NFL Week 12 Takeaways.
Even With The Spaced Out format For Thanksgiving, This NFL Weekend Felt Shockingly Bloated Or Heavy. The Jags Hold Off The Texans And Hold On to The AFC South And A Chance At The Coveted AFC Conference Number One Seed, But The Race Remain Thick. The South Three Playoff contenders with the Colts are entering the conversation this weekend with a win over the Bucs. No one is Talking About Them, And Maybe They will drop in The Long Run, But Indy Has A Spot Now And A Clear Path To The Postseason. The Ravens Hold On To The Top Spot In The AFC By Showing The Chargers The Door In The Conference Standings. In The NFC, The Playoff Picture That Looks Set Got Knock off The Frame. The Rams Have a Playoff Life After Knocking Off The Cardinals. The Cardinals are Growing With Kyler Murray as the Starter. The Former Cards' starter Josh Dobbs is in Minnesota, and the astronauts come back down to earth some on this two-game loss streak for the Vikings. Dobbs Gives, and He Takes Away, But Now The Vikings HAve Competition For That Final Wild Card Spot Losing To the Bears and Broncos in Back-to-back Weeks Exposes The Cracks Hidden Behind The Hype.
Colts Vs. Bucs
The Colts Push Their Win Streak To Three After Defeating The Bucs 27-20 In A Game Both Teams Needed For Their Playoff Odds. The Colts Wanted To Avoid The Constant Shuffle Of Starting Veterans. Still, they couldn't avoid running Into Starting Another Tooth Quarterback With Gardner Michew Taking Over The Offense, But This One Works(For Now). The Colts May Have Enough In The Run Game And Catching Game To Give Any Team In The Playoffs A Run For Their Money If Gardner Minchew Can Keep Everything Together In The Pocket. Minchew helped the Colts Get Out To 17-3 Over The Bucs In The Second Quarter. The Connection Between Receiver Micheal Pittman Jr and Quarterback Gave The Bucs Fits Over The Middle And Into The Sideline. Pittman's Size At 6'3 Makes Even The Most Uncatchable Passes Reachable, And He Can Break Away After Catch. He averaged 5.2 Yards. Gen Stats Clocked The Big Man At 18.41 With The Ball In His Hand. Pittman Sped On His Way To A 10 Catch 107 Receiving Yards Game. Rookie Receiver Josh Downs Works The Intermediate Area Of The Field, helping The Colts Secure Thirteen Passing First Downs. Gardner Minchew finished 24/41 for 251 passing yards and one Intercept.
Shane Steichen and the Colts' offense showed they were unafraid to lean in on Minchew's arm despite the intercept. Minchew Showed Up In Big Spots. Minchew Hits Tight End Moe Allie Cox In Stride, With The Buccaneers Pressing For Another Shot To Win. Instead, Cox reels in a 30-yard pass play and sets up a big game-sealing touchdown. Minchew Ran For A Touchdown That Put The Colts Up 17-3.
The Colts, However, Have Concerns On Defense, Giving A 100 Yard Rusher To The Bucs Who Struggle All season, But Rachaad White Found His Way Through The Colts Defensive Line And Second Level to Finish The Game with 15 Carries For 100 Yards 6.7 Yards Per Carry. A lot of White's Yard came on one run, but with the He Averaged, it only comes to 4.4 per carry.
The Colts's Defensive Line Played Big Against The Pass, With six Sacks coming up Big In The End.
The Colts' Run Game, Powered By Jonathan Taylor, Dealt All The Damage With A fourth-quarter touchdown That Put The Colts Up 27-17 And Out Of Reach.
Mayfield To Mike Evans Touchdown Early In The Fourth Pulls The Bucs Within 20-17.
A Late Baker Mayfield Fumble Sealed the Buc's Hope. Baker Finished 20/30 For 199. Mayfield connected with a Wide-open Mike Evans in the back of the end zone to put the Bucs on the board and pull the score 10-17 in favor of the Colts in the first half. Taylor Finished 15 Carries For 91 Yards—the Colts: A Schedule Taylor Made To Secure A Playoff Spot. The Colts Have The Titans And Bengals, Two Teams With Nothing To Play for, Then The Steelers and the Falcons, and Competitive Teams With Beatable Dispositions Before Completing The Stretch against The Raiders and Texans.
The Bucs Fall To 4-7 And Now Enter The Quarterback Decision For Next Season. They're Projected To Have A Top Ten Pick, And This Draft Looks Healthy with Young Quarterbacks.
Falcons Vs. Saints
Eventually, A Contender For The NFC South Crown would Have To Crystallize No Matter How Mediocre All Three Teams In The Running Wanted To Play.
I'm not a betting man, but I put my money in Atlanta because the Falcons possess the most offensive talent despite their maddening quarterback situation after a short break with Taylor Heinick.
