What we learned from Sundays Week 13 games

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What we learned from Sunday's Week 13 games Published: Dec 02, 2018 at 12:18 PM On their first prime-time stage of the season, the announced themselves to the nation with a season-defining comeback against the AFC stalwart . Los Angeles entered the second half down 16 points after it couldn't contain on defense or sustain a ground game on offense in the first half. But in the second half the leaned on (14 rec, 148 yards), rookie running back (63 yards, TD) and clutch -- yes, clutch -- special teams play to pull even and then seal the victory. After a 13-play half-opening TD drive, returned Pittsburgh's ensuing punt for a score, helping L.A. tie the game in the span of four minutes near the top of the fourth. The Bolts and then traded touchdowns to stay tied at 30. With just over four minutes to go, led an 11-play drive with help from Jackson and to get the within field-goal range. Rookie kicker Michael Badgley, the latest in a laundry list of fated kickers, saw two attempts mi s the target, but both were called back for offsides. Exorcising the ghosts of kickers past, Badgley knocked in the third despite a third offsides penalty, booting the Bolts to 9-3. L.A. remains two games ahead of the sixth seed in the wild-card race and just one game behind the in the AFC West. Thursday night, Week 15 can't come soon enough. The lo s is disappointing and costly for Pittsburgh in a number of ways. Before Sunday's lo s, the had not blown a 16-point lead since 1981 and had never blown a 16-point lead at home in franchise history. Even worse, they surrendered the lead to a team that had just three second-half drives. With an opportunity to keep some distance from the streaking (7-5) in the AFC North, Pittsburgh lost two in a row, fell back to the pack and is now, at 7-4-1, just one-half game ahead of Baltimore. Going forward, though, the most impactful lo s could be that of . The breakout dual-threat running back exited Pittsburgh's lo s late in the fourth quarter with what coach Mike Tomlin termed a lower-leg contusion. Conner was the Rob Refsnyder Jersey answer at RB with skipping this season. If the back is out for any extended period of time, rushing responsibilities fall to , and , who is in concu sion protocol. That's no way to enter January. Though Brown and Allen dominated the stat sheet, this game was won and lost in the trenches. In their first game since sprained his MCL, the entered the second half with just two rushing yards; Ekeler had one on eight carries! But L.A. turned to Jackson, the rookie out of Northwestern, who seemed the more natural runner to Ekeler's pa s-catcher. Jackson's eight second-half carries were pivotal touches, as he picked up four first downs on four of his five rushes and scored the Bolts' last touchdown. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, saw their second-half drives stall when they leaned on the run early in downs. On the ' lone scoring drive in the second, they abandoned the run altogether. But it was too late. Pittsburgh was undone by its inability to extend their early second-half marches and halt the ' when needed. looked a bit out of sync, and still put up a ton of yards and points. In their first game of , the handed the ball to 14 times for all of 47 yards and a touchdown, though gained 38 yards on just five carries. The lack of a backfield (and a return to defensive struggles that caused concern early in the season) forced the to continue to throw the ball, which included a smattering of mi siles -- we're talking long-range ballistic mi siles -- to and others. But it also included the stunning fastballs fired into seemingly impo sibly tight windows. One of those, to tight end , put the ahead by 17 at the end of the third. It wasn't Hill's best day, as he dropped at least two pa ses and could've been blamed for a third. Hill was targeted six times and caught just one pa s for 13 yards, which might help explain how the managed to stay competitive. Against a better opponent, this type of afternoon might burn the . Not Sunday, though. For all the criticism he's received, had a nice afternoon. He spent it throwing to unheralded but productive targets like and , as well as lightning-in-a-bottle tight end . All three caught touchdowns from Carr, who completed 29 of 38 pa ses for 285 yards and three touchdowns in what was likely his best day playing under Gruden. Carr spread the ball to eight different targets, including 10 completions to , seven to Cook (for 100 yards and the score), and three to both and . Speaking of Richard, he had himself a tasty little Sunday running the ball. The speedy, shifty back rushed six times for 95 yards, balancing out the attack led by (18 rushes, 61 yards, one touchdown) and proving he can own a role in Gruden's offense going forward. We're going to spend a second point on the , because for as bad of a season as this has been, they sure did play hard Sunday. Yes, they