NFL Game Recaps: Week 11, 2021

NFL Game Recaps of previous weeks and seasons can be found via links at the bottom of the page.

Patriots 25, Falcons 0

The Patriots were up by “just” two scores most of the evening, but it really felt like eight. The Patriots dominated this game from start to finish on both sides of the ball. They outgained the Falcons in the opening half, 181-64, and they averaged 6.2 yards per play compared to 2.6 for Atlanta. Yardage was even in the second half, but the Patriots’ defense came up big with a couple of turnovers to halt promising Atlanta drives.

The important thing for the Patriots was the continued development of Mac Jones. The rookie quarterback continued to display his remarkable accuracy, though he wasn’t as good on third down as he was last week versus the Browns. Jones made some mistakes; he took a couple of bad sacks and was intercepted once when he stared down his receiver, but he did very well yet again.

Jones misfired just four times, going 22-of-26 for 207 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Save for the pick and the couple of bad sacks, Jones had a stellar performance.

The Falcons, conversely, did nothing but shoot themselves in the foot. It began innocently with some false starts that had Matt Ryan yelling on the sidelines, but it got worse as the evening progressed. There was one sequence in the second quarter that was especially appalling. Ryan, on a third-and-1 in the red zone, took a dumb sack rather than throwing the ball away. Younghoe Koo drilled a 45-yard field goal, but an illegal formation pushed the Falcons back five yards, and Koo promptly whiffed on the 50-yard try.

This was the first of two attempts in which the Falcons scored no points in the red zone. The second came on another horrible sequence that ended a great Atlanta drive where inept head coach Arthur Smith called fullback dives on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1. The Falcons predictably failed on those attempts, meaning their offense continued to get shut out. Still, they were down 13-0 when they retained possession after that, but their next two drives concluded with a pair of Ryan interceptions. The first pick was a weak floater that occurred when Ryan was hit. The second was a high pass that tipped off Olamide Zaccheaus’ fingertips and into the hands of J.C. Jackson, who would have ran the turnover back for six if he didn’t step out of bounds on the return.

Ryan finished 19-of-28 for 153 yards and the two interceptions. He did not play well at all, but didn’t exactly get help from his teammates. His offensive line false started and whiffed on blocks all night. The Falcons need to trade him as quickly as possible while he still has some value because Ryan will be too old before Atlanta is competitive again.

Bill Belichick erased Kyle Pitts, as expected. He limited Pitts to just three catches for 29 yards. Despite this, Pitts was the second-leading receiver on the Falcons, trailing only Russell Gage (5-49).

With Cordarrelle Patterson sidelined, the Falcons started Mike Davis, who looked like he was running in quicksand on his three carries (1 yard). Qadree Ollison showed a spark, so Arthur Smith stuck with him. Ollison gained 34 yards on nine attempts.

The Patriots had two backs who outgained Ollison. Damien Harris started and gained 56 yards on 10 carries, but it was Rhamondre Stevenson (12-69) who was more impressive. Stevenson broke countless tackles in this game. He also had a 36-yard sprint negated by a hold.

Jones’ sole touchdown went to Agholor (5-40), who was second on the team in receiving. He was only behind Kendrick Bourne (4-42). Jakobi Meyers (4-39) was a huge disappointment.

It should be noted that this final score was misleading. This was a 13-0 lead for New England for most of the evening. The Falcons were 0-of-2 in the red zone, so it probably should’ve been a 13-6 or 13-10 score before New England kicked a field goal in the fourth quarter to get up to 16 points. The Patriots scored a late touchdown via a Josh Rosen pick-six.

49ers 30, Jaguars 10

Trevor Lawrence never had a chance to be competitive in this game. He was on the field for only four snaps by the time the score was 17-0 in the second quarter. This was a byproduct of San Francisco’s opening drive, which lasted an eternity – to be specific, a 20-play, 13-minute possession that ended with a field goal – and then Laviska Shenault lost a fumble on the first play of Jacksonville’s second drive. This set up San Francisco’s second touchdown of the afternoon, putting this game out of reach even though Lawrence barely touched the ball until that point.

The 49ers continued the onslaught throughout the afternoon. They ended up outgaining the Jaguars, 333-200, and they won the time-of-possession battle by 17 minutes. In fact, Jacksonville’s sole touchdown came in garbage time when the team was down 30-3.

Jimmy Garoppolo was highly efficient in this game, going 16-of-22 for 176 yards and two touchdowns. He made a mistake on the opening drive when he took a sack on third down, but an offsides penalty negated the play and gave San Francisco a first down. Garoppolo had more good fortune later when a Jaguar defender, who barely grazed Garoppolo, was flagged for roughing the passer. This ultimately led to a Garoppolo touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk to give the 49ers a 17-0 lead.

Although Aiyuk was San Francisco’s leading receiver with seven catches for 85 yards and a touchdown, it was Deebo Samuel who had the greatest impact. Samuel caught just one ball for 15 receiving yards, but he operated as a running back for most of the afternoon. He was given eight carries, which he turned into 79 rushing yards and a touchdown. George Kittle (4-34) also found the end zone.

Samuel was needed as a runner because Jeff Wilson Jr. didn’t accumulate much rushing yardage, gaining 50 yards on 19 carries. Trey Sermon (10-32) wasn’t much better, doing most of his work in garbage time.

Thanks to the deficit and the lack of playing time, James Robinson was given just 12 carries. He turned those into 29 yards and the late touchdown to save his fantasy owners.

