Mattie T’s Week 6 Recap of the 2006 NFL Season

We shall begin with an incredible Monday Night Football matchup that should go down as one of the best games of all-time.

The Chicago Bears took on the Arizona Cardinals last night, looking to snap a 4 game MNF skid that dates back to October of ‘97, when they beat the Miami Dolphins in a 36-33 overtime road win.

Arizona capped off an impressive opening 77 yard, 12 play drive to take an early 7-0 lead on Cardinals QB Matt Leinart’s 11 yard touchdown pass to WR Bryant Johnson.

Johnson was starting for the injured Pro-Bowl WR Larry Fitzgerald, who was inactive with a hamstring injury.

Arizona then extended their lead to 14-0 on a 26 yard catch-and-run touchdown from Matt Leinart to WR Anquan Boldin.

It was the first time in nearly 2 years that the Bears’ defense allowed 2 offensive touchdowns in the first quarter. That last happened in November of ‘04 during a road game against the N.Y. Giants. Chicago rallied to win that game 28-21.

Cardinals K Neil Rackers added 2 field goals in the 2nd quarter to give Arizona a stunning 20-0 lead heading into halftime.

Bears K Robbie Gould finally put Chicago on the board with 7:22 remaining in the 3rd quarter, kicking a chip-shot like 23 yard field goal to cut Arizona’s deficit to 20-3.

Rackers added another field goal to give Arizona a 23-3 lead with 1:47 remaining in the third quarter.

The game’s turning point was in the final seconds of the third quarter, when Bears DE Mark Anderson forced a fumble on Leinart, which was recovered by Bears S Mike Brown & returned 3 yards for a touchdown, giving Chicago some momentum as the game went into the fourth quarter, cutting Arizona’s lead to 23-10 in the process.

The fourth quarter was scoreless until the 5 minute mark when Bears LB Brian Urlacher forced a fumble by Cardinals RB Edgerrin James after stripping the ball out of James’ hands. Bears DB Charles “Peanut” Tillman recovered the fumble & returned it 40 yards for a touchdown, cutting Arizona’s lead down even more, making it 23-17 Cardinals.

Chicago’s defense was exceptional on their next stand, allowing just 14 yards on 5 plays before Arizona was forced to punt, giving Chicago the football back.

Cardinals K Scott Player booted a good punt, which was caught by Bears CB Devin Hester at the Cardinals’ 17.

Hester then raced up the middle of the field, cut back to the right at the Bears’ 40, then cut back to the middle at the Cardinals’ 30, breaking 3 tackles along the way to cap off a incredible, momentum-shifting & game-changing 83 yard punt return for a touchdown to give Chicago a miraculous 24-23 lead.

In a 12 minute & 2 second span between the third & fourth quarters, Chicago scored 21 unanswered points, which all came from their defense & special teams.

Arizona had one final chance to come right back & re-take the lead.

Leinart led the Cardinals offense on a 2:06, 39 yard, 9 play drive which got Arizona down to the Bears’ 23 yard line, setting up a crucial 40 yard field goal attempt by K Neil Rackers.

The kick was a big turning point in the game, because a made FG attempt would force the Bears’ offense to drive down the field to try and win the game without turning the ball over for a 7th time.

Let’s flash back to the Week 5 game between Kansas City and Arizona.
Arizona had a chance to tie the game with 2 seconds remaining, trailing Kansas City 23-20.

Rackers lined up for a game-tying 51 yard field goal that missed wide left, giving Kansas City the win. Arizona had an early 14-0 lead in that game, but failed to hold on for the win.

Would history repeat itself for 2 weeks in a row?

Rackers’ 40 yard field goal attempt missed wide left, setting off a pandemonium at Cardinal Stadium as the Bears & their fans began to celebrate on what will be remembered as one of the best Bears comebacks in their 84 year franchise history.

The Bears became the only team in NFL History to come back from a 20 point deficit without scoring an offensive touchdown.

It left the Arizona fans speechless and absolutely stunned at what had just taken place.