The Falcons Return To the Artful Ways Of Desmond Ridder At Quarterback. Internal Any Other Division Or Era The Falcons' Two options at Quarterback Would Rank At The Bottom Of The Division, Still, Internal The South, With Derek Carr Struggling a Bit, They're Two Of The Best. On Sunday In Atlanta, Carr And The Saints Passing Produced One of Their Best Games Of The Season. Carr Threw For 304 Yards On 24/38, 12.3 Per Completion. Carr Threw A pick-six to Jessie Bates Early in The Game, and That score proved the Difference In Helping Atlanta Take over the NFC South Title. Carr and the Saints offense made a lot of splash plays, starting with Chris Olave's big jump ball catch over the head of a Falcons defender, Jeff Okudah, for 51 yards and some buckeye violence. Olave Dash Across The Falcons Zone Like A Painter Splashing On Canvas On His Way To A Big 7 Catches For 114 Yards. The Saint Offense Has To Find Ways To Pull More Production Out Of Olave.
The Bengals Bates forced A Fumble From Taysom Hill In The Falcons' Red Zone. With Possession Back, Desmond Ridder and The Falcons's Offense add another Touchdown On The Following The Drive. Ridder hooks Up With Bijan Robinson For A Big 26 Yard Touchdown Catch. Robinson Crushed The Saint's Defense, 16 Carries For 91 Yards 5.7 And A Touchdown. If you Watch Bijan Play With Great Acceleration "In and Out" Of The Open Field. They are sometimes Clearing Five Yards Without Getting Touched.
Tyler Allgerier added 64 On 10 Carries As The Falcons Rushed For 228 Yards On The Ground. Cordarelle Paterson Added 8 Carries For 43 Rushing Yards. Even With Ridders's Meager Numbers, Drake London caught five passes for 91 yards to make the Falcons' pass game respectable. At one point in the second half, on the Falcons' final field goal, Arthur Smith dialed up run play after run play for nine straight plays of 54 yards. At the Night's End, Even Ridder Got In On The Action With 7 Carries For 30 Yards. "Get Better, And We'll All Get Involved.
The Falcons hit the ground running internally in this game. The Falcons Saved Themselves(Somewhat) The Trouble With Passing No Matter The Circumstances Desmond Ridder Can Somehow Turn Gold Into Turnovers.
Ridder Started The Game Rough, Missing Two Passes and Only Attempting 21 Passes, Completing 13 For A 168. Of Course, Ridder Threw Two Interceptions, None Of Which The Saints Could Profit Off Of Not One Turnover. The Saints Gave The Ball Back To The Falcons On The Next Derek Carr Took The Falcons' Defense To tour. The Saints put together multiple long 7+ play drives before stalling out in the end zone, Setting up for five fields on five trips deep into the Falcons' territory.
"I'm Not Going To Be Frustrated Anymore. I'm Going To Be Positive," Carr Said After The Game. "I've Seen When A Team Has Battled And Gone Through A lot Of Things and Turnaround And Still Made The Playoffs, And What Did It Was Us Coming Together," Carr Speaks Course, Of The Raiders From 2021 Who Made The Playoffs Through A Tumultuous Series Of Events Including Coach Jon Gruden's Firing. The Saints have one path to the playoffs, and they grabbed the division away from Atlanta.
For The Falcons, The Offense Has To Continue Treading The Line With The Passing Game. Sonya Far The Falcons Have 18 Turnovers This Season, Which Feels Generous. That One Game Lead For The Falcons Could Shrink Over Night(Or Weekend). "Just One Game, But We Needed That Win In A Worse Way," Falcons Coach Arthur Smith SAID after The Game. Thankfully, For The Falcons They Face The Jets Next Week, a Beatable But Tough Defensive team For a Quarterback To Tango Against.
Bills Vs. Eagles
The Eagles Pull Away Late in An Overtime Thriller with Jalen Hurts Rushing Touchdown, One Of Five On The Night For The Man Who Looks Like The MVP Favorite, That squashed a Herculean Performance By Josh Allen And The Bills, Who Needed This Win To Stay Relevant In The AFC Playoff Race. The Eagles And Jalen Hurts Pull Off A Magician Escape Trick. Through Turnovers And Missed Opportunities, the Eagles Positioned Themselves Down 10 Points With Roaring Josh Allen Almost Having His Way With The Eagles's Defense, Only For The Eagles To Arise In The Second Half.
Jalen Hurts Has Turned The Ball Over 12 Times This Season, 6 in his Last 3 Three Games, And Heights Added another Two In This Game. Unfortunately For Opponents, Jalen Keeps The Main Thing The Main Thing. The Eagles Have Storm Through The Toughest Stretch Of The Toughest Schedule Of The Season, And The Bills, Everything To and Offense Hitting On All Cylinders The Bills Could Only Hold The Eagles Offense Off. Josh ALLEN Played One Other Worldly Game. Allen Took 57 Drop Backs, And While You Don't Want To See Him Exercising So Many Passing Attempts when He Generates 420 Yards Of Scrimmage Offense, As a Fan, You Understand The Bills Offense Works Best With Allen Has The Reigns Let Off Him And He's Free To Let Loose. The Bills Produced 505 Yards Of Total Offense To Just
378 For the Eagles. The Bills Converted More Third downs(13) Than The Eagles Attempted. But five total touchdowns, three through the air, two on the ground, and incorporating the game-winning score proved too much. The Bills Always Suffer The Loss In These Over Time Thrilling Games.
The Eagle's Special Teams Made up The Difference For A Struggling Offense. With Josh Allen And The Thundering Bills Driving Into The Red zone With A lead, A Hasson Riddick pressure And A Penalty Hold Off The Bills' Drive and Forced What Looked Like an Automatic Field Goal, But Rookie Defensive Tackle Jalen Carter Blocks The Bills Bid For More Points.
