The 2018 NFL regular season came to an end on Sunday, and on
a day that gave us so much relevant action, plenty of blunders stood out.
There were many meaningful games throughout Week 17. One
exception was the Dallas Cowboys’ win over the New York Giants. But while the
game was meaningless, neither coach seemed to realize it. Kirk Cousins had a
rough first year with the Minnesota Vikings. Week 17’s finish was no exception.
The same is true for the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers.
In the final week of the NFL season, we saw some glaring
blunders from good and bad teams, alike. These were the most embarrassing among
them.
JASON GARRETT AND
COWBOYS TAKE MEANINGLESS GAME QUITE SERIOUSLY
The Cowboys entered Sunday as one of only two teams locked
into a playoff spot (the New Orleans Saints were the other). Win, lose, or
draw, Dallas was going to be the No. 4 seed in the NFC. So, why in the world
did Garrett decide to leave many of his starters — including quarterback Dak
Prescott — in for the entire game? To an extent, we get wanting to avoid rust.
But that could be achieved by leaving the starters in for a quarter or even a
half.
That decision was nearly costly. First of all, while
Prescott was playing, some of the best Cowboys’ linemen were not. On top of
that, star linebacker Leighton Vander Esch was actually hurt in the second
half. While the injury didn’t appear to be serious, the fact that he was hurt
at all shows why leaving the starters in was so negligent.
PAT SHURMUR AND
GIANTS PASS ON CHANCE TO SEE YOUNG QB
A season ago, Ben McAdoo, made the controversial decision to not start Eli Manning in a game.
That ended a lengthy consecutive starts streak. Not much positive came out of
that decision. But McAdoo did give Pat Shurmur — the man who eventually took
his job — something of a get out of jail free card. With the streak off the
table, there was no longer any harm in benching Manning in favor of a young
quarterback in a meaningless game, like Sunday’s.
We understand that the Cowboys and Giants are old rivals.
And if a New York win would have hurt Dallas in literally any way, we’d get it.
But that wasn’t the case. This was an opportunity to get Kyle Lauletta reps
against real NFL players, many of them starters, in what amounted to a
glorified preseason game. Shurmur didn’t take it.
KIRK COUSINS LAYS
ONE FINAL EGG IN MUST-WIN GAME
Cousins’ first season under center in Minnesota was, by and
large, a huge disappointment. Fittingly enough, Week 17 didn’t break that
trend. Cousins didn’t turn the ball over. But he was 20-of-32 for only 132
yards. That’s only four yards per attempt and only 6.6 per completion. In the
same game, Chicago Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky had a fairly mediocre
passing effort. Even still, he was at 6.3 yards per attempt and 9.1 per completion.
Cousins being so far below that performance
is just embarrassing. Yes, the Bears defense is phenomenal. But Cousins was
paid like a franchise quarterback. The Vikings, who were one game away from the
Super Bowl a season ago, brought him in to get over the hump against teams like
this. Cousins failed to do that all year. He still had a chance to get
Minnesota into the playoffs, which would have been something of a reset button.
Instead, Cousins was as bland as ever.
RAIDERS START 2018
HOW THEY FINISHED IT…COMPLETELY CLUELESS
To say that Derek Carr and Jared Cook weren’t on the same
page on this pick-six would be a vast understatement. They
were reading two different books in very different languages. With the Raiders
already trailing 7-0 to the Kansas City Chiefs, Carr threw a pass to Cook. It
was intercepted by Daniel Sorenson and returned for a touchdown.
Two things were especially notable about this play. One,
Cook had completely stopped on the play. Almost as if he thought it was a dead
ball. Two, even if Cook hadn’t stopped running, we’re not sure the play would
have been any different. Sorenson was between Carr and Cook, anyway. The 2018
season has been one long blunder for the Raiders. It was only fitting that the
season ended with a beauty like this.
SEAHAWKS WIN BUT
ARE STILL HOPELESS IN PROTECTING RUSSELL WILSON
The Seattle Seahawks defeated the Arizona Cardinals 27-24,
making the winning field goal as time expired. Given that Seattle is heading to
the playoffs, needing that much of an effort to beat the team that landed the
No. 1 draft pick is troubling enough. What’s really problematic for the
Seahawks is that, yet again, the offensive line was badly exposed. Russell
Wilson was sacked six times and hit eight. That’s bad. Imagine how much worse
it would have been if he wasn’t so mobile.
The problem here is that Seattle is now getting ready for
the playoffs. It’s going to play the best teams that the NFL has to offer. And
if the worst team in the NFL can get to Wilson like that, imagine what Demarcus
Lawrence and the rest of the Dallas pass rush will do on Wild Card Weekend.
49ERS LOOK
COMPLETELY LOST IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE
Realistically, the Los Angeles Rams didn’t need a lot of
help to beat San Francisco on Sunday. But the 49ers were more than happy to
assist, anyway. San Francisco’s first two possessions ended in turnovers. As a
result, the Rams jumped out to a 14-0 lead on touchdown drives that went
a combined 20 yards. Another turnover (an interception) ended
the 49ers’ third drive, as well. That didn’t lead to a Rams score but San
Francisco was in the red zone and in position to score at least three. Mind
you, that awful start doesn’t even include a pick-six. One of those came early
in the second quarter.
In the final game of the season, the 49ers came out
completely unprepared and were demolished. We weren’t expecting to see San
Francisco win. But finishing the year on that kind of effort was just dismal.
CHARGERS LEFT
MELVIN GORDON IN DURING MEANINGLESS MINUTES
Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon seems to
have avoided a serious injury. That’s the good news. The bad news is that since
Los Angeles is playing next week (in a playoff game, no less), even a minor
injury is potentially significant. The timing of Gordon’s injury only makes
things worse.
In order for Los Angeles’ game against the Denver Broncos to
mean anything, the Raiders had to upset the Chiefs. Gordon’s injury actually
came after the game in Kansas City went final. Even if it was earlier, it was clear early and often that the Raiders weren’t winning. So, Gordon’s
injury came at a time when there was absolutely no reason for him to be in the
game. Given his recent injury history, playing Gordon at that time was a risk
that Anthony Lynn never should have considered taking.
TITANS AND COLTS
COMBINED FOR SOME DOOZIES
Sunday’s finale between the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee
Titans was filled with blunders. The one that had the biggest impact on
the game’s end result came from Blaine Gabbert. While the Titans were generally
outplayed, they had a chance to tie the Colts in the fourth quarter. But
Tennessee’s drive (and for all intents and purposes, its chances) were halted
by a completely baffling pick from Gabbert. Kenny Moore II’s interception
led to a field goal and a 10-point lead.
Now, it’s not fair to expect Gabbert to be Andrew Luck or
even Marcus Mariota. But we just can’t see what he was trying to do with this
pass. This gaffe ended the game and the Titans’ season.
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