The RedZone: Week 14 in the NFL

Ryan's Top 5 - a cock-up special

In a week where a lot of big teams had things go horribly wrong for them, I thought it'd be nice to celebrate ineptitude for a change, mainly because I'm hungover and feel vindictive (Graeme will know precisely where I was on a Monday night!) - here's the very worst of Week 14:

5. Mile High D Crashes back down to earth - Denver are terrible. This has been long-established and Coach McDaniels paid the price last week. Their defense hasn't functioned without Elvis Dumervil, and their running game (or lack of it) has led to Kyle Orton having to resort to desperate throws to make plays. The final nail in the coffin came against the equally rubbish Arizona Cardinals, who ran out 43-13 winners, despite being led by rookie John Skelton. The Broncos got done on a fake field goal run for a TD by Jay Feely, only the fourth time a kicker has ever rushed for a TD. For shame!

4. Schaub chokes after comeback - this has been a season of fine margins for the Texans. Sadly, they have lost many of the key moments which have landed them at 5-8 after a 34-28 OT defeat to Baltimore. Which was impressive enough when you consider they started the 3rd quarter 28-7 down. Matt Schaub threw for 393 yards, targetting Andre Johnson before delivering the final strike to Jacoby Jones for the tying two-point conversion. Before promptly throwing a pick six to Josh Wilson to end the game.

3. Aaron Rodgers' concussion - Green Bay have struggled to stay in the playoff picture all season. So a trip to Detroit, shorn of Kyle VandenBosch, was exactly what their injury-stricken offense needed. Until their star QB got knocked out of the game in the first half and replaced by the not-so-stellar Matt Flynn. In the battle of the backups, Lions 3rd QB Drew Stanton had the last laugh as the game ended 7-3. Should Rodgers be unable to play next week, you might as well count the Packers out of contention, such is the strength of the NFC South and East.

2. The Redskins' 5th down PAT nightmare - confusion reigned at FedEx Field as the field marker read 1st down, whilst the broadcasters had it 2nd & 1. When McNabb threw to Santana Moss to take his side within a point of Tampa Bay, everyone assumed they'd got a TD on 5th down. They hadn't, the host broadcaster just screwed up! It didn't matter anyway as the PAT snap slipped through Hunter Smith's hands, denying the wayward Graham Gano (the NFL's second Scottish kicker) the chance to tie things up. The shoe could have been on the other foot after LaGarette Blount's goalline fumble, but the Bucs ran out 17-16 victors.

1. Everything that happened to the Minnesota Vikings this week - and I thought the snow was bad in Edinburgh! Such was the weight of the stuff, that the Metrodome's roof caved in, necessitating a quick move to Motown for the matchup against the Giants. Brett Favre's starting streak ended at 297, leaving T-Jax to throw picks in his absence. Which he did, until he then got injured. Eli also struggled, but the 1-2 punch of Brandon and Bradshaw struck again to seal a comfortable 21-3 win. The Vikings, sans homefield advantage, looked distracted. And who can blame them?