The Game Of Game, With Everything On The Line Eagles's Kicker Jake Elliott Rails In A 59 Yard Field Goal. The Eagles' offense stalls out after crossing Midfield, but that's no problem for Elliott, who I thought "Shanked" the kick through the upright. Bills's Tyler Bass Missed Another Field Goal Early In The Second Half. According To PFF's Statistical Review Of The Game, The Bills Lost -4.04 EPA On Field Goals(Special Teams Total) And Another -4.68 On Turnovers Compared To The Eagles Who Lost -10.61 On Turnovers But Gained 1.71 EPA on Field Goals. Both Times Had 14 Drives, And Despite Buffalo Managing 8 Drives In Scoring Range, They Fail To Come Away With Points; Malady's Plagued The Offense All Season—the Little Misses, The Miscommunication Between Allen And Gabe Davis In Overtime. I Couldn't Tell Who To Blame, But Allen Did Have A Blitz Screaming Down. Davis led the team with 6 Cats and 105 receiving yards.
The Miss Fields Goals And The Drops By Stefon Diggs, Who A Dazzling Touchdown At The Goal Line To Put The Back Up 10 Points In The Second But Let A Few Passes Slip Through His Hands As The Rain Poured Down.
The First Half Bore witnessed Some of Josh Allen's best work this game. Off Of An Eagles Turnover, A Struggling Bills Facing A 7-3 Deficit turned to Air. Josh Allen Hit Gabe Davis For 19 Yards on A third and Nine That Put The Bills In the Red Zone, And Josh Allen handled the Rest, Running Away, Around, And Over the Eagles's Defenders. Meanwhile, Much Like The Kansas City Game, The Eagles Found Very Little Success. Hurt Finished The Game 18/31 For 200 Passing Yards; 6 OF his Completion Came On The Final Game Tying Field Goal Drive. Hurts Suffered A Rough Game Fumble And A Pick Before Coming Through In The End.
Hurts Rushing And Timely Connections Devonta Smith Put This Win In The Basket.
The Bills Still Have The Best .500 Team In The League, But They Lost position to The Colts And The Broncos In the Past Three Weeks. Any Team Ahead Of The Bills Could Collapse To Dust In The Coming Weeks.
The Eagles Take Home Another Tough Win, And Tough Wins Build Callouses For Teams With Super Bowl. "Great Team Win. We Continue To Find Ways To Win," Hurts Said, "We've Shown Our Resiliency."
I Don't Think "Having" To find ways To Win Show The Marks Of A Great Team Just Yet. They are a great Team With A Strategy. The Eagles Have To Pull Wins Out Of Nowhere, But The Win Counts No Less. The Eagles Play The Niners Next Week, A team with A Stratagem And A Score To Settle With Philly.
Steelers Vs. Bengals
If You're A Wide Receiver Like Tee Higgins, Or Say, Jamar Chase, Whose Entered Extension Territory, And Brandon Aiyuk—Preferably Aiyuk Because He's In The Midst Of A Career Year, You're Probably Ecstatic For What You See Happening With The Quarterback. I Discussed Before Bu NFL Economics Works Like World Economics. Each Position Has a Market, and Those Markets Interact; One Market Deflates and another Expands About Effect. Investors Tend To Stray Away From Unstable Markets and Move Towards Predictability. "Investors Like Plain Vanilla. They Like Stalk That's Growing Quarter After Quarter." -- Investor and Author Seth Klaman.
"Quarter For Quarter" Literally defines how the NFL works. If One Market in The NFL Remains Unstable And Teams Ownership Decides To Move Wealth Another Way, Quarterback Stands Out. We've Seen Several Backups Take Over The Playoff Hopes Of Several Teams and Record 10 Rookies Make Starts This Season. One Backup Taking Over For The First Time His Career Jake Browning. "how Different Does This Week Feel Compared to Others?" One June reporter Asked Browning, To Which The Bengals' new Quarterback responded, "Different. I Do This On Wednesday Now." addressing The Media While Muffling Chuckles. He's stepping in for Joe Burrow, the Bengals' number-one pick, who took the Bengals to the Super Bowl and
the man responsible for ripping the hearts out of Bills and Chiefs fans. Brownings's Stepping In To Perform In Place Of Micheal Jackson With The Bengals Playoff Hopes On The Line. "I've Had To Earn Everything. I've Had To Battle. Here I Am" Browning Announcing His Era O Bengals Football.
When asked about His Expectations For The New Quarterback Combination, Jamar Said," We'll Show Y'all This Week Right." The Bengals Showed Us Competent Backup Play From Jake Plummer. For Those Hoping To Get A Little After Image Of Joe Burrow, the 20-10 Defeat At The Hands Of The Steelers Left Us Disappointed. Plummer completed 19/26 passes for one touchdown and one intercept and only attempted one pass over twenty yards. The Bengals' Offense Hung Around internally, Waiting For The Steelers' Offense Transitioning From Matt Canada To Beat Themselves, But That Never Came. Jamar Chase Caught 4 Passes For 81 Yards, But The Bengals Only Managed 25 Yards On The Ground. The Bengals Nearly Looked Like They Could Win This Game. "Always Good In A Game Like That You Step Back and Let The Night Go," Head Coach Said After The Game. The Team Will Watch The Film. The Bengals Finished 2/10 On Third Down.
