All four teams in the AFC North lost today in as gut-wrenching a fashion as you could imagine. It'd be bad enough for an entire division to go winless (especially when said division is arguably the best in the NFL), but for each of the four teams to lose games in which they held fourth-quarter leads, well that's a whole new level of disappointment.

Shutdown Corner recounts the carnage, listing the games in order of least to most crushing:

Baltimore Ravens 15, Indianapolis Colts 17 – The box score doesn't look too bad: A two-point loss to the undefeated Colts is nothing to hang your head at. But when you consider that the eventual game-winner for Indy was kicked by Matt Stover(notes), the long-time Ravens vet who was cut in the offseason and that the Ravens replacement for Stover's replacement missed a 30-yarder in the third quarter, then it hurts a bit. Throw in a first-and-goal from the 1-yard line that resulted in a field goal and, ouch.

Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Kansas City Chiefs 30 (OT) – Losing while giving up two touchdown returns of 95+ yards, dropping an interception before the play that put the Chiefs in overtime field-goal range, having another possible concussion suffered by Ben Roethlisberger(notes), outgaining their opponent by 257 yards and holding the ball for 19 more minutes than their opponent would all be bad enough. But when it comes against the woeful Chiefs, that's a whole other level.

Cleveland Browns 37, Detroit Lions 38 – We already recapped this one earlier today on Shutdown Corner. The Browns have the distinction of being the only NFL team to lose this year after the clock hit zero while they had the lead. But a pass interference penalty gave the Lions another untimed down and the rest is another chapter of Cleveland infamy. For any other team this would have rated as the biggest stomach punch of the day. But, for Browns fans, it's just another regular Sunday.

Cincinnati Bengals 17, Oakland Raiders 20 – This game was done. The division-leading Bengals held a seven-point lead with under one minute to go and the hapless Raiders, led by a quarterback (Bruce Gradkowski(notes)) who hadn't thrown a touchdown pass since 2006, were facing fourth-and-10 from near midfield. But, just like that, Chaz Schilens(notes) hauled in a first-down reception and then, on the next throw, Gradkowski hit Louis Murphy(notes) for the game-tying score. So it was going to overtime. Except that Andre Caldwell(notes) fumbled the kick return with 27 seconds remaining and the Raiders recovered and kicked a game-winning field goal 11 seconds later. From one play from victory to one return from overtime to another crushing loss, all in a span of 43 seconds. On the bright side, at least Cincy knows how to deal with late-game disappointment.

In the first half of a big divisional game against the New England Patriots, the New York Jets came out sluggish, getting outscored by 17 points and converting just two first downs over the first 30 minutes. Maybe it's because the team is still tired from last night.

Late last night, a fire alarm was pulled in the Jets' team hotel, rousing members of the team out of their slumber and forcing them to vacate their rooms. Except there was no fire and it was the Jets' team hotel. You do the math.

According to the time stamp on a tweet from tight end Dustin Keller, the fire alarm was pulled around 1 a.m.:

So much for a good nights sleep..the alarm just went off in our teams hotel hahaha grown men walking around the hallway in their draws haha

He's pretty good-natured about it. I certainly wouldn't give one "ha" about getting awakened in the middle of the night, let alone three. Especially if I was wearing "draws." 

Cornerback Kerry Rhodes(notes) also posted a tweet about the late-night wake-up call, but he waited until the morning to share:

you know we are playing new england when in the middle of the night when u r sleep somebody pulls a fire alarm to wake u up!! wow!!

The same thing happened to the Buffalo Bills before a Week 1 game in New England. It sounds like there's a fan (or fans) who still like to pull middle school pranks to help support the team. Or maybe it's not a fan at all. Judging by his past history, I wonder if Bill Belichick has an alibi for last night?  

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Over the past decade, the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns have been the two worst teams in the NFL. This year has been no different, as entering today they were a combined 2-16 on the season. It only stood to reason that their battle today would be one of attrition. Almost everyone figured it would be a snoozer not even worthy of getting attention on NFL Redzone. Instead, it was one of the most entertaining games of 2009.

The Lions scored a touchdown on the final play of the game to earn a thrilling 38-37 victory over the visiting Browns. But, of course, in true Detroit-Cleveland fashion, the game ended with two colossal errors (each by the Browns). 