Lawrence, as discussed, never had a chance. He went 16-of-25 for only 158 yards. Amazingly, Lawrence was on the field for just two drives in the opening half if you ignore the possession in which Shenault fumbled on the first play. The first drive ended with a three-and-out, thanks to a deep shot to Marvin Jones that sailed out of bounds. Lawrence was better in his second rea possession. He moved the chains with some ineffective throws, but stalled in the red zone when he couldn’t connect with Jones on a long down-and-distance situation near the goal line.

Lawrence didn’t have much more success in the second half before pure garbage time. His first two drives were disrupted by some miscommunications and lots of pressure. This wasn’t really enough of a sample size to truly evaluate Lawrence.

Thanks to the game script, only two Jaguars generated more than 18 receiving yards: Jones (4-52) and Shenault (5-50), who really hurt his team with the aforementioned lost fumble.

Ravens 16, Bears 13

The Ravens received some shocking bad news prior to kickoff, as Lamar Jackson was ruled out with some sort of an illness. They’d have to go with Tyler Huntley, who was making his first career start. Huntley dinked and dunked on most of his throws. The Ravens, as a result, were stuck at zero, three or six points for most of the afternoon.

For a while, it seemed as though Baltimore would escape this game with a 6-0 victory. Justin Fields was having issues against Baltimore’s blitz-happy defense. He was just 4-of-11 for 79 yards with a lost fumble when he exited with a leg injury, which he suffered when he scrambled on a third down. It would have been interesting if Fields could have snapped out of his funk had he remained on the field. He showed some glimpses of greatness at times. He connected with Darnell Mooney for a 28-yard gain while he was on the run. Mooney made the catch over his shoulder. He later fired a 22-yard strike to Marquise Goodwin, allowing his team to cross midfield.

There were more negatives than positives, however. Fields appeared to have issues diagnosing where the pressure was coming from. He had a miscommunication with Mooney on the second drive, which concluded when Fields failed to connect with Goodwin on third down. Later, following the 22-yard pass to Goodwin mentioned earlier, Fields lost a fumble on a strip-sack.

With Fields gone, Andy Dalton stepped in and immediately scored a touchdown. He hit Mooney with a short toss, which Mooney took the distance for a 60-yard score, thanks to some poor tackling efforts from Baltimore’s defense. This put Chicago ahead, 7-6.

Justin Tucker eventually drilled a third field goal to put his team up 9-7, which once again seemed like the winning score. However, the Ravens inexplicably left Goodwin wide open on a fourth-and-11 in the final quarter. Dalton found him on the bomb, and Chicago went up 13-9. Huntley then had one final chance to win the game. Things looked bleak when Baltimore was forced into a third-and-long, but Huntley scrambled out of pressure and located Sammy Watkins down at the 3-yard line. Devonta Freeman scored a touchdown on the next play, giving Baltimore its actual winning score of 16-13.

Huntley finished 26-of-36 for 219 yards and an interception, which wasn’t his fault; the ball bounced off the hands of Mark Andrews. He did well not to turn the ball over, though he was lucky that a fumble of his on a strip-sack trickled out of bounds. He also had some key scrambles – seven rushes, 40 yards – but he didn’t give Baltimore any sort of passing threat against a Chicago defense missing Khalil Mack and Akiem Hicks. Huntley made some nice throws; in addition to the connection with Watkins, he was able to hit Andrews for an 11-yard gain while under heavy pressure. However, Huntley made some inaccurate tosses when not dinking and dunking, and he also displayed some putrid mechanics when dealing with any sort of pressure.

Though Andrews was responsible for Huntley’s sole interception, he led the team in receiving with eight catches for 73 yards. One of his receptions was a 16-yard, one-handed grab to convert a third-and-12. Watkins (3-48) was next, while Rashod Bateman struggled with three catches for 29 yards, though he drew an interference penalty. Bateman made a nice play in the opening half when he picked up a first down while juking a defender.

Latavius Murray returned from injury, but didn’t run as much as Freeman, who gained 49 yards and the decisive score on 16 carries. Murray was limited to 32 yards on 10 attempts.

The Bears didn’t run the ball very well, but possessed the game’s leading rusher. David Montgomery tallied 58 yards on 14 attempts. Considering the Bears never trailed by more than six points, it’s puzzling as to why Montgomery was given just 14 carries.

Replacing Fields, Dalton went 11-of-23 for 201 yards and two touchdowns. The stats look good, but keep in mind that they are misleading, given that Dalton’s 60-yard score was a short toss. Still, Dalton was the better option than Fields in this game because Fields matched up poorly against Baltimore’s blitz-heavy defense.

Speaking of Mooney, he caught just five of his 16 targets for 121 yards and a touchdown. He made some terrific catches, though he dropped a pass on third down from Fields. Goodwin (4-104) also scored. With Allen Robinson sidelined, they were the only Chicago players with more than 25 receiving yards.

Colts 41, Bills 15

Think the Bills were caught looking ahead to Thanksgiving? They play the Saints on Thursday, so it didn’t seem like they put forth their best effort in this game. They made sloppy mistakes throughout the afternoon, and they had major problems tackling Jonathan Taylor, who scored a ridiculous five touchdowns.

The Bills were excellent against the run entering this contest, ranking fourth in that department (3.8 YPC). That didn’t translate to this game, as Taylor rushed for 185 yards on 32 carries. He scored four times on the ground, and he also caught three passes for 19 receiving yards and another touchdown. Taylor, who tallied 106 rushing yards following intermission, wore down Buffalo’s reeling defense in the second half, as many of the players looked like they didn’t want to be playing in the downpour.

