Harry Kalas Would Be A Very Busy Man

Does anybody remember the old "Fantastic Finishes" series that were presented by ALCOA?  I was very young when they started sometime in the late 70's and went on until at least 1985 or 1986.  They were one minute highlights that were narrated by the late, great Harry Kalas and usually came on during the commercials right before halftime, if I remember correctly.  I don't remember hardly any of the specific games, other than Earl Campbell running for an eighty yard touchdown to ice a Monday night game against Miami in the late seventies.  While I was watching some of the games yesterday afternoon I thought that if that series were brought back, they might have several from the same day in NFL history.

The Tebow Show-  No matter what anybody thinks, I don't think Tim Tebow is going away anytime soon.  The only question is how long can he last running ten to fifteen times a game.  I know he's a big, strong, hard working guy but he has to be on the field every play if Denver is going to run a zone-read type offense.  That being said, putting up 298 rushing yards on the Raiders is impressive, and Tebow as a running threat actually seemed to open big running lanes for Willis McGahee.  Tebow definitely has to improve his passing accuracy, and Denver can't count on long punt returns for touchdowns every week, but they are only a game out of first place in a down AFC West division.

Stat Of The Week-  Tim Tebow has thrown one interception in 97 attempt this season.  San Diego QB Philip Rivers has thrown fourteen interceptions this season, one about every 22 attempts.

NO! No. No? Yes. Yes! YES!!!!-  I have no proof, but that is what I would have said if I was Arizona head coach Ken Whisenhunt and my rookie punt returner fielded an overtime punt at his own one yard line and then returned it for a game winning touchdown.  I wonder if the football experts would have stopped dogging Patrick Peterson if he had been tackled at his own three yard line.  I know that this illustrates why I love overtime in the NFL.  They actually continue to play a football game!  If this was a college game, it couldn't end this way.


Shootout at the Murph-  San Diego was down 45-24 halfway through the fourth quarter, but a touchdown pass, recovered onside kick, touchdown pass sequence made it 45-38 late.  The Chargers defense got Rivers and company the ball back, but without enough time, as a third pick by the Pack sealed a shootout win.

The Other Manning - Eli Manning threw a touchdown pass to Jake Ballard, a little known TE who is all over ESPN today, with fifteen seconds left in their game against the Patriots on Sunday afternoon.  A big buzz was made when he said he thought he was an elite quarterback during the past off-season.
Manning, as a QB in the New York market, has won a Super Bowl, has a winning overall record as a starter, a winning playoff record, and two playoff fourth quarter comebacks.  Looking at the careers of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Joe Namath, Ben Roethlisberger, Phil Simms and Philip Rivers, only Big Ben and Tom Terrific have all those accomplishments in their careers.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a lifelong Giants fan, and a bit of an Eli apologist, but the numbers don't lie in this case.

So, which finish do you think was the most fantastic?  I think it had to be the Ravens finally getting a comeback win against Pittsburgh.  I thought that there was no way Baltimore goes on the road and beats the Steelers, especially after the opening day beatdown that the Ravens gave them.  flacco and company finally got one, now let's see if they can turn that into some home playoff games later on.

It has been a good year for comeback victories so far, maybe we'll get another good one tonight.  If we do, I'll be thinking of what Harry Kalas would say while he was narrating the highlights.