On the final play of the game, a Matthew Stafford(notes) pass fell incomplete and the Browns began to celebrate their second win of the year. But Hank Poteat(notes) was flagged for pass interference, which gave the Lions another down with no time on the clock.

There's more: On the Poteat play, Stafford was hit when he released the ball and stayed down on the field in obvious pain. The rookie clutched his non-throwing shoulder as he ran off the field and was replaced for the final play by Daunte Culpepper(notes). With a cold Culpepper under center, the Lions prepared to snap the ball from the 1-yard line with the clock reading zeroes to get the go-ahead score. Amazingly, Cleveland called timeout before Culpepper could get the snap. This stoppage allowed Stafford to come back in the game and he promptly hit Brandon Pettigrew(notes) for the game-tying touchdown. A Jason Hanson(notes) extra point sealed the game.

Not that anyone should expect good coaching decisions by Eric Mangini, but that timeout was borderline criminal. Culpepper had to rush onto the field with no warning, having stood on the sideline for the previous three hours. The Lions had no timeouts and were in the confusing spot of having to run another play after having thought the game had ended. Sure, the Browns had to do the same on the defensive side, but the burden is on the offense. The last thing any coach wants to do in that situation is give an unprepared team time to regroup. 

Among the amazing stats from the rest of the game:

• The Browns scored 13 more points today (37) than they had in two-thirds of their other games combined (24).

• Matthew Stafford (five) and Brady Quinn(notes) (four) combined to throw nine touchdown passes. Coming into today the former first-round picks had a total of nine touchdown passes in their careers. 

• Cleveland was averaging 214 yards of offense per game. The Browns gained 439 against Detroit.

• With the win, the Lions avoided becoming the first NFL team in history to go 2-32 over a 34-game stretch.

• Detroit's defense was statistically the worst in the NFL before today. After today: Yeah, they're still the worst. But how about that offense?!

• Unless they were in attendance, most Lions fans couldn't see the victory. Because it wasn't a sellout, the game was blacked out in the Detroit area. 

Stating that "there's nothing else to say", Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith has refused a Bob Costas interview request in anticipation of the Bears Sunday Night Football game. Jay Cutler(notes) and Bears general manager Jerry Angelo will also be unavailable to the network.

It sounds like a simple enough decision. The Bears have already been on NBC three times this year. They're in the midst of a difficult year and probably don't feel like answering any more questions aboout it. Blow off the interview, say it's because you want to focus and no big deal, right? 

Look, we know these pre-game interviews are next-to-worthless. Costas (or whomever) lobs in some softball questions, the athlete or coach talks about working hard and the desire to win and how the next opponent will be tough, there's a jokey question or two and then it's over. In almost all of these talks, nothing remotely interesting ever happens. 

But doing these interviews are part of the job. NBC pays hundreds of millions to broadcast games, money which ends up in the very deep pockets of Cutler, Angelo and Smith. The least they can do is throw a bone to Costas and give NBC some soundbites. (For what it's worth, Costas says he doesn't mind.)

An obligation to a television partner isn't the biggest problem. This thing was so foolish because it was so obviously going to become a problem. Instead of answering questions about the game for a few minutes, they're going to have to answer questions about not answering questions for the next three days. They should have thought of it like going to the in-laws for Thanksgiving. You'd rather do something else, but you know the fallout would be too great, so you suck it up and do it.

It's also a bad decision by Smith and Angelo to bring Cutler into the fold on this one. Like the new Bears quarterback doesn't have enough image problems in that city and nationwide. Now he needs to be pegged as a petulant, pampered star who won't talk to the media because he had a bad game against the 49ers? The last thing Cutler needs is to give the public more reasons to dislike him.

 Thanks, The Sporting Blog

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John Mara will apparently be having some whine with his Thanksgiving dinner.

The New York Daily News reports that the New York Giants owner has issued a formal complaint to the NFL because he feels his team will be at a competitive disadvantage in its Thanksgiving night game at the Denver Broncos. His issue: The Giants will have to travel the 1,779 miles from New York to the Mile High City on a short week.

Boo-freakin'-hoo.

There's no doubting that Thursday games are inconvenient for teams, but it's part of the life in the NFL. Plus, I doubt John Mara is whining when his cut of NFL Network revenue comes in. The only reason we have night games on Thanksgiving (and other Thursdays throughout the year) is to show games on the television network the owners control. To complain about that is like Al Davis complaining about Raiders draft picks. 

