Hail Mary: Brady shines again and 49ers win on MNF
The late games on Sunday had some great moments, with huge implications going into the stretch. The Cowboys now hold the lead in the NFC East, and Brady out did Manning in another classic. Arizona is still on the up, and San Francisco found some form at the right time on MNF.
Titans @ Raiders
When Ryan Fitzpatrick fired a 10 yard touchdown to Kendall Wright with just ten seconds left, it propelled Tennessee back into playoff contention. The Titans played near faultless ball throughout the game in Oakland to win 23-19. The Raiders are now 4-7 and missed an opportunity to move into the gaggle of team’s just one game better off in the wild card chase. Fitzpatrick had a huge day completing 30 of his 42 pass attempts for 320 yards, two of his receivers, Wright and Justin Hunter both had 100 yard plus days.
Colts @ Cardinals
Arizona are one of the most in form teams in the league right now and after a 40-11 demolition of the puzzling Colts keeps them firmly in the NFC playoff picture. Once again it was an error free game from Carson Palmer who threw for over 300 yards and a pair of score to Larry Fitzgerald. Indianapolis has gone from a team very much on the up, to one that needs to regain some form as we head into the business end of the season. Andrew Luck ended with just 163 yards passing, 79 of which were accrued in the last quarter.
Cowboys @ Giants
Seen by many as a must win game, it was played in typical NFC East fashion. Hard tackling leading to turnovers, unforced errors and late drama. Tony Romo led his offense downfield on a drive that saw his maturity come to the fore, Dan Bailey kicked the game winning field goal as time expired to lift the Cowboys to a 24-21 win, and put them back on top of the division. Much of the week prior was dominated by the New York players talking some trash which unfortunately for them they could not back up, and the loss probably eliminates them from the wild card race.
Broncos @ Patriots
Tom Brady pulled out another Houdini at as he led his New England team on another great comeback, this time from 24 points down to beat Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos 34-31 in overtime. Early on it looked as though the Broncos would simply run away with the game after two early scores off of turnovers before the first five minutes were over. New England are the masters of making in game adjustments and so it proved in this big game that could have seeding implications as the season goes on.
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
49ers @ Redskins
Last season the two QB’s in this game would have been a marquee matchup, hence why the schedulers thought to bring them together at this pivotal stage. Colin Kaepernick completely outshone his opposite number Robert Griffin III, and with it twisted the knife deeper into Coach Shanahan’s reign in Washington. The final score of 27-6 was complete justice to how the Niners defence played as sacked RG3 four times and held him to just 127 yards passing. Kaepernick on the other hand found his groove and had a great night connecting with Anquain Boldin and Vernon Davis 9 times between them out of his 15 complete passes. San Francisco snapped a two game slide and puts them back into the last NFC playoff spot ahead of Arizona.
