Jonathan Says

NFL

Congratulations to the Miami Dolphins
after the team won its first . wait . you
mean the Dolphins didn’t win? Oh yeah,
that’s right, the Dolphins stole defeat from
the jaws of victory on Sunday in a 13-10
loss to the Buffalo Bills. Honestly, when
I’m keeping up with Sunday’s games either
on television or on ESPN.com, I usually
rest easy when I see a team carrying a lead
into the fourth quarter.

Some might ask why – and I would
reply that a professional team should be
able to hold a lead for 15 minutes. After
all, that’s what they get paid to do – and
after all, when you are 0-8, you’d think
there would be an urgency to get rid of
the goose egg in the win column.

But alas, the Bills turned around a
10-2 third-quarter deficit into a 13-10
victory. I don’t want to just pick on the
Dolphins – they are too easy of a target
as it is. Washington gave up 20 points
in the fourth quarter in a 33-25 loss to
Philadelphia, and Cleveland gave up 15 in
a loss to Pittsburgh. Although this might
be a sign of good offenses coming to life,
I think it is more of a sign of defenses
falling asleep. If a team leads by two
scores or more after 45 minutes, there is
no reason for that team to lose after an
additional 60 minutes.

St. Louis somehow broke this week’s
trend – not only by finally winning a game
(leaving the Dolphins as the only winless
team in the NFL), but by also giving up
a bunch of points in the fourth quarter
and still winning. The Rams gave up 22
points and were outscored by 12 in the
final frame before narrowly beating New
Orleans 37-29.

Is fourth-quarter defense a lost art? Or
is it simply a time for NFL defenses to
head home and take naps?

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Speaking of taking naps, Ohio State
decided to take a little siesta on Saturday
in a loss to Illinois. Coach Ron Zook has
done a good job making his team competitive,
and Juice Williams is arguably one
of the top quarterbacks in the nation, but
the Buckeyes had no reason to lose this
game. With Michigan looming ahead, OSU
should have used this game as a warm-up
and made an example of the Illini. Instead,
Williams passed for 140 yards and four
touchdowns, and Buckeyes quarterback
Todd Boeckman threw three interceptions
in a 28-21 decision.

Michigan is guilty of the same thing.
Unfortunately for the Wolverines, they
had much more to lose. Michigan needed
to win out the rest of its games to have
a legitimate shot at a berth in the Rose
Bowl. The Wolverines trailed Wisconsin
23-3 going into the fourth quarter and
eventually lost 37-21. Wisconsin is
another solid team, but not a team that
should be challenging a team ranked in
the top 15.

While Ohio State can at least still
make it to a BCS bowl, Michigan will be
playing for pride and perhaps a berth in
the Citrus Bowl.