On another bizarre NFL Sunday, when Seattle lost at home for the first time in two years, Carolina secured its first playoff berth in five years, and a bunch of left-for-dead teams somehow maintained a postseason pulse, something very typical happened:
Peyton Manning threw touchdown passes.
The Denver quarterback threw four of them in a 37-13 rout of Houston, setting an NFL record with his 51st touchdown pass of the season, eclipsing by one the mark set by New England's Tom Brady in 2007.
But put down the chisel. Manning figures he's only renting the record.
"Brady will probably break it next year," he said.
No matter. Manning wasn't looking for records as much as wins, and Sunday's victory was a big one. The Broncos emerged from the weekend as the only team with a guaranteed first-round bye, although they also lost All-Pro linebacker Von Miller to a knee injury, reportedly a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Seattle had a chance to clinch its division, but the Seahawks were stunned at home by Arizona, 17-10.
With one week remaining, both the Broncos and Seahawks remain on track for the No. 1 seeds in their respective conferences, although they have teams hot on their heels.
All four division titles have been claimed in the AFC, by Denver, New England, Cincinnati and Indianapolis.
But the NFC has yet to crown a division winner.
If San Francisco were to lose at home Monday night to Atlanta, a relative longshot, the Seahawks would win the NFC West. Otherwise, Seattle can win it by beating St. Louis at home.
There are two winner-take-all finales in the conference: Philadelphia at Dallas and Green Bay at Chicago. The winners of those will play host to a first-round playoff game, while the losers are done for the season.
No team in either conference is an overwhelming Super Bowl favorite. Every division winner or leader has lost at least once in the last three weeks.
New England, which clobbered the Ravens in Baltimore, 41-7, is one game behind the Broncos for the top seed in the AFC.
Carolina, which held off New Orleans at home, 17-13, is a game behind the Seahawks.
Among the teams still alive in the playoff picture are San Diego and Pittsburgh, although both would need plenty of help to make it.
Meanwhile, Carolina reminded everyone of an NFL truism: It's not how you start, but how you finish. The Panthers lost three of their first four games, and Ron Rivera's coaching chair was roughly equivalent to the surface of the sun.
"When we were 1-3 there was a lot of what-ifs, a lot of people that were jumping off the bandwagon," Carolina quarterback Cam Newton said. "It was a lot of finger-pointing and saying, 'I told you so.' But as a team we stuck together and didn't veer off, and had faith in each other."
People seldom have faith in the Cardinals, who have made the playoffs just four times in 34 years, dating to their years in St. Louis.
But Arizona has won seven of eight under first-year Coach Bruce Arians, and Sunday became the first visiting team to win at Seattle since December 2011, snapping Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson's 14-0 streak at home.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Peyton Manning sets TD record on otherwise crazy Sunday
Dengan url
http://usiamudahan.blogspot.com/2013/12/peyton-manning-sets-td-record-on.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Peyton Manning sets TD record on otherwise crazy Sunday
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Peyton Manning sets TD record on otherwise crazy Sunday
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar