Chris Mortensen - Week 14: Playoffs elusive for Rams, Colts, 'Skins, Bills


	Dan Patrick Show Chris Mortensen talks about Week 14's four 200-yard rushers. wav: 399 k Real: 14.4 \| 28.8 \| 56.6 The Morning Show Chris Mortensen feels that a healthy Miami Dolphins team can become a Super Bowl contender. wav: 484 k Real: 14.4 \| 28.8 \| 56.6 The Morning Show The future doesn't look so bright for the 8-5 St. Louis Rams, according to Chris Mortensen. wav: 473 k Real: 14.4 \| 28.8 \| 56.6 The Morning Show How strong are the Eagles, Giants and the rest of the NFC? Mort breaks it down. wav: 332 k Real: 14.4 \| 28.8 \| 56.6 Dan Patrick Show Chris Mortensen analyzes the Redskins' coaching situation. wav: 1519 k Real: 14.4 \| 28.8 \| 56.6


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Week 14: Playoffs elusive for Rams, Colts, 'Skins, Bills

Patriots 30, Chiefs 24: I must confess. I fell asleep at halftime. I saw the highlights on SportsCenter. Drew Bledsoe showed that he can still play the game. I don't know why Elvis Grbac didn't throw into the end zone at the end of the game. Chiefs coach Gunther Cunningham keeps saying that the team's mistakes "are eating away at me." Pretty soon, there will be nothing left of Cunningham.


	Curtis Martin's 2-yard run capped the Jets' scoring in the fourth quarter and ensured a win over the Colts.

Jets 27, Colts 17: Colts coach Jim Mora probably thought he had coached in this league long enough to have seen it all. Somehow, I just don't think he ever envisioned his center, Jeff Saturday, dribbling a ball on a shotgun snap that would allow the opportunistic Jets to clinch this crucial AFC East game. There were some pretty positive signs for the Jets. Not only did Curtis Martin prove he is healthy with 203 rushing yards, but QB Vinny Testaverde delivered one of his better efforts with 295 passing yards. Testaverde's perfect 30-yard throw to Dedric Ward staked the Jets to a 14-0 lead ,and while Martin took over from there, Colts RB Edgerrin James was effectively iced. This game again underscored why the Colts have fallen well short of expectations. Their defense has but one real playmaker (linebacker Mike Peterson). They get few takeaways (although rookie David Macklin did pick Testaverde once). Peyton Manning and the Colts' offense must be perfect under these conditions. Martin, with some help from his splendid offensive line, showed why he's still a viable MVP candidate and certainly worthy of any Pro Bowl consideration. A Jets' loss here and the Miami Dolphins might have wrapped up the division title. The Colts not only won't win the division, their playoff hopes are shaky, and that's being generous.

Dolphins 33, Bills 6: Tell the truth, did you really expect that the Dolphins would win back-to-back road games in Indianapolis and Buffalo? And how about this -- Miami (10-3) has a chance to steal home-field advantage in the AFC. If the Dolphins can win out, they have only two conference losses compared to three for the other 10-3 AFC teams, Oakland and Tennessee. Sure, it's a tall order because the Dolphins' remaining games (Bucs, Colts and Pats) are far tougher than what confronts the Titans and Raiders, but they are now starting to loom larger as a Super Bowl contender. Here's the thing about the Dolphins -- they are a pretty healthy team at the right time of the season. In fact, Sunday was the first time Miami had its original projected 22 starters on the field. QB Jay Fiedler (three TD passes) and RB Lamar Smith (100 yards) showed why their presence makes the Dolphins a better team. The defense, with its hounding front four and a great secondary, forced Rob Johnson into his worse game with two interceptions (he had thrown only three all year). The Bills should not be slammed too hard. Hard as they tried to ignore the injuries that have hit them on the defensive side, their deficiencies were too substantive to overcome them.

Giants 9, Redskins 7: Jim Fassel and Norv Turner are headed down different paths after this one. Fassel is starting to look like a genius. The Giants coach is putting his money where his mouth is, and now the Giants are in position to capture the NFC East. Great game plan by defensive coordinator John Fox. The Giants were thoroughly in control of this one. They ran the football effectively and shut down Stephen Davis. It was such domination by the Giants that Turner had no choice but to call on Jeff George for a spark. George provided it, to the point where it became obvious that he probably should have replaced an ineffective Brad Johnson earlier in the game. (I thought George handled himself with class afterwards by refusing to gloat). The Giants harassed Johnson all day as the Redskins' blocking woes were again evident. The most predictable thing that has happened to the Redskins? Their shelter for wayward kickers has not only cost Turner his job, but owner Daniel Snyder his dream of playing for a Super Bowl. Eddie Murray? Good guy. Even a funny guy. Nobody's laughing in the nation's capital. All that money, Mr. Snyder, and you couldn't buy yourself a kicker like Joe Nedney, who surely would have had your team with a healthy lead in the NFC East. Shame, shame.