Not only that, but the Giants alleged travel woes aren't even that bad. Of the nine midweek games this year, the G-Men only have the fourth-longest distance to travel. Three teams will have farther journeys for their Thursday games (or, in the case of the Chargers, a Friday game):

Bears: 2,132 miles from Chicago to San Francisco

Chargers: 2,023 miles from San Diego to Nashville

Raiders: 1,812 from Oakland to Dallas

And let's not forget that in 2005 the NFL awarded an extra home game to the Giants because of the damage done to the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina. I'd say that was worth a quick holiday trip halfway across the country.

Thanks, Pro Football Talk

Jon Gruden signed a "long-term" extension today with ESPN that will keep him on Monday Night Football and other network broadcasts for the "forseeable future". In Washington, Cleveland, South Bend, Louisville and all other football towns that will have possible coaching vacancies this off-season, there was much fretting that Gruden's new deal means he won't be available to take over those teams. In the words of another ESPN personality, "not so fast, my friend."

Here's part of Gruden's statement, which was released via ESPN this afternoon:

"Working with Mike, [Ron Jaworski] and our entire Monday Night Football team is the most fun I have had in years, and I am fired up to make this long-term commitment to ESPN. Monday Night Football is special and I look forward to remaining a part of it and continuing to call these great games."

That comment is more telling for what it doesn't say than what it does say. Gruden never addresses whether he's fully committed to the MNF booth for 2010, let alone "long-term", he never says he won't listen to offers and he never says he won't someday go back to coaching. All he says is that he's made a "long-term commitment". The lack of specifics is telling.

Bob Glauber of Newsday reports that industry sources say Gruden told ESPN he's definitely in for 2010, if not 2011, and I have no doubt that Gruden said that. I also have no doubt that he's being totally honest about his intentions. But Brett Favre(notes) thought he'd stay retired both times too, you know? People change their minds. It's human nature.

You don't think if Dan Snyder or Jerry Jones or Notre Dame boosters offer Gruden $10 million per year and the chance to resurrect some of the most historic teams in football history that he's not at least going to listen? He's a football coach without any good reason (that we know of) not to coach football. The comparison to John Madden is thrown around a lot, but Madden stayed out of coaching for a very specific reason: He hated to fly. 

I don't know what's going on in Gruden's mind. Maybe he loves the life of a broadcaster, who knows. But nothing he's done in his decade in the spotlight has indicated he's the type of guy who will be content to sit in production meetings with Eli Manning(notes) on Fridays instead of game-planning for an upcoming opponent.

Today's developments do nothing to shake my belief that Gruden will be back on the sidelines by 2011, at the latest. Although maybe I'm just projecting my hope that he does because, as I wrote last month, as a broadcaster, Gruden is a great ex-coach.

Bill Belichick's swagger and arrogance helped the New England Patriots to three Super Bowl titles earlier this decade. Sunday night, those attributes put a big dent in the team's quest for a fourth.

Nursing a six-point lead with 2:08 to go, Belichick decided to go for it on fourth-and-2 from his own 28 instead of punting the ball and making Peyton Manning(notes) and the Indianapolis Colts go 80 yards for the score. The fourth-down play failed, the Colts took over possession and scored with ease, winning their ninth straight game to start the season and getting in the driver's seat for home-field advantage in the AFC.

Personally, I appreciated the call when it happened, mainly because I like watching teams take risks. But this wasn't the spot to go all-in. It was too risky.

You go for it on the Colts' 38, not your own 28. That would be daring, but not stupid. Going for it from your own 28 fits both categories. A 70 percent fourth-down success rate (which is about what the Patriots have had in the past five years) is a good bet most of the time, but not if 30 percent of the time puts Peyton Manning eight yards away from the red zone after the two-minute warning.

Punting would have put Peyton about 80 yards away, so there still would have been plenty of time for him to march down the field and get the game-winning touchdown. But there would have been plenty of work left to do. When the Pats failed to get the first down, it felt like the Colts had already scored that TD even though they were 28 yards away. I don't think anyone involved in that game thought any differently. The mental aspect of it was huge. It wasn't just that the Patriots gave Peyton the ball back, it's that they were mentally defeated the instant they did. 

Heck, maybe that was the case before the play too. The Pats have always embraced Belichick's swagger, but when the call came in to go for fourth-and-2 from their own 28, it wouldn't have surprised me if a few thought, "wait ... what?!" to themselves before breaking the huddle. Suddenly, the team isn't as confident as it once would have been. 