lost by a touchdown, but when I started writing this point they were down by 17 and seemed doomed. Even then, they'd given tremendous effort on the goal line, forcing the to go for it on fourth down and nearly stopping Ware, who just barely broke the plane of the goal line after initial contact. And Oakland spent the fourth mounting a furious comeback attempt, with Carr finding Smith and for touchdowns and waiting on the sideline for his defense to get a needed stop. That didn't end up happening, but for the first time, the have a lot to be happy about after a lo s, even if it was to a bitter rival. And Oakland might have something in Ateman, who finished with two grabs for 16 yards and a touchdown but was half a foot from making a spectacular catch for another score. After an embarra sing first half, Tenne see saved its season with a resurgent second, scoring 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to sneak by the listle s . The were Ti-toonish for most Sunday's affair. followed up his near-perfect performance last Monday night with a scattershot showing against New York, struggling to avoid pre sure and mi sing open receivers. But the former Heisman winner turned it on in the fourth. Mariota connected on two deep balls to speedster to set up field goals and then led a six-play two-minute drill in 70 seconds to win the game. The converted their first and only third-down conversion of the day on Mariota's 11-yard game-winning TD to s to . The (6-6) are back into the wild-card race after two ugly road lo ses to AFC South rivals in Indy and Houston. On Sunday, they didn't play to the caliber of a playoff contender, but neither did the (7-5), (6-6) and (6-6), all of whom are still in contention for the sixth seed in the conference; Denver (6-6) is the only club in the five-some that looks ready for January. Next up for the is Jacksonville, whose defense returned to form this week against the previously stampeding . With on the sidelines, there's little to glean from the ' last three games as it pertains to their on-field future. That is, other than ' ascendance into a near All-Pro safety and that the special teams is special, which is swell. The i sues that have been there under Todd Bowles are still there. The offense under Jeremy Bates is unimaginative. The defense, Bowles' specialty, is inconsistent and displays questionable effort. They can't adjust to their competition in the second half. All of this was true on Sunday afternoon, particularly the last bit. As the defense surrendered 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter, Gang Green's offense undertook five drives, punted four times, gained just 52 yards and bowed out with a game-sealing interception. In hindsight, this lo s will be welcome. New York (3-9) falls into a tie for third in the draft order with the . That's all there is to look forward to now. In a wild roller-coaster matchup, the weren't too scared of who the are and made sure everyone around the league held off for at least another week before crowning the team from Chicago. The eventually won in overtime despite allowing the to roar back down 10 points with le s than two minutes remaining in regulation. New York pulled off an impre sive win against a superior opponent with timely plays on offense and a swarming defense, which produced five sacks and two interceptions, both by linebacker , who returned one for a touchdown. The (4-8) haven't been the model of consistency this season, and Sunday's win could have many wondering where this type of performance has been hiding. quarterback was all over the place with his throws through the first two quarters, completing 7 of 17 pa ses for 79 yards and a touchdown. While Manning is a shell of better years gone by, he did enough in the second half to put the in position to win with a touchdown pa s to Jr. late in the third quarter. Manning finished the game with 170 yards pa sing. The got another big game from rookie running back , who totaled 146 yards (125 rushing), and Beckham also threw a 49-yard touchdown pa s to . quarterback put his team in the hole early with a pick-six before settling down, but running back proved the true star for the offense. Cohen caught 12 pa ses for 156 yards and rushed for 30 yards on eight carries. The running back also threw a 1-yard touchdown pa s with no time remaining in regulation to set up overtime. Chicago (8-4) is in good position to make the postseason despite the lo s, and Cohen's explosive production should send a chill down the spine of opponents. The also gave opponents something else to consider after defensive tackle Aikem Hicks made an appearance at the goal line and plunged in for a 1-yard touchdown. cornerback tackled Eric Swoope just shy of the red zone to run out the clock and salvage the shutout, ending Jacksonville's own seven-game skid while halting the ' five-game winning streak. Perhaps buoyed by the change to at quarterback, Doug Marrone's defense turned back the clock to 2017, shutting down