What a week in the NFL.
I’ve been loading up on cough medicine throughout to help me in my battle with man flu, and it seems to have got me hallucinating.
I mean surely we haven’t seen a week where Carolina won a game? Where Brett Favre started a new streak? Where we learned about Rex Ryan’s foot fetish?
What’s that you say, I didn’t imagine any of that? It really happened. I think I’m going to be sick.
1. New England Patriots 12-2 (1st Last Week)
THE GOOD: They won when they weren’t anywhere near their best. Sign of a very good team.
THE BAD: They really got tested by Matt Flynn. What would a QB like Aaron Rodgers have done to them?
THE UGLY: That they waited this long to unleash Dan Connolly on the NFL. You have a weapon like that you use it.
2. Atlanta Falcons 12-2 (2)
THE GOOD: The class with which Chris Owens handled getting a cheap shot courtesy of Tyler Brayton. It summed up this team that he just talked about his team's “mission” as all that matters.
THE BAD: What can you say? I suppose Tom Dimitrioff should be shamed for being the only guy not bouncing to the beat in the Falcons Play 60 advert.
THE UGLY: Everyone seems to be ignoring that the sack strip by Jamaal Anderson was a facemask. Minor gripe. It wouldn’t have changed anything.
3. Philadelphia Eagles 10-4 (5)
THE GOOD: How awesome was that comeback?
THE BAD: But how do you put yourself in a position to need a comeback like that?
THE UGLY: The commentators who let rip on DeSean Jackson for running along the sideline. Smart play by Jackson to eat up the clock that he thought was still running.
4. Baltimore Ravens 10-4 (5)
THE GOOD: You just beat the defending Super Bowl champs!
THE BAD: You’re still number two in your division.
THE UGLY: It goes back to that defeat to the Steelers. The inability to pick up a blitzing safety could have cost them the number two seed and made life a lot harder than it needs to be.
5. New Orleans Saints 10-4 (3)
THE GOOD: What was better; the catch by Jimmy Graham or the catch by Lance Moore?
THE BAD: That was the Saints defense we’ve become accustomed to. Bad tackling and only able to get pressure by blitzing. If the offense doesn’t get ahead of you, they remain very beatable.
THE UGLY: Do you think they expected that they’d be going to Atlanta and unable to do anything to really stop them getting the number one seed?
6. Pittsburgh Steelers 10-4 (4)
THE GOOD: Heath Miller will be back in time for the postseason. He’s not an elite player in my mind, but the gap between Miller and Matt Spaeth makes it seem so.
THE BAD: You see how many three-receiver sets this team is running and think this isn’t Steeler football. Especially when you look at how the line pass-blocks.
THE UGLY: You get given a fake first down and still can’t win. Shucks.
7. Chicago Bears 10-4 (8)
THE GOOD: They hammered the Vikings in tough conditions. That got rid of some of the stink from the New England game.
THE BAD: Teams are going to stop kicking away from Devin Hester soon. Damn.
THE UGLY: Nobody wants to give the Bears credit. We’ve seen articles calling them lucky this week. They’ve taken advantage of opportunities like good teams do.
8. New York Giants 9-5 (7)
THE GOOD: They were awesome for 52 minutes.
THE BAD: But awesomely awful for 8 minutes.
THE UGLY: Why are people questioning the coach? They messed up one game, but that game was a freak occurrence and this is a team that has plenty of motivation heading into the postseason.
9. Green Bay Packers 8-6 (9)
THE GOOD: Aaron Rodgers is back.
THE BAD: You let an offensive lineman take it back 71 yards? Come on man!
THE UGLY: That time mismanagement at the end of the game. You have to be smarter than that.
10. San Diego Chargers 8-6 (11)
THE GOOD: They’re playing some really good football, even without Antonio Gates.
THE BAD: How much better would their record be if Vincent Jackson played the whole season?
THE UGLY: The prospect of them not making the playoffs. They aren’t the team the stats show, but they’re plenty good/ dangerous enough to make it to the post season.
11. Kansas City Chiefs 9-5 (12)
THE GOOD: Got to love the work of Matt Cassel. Rebounding from surgery and showing this team what he means to them. Could you have said that last year?
THE BAD: They’ve had such a great season, but if they slip up now …
THE UGLY: I’m going to take one of my famous passes on this. The Chiefs have had too good a year for me to find something negative about them.
12. New York Jets 10-4 (13)
THE GOOD: Talk about an inspirational win. That got their season back on track big time.
THE BAD: That ‘The Ugly’ thing I’m going to talk about is so predictable …
THE UGLY: Foot fetish? And you film it? Where do you start with that? How much mileage will comedians get from that?
13. Indianapolis Colts 8-6 (15)
THE GOOD: So all that midseason Colts slump talk. We’ve all moved on from that now they’ve taken their rightful place in the playoffs (pretty much).
THE BAD: Why can’t the defense play like that every week?
THE UGLY: The hit to Austin Collie and subsequently losing him for the year. He allowed them to do a lot on offense and without him they aren’t the same team.
14. Jacksonville Jaguars 8-6 (10)
THE GOOD: They’ve been a lot better this year than last year. That’s solace.
THE BAD: But if you think it helps them get over losing control of their playoff destiny you’re mistaken.
THE UGLY: The angles Sean Considine takes when a running back gets going. As bad as it gets.
15. Oakland Raiders 7-7 (17)
THE GOOD: The Raiders won’t have lost 10 or more games for the first time in how long?
THE BAD: They’re still a bit all over the place. Just as capable of putting on a dominating display as getting dominated.
