THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE! (NFL)
by Bob Acton of
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The Buccaneers had won four of five and were coming off an encouraging20-10 win on Dec. 11 over Carolina, but were outgained 336-138by the Patriots. Quarterback Chris Simms was 21-for-34 passingfor 155 yards, but had no touchdowns and was sacked seven times.
Tampa Bay was shut out for the first time in 103 games sincea 45-0 loss on Dec. 19, 1999 to the Oakland Raiders. The Bucshad allowed the third fewest points in the league coming in, butgave up its second-most of the season. Carnell "Cadillac" Williams,who entered with five 100-yard performances and 924 yards rushing,gained 23 yards on 14 carries, while the team managed just 30yards on 18 rushes. The Bucs lost 47 yards on sacks.
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The Falcons have lost four of six, includingSunday's 16-3 loss to the Chicago Bears. Vick ran for just 35yards and completed only 13 of 32 passes for 122 yards and notouchdown. He threw two interceptions. he Falcons failed to scorea touchdown for the second time in three games. Their wins areagainst teams with a combined 35-63 record, and their only winagainst a team with a winning record came against Minnesota onOct. 2. Atlanta is one of four 8-6 teams still battling for thefinal NFC wild-card spot. A loss, combined with either a Washingtonor Dallas win, would eliminate Atlanta from the postseason race.
Steve Smith caught one touchdown, ran for anotherand finished with six catches for 85 yards last week as the Panthersmoved one game ahead of the Buccaneers. Jake Delhomme had anothersolid game, going 13-of-22 for 176 yards to pull within two yardsof his third straight 3,000-yard season.
The Panthers have scored 327 points, third-bestin the NFC, and the defense has allowed only 16.0 points per game,second in the conference to Chicago. That opportunistic unit hasalso intercepted 21 passes, with Chris Gamble and Ken Lucas combiningfor 11. Defensive ends Julius Peppers and Mike Rucker lead theteam with 7 1/2 sacks apiece as the Panthers have totaled 35.
A Carolina club rolling toward the playoffs shouldpresent a major challenge for the Cowboys, who have dropped threeof four and were routed 35-7 at archrival Washington last week.
Dallas' erratic play has left the team in thisdesperate situation. The Cowboys are averaging 27.1 points intheir eight wins and 12.3 in their six losses. That uneven playis due in large part to the quarterback position. Drew Bledsoehas thrown for 2,048 yards, 14 touchdowns and just four interceptionswith a 106.8 rating in the wins, but only 1,140 yards with sevenTDs and 10 interceptions for a 61.0 rating in the defeats.
Tiki Barber the Giants running back continuedhis stellar play last week with a team-record and NFL season-high220 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns, powering New Yorkpast Kansas City 27-17 at the Meadowlands.
Barber's fifth straight 100-yard rushing gamegave him a career-best 1,577 yards on the season, surpassing lastyear's 1,518. It was Barber's second 200-yard game of the season,the first coming against Washington, and he did it behind a banged-upoffensive line that was missing starting tackles Luke Petitgout(back) and Kareem McKenzie (hamstring).
Appearing done after falling in overtime to SanDiego on Nov. 27 for their third straight loss, the Redskins arenow in control of their own destiny and can make the playoffsfor the first time since 1999 by winning out. The Giants won'thave much chance of winning this week if they can't do a betterjob than the Cowboys did against the Redskins' pass rush. NFCdefensive player of the week Phillip Daniels had four of Washington'sseven sacks of Drew Bledsoe and added a fumble recovery, and MarcusWashington had two sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.
San Diego lost control of its playoff destinyby falling 23-21 to Miami at home two weeks ago, dropping theChargers into a tie with Pittsburgh for the final wild-card spot.The Steelers hold the tiebreaker over the Chargers, having thembeaten them 24-22 in Week 5. The Chargers are only one game behindJacksonville, but the Jaguars and Steelers have easier schedulesremaining. Jacksonville plays Houston (2-12) and Tennessee (4-10),while Pittsburgh faces Cleveland (5-9) and Detroit (4-10).
The Chargers have played 28 consecutive games,including playoffs, in which they have not lost by more than fourpoints. It is the NFL's second-longest streak behind the 34-gamemark of the Green Bay Packers from 1965-67. RB Larry Johnson extendedhis club record streak with his seventh straight 100-yard rushinggame, gaining 167 yards on 31 carries in the loss to the Giants.He has rushed for 1,019 yards in that span.
This is the first game in regular-season historyto match teams which have combined for at least 25 victories.This game also pits the NFL's highest-scoring teams, with theColts having totaled 409 points and the Seahawks 407. While Indytries to set a franchise record with its 14th victory, Seattleis looking to do the same by getting its 13th. The Seahawks havewon 10 in a row, and are looking to finish with a perfect homerecord for the second time in three seasons.
Hasselbeck is the NFC's highest-rated passerand has been particularly outstanding the last two weeks, completing42 of 52 passes for 511 yards and seven touchdowns with one interception.Last week Shaun Alexander rushed for 172 yards and scored his24th touchdown, three shy of Priest Holmes' NFL record set in2003. He needs 29 rushing yards to break his own team record of1,696 set last season.
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