Buffalo’s offense, meanwhile, self-destructed throughout the afternoon. It began early when the Bills, down 7-0, suffered a turnover on a Josh Allen interception. Allen didn’t see the safety, so Indianapolis was set up with a short field, allowing Taylor to score his second touchdown of the contest. Allen was lucky he didn’t commit more turnovers in the opening half after that. Another potential pick was overturned by replay review – Allen threw late across his body, but the ball hit the ground – and then he fumbled on a strip-sack, but Devin Singletary recovered. However, Buffalo lost a fumble on a kickoff return when Isaiah McKenzie tripped untouched, which set up another Taylor score.

The mistakes continued in the second half. Allen threw another interception – this one stood – and his receivers dropped numerous passes. All of this occurred as the Colts rammed the ball down Buffalo’s throat as they cruised to a shocking 41-15 victory.

Allen finished 21-of-35 for 209 yards, two touchdowns and the two interceptions. He wasn’t helped by his mistake-prone receivers, but he made some terrible decisions as well. He’s lucky he wasn’t charged with four turnovers.

Despite Allen’s struggles, Stefon Diggs had a nice fantasy output because he caught both of the touchdowns. However, he caught just four passes for 23 yards. The only Buffalo player with more than 27 receiving yards was Dawson Knox (6-80).

It should be no surprise that the Bills struggled to run the ball. Singletary and Zack Moss carried the ball three times each for 17 and five yards, respectively.

Moving back to the Colts, Carson Wentz didn’t have to do much with Taylor running wild. He completed just 11 passes in the downpour, going 11-of-20 for 106 yards and a touchdown. One of Wentz’s biggest plays was done on the ground, as he scrambled for 18 yards on a third-and-long. This set up a field goal, which may not seem like a big deal when considering the final score, but it gave Indianapolis a 10-point lead early in the affair.

With Wentz not throwing much, the Indianapolis pass-catchers disappointed. Jack Doyle (3-30) led the team in receiving. T.Y. Hilton (2-26) and Michael Pittman Jr. (2-23) hurt their fantasy owners.

Browns 13, Lions 10

The Browns are lucky that the Lions are not a competitive football team. If Detroit happened to be one, Cleveland certainly would have lost this game.

Cleveland’s offense couldn’t muster anything this week despite battling a horrible Lions defense missing its best player (Trey Flowers). For some reason, the Browns gave Nick Chubb just 22 carries despite never trailing. Chubb turned those rushes into 130 yards. Meanwhile, Kevin Stefanski had an injured Baker Mayfield throw on 29 occasions for some reason. This mind-numbing game plan made absolutely no sense, and the Browns struggled to score as a result.

Mayfield was atrocious despite the easy matchup. He barely completed half of his passes, going 15-of-29 for only 176 yards. He threw a touchdown, but was guilty of two interceptions. The first was an overthrow early in the game, though the Lions failed to take advantage of it because of a pick of their own. Mayfield’s second interception was tipped by a Lions linebacker and ricocheted into the arms of another Detroit defender. Mayfield, clearly nowhere near 100 percent, was really able to benefit from the incompetence of Detroit’s offense, but it still must be emphasized that Cleveland’s horrible game plan made no sense. One must wonder why Mayfield even played.

As for Chubb, he was terrific. His rushing total should have been much greater, but he had countless double digit-yard gains negated by holding or illegal blocking penalties. Once the Browns went up 13-0, there was a parade of yellow flags every single time Chubb made a fantastic play. Those flags mysteriously disappeared once the Lions scored 10 points. A conspiracy theorist might determine that the officials wanted this game to remain close.

Assuming, for a second, that this game didn’t contain any malpractice by Clay Martin’s officiting crew, and all the numerous holding penalties were legitimate, the Lions would’ve won this game if they had even below-average quarterbacking. That was not the case with Tim Boyle, who threw for only 77 yards on just 15-of-23 passing. Boyle also tossed two picks. The first was way behind D’Andre Swift on a potential miscommunication, while the second was an overthrown deep shot.

Boyle had a hideous game. Whenever he wasn’t tossing checkdowns, he was skipping passes to his receivers or heaving interception-worthy passes. He’s fortunate he wasn’t picked off five times. He made only one downfield pass that I would constitute as a good throw. Quite simply, Boyle doesn’t belong in the NFL.

The only reason this game was close, beyond Cleveland’s awful offensive strategy, was Swift’s 57-yard touchdown burst. Swift was bottled up in the opening half – four carries, 10 yards – but he broke free for a big gain and ultimately rushed for 136 yards and a score on just 14 attempts. He also caught three passes, but accumulated no yardage.

While Swift deserved more carries, the Lions fed him the ball at an incorrect time late in the game. With three minutes to go, Detroit, down 13-10, called for a Swift run on third-and-13. The rush went nowhere, and Detroit punted on fourth down, never to see possession again. It was an extremely terrible decision by the Detroit coaching staff that made Stefanski look like Bill Belichick.

Swift was just one of two offensive players who was productive for the Lions. The only Detroit player with more than 18 receiving yards was T.J. Hockenson, who caught six balls for 51 yards. Hockenson caught Boyle’s only nice pass down the seam for a 24-yard gain on the team’s final offensive drive.

The Cleveland receivers also disappointed. Jarvis Landry was promised more targets, but caught just four passes for 26 yards. Luckily for his fantasy owners, he scored on a 16-yard rush in which he lined up as the quarterback in the Wildcat. Cleveland’s leader in receiving yardage was Austin Hooper (4-53).