For the second consecutive week in a row, Arizona suffered a heartbreaking home loss in the final seconds after building up early 14-0 leads on both Kansas City & Chicago.

Cardinals RB Edgerrin James was held to just 55 yards on 36 carries, giving him an anemic average of 1.5 yards per carry.

James has failed to run for 100 yards or more since leaving the Indianapolis Colts in March.

His last 100 yard rushing performance came on December 4th, 2005 when James rushed for 107 yards on 28 carries during Indianapolis’ 35-3 home win over the Tennessee Titans.

Cardinals head coach Dennis Green went on a tirade during his post-game press conference.

Here are the exact words that were said during the post-game press conference which lasted 42 seconds.
(Warning: Profanity Used)

Reporter: Coach, 4 picks against Grossman and 2 fumbles, what did you see about the Bears that shut them down that way?

Dennis Green: No, you know, we just, the Bears were who we thought they were. What, What they thought they were. We played them in preseason. Who the hell takes a third game in the preseason like it’s bullshit, bullshit. We played them the third game, everybody played three quarters, (raises voice) the Bears are who we thought they were.

That’s why we took the damn field.

Now (punches mic) if you wanna crown them, then crown their ass. (screams) But they are who we thought they were, and we let them off the hook.

Reporter: Thanks Coach.

Dennis Green walks off podium.

Arizona now drops to 1-5 after their latest heartbreaking loss. They will try to snap their 5 game losing streak against the winless Oakland Raiders on Sunday from McAfee Coliseum in Oakland, CA.

They will have a new offensive coordinator to make their play calls.

Dennis Green fired his offensive coordinator Keith Rowen on Monday & promoted quarterbacks coach Mike Kruczek to the position.

Neil Rackers’ last-second miss cost Rowen his job.

I’ve known Keith for a long time and I have the utmost respect for him,” Green said at his media conference on Tuesday. “But we are not scoring enough points.”

In his third year as Cardinals coach, Green has a 12-26 record. Kruczek now becomes his third offensive coordinator.

“I think his (Kruczek’s) working relationship with Matt Leinart will give us a better chance,” Green said.

Kruczek coached at Central Florida for six seasons before joining Green’s staff in 2004.

He is a former quarterback who won 2 Super Bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the late 70’s.

His most famous NFL moment came during his rookie season, when he stepped in for injured Steelers QB Terry Bradshaw & led the team to 6 straight wins, helping Pittsburgh reach the AFC title game.
Rowen was in his second season as offensive coordinator. Last year, the Cardinals finished eighth in total offense, their highest ranking since 1993.

Chicago is 6-0 for the first time in 20 years & is the NFL’s first team to 6 wins.

Now, on to the rest of the Week 6 action:

In Detroit, the Lions got strong performances from WR Roy Williams & RB Kevin Jones, lifitng them to a 20-17 home win over the Buffalo Bills.

The Lions helped head coach Rod Marinelli win his first game of the season in front of the home crowd at Ford Field.

Marinelli beat Bills head coach Dick Jauron, who served as Detroit’s interim coach at the end of the 2005 season.

Lions RB Kevin Jones carried the ball 23 times for 127 yards, scoring a touchdown. It was Jones’ first 100 yard game of the season.

WR Roy Williams also had a big game, catching 10 receptions for 161 yards (both career-highs) & scoring a touchdown.

Williams leads the NFL with 552 receiving yards.

The Lions’ defense sacked Bills QB J.P. Losman 5 times, intercepted him once & forced 2 fumbles. (1 by Losman & 1 by WR Peerless Price)

In Baltimore, the Carolina Panthers racked up 414 net yards during their 23-21 road win over the Baltimore Ravens.

The Panthers’ defense also knocked Ravens QB Steve McNair out the game in the first quarter with a concussion & a sprained neck injury.

Backup QB Kyle Boller came in and played well, completing 17 of 31 passes for 228 yards with 3 touchdowns & 1 interception, giving him a 97.0 quarterback rating.