Instead, Steelers Quarterback Kenny Pickett played like a fringe starter, and the Steelers pulled out a comeback win. Pickett Had His Best Game Of The Season 24/33 Attempts 278 Passing Yards. Najee Harris Had His Best Game Since Maybe His Rookie Season, With 15 Carries For 99 Yards. Najee Hasn't Shown Much Of The Talented Running That Helped Him Earn A Round Selection Out of Alabama Three Seasons Ago, But He Can Still Move If Only Forcefully Enough.
Tight End Pat Friermuth Showed Up Big Getting The Steelers Offense Goimg As Heights Posted his Best Game Yet, 9 Catches For 120 Yards. The Steelers Also Got Some Big Plays From Wide Receivers Diontae Johnson And George Pickens. Pickens Caught A 43 Catch and Johnson A Big 39 Yard Play. A 16-10 Strangely Feels Like A Positive Sign For Steelers. The offense outproduced the Bengals 421-222, 153 to 25 yards on the ground, and only gave up a touchdown after a long kick returned to set the Bengals up in plus territory.
The Defense In Pittsburgh, Of Course, Lit Browning Up For 4 Sacks, and TJ Watt Finished With Two Sacks.
Giants Vs. Patriots
The Patriots Exhausted Two Total weeks deciding Which One Of Their Two Backup Level Quarterbacks To Start On Sunday. In One Corner, Mac Jones, The 25-Year-Old Incumbent Starter Whose Career Has Gone Awash Since His Pro Bowl Rookie Season, And Bailey Zappe Who Started A Handful Of Games For The Patriots Last Season But Hasn't Shown Any Effectiveness In Stints This Season. A dearth Of Quarterback Options Has Left NFL Teams with Stringent Options On The Market. A Longing For The Days Of Backup Brian Hoyer, Jarrett Stidham, And Jacoby Brissett Now Sweep Over The New England(Boston) area. Maybe Even Cam Newton.
For The Flacons Neither Choices Of Quarterback On Your Staff Move The Needle You Know You Need To Move On.
The Patriots find Themselves Unexpectedly Anticipating The Quarterback Market This Offseason. Taking A Few Losses Down The Stretch Would Serve The Patriot's Draft Position Well. The Patriots Didn't Make The Wrong Choice At Quarterback—Mac Jones Threw Two Picks—But The Patriots Made The Least Insufferable One. Bailey Zappe Still Made An Appearance In the Game, But His Presence Made No Difference.
A Loss To The Giants Hirt, The Patriots Under Any Circumstance, But Especially When The Losses Help The Draft Position. The Patriots Lose To The Giants, Who Have Now Won Two In A Row With Tommy Devito At Quarterback. In Some Respects This Game Looked Worst Than The 10-7 Score Indicated. The Giants spoil A Good Start to The Game With A Fumble Of A Mishandled Exchange. Tommy Devito hits Fellow Rookie Jaylin Hyatt for 29 Yards To Field Position. On The Ensuing Play, The Giant's Offense Gets Cute, and Bouch Ab End Around Play; The Final Stats Credit Devito With The Fumble When Receiver Wan'Dale Robinson Fails To Secure The Ball With The Giants At The New England Patriots' 26 Yard Line. Hyatt Caught Another 22-yard pass On The First Play Of The Giant's Second Drive And Another 41 41-yarder on His way To A career-high five Catches and 109 yards receiving. With Little To Lose, Devito Could Take Advantage Of Hyatt's Pure Speed Downfield, Something Daniel Jones Couldn't.
Offense For Either Team Didn't Come Easy For Either Team. The Giants Put The First Points On The Board And A Lead That Gave The Patriots A Step Up In The Run To Bottom.
Hyatt Didn't Serve As The Only rookie For The Giants To Win Off Of The Patriots. Rookie Deonte Banks scored the first pick of the day off of the Patriots' quarterbacks. Mac Jones over-throws Demario Douglas into the sideline, Throws The ball away, and banks make a great play on the ball. Jones's Second Pick Hit The Offense Harder. With The Patriots Driving Into Giants Territory For The First Time in The Half. Jones Completed Two Straight Passes To Davante Parker, One A 17 Yarder That Slid Through A Giants Defender And Into Parker's Arms. Under Pressure And Throwing Off Of His Back Foot, Jones Hits Giants Linebacker Bobby Orekeke. Jones Had His Sights Set On Demario Douglas. Heights Should have targeted Douglas, But He Hit Orekeke Sonya Well In The Chest. You Would've Thought him The Opposition, The Target. Parker finished with 3 Cats for 42 yards, and Douglas finished with six catches for 49 yards. The Giants Turned That Pick Into A Score After Devito hit Isaiah Hodgins On a Slant, wiping Route InTo The End zone.
New England Finished The Game With As Many Punts And Interceptions As Bailey Zappe Finished With Completions(9). Coach Bill Belichick Said After The Game That Heights Thought Both Quarterbacks Deserved To Play. If The Pats Had Any Life On Offense The Run Game, Rhamondre Stevenson Had 21 Carries For 98 Yards On 4.7 Yards Per Carry And A Touchdown. The Patriots almost tied the game late, but They missed the field goal. Patriots's Quarterback Has a Reckless Proclivity For Putting The Ball In Harms's Way. The Giants Drop Multiple Opportunities To Stretch The Turnover Differential Against Bailey Zappe, Who Threw One Interception.
