Titans get home field advantage
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AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Aralık 23, 2008 00:00
NASHVILLE - The Tennessee Titans and New York Giants both clinched home field advantage throughout the National Football League playoffs on Sunday with tenacious victories.
The Titans rallied for a 31-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers to lock up the top seed in the American Conference. The reigning Super Bowl champion New York Giants downed Carolina 34-28 in overtime to capture home field advantage in the National Conference.
The surprising Atlanta Falcons also booked a playoff berth, but elsewhere the penultimate week of the 2008 campaign left plenty of teams with something to fight for.
In a showdown between the AFC's two top teams, the Titans shrugged off their second defeat of the season last week to stop the surging Steelers' winning streak at five games.
"This was a momentum game for us," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "This was not a statement game by no means, but it was a momentum game. We needed to build momentum for the playoffs."
The Steelers, who entered the game with the NFL's top-ranked defense, gave up the most points they had allowed all season. No one had scored more than 13 against the Steelers during their winning streak.
Lions break unwanted record
Meanwhile, the Detroit Lions became the first 0-15 team in National Football League history on Sunday, the latest loss being one of the ugliest of an ugly season.
"I think today was a disgrace," Lions rookie running back Kevin Smith said after the New Orleans Saints marched past the Lions 42-7. "We laid down, I said it. As a whole, we laid down."
"Awful, embarrassing, we stunk," quarterback Dan Orlovsky concurred. "No one played good. Any bad adjective you can use."
The Lions are now one defeat away from setting a new standard for single-season futility in the NFL. Since the league expanded to a 16-game schedule, no team has gone an entire season without a victory. The last winless team was the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were 0-14.
Detroit's last chance to avert the dubious achievement is next week in Green Bay, where the Lions haven't won since 1991.
"(Winning in Green Bay) is a daunting task," Orlovsky said. "I'm sure everyone will be betting against us." Lions center Dominic Raiola was even more pessimistic as he contemplated the prospect of a winless campaign.
"It's right there," Raiola said. "It's right there in front of us. It's pretty sad that it's come to this." The Saints gained the upper hand early over the Lions, reaching the end zone on each of their first seven drives.
"I thought we'd come out and really get after them and compete hard," said embattled Lions coach Rod Marinelli. "But on defense we couldn't hold them. Then you don't have a chance."
The surprising Atlanta Falcons also booked a playoff berth, but elsewhere the penultimate week of the 2008 campaign left plenty of teams with something to fight for.
In a showdown between the AFC's two top teams, the Titans shrugged off their second defeat of the season last week to stop the surging Steelers' winning streak at five games.
"This was a momentum game for us," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "This was not a statement game by no means, but it was a momentum game. We needed to build momentum for the playoffs."
The Steelers, who entered the game with the NFL's top-ranked defense, gave up the most points they had allowed all season. No one had scored more than 13 against the Steelers during their winning streak.
Lions break unwanted record
Meanwhile, the Detroit Lions became the first 0-15 team in National Football League history on Sunday, the latest loss being one of the ugliest of an ugly season.
"I think today was a disgrace," Lions rookie running back Kevin Smith said after the New Orleans Saints marched past the Lions 42-7. "We laid down, I said it. As a whole, we laid down."
"Awful, embarrassing, we stunk," quarterback Dan Orlovsky concurred. "No one played good. Any bad adjective you can use."
The Lions are now one defeat away from setting a new standard for single-season futility in the NFL. Since the league expanded to a 16-game schedule, no team has gone an entire season without a victory. The last winless team was the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were 0-14.
Detroit's last chance to avert the dubious achievement is next week in Green Bay, where the Lions haven't won since 1991.
"(Winning in Green Bay) is a daunting task," Orlovsky said. "I'm sure everyone will be betting against us." Lions center Dominic Raiola was even more pessimistic as he contemplated the prospect of a winless campaign.
"It's right there," Raiola said. "It's right there in front of us. It's pretty sad that it's come to this." The Saints gained the upper hand early over the Lions, reaching the end zone on each of their first seven drives.
"I thought we'd come out and really get after them and compete hard," said embattled Lions coach Rod Marinelli. "But on defense we couldn't hold them. Then you don't have a chance."