Vikings 34, Packers 31

The Vikings have suffered some terrible luck earlier in the year, but perhaps things are beginning to break their way. They had some good fortune in this game, beginning early in the afternoon when Mason Crosby whiffed on a 32-yard field goal, hitting the upright. Later in the opening half, Kirk Cousins threw an interception because of a miscommunication in the end zone, but the turnover was negated because Cousins was blasted in the helmet, drawing the roughing-the-passer call.

A two-score Minnesota lead quickly evaporated when Aaron Rodgers hit Marquez Valdes-Scantling with a deep bomb. Cousins then tried to match Rodgers with his own deep shot, but the pass was intercepted. However, the good fortune continued, as the pick was overturned by replay review. The drive kept going, as Dalvin Cook picked up a big first down to help milk the clock. This allowed Greg Joseph to drill the game-winning field goal as time expired.

Aside from the two near-picks, Cousins had a tremendous performance. He went 24-of-35 for 341 yards and three touchdowns. He won a big game, which has not been all too common during Cousins’ career. Now 5-5, the Vikings possess a wild-card spot and will certainly be a threat as long as the luck meter doesn’t flip back the other way.

Justin Jefferson had a monster game. He caught eight of his 10 targets for 169 yards and two touchdowns. He nearly scored a third time when he tried to stretch the ball into the end zone, but was ruled down at the 1-yard line. Jefferson’s best catch was the final Minnesota touchdown of this game when Cousins released a pass as he was crunched in the pocket, and Jefferson snatched the ball, which was behind him, for the score.

Elsewhere in the Minnesota receiving corps, Adam Thielen caught eight of his 10 targets for 82 yards and a score. Tyler Conklin contributed with three catches for 35 yards.

Cook, as mentioned, came up big on the final drive. He rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. He also caught three passes for 29 receiving yards.

A.J. Dillon was expected to be a big performer on the ground as well, but that wasn’t the case in his first start this season in relief of the injured Aaron Jones. Dillon didn’t have much of a chance, however, because the Packers were constantly trailing. Dillon was given just 11 carries, which he transformed into 53 yards. He also caught six passes for 44 receiving yards.

Rodgers did what he could to keep the Packers alive in this game after trailing by multiple scores throughout the first half. Despite battling a toe injury and losing left tackle Elgton Jenkins to injury, Rodgers went 23-of-33 for 385 yards and four touchdowns.

Davante Adams enjoyed a terrific performance, catching seven of his eight targets for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Despite this, he finished second on the Packers’ receiving list, trailing Valdes Scantling (4-123), who caught the aforementioned touchdown, a 76-yard bomb. Josiah Deguara, the backup tight end, also reeled in a touchdown (2 catches, 37 yards).

Dolphins 24, Jets 17

Many expected the Dolphins to win a lopsided affair following their surprise victory over the Lamar Jackson-led Ravens last Thursday. That was not the case, as this was either a tied contest or a seven-point Miami lead throughout the afternoon. In fact, the Jets would have taken the lead into the third quarter had Joe Flacco not fumbled on a strip-sack in the red zone during the second frame. The fumble was one of three occasions in which the Jets scored no points despite having drives end at the Miami 5-, 22- and 36-yard lines. The Dolphins outgained the Jets by just eight yards and averaged 0.6 fewer yards per play.

Despite Flacco’s lost fumble, the veteran quarterback played well in his first start in his second stint with the Jets. Miami has a blitz-heavy defense, and Flacco tends to do well versus the blitz, so this wasn’t too much of a surprise. Flacco ended up going 24-of-39 for 291 yards and two touchdowns, but the back-breaking fumble ended up costing the Jets the victory, as they kicked a field goal on second down in the red zone in the final minute. They would have been able to go for the touchdown if they had three more points at that time in the game.

While it wasn’t a surprise that Flacco performed well versus the Dolphins’ defense, it also wasn’t shocking that Miami had tremendous success versus the Jets’ pitiful defense. Tua Tagovailoa began the game poorly with an interception on an overthrow, but this was just one of six incompletions he had in this contest. In fact, Tagovailoa completed all but one of his 12 passes in the second half. The lone misfire was a drop.

Tagovailoa finished 27-of-33 for 273 yards, two touchdowns and the interception. It was a mostly great performance by the second-year quarterback, especially after rebounding from the early mistake and then tossing a helpless 3-yard pass on a third-and-5. Tagovailoa was tremendous in the second half, releasing quick passes with stellar accuracy, but it must be acknowledged that this was one of the easiest matchups possible.

Three Miami players logged at least 50 receiving yards. Two of the players were expected: Jaylen Waddle (8-65) and Mike Gesicki (5-50). However, neither led the team in receiving. That was Mack Hollins, who caught two passes for 72 yards and a touchdown, which was a 65-yard bomb in which Hollins somehow stayed inbounds despite being seemingly pushed out of play.

Myles Gaskin didn’t have the best YPC average in this game, but nearly crossed the century threshold. He gained 89 yards on 23 carries. He also caught three passes, but tallied just seven receiving yards.

Michael Carter’s YPC was much better, but he carried the ball only nine times in this game because of an ankle injury he suffered in the third quarter. He turned those nine tries into 63 yards. He nearly scored when he was tackled at the 1-yard line. Flacco didn’t target him as much as Mike White did; Carter caught just one pass for two receiving yards.