Right Now, No One In New England Likes The Feeling Of Losing, But The Potential Drafting Of A Good Quarterback Does Bring Some Solace. This Unattractive Victory Had To Belong To Someone, And The Giants Fall Further Back From The Number One Pick.
Chiefs Vs. Raiders
I've seen many athletes on social media complaining about fans storming into the DMs and pointing out how this play and this loss cost Them, the fan, and some other helpless bettors losing money. I Don't Gamble Or Play Fantasy( And I Have No interest in Gambling), But I Get The Fan Frustration And The Athlete's Annoyance. After The Raiders Took Off To an Early 14-0 Lead Over The Chiefs, I Knew The Parlay Merchant would Set Patrick Mahomes's DMs Ablaze. Patrick Mahomes and The Chiefs Offense Thats Struggled To Score This Past Week Came And Score 21 Points Unanswered After The Start Of The Second Quarter To Take A 31-17 Win Over The Raiders.
Raiders's Quarterback Aidan O'Connell stuck To The Script, targeted Davante Adams, And worked the Offense From That Point Of Reference. On the First Possession Of The Game, The Raiders Drove 9 Plays for 75 Yards. The highlight play is a 33-yard catch-and-run by Adams. The Raiders Set Up The Play Action Play With Two Early Runs By Josh Jacobs And A Short Pass To Jacoby Meyers, Who Forces a few Chief Defenders To Miss Tackles and Caps Off The Drive With An Early Chiefs Touchdown. On the Next drive, Jacobs Doesn't Set Up The Touchdown. He Cashes OneScore In Himself. Josh Hasn't Broken A Big Run Since Last Year Against The Seahawks In Overtime; Heights Takes 63 Yards. Jacobs takes one cut, dashes up, and sweeps through the defensive secondary. If The Chief's Defense Has Any Weakness, Offenses Can Get Over The Chief's Defensive Line When Defenders Shoot Gaps And Expose Openings.
Jacobs Finished With 20 Carries Finished With 110 Rushing Yards And 5.5 Per Carry. The Raiders One Two Punch Couldn't Sustain Drives In The Second Half.
The Raiders' Defense forced two Punts and A Loss of 11 yards. It Gained 11 Yards Back Before Punting. By the Second Half, The Chiefs Tied The Game, Generated all The Momentum, and Mahomes Picked Apart The Raiders Secondary On His Way To Finishing 27/34 For 298 Passing And Two Touchdowns. The Chiefs Got Tricky Breaking Out The Old Faithful Flea Flicker. The Chiefs scored 31 points After The First Quarter. The Chiefs Couldn't Lose To The Raiders, Not With The Conference Lead On The Line.
Dolphins vs. Jets
A part of me died when I got the notification that the Jets had benched Zach Wilson for Tim Boyle. "You Don't Give Up On People." Coach Robert Salah Said. Wilson's Moxie And Resilience Under Duress From Defenses And The Press Made Him An Endearing Figure In Football. He's The Quarterback The Jets Want But The One They Need. Tim Boyle made two Interceptions On 45 Dropbacks And Completed 71.1% For 179 In Place Of Zach Wilson, Watching From The Sideline Where Wilson Started The Season As The Dolphins handled the Jets.
As A Hardened Zach Wilson Apologist, I Watched Noting How I Believe Wilson Could Have Met Those Very Heights Of Boyle With A Few Spectacular "Burn Outs" Along The Way. Still, Even I Admit The 70% Completion Percentage Raised The Standard A Bit in Some Respects Boyle Match Tua's Production In This Game. Despite The High Point Differential, Tua Threw Two Picks And One Touchdown And Completed 70% Of His Passes On His Way To 243 Yards Passing. Tua had a good day. I've seen some quarterbacks suffer under the tyranny of this Jets defense. Mike McDaniels calls a pretty conservative game, but the Jets' defense robbed Tua for a Pick-six.
He Completed 9/9 Of 68 Yards, Allowing His Playmakers To Make offense Happen After the Game. Tyreek Hill And Jaylin Waddle Reached 100 Yards Receiving This Game. Jaylin Waddle Caught All Eight Of His Targets For 114 Yards. Tyreek Hill Averaged 8.8 Yards After The Catch Per Catch On His Way To 9 Catches For 102 Yards.
The Run Game With Raheem Mostert picked up two touchdowns, 94 yards on 20, and helped the Dolphins slowly churn this game away on Amazon's Black Friday.
For a Game Meant To Tether, The NFL Brand With One Of The Largest Shopping Experiences In North America, The Game Itself Felt Remarkably Underwhelming. The Dolphins, however, stay in play for the AFC Number One Seed despite a wildly up-and-down season. I need help understanding the Jets starting a different flavor of Just-functional enough quarterbacking.
Seahawks Vs. 49ers
The Seahawks' Offense Continues to Perplex Me; They Don't Score Enough Points Compared to
the Talent Level. Between Weeks 6-11, The Seattle Offense Has Fallen to 21st In EPA Down From 12 Across. The Seahawks Rank 16th In Points Per Game, Below Denver And Kansas City.
