| Anatomy Of A Loss |
| Anatomy of a Loss - NFL Week 13 |
| by Jonathan Miller |
There were plenty of games to cover here, and I almost went with Pittsburgh again, pointing out the myriad flaws in coaching and execution from this week's loss to the Bengals. But, instead, I reached out to a pair of games, one in each conference, each loaded with playoff implications.
The Falcons and Broncos, forced by outside events into almost must-win situations, laid serious eggs on Sunday. What went wrong?
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Jake Plummer and Mike Vick are two quarterbacks getting lots of press these days. For Vick, it's always been about his playmaking ability, the way he can run, heave the ball halfway to Indochina, elude the sack for eons. Many people figured this would be his breakout year, in which he settled in as a quarterback and got the Falcons offense rolling with real balance. For Plummer, this was a season of redemption: rejected by many as good-not-great, he went 229 attempts without an interception, grew a ghastly mustache, and seemed to announce an arrival of his own. The Broncos were cleanly in first place with an outside shot at overtaking Indianapolis for the AFC lead.
Looking at their respective careers-to-date, however, it's clear that normalcy returned for these two young men, leaving their teams in dangerous predicaments.
Plummer was always the plucky kid with talent, first as signal-caller for the Arizona Cardinals, then as Mike Shanahan's latest "Best Quarterback Since Elway" in Denver. Known as much for hideous gaffes as talent, Plummer was always the Doubted One, the guy you always had to wonder about. Until this season, when he went on an absolute tear, leading the Broncos to a 9-2 record and a likely second seed in the highly-competitive AFC playoffs.
Then things went kaput. In Kansas City, against a Chiefs team fighting for its own playoff life, Plummer laid himself a nice, golden egg. The statistics don't show a terrible game (18-29-276-1-2), but the fact is that his old Jake the Snake persona took hold around halftime and ruined a fairly impressive day for his defense (holding the Chiefs to "only" 31 points and 400 odd yards, in Kansas City, is impressive). Both interceptions were back-breakers, one in the end zone and the other leaving the Chiefs in stellar field position to open the second half.
Yes, the Broncos will make the playoffs, and if they can stay at home, they could be dangerous. But having so much as one road game could kill them as it has every other playoff year since the retirement of old #7. And with the Chiefs in a position to perhaps wrest the West division from their hands, the situation is suddenly very tenuous.
Vick, unlike Plummer, was hype personified. After flashing a thunderous arm and those ungodly wheels of his at Virginia Tech, the Falcons eagerly made him their #1 pick in the 2001 draft. They, along with everyone else, were drunk on Vick's athleticism and "upside." They traded with the Chargers, who used the windfall to take LaDanian Tomlinson and Drew Brees, the cornerstones of the San Diego franchise. Although they thought they were getting the same (and better) at the time, it's safe to wonder if the Falcons now have some regrets.
Four years in the league, three as a starter, have not improved Vick's passing. A host of excuses can be (and usually are) made for him, but his deficiencies are hindering his club, most notably his inaccuracy and tendency to mis-read coverage. On Sunday, Vick threw 35 times, missing on over half of them, for all of 171 yards (or, barely more than the Panthers' DeShaun Foster covered on the ground): when your YPA is lower than the other guy's YPC, it's not a good day. Two costly interceptions represent the sum total of Vick's contribution as the Falcons slipped to the rear of the NFC playoff race.
Ultimately, the pair of cleats completed itself for both teams, as their quarterbacks, remarkably inconsistent almost by rule, showed off exactly why doubters of all stripes have waited for moments like these for their collective "Ah-ha!" |
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