Five Fantastic Finishes

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

This is why we love the National Football League, right? Even if your team came out on the losing end of one of these games, you have to appreciate the beauty of the fantastic finish. And five of today’s games had ‘em. If you were watching the 1 p.m. ET games on DirecTV’s NFL Sunday Ticket Game Mix, good for you. You got your money’s worth. Four of the five fantastic finishes were early games ending at roughly the same time:

• After trailing for most of the game, Minnesota Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell hit a 26-yard field goal with nine seconds left as the Vikes beat the still winless (0-5) Detroit Lions 12-10. The game-winner came on the heels of a controversial pass interference call against Lions DB Leigh Bodden. After seeing the replay, I have to agree. It looked like Leigh barely touched Vikings receiver Aundrae Allison. Aundrae’s forward motion was his own lunging. And so begins the post-Matt Millen era in Detroit.
• On 4th and goal from the two-yard-line with three seconds on the clock and trailing by five points, Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub, back from an illness last week, called his own number, scoring on a quarterback draw to beat the Miami Dolphins 29-28. For the Texans, it was their first win of the season. And it took every bit of four quarters to get it. Houston receiver Andre Johnson had a career day with 10 catches (three on the final drive) for 178 yards and a touchdown.
• Josh Brown kicked a 49-yard field goal as time expired, leading the opportunistic St. Louis Rams to an unlikely 19-17 win over the heavily favored Washington Redskins. The kick came after a bonehead personal foul penalty by Rams guard Richie Incognito moved the try back 15 yards. For the Rams, despite that infraction and 10 other penalties — plus being outgained by 168 total yards — it was their first win and a great “audition” of sorts for interim head coach Jim Haslett.
• Jason Elam kicked a 48-yard field goal as time expired, lifting the Atlanta Falcons to a 22-20 win over the Chicago Bears. The Bears thought they had the game won after quarterback Kyle Orton connected with receiver Rashied Davis for a 17-yard score with 11 seconds left. I believe Falcons rookie quarterback Matt Ryan will look back at this game as a possible turning point in his rookie season — it was his first 300-yard passing effort and he made a perfect sideline throw to receiver Michael Jenkins under heavy pressure with six seconds left. He’ll still have his share of growing pains, but this was a veteran performance. Falcons fans have forgotten Michael Vick.
• The Arizona Cardinals became the first team in NFL history to win an overtime game on a blocked punt. The official Gamebook play-by-play looked like this: M.McBriar punt is BLOCKED by 87-S.Morey, Center-91-L.Ladouceur, RECOVERED by ARI-52-M.Beisel at DAL 3. 52-M.Beisel for 3 yards, TOUCHDOWN. The score happened after forcing Dallas three-and-out to start the OT.

This is the kind of weekend the National Football League dreams of.

Source: NFL.com, Photo: Newscom