The Seahawks, For All Their Explosive Talent, Who Else Comes To Mind When Explosives Enter Conversation; Tyreek Hill DK Metcalf And Tyler Lockett But For Now, The Seahawks Rest In The Middle Of Pack In Explosive Play Rate This Season.
The Seahawks Didn't Get Much In The Realm Of Explosive Plays This Game, An Early Kick Return For 66 Yards from Dee Eskridge To Get The Sea Hawks Started In Plus Territory Served As Any Signs Of Passion From Seattle In The First. The Seahawks Offense Move The Ball One Yard In Three Plays Before Settling For A Field Goal For An Early Field Goal. The Seahawks Could Not Find Any Offensive Consistency, and The Niners Put This Matchup Away Quickly. The Seahawks Passing Offense Struggled To Reach 13 Points. Football's a demanding sport, but Geno Smith and the Seahawk's operations look like they're rowing a boat.
What's Strange? Nothing About Seattle's Offense Changed From This Year To Last Year; if anything, They Added More Talent, Yet The Seahawks Can't Work The Same Grooves. Defenses Seem To Know What Seattle Wants to Do Before The Play Starts. No Changes Created The Problem.
Everyone Knows The Seahawks Under Pete Carroll Like To Run The Same "Stuff" Over and Over, Trusting Their Talent To Win. Former Patriot Malcolm Butler credited the Seahawks' proclivity for recycling play calls for his game-sealing Intercept ( Good Times, Good Times).
Geno Completed Just Six Passes In The First Half, four Of Which Came On The Final Drive of The Second Quarter With Less Than A Minute To Go In The Half. The offense didn't get any better from there, but the Jaxson Smith-Njigba one-handed catch impressed everyone watching.
The Niners Picked Geno Off Once But Let A Few Opportunities Slip Through Their Hands. That First Drive-In Plus Field Position Proved an Outlier As The Seahawks Faced Multiple Drives Backup Against Their End Zone And Failed To Turn Field Position.
Across their first five drives, the Seahawks gained 11 yards, Geno threw one intercept, and on the final half drive (the sixth drive), Seattle drove 45 and missed a field goal—Geno saw pressure on a down-to-down base. The Niners' Defensive Line Finished With 6 Sacks and 12 QB Hits. Nick Bosa Finished With Two Sacks, Ariel Armstead Got Internal On The Action, And The Niners' D-Line Threw A Sack Party. "It starts With Every Guy," Geno Smith Said After The Game. "How I Help The Team Play Better… Score More Points."
The Offense Has Recorded Three Scores In Three Games, Obviously None Today.
The Seahawks Will Play For Their Playoff Lives From Here On Out, Starting Next Week Against The Chainsaw Welding Cowboys, Who Cut Through Wandering Teams Like An Axe Or Chainsaw Saw Through a Turkey.
On defense, Seattle had no sense of direction or purpose of "Run fit" on wide zone runs. Christian McCaffrey ran for three explosive runs of 10 or better yards and multiple shorter runs, breaking tackles and oversetting defenders.
McCaffrey Carried The Bell For This Niners Offense, with 19 Carries, 114 Yards, 6 Yards Per Carry, Two Touchdowns, and An Added 5 Catches For 25 Yards Through The Air.
Brock Purdy And The Niners Passing Had A Couple Of Explosive Moments. Deebo Samuel Caught 7 CATCHES for 79 Receiving Yards.
Kyle Shanahan Kept Brock Purdy On A Leash, Only 32 Dropbacks, 30 Attempts, 21 Completions For 209 Passing Yards, and 9.9 Per Completion. Purdy Threw A Pick Six On A Tipped Pass That Landed In The Hand Of Jordyn Brooks.
Purdy Completed Six Passes Behind The Line Of Scrimmage, and Only Five Passes Ten Yards Or Better, Including The Touchdown Connection To Brandon Aiyuk For 28 Yards. Aiyuk Finished With Two Catches For 50 Yards.
Packers Vs. Lions
The Honeymoon Period With Jordan Love Has Ended. The New Quarterback Stole The Hearts Of Football In His First Two starts When He Threw six touchdowns Zero, And the Packers Started The Season 2-0. Jordan Love Started The Season 6-0 On The Touchdown Interception Ratio, Then Quickly Nose Diving Into 2-6 Over The Next three Games. Love led the Packers on what turned out to be a Game-sealing touchdown in the upset victory over the Chargers. Love Also Threw A Pick In The Red Zone To Seal The Loss Against The Steelers The Week Prior. He's Played Kind Of Like A Rookie, with Highs And Lows, But the Only Exception is Love's 25 Years Old With Three Years of Experience. The Packers Couldn't Muster Much Of A Run Game With Aaron Jones Injured For Much Of The Start Of The Season. With the Offense predicated On His Arm Talent, Love Produced 16 Touchdowns And 10 Interceptions. He Crossed The 100+ Passer Rating Threshold Four Times and 70 Or Bettter QBR Four Times.