Unfornautely, Panthers QB Jake Delhomme ruined Boller’s chance of getting his team a win.

Delhomme had his best game of the season, completing 24 of 39 passes for 365 yards with 2 touchdowns & 2 interceptions.

Panthers WR Steve Smith also had his best game of the season, hauling in 8 receptions for 189 yards and a touchdown bomb for 72 yards from Delhomme during the fourth quarter to put Carolina up 23-14.

Carolina is now 4-0 since Smith’s return from a thigh injury.

Ravens head coach Brian Billick said after the game that McNair will not miss any playing time & will be ready for Baltimore’s Week 8 Game at New Orleans.

Billick also fired offensive coordinator Jim Fassel on Tuesday and announced that he will be calling offensive plays for his team, adding another key role to his head coach position.

In Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers got a late touchdown after a controversial call to pull off a stunning 14-13 upset over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Bengals DE Justin Smith was called for a roughing the passer penalty that resulted in a 15 yard personal foul, leading the Bucs upfield for their game-winning score after Smith sacked Buccaneers QB Bruce Gradkowski, forcing a fumble in the process.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a roughing-the-passer on a sack,” Bengals QB Carson Palmer said. “We all need to go see the film on that.”

Instead facing second-and-18 from the 40, the Bucs continued the decisive drive with a first down at the Cincinnati 25. The drive ended with a 8 yard touchdown from Buccaneers WR Michael Clayton with just 35 seconds remaining.

Clayton’s TD — his first in 19 games — was ruled an incomplete pass before the call was overturned by replay, which showed the receiver had control of the ball when he extended his arms.

The Bengals (3-2) thought they had won when Clayton put the nose of the ball over the goal line on the fourth-down play only to have it knocked loose when he landed on the ground.

Referee Mike Carey reversed the call, setting off a wild celebration on the home sideline.

“I couldn’t believe it. That was the ballgame,” Smith said. “I didn’t slam him or anything like that. He just doubled over and fumbled the ball. … It’s pretty hard to do anything to him if you can’t touch him.”

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis thought the call was curious, too.

“I guess you’ve got to cuddle him to the ground,” Lewis said.

Cincinnati tried to win the game on a 62 yard field goal attempt by K Shayne Graham with just 6 seconds remaining in regulation that came up short as time expired.

Tampa Bay avoided their first 0-5 straight in 10 years and also snapped Cincinnatti’s 8 game win streak against NFC South opponents in the process.

Bengals WR Chris Henry finished serving his 2 game suspension & will be available for the Bengals’ home game on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

Henry was suspended 2 games by the league for violating NFL policies on conduct and substance abuse.

Bengals WR Chad Johnson caught his 400th career reception, joining Carl Pickens, Cris Collinsworth & Isaac Curtis as the only Bengals receivers to catch 400 passes or more in franchise history.

In Irving, The Dallas Cowboys got a big performance from WR Terrell Owens to lead them to a 34-6 home win over the Houston Texans.

Owens broke a 3 game scoring drought (longest since 2000) and had his first three touchdown game since November of 2004 as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Owens’ last 3 touchdown game also happened to be during the premiere of his infamous skit with Desperate Housewives actress Nicollette Sheridan that appeared at the start of Monday Night Football on ABC. He finished with 6 catches for 134 yards & scoring 3 touchdowns.

Philly’s opponent on that night? You guessed it, the Dallas Cowboys.

Owens’ first touchdown of the day came with 10:13 left in the third quarter, as he caught a 3 yard touchdown from QB Drew Bledsoe down the middle of the field to give Dallas a 10-6 lead.

Owens’ second touchdown came with 3:41 remaining on a 21 yard touchdown pass from Bledsoe, giving Dallas a 17-6 lead.

Owens’ third & final touchdown of the day came from backup QB Tony Romo with 2:24 remaining in the game to give Dallas a commanding 34-6 lead.

