[Chief Rum]

Week Thirteen

Week Thirteen's Big Games

Buffalo (9-2) at NY Giants (7-4)

The Bills are just a game behind Pittsburgh for home field advantage in the AFC, but they have the AFC East pretty much locked up. It seems likely they won't be as motivated as the Giants, who are fighting for their playoff lives. The Giants are tied for first in the NFC East with the Cowboys, but they can't afford to lose the division, since the loser will likely be well short of the two wildcard spots as well.

Minnesota (6-5) at St. Louis (9-2)

Although the Rams look to be locks for the playoffs and are currently in the lead for home field advantage in the NFC, they have other contenders breathing down their necks for both that and the NFC West crown. They can't afford to sit back. The Vikings are a virtual certainty to need to win their division to make it in. They sit in first right now, but surprising Detroit is just a game behind them.

San Francisco (6-5) at Baltimore (8-3)

The Niners have an above-.500 record, but they are a full two games out of a wildcard spot and three games out of the division race. So this is an absolute must win for them. The Ravens would have to fall apart to lose a wildcard spoot at this point, but they would need the Steelers to do the same to catch them. So there's not much to play for here, against an out-of-conference opponent.

Tampa Bay (8-3) at Jacksonville (6-5)

Jacksonville is one of two teams angling for the second wilcard spot (the other team is division rival Indianapolis), but there are a bunch of teams right behind the two of them as well. Every game is important in a situation like that. Tampa Bay looks good for a playoff spot, but they are a game behind Atlanta in the NFC South, and would like to return to the top.

Arizona at Chicago

Since last week was so abbreviated, I didn't get to announce the good news. Blake reaggravated his shoulder injury in the Pittsburgh game and hurt it worse than before. He's going to be out for a couple games.

I needed a third quarterback for the depth charts and found an undrafted rookie named Jermaine Hickman who would do the trick. I wasn't too excited about returning to Preston Parsons as the starter, though, and Hickman actually has more upside, so I figured I would throw the new guy to the fire this week and see how he did.

The Bears didn't come into this game looking all that hot, but who am I to talk?

It was a low-scoring affair from the very start. The Bears got a touchdown on an Anthony Thomas run in the first quarter, and we got some points back with a field goal in the second quarter. We didn't get much else going, though. The Bears scored another touchdown and a field goal in the second half before we got on the board again with a field goal in the final minutes of the game. Final score, 17-6.

The Bears outgained us 339-238, so that kinda shows how ugly it was, especially for us. Hickman didn't throw any interceptions, but it seems likely he didn't take many chances either. It's hard to make headway when connect fro a four-yard pass every two throws, and your running game is lucky to give you three yards a carry.

We kept ourselves in the game by forcing fumbles. Five times, a Cards defender loosened a Bears' player's grip on the ball, and three of those times, we recovered the ball.

QB Hickman: 18-for-32, 150 yd, 0td, 0 int
RB Smith: 33 yd (2.5 ypc)
WR Boldin: 5 rec, 73 yd, 0 td

The line gave up three sacks again. This must be some kind of record.

On defense, we had two players in double digits in tackles, and neither of them were McKinnon. Raynoch Thompson led the way with 14 tackles, and Dexter Jackson, now fully healthy, followed with 10.

The Bears were led by Kordell Stewart (22-31, 228 yd, 1 td, 0 int) and TE Desmond Clark (7 rec, 76 yd, 1 td).

Other Games

Home Team in CAPS

Buffalo 30, NY GIANTS 13: It was a must win game for the Giants, but they couldn't do it, even at home. Although the Giants kept within respectable range of the Bills in yards gained (352-391), they were never really in this game, thanks in part to 3 turnovers. The Bills were led by their three-headed monster Travis Henry (116 yd, 1 td), Drew Bledsoe (21-36, 246 yd, 2 td, 0 int), and Eric Moulds (7 rec, 86 yd, 1 td).

ST. LOUIS 13, Minnesota 9: The Rams led through out, but the final result was never without question until the final whistle blow. The Vikings kicked three field goals to stay in it, and the Rams didn't themselves move beyond range of falling to a field goal until 5 minutes were left in the game. Had Daunte Culpepper not had another one of his interception fits (3 today), they might have even taken this one from an unsuspecting Rams squad. Culpepper (28-40, 287 yd) was pretty solid outside of his pick throwing, and Randy Moss (13 rec, 149 yd) had another typical Randy Moss day. The Rams gained a lot int he air, too, even if they didn't score much. Kurt Warner (25-35, 308 yd, 1 td, 0 int) set up both Isaac Bruce (8 rec, 114 yd) and Torry Holt (7 rec, 97 yd, 1 td) for good days.

San Francisco 27, BALTIMORE 21 (OT): The Niners got a huge win today, although it may just be delaying the inevitable. CB Ahmed Plummer was very opportunistic for the Niners, returning an interception for a touchdown and recovering a blocked punt for a score. The Niners had a 21-13 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Ravens wouldn't go so quietly, though. Kyle Boller connected with Travis Taylor on a 10-yard touchdown pass with just under 10 minutes remaining, and then converted a two-point conversion with Todd Heap to tie it up. It would stay that way through regulation. In overtime, the Niners put ona solid drive and Kevan Barlow eventually ran it in from 8 yd out to win the ball game. Boller (30-41, 314 yd, 1 td, 1 int) had one of his best games yet.

Tampa Bay 13, JACKSONVILLE 9: The Buccaneers came back from a 6-0 deficit just before halftime to slip past the Jags in the second half. Tampa Bay's third quarter saw a touchdown and a FG to put them up 13-6. The defense made it stand int he fourth quarter, limiting the Jaguars to just a field goal. Brad Johnson (21-33, 207 yd, 1 td, 0 int) did his thing, and Thomas Jones (70 yd, 0 td) did the ground work.

HOUSTON 17, Atlanta 12
Cincinnati 30, PITTSBURGH 27
SEATTLE 41, Cleveland 13
OAKLAND 31, Denver 24
DETROIT 42, Green Bay 19
SAN DIEGO 23, Kansas City 20
Miami 27, DALLAS 17
INDIANAPOLIS 28, New England 27
New Orleans 28, WASHINGTON 0
CAROLINA 20, Philadelphia 17
Tennessee 21, NY Jets 16

Injuries

Jeff Blake will again be out next week. Gerald Hayes is also still hurt. L.J. Shelton missed last week's game against Pittsburgh, but returned this week and should be fully healthy next week.

The Hickman experiment was fun, but if you can't direct a good offense against the Bears, then you probably need a lot more seasoning at the position. Parsons will return to lineup next week.

CR