My Week 14 ratings

Here we go with the "luck" discussion again. No.

In the Dallas game, forcing a fumble is not luck. Further, and even more importantly, the Saints had to go 88 yards in a little time to score a TD - a FG would not have done anything. Going 88 yards in a little more than a minute, and scoring a TD with the pressure of losing the game on your shoulders, is skill, all the way.

A Bengals player being fooled by the playcaller is not luck, again that's skill (on Brees' part), or lack of skill (on the Bengals' part). Still, we had to score points, and a TD in the redzone for the Saints this season, is not guaranteed, nor is a short FG.

Finally, I don't believe that the Falcons or Jets are getting by on "luck". I just think that sometimes, lack of explosion on offense and defensive break downs keeps games close against "inferior" opponents. And what happens when you face an explosive team that doesn't play small-ball with you? You get the ATL-PHI game, where the Eagles blew them back to Georgia, and you get the game last night, where the Pats shoved the Jets into a cannon and shot them back to New York. That's all.