Nov. 26, 2012

A series of events led to Andrew trailing Mike 116.82-80.44 after the Sunday games in their Week 12 match-up. Miles Austin failed to make a single catch in a game against the Redskins, Tom Brady put up 31.42 points for Mike against the Jets, and Mike’s three wide receivers outscored Andrew’s two 28.6 to 4.2 points.

It would be easy to say that this game was over. Mike still had Carolina tight end Greg Olsen to play, and Andrew’s final two players were the inconsistant Brandon LaFell and the unproven backup to LeSean McCoy, Bryce Brown. A rookie from Kansas St., Brown had never started an NFL game and seemed like a long shot to give Andrew the points he needed. And through the first three possessions of the game, Brown rushed for only 29 yards and LaFell only had a 6 yard rush.

But things started to change dramatically over the next few possessions. Cam Newton hit Brandon LaFell for a 43 yard TD on the Panthers second possession and gave Andrew a much needed boost in his receiving core. But Andrew was still going to need some help from Bryce Brown.

And Brown delivered. In the Eagles first possession of the second quarter, with Brown sitting at 58 yards rushing, Brown took a handoff off the right end and galloped downfield for a 65 yard TD. The 12.5 point play early in the second quarter suddenly gave Andrew a glimmer of hope. Adding 12 more yards in the first half, Andrew had put up 30.4 points in the first half, increasing his total score to 110.84. Maybe a comeback was in the making.

But the second half was a roller coaster of highs and lows for Andrew. In the Eagles first possession, Brown fumbled in Carolina territory and the Panthers recovered. The minus-two point play had Andrew walking the wrong way. But on the next possession, Brown ran a five yard TD in to get Andrew moving in the right direction again. But, just when things were looking up, another relapse. Brown fumbled again on the Eagles very next offensive play. The game ticked on until Brown was stopped on a 4th and 1 for no gain with 8:35 left in the game.

The Panthers sustained a long drive that ended in a Cam Newton rushing touchdown with just over four and a half minutes to play. Needing just five yards from Brown to achieve total victory, Andrew was going to have a shot to win in the Eagles next possession. But on the ensuing kickoff, Eagles kick returner Brandon Boykin fumbled at the Carolina 44 yard line, and the Panthers recovered. Looking to run out the clock (and not throw the ball to Andrew’s receiver Brandon LaFell), Carolina dwindled down the final 4:29 on the clock, and Mike got the 121.82-121.34 victory.

The closest match-up of the 2012 season, the victory would be enormous for Mike, who needed all eight of his regular season wins to make his way into the playoffs. If Brown had rushed for five more yards or fumbled one less time, Andrew would have defeated Mike. Andrew’s bad luck continued the following week when he lost a tight matchup with Conor, 101.52 to 96.02. Had his team produced .5 more points in week 12 and 5.51 more points in week 13, he would have made the playoffs. Maybe it could be best explained in Andrew’s late season team motto, which read “5-3 Through week 8 and then I go and lose 5 of my last 6 games to miss the playoffs what a terrible season!!!”

But in the case of week 12, it is hard to complain about a backup running back putting up 26.9 points on 178 yards rushing yards and two touchdowns.

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