It prompted Owens to stand on the Cowboys’ star in the end zone & spread his arms out, very similiar to what he did as a Eagle 2 years ago when he scored his first touchdown at Texas Stadium since signing with the team.

Owens’ multiple TD game was the 25th of his career, which ranks fourth-best in league history.

The Texans were held to just 34 yards rushing during the loss.

In Atlanta, the New York Giants continued their road dominance with a 27-14 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

The win gives the Giants their sixth consecutive road victory over the Falcons, a streak that dates back to 1978.

For the first time this season, Atlanta rushed for over 200 yards and lost.

The Giants piled up an incredible 259 rushing yards on the NFC’s top-ranked run defense.

Giants RB Tiki Barber led the way with 26 carries for 185 yards.

Backup RB Brandon Jacobs ran 11 times for 53 yards & scored a touchdown.

WR Michael Jennings also had a 21 yard run during the game.

Giants TE Jeremy Shockey caught 6 receptions for 55 yards & scored two touchdowns.

The Falcons were led by RB Warrick Dunn, who rushed 14 times for 146 yards & scored a touchdown.

Dunn set a franchise record when he broke loose for a 90 yard touchdown run in the third quarter, the longest run in team history.

The Giants’ defense sacked Falcons QB Michael Vick 7 times, picked him off once & forced a fumble during the win.

The Giants are now over the .500 mark for the first time this season & will travel to Texas Stadium for a pivotal Monday Night matchup with the Dallas Cowboys. Both teams are at 3-2 & tied for 2nd place in the NFC East.

In New Orleans, the Saints got a last-second field goal from K John Carney to lift New Orleans to a 27-24 home win over the Philadelphia Eagles, improving their record to 3-0 at the Superdome.

The exciting second half included 2 ties & 2 lead changes before the Saints won it on Carney’s kick.

New Orleans jumped out to a 17-3 lead at the halftime thanks to a pair of touchdown passes by Saints QB Drew Brees to WR’s Joe Horn & Marques Colston.

Philadelphia began their comeback with a 60 yard touchdown pass from Eagles QB Donovan McNabb to Eagles WR Reggie Brown to cut the Saints deficit to 17-10.

The Eagles then tied the game at 17 all on a 4 yard touchdown pass from McNabb to TE L.J. Smith with 1:03 remaining in the third quarter.

Brown added a 15 yard touchdown run to give Philadephia their first lead of the game, a 24-17 advantage with 14:54 remaining in regulation.

Brees hit Horn for his second receiving TD of the day, a wide-open 48 yard score to tie it at 24 all with 12:52 remaining.

The Saints then went on a 72 yard, 16 play drive in 8:26 to end the game.

New Orleans remains in 1st place in the NFC South & have already surpassed their win total (3) from a year ago.

The Saints’ offensive line was the story of the day. They protected Brees all game long against an Eagles defense that is tops in the NFL with 23.0 sacks this season.

In St. Louis, the Seattle Seahawks got a 54 yard field goal from K Josh Brown as time expired, lifting them to a 30-28 road win over the Rams, lifting themselves into 1st place in the NFC West.

Brown’s field goal came on a questionable call after Seahawks QB Matt Hasselback spiked the ball with 4 seconds remaining, trying to set up Brown for a game-winning FG try.

Seattle was whistled for illegal formation, which caused the Rams to celebrate thinking that 10 seconds would be run off the clock to give them the win.

Turns out, they didn’t get the call they wanted & wound up losing the game.

“The 10-second runoff people are familiar with is a false start, or when the players never get set before the ball is snapped,” referee Ed Hochuli said. “This is not a 10-second runoff situation.”

Seattle won the game despite missing 3 startes on offense. RB Shaun Alexander (broken foot), TE Jerramy Stevens (knee) and WR Bobby Engram (thyroid condition) all sat out with injuries.

The Rams enjoyed an early lead, thanks to a high-scoring 1st half.

Rams QB Marc Bulger hit WR Torry Holt for a 9 yard touchdown in the first quarter, giving St. Louis a 7-0 lead.

