Mattie T’s Week 16 NFL Recaps

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Star Player of the Game:  Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who completed 29 of 34 passes for 364 yards, 3 touchdowns & no interceptions.

Colts head coach Tony Dungy on Manning’s performance:

“Peyton Manning is unbelievable. He put a lot of it on his shoulders and kept us in it. He played unbelievably under the circumstances.

All in all, with everything that was riding on it … it was a great performance. It was an MVP performance for sure.”

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Star Player of the Game: Ravens running back Le’Ron McClain, who rushed 22 times for 139 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Honorable mention goes to Ravens running back Willis McGahee, who rushed 8 times for 108 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs on spoiling the Cowboys’ last regular-season game at Texas Stadium:

“We wanted to be party crashers. I hope they enjoyed their little ceremony. I guess we were kind of like the dynamite.”

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Star Player of the Game: Bengals running back Cedric Benson, who rushed 38 times for 171 yards.

Browns running back Jamal Lewis on becoming the 24th player in NFL history to rush for 10,000 yards:

“It’s a great accomplishment and I’m happy to be here, but at the same time it would have felt even better if we would have had a winning season. The record is the least of my concerns. It’s been a disappointing season.”

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Star Player of the Game: Saints quarterback Drew Breees, who completed 30 of 40 passes for 351 yards, 2 touchdowns & no interceptions.

Saints’ 3rd string quarterback & former Lion Joey Harrington on Detroit’s 0-15 record:

“Who would have believed that I was here in the heyday?  Things have changed. When I was here, the fans brought “Fire Millen” signs, but still cheered for the team. Now, the ones that do show up bring “Hire Millen” signs and that doesn’t help.

“No one deserves to go through this.”

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Star Player of the Game: Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington, who completed 26 of 34 passes for 235 yards, 3 touchdowns & 1 interception.

Dolphins running back Ricky Williams on the team playing in its’ coldest weather game (10 degrees with a -12 wind chill) in franchise history:

“The biggest thing was trying to keep your fingers from going numb. We took care of ourselves and handled it well, I think.”

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Star Player of the Game: Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel, who completed 20 of 36 passes for 345 yards, 3 touchdowns & no interceptions.

Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker on his 2nd quarter snow angel touchdown celebration:

“I just got a little bit too excited there. I really didn’t think it would be a penalty. I wouldn’t have done it if I thought it was.”

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Star Player of the Game: 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis, who recorded 13 tackles.

49ers wide receiver & former Ram Isaac Bruce on catching a touchdown for his 1,000th career reception & being chanted “BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE” by the fans in St. Louis:

“Yeah, I could hear. It’s the diehard fans of St. Louis Rams, guys who show up no matter what. I’m pretty much speechless with everything that went on.”

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Star Player of the Game: Titans wide receiver Justin Gage, who caught 5 receptions for 104 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Titans quarterback Kerry Collins on the large number of Steeler fans that made the trip to Nashville’s LP Field for Sunday’s game:

“It was a little surprising to see that many in our stadium.”

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Star Player of the Game: Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who completed 21 of 31 passes for 287 yards, 4 touchdowns & no interceptions.

Chargers tight end Antonio Gates on the team’s 3rd straight win to avoid playoff elimination:

“That’s the San Diego Chargers that we anticipated on being at the beginning of the year. Tampa Bay, with all due respect, there was nothing they could do about it once we had the rhythm like we had today.”

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Star Player of the Game: Bills quarterback Trent Edwards, who completed 17 of 25 passes for 193 yards, 1 touchdown & no interceptions.

Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall on the team’s huge Week 17 game at San Diego to decide the AFC West champion:

“Unfortunately we’re not going to be able to go up there and take it easy. We’re going to have to go up there in their back yard and prove to them that we’re better than them. They’re a good team, they’re playing better now, and they’ve got all the momentum.”

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Star Player of the Game: Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell, who completed 18 of 25 passes for 236 yards, 2 touchdowns & no interceptions.

Texans linebacker DeMeco Ryans on the franchise being denied their first ever winning season:

“We were looking forward to having the first winning season in our history. When you play the way we played last week, with a big win over a big team, you have to find a way to play with the same effort, and we didn’t do it.”

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Star Player of the Game: Seahawks running back Maurice Morris, who rushed 29 times for 116 yards.

Jets quarterback Brett Favre on the team failing to score an offensive touchdown for the first time all season:

“Three points is obviously not enough. There are a lot of reasons for that. We are well aware of what opportunities that have been there for us. That’s what’s disappointing.”

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Star Player of the Game: Falcons running back Michael Turner, who rushed 19 times for 70 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Falcons guard Justin Blalock on clinching a playoff berth after going 4-12 last season:

“It’s huge for us. To come from the beginning of this year, the negative expectations, the negative talk around our camp, it feels pretty good to be here.”

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Star Player of the Game: Redskins running back Clinton Portis, who rushed 22 times for 70 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Eagles wide receiver Reggie Brown on his goal-line catch late in the 4th quarter that came just inches short of tying the game:

“I just wanted to get my hands on the ball. And they were there to jump on me.”

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Star Player of the Game: Giants running back Derrick Ward, who rushed 15 times for 215 yards.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning on clinching homefield advantage throughout the NFC Playoffs:

“It’s great for our fans to be able to play here at Giants Stadium. You never know what the weather is going to be like here. We’re used to playing in those cold and windy games and I would like to think we would have the advantage in some of those. I think it will be fun playing the games at home.”

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Player of the Game: Bears running back Matt Forte, who rushed 23 times for 73 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Bears defensive end Alex Brown on his game-saving block on Mason Crosby’s potential game-winning field goal try with 18 seconds left in the 4th quarter:

“We got a great push from a lot of different people. I was just the one who got my hand on it.”

Sources: All team logos are from Wikipedia & all game photos are from Yahoo. Player quotes are from the Associated Press.