What a week of football. There’s no other way to express the appropriate affection other than screaming to the footballing gods and thanking them. The closer we get to the playoffs, the more implications at play. And that brings more chaos. And boy, did we get chaos this week. Strap in.
The Patriots lose in the most unusual way
Where to even begin? How does one begin to dissect one of the weirdest and, honestly, most bone-headed decisions in NFL history? That’s not hyperbole. What we saw in the final stages of the Patriots vs Raiders game is just that. One of the worst decisions on a football field you’ll ever see.
In case you missed it, the Patriots and Raiders were tied with just a few seconds left on the clock. Rhamondre Stevenson ran up the middle for a big gain, cut right to the sideline as time expired, and threw a lateral pass to Jakobi Meyers to keep the play alive. Instinctively, or in a state of panic, Meyers scrambled for a second and saw Mac Jones 15-20 yards back towards the line of scrimmage. Oops.
What Meyers didn’t see was Raiders’ defensive end Chandler Jones lurking next to the quarterback. Jones picked off the backward pass, STIFF-ARMED Mac Jones into the shadow realm, and then took the ball 47 yards to the house for the walk-off touchdown. What the hell just happened?!
What made this decision from Meyers all the more befuddling was the fact he didn’t have to make it in the first place. The Patriots could have just let the game go to overtime and take their chances there. Instead, chaos ensued.
A portion of the blame can also be laid at the feet of the coaching staff. The call was obviously to keep the play alive with laterals, otherwise, they would have just kneeled the game out. Now, the Patriots have severely set back their chances of making the postseason.
Giants’ defensive line helps get the job done
There weren’t many games with bigger playoff implications than the NFC East matchup between the New York Giants and Washington Commanders. Still feels weird to say, but here we are. The Giants’ win on Sunday night wasn’t without controversy, but we’ll give them credit and talk about one of the main reasons they’re still in the hunt for a playoff spot.
The Giants defensive line is outstanding. It starts on the interior with Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams. Lawrence, now in his fourth season in the NFL, is an absolute people mover and has asserted himself as one of the best defensive tackles in the league. He has the second-most pressures amongst all interior lineman (53) and is just as dominant in the run game.
Along with the fifth overall pick from the 2022 NFL Draft, Kayvon Thibodeaux, this is a unit that makes plays. On Sunday night, they pressured Taylor Heinicke 17 times, with four of those pressures resulting in sacks. It was the best game of Thibodeaux’s career so far. He wrecked the Commanders offensive line, forced runners into danger and came up big with a strip-sack along with the recovery which he took in for a touchdown.
The Giants might not make a lot of noise in the playoffs if they make it, but the defensive line will make life tough for any opponent.
Another big win for the Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions just keep rolling. Now winners of three in a row, and six of their last seven, the Lions have gone from competing for the number one overall pick to the brink of their first playoff appearance since 2016.
This week, the Lions bested the New York Jets in a close game that was decided by an excellent play call on 4th and inches in the games final moments – with Brock Wright leaking out to the field side and taking the ball 51 yards to the house.
Getting the better of the Jets now puts the Lions at 7-7 and squarely in the playoff mix. As it stands, they’re on the bubble, along with the Seahawks. But their final three games are against the Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, and Green Bay Packers. All three games are winnable, but a 2-1 record through those contests feels more likely. That would leave the Lions at 9-8, meaning they’ve got a puncher’s chance.
Whatever happens, Dan Campbell and his merry men of kneecap biters deserve credit. Many teams in their scenario would have folded, but Campbell and the team had a plan. They play hard, they play aggressive, and they play for each other. A win against the Jets showcased that.
Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars shock the Cowboys
Maybe the best game of the weekend and another step in the right direction in the development of Trevor Lawrence, but a shocking loss for the Cowboys. That’s not to say that the Jaguars aren’t a good team. They’re better than their record suggests. They’re middle of the pack in DVOA and top 10 in EPA per play on offense. But the Cowboys are one of the best teams in the NFL and had a big lead in this one.
That’s what makes the come from behind win all the more surprising. The Jaguars pulled themselves back into the game and took it to overtime, with their defense coming up clutch and taking an interception back to the house to win it.
The win puts the Jaguars at 6-8 and on the outside of the playoff picture. They’re a game back from the Titans who lead the AFC South but still have to play the Titans in the final game of the regular season. Oh, and they own the tiebreaker courtesy of beating Tennessee two weeks ago.
Like the Lions, the Jaguars have been red hot, winning three of their last four games. Next up, a do-or-die game against the New York Jets on Thursday night.
The Minnesota Miracle: Part 2
Football is just a silly game sometimes. It routinely finds new ways to amaze us – to make us believe that anything is possible.
Saturday night gave us football history. Down 33-0 at halftime, the Minnesota Vikings looked lost. Losing their grip on the second-seed in the NFC and confirming a lot of bias (including this writer) that they weren’t as good as their record suggests.
But the second half. My goodness. They created history, coming back and scoring 36 points in the second half to tie the game and send it to overtime. Then, on the brink of the biggest comeback in NFL history, it would be poetically Vikings-ian to blow that comeback. But they didn’t. They held their nerve, took it to overtime and scored the game-winning field goal to win 39-36.
All the credit in the world is appropriate because not many teams can do that. In fact, only the Vikings can. It was a Herculean effort in the second half from the offense to score all of those points – and from the defense to only allow 3 more down the stretch after allowing 33 in the first half. The Vikings created history. We won’t see that done again any time soon. Are we buying them as real contenders now? The jury is still out.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.