THE UGLY: They’ve rebuilt the roster well, so just how can they mess it up?
16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 8-6 (16)
THE GOOD: They’ve invested in so many young players and it’s been a great year for evaluating.
THE BAD: But boy, have they missed some opportunities. You can’t be losing to teams like the Lions when you have playoff aspirations.
THE UGLY: Some of the tackling. The Bucs have constantly been one of the worst tackling teams over the past two years.
17. Dallas Cowboys 5-9 (18)
THE GOOD: They look to have found their man in Jason Garrett. The players are certainly responding to him.
THE BAD: Which begs the question why he couldn’t get the offense putting up points like this when Wade Phillips was in charge.
THE UGLY: That the Cowboys can find any joy in a 5-9 record. How the mighty have fallen.
18. Miami Dolphins 7-7 (14)
THE GOOD: In Paul Soliai they’ve found the solution to their problems at the NT spot.
THE BAD: In Chad Henne they haven’t found the solution to their problems at the QB spot.
THE UGLY: The Dolphins at home. If you can’t win at home how can anyone take you seriously?
19. Tennessee Titans 6-8 (25)
THE GOOD: They showed what they are capable of by bullying the Houston Texans.
THE BAD: But you have the feeling of “so what.” What does it really mean for the Titans when you wonder if they really know what they’ll be doing next year.
THE UGLY: Nice of Vince Young to show up … briefly. Seriously how can this guy lead a franchise?
20. Houston Texans 5-9 (19)
THE GOOD: The season is almost over and they can start evaluating where it all went wrong. This team has failed to progress and needs a new direction.
THE BAD: Will they get one? There’s a lot of faith in Coach Kubiak but he doesn’t seem up for the job.
THE UGLY: So bad is the Texans secondary that even when they make a play they seem to get punished for it.
21. St Louis Rams 6-8 (20)
THE GOOD: They may make it to the playoffs by virtue of not being as poor as the other NFC West teams.
THE BAD: But that doesn’t make them a good team yet.
THE UGLY: What could happen to them in the playoffs. I made the same point in last weeks’ article but felt the need to repeat it.
22. Buffalo Bills 4-10 (26)
THE GOOD: No team has improved as much as the Bills year; they’ve found their identity as the season has gone on.
THE BAD: The season is almost ended too soon for them with the momentum they’re building.
THE UGLY: It might seem a weird thing to say, but this team is going to live and die by Ryan Fitzpatrick. You admire his courage but he throws too many risky passes that could end up a lot worse than they have so far.
23. Cleveland Browns 5-9 (21)
THE GOOD: This is a team that beat the Patriots and Saints.
THE BAD: And they lose to the Bengals?
THE UGLY: There’s something seriously wrong with this team. Maybe they bought into their own hype or they’ve tired themselves out over the year, but they need to play consistently.
24. Washington Redskins 5-9 (24)
THE GOOD: They sure do bring a lot of drama.
THE BAD: But surely you just want a quiet, successful life, right Redskins fans?
THE UGLY: The way Donovan McNabb has been treated. The treatment Albert Haynesworth received wasn’t great, but McNabb deserved more than this.
25. San Francisco 49ers 5-9 (23)
THE GOOD: They’re still in with a playoff shot.
THE BAD: They’re still in with a playoff shot? They should be embarrassed.
THE UGLY: The decision to move back to Troy Smith. This is a coaching 101 on how to mess with your QBs.
26. Minnesota Vikings 5-9 (22)
THE GOOD: They can put this train wreck of a season behind them.
THE BAD: But they’ve got a long rebuild on. This is a roster that's old at a lot of spots.
THE UGLY: Just what exactly was the point of playing Favre? Just out of curiosity.
27. Detroit Lions 4-10 (28)
THE GOOD: They won on the road! They got themselves in position to do their usual trademarked “Lions Throw-It-Away” routine and didn’t. Wow.
THE BAD: But their third string quarterback got injured doing so. What are the chances?
THE UGLY: They should be better than 4-10. Will the Bucs win be the beginning of a new culture of victory, or a false dawning?
28. Cincinnati Bengals 3-11 (30)
THE GOOD: Finally, the Bengals won.
THE BAD: At the start of the year did you think a narrow win over the Browns would be such a big achievement?
THE UGLY: The Coach calls out Ochocinco? Ochocinco responds? Yep, one of them is a goner.
29. Seattle Seahawks 6-8 (27)
THE GOOD: Matt Hasselbeck stopped throwing interceptions.
THE BAD: Because he got yanked. This guy in the playoffs is a turnover waiting to happen … and we might get to see it.
THE UGLY: Their defense needs to do better than to allow three Atlanta drives of over 10 plays in the first half.
30. Carolina Panthers 2-12 (31)
THE GOOD: They’ve never stopped playing hard, and it speaks volumes for what their coach means to them.
THE BAD: It doesn’t change the fact this team needs to be started from scratch.
THE UGLY: Are they trying to get themselves out of the first pick of the draft? Come on guys, think long-term!
31. Arizona Cardinals 4-10 (29)
THE GOOD: They’ve tried out a lot of quarterbacks and got lots of replays on tape of them.
THE BAD: Unfortunately, whatever angle you look at it from it doesn’t stop them stinking up the joint.
THE UGLY: And you go and lose to the Panthers. Inexcusable.
32. Denver Broncos 3-11 (32)
THE GOOD: The Tebow Era is here! Highlights aplenty.
THE BAD: The rest of the team is pretty irrelevant now. Win, lose or draw, only one thing matters from here on in.
THE UGLY: Is there a super power out there where Pat Bowlen can go back in time two years?
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