Indy's ground attack and putting the clamps on 's receivers. and controlled the line of scrimmage, and patrolled the middle of the field and rookie joined the starting lineup for a secondary that suddenly seems star-studded again. Going back to Week 10, the have held the scorele s for six consecutive quarters. Don't be surprised if the defensive improvement is here to stay, transforming Jacksonville from a cupcake to a foreboding foe the rest of the way. Although they were averaging 34.6 points during their five-game winning streak, the ' offense was rusty for a second straight week. Frank Reich was unable to scheme open targets for Luck with a severe talent disadvantage at every skill position on the field. The matchup called to mind Dallas' upset victory over New Orleans on Thursday night, as nothing came easy for a quarterback who was pre sured throughout. Reich didn't help his team's chances with his decision to bypa s field-goal attempts on a pair of fourth-down plays that were thwarted by Jacksonville's swarming front seven. Having failed in those key situations, Reich was forced to gamble on another fourth-and-1 late in the fourth quarter, only to see Harrison sack Luck from behind. Factoring in Houston's ninth straight victory on Sunday, Indianapolis' chances of coming from behind to make a run at the AFC South title have all but evaporated. The remain heavy frontrunners for the AFC's No. 5 seed while the streaking own a one-game lead over the , , and for the final postseason berth. If Reich's squad is going to make up ground, he will have to find a fix for his ailing offense in a tough Week 14 matchup versus a defense that appears to be reaching its stride in the season's final month. Boos at Lambeau? In December? It couldn't be -- except it was. This one might be the lowest point of the Mike McCarthy era in Green Bay (at least in the last few years). Green Bay's offense was rudderle s for the majority of the afternoon, led by a quarterback who carries the body language of a guy trying to have fun with his teammates and not worry about the rest of the circumstances surrounding his team. That was on display when dropped, surveyed and pointed for an area for to run to in the end zone. Rodgers delivered the pa s to Adams, who caught it in the air and just snuck his feet inside the boundary in the back of the end zone. Everything else was underwhelming, if not downright atrocious. Green Bay struggled to throw the ball, and ran it just 11 times with . The briefly awoke when they suddenly found themselves trailing the -- the 2-9 -- by a touchdown in the fourth quarter, hurriedly piecing together a touchdown drive that covered 95 yards over 11 plays. But then, they reverted to old, failing to put inside a 45-yard, game-tying field goal attempt. The have played well against better teams and come painfully short in recent weeks, with their lo s to the coming to mind first and foremost. This looked like it might be another almost win, but they finally held on for the victory. Credit is due to , who lost his job after mi sing a pair of high-pre sure kicks while with the early in the season. He had a shot at another one Sunday and calmly drilled it, looking nothing like he did in September. Perhaps he really injured while with the , as he claimed. Sunday was a nice little coming-out party for rookie running back , who achieved a new career high with 53 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just five carries. Edmonds ripped off a 29-yard run and received three carries inside Green Bay's 10-yard line, scoring twice and providing a healthy, occasional change of pace to . Edmonds' performance also punctuated a nice day for the ' front five, who opened holes for he and Johnson at a better rate than usual (but still struggled to protect Rosen, who was pre sured on 32.1 percent of dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats). EDITOR'S NOTE: The and named Joe Philbin interim head coach following Sunday's lo s to . Remember when the started off the season at 1-2, prompting some to wonder what was wrong in New England? Seems like a long time ago, as the team has gone 8-1 since and sit on a 9-3 record with four games remaining. Sunday's matchup proved impre sive for the in the way they went about securing the victory. There was no fine se involved against a physical defense. Instead, the went with the trusted formula that has worked throughout the season with a balanced attack. Rookie running back anchored a running attack with 17 carries for 63 yards, and six other players combined with Michel to produce 160 yards on 39 carries as a team. Sure, the have quarterback , but this team is even tougher to beat when the ground game is firing on all cylinders to help open up the aerial attack. Speaking of Brady, the future Hall of Famer added his name to the record books and it had nothing to do with his golden right arm. Brady totaled 5 yards rushing on the game to put him over 1,000 yards on the ground for his career. The 41-year-old