Thanks to Flacco taking more deep shots, Elijah Moore was terrific in this contest; he caught eight of his 11 targets for 141 yards and a touchdown, and he should have drawn a deep interference flag on an obvious call, but the flag wasn’t thrown. Jamison Crowder (6-44) also scored.

Eagles 40, Saints 29

The Saints played two close games against the Falcons and Titans with Trevor Siemian as the starter. They had a chance to win both of those contests, but this one was never close. The Eagles absolutely dominated. They carried a 27-7 lead into halftime, with New Orleans’ sole touchdown coming off a Miles Sanders lost fumble on his own 6-yard line. Philadelphia’s scoring, meanwhile, also featured a turnover, as Siemian was pick-sixed by Darius Slay on a telegraphed throw.

By halftime, the Eagles had outgained the Saints, 249-99, and they maintained possession of the ball for 19-and-a-half minutes out of the 30. New Orleans, quite simply, was not competitive whatsoever despite scoring some garbage-time points to shrink the margin to 11.

New Orleans entered this contest with the top run defense in the NFL, but that was nowhere to be found in this contest. Philadelphia generated 242 rushing yards in this contest, with Sanders leading the way with 94 yards on 16 carries. Sanders lost a fumble, as mentioned earlier, but he did well to rebound from that mistake. Meanwhile, Jordan Howard (10-63) and Boston Scott (6-16) contributed as well.

Jalen Hurts had a big chunk of the team’s rushing yardage as well. He scrambled 18 times for 69 yards and three touchdowns. He had meager passing numbers – 13-of-24, 147 yards – but only because he scrambled so much early and didn’t have to throw at all in the second half because of the big lead. Hurts attempted just eight throws following intermission. It’s also worth noting that Hurts had a touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert negated by offensive pass interference. Another potential passing touchdown to Goedert was ruled down at the 1-yard line.

Speaking of Godert, he led the Eagles in receiving with five catches for 62 yards, barely edging out DeVonta Smith (4-61). Only one other Eagle had more than two receiving yards.

It’s almost pointless to discuss the Saints’ offensive stats because much of it came in garbage time. For instance, Siemian went 22-of-40 for 214 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, but he was just 6-of-18 with one touchdown and two picks at halftime. His first pick occurred because he didn’t see linebacker T.J. Edwards in coverage. The second was the Slay pick-six where Siemian stared down his receiver.

Siemian’s touchdowns went to Adam Trautman (5-58) and Marquez Callaway (1-26). The only player ahead of them on the receiving chart was Tre’Quan Smith (5-64).

Mark Ingram rushed for 88 yards on 16 carries despite the heavy deficit. He also caught six passes for 25 receiving yards.

Redskins 27, Panthers 21

This was a tight affair in which neither team led by more than seven points. Many expected Cam Newton prevail in his first start in his second stint with the Panthers, and it certainly looked like that would occur when he scored on the opening drive. The Redskins, meanwhile, made a key mistake when Antonio Gibson lost a fumble in the red zone while trailing by seven.

Things certainly looked like they would go Carolina’s way, but Taylor Heinicke did a terrific job of constantly moving the chains and ultimately beating his former team. He punished the Panthers for quitting on him, ultimately misfiring on just six occasions, as he used his precise passing (16-of-22, 206 yards, 3 TDs) to lead his team to victory.

Heinicke was excellent on the game-winning drive, though it didn’t appear as though there would be any points scored on the possession because Heinicke nearly fumbled on a strip-sack in which his body was bent backward. The TV announcer likened it to being “twisted like a pretzel.” Heinicke bounced back to find Adam Humphries with an 18-yard connection on a third-and-21, allowing Ron Rivera the opportunity to go for it. Heinicke rewarded his coach with that decision, hitting third-string tight end John Bates with a completion on fourth-and-3. Thanks to a 14-yard scramble, Heinicke moved into field goal range. He missed Terry McLaurin for a touchdown while drifting backward under pressure, but he did well to avoid the turnover, as the Redskins kicked a field goal to take the lead.

The Panthers had four minutes to tie or take their own lead, but were quickly stuck in a fourth down. Cam Newton hit Christian McCaffrey with a pass, but the All-Pro back was tackled inches shy of the first-down marker by Kamren Curl. This allowed the Redskins to kick another field goal and ultimately force the Panthers into another turnover on downs when Newton was strip-sacked on fourth down.

Newton, like Heinicke, misfired on just six occasions. He went 21-of-27 for 189 yards and two touchdowns. He also scrambled 10 times for 46 rushing yards and a third score. Newton had some bright moments in his return to Carolina, but ultimately came up short on two final chances.

It should be no surprise that McCaffrey enjoyed a great statistical performance. He led the team in rushing and receiving; he dashed for 59 yards on 10 attempts, and he also caught seven balls for 60 receiving yards and a touchdown. McCaffrey, however, will be disappointed in himself that he couldn’t quite get to the first-down marker on that aforementioned huge third-down play.

Excluding McCaffrey, the Panthers’ passing attack was headlined by D.J. Moore, who hauled in five balls for 50 yards and a touchdown. Robby Anderson chipped in with five catches for 30 yards.

The leading receiver in this contest was McLaurin, who caught five passes for 103 yard and a touchdown. He was the only Redskin with more than 30 receiving yards.

Gibson rebounded from his fumble to rush for 95 yards on 19 carries. Gibson wasn’t seen at all for the rest of the opening half after the fumble, but returned following intermission. It’s unclear if he missed time with an injury, or if he was temporarily benched.

Texans 22, Titans 13
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: I guess my Texans under four wins bet is going to fail. I was counting on this as a loss, but the Texans now have two victories. They’re going to win five just to screw me.

