The Baltimore Ravens had a remarkable run through last season's playoffs, including the Super Bowl, with an explosive offensive performance to compliment their usually stellar defense.
And the Detroit Lions are known as a mostly offensive team, with the potential to enjoy an explosive game at any moment.
So, you might have expected that the Monday Night Football game battle between the two, with so much on the line for both teams, that they would light up the boards.
Not so. When the dust settled, the two teams had combined for 34 points total. Hardly an offensive display.
Yet, it was an entertaining game to watch, going back and forth. The Ravens were down early in the first half, and despite a lack of ability to get into the end zone, they hung in there, even taking the lead just before the half, by relying on field positioning, in order to set up their very solid placekicker, Justin Tucker, for field goals.
Tucker was undeniably the star for the Baltimore Ravens on this night, kicking six field goals, which accounted for all of Baltimore's points. That included the game-winning field goal in the final minute of play, from 61 yards out, before a stunned audience in Detroit!
For Baltimore, the win was crucial. Not only does this mean that they stay ahead of the Miami Dolphins in the playoff race, but it also means that they are in control of their own destiny and can still win the division, if they win their remaining games, including a huge showdown in Cincinnati in the final week of play.
Still, that is not likely to be easy, especially since their other game is against New England.
As for Detroit, this loss sank them to third place in the NFC North. Instead of being tied with the Chicago Bears atop the division, and being in control of their own fate as a result of having swept them, the Lions now are behind both the Bears and the Packers. They obviously would need to win their two remaining games, against the Giants and at Minnesota, and hope that both the Bears and Packers lose at least once each, in order to secure a division title that they seemed in good position to win through much of this season.
Now, the only thing the Lions have is uncertainty.
Tough loss. But unfortunately, Detroit is used to it.
Dez Bryant
I was able to catch the last few minutes of that incredible game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. It was one of the most unbelievable ends to a game that I have ever seen, and there were a lot of elements to it that made it quite memorable.
But one of the images that I was struck by at the time was that of the Cowboys star wide receiver Dez Bryant walking off the field and into the locker room literally right after Tony Romo's final interception that clinched the victory for Green Bay.
My initial reaction was that this was huge, and telling. He seems, frankly, like a selfish player. And walking off the field while there is still time left on the clock? It seemed almost like a new low.
But, he had an explanation.
Here, taken from Aaron Wilson's Baltimore Sun article "Dez Bryant leaves field early, says he was 'emotional'" (http://sports.yahoo.com/news/dez-bryant-leaves-field-early-184100365--nfl.html), Bryant himself explains, in his own words, what happened:
"I walked back to the locker room because I was emotional," Bryant wrote on Twitter. "It had nothing to do with my teammates we had it... We fought and didn't finish."
Today, Bryant apologized for leaving
early.
“I was wrong,” Bryant said, per ESPN
Dallas. “It didn’t have anything to do with my teammates. I couldn’t
watch Green Bay kneel the ball down on the field after a tough loss like that.
I was very emotional. I cried when I got into the locker room. I didn’t want to
show that stuff on the sideline. ..
“Whenever I’m out on the football field,
it’s all about the team. “I’m a team guy and that’s what I think about and
that’s what I focus on. I extremely, extremely apologize for leaving, but my
teammates and coaches understand. I am a very emotional player and we didn’t
finish. It had nothing to do with my teammates."
I don't know. My personal take is that you stay on the field of play during a game, no matter what. That is what you are paid a lot of money to do. There are obviously going to be disappointments, and even huge ones. I have watched some gut wrenching moments for certain teams in quite a few sports, and do not remember any such reaction like that. Not from any member of the Buffalo Bills, after that field goal sailed wide right, or after any of their four consecutive Super Bowl losses. Not from the old Houston Oilers, who lost to those same Buffalo Bills after holding a 35-3 lead. Not from the Patriots, who went undefeated, only to lose their bid for perfection in the final minute of the final quarter of the Super Bowl. Not from the Denver Broncos last year, when they lost a heartbreaker to the Baltimore Ravens.
And that's just football! There are other sports, and perhaps I am wrong here, but I cannot remember any specific moment when a player from a team simply walked off before the game was still not officially completed, simply because of the emotional strain.
To my mind's eye, Dez Bryant's walking off the field comes dangerously close to hypocrisy, and excessive selfishness. Maybe indeed he was emotional. But there are still rules, and you have to abide by them. Also, you have to have respect for your teammates, and whatever you think about Tony Romo, the fact of the matter is that he is the franchise's quarterback, and Bryant should show some measure of respect and, yes, even support, for his quarterback.
So, for me, there was no excuse for what he did. He can try and justify it with words later on, but it feels to me suspiciously like Terrell Owen's crying fit, saying "That's my quarterback" in regards to Tony Romo, while really, he was rather craftily throwing his quarterback under the bus. Bryant was the only Cowboys player to walk off the field immediately after the interception, when there was still well over one minute of play left. Yes, the Packers were just going to take the knee and run out the clock. That's part of the game, though. And until the game is over, you stay on the field unless you are injured. And since Dez Bryant failed to do so, that lends his actions a high degree of suspicion. After all, this is a man with a history of similar controversies.
He should never walk off the field like that again, and the Cowboys, and indeed the league, would be wise to penalize him - up to and including preventing him from collecting his salary for the game, so far as I am concerned. When it hits him where it truly, obviously hurts the most- in his wallet - I am sure he won't allow this kind of thing to happen again, no matter how emotionally wrenching the loss might be.
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