NYTimes' analysis of Week 14 results. Very entertaining read. Just a couple of my comments in Italics:
NFL Week 14: What We Learned
NY Times by Benjamin Hoffman Dec. 9, 2019
A defensive back can water ski by using George Kittle’s face mask as a tow rope. The 49ers were down by a point, fourth-and-2 from their own 33-yard line, with 39 seconds left to play. QB Garoppolo threw a 2-yard pass to Kittle, who was streaking across the line of scrimmage. Kittle easily stepped away from a diving C.J. Gardner-Johnson, breaking into open field. Safety Marcus Williams, knowing Kittle was closing in on field-goal range, simply grabbed on to the enormous tight end’s face mask and started to furiously yank. Showing rare strength and situational awareness, Kittle protected the ball and managed to carry Williams – still holding on for dear life – more than 15 yards before finally going down under two more Saints defenders. The 39-yard play, combined with a 15-yard penalty assessed on Williams, set up a game-winning field goal, ending one of the most entertaining games of the year.
The touchdown that wasn’t. Running out of challenges is a big deal, even when you’re right. NE was forced to challenge a play in the second half in which Chiefs’ Travis Kelce clearly had fumbled. The call was reversed in the Patriots’ favor, but that was NE’s last challenge, which prevented it from challenging a later play in which their WR N’Keal Harry was incorrectly ruled out of bounds on his way to the end zone – forcing NE to settle for a field goal. The Patriots’ final drive also featured a questionable non-call of pass interference that could not be challenged, so the Chiefs held on to win.
The Bills are a really tough team, but they aren’t the Ravens. Anyone expecting a blowout has not watched Buffalo play this season. In this matchup against the Ravens – the NFL’s most unstoppable offensive force – Buffalo acquitted itself well, holding the Ravens to just 257 yards of offense. The powerful Baltimore running game generated just 3.6 yards a carry and Buffalo’s “good enough” offense had flashes of success against a strong Ravens D. The game was in doubt until its final 63 seconds. It clinched a playoff berth for Baltimore, but also made a case for Buffalo being a scary team postseason. With one more win over their final three games, the Bills could have their first 10-win season since 1999.
When Marie Kondo says, “I love mess,” she might be talking about the Cleveland Browns. The tidying expert, who believes in throwing out anything that does not spark joy, would have a field day with these Browns. With a win over Cincinnati on Sunday, the Browns improved to a still-disappointing 6-7. QB Baker Mayfield couldn’t avoid controversy even after a win. When asked about the health of WR Odell Beckham Jr., whose tough season continued with a two-catch effort on Sunday, Mayfield matter-of-factly said the team’s training staff made a mistake by not having Beckham get surgery for his sports hernia before the season. Mayfield did acknowledge that hindsight is 20/20, and tried to put a positive spin on the giant spotlight he’d shone on ODJ by saying of Beckham, “Not 100 percent is still good enough for us.”
You can’t outscore the Rams with your defense and special teams. The Seahawks were dealt a tough blow when RB Rashaad Penny was injured on the opening drive, but his absence alone can’t explain an effort in which Seattle’s D scored 6 points on an interception, its special teams scored 6 on a pair of field goals, but its offense was shut out. Aaron Donald and the LAR defense sacked Seattle’s Russell Wilson five times in an easy win at home. Wilson threw for a toothless 245 yards, and his interception on the final drive sealed his team’s fate in the 28-12 loss. As a result of Seattle’s loss and SF’s win, the Seahawks dropped from the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff race to the No. 5 seed.
Top Passer: Jimmy Garoppolo
Jimmy Garoppolo did one of the hardest things in football – winning a shootout vs. Drew Brees in New Orleans. Garoppolo’s name does not appear among the top four QBs in passer rating for week 14, due to an interception in which his pass hit Emmanuel Sanders in the hands, only to have the ball get tipped to Craig Robertson of the Saints. Take out that play and Garoppolo’s rating would have been 143.6 to go with his 349 yards and four touchdowns. Garoppolo had to settle for the second best passer rating on his own team, however, as Sanders threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Bourne on a trick play in the second quarter, resulting in a perfect rating of 158.3. Sanders, in fact, did the same thing in Denver on October 2018 when he played for the Broncos, so he now has a perfect QB rating with two TDs on his resume.