Brady became the oldest player to reach 1,000-plus yards on his career since 1970, and he used all of his 19 seasons to get there given it took Brady 265 games to reach the milestone. For some comparisons, signal-caller reached 1,000-plus career yards rushing in 23 games, while quarterback did it in 31 games. Brady won't ever be known as a dual-threat quarterback like Newton or Wilson, but the accomplishment is still neat to see given his decorated career. With the losing earlier in the afternoon, the had a chance to close the gap between the two teams with a win. Unfortunately the were their worst enemy with untimely penalties and the inability to convert on third downs. As for the latter category, the went 3 of 12 on third down for a dismal 25 percent conversion rate, leading to a failure to sustain drives. Quarterback also didn't have a good game, completing 32 of 44 pa ses for 201 yards with two interceptions, including a back-breaking interception in the end zone late in the fourth quarter as the attempted to get back in the game. The lo s dropped the to 6-5-1 on the season. The won a second straight game to improve to 5-7 on the year, and all the credit for Sunday's victory belongs to the defense. The ama sed 444 total net yards of offense, ran more offensive plays (65-59) and totaled more first downs (27-18), but the made sure Carolina couldn't do much where it counted the most - the scoreboard. Tampa Bay accomplished that by totaling four sacks, nine quarterback hits and four interceptions, three recorded by safety . The interceptions, in particular, were impre sive when looking over the entire season. Through the first 10 games, the totaled just one pick, but now have six over the past two games. The mistakes that plagued quarterback early in the season have been absent over the ' two-game winning streak. Winston has won with efficient football without an interception in that span, and he completed 20 of 30 pa ses for 249 yards and two touchdowns against the . While the are a longshot to make the postseason, the team can play Jake Smolinski Jersey a role as a spoiler if Winston continues his good play when considering the next three games are against the , and , three teams eyeing the playoffs. For a team in desperate need of a win, the endured too many self-inflicted wounds on offense and defense to drop a fourth consecutive lo s. With a 6-6 record and four games to go, the ' hope for the postseason suffered a major blow and the team now sits a full four games behind the (10-2) in the NFC South. While the fought to keep the game close after quickly falling behind 10-0, the team simply couldn't overcome Newton's costly four interceptions, which tied a career-high performance. The once-stout defense has also disappeared during the losing streak. Despite the injury-induced crater that swallowed up a big portion of his season, continues to do just enough to keep Miami in the AFC playoff chase. Against the , he leaned on and to help the (6-6) find a level of consistency on offense. Parker arguably had one of his best games of the season, hauling in four catches for 43 yards and a touchdown. Stills helped out with four catches for 37 yards -- the last of which was an incredible 13-yard TD grab in double coverage that had interception written all over it until Stills sliced through a web of hands and arms to make the catch. Tannehill posted mostly pedestrian numbers, but if he can continue to find his two talented pa s-catchers -- and everyone stays healthy -- maybe the can emerge as an AFC playoff Cinderella over a final stretch of games that includes contests against the and the . Move over, . Big-armed might be the best rookie rushing quarterback in the NFL. Allen had a mixed pa sing performance for the (4-8) while being hara sed by the ' pa s rush, but he torched Miami for a team-best 135 yards on the ground. Allen's draft-day selling point was his ability to fling bombs, but he's developed quite a reputation as an elusive runner. In his second game back from an elbow sprain that had him sidelined for a month, Allen looked confident flinging the ball -- even when he shouldn't have been. He threw two interceptions, but his knack for going bold paid off with some nice pa ses. His 25-yard laser through three defenders to for a touchdown in the fourth quarter was simply beautiful. However, he mi sed a wide open in the end zone on their final offensive play to seal the ' fate. Buffalo's 13 penalties for 120 yards certainly didn't help the cause. isn't just that guy who thinks pushes off. The third-year corner is emerging as a true pa s coverage phenom capable of being the NFL's next great pick-off artist. Howard had two interceptions for the second straight game, giving him seven picks on the season -- a bright spot for a Miami defense that has struggled mightily against the pa s this season. Howard's two interceptions played a key role in taming Buffalo's offensive machine, which gave the just enough breathing room. The ' struggles on defense are real, but they have a real star in Howard. John Elway's has keyed a surprising midseason turnaround, putting Denver in prime position for a run at the AFC's No. 6 playoff seed with matchups remaining versus the , , and . Super-slippery rushed for a season-high 157 yards and a pair touchdowns, including a 65-yard scoring stroll that e sentially iced the game at 21-3 in the middle of the third quarter. Lindsay is on pace for 1,249 rushing yards, which would shatter Dominic Rhodes' record (1,104) for most by an undrafted rookie since the 1970 merger. In other promising rookie news, recorded sack No. 10 and big-play wideout pitched in with a leaping 30-yard touchdown catch over . 