Love Didn't Fail The Packers Today. All Season, The Man Green Bay Expects To Move In The Position As Hier Apparent To Aaron Rodger, Jordan Love, Has Taken Advantage Of "Average." The Falcons, The Bears, The Chargers, And the Broncos All Fall Into That zone Of Average. It's too bad that on Thanksgiving, the Lion's defense learned that love can hurt. Love Finished 22/32 Passing For 268 Passing Yards, Another Three Touchdown Game As The Packers Jump Out To A Early 23-6 Lead, Stave Off A Late Lions Surge And Survive 29-22 To Cap Off The Upset.
Love Got the Passing Offense Going Out Of The Gate When He connected with Christian Watson for A Big 53 53-yard pass downfield. Watson Last's Years 2nd Round Pick, Whom The Packers Had High Hopes For Entering The Season, had notched Better Than 40 Yards In A Game Since Week Two When He Finished With 91 Yards Against Atlanta; he Caught 53 On the Opening Play. Love Under Three The Ball Has He Tends To Throw Off His Back Foot, But Watson Makes The Adjustment, stops And Jumps Over Two Lions' Defenders.
"Something We Put In This Week That We Thought Would Work," Jordan Love said After" We're Confident In It. Put The Ball Up There, And Christian Made A Play On It."
The Lions Defense Had Little Success Deterring on Love. The Lions Pass Rush Didn't Produce A Sack, and The Detroit Secondary Scoff At Any Opportunity To Pick Off Love, Who Generously Takes Risk On Matt Lafleur's Flight Plan. Watson Adds On Another 8 Yards For 61 Yards On On Two Catches, And Those Two Plays Encapsulate What The Packers' Fans Expected From The Duo Of Jordan Love And Christian Watson Coming Into the Season: Three Plays Later, Love Hits Rookie Jayden Reed To Finish Off The Drive With a Ten Yard Touchdown. Jordan Love Riding A Hot Hand, The Big Shot The Tune, But The Play Calling Had More In Store For The Lions: the Protection Held Up And Love Kept Dealing. Through The Second, With the Packers Already Up 20-6, Love Only Recorded One Incompletion, 12/13 For 188, As The Packers drove To Add Another Field Goal To Their Lead. The Lions Defense Looked Almost Shock To Paralysis. Love Still Throws The Ball "Awkwardly" from His Side Arm. From The OBservational Perspective, Throwing the Side Arm Helps On Screen Plays, But Not Throwing Over the Shoulder Takes Velocity Off The Ball A lot. Love Squeezed The Ball Through A Few Window And Got Away With A Few Shots And Then Some.
Just Sunday, the Lions weathered a three-interception game from Jared Goff and rolled back against the Bears. Against The Packers, Goff Would Struggle With Turnovers, This Time fumbled. "Thought We'd Win The Game Before The Game, and They Played Better Than Us," Jared Goff said. The Lions Got On The Board To Tie The Game After Start Hot with 7 Plays, 73 Yards Of Offense, And End Zone Whistle To Sam LaPorta, Classic 2023 Lions Drive.
The Passing Didn't Hirt Goff On The Night, Heights Complete Three Passes On The Drive. Goff Finished the Game 29/44 For 332, Two Touchdowns, 103.6, And A QBR Of Just 15.2, But He Fumbled Three Times; The First Sack Fumble On A Failed Pass Which Green Bay Packer safety Jonathan Owen's ( Simone Biles's Husband) Turns Into A Packers's Touchdown. The Lions usually stout protection breaks down once more, and the not-so-spry-of-foot Jared Goff scrambles but fails to secure the ball.
The Packers responded With A Touchdown On The Next Drive And Ultimately Stave Off The Lions' Comeback Attempt. The Packers's Offense, For All The Success, Did Suffer A Few Warts—a Botch Exchange Between Jordan Love And Running Back AJ Dillon Negated A fourth Down Conversion.
Love Slams Into Dillon Almost Comedically As Lions Defenders Swarm The Backfield. Dillon, who built More Like A Rhino Than A Human Being, Kept Coming, and Sonya Did The Packers. Dillon produced 81 yards of scrimmage yards in pass and a rusher—the Lions' late-game heroics fall short. Goff Produced 232 Yards Passing After The Second Half; The Lions' Offense Showcased a lot Of Explosive Ability With Multiple Big Plays Across The Board. Jamyr Gibbs Rushed Over 20 Yards Twice, And Amon-Ra St. Brown 28 Yard Catch And Run. A Six Yard David Montgomery Touchdown Put The Lions On The Board Again. Jameson Williams Later Breaks Open A 38 Yard Drag Route Off Of A Play Action. The Lions' Offense Hasn't Fully Unlocked Williams, The Alabama Product Caught 2 Passes For 51 Yards. Amon-Ra St. Brown led the Team In Receiving with 9 Catches For 96 Yards. Kalif Raymond Added 5 Catches For 90 Yards. The Lions Ultimately Gained The Packers In Total Yardage,464 To 377, But Turnovers.
The Fumbles Visit Goff Again, Another Sack Fumble Crushes A Drive. The Lions Drop A Very Winnable Game.
The Packers Climb(Somehow) Back Into The Playoffs Picture. The Once Set Internal Stone, NFC Playoff Picture Now As Intruders With The Packers Suddenly Surging. "It's One Game, Right," Coach Matt Lafleur Said. "This Is The National Football League. Anyone Can Beat Anyone." The Lions probably forfeit any chance of catching the Eagles at one time, and now they have to watch the Niners coming up behind them.
