Another week down, another step closer to the playoffs. By now, you’ll notice the picture is pretty clear. Barring a total collapse, we essentially know the winners of the AFC West, South, and East, as well as the NFC North, West and East. Things are a little more open in the AFC North and NFC South, so there’s still some intrigue there, as well as all of the wildcard spots. It’s an ever-evolving picture, and Week 14 did nothing to dispel that notion, giving us much to talk about as always.
The Mayfield Miracle
Things haven’t been easy for Baker Mayfield over the last year. His time in Cleveland flamed out and a stint with the Panthers lasted just seven games before he requested his release. There were doubts that anyone would even claim Mayfield off waivers. Until the Rams stepped up. What happened next is nothing short of a miracle.
Just 48 hours and one short practice later, Mayfield was suiting up for the Rams and taking over from John Wolford as the starting quarterback against the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday night.
It’s incredible that it was even possible. Mayfield only had one practice to build any sort of chemistry with his receivers and learn the playbook. He started hot, hitting Van Jefferson on a deep pass, and leading the Rams to a field goal. Eventually, the Rams were down 16-3 with under four minutes left in the fourth quarter.
The Rams methodically drove down the field, with the drive ending in a 1-yard touchdown run from Cam Akers. Then the defense forced a punt, and with just under two minutes left and down by 6, Mayfield and the Rams had the chance to drive down the field and win the game in an improbable scenario. They did just that. With 15 seconds remaining, Mayfield connected with Van Jefferson for a 23-yard touchdown and the win. It can’t be overstated how impressive that is from Mayfield and the Rams’ offense.
The 49ers haven’t missed a beat with Purdy
The 49ers could have been down and out after losing Jimmy Garoppolo last week against the Miami Dolphins. Instead, the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Brock Purdy, has stepped in and led the 49ers to two very impressive wins.
The 49ers’ offense ran riot over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, even after Deebo Samuel left the game with an apparent knee injury, scoring 35 unanswered points up until the third quarter. Sunday’s game was more in line with what we should expect to see from Purdy. He’s more of a creator than Jimmy Garoppolo. Purdy is able to navigate the pocket when things break down, find himself room to operate and avert his eyes back downfield.
It’s a credit to Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the offense that they’ve barely missed a beat without their starting quarterback. It’s an offense that knows who they are, and one that can execute with two completely different quarterbacks under center. It bares belief, but the 49ers are still contenders with Brock Purdy.
Justin Herbert outduels Tua Tagovailoa
Billed (by this writer) as the social media matchup of the year, the Chargers vs Dolphins was more than just about the two respective quarterbacks. Playoff implications were heavy, with the Chargers needing a win to very much stay in the hunt for a wildcard spot, and the Dolphins needed a win to not lose any more ground on the Buffalo Bills atop the AFC East.
Still, so much of the talking point was on Justin Herbert vs Tua Tagovailoa and how the two quarterbacks compare. Not that one game should change the overall picture, but the way Sunday night shaped up should end the comparisons. Tagovailoa is a good quarterback. Barring the last two games, he’s been executing the Dolphins’ offense at a very high level, but he just doesn’t have the talent of Herbert. It’s not a knock against him, but more of a reminder of Herbert’s excellence. On talent alone, he’s a top 5 quarterback in the NFL.
Herbert was electric against the Dolphins, completing 76 percent of his passes for 347 yards and 1 touchdown. He orchestrated the offense well, evading pressure and progressing through his reads in a tangled pocket and consistently hitting his receivers.
Meanwhile, Tagovailoa struggled to the tune of 128 yards on a completion percentage of 38 percent. The Chargers defense did a stand up job of containing Waddle and Hill by pressing them at the line of scrimmage and dropping their linebackers into deeper coverage and it totally fooled the Dolphins offense for large stretches.
The Lions keep on rolling
Things looked bleak for the Detroit Lions no more than six weeks ago. They had just lost their fifth game in a row, leaving them with a 1-6 record, and were on track to have one of the worst defenses in NFL history. Even if the Lions had a process, there were questions about Dan Campbell and his long-term future with the team.
Since then, the Lions have rattled off five wins in six games, bringing their record up to 6-7. The latest win came against their divisional rivals, and NFC North leaders, the Minnesota Vikings. The offense, as it has been for the last six weeks, was electric and despite giving up over 400 yards on defense, the Lions gave up their fourth-lowest points total of the season.
However they win, Dan Campbell’s team plays hard and fast and since Week 9, they have the fifth-best offense in EPA and a middle of the pack defense – a far cry from the league’s worst unit through the first few months of the season.
With two road games against the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers to come before divisional games against the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, the Lions have a great shot of sneaking into the postseason at the behest of another team. The Lions appear to have finally found their spark under Dan Campbell.
Is time up for Kliff Kingsbury?
The Arizona Cardinals expected better in 2022. An 11-6 record in 2021 pushed the Cardinals into the postseason for the first time in six seasons, and despite an early exit at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams, there was clearly room to grow. The front office saw enough potential to give Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray extensions, tying the two together for the next five years.
Well… that hasn’t worked out well so far. The Cardinals are 4-9 on the season after losing to the Patriots 27-13 and Monday night, and things were made worse when Kyler Murray left the game earlier in the first quarter due to an injury – which was later confirmed as a torn ACL, knocking him out for the season.
Even with Murray under center, the Cardinals have struggled all season. They’ve completely regressed from the team that started 7-0 in 2021, and have a record of 8-16 since that winning streak ended and an overall record of 28-33-1 in his four seasons in charge.
There’s been criticism over Kingsbury’s lack of adaptation on offense and his playcalling in general, and it’s becoming evident that change may be necessary. Moving on from Murray wouldn’t be wise – and would also be impossible after his new contract – so Kingsbury could well be the fall guy.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.