Week 17 Recap

The NFL's regular season is over. 20 teams will go back to the drawing board, and I'd like to add a 21st team to that: The crew behind the NFL Sunday Ticket.

At various times this season, I've pointed out some frustrating aspects of this wonderful programming package. Now it's time to list the two things I'd make immediate improvements on:

Player Tracker Feature

Subscribers to the NFL Sunday Ticket could use this new feature in 2006 to track up to 9 players on their fantasy team. When one of the players did something worth noting, an update would appear on their screen. Great idea, right?

Wrong.

This was like a well designed play on the chalkboard that never worked on the field. The major problem was there was no way for those not interested in using the feature from disabling it, so whenever you changed the channel you were greeted with a menu bar that temporarily obstructed the graphics on the network broadcast. Normally, something like this wouldn't be a big deal, but how many important game notes were missed because of something you didn't care one iota about?

I have no evidence to support this, but I'm convinced that this feature slowed down the time in which you could change channels, as well. Again, this is an unsubstantiated claim of mine, but I'll believe that until I'm told otherwise.

Mac's Fix: Get rid of it entirely, or at least come up with a way for those not interested in using it to permanently disable the feature.

Another option would be to create a "Fantasy" channel to go along with the Red Zone. How "cool" would it be for a subscriber to load the players on his, and his opponents, fantasy teams and track them on one of the many unused channels? Heck, I might even use that.

"Blacking Out" Games on Local Channels

For the 1st time in league history, each television market was treated to a "Double Double-Header", where both CBS and FOX had games at 1pm and 4pm. If you were watching the games on the Sunday Ticket, this meant 4 of the 14 games were "blacked out", directing the viewers to watch the game on their local affiliates.

Why?

I know it's all about local ratings, but c'mon, it really doesn't matter if I'm watching the game on Channel 4 (my local CBS affiliate) or on Channel 710 (the blacked out channel on DirecTV).

Mac's Fix: Stop dictating what channel I have to watch the game on. Many people would prefer to just surf through the games without having to go back to the local channel.

Now, let's recap the action from Week 17.

Detroit 39, Dallas 31 - If you told me before this game that Tony Romo would go 23-32 for 321 yards, Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn would combine for 12 catches and 226 yards and DeMarcus Ware would have 3 sacks, I'd say that Dallas had a pretty good day. However, Romo fumbled four times (lost two) and Jon Kitna lit up the mediocre Cowboys secondary for 4 touchdowns. Mike Furrey had an 11-catch day and Mike Williams, who was last seen on milk cartons in the Detroit area, had a touchdown reception.

All that aside, Dallas is the #5-seed in the NFC playoffs and will travel to Seattle next Saturday night.

Pittsburgh 23, Cincinnati 17 (OT) - With less than 10 seconds to go in the game, and the score tied at 17, Shayne Graham and the Cincinnati Bengals were a 39-yard field goal away from being in position to make the playoffs (if the Broncos lost the 4pm game). Graham was 17-17 from inside of 40 yards on the season, so naturally, the field goal knuckled it's way right. In overtime, Ben Roethlisberger hits Santonio Holmes on an innocuous slant pass, which he takes 67 yards for the game-winning touchdown and Cincinnati's season comes to an end.

What also might be coming to an end is Bill Cowher's tenure in Pittsburgh. If this was his last game, he'll be going out on an 8-8 season, but that last "W" over Cincinnati was pretty sweet.

New England 40, Tennessee 23 - In a surprisingly chippy game, the biggest shot might have been Bill Belichick's decision to insert #3 QB Vinny Testaverde into the game with a 10-point lead so he could throw a touchdown pass in an NFL record 20th straight season. New England finishes the season as the #4-seed in the AFC, and they'll host Eric Mangini and the New York Jets next Sunday. Mangini spent the last few years on Belichick's staff in New England before getting the top job in the Big Apple.