's starting debut wasn't exactly a fair fight, as injuries forced left guard to kick out to the blindside versus the league's leading sack tandem of Chubb and . The attempted to compensate with an ultra-conservative, short-pa sing attack that provided little in the way of chunk plays. It didn't help matters that receiver aggravated his toe injury, falling in a heap away from the action. On a positive note, hard-charging three-down back and leading receiver continue to excel each week, giving the a pair of impre sive nucleus players in a lost season. The victory was costly for a Denver defense that has been among the league's stingiest over the past month. Top cornerback went down with a , NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported. The also lost veteran defensive end (ribs) and starting linebacker (ankle) to injuries. The lo s of Harris can't be overstated. He was enjoying yet another All-Pro-caliber season for a secondary that is suddenly short on experience with slot corner also sidelined by a rib injury. Third-round pick will move into the lineup opposite , giving the yet another important rookie contributor down the stretch. runs the option as well as anyone could imagine, but his pa sing ability within this offense is still a work in progre s. In his defense, he doesn't have a bonafide No. 1 receiver to target. Still, he's clearly figuring out how to pa s effectively within the faster NFL game. In Week 13, Jackson mi sed a wide-open streaking acro s the field in the early portion of the second quarter. The same route and opportunity presented itself early in the fourth, though this time, the were there to at least provide resistance. But what a runner he is. Jackson finished with 75 yards and a touchdown on 17 rushes. He's run at least 11 times in each of his three career starts. It's working for now, enough for the to pull out victories, but it's obviously not a good long-term strategy when worrying about keeping Jackson healthy. He had his first health scare when he was kicked in the head by his teammate during a rushing attempt. But right now, he makes the good enough to win. He's not the only reason the are winning, though. While one can very easily debate Baltimore's potential with Jackson at quarterback as opposed to Flacco (they're not far off each other, though they succeed in two very different styles), the ' defense seems to be getting hungrier, if not better, with each week. Had the unit not had a mini-meltdown late, gifting the a scoring drive thanks to penalties, they might have held Atlanta's offense to just three points. They're back to hara sing opposing pa sers consistently, and they're starting to cover receivers better, though things don't look great next week when they go to Kansas City. Atlanta looks like a team that is headed toward some type of coaching staff change. The need help protecting , and Ryan needs more options than desperate heaves toward . A lot of Sunday was the latter, with Ryan targeting Jones eight times but completing just two of those pa ses. led the team in receiving and caught its only touchdown, and the were even worse on the ground. These seem to be the final weeks of Steve Sarkisian in Atlanta, which will need to turn to a new coordinator and replacements along the offensive line in 2019. The have , but give credit to an inspired defense that largely kept a lid on this high-flying Los Angeles attack and coaxed into a rash of uncharacteristic gaffes. With the game tied 3-3, the pa ser was picked off trying to thread the ball to a triple-covered . logged that takeaway and came back a drive later with a hard-hitting pa s breakup for a unit that showed similar flair to their wins over the , and . Goff spent chunks of this game out of rhythm. Detroit's struggling offense heard it more than once from an agitated home crowd. It was frustrating to see the (4-8), down 10-3, utterly crumble in their version of a two-minute drill. That particular three-and-out featured a run, another run and a third-down pa s attempt that saw fly through Detroit's line to blow up , who was sacked four times and twice by . This is a field goal offense -- which finished 2-of-12 on third downs -- trying to match wits with high-flying schemes league-wide. I give the credit for dialing up a third-quarter onside kick and a