A Snow Day in the NFL

Yesterday turned out to be a wild one across the NFL.  The Patriots, behind the Browns all afternoon, pulled out a one point victory after Tom Brady threw two TD passes in the game’s final 61 seconds.   An NFL record 64 yard field goal was kicked by Matt Prater in Denver’s 51 – 28 triumph.  Geno Smith threw a touchdown pass, his first since October, as the Jets outscored the Raiders 37 – 27.  The Saints rebounded from last week’s drubbing in Seattle by showing the Panthers who is still the boss in the NFC South.  But of all the games played throughout the league none were as exciting or as entertaining as the five that took place on snow covered fields. 

In icy Green Bay, after falling behind in the first half, the Packers shut out the Falcons the rest of the way to pull out a one point win, 22 -21.  The Dolphins showed they could survive in foul weather as they withstood the Steelers version of the Stanford Band Play, that fell 12 yards short only because Antonio Brown toe stepped on the boundary line on the game’s final play.  The Ravens withstood six 4th quarter lead changes, on a snow covered field, as Joe Flacco hit Marlon Brown at the back of the end zone with four second left on the clock ending a five touchdown explosion during the game’s final two minutes of play.  The Chiefs broke a three game losing streak with a 45 point outburst in snowy D.C.  And in Philadelphia, falling snow caused white out conditions but the Eagles were able to erase a 14 point second half deficit as LeSean McCoy rushed for 218 yards in six inches of snow sending the Lions down to defeat 34 – 20.

This year’s Farmer’s Almanac has predicted a blizzard will hit the New York area the weekend of Super Bowl XLVIII.  Maybe yesterday bad weather was a prelude to what could develop that first weekend in February.  Perhaps yesterday’s explosive play in the snow was just a foreshadowing of what we might expect to see at MetLIfe Stadium if the snow does fall on Super Bowl Sunday.  If it was, after watching all the excitement created by Mother Nature’s fury, I say; “let it snow, let it snow, let it snow”…