Mattie T’s Week 16 NFL Recaps
Written by The Go-To-Man Mattie T. on December 30, 2009
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Star Player of the Game: Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who rushed 16 times for 59 yards & scored 2 touchdowns.
Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers on the team securing the AFC’s #2 seed & a first-round bye with Friday’s win:
“It was nice to get the two seed and keep the streak going in December and positioning ourselves going into the postseason. It says a lot about our guys and (coach) Norv (Turner).”
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17 (F/OT)
Star Player of the Game: Buccaneers running back Carnell Williams, who rushed 24 times for 129 yards & scored 1 touchdown.
Saints kicker Garrett Hartley on missing a potential 37-yard field goal late in the 4th quarter:
“Knowing I let my team down is the worst thing. It’s definitely humbling. You have to learn from these experiences in order to prevail the next one.”
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Star Player of the Game: Falcons wide receiver Roddy White, who caught 8 receptions for 139 yards & scored 2 touchdowns.
Bills interim head coach Perry Fewell on Brian Brohm’s NFL debut:
“He was put in a tough position. He tried to answer the challenge. I think he’s got a future with more reps and more work. He has some promise there.”
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Star Player of the Game: Texans quarterback Matt Schaub, who completed 20 of 31 passes for 286 yards while throwing for 2 touchdowns & 1 interception.
Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson on his touchdown reception despite his team facing 4th & one at the Dolphins’ 10-yard line:
“It was a gutsy call. We have to have the coach’s back by converting. If we don’t convert it, everybody will talk bad about him.”
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Star Player of the Game: Packers running back Ryan Grant, who rushed 16 times for 97 yards & scored 2 touchdowns.
Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck on throwing 4 interceptions for the 2nd consecutive game:
“Two weeks in a row personally just giving the ball to them. Like I said, I’m searching for answers. I wish I had a good one.”
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Star Player of the Game: Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart, who rushed 28 times for 206 yards & scored 1 touchdown.
Giants defensive end Justin Tuck on his team’s effort in the finale at 34-year old Giants Stadium:
“I told someone on the sideline that exact quote, that we have been part of the highest of highs, but as far as my vantage point, this is the lowest I have been in a Giants’ uniform.”
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Star Player of the Game: Browns running back Jerome Harrison, who rushed 39 times for 148 yards & scored 1 touchdown.
Browns quarterback Derek Anderson on the team’s 3rd straight win:
“This shows the character of the guys we have in this locker room. Nobody is going to quit.”
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Star Player of the Game: Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who completed 23 of 26 passes for 267 yards while throwing for 4 touchdowns.
Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker, who caught 13 receptions on Sunday & now has a career-high 122 for the season:
“I knew my numbers would probably go up just having Tom and the type of offense we’re in, but I never knew it would be like this.”
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Star Player of the Game: Bengals running back Cedric Benson, who rushed 29 times for 133 yards.
Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer on the win despite a short lack of preparation:
“It was a long week. We didn’t have an off day. We fly back from the coast, and the time change got us. Then we fly to New Orleans and don’t get back until like 7:30 p.m. That was a long, emotional day. We were drained and tired.”
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Star Player of the Game: Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes, who caught 5 receptions for 86 yards & scored 1 touchdown.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh on a holding penalty that wiped out a 32-yard 3rd quarter touchdown run by Willis McGahee:
“I think that call was very late. It didn’t seem like if affected the play.”
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Star Player of the Game: Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, who completed 24 of 38 passes for 313 yards & threw for 2 touchdowns.
Warner on becoming just the 2nd quarterback in league history to throw for 100 touchdown passes with two different teams:
“I think that has huge significance in my career and what my career has been all about. I was able to have that success in St. Louis and then turn around later in my career and have the same kind of success here, and more importantly help to turn the culture of an organization and the attitude of an organization around.”
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Star Player of the Game: 49ers running back Frank Gore, who rushed 28 times for 71 yards & scored 1 touchdown, while adding 4 receptions for 81 yards.
Lions head coach Jim Schwartz on the performance of quarterback Drew Stanton, who made his 1st career NFL start on Sunday:
“Last week we said the true measure of a quarterback is his ability to move the team and put points on the board, and we didn’t get that done today. We didn’t score touchdowns, we didn’t move the team, we didn’t get third-down conversions and we turned the ball over too much. It doesn’t matter how Drew performed, the offense didn’t perform well and ultimately that’s the quarterback’s responsibility.”
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Star Player of the Game: Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, who completed 20 of 35 passes for 322 yards while throwing for 3 touchdowns & 1 interception.
Broncos safety Brian Dawkins on facing his former team for the first time:
“It’s just real, real nerve wracking. I’ve been in a lot of big games before. I was just trying to control my emotions. It was real tough for this game, mainly because we needed this game so bad.”
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Star Player of the Game: Jets running back Thomas Jones, who rushed 23 times for 105 yards & scored 1 touchdown.
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning on head coach Jim Caldwell’s decision to pull starters in the 3rd quarter despite the team leading 15-10:
“Until any player in here is the head coach, you follow orders and you follow them with all of your heart. That’s what we’ve done as players. We follow orders. Our orders were not to give up a turnover, not to give up a kick return for a touchdown. There’s not many games, under any circumstances, that you win when you have turnovers and give up a kick return for a touchdown.”
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Star Player of the Game: Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, who caught 6 receptions for 117 yards.
Cowboys wide receiver Roy Williams on the team winning back-to-back December games for the first time in 6 years:
“I think we showed the December jinx is not here. Last year, we were in the same situation and didn’t get it done. 2009’s a different year.”
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Star Player of the Game: Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, who completed 20 of 35 passes for 273 yards while throwing for 4 touchdowns & 1 interception.
Vikings quarterback Brett Favre on the team losing 3 of its’ last 4 games:
“I know we’re fortunate to be in the playoffs but we have to play better than we did the last few weeks or we’ll be home fairly quickly. I’m just being honest as I can be.”