Seattle answered back on a 14 yard Hasselbeck touchdown pass to WR Deion Branch to tie it at 7. In his first start since being acquired from the New England Patriots, Branch finished the game with 76 yards on 6 receptions (team-high) & 2 touchdowns.

The Rams responded with a 2 yard touchdown run from RB Steven Jackson to make it 14-7 Rams. Jackson was held to just 56 yards rushing on 20 carries.

Bulger added another touchdown pass to Holt, a 10 yard score to give St. Louis a 21-7 lead going into halftime.

Seattle began their comeback in the third quarter, as Hasselbeck hit WR Darrell Jackson for a 42 yard touchdown with 4:28 left in the quarter to cut the Rams’ lead to 21-14.

Brown added a 49 yard field goal to close the Rams’ lead to 21-17.

Seattle then took their first lead of the game on a Hasselbeck touchdown pass to Branch, his second of the game. The 19 yard score gave Seattle a 24-21 lead.

Brown added another 49 yard field goal with 10:33 left to give Seattle a 27-21 lead.

The Rams scored their final touchdown with 1:44 remaining. WR Torry Holt made one of the most acrobatic catches of the season while recording his third touchdown of the game.

From the St. Louis 33, Bulger threw deep over the middle. Holt, in single coverage, got a hand on the ball at the Seattle 20, tipped it into the air, then grabbed it and ran into the end zone for a career-best third touchdown catch.

“It was a shot,” Bulger said. “As long as I could get one-on-one coverage, I just wanted to give him (Holt) a chance. Great players do things like that.”

Holt finished the game with 154 yards on 8 receptions & 3 touchdowns.

Holt is 3rd in the NFL in receiving yards (526) and leads all receivers with 7 touchdowns.

The Seahawks have struggled running the ball since Shaun Alexander’s injury 3 weeks ago.

Backup RB Maurice Morris has rushed for just 109 yards on 34 carries (3.2 yards per carry) and has yet to reach the end zone.

Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren announced Monday that Alexander will miss at least 2 more games.

Alexander could be eligible to return on November 6th when the Seahawks host the Oakland Raiders on Monday Night Football.

In Landover, The Tennessee Titans got 194 rushing yards to help defeat the Washington Redskins 25-22, giving QB Vince Young his first career NFL win.

The win means a lot to the rookie phenom from Texas.

“It means a whole lot to me,” said the No. 3 overall draft pick. “Just last week, I was real upset. I thought we were better than 0-5.”
Washington built a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter before Tennessee took over.

The Titans would end up outscoring the Redskins 22-8 to finish the game and leave the Oakland Raiders as the NFL’s only winless team heading into their Sunday Night game against Denver.

Titans RB Travis Henry ran 32 times for 178 yards & a touchdown.

Washington is now in a tailspin with their up-and-down struggles offensively.

In Weeks 1 & 2, Washington was able to score a combined total of just 26 points in 2 games, both losses to Minnesota & Dallas.

In Weeks 3 & 4, Washigton turned it around to score a combined total of 69 points, resulting in wins over Houston & Jacksonville.

Now, the Redskins offense has sputtered once again in the past 2 weeks, scoring a combined total of 25 points in 2 games, both losses to the N.Y. Giants & Tennessee.

The Redskins signed veteran DB Troy Vincent on Monday to help out their 24th ranked pass defense.

Vincent, whose 47 interceptions rank second among active players, was released from Buffalo’s injured reserve list last week. The 15-year veteran & 5 time Pro Bowler hurt his hamstring in preseason and aggravated it in the season opener against New England, but said last week he had fully recovered and was ready to take offers from other teams.

“Obviously, I’m not the answer,” said Vincent, who spent the day taking a crash course in the defense. “But I do believe I can bring some value.”

The 35-year-old Vincent joins a team that has spent heavily on safeties and cornerbacks, only to watch them allow more passing plays of 20-plus yards (25) than any team except Green Bay. The Redskins (2-4) ranked 23rd in the league in pass defense through Sunday’s games, and they lost on Sunday to a rookie quarterback (Vince Young) starting for a winless team (Tennessee).

