Monday morning NFL recap - week #12

Steelers: I had to leave for the airport before halftime to take Madison. Obviously I did not make those reservations, but thank goodness for electronic devices...which turned out to be a blog entry for later this week.

• It's interesting how teams can have such great days after such lousy ones. Yesterday wasn't Pittsburgh's, but it was Seattle's. Oh, well, happy birthday to Russell Wilson. Pfft.
• A really bad call by the refs on the push out of bounds on Seattle's Wilson. He was clearly in bounds, but the refs are focused on protecting the quarterback so the Steelers got flagged.
• The game went back and forth all night, but the Steelers gave Seattle three balls and they took advantage and scored on them. That's one thing the Steelers defense has yet to do.
• Pittsburgh's secondary just got creamed. That needs to be fixed.
• Richard Sherman did a good job against Antonio Brown, but Ben Roethlisberger did a good job at going to Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton in his place.
• More injuries on both sides of the benches. For the Steelers, losing tight end (and fantasy player) Heath Miller and linebacker Ryan Shazier killed them both offensively and defensively.
• With all of the concussions in this game, and in the games this week, I would say that the NFL has not taken care of that problem.
• I didn't play Ben or Markus Wheaton in my fantasy football. My bad.

Other:

• I was thinking how great Dallas' Tony Romo's looked after spending seven weeks rehabbing his shoulder. It was a fleeting thought because he re-injured that same shoulder after a hit in the third quarter and is now out for the season. Anyone else think that owner Jerry Jones sucks?
• And speaking of out for the season how many starting quarterbacks have lost playing time this year due to injury? So much for the "new rules" to protect them.
• Green Bay retired former quarterback Brett Favre's number 4 at Lambeau Field on Thanksgiving Day in the rain at halftime. While I was annoyed that Favre's retiring number was shown in its entirety (I had to watch Pittsburgh's Mean Joe Greene's retired number ceremony online), it was nice to see my friends' son, Packers President Mark Murphy, on TV. Murphy took over during the time of Favre's "retirement" and his father and I spent a good bit of time debating the issue. I miss those football talks with my buddy Murph.
• How many people caught Packer's quarterback Aaron Roger's dirty mouth when the snap was bad and he fumbled the ball?  He dropped the f bomb as clear and loudly as his play calls. Just another reason why the networks need to rethink where those mics go.
• Chip Kelly of the Eagles might soon be looking for another job. Maybe its time that college coaches rethink jumping into the NFL. I would think job security does have some advantages.
• And let's discuss little Johnny Manziel who didn't have much to be thankful for this holiday season since a video surfaced of him drinking in a night club over the bye week; a no no considering he has been in a rehab program. The Browns coach Mike Pettine demoted Manziel from starting quarterback to the third string quarterback. "....he still has to consistently demonstrate that he has gained a good understanding of what it takes to be successful at the quarterback position on this level," Pettine said. "It goes well beyond the field." Good for Pettine! Finally we have a coach that makes a stand and follows through. All teams and organizations saying enough is enough, stop the crap, man up, get help is what it will take to turn the NFL around. 
• Referring was not at its best  yesterday in several of the games. I truly think that the head ref in Tampa's game was impaired. The poor man could not get anything right in his announcing calls and replays or in making his own calls.
• Tight ends were the theme this week as one by one they left the field with injuries; Steelers Heath Miller, Seattle's Jimmy Graham, and Patriots Rob Gronkowski. So much for making the game safer. Hell of a job for these guys. I have a back issue myself and can't imagine living out the rest of my life with the aches and pains these football guys will have at my age. Not sure the money is worth it, but you can't tell young'ins anything.
• Wonder if Tom Brady, or whomever takes care of his Facebook page, is wishing he/she hadn't posted that photoshopped picture of him riding the Denver Bronco's mascot?