Who Fed It And Who Ate It: 2019 Week 15
With only two weeks left in the regular season, the playoff picture is really clearing up in both conferences. The AFC saw the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots punched their respective tickets into the postseason dance, with the AFC East championship virtually on the line next Saturday. Meanwhile, the Baltimore Ravens improved their standing by winning the North and remaining in the top spot. In the NFC, a Dallas Cowboys victory over the Los Angeles Rams sent the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, & Seattle Seahawks to the playoffs with seeding yet to be determined. Plenty on the line when the Week 16 games kick off on Saturday with an NFL Network exclusive tripleheader. But let's talk about what happened this past week.
The Ass Kicking of the Week was handed out courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings, who laid waste to the Los Angeles Chargers in a 39-10 thrashing What has hurt the Chargers all year is carelessness with the football. When any team coughs up the ball seven times, even the worst pro team will turn the game into a boat race. And the Chargers did this with the Vikings standing across the field. Minnesota is in hot pursuit of the Packers for the NFC North title and has been in the lead pack of the senior conference playoff race. At 10-4, they find themselves in a peculiar place. The Vikings will square off against the Packers in Minnesota for the season finale of Monday Night Football, with the possibility of winning the division... Or being knocked out of playoff contention altogether. The lone NFC wild card chaser are the Rams, and their path to mount a conference championship defense is simple: win their last two (@ San Francisco, Arizona) and hope the Vikings dump their last two (Green Bay, Chicago). A playoff berth is Minnesota's to lose. And while they have been playing well as of late, they cannot afford a lapse of concentration. The Vikings are 1-3 this year when losing the turnover battle, so ball security is key. Plus, the secondary must avoid giving up the big play. The defense, as ferocious as the front four has been this year, has found itself in trouble when the third level gets lit up. It's hard to see the Vikings as a Super Bowl contender, especially if RB Dalvin Cook is out of commission due to a shoulder injury suffered this past week. But in a highly competitive NFC field, the right matchups down the line could set the table for a surprise NFC champion. But the Norsemen need to handle Titletown first.
The Oakland Raiders played their final home game in Oakland Alameda County Coliseum as the Raiders blew a 13 point lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars in a 20-16 losing effort Another chapter in the history of the Raiders franchise has finished as they have played their final game in that once iconic structure that hosted Raider luminaries like Ken Stabler, Cliff Branch, and Willie Brown. You will denote the term once iconic. Regrettably, the same venue that was the home of one of the greatest teams in NFL history was also the same one that today's players are leaving as the Raiders get set to relocate to Las Vegas. Had a new stadium been built in the Bay area, there's a likelihood that the Raiders never seek a new city to call home. But if there is a silver lining to this dark cloud of business over loyalty is, ironically, loyalty is largely crossing state lines. Raiders fans see themselves as bonded to the team, not the host city. Equate that to a previous generation that once knew them as the Los Angeles Raiders if one wishes, but when those fans proclaim to be a Raider for life, they are living that credo. Only time will tell if those in the Raider Nation are ready to raise the Jolly Roger over Sin City, and if the Raiders new digs will translate into a better box office draw and better football teams. But for today, the sun has set on Oakland as an NFL city. Will that sun rise again, except with a new orphaned franchise looking for a new home? If history has anything to say about it... Who knows? Never say never.
Drew Brees set two records on Monday Night Football; career touchdown passes and single game completion percentage In one of the most complicated arguments in football, if not all of sports, is which NFL quarterback is the greatest. For those who measure their signal callers in hardware, Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, and Otto Graham will be the front runners. For those whose passing prowess were among the best, Peyton Manning, Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, and Johnny Unitas are the names that stand out. And in that latter list, the New Orleans Saints legend and sure fire future Hall of Famer needs to be included. Brees entered this showcase game against the Indianapolis Colts already with the career records of completion percentage (67.49%) and passing yardage (76,577). He put on a show for the friendly Mercedes Benz Superdome crowd and for the ESPN cable audience, as Brees not only eclipsed the great Peyton Manning's career touchdown pass record (539) with four scores to put Brees' current total to 541, but set a new single game completion percentage mark by going 29 of 30 for an astounding 96.7%(!) That. Was. Mind-blowing. Oh, and by the way, the Saints needed to win that game to stay in the running for at least a first round playoff bye. If Brees can continue this level of play, especially if the Saints aren't forced to travel north of Interstate 10 until September 2020 at the earliest, it would not be a surprise to your humble scribe if he was holding the Lombardi Trophy for the second time in his career. What Brees has done, and continues to do, along with Brady, is reminding us that we are living in this moment of NFL history. 2019 will more than likely go down as a watershed time for the league's men under center, as the quarterback position across the NFL is teeming with youth. From rookies forced into action to young veterans performing incredible feats on a practically weekly basis, the league's long term outlook when it comes to the sport and the entertainment of it, the NFL will do just fine. But on the other end of the spectrum, those who have inspired the generation that are the youth of the league, are still making their presence felt. That the Lamar Jacksons and Patrick Mahomeses of today have a long way to go in joining the Pantheon of the NFL's greatest QB's. And that on one incredible Monday night in December, we may have seen history made by someone who may have just made their strongest case to date in one Drew Christopher Brees.
