Sports

Mattie T’s Week 17 NFL Recaps

Written by The Go-To-Man Mattie T. on January 4, 2010

Star Player of the Game: Bills running back Fred Jackson, who rushed 33 times for 212 yards.

Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens on his “jumping jacks” touchdown celebration:

“Yeah, that’s the thing. You’ve got to get caught up in the moment. But once all that stuff settles down, it’s back to freezing.”

Star Player of the Game: Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart, who rushed 16 times for 125 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Saints quarterback Drew Brees on not taking a snap despite taking part in the pre-game coin toss:

“Would I have loved it if we came out here and scored 41 today? I mean, yeah. But is it worth the risk?”

Star Player of the Game: Browns running back Jerome Harrison, who rushed 33 times for 127 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Browns wide receiver Josh Cribbs on winning the last 4 games for head coach Eric Mangini, who’s status is unknown on returning for 2010:

“He came in here and he turned it around. What he’s brought to this team, the discipline … to win four straight like that, getting the group of guys he wanted, it’s a slow start because it takes some time to get that group of guys that you want on your team that’s going to fight hard. He is surrounding this football team with hungry players that want to fight no matter their contracts, no matter the score.”

Star Player of the Game: Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, who completed 22 of 36 passes for 276 yards while throwing for 4 touchdowns.

Bears tight end Desmond Clark on the status of head coach Lovie Smith, who may not be back for 2010:

“All the speculation about change is going to come and we know that. If it does, we’ll deal with it. But I will say, we have great coaches.”

Star Player of the Game: Texans running back Arian Foster, who rushed 20 times for 119 yards & scored 2 touchdowns.

Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson on becoming part of Houston’s first winning season in franchise history:

“I just started yelling. It was like a sigh of relief. This is something that I’ve been working for since I’ve been here.”

Star Player of the Game: Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who completed 18 of 27 passes for 220 yards while throwing for 3 touchdowns.

Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor on his advice given to Dolphins quarterback Pat White, whom he injured on a vicious helmet-to-helmet collision during the 3rd quarter:

“I told him, ‘I hope you feel better, man. You never want to see a guy down like that. He kept repeating, ‘Thanks,’ and I just kept telling him to get better.”

Star Player of the Game: Vikings quarterback Brett Favre, who completed 25 of 31 passes for 316 yards while throwing for 4 touchdowns.

Giants head coach Tom Coughlin on the team’s 2nd straight blowout loss to end the season:

“I do think we tried. I’m not going to say it was a great performance, but they all came to the stadium wanting to play.”

Star Player of the Game: 49ers running back Frank Gore, who rushed 23 times for 107 yards & scored 2 touchdowns.

49ers tight end Vernon Davis on making his 13th touchdown catch of the season, which ties an NFL record:

“Well, my number was called and coach told me if there was a DB out there, do what you do best and just run by him. That’s what I did, I just ran as fast as I could.”

Star Player of the Game: Falcons running back Jason Snelling, who rushed 25 times for 147 yards.

Falcons head coach Mike Smith on finishing the season on a 3-game winning streak:

“We want to be a relevant football team year in and year out, and that’s what we talk about. When you’re relevant, you’ve got to have a winning record, and then you’ll have an opportunity to be in the discussion for the playoffs. We weren’t in the playoffs this year, but we have a season that gave us nine wins. That’s something that we’re very proud of.”

Star Player of the Game: Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who completed 24 of 34 passes for 311 yards while throwing for 2 touchdowns & 1 interception.

Eagles head coach Andy Reid on the team’s blowout loss, which cost them a chance at the NFC East title:

“We’re going to go back to the drawing board.”

Star Player of the Game: Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who completed 21 of 26 passes for 235 yards while throwing for 1 touchdown.

Packers head coach Mike McCarthy on the status of cornerback Charles Woodson, who injured his shoulder early during Sunday’s win:

“Just when he was walking off the field he told me right then ‘I’ll be fine. So I wasn’t concerned after that.”

Star Player of the Game: Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles, who rushed 25 times for 259 yards & scored 2 touchdowns.

Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels on finshing the season with 8 losses in their last 10 games:

“We’ve got to look at what may be the common denominator in why we’re not finishing better than we’re finishing. I can’t speak for years prior, but I can speak for this year and we certainly didn’t play nearly as well in the second half of the season as we did in the first half.

Star Player of the Game: Ravens running back Willis McGahee, who rushed 18 times for 167 yards & scored 3 touchdowns.

Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis on the team clinching an AFC playoff spot with its’ win Sunday:

“In my 14 years, I’ve never had a pretty road to the playoffs. It’s always been a grind, but there’s no better thing than having that grind and getting to advance. I like where we’re positioned right now, and I like all the adversity we’ve gone through. I just like seeing this team fight.”

Star Player of the Game: Chargers wide receiver Malcolm Floyd, who caught 9 receptions for 140 yards.

Chargers quarterback Billy Volek on receiving his first extensive playing time since he led the team to a 2007 divisional playoff win at Indianapolis:

It feels good to get hit again. Hopefully I won’t play in the playoffs. I want Philip to stay healthy, but if my number is called, I have to go out and execute the plays that are called. We’ve been waiting a while to get back on the field. It was good for us to get an opportunity to show people what we can do.”

Star Player of the Game: Titans running back Chris Johnson, who rushed 36 times for 134 yards & scored 2 touchdowns.

Titans head coach Jeff Fisher on Johnson becoming just the 6th player in league history to rush for 2,000 yards:

“Those were hard yards today. And you have to compliment him, because throughout the season he practiced every single day. I think he took two days off the whole season. That’s an amazing feat.”