NFL Gamechangers, the column that brings you the biggest plays that you won’t see on the highlights. These are the plays and players that changed the outcome of the games this weekend, but really don’t get the fanfare or hype that they deserve given their key role in the outcome of the game. Of course touchdowns are important, but these are plays that help to set up those touchdowns and give a team momentum throughout the course of the day.
New Orleans Saints @ Atlanta Falcons: Momentum was a huge factor in this game. Early on it was all Falcons, as Atlanta used some impressive drives led by Matt Ryan, and key interceptions of Drew Brees, and turned those into a 17-0 second quarter lead. The Saints chipped away at that lead, eventually making it 17-13 and seemed to have all the momentum headed into the fourth quarter. Early in the fourth, Matt Bryant made a short Field Goal and restored the Falcons lead to a touchdown, but it would be his next kick with 4:25 to play that was absolutely clutch. After a stalled Falcons drive, Bryant lined up for a 55 yard kick, and if he missed this long try, the Saints would have excellent field position, needing just a touchdown to tie the game and complete the comeback. However if Bryant were to make the long kick, it would be a two score game, and essentially ice the win and make the Falcons 11-1. Bryant was clutch, putting the kick right dead centre of the uprights and sealing the victory for Atlanta. He had a rough week a couple weeks ago, but for the most part Bryant has been clutch all year for the Falcons, and it shows in the number of close victories that Atlanta has pulled out.
Seattle Seahawks at Chicago Bears: The Seahawks were leading this one 17-14 with just 20 seconds left and had the Bears pinned back deep at their own 14 yard line. We’ve seen this happen on many occassions, the only thing that can burn the Seahawks at this point is the big play and so they were playing 3 deep zone in the ultimate prevent defence. Despite that Brandon Marshall was able to get open for a 56 yard pass from Jay Cutler. This wasn’t a jump ball that a great wide receiver made a great catch on, as can so often be the case where these last second hail mary type plays work. Marshall was quite simply wide open and even gained more yards after the catch, turning it into a 56 yard play and setting up a game tying Field Goal for the Bears. Pete Carroll was fuming at his defence as there is absolutely no way a receiver should get that open, and be able to make this kind of game changer, given the score and the situation.
credit: Larry Maurer, wiki commonsOvertime: The Seahawks drove the first possession of overtime down the field, eventually ending up with a 3rd and 10 at Bears 25. A stop here would force the Seahawks into the field goal, and give the Bears the chance to again tie the game, or even win it in OT. Rookie Quarterback Russell Wilson was in trouble forced to scramble out of the pocket to avoid the ferocious Bears pass rush. He found Doug Baldwin open on the left side of the field for a 15 yard gain, and the first down. It was a great scramble by Wilson to keep the play alive and a great job by Baldwin in following his quarterback and giving him a big target to hit. One play later the Seahawks won the game on a Wilson to Sidney Rice touchdown toss, but without this play, it would have been a Field Goal and the Bears still would’ve had the chance to tie or win the game.
Arizona Cardinals @ New York Jets: Jets starting quarterback Mark Sanchez was just having an awful day in this one, just 10 of 21 passing for 97 yards and 3 interceptions. It was late in the third quarter and the Jets were losing 3-0 when finally coach Rex Ryan pulled the plug on his em battered starting QB. With Tim Tebow unavailable due to injury, Ryan brought in third string Quarterback Greg McElroy who led the Jets down the field going 5/7 passing and hitting Jeff Cumberland for a go ahead (and eventually game winning touchdown). Is this the changing of the guard, and the end of the Sanchez era in New York? Only time will tell, but this was certainly the right move on a day where Sanchez just didn’t have it.
Indianapolis Colts @ Detroit Lions: The Colts came from 12 points down with under 3 minutes remaining to win this game over Detroit. It was certainly an exciting finish with Andrew Luck capping off his 391 yards passing and 4 touchdown day, with a game winning 14 yard TD pass to Donnie Avery on 4th down and with no time left on the clock. And while Andrew Luck gets our game changer this week, it wasn’t for what he did with his arms, it was a great play to keep the game winning drive alive that he made with his legs. With 37 seconds left, and the ball at the Detroit 40 yard line, Luck was pressured in the pocket and couldn’t find an open man down the field. Poised, Luck scrambled to his right and took off for 16 yards down the sideline, getting the first down and stopping the clock by getting out of bands. We all know how great Andrew Luck is and has been this season, and there have been a ton of comparisons between him and Peyton Manning, but I think football fans have to remember that Luck actually is far more mobile than Manning has ever been, and he has another dimension to his game, and it certainly helped him in engineering this victory for the Colts.
Pittsburgh Steelers @ Baltimore Ravens: This was a game full of momentum swings, and to no one’s surprise, those momentum changing plays were turnovers. With the score tied at 13, Charlie Batch found Emmanuel Sanders wide open on a crossing route. He took the ball into Baltimore territory and there was not a Raven within 10 yards of him as he looked to have the room to run for a lot more. Inexplicably though, Sanders fumbled shortly after crossing the mid-field stripe. There was no one near him, and absolutely no reason for the fumble. This mistake would prove costly for the Steelers as Ed Reed would recover the Fumble, and a little over 2 minutes later Ray Rice was waltzing into the Steelers Endzone for the go ahead score.
With 11 minutes left it appeared the Ravens had all the momentum and were well on their way to sealing the game. The Steelers had threatened, but an ill-advised pass by Charlie Batch led to an Ed-Reed interception in the endzone and seemed to seal the deal for the Ravens. However on the ensuing possession, James Harrison would be our game changer, getting to Joe Flacco on a 3rd and 5 at the Baltimore 32 yard line and stripping him of the ball. The fumble was recovered by Zach Hood and the Steelers had great field position. This would give the Steelers the spark they needed and a Heath Miller Touchdown would tie the game on this drive. A few minutes later it was Sean Suisham winning the game on a last second field goal. We say it all the time, but Turnovers are monster plays in the NFL, week in and week out.
Thanks for reading and don’t forget to tune in to our show, NFL Sunday Blitz Package every Sunday night at 7:30 pm, on the blogtalkradio.com/lastwordradio. Also tune in to Beyond the Field on Mondays from 8-10pm as I’ll be joining their hosts Priest and St. Peter in running down NFL Game Changers.
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