2017 Week 12 Sunday Game Ball

Yesterday, I fell in love with football again. Even though the Jets lost and the overall excitement about Thanksgiving was wrapping up I really enjoyed watching football yesterday.

I think it was the fact that the football played yesterday actually looked like football that I recognized. The games where close (for the most part) and the drama was engaging. Sunday Night Football was the most entertaining it has been all year and it showed why the Sunday Night game has been the game of the week for some time now. An incredible performance by Brett Hundley against the high-powered Pittsburgh Steelers—along with some incredible plays by Antonio Brown, made for some great television.

From the Jet performance, to a bounce back by Buffalo, a close win by Tennessee, an upset in the desert by the Cardinals, and of course the great game in Los Angeles between the Rams and Saints.

But, the game of the week was the Sunday Night Game in Pittsburgh. That game was what football should be like at this time of the year. The way that the game turned out in the shoot-out fashion just heightened the game last night. Last night is a classic case of late November football. a smash mouth performance by Le’Von Bell running for 95 yards on 20 attempts and adding 12 catches for 88 yards through the air. Antonio Brown stepped up through double teams and dominated the Packers defense having 10 catches for 169 yards and two touchdowns. Brett Hundley showed a giant step in the right direction going 17/26 for 245 yards and three touchdowns.


There is a bunch of worthy candidates that played incredible yesterday. Like Jared Goff who went 28/43 for 354 yards and two touchdowns, or Joe Mixon who ran the ball 23 times for 114 yards and a touchdown, or Zach Ertz who had 10 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. However, to me none of it was better than the game that Green Bay Packers line-backer Blake Martinez. It is not often that I give a game ball to a player on a losing team but this performance might be the performance of the year. Martinez had the game of the year yesterday for a defensive player. Martinez lead both teams in tackles with 12, had an interception, and a fumble recovery. That is a night that players only dream about. You cannot have a better night than that. Martinez is an outstanding young talent and if Green Bay keeps him on the roster they will have a cornerstone piece for the future. The future of 2017 football is looking bright if this Packers-Steelers game was any indication that football is headed in the right direction.   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 2023 Offseason is Brian Cashman's Biggest Test Yet

Image
   Now that the World Series is over five days from now the offseason begins. With that in mind, this is the biggest offseason that Brian Cashman will have in his 25-year tenure as Yankee General Manager. For the first time since 2016 the Bronx Bombers watched the postseason from their couches, and they earned that right. Amazingly, this team finished over .500, although not that far above that mark. This iteration of the Bronx Bombers finish with the same record as that 2016 team—but the feeling with this squad feels different. Following the 2016 season, there was hope of the two power bats that would usher in the “Baby Bombers,” and in that offseason, the farm system was rated in the Top 10 in all of baseball. There was almost certainty that Brian Cashman would put a championship team around Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, and Luis Severino that would be a title contender for years to come. There was hope. And that hope almost turned into reality. Almost. But, that was then
Read more

The Question going into the Trade Deadline for the New York Yankees

  There is a crossroads in the Bronx in between River and 161 st Street right now. As New York Yankee Manager Aaron Boone likes to put it “[the season] is right in front of them.” The second half of the season is for the taking. As we move into the dog days of summer the Bronx Bombers are nine games out of the division and now a game and a half out of the AL Wild Card race following a disappointing first series in Colorado. With that, the historic starting Tampa Bay Rays have cooled off, going 3-7 before the break while showing signs of being mortal. Baltimore, who has been keeping pace with Tampa, didn’t look like a Superpower when they split against the Yankees two series before the break. The AL East is still a Spartan Training Facility with every team above .500, the Orioles holding the first Wild Card spot, and the “struggling” Boston Red Sox tied the Yankees in the Wild Card race. And unlike Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, help is not on the way. Aaron Judge’s toe is still a m
Read more

The Answer for the Mets

  As Yogi Berra would say “it’s déjà vu all over again.” Buck Showalter is an all too familiar place. The 67-year-old manager has taken a time machine back to 2012. No, he is not managing in Baltimore anymore, however that’s what it feels like the end of Showalter’s Oriole tenure in Queens right now. The Mets simply can’t get out of their own way. With Pete Alonso likely headed to the Injured List, the Mets scored 10 runs last night in Atlanta. 10 runs on the heels of back-to-back gut-wrenching losses at the hands of the team that has foiled the Mets for the better part of almost three decades, the Atlanta Braves. 10 runs with their hired ace, Justin Verlander, who was looking to put together good starts consecutively for the first time all season. The Mets looked like they were about to exercise some demons in Atlanta last night, and then, the other shoe dropped. It wasn’t good enough. Again. Last night, I wrote that the Mets season was on the line with Verlander toeing the slab. Well
Read more