tackle-eligible scoring grab by that pulled Detroit within 16-13 of the , but this offense lacks identity. ran with fire, but it wasn't enough. When your defense plays this way against one of the game's loftiest offenses, fans have a right to be furious about the lack of production. The (11-1) looked like a team that hadn't suited up since their November 19 showdown with the . A little bit flat and allowing a le s-than-thrilling club to hang around with a third-quarter fumble by Goff that morphed into a field goal drive. The veteran pa ser was lucky a pair of back-to-back errant lobs -- both landing in the arms of defenders -- fell to the ground before Los Angeles salted the game away when a Donald strip sack set up 's 13-yard, game-sealing touchdown gallop. Following last week's thumping of the , the (4-7-1) came out flat and sleepy on defense, sporting a two-deep safety look that allowed (115 total yards off 20 touches) and the (9-3) to pound away with gashing runs and chunk gains through the air to Corey Dickerson Jersey build a 23-0 lead at the half. won his battles with Cleveland's secondary -- especially after was lost to a concu sion -- while Watson hit his first 11 pa ses, threw for 224 yards and used his legs to avoid a handful of would-be sacks. Houston out-gained the 262 yards to 89 over the first two quarters and chewed up 21:43 off the clock. Hanging on from there wasn't too much to ask. This was an acid test for the , who learned they have plenty of work to do before we fancy them a playoff threat. Midway through the second frame, Cleveland was down 17-0 after rookie saw an errant pa s picked off by , who went 36 yards to glory. The Offensive Rookie of the Month threw a second interception to four snaps later. We saw Mayfield try to do too much on a deep shot into the end zone that wound up in the arms of for a third turnover on a play where the rookie could have scrambled for sizable yardage. It was encouraging to see Mayfield come out of the break gunning the ball downfield for 351 second-half yards, but the mistakes -- including a 76-yard catch and run by rookie , which he ultimately fumbled near Houston's goal line -- were too much to overcome. Houston logged multiple takeaways for the first time since October. When the dominate time of po se sion, trick the enemy into mistakes and run the ball with power, you see a team that could hang with anyone come January. This was another well-coached effort from Bill O'Brien, who deserves to be mentioned in the Coach of the Year derby. With the (who fell to 6-6 on Sunday) up next, the have a chance to all but seal up the South as one of the AFC's most balanced threats. This one was never competitive. Seattle comfortably rolled over the rival , securing its seventh win thanks to a lopsided first half and an efficient-slash-weird game from . The quarterback attempted just six pa ses in the first two quarters and completed four, but three of those completions went for scores -- and that was enough. When Wilson (11 completions, 185 yards, 4 TDs) wasn't launching pretty parabolas to and , Seattle's tailbacks handled their busine s. The attempted 29 runs to 20 pa ses on Sunday with and each rumbling for over 65 yards. The defense played well, too, despite giving up over 400 yards to . , the lone remaining defensive starter from the team, led the team with 12 tackles and put a bow on the game with a 98-yard pick-six of Mullens. At 7-5, the are now in pole position in the NFC wild-card race, ahead of Washington (6-5), Minnesota (6-5-1) and Carolina (6-6), and playing the most complete ball of the four. A can't mi s clash in the Clink with the awaits. How'd the return to Seattle go? We were promised fireworks or at least some friendly banter. But the extent of the in-game acknowledgment of Sherman's service to the came when, following Seattle's first TD, the wide receivers reenacted Sherman's on to seal the 2014 NFC Championship Game. It was a fine tribute and not ill-willed in the slightest. Sherman was also seen playing catch with receiver and good friend before the game. On the stat sheet, the three-time All-Pro corner was non-existent, a phantom, despite playing all but one defensive snap. Seattle knew better than to throw to his side of the field. There are few positive things to say about this beatdown Niners team, except that injuries have allowed previously unsung youngsters to get some run. On Sunday afternoon, injuries to and opened the gates for rookie receiver and Washington alumnus to break out in front of a familiar crowd. Pettis recorded a career-high 129 receiving yards and scored two touchdowns, one of which he took through Seattle's secondary for 75 yards. Pettis' fellow first-year tallied 154 yards from scrimmage in place of as San Francisco's lead back. As S.F. (2-10) speeds toward a top-two pick in the 2019 draft, the youth movement is fully underway. This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an i sue.
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