NFC North takes a collective pratfall, plus other NFL stuff from week 13

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While the Bears lost a game to the Giants they should have won, the fact that all four NFC North teams lost in week 13 of the NFL season mitigated the damage.  In addition to the woes of the NFC North, there were some other interesting happenings this week in the NFL.

No sign of the good hands people in New York

The Bears 30-27 overtime loss to the Giants negated a dramatic last second comeback on their part.  A key part of the Bears comeback involved recovering an onside kick.  In addition to the rarity of recovering an onside kick, Odell Beckham Jr’s reaction to being in the area of the onside kick was interesting.  Odell was in position to recover the kick but opted to wave at it instead.  It was like seeing a kid in a toy story that was told he could look, but not touch.  While Beckham may have great hands, he really doesn’t belong on the “hands” team.

The only guy that would have less business on the hands team is Chase “Whoops” Daniel. Chase fumbled four times, three times in the Bears ill-fated overtime drive.  The silver lining for Daniel is his agent should try to get him a Butterfinger endorsement.

Mike McCarthy gone and Mason Crosby has the smoking foot

The Packers day was as bad as or worse than the Bears.  The Pack lost to the Cardinals 20-17 at Lambeau Field.  Mason Crosby missed a 49-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the game.  Packers head coach, Mike McCarthy was fired after the game. Aaron Rodgers has been accused of getting McCarthy fired, but it seems to me Crosby has the smoking gun, or foot in this case.

Aaron Rodgers has carried his team more than any other single player in the NFL for some time now.  This year the load has been heavier than usual and Rodgers hasn’t quite been himself.  If Rodgers has indeed slipped a bit, the Pack is in a world of trouble.

Vikings not Thielen it

The Vikings also took it on the chin, losing to the Patriots, 24-10.  I’m not sure the Vikings are getting their money’s worth from Kirk Cousins.  Also, Adam Thielen had an eventful day.  Thielen got in a verbal altercation with Pats head coach, Bill Belichick, and had a part in the worst TD celebration I’ve seen in a long time.  The Vikings need a new TD celebrations coordinator.  

The Insider, Steelers style

The NFL’s Sunday night game was especially exciting.  The Chargers came back from a  23-7 halftime deficit to win 33-30.  The Chargers kicked a game winning field goal on the last play of the game.  What was unusual about that was Michael Bagley made the field goal on his third try.  The Steelers were offside on all three attempts.  The last attempt was good when the Steelers defender was actually so far offside he missed the ball on his block attempt.  If the Steelers were any more offside, they would have had a mole inside the Chargers huddle. 

Will Mark Sanchez ever over come the stigma of the butt fumble?  Doubtful

The Eagles – Redskins Monday night game was noteworthy for a couple of reasons.  First of all, by virtue of the Eagles 28-13 win, the Eagles have a real shot to take the NFC East.  Second, due to the injury to Colt McCoy, Mark Sanchez made it back to the playing field.  On his first play from scrimmage, Sanchez handed the ball to Adrian Peterson who went 90 yards for a TD.  No doubt the appearance of Sanchez opened things up for Peterson.

Later in the game, Sanchez recovered his own fumble with his butt.  Will that erase the memory of Mark’s butt fumble?  No way.  That’s just the world we live in.