The Good
Overtime Weekend!
Games in the NFL are getting better and better as the season rolls on. Four of the 16 games in Week 12 went into overtime, including 3 games involving NFC East teams, the Cowboys, Giants and Redskins. Those three teams lost due to some unfortunate use of a position that I will not mention in the good, as it will be talked about in the ugly section.

We all love close games and that is why the NFL is extremely exciting to watch. Of the 16 games played in Week 12, 9 were decided by 6 points or less. As already discussed, 4 games needed an extra period, and the other 5 games were all decided in the final minutes of the game. Outstanding!

The Bad
The Houston Texans
Can this team get any worse? They were leading the Rams 24-3 at halftime and seemed to be in complete control of the situation until somebody yelled out, “Reggie Bush is entering the draft!”

At that point the Texans, fearing a win would remove them from the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s draft, allowed a third string QB from Harvard (the first QB from Harvard to play in the NFL) throw for over 300 yards passing and 3 TDs to lift the Rams into a 27-27 tie and a win in overtime! I doubt the Texans could beat the Texas Longhorns in a game right now.

The Ugly
<Bleeping> Kickers!

Now I have been blasting kickers since Week 2 in the NFL, but now listen to this. From the 16 games played this week, 11 games had at least one missed field goal. Of those 11 games, the outcome of 8 of those games was a direct result of a missed kick.

Cowboys kicker, Billy Cundiff, missed a 33 yard FG in regulation. The game goes to overtime, and they lose to the Broncos. Giants kicker, Jay Feely, had not one, not two, but three potential game winning FG attempts and he missed all of them from 40, 54 and 45 yards. The 40 yarder was at the end of regulation and the other two were in overtime. Result? A loss to the Seahawks. Redskin kicker, John Hall, could have ended the game at the end of regulation but instead missed the FG sending the game into overtime, where they proceeded to lose to the San Diego Chargers.

The worse loss endured in Week 12 due to a kicker has to be the Tampa Bay Bucs. Kicker Matt Bryant missed a 29 yard FG! A 29 yarder for crying out loud! This would have tied the game and allowed the Bucs to possibly defeat the Bears at home in Tampa Bay.

I’ve said it once and I will say it again, stop depending so much on kickers, because apparently even a 29 yard FG is not a gimme anymore.