The game was never a contest from the start and the Titans season is now over. Eliminated from the playoffs, Tennessee looks towards other goals. First off was Christmas night, a game versus a Chargers team that had won nine straight games. The Titans needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive but could not deliver. Vince Young has taken this team from 0-6 to 7-7 and back in the playoff talk. The problem was they ran into a San Diego team playing December ball like no other in the league. They have not lost in December since 2006 for a total of 18 straight. Phillip Rivers picked the Titans defense apart going 21-27 for 264 yards and two touchdowns. He is playing just as well as any of the top quarterbacks in the league. On the other side of the ball it was Tennessee playing like they did while they were going 0-6. Young had his worst game since he took over going 8-21 for only 89 yards with two picks. He also had a key fumble when he was sliding for a first down. The one bright spot continues to be Chris Johnson and his ability to get yards. He ran for 142 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown and needs only 128 to get to 2,000. He would have probably gone over 200 on Christmas night if the Chargers didn’t have such a big lead. So next week is the last game of the season and they will play to get Johnson to 2,000 and possibly, if he can get 234 yards, pass Eric Dickerson’s mark of 2,105 yards. They are also playing for a .500 but a good point needs to be mentioned. If the Titans lose to Seattle next week they would get better positioning in next year’s draft and would play a better schedule. Now no one wants to play to lose but just thought I would mention that.

New York Jets 29 Indianapolis 15

See this is why I have a problem with pulling players at years end. If you are going to do it why let your key players play into the third period? I can see playing them a series or two or maybe even a quarter. Not only that they did it in their home finale of the season. Way to treat your fans to a good game. So with the score 15-10 Jim Caldwell decided to pull Peyton Manning in favor of Curtis Painter and it bombed. Painter was greeted rather rudely and was hit often. He even fumbled on his second series that turned into a touchdown for the Jets. So perfection is gone and what is the point to the Colts. Let us remember that the ultimate goal is to win the Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter if you win all your games or go 8-8. Still as a fan you would have wanted to see how it would have panned out next week had they won this game? The loss helped the Jets and hurt the Ravens making the last week of the season one to remember. So the main guys will rest next week in preparation for the playoffs. The media and the fans will second guess the decision for weeks to come but if Indy can win the big one it wont matter. If they don’t win it all it will be questioned into next season. They better hope that the likes of Austin Collie and other young players are not hurting their rhythm by not playing with Manning too much.

Houston 27 Miami 20

This is why they play the game as they say. When the season began the Texans had aspirations of a playoff berth for the first time in franchise history. As the season progressed things began to slowly unravel. They lost key games and kept making the mistake that have hurt them in years past. As the season has come to a close they are playing the brand of football they had hoped to play all year. On this day they looked great jumping out to a 27-0 lead as Matt Schaub had two quick scoring passes and Arian Foster chipped in with a 17-yard run. Kicker Kris Brown also had two field goals in the first half for 27-3 lead. They had to hold off a Dolphin 20-point rally but still looked like a team ready to make its first postseason appearance. Foster looked good running for 97 yards and Andre Johnson had five catches for 71 yards and a score. The defense held Miami to just 60 yards on the ground with Ricky Williams getting just 35. On the other side of the coin they did allow Chad Henne to go 35-55 for 322 yards too. So now they play to win next week and wait for the help they need. They have played hard and coach Gary Kubiak knows what’s at stake and the team is playing like it too. Let’s see if they can accomplish their goal and what they will do if they get there.

New England 34 Jacksonville 7

Another team in search of the postseason with jobs on the line is the Jags. On Sunday things did not go as planned when Tom Brady and Randy Moss put on a show that all but eliminated Jacksonville from playoff contention. They saw Brady go a near perfect 23-26 for 267 yards and four touchdowns. Moss had a huge day with three touchdowns on four catches. Maurice Jones-Drew failed to get 100 yards again getting just 63 on 18 carries. They managed just 275 yards of offense and David Garrard was picked off twice. When they had any kind of drive it was killed, as they were 4-11 on third down efficiency. They made Wes Welker look like one of the best receivers in the league as he caught 13 passes for 138 yards and leads the league with 122 catches. They failed to get to Brady and remain one the worst teams in the league as far as sacking the opposing quarterback is concerned. So they will need to win next week and get a lot of help or its lost season. If they do not make the playoffs changes will be needed and most of the time it starts with the head coach.

NEWARK, NJ – The party lasted a little too long, and the hangover set in Tuesday night for the New Jersey Devils. Riding the high of an eight-game winning streak, the Devils ran out of gas against the quicker Washington Capitals, losing 5-2 in regulation.

Despite Captain Jamie Langenbrunner’s best effort to revive the team, by scoring a short handed goal in the opening moments of the third period to get the Devils within one, Washington was able to shut down the rest of the team. The NHL’s first star for the month of January scored his seventh goal in four games, but for the first time in that streak did not net the game-winner.

“For whatever reason, we weren’t sharp and our battle level wasn’t as good as it has been,” Langenbrunner said.

New Jersey was hampered by penalties at inopportune moments. Shortly after Langenbrunner’s goal, Mike Rupp was called for goalie interference when he led a breakaway and was tripped up in the crease. Rupp slid into Washington goalie Josè Thèodore before bouncing into the boards.

The Capitals, who had scored two of their earlier goals on the power play, took advantage of the extra skater again. Michael Nylander scored his second goal of the game at 10:59 in the third period, extending Washington’s lead to 4-2 by putting the puck between Scott Clemmensen’s legs.

“I thought we were getting a little bit of momentum there, but the call on Rupper wasn’t that hard and it’s a tough play, but our PK, we didn’t do our job tonight,” explained Langenbrunner.

Washington added an empty-net goal with 1:10 left to seal the 5-2 victory.

Coach Brent Sutter had mixed up some of the lines during morning skate, moving Brendan Shanahan onto a line with John Madden and Brian Rolston. The lines took the ice in the modified state, but it only lasted into the second period.

Despite maintaining offensive pressure, the Devils could not create many scoring opportunities in the first period.

“I just think we didn’t have any lines going no matter who you put together. The first period was just really slow and we didn’t create anything, we didn’t do anything, we just stood around and watched them play hockey,” explained Madden.

Washington scored their two power play goals in the first nine minutes of the game. Mike Green took a cross-ice pass from Alexander Semin and put it past Clemmensen 5:58 into the first period. Alex Ovechkin assisted.

Ovechkin assisted again nearly three minutes later, when he sent a pass to Brooks Laich in the crease, and Laich caught Clemmensen on the opposite side of the net.
“We got down 2-0 pretty early once again, we were still fighting, it’s just they had that little step on us all night long, pretty much, and that was the difference, I thought,” Clemmensen said.

Brian Rolston notched a goal for the Devils’ power play unit in the second period. With a 5-on-3 advantage, Zach Parise sent the puck from the corner up to Patrick Elias at the blue line. Elias then pushed the puck over to Rolston in between the circles. Rolston took one stride to his right and ripped a shot that slid under Thèodore.

New Jersey’s power play unit has scored in each of the last three games, and is now 4-7 in 5-on-3 opportunities this season.

The Devils go on the road Friday for a game in Atlanta, and then turn around and come home to play the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. Because of the Rangers’ shootout loss Tuesday night, New Jersey remains four points ahead of the Blueshirts for the Atlantic Division lead.

Read more on the New Jersey Devils at http://www.devilsmademedoit.com, the only independent blog with locker room access.