Monday Morning Longsnapper

Home-Field Don't Mean Jack Edition

OK, so, let's take a look at this.  Carolina loses at home.  They did that, umm, zero times this year. Tennessee and the Giants lose at home.  That at least makes some sense, they each did that a lot--once a piece.

In fairness, the G-Men and Titans were in the game, and could've or should've won.  The Panthers got destroyed, save from that first drive of the game.  You know that one, right?  That one where they did what's worked all year for them, running wild with DeAngelo Williams' 31 yard scamper and Jonathan Stewart punching it in from 9 out.  Things looked mighty fine kicking off.  Then Jake Delhomme turned into Charlie Batch, fumbling and throwing awful picks like it was his job.  And, in fact, it may cost him that job at some point in the near future.  Delhomme just has to thank his lucky stars there's no one waiting in the wings in Carolina, otherwise, he'd be out on his keister.

What does it all mean, you ask?  I answer, I don't fully know.  Sometimes, that extra week of rest that those teams had may wind up hurting, especially when the team coming in is a hot one.  Outside of Arizona, that was the case.  Also, it's likely that Tennessee isn't really that good.  After winning the first ten, they were a mediocre 3-3 to finish things up.  Were they as good as the 10-0 team, or as average as the 3-3 team?  Probably somewhere in the middle, but it is nice to put things into perspective.  

Same thing goes for the Giants, who, after starting 11-1, finished out the year on a 1-3 slide.  Which team were they?  Again, somewhere in between but losing a go-to receiver like Cheddar Bob (err, Plaxico Burress), obviously hurt Eli Manning on Sunday.

• Don't blame Kerry Collins for Tennessee's loss.  The Titans aren't a team built to come from behind, or, frankly, to rely on Collins for anything other than the proverbial game management.  This Raven's D is fierce, and you don't need me to tell you that.  Don't get mad at Collins, it's a miracle he was able to do as much as he did this year.
• If there is a better wideout in the league when it comes to just going up and getting the ball than Larry Fitzgerald, I'd like to meet him.  Two weeks ago it was that flea flicker, this week just a long bomb in a crowd.  The guy is an athletic freak, and when the ball touches his hands, it's about as good as caught.  Side note, some how, the Cardinals passing attack didn't miss a beat with Anquan Boldin out.  Interesting.
• Donovan McNabb has fun when he plays, and I think that's good for the league, for sports.  End of the Giants game on Sunday, on a rushing play he scampered off the field on the Giants sideline, and picked up a phone, presumably to let NYG personnel know their work was done for the year.  He received a penalty for these actions, and Troy Aikman actually said that "sometimes I don't know what goes through this guy's mind".  Easy Troy.  This guy's not frying dogs or shooting people at clubs or getting caught for DUI's.  He doesn't know about ties in the NFL, that's an issue, but let's not confuse someone who likes to have fun with a real troublemaker.
• Questionable decision late in that Giants game:  with his team down two scores, Tom Coughlin challenged a spot on a 3rd down rush.  The initial ruling was 4th and short, and that ruling was upheld.  Giants lose a timeout (after already having burned one earlier in the quarter), and try anyways to get the remaining few inches for the first (which they didn't get).  So, you lose a timeout and the ball, all when you knew you'd wind up going for it anyway on 4th.  Having such trouble scoring as it was, why would they even allow themselves to lose that second T.O. of the half?