NFL - Week Fifteen Review

The highlight of the day on Sunday was the second "Miracle in the Meadowlands".
Thirty-two years after the original (pictured right), the second "miracle" in the (new) Meadowlands between the Philadelphia Eaglesco-Player of the Week and New York Giants was certainly a classic.
The Eagles' DeSean Jackson (pictured upper left) returned a punt 65 yards as time ran out to cap the big comeback win for Philadelphia (10-4) over the Giants, 38-31.
The Giants had a 31-10 lead with 8:17 remaining in the game after Eli Manning (289 yards passing) threw his fourth touchdown pass of the day. However, that's when Heftyinfo NFL co-Player of the Week Michael Vick took over.
The Eagles' quarterback ran for 130 yards, including a touchdown run and passed for 242 yards and three more touchdowns.
The win puts Philly one game ahead of the Giants with just two games remaining.

The New England Patriots had their collective hands full in The Sunday Night game as Green Bay's backup quarterback Matt Flynn threw for 251 yards and three TDs in a 31-27 loss to the Pats in Foxboro.
New England QB Tom Brady had two TD passes and 163 yards and Kyle Arrington returned an interception 36 yards for a go ahead touchdown in the third quarter.
Green Bay (8-6) outgained New England 369 yards to 249 in the loss, which puts them in a must-win situation next week against the New York Giants (9-5) in Lambeau Field.

The Kansas City Chiefs beat St. Louis 27-13 to maintain their slim lead over San Diego in the AFC West division.
Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel played despite an appendectomy just eleven days ago and was somewhat effective, throwing for a touchdown while the KC ground game ran for 210 yards and two touchdowns.
The Rams (6-8) blew a chance to get a one game lead on Seattle in the NFC West with the home loss to Kansas City, as quarterback Sam Bradford was intercepted twice and had just 181 yards passing.

Baltimore (10-4) beat the New Orleans Saints, 30-24 behind the big performance of Ray Rice, who rushed for 153 yards and also caught five passes for 80 yards and scored two touchdowns in the win. Rice is the Heftyinfo co-Player of the Week.

Indianapolis had to sweat it out, but eventually defeated Jacksonville 34-24 behind an efficient Peyton Manning (229 yards passing), who had two TD passes. Colts' running back Donald Brown ran for a 43-yard score and had 129 yards rushing.
The Colts defense limited Maurice Jones-Drew to just 46 rushing yards for the Jaguars, who slipped into a first-place tie with the Colts (8-6) following the loss.

The New York Jets snapped their losing skid by winning on the road against Pittsburgh, 22-17 as the defense got a safety to help provide the difference.
Brad Smith returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a Jets' score and quarterback Mark Sanchez didn't turn the ball over in the win.
The Steelers (10-4) had a chance to pull it out late but Steelers' QB Ben Roethlisberger came up
short in the red zone as time ran out.

The NFC's top team, the Atlanta Falcons (12-2) became the first NFC team to clinch a playoff spot with a 34-18 win at Seattle.
Quarterback Matt Ryan had three TD passes and 174 yards and the Atlanta defense scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery to help provide the outcome.
The Seahawks (6-8) remained in a first place tie with St. Louis in the NFC West.

Tampa Bay saw their chances for a wild card playoff berth take a serious hit as they blew a late lead at home and eventually lost to the Detroit Lions, 23-20 in overtime. Lions kicker Dave Rayner made a field goal as time expired to force OT and then drilled the game-winner from 34 yards to give Detroit (4-10) a winning streak for the first time in three seasons.
The Buccaneers (8-6) gained 403 yards, but allowed 433 yards as the Lions ran for 181 yards and quarterback Drew Stanton passed for 252 yards.

Buffalo eliminated the Miami Dolphins (7-7) from playoff contention with a 17-14 win in Miami. The Dolphins are 1-6 at home this season.
Bills' QB Ryan Fitzpatrick hit Shawn Nelson with a 18-yard scoring pass and Steve Johnson with a 15-yard strike to go with a Rian Lindell 29-yard field goal to provide the scoring.
Miami got a 6-yard TD run from Ronnie brown and a touchdown pass from Chad Henne to Brandon Marshall.

Dallas almost pulled the same trick as the Giants by blowing a huge lead at home, but they managed to hang on for a 33-30 win over the Washington Redskins, who saw quarterback Rex Grossman (322 yards passing) throw four TD passes in the loss.
The Cowboys led 27-7 after Tashard Choice scored on a three-yard run. The lead was 30-14 in the fourth quarter before Grossman went off.
Dallas QB Jon Kitna passed for 305 yards and two scores and the Cowboys totaled 434 yards for the game.

The Tennessee Titans kept very slim playoff hopes alive with a 31-17 home win against Houston.
Titans' running back Chris Johnson had 130 yards rushing and scored a TD and the Tennessee defense limited Houston to just 30 yards rushing for the game as they built a 21-0 first quarter lead.

The Oakland Raiders spoiled the starting quarterback debut of Tim Tebow as they blasted the visiting Broncos, 39-23.
The Raiders rushed for 264 yards and totaled 502 for the game as Darren McFadden (119 yards rushing) led the way. Michael Bush scored twice and Jacoby Ford ran 71 yards for another Raiders' touchdown. Oakland QB Jason Campbell passed for 238 yards and a score.
The Raiders (7-7) are still alive in the AFC West and play division leader Kansas City in the season finale in two weeks.

Carolina beat Arizona (4-10) and eliminated the Cardinals in the NFC West race with a 19-12 win at home to improve to 2-12 for the season.
Panthers' QB Jimmy Clausen threw a TD pass and had 141 yards passing in the win.

The battle of Ohio went to Cincinnati on Sunday as the Bengals held on for a 19-17 win over the Browns.
Cedric Benson had his best day of the season for the Bengals (3-11) with a touchdown run and 150 yards on the ground as the team snapped a ten-game losing streak.
Browns' rookie QB Colt McCoy threw two TD passes in the loss.

The San Diego Chargers (8-6) kept the pressure on the first-place Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West with a 34-7 pasting of the San Francisco 49ers last Thursday night in San Diego.
Chargers' quarterback Philip Rivers hit wide receiver Vincent Jackson (112 yards receiving on five catches) for three touchdown passes in the win. Rivers also surpassed 4,000 yards passing in a season for the third consecutive year.

The Chicago Bears (10-4) clinched their first NFC North division title in four years with a 40-14 thumping of the host Minnesota Vikings in the outdoors on Monday Night Football.
Bears' quarterback Jay Cutler passed for 194 yards and three touchdowns and Devin Hester set an NFL record with his 14th career kick return for a touchdown when he ran back a punt for a score in the third quarter to put the game away.
Brett Favre made a surprise start for the Vikings after being declared out over the weekend due to a shoulder injury.
Favre led the Vikings to a touchdown on a 60-yard drive to open the game, but was knocked out of the game with a concussion when he was sacked early in the second quarter.