Cowboys Vs. Commanders
The Cowboys Continue To Tighten And Exemplify Their Stranglehold And Monopolization Blowout Losses Against Bad Team, This Time The Shriek In Terror as Villainous Cowboys Envelope Another Helpless Victim.
The Commanders Entered Thanksgiving On The Heels Of A Shameful Loss to Giants, Who Boosted The Worse Record In The League Until Tommy Devito Did A Number To The Commanders' Defense. Nothing Screams Waving The White Flag On A Season Like Losing To The Giants At This Point In The Season, And The Commanders Have Lost To The Giants Twice This Year: Dangerous Territory. If the Commanders Had the Pride To Play For the Rest Of The Season, They Lost Their Pride Last Week.
If You're The Commander Playing A Cowboys Team On A Tear, You Hope To Go Out And Prove You're Better Than Getting Beat By Three Scores Or More.
Early On In The Game, The Idea Looked legitimate.
This matchup Almost Defied Expectations On The Score Before The Final Quarter. In The Third Quarter, The Cowboys Only Held A 20-10 Lead Instead Of 45-10 How The Game Ended.
Just Like In The Panthers, The Cowboys' Offense Didn't Rush To Floor The Gas Pedal And Throttle The Commanders Out Of This Game.
The Two Team Split Punts Early. The Cowboys Get On The Board First. Dak's Lead, The Charge As The Cowboys, Run A Man 11 Plays Drive Across 90 Yards. A Big Catch By Tight End Jake Ferguson For 35 Yards, One Of 4 Explosive Pass Plays For
the Cowboys(Including Two Touchdowns), A Completion That Gets The Cowboys Out Of Their End Zone. Prescott Threads Three Defenders, But
The Cowboy's Offense Couldn't Sustain The Drive. Presscot Hit Brandin Cooks for 31 Yard Touchdown to Put The Boys Up 14-3 And KaVontae Turpin For 34 Yards To Cap The Scoring For The Offense in the Fourth.
The Cowboys cap off the drive in the opposite end on a short pass to Rico Dowidie, one of three first-half scores for the Cowboys as Dak and the passing game surge past the commanders late. The Cowboys Scored 25 Points In The Fourth, Almost As Much As Both Teams Scored in The First Half(30), Including A Record-Breaking Pick Six For Cornerback Daron Bland, who racked 6 Pick Sixes This Season, on A Night When Dak Connects With 10 Different Receivers And Finish With A Light 22/32 For 331 Four Touchdowns and A Passer Rating 142.1. Prescott Also Finished The Evening With An Intended Air Yard Of 13.8 and 11.2 Completed Air Yards, Showing Little Regard For The Commanders Secondary But Rather Shoveling More Dirt On The Coffin.
I'm Not A Fan Of The Cowboys Obliterating Teams Of Lesser Cloth Than Their Standard. He's Playing The Best Quarterback In The League Against The Team That Made Rookie Backup Tommy Devito Look Starting Caliber. Devito Could Prove A Starter Someday, But This Lower Case Wins Expose Very Little About The Cowboys.
The Cowboys Can't Control The Schedule Or The Competition Level, Only Their Execution. "We Feel Go About What We've Got. We Feel Good About the Players We Got. The Matchup." Dak said, "It's Confidence." Of Course, The Cowboys Could Have Lost, And The Story Would've Sunken The Team's Super Bowl, But a Grind Win Against The Commanders On A Thursday Proves What We Know, And We Know Nothing About The Cowboys But Their Names Until They Play The Niners And Eagles. Dak Only Completed 68% Of His Passes, But His Passes Had A Little More Aggressive Tune Than Usual.
Night against The Cowboys Remind Me Of Why Sam Howell Hanst Convinced Me He's an actual Franchise Level Quarter.
Despite His Heavy Passing Numbers. Howell has run 606 plays this season; no other quarterback has 500. The Commanders ran 75 plays in this game, 25 more than the Cowboys, and lost by 35 points, Producing 376 yards to the Cowboys, 431 yards offense on two more drives than Dallas. The Commander's only score came from a touchdown run from Howell, and this offense has to find points somewhere with limited work in the run game. The Eric Bienimy Play Calling Game Hasn't Work. Sam Howell Doesn't Have Shelf Or the Next Shelf Below Arm Talent. He's Just A Good Quarterback, And The Commanders Should Not Shy Away From Drafting Another Guy With What Looks Like A Top Seven Pick. Don't Lose Out On Another, Just Herbert Because They Believe They Have Something Immediate And Lose Out Another Chance Like They Did With Justin Herbert and Tua; If You Think Tua's Elite.
Howell is 21st in metrics success rate in the NFL. He demonstrated An inability to consistently gain yards when a desperate commander's offense couldn't generate a fourth down conversion in three spots in the fourth quarter. The Commanders Have A Talented Offense And 408 Yards Of Total Offense(Adjusted By Sack Numbers) Impressive Numbers Scoring Counts More.
The Commanders Will Face The Dolphins Next Week, Not as A Team Looking To Prove Anything But Playing Out The Season Because They Get Paid For Football. The Cowboys Have Another Delectable Turkey In The Seahawks Next Week.
