TSN.ca Best Of: Fireworks, miracles and comebacks in the NFL

The annual TSN.ca Best Of tackles the NFL, taking a closer look at the wild NFL offseason, the Packers' 'Motown Miracle,' the demise of the 49ers and the incredible homecoming of Delvin Breaux.

Getting handsy: The weird and wild NFL offseason By: Mike Hetherington

The Fourth of July holiday weekend usually falls between offseason activities and training camp for NFL teams – a time in which players are free to do as they choose.

Most players celebrate the weekend with family, lighting fireworks and enjoying their time off. This year, two players learned the danger of playing with fire. Jason Pierre-Paul of the New York Giants and C.J. Wilson of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers each lost fingers after firework accidents while celebrating.

Wilson, a defensive back, was forced to retire after losing two fingers on his right hand. While Pierre-Paul’s injury (the loss of parts of three fingers in his right hand) led to him missing out on a long-term extension and playing the 2015 season under the franchise tag – though he missed the eight games of the season.

As unlikely as the two injuries were, they were not the only hands to make headlines before the NFL kicked off the 2015 season. No, now-Buffalo Bills defensive end IK Enemkpali became infamous when he used his dominant hand to sucker punch New York Jets starting quarterback Geno Smith in the face during a locker room argument. The shot broke the jaw of Smith and cost him the starting job and landed Enemkpali his immediate release.

The news wasn’t all bad Enemkpali, however, as he was picked up on waivers by the Bills and served as the lone captain for the Bills in Week 10… against the Jets, of course.

The news wasn’t all bad for the Jets though, as Ryan Fitzpatrick replaced Smith at quarterback and enjoyed a career year, with the Jets now on the brink of a playoff berth.

The demise of 49ers  By: Mitch Sanderson

Between 1981 and 1998, the San Francisco 49ers had one losing season and five Super Bowls as one of the best teams in the NFL and one of the greatest teams in football history.

From 2011 to 2013, the 49ers revisited those memories under head coach Jim Harbaugh In his first three seasons, the Niners posted a 36-11-1 regular season record with three straight NFC championship appearances, 27 pro-bowlers, 19 all-pro selections, and one Super Bowl loss.

After reports of a rift between Harbaugh and the front office and players being tired of their coach's demanding ways, 49ers CEO Jed York decided Harbaugh's time was up. Three days before the 2015 calendar year began Harbaugh was fired and it was all downhill from there.

About two weeks later, when offensive and defensive coordinators Greg Roman and Vic Fangio left for greener pastures, the Niners promoted defensive line coach Jim Tomsula to head coach. Not long after that the team was forced to look in-house again promoting quarterbacks coach Geep Chryst to offensive coordinator and tight ends coach/failed head coach Eric Mangini to defensive coordinator.

And then the players started to leave.

First, seven time pro-bowl linebacker Patrick Willis announced his retirement at age 30 citing long-term health concerns. Then, the free agents. All-time team rushing leader Frank Gore left for the Indianapolis Colts and three time pro-bowl guard Mike Iupati signed with the Arizona Cardinals on the first day of free-agency. Both starting cornerbacks Chris Culliver and Perrish Cox went to the Redskins and Titans respectively. 

About a week after Willis announced his early retirement, his supposed replacement, 24-year-old Chris Borland, shockingly also decided to retire after just one season citing a fear of long-term head issues. Soon to follow on the retirement line was all-pro defensive end Justin Smith and 25-year-old starting offensive tackle Anthony Davis.

Tenth-overall draft pick and starting wide receiver Michael Crabtree signed with the cross-town rival Oakland Raiders in April. All-pro punter Andy Lee was traded to the Cleveland Browns in June for a seventh round pick.

After being arrested for an alleged hit and run while under the influence on top of vandalism charges in early August, the 49ers were forced to release all-pro outside linebacker Aldon Smith. The incident was Smith's fifth run-in with the authorities since 2012. He was signed by the Raiders in early September.

When all was said and done, the Niners started the 2015 NFL season with a new head coach, three new coordinators, and eleven new starters.

After a surprise win over the Minnesota Vikings at home week one, the Niners dropped four straight by a combined score of 137-55 to kick off the season including a 47-7 drubbing by the Arizona Cardinals that featured 67 passing yards, four interceptions, and a 3.2 total quarterback rating from Colin Kaepernick.

The Niners combined for nine points through two straight divisional games (that means zero touchdowns) versus the Seattle Seahawks and the St. Louis Rams in weeks seven and eight. In the latter, running back Mike Davis registered one of the more laughable stat lines of 2015; ten carries for four yards with a long run of five yards. Think about that for a minute.

Kaepernick was benched following the 27-6 loss to the Rams, replaced by former tenth-overall pick Blaine Gabbert, and placed on injured reserve following the 49ers' week ten bye.

Gabbert has had limited success with a 2-3 record since Kap got the hook, but he hasn't stole the show as seen at his week twelve press conference before his showdown with the Cardinals.

San Francisco continues to endure losses on and off the field as they desperately try and patch the remains of Harbaugh's powerhouse back together. 
 

Breaux completes unthinkable comeback, signs with hometown Saints By: Mike Hetherington

Delvin Breaux is lucky to be alive, a fact which makes his NFL career even more amazing.

The Louisiana native suffered a traumatic neck injury while playing high school football at age 17 – one that doctors told him should have ended his life.
While completing his routine gunner duty on the punt coverage team for his McDonogh 35 High School, Breaux broke his C4, C5, C6 vertebrae and suffered a partially blocked artery due a chopped bone after tackling the return man. He was taken to hospital and his football career appeared to be over.

LSU honoured the scholarship Breaux had committed to prior to the injury, but in four years, he never played a snap.

The once standout cornerback signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2013 and was named a league All-Star in 2014, helping the Ticats reach the Grey Cup.

In February, after working out for 13 NFL teams, Breaux signed with the New Orleans Saints. He cracked the 53-man roster after a standout preseason and started the first 12 games of the season for the Saints, recording two interceptions.

In 2015, Breaux finally made his comeback complete.

The ‘Motown Miracle’ By: Mike Hetherington

The Green Bay Packers 2015 season will be remembered by many as a disappointment after the team dropped three straight following a 6-0 start. In fact, the Packers appeared set to drop to 7-5 late in the fourth quarter of a Thursday night match against the Detroit Lions in Week 13.

With time expiring in the fourth quarter down 23-21, the Packers attempted to take their best shot at a hook and ladder play, starting with a throw to James Jones along the left sideline, Jones passed back to Richard Rodgers, who threw the ball 15 yards back to quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was quickly tackled by Devin Taylor with no time left on the clock. However, Taylor was called for a facemask on the play and the Packers were set up with an untimed down on their own 39-yard line.

From an empty backfield set, Aaron Rodgers evaded the Lions’ three-man rush and escaped the pocket, set his feet and launched a ball so high, it almost hit the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Richard Rodgers eyed the ball from the Lions five-yard line and retreated to the endzone as the ball travelled toward him. With his back to endzone chaos between the Lion defenders and Packer receivers, Rodgers leapt into the air and snagged the Aaron Rodgers’ pass to complete the seemingly impossible comeback.

The Packers trailed 20-0 at half and, according to the official box score, led for exactly 00:00 in the game. But they walked out of Detroit 8-4 and clinched a playoff berth just two weeks later.
 

The stunning season of the Carolina Panthers By: Mitch Sanderson

The Carolina Panthers did not enter the 2015 NFL season in the best of shape.

Coming off a 7-8-1 season, leading wideout, Kelvin Benjamin, tore his left ACL in a joint practice with the Miami Dolphins August 19th before their second game of the preseason. The remaining six wide receivers combined for just 209 more yards than Benjamin had on his own in 2015, his rookie season (1,008).

But with Cam Newton at quarterback, a talented, disciplined defence, and a seemingly weak NFC South, the Panthers never gave up hope.

Despite only breaking the 200 passing-yardage mark once in their first four games, Carolina roared out of the gate taking down the Jaguars, Texans, Saints, and Buccaneers before their week five bye.

A win over the struggling Seahawks after the bye slipped the Panthers on the map as one of five undefeated teams through six weeks, but Newton introduced one of the most memorable things about this Panthers season.

The “dab” gave a fun face to surging Panthers, but on a sunny afternoon in Charlotte, N.C., they made their mark on the field. Newton threw three touchdowns and ran for one against Aaron Rodgers and the 6-1 Green Bay Packers week nine.

Without much in their way, the blue, black, and silver defied the preseason odds and cruised through the second half of the season with the typical “one game at a time” mentality and some atypical celebrations that upset one Tennessee mom in particular.

With an unbeaten record, the third ranked overall defence through fifteen weeks, and a good shot at winning the defensive player of the year, cornerback Josh Norman had a message for those who have a problem with their excessive celebrations.

“If you see something that you don’t like, stop it,” said Norman on a radio show December 16th. “If you can’t stop it, move to the side and let it happen.”

A few days after those words, Norman hit the field against one of the NFL’s best in Odell Beckham Jr. and the two made headlines again.

The Panthers survived a furious 28-point comeback from the Giants to win 38-35 and kept the undefeated dream alive. Norman held Beckham in check for the bulk of the game on the scoresheet, but a series of hand fighting, missed calls, and trash talking led to OBJ crossing the line.

The Panther sit at 14-0 with the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers remaining on the schedule; both of whom have lost to Carolina this season.

Cam Newton looks primed to win the NFL MVP award with virtually no help on offence and 40 total touchdowns in 14 games. Head coach Ron Rivera is the leader for this year’s coach of the year award after taking this team of low expectations (from an outside view) to the top of the NFL.

This undefeated season hasn’t had all the attention that the 2007 New England Patriots received, and with wins over only two winning teams through 14 games maybe they don’t deserve all of it, but the Panthers will look the finish off better than Brady’s bunch.