The RedZone: Week 15 in the NFL

Merry Christmas to all readers of the RedZone! Being the season of goodwill, many defences decided that now was the time to start handing out touchdowns like Christmas presents! It all made for a pretty exciting weekend of action as the postseason draws ever nearer - here's the best of the best:

Ryan's Top 5

5. Dan Connolly - 71-yard kickoff return. I loved Jason Baker's tackle. I loved Reggie Hodges' fake punt run. But this is by far my favourite play of the season. Patriots G Connolly looked as shocked as anyone when Mason Crosby's kick landed in his arms. He then managed to rumble up the length of the field to the Packers' 4, whilst failing miserably to get up any speed. He also deserves credit on behalf of the entire offensive line for protecting Tom Brady so brilliantly this season. New England ran out 31-27 winners in this one.

4. Peyton Manning - 29/39, 229 yards, 2 TD's. OK, so these aren't Peyton's greatest numbers ever, but context is everything. Having struggled horrendously over the past few weeks, throwing 11 picks in 3 games, Manning's Colts were sliding out of the playoff picture. That could all change with a big result against the flying Jaguars. And a 34-24 success was achieved. Manning managed to find Austin Collie in the endzone twice before the WR's head exploded (again!) and also facilitated the Colts' most effective rushing game in ages, with Donald Brown leading the charge.

3. Jason Witten - 10 catches, 140 yards, 1 TD. Comfortably the best TE in the NFC. With Jon Kitna fast running out of receiving options, Witten has consistently made himself available and made big plays. The Cowboys have actually flourished without Tony Romo, thanks mainly to the big man and Miles Austin. That the defence almost conspired to lose the game to the Redskins is a concern, but David Buhler's late FG squeezed out a 33-30 win.

2. Vincent Jackson - 5 catches, 112 yards, 3 TD's. So many "What if's?" in San Diego. What if V-Jax had been available all season? Will Norv Turner ever get the Chargers off to a flyer? What if Baxter hadn't been punted off a bridge by the man on the motorcycle? OK ignore the last one. In the case of V-Jax, we almost certainly wouldn't still be talking about the Chargers special teams or indeed the Chiefs as AFC West Champions elect. The man has a great skill set and will now almost certainly be franchised after leading the side to a 34-7 blowout over the 49ers.

1. Jamar Chaney - 12 tackles, 4 assists, 1 FF. I'm avoiding the obvious here. I'm avoiding Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson, as there really is nothing more to add to their story in the amazing Eagles comeback from 21 points down to beat the Giants 38-31. A defensive player looks a little odd when a team gives up 31 points and Eli throws 4 TD's. But Chaney is an undrafted rookie, making his first start at MLB after defensive leader Stewart Bradley went down with an elbow injury against the Cowboys. To be involved in 16 tackles, shows a pretty good engine! And the fumble forced deep in Giants territory allowed Vick to find Jeremy Maclin and the comeback was kickstarted. So I've picked an unheralded and unlikely catalyst for an amazing victory and one that ensures I'll be enjoying playoff football come 2011!

Graeme's Top 5

Well, it's come to that time of year. The time of crucial games and playoff hopes. And, of course, the Redskins are once again beyond relevance. Rex Grossman is now our starter, putting a demoralising end to this season and the McNabb experiment. Time to start watching film of Jake Locker and Ryan Mallett methinks.

5. Devin Hester - Set new NFL record with his 14th career punt return TD - Hester also contributed a 15 yard receiving score in Chicago's win over the Vikings in a snow covered University of Minnesota Stadium, standing in for the not-so-structurally-sound Metrodome. A sporting event played after 6 plus inches of snowfall and where the spectators didn't all fall over and die; it can be done people! Bears coach Lovie Smith made the idiotic decision to stop Hester returning punts last year, but at least he has learned from his monumental mistake. Hester is the best returner I have ever seen and is the first punt returner I know of that basically dragged his team to a Superbowl by himself. This Bears side have a much better chance of getting to another big game when he is standing deep to return.

4. Matt Flynn - 24/37, 251 yards, 3 TD's - For a first career start, this wasn't too bad really was it? The Patriots are good at playing against one dimensional teams, and Green Bay is certainly that due to their lack of any ground game. In spite of this Flynn kept the Pack fighting until the end, demonstrating how good the Green Bay passing attack and pass blocking is, even shorn of Jermichael Finlay and Mr Rodgers.

3. Ray Rice - 153 yards 1 TD rushing, 80 yards 1 TD receiving - The New Orleans D couldn't handle Ray Ray out of the backfield, as evidenced by his 80 receiving yards. The 153 rushing yards helped to control the tempo of the game, eating up clock and putting Drew Brees under pressure. The Ravens' defence ramped it up as well, playing their best football of the year in parts. They dominated in the first quarter.

2. Calvin Johnson - 10 catches, 152 yards - 9 first downs, 4 of them on third down, and with Drew Stanton under centre makes this performance even better. Even against an Aqib Talib-less Bucs side, this was impressive. Johnson is, in my opinion, the best wide receiver in the NFL by a clear margin. You will all know by now that I like to quote measurables, but just watch this bloke make the catches he does at 6 foot 5 and 240 pounds. He strides like a racehorse, and once he gets a step on you he is uncatchable. Truly an athletic marvel, the only comparison would be some bulked up super Usain Bolt who can also do the high jump. Randy Moss will one day be referred to as Calvin Johnson-lite.

1. Michael Vick - It hurts too much to list off his stats for another week. Not only has he taken the Eagles into the midst of contention, he has also learned to pass properly and thus all the jokes I stockpiled about him during his Falcons days have become redundant. I will say, though, that he is not unstoppable. For all the commentators hyping him up as some kind of untouchable deity, he produced zero first downs, two sacks and an INT in the first half of this game. If forcing him to violate his parole restrictions doesn't work then solid zone coverage, a linebacker spy and at least 3 quick D linemen able to get penetration by themselves by rotating without blitzing will cause him a fair number of problems. The Giants stupidly got fancy and tried blitzing safeties, who Vick promptly sprinted past with ease. If they held their discipline and nerve, perhaps they could have limited him more. As a last point, Vick is right handed but throws with his left. The classic strategy for pressuring him was to force him to roll to the right. What would happen if Vick taught himself to throw with his right hand as well and became an ambidextrous QB? Would there be any point in turning up?

GM and RM