Mattie T’s Week 15 NFL Recaps

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Star Player of the Game: Chargers wide receiver Vincent Jackson, who caught 5 receptions for 112 yards & scored 3 touchdowns.

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers on Jackson’s breakout performance:

“He seems to be in midseason form. I feel like he’s been here for 15 weeks. That’s a credit to the way he practices.”

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Star Player of the Game: Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles, who rushed 11 times for 126 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel on playing just one week after an emergency appendectomy:

“I felt 100 percent. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been out there.”

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Star Player of the Game: Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart, who rushed 27 times for 137 yards.

Panthers head coach John Fox on receiving the game ball from his team:

“We develop a lot of relationships here. There are a lot of high character guys in that locker room that I appreciate. It means a lot to me.”

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Star Player of the Game: Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, who completed 21 of 35 passes for 242 yards while throwing for 3 touchdowns & 1 interception. Vick also rushed 10 times for 130 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson on his dramatic 65-yard punt return for a touchdown that won the game for Philadelphia with no time remaining:

“I was thinking to myself, like, ‘They’re not going to kick it to me. I was thinking he was going to kick it out of bounds. But it got to me. From there, I just used my instincts and my speed to get into the end zone.”

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Star Player of the Game: Lions running back Maurice Morris, who rushed 15 times for 109 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Lions head coach Jim Schwartz on the team ending their NFL record streak of 26 consecutive road losses on Sunday:

“What’s happened two years ago, what happened last year, three years ago, whatever it was, isn’t important to this football team right now. It’s a lot like our other wins. We don’t have party hats on or anything else. We’ve got work to do.”

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Star Player of the Game: Bengals running back Cedric Benson, who rushed 31 times for 150 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Browns quarterback Colt McCoy on the Bengals’ dominating time-of-possession, which was at nearly 38 minutes on Sunday:

“We just have to do a better job staying on the field. We can talk about our defense and how they gave up a lot of yards rushing, but really a huge part of it is on us. You look at the time of possession, and they were on the field almost twice as much as we were.”

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Star Player of the Game: Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who completed 16 of 26 passes for 223 yards while throwing for 2 touchdowns & 1 interception.

Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne on the home fans, who booed the team throughout the first half:

“They’ve been booing the last couple of weeks, so I guess we’re used to it. It’s a sick feeling for us not to have home-field advantage.”

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Star Player of the Game: Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, who caught 10 receptions for 140 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan on Rex Grossman’s first start of the season:

“I wanted to give him an opportunity and I thought he took advantage of that opportunity. It’s always tough when you don’t play for a while. … He demonstrated a lot of poise.”

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Star Player of the Game: Colts running back Donald Brown, who rushed 14 times for 129 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning on Jim Caldwell’s plea to control the line of scrimmage on Sunday:

“He challenged both of the interior fronts on both sides of the ball, for us to run the ball and for the defense to stop the run. Both answered the bell. It was encouraging to see.”

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Star Player of the Game: Ravens running back Ray Rice, who rushed 31 times for 153 yards & scored 1 touchdown. Rice also caught 5 receptions for 80 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis on his team rushing for 208 yards Sunday:

“You saw what happens when we run the ball effectively. Our offense really gets things going. Ray Rice, it’s hard for anybody to deal with him in the open field. Anytime he touches the ball that many times, we’re going to have the success that we have.”

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Star Player of the Game: Titans running back Chris Johnson, who rushed 24 times for 130 yards & scored 1 touchdown.

Texans defensive end Antonio Smith on receiving a head-butt from teammate Brian Cushing, which escalated into an on-field fight:

“It just got out of hand.”

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Star Player of the Game: Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who completed 20 of 35 passes for 174 yards while throwing for 3 touchdowns & 1 interception.

Falcons head coach Mike Smith on the team’s 8th straight win on Sunday, which now puts them closer to locking up homefield advantage for the NFC  playoffs next week:

“That’s the thing I really like about our team. They understand where we are at and what we need to do.”

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Star Player of the Game: Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards, who caught 8 receptions for 100 yards.

Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez on the emotional pre-game speech given by head coach Rex Ryan on the eve of Sunday’s win:

“He just challenged us to come up and play the way we know how—to maximize our potential, and I think we did that.”

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Star Player of the Game: Raiders running back Darren McFadden, who rushed 20 times for 119 yards.

Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow on his first career NFL start:

“It was nice to be able to get out there and play football again. I love that. I definitely have the confidence in myself to be able to play at this level, and I’m just thankful that the Denver organization had enough confidence in me to bring me in and give me this opportunity.”

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Star Player of the Game: Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who completed 15 of 24 passes for 163 yards while throwing for 2 touchdowns.

Brady on 313-pound offensive lineman Dan Connolly’s 71-yard kickoff return which helped set up a New England touchdown:

“I’ve never seen anything happen so slow in my life. That really was a big, big play in the game. … They won’t be kicking to him any more, I’ll tell you that.”

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Star Player of the Game: Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, who completed 14 of 24 passes for 194 yards while throwing for 3 touchdowns & 1 interception.

Bears wide receiver Devin Hester on his 14th kickoff/punt return for a touchdown, which broke a new NFL record:

“Don’t dwell on this. It’s the record-breaker, but there’s going to be a lot more. I guarantee you that.”