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Shutdown Corner on the Lions

  • Yesterday's five most valuable players: Lions, Raiders and Cheifs

    Matthew Stafford(notes), Quarterback, Detroit Lions. Is there any better scenario for a rookie quarterback? In just one play, he labels himself as tough, clutch, poised, a gamer and possessor of any other vague, non-quantifiable quality a quarterback can have. At the very least, that play earns him a pass from the media for the rest of the year. He can go totally JaMarcus over the next six games, completing 19 percent of his passes, throwing zero touchdowns and 27 interceptions, and everyone will still say, "Yeah, but did you see that Cleveland game? This kid is destined for greatness."

    Nnamdi Asomugha(notes), Cornerback, Oakland Raiders. Someone from Oakland deserves to be in here. I could go with Bruce Gradkowski(notes), but I figure JaMarcus Russell(notes) doesn't need another swift kick to the self-esteem right now. I'll take Nnamdi, who shut down Chad Ochocinco(notes) yesterday. Chad had four catches on the day, with only one of them coming against Asomugha. It was a fantastic day all around for the Oakland defense, as Carson Palmer(notes) was held easily in check, and the Raiders got more pressure on the quarterback than they usually do.

    Eli Manning(notes), Quarterback, New York Giants. Welcome back, young man. Instead of a big explanation, here's a handy graph illustrating Eli's quarterback performance by game this season:

    Graphs are fun and educational.

    Andy Studebaker(notes), Linebacker, Kansas City Chiefs. Studebaker's two interceptions of Ben Roethlisberger(notes) yesterday were the biggest factors in the Chiefs' shocking upset of the Steelers. The second-year man out of Wheaton College made the first start of his NFL career yesterday, and I'm predicting that he'll keep his two-interceptions-per-game pace up for the next ten years or so. I don't think that's unreasonable to expect at all.

    Leigh Bodden(notes), Cornerback, New England Patriots. His last name might be as fun to say as Studebaker's, but Bodden actually topped him with three interceptions yesterday against the Jets. As a sidenote, how insane was yesterday? This was probably the most talked about game through the week, and we had so much other crazy stuff go down yesterday that no one's even talking about the Patriots' spanking of the Jets.

  • Punch to the gut: AFC North teams go 0-4 in agonizing Week 11

    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.

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