Nobody gave the 1-8 Texans a chance against the 8-2 Titans. The latter’s rash of injuries, however, seemed to finally catch up with them. Injuries aside, Tennessee came out flat and played like winning against Houston was taken for granted. The Texans instead played hard, with their defense picking off Ryan Tannehill four times and quarterback Tyrod Taylor making some clutch plays to get the Texans their second win of the season.

In the first quarter, Taylor led a field goal drive that gave the Texans the early lead. Tennessee then had a drive go deep into Texans territory, but Texans linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill picked off Tannehill at the 12-yard line and returned the ball all the way to the Titans 6-yard line. Houston couldn’t punch the ball in, however, and had to settle for another field goal. The Texans got the ball back and scored their first road touchdown since Week 2 of the season when Taylor took off on a run and leapt over a tackler, leaving his team with a 12-0 lead after a missed extra point. A screen to D’Onta Foreman got Tennessee into Houston territory, but Adrian Peterson was stuffed for no gain on a fourth-and-1 to cause a turnover on downs. Houston shut out Tennessee in the first half.

Midway through the third quarter, a punt bounced off the foot of Titans returner Chester Rogers and the Texans recovered the ball at the Tennessee 5-yard line. On third-and-goal, Taylor dived into the end zone, putting Houston up 19-0.

The Titans’ offense responded with a drive 13-play, 78-yard drive, which included a fourth-down conversion before the scoring strike to Dez Fitzpatrick. The Titans had another drive into Houston territory end with a fourth-down incompletion. After a 46-yard completion got Tennessee into Houston territory, Desmond King picked off Tannehill at the 1-yard line. The Titans soon forced a punt that set up a short field for Tannehill. Close to the end zone, Dontrell Hilliard was stripped of the ball, but Anthony Firkser pounced on the fumble in the end zone to cut the Texans’ lead to 19-13. After quick three-and-out, Tannehill was picked off again by Desmond King, and Houston turned that into a field goal for a 22-13 lead. Terrance Mitchell later picked off Tannehill to clinch the win for Houston.

Taylor completed 14-of-24 passes for 107 yards and two rushing touchdowns.

Rex Burkhead (18-40) was Houston’s leading rusher, while Chris Conley (4-37) was the team’s leading receiver.

Tannehill completed 35-of-52 passes for 323 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. It was the first four-interception game of Tannehill’s career.

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine led the Titans in receiving with seven passes for 107 yards. A.J. Brown (4-48) left the game with an injury.

Bengals 32, Raiders 13
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: What a smart decision to switch to the Raiders an hour before kickoff. I’m glad I got that +3 line value!

This was a huge game for the AFC playoff picture, and Cincinnati was able to win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. With the Chiefs circling the wagons in the AFC West, losing their third straight game was a crushing blow for the Raiders’ playoff positioning.

On the first drive of the game, Yannick Ngakoue torched Jonah Williams to strip-sack Joe Burrow. The fumble recovery set up the Raiders at the 9-yard line, but they settled for a field goal. On the next drive, a late-hit penalty on Ngakoue canceled out a punt and moved the ball across midfield. Evan McPherson hit a long field goal to tie the game, and the Raiders respond with another Daniel Carlson field goal.

Burrow put a drive together in the second quarter, using Tyler Boyd (6-49) and Ja’Marr Chase for chunk gains. A horrible unnecessary roughness call by the officials gifted Cincinnati a red-zone first down, and on the next play, Joe Mixon scored from 10 yards out to give the Bengals a 10-6 lead at the half.

Midway through the third quarter, Burrow led a drive that ended with McPherson hitting a 53-yard field goal. McPherson would then hit a 51-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to leave the Bengals up 16-6. The Las Vegas offense got moving with two receptions to Darren Waller for 56 yards, and then Carr lofted in a touchdown to Foster Moreau to make it 16-13 early in the fourth quarter.

Cincinnati responded by slogging down the field on a 7-minute drive that saw Burrow toss a short touchdown pass to Chase. Eli Apple intercepted Carr on the ensuing drive, more or less clinching the win for Cincinnati. Two plays later, Mixon scored from 21 yards out to make it 29-13, and McPherson added another field goal in garbage time off of a Carr fumble.

Burrow completed 20-of-29 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown.

Mixon ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns over 30 carries.

Chase (3-32-1) was surprisingly held in check by the Raiders.

Carr completed 19-of-27 passes for 215 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Josh Jacobs had 37 yards on nine carries.

Waller caught seven passes for 116 yards.

Chiefs 19, Cowboys 9

It wasn’t too long ago that many believed the Chiefs were done. They were having issues beating teams like the Giants, and they had suffered blowouts to the Bills and Titans. However, they rebounded with a blowout victory against the Raiders this past Sunday night, and they continued their new winning ways with a 10-point victory over the Cowboys.

While the Chiefs hit some big offensive plays to keep the chains moving, it was the defense that stepped up with a big performance. Kansas City forced Dak Prescott into three turnovers, including a strip-sack early in the afternoon. The Cowboys then intercepted Prescott in the end zone just prior to intermission, ruining a vital scoring opportunity that would’ve allowed Dallas to engage in a one-score affair later in the afternoon. The Kansas City pass rush hounded Prescott all afternoon. Prescott didn’t have much of a chance with Tyron Smith sidelined, as the pressure he saw was too overwhelming.