After the game former Pats safety Rodney Harrison(notes) said on NBC that going for it was the "worst decision" he's ever seen Belichick make. Tony Dungy, normally one to hedge his criticisms of former colleagues, said the Pats "had to punt in that situation." It was the kind of call that's so bad that if it was made by your friend during a game of Madden, you'd say, "come on, play for real."

The post-game chatter all put the blame squarely on Belichick (and he admitted to it), but NBC cameras captured Brady saying something to Belichick before the play that caused the coach to smirk and give one of those "that's not a bad idea ..." smiles. It was a bad idea ... a really bad idea. It may have worked and it may have won the game, but its failure almost assured a loss.

When his career is done, Bill Belichick will go down as one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. You wouldn't know it from watching the fourth quarter last night.

Setting off fireworks indoors is about as good an idea as not trying to pressure Peyton Manning(notes) or giving Randy Moss(notes) a 15-yard cushion off the line of scrimmage. But, that didn't stop Indianapolis Colts employees from celebrating the team's first touchdown in tonight's game versus the New England Patriots by lighting a few pyrotechnics. Some of those remnants then fell to the ground and burned the artificial grass at Lucas Oil Field.

Someone from the sideline put out the blaze with a Gatorade bottle, but the fire burned long enough for NBC cameras to pick it up and for people nationwide to make jokes ranging from the lame to the obvious Billy Madison reference.

There was only one way the New York Jets were going to get the ball back late in their game with the Jacksonville Jaguars today and it involved letting Jags running back Maurice Jones-Drew score a touchdown. Despite holding a one-point lead with under two minutes remaining, the Jets were without a timeout and were conceding a Jags score in hopes of returning the kickoff and driving down for a game-winning score of their own.

MJD wasn't fooled.

Instead of running into the end zone for a 10-yard TD run on first down with 1:48 left in the game, Jones-Drew alertly fell at the 1-yard line to keep the clock moving. Two kneel-downs later, the Jags brought out kicker Josh Scobee, who booted a game-winning 21-yard field goal as time expired.

It was reminiscent of the play in 2007 when Brian Westbrook did the same thing to preserve a Philadelphia Eagles victory. However, Westbrook's was a less-obvious move (the Eagles would have been up two scores had he scored). MJD's was just good football strategy (unless, of course, Scobee misses the kick), but that didn't stop him from apologizing for the move. After the game he said:

"We knew they were pretty much going to let us score. So the coach said to just take a knee. Sorry to my fantasy owners, I apologize."

Coming into today, MJD was the No. 1 overall fantasy running back in most Yahoo! leagues. Therefore, if MJD is going to apologize for anything it should be for bailing on the touchdown celebration he planned with Yahoo! last week and pulling a turtle from his pants (see the video after the jump):

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The injury reports from today's games read like a who's who of recent NFL standouts. An All-Pro safety, the starting quarterback off a division leader, three starting running backs from playoff contenders and two long-time offensive lineman were among the carnage in a day that could come back to haunt a number of teams with Super Bowl aspirations.

The list of the fallen include:

Cedric Benson(notes) (RB, Cincinnati Bengals) -- Hip

Ronnie Brown(notes) (RB, Miami Dolphins) -- Ankle

Marc Colombo(notes) (T, Dallas Cowboys) -- Broken leg

Jordan Gross(notes) (T, Carolina Panthers) -- Ankle

Julius Jones(notes) (RB, Seattle Seahawks) -- Chest

Kyle Orton(notes) (QB, Denver Broncos) -- Ankle

Michael Turner(notes) (RB, Atlanta Falcons) =- Ankle

Brian Westbrook(notes) (RB, Philadelphia Eagles) -- Concussion

Orton will reportedly miss next week's game, Turner and Benson are said to have potentially "serious" injuries and Westbrook's concussion was his second in 20 days. His loss wouldn't devastate the Eagles (at this point, it's almost a surprise when he does play), but prolonged absences by the others could mean the difference between a postseason berth or mid-January tee times.

Today's list isn't out of the ordinary or anything. The crawl on SportsCenter every Monday morning shows more medical conditions than it does scores. However, days like today should remind the NFL that it's hard enough for players to get through a 16-game season, let alone the 18-game season that Roger Goodell would love to expand to.