“We felt like it was a chance to add somebody who was a quality guy,” Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said, “a guy who can play multiple positions back there for us.”

Vincent returns to the NFC East, where he spent 8 seasons with Philadelphia from 1996-2004.

In Pittsburgh, the Steelers reeled off 31 straight points en route to a 45-7 blowout home win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Pittsburgh finished 5 of their 6 1st-half drives with scores to quickly put Kansas City away in a must-win game for the team.

No NFL team has ever made the playoffs after an 1-4 start, which is what Pittsburgh avoided on Sunday with a huge win.

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger produced the best quarterback rating of Week 6 (153.8) by completing 16 of 19 passes (84.2%) for 238 yards, 2 touchdowns & no interceptions.

Steelers RB Willie Parker ran 21 times for 109 yards & scored 2 touchdowns.

Backup RB Najeh Davenport also ran 12 times for 78 yards & scored a touchdown.

Pittsburgh gained a game on both Baltimore & Cincinnati and sit just 1.5 games out of 1st place in the AFC North.

In East Rutherford, the New York Jets held off a furious fourth quarter rally to record a 20-17 win over the Miami Dolphins.

The Jets led 20-3 with 13:15 remaining after Jets QB Chad Pennington’s 22 yard touchdown pass to WR Laveranues Coles, his 2nd TD of the game.

Dolphins QB Joey Harrington threw a 2 yard touchdown pass to WR Chris Chambers to cut the Jets’ deficit to 20-10 with 8:49 remaining.

Miami then cut the Jets’ lead even shorter on a 1 yard touchdown run from Dolphins RB Ronnie Brown to pull Miami within a field goal at 20-17.

Harrington led the Dolphins on a 52 yard, 7 play drive that ended at the Jets’ 34 yard line.

Dolphins K Olindo Mare’s potential game-tying 51 yard field goal missed wide right, ending the game & dropping Miami to a 1-5 record.

The Jets gained a half game on the idle New England Patriots and are 1.5 games out of 1st place in the AFC East.

In San Francisco, the San Diego Chargers got 4 rushing touchdown from RB LaDainian Tomlinson to power themselves to a 48-19 road win over the San Francisco 49ers.

The Charges did most of their damage in the first half, scoring 35 of their 48 points before intermission.

San Diego’s defense also did not allow any points after halftime.

Chargers QB Phillip Rivers continues to impress many, completing 29 of 39 passes for 334 yards, 2 touchdowns & no interceptions.

Tomlinson finished with just 71 yards on 21 carries, but Tomlinson did score 4 touchdowns during the blowout win.

Chargers P Mike Scifres had a fairly quiet afternoon, only having to punt the ball once throughout the entire game.

In Denver, the Broncos became the first team since the 1934 Lions to allow just one touchdown through 5 games during their 13-3 home win over the Oakland Raiders.

Denver now leads the NFL with an average of just 7.2 points allowed per game. However, their offense is ranked 31st, scoring just 12.4 points per game.

2 field goals from Broncos K Jason Elam & a 2 yard touchdown run from RB Tatum Bell was just enough offense to hold off the Raiders, who are now the NFL’s only winless team this season.

Raiders WR Randy Moss caught 5 receptions for 86 yards during the loss.

The Raiders suspended WR Jerry Porter earlier this week for conduct detrimental to the team.

Porter has not appeared in any games this season & has quickly gone into head coach Art Shell’s doghouse since the start of training camp.

Wide receiver Terrell Owens was the last player to be suspended the maximum four games for conduct detrimental to the team. The Philadephia Eagles cited numerous violations by Owens before suspending him and an arbitrator upheld the ban after an appeal was filed by the union.

That is a wrap for Week 6! It’s gettin’ kinda late, so i’m off to bed. Peace out!

Mattie T

Sports Writer for BMS Radio Chicago

www.bmsradio.com