That said, Dallas’ sloppy play was a big factor in this contest. With Amari Cooper sidelined, some of the lesser players were on the field more often, especially when CeeDee Lamb suffered a concussion right before halftime. Between Michael Gallup, Noah Brown and Cedrick Wilson, the Cowboys dropped six passes. With all of these miscues, pairing with Prescott’s turnovers, it’s no wonder the Cowboys scored only nine points.

Prescott ended up going 28-of-43 for 216 yards and the three turnovers. On one hand, you can say that Prescott’s numbers would’ve been much better if it weren’t for all of his receivers’ drops. On the other hand, he was just 13-of-21 for 68 yards and two turnovers at halftime. Prescott could do nothing with the heavy amount of pressure he saw.

Speaking of injured Cowboys, Ezekiel Elliott missed a chunk of this game with an injury. That’s why he had just nine carries, which he turned into only 22 yards. Tony Pollard (7-50) was the better runner in this contest, though Elliott contributed with six catches for 36 receiving yards in garbage time. Elliott didn’t quite look like himself upon his return.

Three Cowboys had more receiving yards than Elliott: Dalton Schultz (6-53), Gallup (5-44) and Wilson (4-36).

As for the Chiefs’ offense, the unit looked great in the first half, scoring 16 points as they outgained the Cowboys, 208-116. However, they sputtered following intermission, posting just three points after the break. They matched the Cowboys in making mistakes, with Patrick Mahomes throwing an interception on a pass that bounced off Travis Kelce’s hands. Mahomes also saw plenty of pressure, while his receivers dropped four passes in total.

Mahomes went 23-of-37 for 260 yards and the pick. He had a miserable fantasy performance, but played well during the first half of this game. He nearly threw a touchdown, but Mecole Hardman was tackled at the 1-yard line in the opening half.

Kelce made up for his interception with five catches for 74 yards. He also scored on a rushing touchdown. He trailed only Tyreek Hill (9-77) on the receiving chart. Hill was his usual, elusive self, as he danced around Dallas’ bewildered defenders. He picked up a key first down late in the game after catching a short toss and evading defenders, as only he can do.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire scored Kansas City’s other offensive touchdown, finding the end zone right after Hardman was tackled at the 1-yard line. Edwards-Helaire dashed for 63 yards and the score on just 12 carries. Darrel Williams (5-15) took a back seat with Edwards-Helaire back in the lineup.

Cardinals 23, Seahawks 13

Conspiracy theorists may believe that the two quarterbacks switched jerseys prior to the game. One of the signal-callers made numerous accurate passes, all while escaping pressure and navigating the pocket perfectly. Russell Wilson’s ordinarily play is described this way, but Colt McCoy performed in such fashion. Conversely, the other quarterback struggled to complete half of his passes, constantly tossing helpless balls at his receivers’ feet. It would’ve been reasonable to expect McCoy to play this way, but it was Wilson who did so.

Wilson practiced fully all week, so he was expected to perform better than he did in this past Sunday’s shutout loss to the Packers. That didn’t happen. Save for a couple of deep throws, Wilson was dreadful. His accuracy was atrocious, and he couldn’t escape Arizona’s constant pressure despite having his entire starting offensive line in front of him. Wilson went just 14-of-26 for 207 yards. He scrambled just twice, picking up just two yards in the process.

Meanwhile, McCoy was brilliant in most instances. He was deadly accurate throughout the afternoon, and he frustrated Seattle’s defensive front by constantly escaping pressure and picking up some scrambling yards (6-18). He went 35-of-44 for 328 yards and two touchdowns. The Cardinals should’ve had more than 23 points, but Matt Prater whiffed on two field goals.

That said, McCoy made some mistakes. He fired an interception on a telegraphed throw, but replay review showed that the ball hit the ground before Sidney Jones caught it and ran the other way. McCoy also fumbled three times, but all three fumbles were recovered by the offense.

McCoy’s primary targets were Zach Ertz, A.J. Green and Rondale Moore. The Seahawks had absolutely no answer for Ertz, who caught eight passes for 88 yards and two touchdowns. He also drew an interference flag in the end zone. His lone mistake was a drop in the first quarter. Green (4-78) also drew an interference flag in the end zone, doing so immediately following Ertz’s drop. Rondale Moore was also big on that drive, squirting for a first down on a third-and-long catch after run. Moore was excellent, hauling in all 11 of the passes thrown to him for 51 yards.

Ertz and Green weren’t the only Cardinals who drew interference flags in the end zone. James Conner did so as well. Conner rushed for 62 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries. He also caught five passes for 37 receiving yards.

The Seahawks didn’t have as much production from their skill players. Arizona has a habit of bracketing D.K. Metcalf, which is why the stud receiver caught only four passes for 31 yards. This allowed Tyler Lockett to have a big game; he caught four passes for 115 yards. Meanwhile, Alex Collins rushed just 10 times for 36 yards. He was vultured by DeeJay Dallas (4-25).

Chargers 41, Steelers 37

The Chargers have always found creative ways to lose football games. It appeared as though we would see another case of this phenomenon, as the Chargers watched their 17-point second-half lead evaporate, thanks to a flurry of fluky plays. It all began when the Steelers blocked a Charger punt and turned it into a touchdown. Justin Herbert then fired a pass, only to have it pop into the air for what seemed like an eternity on a Cameron Heyward deflection. Cameron Sutton snatched the ball, allowing the Steelers to take over at the Charger 11-yard line. This set up Pittsburgh with another touchdown, and after Austin Ekeler was stuffed on a fourth-down run, Pittsburgh kicked a field goal to take a 41-37 lead.

