It’s hard to start on a bright note after the awful news that came from the Buffalo Bills vs Cincinnati Bengals game on Monday night. So rather than go for our usual spiel, we’ll just jump right into it with a quick thought on last night before getting to the football.
A word on Damar Hamlin
Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin is in critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest in Monday night’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Hamlin collapsed after a routine tackle and immediately received treatment, was given CPR, and was taken to a local hospital. At this point, football becomes irrelevant. All that matters is the safety and swift recovery of Hamlin.
The NFL eventually made the right decision to postpone the game until a later date, which is clearly the correct course of action. But it took the NFL an hour to come to this conclusion. It should have never taken that long.
How can you possibly expect players, and especially teammates, to play after witnessing something so tragic? The NFL is a brotherhood and it’s disheartening to know that the league, until the Bills and Bengals stepped in, planned to go ahead with the game.
Thankfully, Hamlin is in the best care possible. No further details have been released, but we’re praying for a recovery. Moments and events like this just put into perspective how fragile life is, so just take a minute to let your loved ones know that you love them.
Health equals help
Maybe the Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren’t done just yet, all they needed was a little bit of health to ignite their hopes. For the first time since Week 12, the Buccaneers had both Donovan Smith and Tristan Wirfs starting at the tackle spots.
Smith hasn’t had the best season after a career year in 2021, but he’s still a significant improvement as Tom Brady’s blindside protector and Wirfs, as we know, is an All-Pro calibre tackle. Their presence helped immensely as Brady was afforded more time in the pocket to take shots downfield to Mike Evans.
Having Vita Vea back to solidify the defensive interior was also a big plus. The Panthers’ run game has been at the heart of the late-season surge, with the offensive line consistently winning upfront and D’Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard taking advantage of the gaping holes. That wasn’t the case on Sunday as the Bucs’ defensive line won the battle at the line of scrimmage, holding the Panthers to just 3.4 yards per carry on the day.
The secondary remained streaky, but this was a sign of better days ahead for Brady and the Bucs. His connection with Mike Evans looks to be on the right track, the defensive line is still showing its value, and the team is getting healthier week by week. That win against the Panthers seals the NFC South title and means the Buccaneers have a postseason date to look forward to once again. Never count out a Tom Brady team.
Packers breathe life into their playoff hopes
While there was always a solid chance of the Buccaneers making the postseason due to the incompetent NFC South, the picture wasn’t so clear for the Packers. In fact, the Packers felt as good as buried in Week 12 after a 40-33 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, dropping to 4-8. The offense was slumping and the defense was struggling to enforce its will. The Packers didn’t look or feel like a playoff team in the slightest.
But four wins in a row, culminating in a total dismantling of the NFC North-leading Minnesota Vikings on Sunday has them right back in the playoff mix. The 41-17 win was an all-around impressive performance in all three phases of the game.
The special teams unit scored a touchdown, the defense forced Kirk Cousins into four turnovers, and the offense ticked along nicely, turning into a big night from Aaron Jones. The passing game isn’t perfect, but it’s improved since Christian Watson found his footing, even though he actually had a pretty poor game this time around.
The win now lifts the Packers to an 8-8 record and puts them in total control of their playoff destiny heading into the final week of the season. It’s a win-and-in scenario for the Packers now. If they can defeat the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field, we’ll see them in the postseason once again – something that seemed out of reach this time last month.
Jarrett Stidham impresses against the 49ers
The real story here is the San Francisco 49ers making it nine straight wins. They’re undoubtedly the hottest team in the NFL right now and have a real shot of a deep playoff run with Brock Purdy, but it’s worth giving credit to Jarrett Stidham in his first-ever career start for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Stidham started in place of Derek Carr, who was benched earlier in the week and now seems set to leave the Raiders after the season concludes and performed admirably against the best defense in the NFL by most metrics. He completed 67 percent of his passes for 365 yards and three touchdowns against two interceptions and was seventh among all quarterbacks in EPA per play in Week 17.
It might not be the start of a 10-year run as a franchise quarterback – the Raiders could just as easily draft a quarterback in the 2023 NFL Draft – but if the front office like what they see from now until the end of the season and feel there’s something there moving forward, they might be willing to let Stidham hold the reins for a season or two while the franchise inevitably rebuilds. Regardless of what happens, this was a nice performance for a young quarterback with something to prove.
Congrats to the New York Giants
Wow. Wow. Wow. What a year for the New York Giants. There was optimism when Brian Daboll took over as the head coach of the Giants, but it was more geared towards the Giants’ long-term future as opposed to the here and now. The Giants weren’t supposed to make the playoffs in 2022. Heck, they weren’t even supposed to sniff a winning season, but they’ve proved everybody wrong.
The 38-10 win over the Indianapolis Colts locked in the Giants’ first postseason appearance since 2016 with a week to spare. It speaks volumes that Daboll and his team were able to recover from a late-season slide that saw them drop four of their last seven contests following a blindingly hot 7-2 start.
The Giants aren’t the most talented team in the NFL. Far from it. The roster has a lot of talent deficiencies compared to most playoff-bound teams. But they’re one of the most well-coached teams in the NFL under Daboll. They don’t turn the ball over often, they execute their assignments, and they play for each other. The Giants know exactly who they are: a deserving playoff team.
-Thomas Valentine
Twitter: @tvalentinesport
Photo: Mike Morbeck. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.