Top Runner: Derrick Henry
Derrick Henry made use of his height and long arms to score one of his two touchdowns on Sunday. The Titans’ offense has been nothing short of sensational over the last four weeks and Henry is an enormous reason for the surge. In the four-game win streak, the star RB has run for 599 yards and seven touchdowns, pushing him to career bests of 1,243 yards and 13 touchdowns for the season.
Top Receiver: A.J. Brown
Remember the bit about the Titans in the previous entry? Brown, a rookie out of Mississippi, played a huge part in Sunday’s surge as well, scoring twice and topping 100 yards for the second time in three weeks. SF’s Emmanuel Sanders had a case for this distinction as well, with 157 receiving yards and a touchdown to go with his own TD pass.
One* Sentence About Sunday’s Games *Except when it takes more.
Ravens 24, Bills 17: Marcus Peters, who came to Baltimore in a salary dump so the Rams could upgrade to Jalen Ramsey, continues to pay enormous dividends. The CB broke up a fourth-down pass to seal the win for the Ravens.
49ers 48, Saints 46: In a game with 94 combined points it is hard to pinpoint key moments, but one huge momentum swing was a beautiful attempt at a fake punt by New Orleans, which was thwarted by Tarvarius Moore, a 49ers defensive back who absolutely mugged WR Tre’Quan Smith throughout the play. Unfortunately for the Saints – oh, the irony! – neither pass interference nor holding can be called on players lined up far outside of a play run out of a punt formation, a fact that did not escape Moore’s attention. A week ago, SF lost a defensive thriller in Baltimore. This week, they won a shootout in New Orleans against Drew Brees and the Saints. Doubt the 49ers all you want, but you can’t accuse them of not having range.
Chiefs 23, Patriots 16: There is no question some incorrect officiating decisions played a huge role in NE’s loss, but Patriots detractors can point to NE’s 278 yards of total offense as a crucial factor in the team’s upset loss at home.
Packers 20, Redskins 15: Green Bay took things seriously enough to win, but Washington was dealt what could be an enormous blow when promising young RB Derrius Guice, who has been plagued with leg injuries, left with yet another knee injury.
Rams 28, Seahawks 12: Resurgent Los Angeles is up to two straight wins, having survived a pair of interceptions from Jared Goff, including a pick-6, thanks to a terrific performance from the Rams’ D.
Vikings 20, Lions 7: Showing they could concentrate in a game in which they were comically favored, the Vikings went up by 17 at halftime and then coasted to victory.
Broncos 38, Texans 24: How does Drew Lock respond to pressure? Denver’s new rookie QB went on the road to Houston for his second career start and easily outplayed Deshaun Watson, throwing three first-half touchdowns in a startling upset.
Titans 42, Raiders 21: Tennessee’s hot streak continued thanks to a familiar combination of Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry. The Titans moved to a tie with Houston at the top of the AFC South standings. Two of Tennessee’s final three games are against the Texans, starting next Sun 15th. Sadly, the Raiders are leaving Oakland with a whimper, not a bang. Gruden needs to push aside his loyalty and find a new DC. The guy is inept by any standards, leaving the D unprepared for opposing offenses.
Steelers 23, Cardinals 17: Pittsburgh’s defense has been as opportunistic as it is tough this season. The Steelers intercepted three of Kyler Murray’s passes, including the rookie QB’s final attempt of the game.
Buccaneers 38, Colts 35: Mike Evans of the Bucs only had one catch on Sunday, but he made it count by scoring a 61-yard TD. He left after the play with a hamstring injury. The Bucs QB Jameis Winston threw three interceptions, and the team was down 14 with less than four minutes left in the third quarter. But Indianapolis collapsed late for a second consecutive week and saw its playoff hopes essentially vanish.
Browns 27, Bengals 19: Cleveland needed a huge second half from Nick Chubb, a pick-6 from Denzel Ward and for a Baker Mayfield interception to be reversed on a challenge to beat … Cincinnati.
Falcons 40, Panthers 20: You know how some teams get a boost from an in-season coaching change? Yeah, that didn’t happen for Carolina.
Chargers 45, Jaguars 10: Philip Rivers stopped getting in his own way and LAC put up an outrageous 525 yards of offense in a game it dominated in every way.
Jets 22, Dolphins 21: Needing a last-second field goal to beat Miami at home is better than losing, but isn’t exactly something to get excited about.