This is when the Chargers of old would have folded, but they’re a new team. Justin Herbert launched a deep bomb to Mike Williams and connected with him a 53-yard touchdown, as the Steelers blew a coverage because they were missing a couple of starters in their secondary (Minkah Fitzpatrick, Joe Haden). This was the winning score, as the Steelers went four-and-out following a couple of Roethlisberger sacks.

Herbert was amazing in this game. He went 30-of-41 for 382 yards, three touchdowns and the fluky interception. He was terrific as both a passer and a scrambler. He picked up big chunks of yardage on the ground, especially on third down. He scrambled nine times for 90 rushing yards. Included in this was a 36-yard scamper in the second half to set up a touchdown after Heyward was flagged for unnecessary roughness, punching Herbert in the gut for some reason. It’s unclear why Heyward was able to remain in the game.

While Herbert was awesome, the star of this game was Ekeler, who tried to do his best Jonathan Taylor impression. He came up just a bit shy, scoring four times instead of five. Unlike Taylor, Ekeler was balanced as a runner and receiver. He rushed for 50 yards and two scores on 11 carries, and he caught six passes for 65 receiving yards and another two scores.

Ekeler finished third on the team in receiving. Keenan Allen paced the team with nine grabs for 112 yards, while Williams (5-97) was next, thanks to his 53-yard score. Williams also drew an interference flag in the end zone.

The Steelers, meanwhile, had a better passing attack than expected, given that Roethlisberger was coming off a bout with a cold strain and was set to battle the Chargers’ pass rush behind an offensive line missing one of its top blockers (Kevin Dotson).

Roethlisberger went 28-of-44 for 273 yards and three touchdowns. The numbers look great, and Roethlisberger caught fire in the second half, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t make mistakes. For example, he was nearly picked in the first quarter, but Derwin James was able to get just one foot inbounds. He also underthrew Chase Claypool on a pass that should’ve been a touchdown. Claypool still caught the ball for a 37-yard gain, but an accurate ball would’ve allowed the young receiver to score.

Speaking of Claypool, he was second on the team in receiving with five catches for 93 yards, trailing only Diontae Johnson, who made some spectacular receptions in this game. Johnson hauled in seven balls for 101 yards and a touchdown. Eric Ebron (3-24) and Pat Freiermuth (4-11) also scored.

Najee Harris appeared to suffer a concussion in the second half when he was elbowed in the helmet, but after missing some time, he returned to the field. Harris finished with 39 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. He also caught five passes for 20 receiving yards.

Buccaneers 30, Giants 10

Tom Brady lost two consecutive games entering this Monday night affair, so was he going to drop his third straight? Not a chance. Brady came out sharp and focused, meaning the Giants had absolutely no shot to win.

Brady was hot to start the game, completing his first 10 passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. He ultimately finished with a 300-yard performance, a number that easily could have approached 400 if he wasn’t pulled midway through the fourth quarter and his teammates didn’t make so many mistakes. Brady’s weapons dropped four passes, including one by Mike Evans that resulted in an interception that wasn’t remotely Brady’s fault. Breshad Perriman also dropped a deep touchdown. Meanwhile, two long gains were negated by questionable penalties. Chris Godwin’s 34-yard reception was nullified by a hold where the edge rusher being blocked by Tristan Wirfs slipped on the grass, while a Leonard Fournette 30-yard catch was wiped out by an illegal formation where the officials ruled that Evans wasn’t on the line of scrimmage, even though it looked like he was.

Despite these blunders, the Buccaneers prevailed easily. They won 30-10, and seven of the Giants’ points came on a 5-yard drive as a result of Evans’ drop-turned-interception. Brady finished 30-of-46 for 307 yards, two touchdowns and a pick.

Evans, Rob Gronkowski and Godwin all caught six passes each for 73, 71 and 65 yards, respectively. Both Evans and Godwin scored Brady’s touchdowns. Gronkowski didn’t find the end zone and dropped a pass in his return to action.

Fournette also logged six receptions, turning those into 39 yards. He wasn’t as effective on the ground, which was a surprise. He mustered just 35 yards on 10 carries. Making things worse for his fantasy owners, Ronald Jones (8-33) vultured a touchdown.

The Giants got Saquon Barkley back from injury, but he didn’t do very much on the ground against Tampa’s stalwart run defense. Barkley was limited to 25 yards on six carries. Like Fournette, Barkley was more effective as a receiver out of the backfield, catching six balls for 31 receiving yards.

New York was never in a position to run very often because it trailed for the entire evening. The offense did nothing, generating only 215 yards compared to Tampa’s 402. The Giants quite simply couldn’t get anything going because Daniel Jones struggled mightily against Tampa’s blitz-heavy defense. Daniel Jones looked rattled most of the time, throwing two interceptions under heavy pressure in the second half.

Jones finished 23-of-38 for only 167 yards, one touchdown and the two interceptions. As sad as it sounds, those numbers are enhanced because Jones was able to take over at the 5-yard line and throw a touchdown following the Evans pick. Jones’ offensive line was awful in this contest, but he has not made any sort of strides in his career when blitzed.

Jones’ sole touchdown went to Andrew Thomas on a trick play. Kadarius Toney (7-40) led the team in receiving despite dropping a pass on third down. Conversely, Kenny Golladay really struggled with just one catch for 12 yards. Golladay appeared to haul in a second reception, but was ruled out of bounds. Even if he caught that one, he still would’ve endured a miserable evening.

For more thoughts, check out my updated NFL Power Rankings, which will be posted Tuesday morning.

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