Seattle 23, Tampa Bay 7 - The good news for Seattle? The offense looked sharp despite playing without its #1 WR (Darrell Jackson) and starting right guard (Chris Gray). The bad news? Seattle lost starting CB Kelly Herndon to a broken ankle, and his replacement, Jimmy Williams, to a knee injury. Seattle is already playing without its best CB, Marcus Trufant, who has a high ankle sprain and likely won't be ready for the start of the playoffs. This means that the Seahawks will have rookie Kelly Jennings and 3rd year safety/cornerback Jordan Babineaux starting opposite Terry Glenn and Terrell Owens next Saturday night at Qwest Field.

New York Jets 23, Oakland 3 - It wasn't flashy, but the Jets got their expected win over the Oakland Raiders and punched their own ticket to the post-season. With the loss by the Denver Broncos, the Jets moved up to the 5th seed and will travel to Foxborough next Sunday, a place they've already won this season.

Carolina 31, New Orleans 21 - The Giants win over the Redskins on Saturday night made this game meaningless for both teams, but that didn't stop Jake Delhomme from making a statement. Rumors have suggested that Delhomme's days in Charlotte are limited, so Delhomme went 23-27 for 207 yards and a pair of touchdowns to Steve Smith in a 10-point win over the division champs. We'll see if it was enough to save Jake's job in Carolina.

St. Louis 41, Minnesota 21 - For 15 games, nobody could run on the Minnesota Vikings. Naturally, this meant that Rams RB Steven Jackson would break out for 142 yards and a trio of touchdowns on them on a game with no playoff implications.

Kansas City 35, Jacksonville 30 - I'll be honest with you, I paid absolutely no attention to the Kansas City Chiefs heading into this weekend. I thought that the Jets beating the Raiders was a slam dunk, as was the Broncos beating the 49ers. Now the Chiefs are not only in the playoffs, but with a game next Saturday against the horrendous Colts run defense, the Chiefs could actually win a playoff game for the 1st time since Joe Montana was their QB.

Houston 14, Cleveland 6 - Yes, they bothered.

San Diego 27, Arizona 20 - I couldn't believe Marty Schottenheimer waited so long to pull a hobbled Philip Rivers and waited until LaDainian Tomlinson got creamed to take them out of the game. They were assured a bye, and fortunately for Marty, Rivers and Tomlinson have two weeks to heal.

San Francisco 26, Denver 23 (OT) - I'd like to personally dedicate this game, on behalf of all NFC fans, to the Sterling Sharpes of the world. You always knock the NFC, but Denver is the second AFC team in the last two years to miss the playoffs because they couldn't beat the teams from the NFC.

Remember how Donnie Edwards was whining about how if the Chargers were in the NFC last year, they would've made the playoffs? He didn't mention that losing tight games to the Cowboys and Eagles kept them out of it. Well this year, the Denver Broncos went 1-3 against the "weakest" division in the NFC, and now they'll have plenty of times to shovel snow this month.

Indianapolis 27, Miami 22 - It was a win, and those are always good, but that's another 150 yards rushing against the Colts, and Larry Johnson is coming to town.

Baltimore 19, Buffalo 7 - If I'm in the AFC, the only team I'd want no part of is the Baltimore Ravens. Jamal Lewis has shown flashes of being back to his pre-incarceration form, Steve McNair is playing well, and that defense can score from anyplace on the field.

Philadelphia 24, Atlanta 17 - He left with a sprained ankle, so the job is still his heading into 2007, but did anyone else notice Matt Schaub's 15-21, 175 yard showing? Did anyone else notice AJ Feeley throwing for 3 touchdowns?? The Iggles fans were openly chanting for Feeley once McNabb went down in November. How much patience will they have for Garcia in January?

Sunday night update will be up tomorrow. Also tomorrow we'll be reporting on any coaching changes. Just because it's New Years Day, doesn't mean it's not Black Monday. On Friday, I'll have a preview up of this weekend's games.

Happy New Year!