Pats-Giants: Merry Christmas to us

Who said the NFL doesn’t have a heart?

Maybe it was the Christmas spirit. Or, maybe a visit from the ghost of Pete Rozelle.

Whatever.

Who cares?

At least the league is doing the right thing and allowing Saturday night’s Patriots-Giants game to be shown on network TV instead of to the three or four households in America who get the NFL Network.

Now we can all watch the Patriots march toward history on not one, but two networks, and see if quarterback Tom Brady can set the record for touchdown passes in a season and if receiver Randy Moss can set the record for touchdown catches in one year.

Thank you NFL.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And have a happy New Year.

A Christmas nugget

The weekly NFL release is full of interesting nuggets such as Jeff Garcia’s teams are 31-11 when the Tampa Bay quarterback’s passer rating is 95.0 or higher and San Diego’s Antonio Cromartie’s 10 interceptions have come in his last nine games.

Speaking of passer rating, Denver’s Jay Cutler has appeared twice on Monday Night Football and has a rating of 111.5 playing on Monday nights. That’s interesting because the Broncos play San Diego this Monday, which happens to be Christmas Eve, and that brings us to the best nugget of the week:

Cutler was born in Santa Claus, Ind., on … April 29.

Oh, come on. That would have been too much to ask for.

Spurlock returns kickoff into Bucs' history

Remember this name: Michael Spurlock.

Remember this number: 1865.

Both are answers to trivia questions.

Spurlock became the first Tampa Bay Buccaneer to return a kickoff for a touchdown in the team’s 31-year history when he took one back 90 against Atlanta during the first quarter of Sunday’s game at Raymond James Stadium.

It came on the 1,865th kickoff return in team history.

Just when you thought the week couldn’t get any worse for the Falcons – their quarterback is sentenced to 23 years in prison for his role in a dog fighting ring Monday and the head coach unexpectedly resigns and takes a college job Tuesday – they allow the first kickoff return for a touchdown in Bucs history.

What’s more, the Falcons wanted to challenge the play, claiming Spurlock stepped out of bounds inside the 10-year line, but not one official saw the red challenge flag on the field.

Nothing like over-coaching

Fourth-and-1, his team down by four, less then two minutes to play and Tom Brady is stuffed. End of possession. End of winning streak.

Corks were about to pop down in Miami late Monday night.

Wait. Who called timeout?

Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan did.

Why? To get the right personnel on the field?

To put the Ravens in a better defensive set?

How can anything be better than the personnel and defensive set that stuffed the quarterback sneak and won you the ball game?

All the timeout would do was allow New England more time to plan for the crucial play.

Think they are wondering about that in Baltimore today after the Ravens' last-minute meltdown allowed Brady to rally New England for the win?

Forget Brady’s 12-yard run on fourth-and-6 and the holding penalty on the Pats' next fourth-down attempt that nullified a game-ending incompletion and extended the winning touchdown drive.

None of that wouldn’t have happened had Baltimore not called timeout.

That was a blatant example of over-coaching. We see it every week. Football coaches have to control everything. Why can’t they let the players play?

The Ravens' defense knew what to do. They saw how the Patriots were lined up. They realized Brady wanted to get the play off quick. They knew he was going to try and get the yard himself.

Brady didn’t, and later said he heard the ref’s whistle.

Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t.

Either way, he wasn’t getting that yard until the Ravens’ coaching staff got in its own way.

Is Tebow slipping in Heisman?

It seems Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is slipping in the Heisman Trophy race, through no fault of his own, unless you pin the reason the Gators didn’t play in Saturday’s SEC title game on his shoulders.

But not being in Saturday’s spotlight while Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel played in the Big 12 title game gave Daniel an extra week to display his talents and make a case for himself among voters.

Also, the big game Arkansas running back Darren McFadden had against LSU the day after Thanksgiving has really given life to McFadden’s campaign.

Don’t forget McFadden finished second last year as a sophomore. Some voters will not vote for a sophomore figuring he has another chance to win it. McFadden certainly had a Heisman-worthy season this fall, and with him rumored to be leaving for the NFL, voters might feel this is their last chance to give him the award.

Or, they might feel Daniel deserves the Heisman because he got his team to a title game.