WASHINGTON — I thought it would be fun to wrap up Week 13 with the best and worst parts of this week’s action. I don’t know about you, but I tend to choose to hear the bad news first.
And right now there’s nothing worse than the NFC East.
That was proved Monday Night when the worst division in football produced the single worst game of 2015. Right at the point where this threatened to become the first Redskins/Cowboys rivalry game without a touchdown since 1978 — and the first touchdown-less Monday Night game since a 2007 Steelers/Dolphins tilt so bad that it’s best remembered for an errant punt — DeSean Jackson committed the most egregious, idiotic play imaginable in a crucial spot to hand Dallas the game’s first touchdown, and essentially the game.
This came a day after the Giants blew their 5th double digit 4th quarter lead of the season, an amazing statistic if you really stop to think about it. If they had won just two or three of those games they’d have this division already won by next week.
The Eagles and Cowboys were virtually eulogized after awful Thanksgiving Day losses. Both were victorious as road underdogs in Week 13, and their playoff hopes are stunningly alive and well.
So now there’s a logjam in the NFC East penthouse (if you can really call a 5-7 record the penthouse) between the Redskins, Giants and Eagles with the Cowboys — who just won their first game this season without Tony Romo — just a game behind at 4-8 (and ironically hold the best division record in the NFC East … go figure).
The good news is, each of these teams has to play another NFC East team at least once the remainder of the way (the ‘Skins and Eagles have two division games left) so some of the complexity of the tiebreaker scenarios should sort themselves out before we have to get a coin toss involved.
The bad news is, one of these circus caravans has to actually has to win this division (at this rate, by accident) and then not only loiter in the postseason, but host a playoff game.
That just made me throw up in my mouth a little. Let’s cleanse the palette by talking about something good now.
Cam slams the door on the MVP conversation
If you read my NFL recaps and wraps with regularity, you might recall I made a somewhat outside the box pick by naming Cam Newton MVP in the NFL Midseason Review.
Not to say I told you so, but … you know, I did tell you so.
This is no longer up for debate. At a time when Tom Brady is struggling and Peyton Manning still comfortably leads the league in interceptions despite missing the last four games, Cam is elevating his game. Newton has posted a passer rating over 100 in four of his last five games and has thrown just two interceptions during that span. Detractors (or Pats fans) will point out that hot streak has pushed his passer rating up to 93.2, which is still only 15th among regular starters. I would simply reply that Newton’s impact can’t be fully validated with stats. That said, his contributions to the ground game have been invaluable to Carolina’s cause. Cam’s 476 yards and 7 rushing TDs leads all quarterbacks; in fact, only three running backs have more rushing TDs and his 4.4 yards per carry are better than four of the league’s top 10 rushers — including his teammate Jonathan Stewart.
His individual exploits are impressive enough, but look at what his team is doing with him at the helm. Carolina just won their third straight NFC South title, something no other team has done in the short history of that division. The Panthers are just the ninth team in the Super Bowl era to start a season 12-0. And he’s now posted two 5 TD games in the last three weeks despite the lack of a reliable target at wide receiver (yes, I know Greg Olsen is a stud but he’s a tight end) and defenses focused on stopping him.
Cam’s 58.4 completion percentage is a tick below what you’d like, but if anything has been proven this year, it’s that he completes them when they count the most. Take Sunday for example; Cam got the ball late in the game three times with Carolina trailing. He threw touchdowns to end each of those possessions and completed nine of his 12 throws for 162 yards.
Yes, the Saints D is abysmal but Cam has come up clutch all season. He’s far and away the league’s highest rated passer in the 4th quarter/OT this season, including in Week 6, when Cam led a pair of 80-yard drives in the 4th quarter to beat the Seahawks in Seattle. In that final frame, he completed 12 of his 15 passes for 162 yards.
He’s productive. He’s clutch. He’s matured as a player and (end zone strutting aside) as a person. Kids love him and the media is starting to get on board.
While he doesn’t have the long track record of a Brees, Brady, or Manning it’s time to admit what I’ve been saying half the year: Nobody is playing better than Cam Newton right now. And he should get the hardware to prove it.
And you should get the Week 13 Recap. You deserve it. Treat yo’ self.
