"Drew Brees and New Orleans Saints undefeated in the booth." - December 6, 2009 recap.

By Jonathan Schlosser

Well, we have the controversy of the week. I won’t say it’s like the Bill Clinton allegations - the Saints never denied scoring a whole lot along the way. I won’t say it’s even as bad as the Jay Cutler fiasco last year against San Diego - the fumble that wasn’t, directly giving over the game - though that one evened itself out in the end. But the point is we have a big one.



In overtime, the Redskins, with their dark-hearted owner and all were driving to beat the undefeated New Orleans Saints. They’d already missed a chip shot, twenty-yard field goal earlier in the game, but they were pushing toward that second chance. Fullback Mike Sellers caught an easy swing pass and was upended by Chris McAllister; the ball went flying and the whistle blew and the Saints scooped it up (sound familiar, Cutler?). Play dead. But the Saints called a timeout to give the booth a chance to review, which they did, and the play was overturned. Fumble. Recovered by the Saints, who then went down and scored and remained undefeated.

Now, there are two things I don’t like about this. The first is that I hate when calls decide games. I love the Denver Broncos, and I hated that they called the Cutler fumble an incomplete pass last year, giving the Broncos another pass to win. I hated it. Because there’s no glory in a win like that. There is just that sheepish little shrug. It’s all you can do. There’s just no way you can be happy winning on a call.

Which isn’t to say it was wrong. It was just so close. And maybe it was the right call, but it was so close that it’s hard to say that the call on the field should have been overturned, and we’re going to hear about it all week now. And maybe longer, if the Saints can hold on and go undefeated. There will always be that asterisk. It’s like the asterisk next to Barry Bonds’ home run record. Or the asterisk next to O.J. Simpson’s freedom (though that seems to have, to some extent, evened itself out, too).

For the record, I want the Saints and the Colts to both go undefeated and meet in the Super Bowl. Talk about an epic battle to end the season. And I would love to see more Drew Brees and Peyton Manning commercials, especially during that game.

The Rest of the League:

The Lions looked like the Lions, mostly by starting out looking like a team that was not the Lions. They looked good. They scored on a deep ball. Then it all fell apart and they gave up a bunch of points and lost.

The Broncos crushed the Chiefs. Probably glad you didn’t get Matt Cassel now, aren’t you, Josh McDaniels?

The Raiders won in epic, last-second fashion. That mostly had to do with the fact that Jamarcus Russell was on the bench. Tom Cable didn’t punch anyone after the game, which was good. Baby steps, Tom. Baby steps.

The New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills, proving, essentially, nothing. Sanchez is one of four starting former-USC quarterbacks playing in the NFL, which is a lot when you think about how there are only thirty-two teams.

Philadelphia beat Atlanta in Michael Vick’s return. All dogs were barred from the stadium to keep Vick from temptation. He responded by scoring a touchdown.

I saw a Browns fan a few games ago with a sign saying: “We can win with Quinn.” Then I watched them play the Chargers. Sorry, Browns fan, you can’t.



Miami won an upset special against New England, edging them by a point. Every week, I feel like Miami can win. They are the weirdest team in the NFL. And I would never bet on them, because they lose a lot more than they win, no matter how I feel every week. But they got this one, and it’s a huge one for the club.

Carolina beat Tampa Bay, thanks to Jake Delhomme not throwing five INT’s from the bench. Rookie Josh Freeman, from the other side, did throw five from the field.

Chicago beat St. Louis. I’m sure they feel good, but since St. Louis has only won one game, it’s not that much of a feat. Both teams’ seasons are essentially over.

Jacksonville, having a hot second half of a season that no one is talking about, for some reason, beat Houston by five. They are still very much in the Wild Card hunt, chasing Denver. Could be interesting.

The Colts stayed undefeated, keeping alive my hopes for a Peyton Manning Super Bowl commercial. I’m hoping it has something to do with Snuggies. I really am. Also, that snaps the resurgence of Vince Young, though the Titans are still barely in the hunt.

I know people are going to say that the December Tony Romo showed up, that the Cowboys are on the verge of choking away another season. But Tony’s numbers themselves weren’t bad; I wouldn’t lay this one on him with almost four hundred yards. They are on the verge of choking away a season, though, and they’ll have to do some real work the next few weeks to prove the skeptics wrong. They lost to New York when they didn’t get an onside kick with under a minute left.

Seattle hit a last-minute pass down the sideline to get into field goal range; the ensuing kick beat the San Francisco 49ers by three. The 49ers made it exciting, as they had a chance to go down and win it themselves, a chance that they blew, giving Seattle a little time to do it themselves.

In the battle of the old men, Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals proved to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings that football is still a young man’s game. Thirty-eight years young. Arizona got behind early, but then ran out in front by a few scores and managed to hold on for the win. The Vikings are still a power in the NFC, but they’re falling further behind the Saints, and that doesn’t look good for their home field advantage chances in the playoffs.

Monday Night Preview:

Baltimore at Green Bay:

I love this game, because I love games at Lambeau. There’s something old-school about that stadium. Something football purists can just latch on to. Sure, half of that left when Favre went to Minnesota on stop two of his revenge tour. Still, this game, with the Packers at home against a very good, physical team in Baltimore, looks to be a good one. Both teams are having seasons a little but under what they hoped, but both are still very competitive. Aaron Rogers is quite good when he’s not being running over by the entire defensive line. Joe Flacco is quite good, well, most of the time.

I like Baltimore in this one. I know it’s home for Green Bay, and December in Green Bay might mean a Snow Bowl, but Baltimore has a bit much firepower for that Green Bay defense. They have a pretty hard-nosed running game and Flacco really can throw it around. Green Bay is a bit injury-plagued with Al Harris and Aaron Kampman out for the season. They should still be able to score a bit because Rogers is solid and Jennings and Driver are big weapons outside, but not enough to make it all up. The spread is Green Bay by 3.5, but I think Baltimore plays the spoiler.

BYLINE:

Jonathan Schlosser is a writer and part-time library worker. He has published some short fiction and is working on finding a publisher for his novel. He has a B.A. in Writing, which means that, for a living, he is allowed to put away books at the library. He is also allowed to tell parents to tell their children to be quiet. He lives in Grand Rapids, MI. Email Jonathan at jonathan@zoiksonline.com.