Titans 15, Eagles 13: Titans coach Jeff Fisher has been fairly easy on veteran kicker Al Del Greco, but he did finally suggest to Del Greco during the week that enough was enough. Del Greco answered like a pro, kicking five field goals, including a game-winning 50-yarder under the most hostile environment of Philly's Veteran Stadium. The Titans controlled a good portion of the game (they had the ball almost 39 minutes), but the Eagles were again extremely well-coached by Andy Reid and defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. How do they do it? Eagles QB Donovan McNabb also made a point about his ability to play the position. The Titans controlled most of his scrambling, but he made enough key throws to put his team in position to win. McNabb's counterpart, Titans QB Steve McNair, somehow overcame what could have been a catastrophic knee injury to deliver a pretty nice game. Still, McNair is going to need another receiver aside from Derrick Mason to deliver some big plays. Isn't it about time for Carl Pickens to show up?

Steelers 21, Raiders 20: That was a pretty interesting sight, Steelers coach Bill Cowher cozying up to QB Kordell Stewart at the end of this one. Somehow, I just don't think Stewart will ever forget how he was treated by the coach at the end of last year, not to mention when Cowher allowed Kent Graham to "win" the starting job to open this season. Nevertheless, Stewart was a hero, about as big as he could ever be in Pittsburgh, when he returned to start the second half after suffering a knee injury. He's playing like a guy with no worries. As for the Raiders, they were in position to win. In fact, Sebastian Janikowski was in position to put Oakland ahead when he missed a 44-yarder late in the game. Here's what the Raiders must worry about -- they couldn't stop Jerome Bettis (128 yards, 24 carries), and they're about to face the Jets' Curtis Martin, who runs behind a better line.

Panthers 16, Rams 3: What can you say? The Rams aren't going to the playoffs at this rate. In fact, if they don't beat the Vikings this week, I'm beginning to wonder whether they will finish the year with six straight losses. Kurt Warner showed the effects of a five-week layoff. Two interceptions, no big problem. Four picks, that's a problem. But let's salute the Panthers, who have battled their way back to 6-7, in spite of injuries. When they beat the Rams five weeks ago in St. Louis, cynics noted that Warner and Marshall Faulk were on the sidelines. Not this time. George Seifert and defensive coordinator John Marshall had their team in all the right spots. How do you hold the Rams to a field goal? Along with their dominance of the Packers on Monday night, it was a great parlay week for the Panthers.


	Wideout Rod Smith's 14-yard catch helped set up the Broncos' first score in the first quarter.

Broncos 38, Saints 23: Mike Shanahan told me last week that his faith in rookie Mike Anderson was starting to grow, "the way it did with Olandis Gary last year." Well, I guess Anderson's 251 yards rushing and four TDs has grown that faith into legendary proportions. Anderson was terrific, but how many times can we cite the genius of Shanahan and line coach Alex Gibbs? The play calling, the blocking scheme and the execution was just unbelievable. This is not an offensive line loaded with talent, but none plays with greater technique, which is an absolute tribute to Gibbs. They took this vaunted Saints' defense and turned it upside down for almost 500 yards total offense, which helps when you have a defense as shaky as Denver's. New Orleans gets its bubble burst a little here, but maybe we should have expected it. Just by the way the Raiders handled the Saints a couple of weeks ago, we should have known the Broncos might do the same. The NFC West is not the AFC West. The Saints are 8-5 overall, but 1-3 vs. the AFC West. The good news is that their remaining three games are all inside the division against the 49ers, Falcons and Rams.

Bucs 27, Cowboys 7: Sure, the Cowboys have the worst rush defense in football, but Warrick Dunn is showing he is capable and willing to carry the load for the Bucs. This was the second straight game that Shaun King had under 100 yards passing, but he also had no interceptions for the second week, too. The Bucs need to find a way for Dunn to break the Dolphins' backs. After all, the Bucs (8-5) are now tied with the Lions for second place in the NFC Central, and they surely can sense that it's wide open out there.

49ers 45, Chargers 17: Jeff Garcia had a very nice game and dropped a couple of touchdown passes on Jerry Rice. On the other side, Ryan Leaf put on a dreadful display in the fourth quarter with four interceptions that should send a message to Chargers president Dean Spanos -- enough is enough!

Jaguars 48, Browns 0: Fred Taylor has been so good (seven straight 100-yard games) that it makes you pretty convinced that if he had only been healthy from the start, all the headaches the Jaguars experienced this season would not have been of migraine proportions. The Browns are so pitiful on offense, it's hard to describe. They aren't playing with a whole lot of bona fide NFL players. Browns coach Chris Palmer understands that, but he also knows his ice is getting thinner. Owner Al Lerner said after last week's drumming to Baltimore that, "This can't happen next year." Wonder what he said after this one.

Seahawks 30, Falcons 10: Mike Holmgren may not get to the playoffs this year, but his Seahawks do have a chance to be a player in December. They play the Broncos, Raiders and Bills -- all in the playoff hunt -- and don't expect that they will embarrass themselves. The Falcons have a bye this week. Any way to extend that through the rest of the season?

Bengals 24, Cardinals 13: Does Bengals GM Mike Brown understand that every week he waits to sign Corey Dillon to a new contract, he costs himself more money? Dillon is a wonderful back, but other than Cardinals Pro Bowl cornerback Aeneas Williams, I'm not sure he even played a junior varsity team from Arizona.

Packers 28, Bears 6: I just wonder whether the Packers realize how they blew it Monday night in Carolina. They might have made it very interesting down the stretch.

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