Mattie T’s Week 14 NFL Recaps

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Star Player of the Game: Browns running back Chris Jennings, who rushed 20 times for 73 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward on the team’s 5th consecutive loss:

“To lose five straight coming off a Super Bowl from last year is embarrassing. There’s nothing fun about losing games, especially five in a row. We’re better than that. We should play better than that. With three games left, you’re going to see who really wants to go out here and play for the pride of this organization and this city and who doesn’t want to be around here.”

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Star Player of the Game: Saints running back Reggie Bush, who caught 6 receptions for 46 yards & scored 2 touchdowns.

Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez on the team’s near upset despite sitting both Matt Ryan & Michael Turner due to injuries:

“We can build on this and hopefully finish the season strong. Who knows? We can get hot and if somebody else doesn’t get hot, we have a chance.”

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Star Player of the Game: Colts tight end Dallas Clark, who caught 5 receptions for 43 yards & scored 3 touchdowns.

Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall on breaking a single-game NFL record with 21 receptions:

“I went to my receiving coach before the game and I told him, ‘I think this is going to be the best game I’ve ever played.’ Just because of the environment, the situation of playing the Colts. I believe big players step up in big games, and this was a big game for us.”

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Star Player of the Game: Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson, who caught 11 receptions for 193 yards & scored 2 touchdowns.

Texans head coach Gary Kubiak on his team amassing 336 passing yards by halftime:

“That’s the most explosive half of football I’ve ever been around. I’ve never been around that. That’s what we’re capable of and if we find a way to bottle that someday for four quarters, it will be a real happy day.”

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Star Player of the Game: Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker, who caught 10 receptions for 105 yards.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady on Welker, who became the 4th player in league history with three straight 100-catch seasons:

“It seems like whenever we’ve got to make a critical play in a game, he’s the guy that making the play. Wes was the key ingredient as he always seems to be.”

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Star Player of the Game: Bills running back Fred Jackson, who rushed 20 times for 99 yards.

Bills interim head coach Perry Fewell on his defense interception Matt Cassel twice in the game’s final minutes:

“They never flinched on the sideline. They came up with the turnovers when they had to come up with them. I was very proud of them. They were very determined today to get a victory.”

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Star Player of the Game: Ravens running back Ray Rice, who rushed 13 times for 166 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Lions head coach Jim Schwartz on his embarassing homecoming to Baltimore:

“It’s not us. It’s not going to be us. There’s going to be some accountability for this. I thought the team was ready to play. Obviously, I was way off the mark right there.”

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Star Player of the Game: Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who rushed 26 times for 97 yards & scored 2 touchdowns.

Bengals running back Cedric Benson on Minnesota’s defensive effort:

“They sent a message and set a tone early in the game. Today was a big learning lesson. We’ve got a lot of young guys, and I don’t think that many guys have had that playoff run opportunity. Today was a playoff game if you ask me. Tough opponent.”

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Star Player of the Game: Jets running back Thomas Jones, who rushed 24 times for 99 yards & scored 2 touchdowns.

Jets quarterback Kellen Clemens on starting for the first time in over 2 years on Sunday:

“I feel good about it, but I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t come in with a little bit higher expectations. I did what was necessary—no turnovers and made good decisions in the run game, got us in and out of a couple of plays that we didn’t want to be in. So, I did my job. I don’t think I blew the top off of anything, but I did what was required.”

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Star Player of the Game: Dolphins running back Ricky Williams, who rushed 28 times for 108 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Jaguars quarterback David Garrard on his team’s playoff chances following Sunday’s loss:

“As long as you have a chance, you still have hope. That’s really all you ask for. There are a lot of teams out there that can’t say that.”

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Star Player of the Game: Packers running back Ryan Grant, who rushed 20 times for 137 yards & scored 2 touchdowns.

Bears quarterback Jay Cutler on his team collecting 13 penalties for 109 yards:

“Turnovers, penalties, every time it seemed like we got going something bad happened. It’s something that’s happened all year to us. It’s hard to be a good offensive team when that happens.”

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Star Player of the Game: Titans running back Chris Johnson, who rushed 28 times for 117 yards & scored 2 touchdowns. Johnson also caught 3 receptions for 69 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Titans quarterback Vince Young on his right knee injury:

“We’ll see. I don’t want to speak too fast. Right now I just want to go in, rehab it and get it back strong.”

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Star Player of the Game: Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell, who completed 16 of 28 passes for 222 yards & threw for 2 touchdowns.

Redskins head coach Jim Zorn on the team hanging onto a 4th quarter lead:

“This seemed like a long time coming. We had been so close in the last couple games. To be able to close it out like we did today, to be able to keep that pressure on the entire game and overcome some of the adversity that was put forth, I just can’t tell you how excited I am for our players.”

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Star Player of the Game: Chargers wide receiver Vincent Jackson, who caught 7 receptions for 120 yards.

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers on the team winning their 16th straight December game:

“You don’t want to fade out in December, you want to be peaking. We’ve been able to do that the past few years. We just hadn’t sustained it into January. Hopefully this will be the year we keep this thing going into 2010.”

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Star Player of the Game: Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson, who caught 6 receptions for 178 yards & scored 1 touchdown while adding a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Jackson on his huge breakout performance, which came just 2 weeks after suffering a concussion:

“It was a huge game. Sunday night, it gets no better than this. The world was watching. We knew what rode on this game.”

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Star Player of the Game: 49ers running back Frank Gore, who rushed 25 times for 167 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

49ers head coach Mike Singletary on his team’s effort, which prevented Arizona from clinching the NFC West:

“I can’t really express to you how proud I am of our team. That was the thing we talked about all week: ‘Let’s go out and see how good we can be without killing ourselves.”’