BMEFA Gameday #4: What a Day This Turned Out to Be!

[RooMorgans]

News and Notes from Gameday 4 in the BMEFA, games played in Catonsville, Md., this morning and this afternoon. ...

* To ensure folks can get their games in, a 5th gameday has been added - January 12, 2008, at the usual place. This will be the last chance for league members to get their games in. A schedule will follow in this thread.

Today's games did bring the end to the regular season for some teams, and it brought no shortage of action - including the best individual performance in league history, the highest scoring game in league history, a game decided on a last-play score, and continued dominance by the league's best team.

MORNING KICKOFFS

DETROIT LIONS (Ross) 14, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES (Fryer) 0
* The story begins and ends with Detroit's quarterback, who finished 10-for-10 for 147 yards and 2 touchdowns. Five different Lions caught passes, while #43 forced and fumbled a recovery on defense. Harold Carmichael had 4 tackles (2 for loss) for the Eagles.

BUFFALO BILLS (Carter) 20, CHICAGO BEARS (Elliott) 18
* Buffalo ran a grand total of 3 plays, but that's all they needed, scoring on a run, pass, and kickoff return to hold off the Bears in an unanticipated points fest. Gale Sayers had 69 yards on 7 carries and a score for Chicago.

DALLAS COWBOYS (Baxter) 21, BALTIMORE RAVENS (J. Slade) 0
* An early lost fumble derailed Dallas for a bit, but an 11-yard touchdown pass to Tony Dorsett gave the Cowboys a 7-0 lead at halftime and they went on to a 21-0 win to stay unbeaten. Dallas had 199 yards of total offense, and Charles Haley produced 4 tackles, 3 for loss, with 1 sack. Steve McNair threw for 42 yards and ran for 27 more for the Ravens - who suffered their first loss.

CINCINNATI BENGALS (D. Slade) 20, HOUSTON TEXANS (Sharpe) 18
* Early, it was all Texans, but the Bengals hung in showing a lot of grit, nailing a 47-yard field goal on the game's final play to take a two-point victory. Houston took the lead with 2 plays left on a 15-yard touchdown run, but that was enough time for Cincinnati, as Chad Johnson ran the ensuing kickoff back 70 yards to set up the game-winning boot. Matt Schaub had 178 yards on just 3 completions for Houston, while Carson Palmer was 7-of-11 for 218 yards for the Bengals.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS (Morgans) 22, OAKLAND RAIDERS (Travers) 21
* And to think, for a while, this was the game of the day, but more on that later. The Steelers scored on a 10-yard pass to Nate Washington on the game's final play, then Jerome Bettis caught the two-point conversion, keeping Pittsburgh undefeated. Oakland's offense couldn't be stopped, racking up 197 yards on 15 plays, but a DeShea Townsend interception in the first half was returned for a touchdown that got the Steelers back in the game. Roethlisberger was 8-of-9 for 116 yards and two scores, leading Pittsburgh 72 yards on 6 plays for the winning score. Travers hit an insane 80-yard pass with the TTQB on the next-to-last play of the first half, setting up a score that made it 14-7 Oakland.

AFTERNOON KICKOFFS

EAGLES 21, BILLS 0
* The sleeping giant that had been the Eagles' air attack woke up against the Bills late today, as Ron Jaworski completed all 6 of his passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns. Mike Quick caught four balls for 152 yards and 2 scores. Carmichael had a 35-yard touchdown catch and an interception.

COWBOYS 21, BALTIMORE COLTS (Smitty) 6
* Despite an impressive display of kicking from Smitty (field goals of 49 and 56 yards), the Cowboys rolled to another win. Dallas' quarterback was 5-of-6 for 137 yards and 2 scores, and Ron Springs rushed for another touchdown. Jim Jeffcoat was a Cyborg on defense, with 6 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery. He's kinda good. The Colts were held to -3 yards of total offense.

LIONS 35, RAIDERS 35
* Lions win yardage tiebreaker, 530-500.
* In the best game in league history, Coach Ross saw his namesake wearing #38 turn in an unstoppable individual performance. The plastic Ross scored all 5 Detroit touchdowns - three on kickoff returns and two on receptions, and the Lions held on through a tense final play, as the Raiders needed 31 yards on the last snap to take the yardage tiebreaker, but JaMarcus Russell's pass was batted down. Ross accounted for 524 yards on 8 touches. For Oakland, Russell couldn't be blamed on a 12-of-16 day, for 315 yards and 5 touchdowns. Bo Jackson was often the target, as he caught more passes in a single game than any receiver in league history with 8, for 132 yards and 3 scores. Jerry Porter caught 113 yards worth of passes, as well. Never in league history (best as I can recall) had a team surpassed 30 points, and here both teams did it in the same game. In a game that featured 36 plays, 21 of them were either touchdowns or kickoffs.

The BMEFA salutes both Coach Travers and Coach Ross for a game played at such a high level - and with the spirit of sportsmanship that our league strives for. It was a pleasure to watch.

Standings and schedules in the next post ...

Ed