball away like it was a litter of kittens, he only had to punt one time.

New Orleans and Dallas are playing right now, so stay tuned...