NFL Game Recaps: Week 16, 2022

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

Jaguars 19, Jets 3

The Jets were in position to obtain Trevor Lawrence ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft, but they won some meaningless games at the end of the year to drop out of the No. 1 spot. Their fans had a glimpse of what could have been had their team been responsible with those reckless victories. The fans also had to endure the continued struggles of their “consolation prize,” as Zach Wilson was benched in the second half.

Lawrence led his team to a half a game behind the Titans with a brilliant performance in the Meadowlands. The passing stats seem mediocre – 20-of-31 for 229 yards – but Lawrence was playing in a downpour, and he also made up for it with his legs. Lawrence scrambled seven times for 51 rushing yards and a touchdown on a sneak. His only mistake was losing a fumble on an early Quinnen Williams strip-sack that set up a Jets field goal. Otherwise, Lawrence did a great job of keeping the chains moving, converting 7-of-16 third downs. The Jaguars won the time-of-possession battle by nearly 10 minutes.

Wilson, conversely, was a complete disaster. He completed just half of his passes, going 9-of-18 for 92 yards and an interception against one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL. Wilson’s pick came on a desperation heave at the end of the first half, but he was lucky that a couple of his other throws weren’t intercepted. One potential pick was a miscommunication with Garrett Wilson. Another came on a deep shot, which Corey Davis had to knock the ball away. Wilson was late on his throws, as he’s processing information way too slowly. The Jets will be hoping that Mike White can be cleared to play next week.

One skill-position player crossed 100 yards, and that was Evan Engram, who continued to dominate despite being matched up against Sauce Gardner at times. Engram caught seven of his eight targets for 113 yards. No other Jaguar logged more than 29 receiving yards, including Christian Kirk (3-22) and Zay Jones (1-14).

Travis Etienne had a solid performance, rushing for 83 yards on 22 carries. He also caught three passes for 29 receiving yards.

The Jets could not run the ball whatsoever against an underrated Jaguar ground defense. Aside from backup quarterback Chris Streaveler, the Jets’ leading rusher was Ty Johnson with seven yards on two carries. Zonovan Knight mustered just two yards on six rushes.

Thanks to Zach Wilson’s incompetence, Garrett Wilson and the rest of the Jets receivers struggled to d much. Wilson caught just four of his nine targets for 30 yards, and he lost a fumble at the very end of the game. Meanwhile, Elijah Moore and Corey Davis snatched two passes each for 15 and 14 yards, respectively. Davis dropped a ball.

Saints 17, Browns 10

It took a while for the Saints to realize what their game plan should be. It was fairly evident that they would have to run heavily, particularly with Taysom Hill, considering the single-digit temperatures and 30-mph winds. Despite this, Hill didn’t receive his first carry until there were four minutes remaining in the second quarter.

As you can imagine, the Saints weren’t doing very well until that moment. They were trailing 10-0, as a Cleveland touchdown came on an Andy Dalton interception that was the byproduct of Juwan Johnson dropping a pass. The Saints were lucky they weren’t down 14-0 because Amari Cooper dropped a touchdown on a later drive. Meanwhile, they couldn’t get anything going offensively. They even gave up on one drive, opting to run with David Johnson on a third-and-6 on their own 29 to begin the second quarter.

The Saints finally realized the error of their ways by running Hill, and it predictably worked. One of Hill’s nine rushes was a touchdown scamper to tie the game at 10. Hill’s nine scrambles went for 56 yards and a touchdown. He and Alvin Kamara abused the Browns on the ground, with Kamara scoring after a Deshaun Watson interception to put the Saints up 17-0. Kamara ended up with 76 yards on 20 carries.

As for the Browns, they were guilty of a poor game plan in the second half, as they also didn’t run enough. Nick Chubb received 14 carries in the first half, but only 10 after intermission. He ended up with 92 yards, but the more glaring number is that Watson had seven more pass attempts than Chubb had runs. Compare this to the Saints, who rushed 38 times compared to Andy Dalton’s 15 pass attempts.

Watson may have had more success throwing in ideal conditions, but he never had a chance in the fierce cold and wind. Watson failed to complete half of his passes, going 15-of-31 for 135 yards and an interception, which occurred because of a deflection. Watson was unfortunate that a potential touchdown of his was dropped by Cooper.

Speaking of Cooper, he had a solid stat line despite the weather. He caught six of his 10 targets for 72 yards. He was the only Cleveland player with more than 18 receiving yards.

As for the Saints’ passing attack, there’s not much to discuss. Dalton was just 8-of-15 for 92 yards and an interception. As mentioned, the pick occurred because Juwan Johnson dropped the ball, which popped into the arms of a Cleveland player.

Because Dalton completed only eight passes, only two Saints logged double-digit receiving yardage. Rashid Shaheed hauled in four passes for 41 yards, while Kamara caught two balls for 34 yards.

Chiefs 24, Seahawks 10

When Patrick Mahomes dived toward the pylon and scored a touchdown to put his team up 24-3 in the fourth quarter, the crowd began chanting for him to be MVP. Mahomes is certainly one of the favorites to win the award, but the Chiefs have other problems to address, one of which is the inconsistency of the offense.

Kansas City led 17-3 at halftime, outgaining the Seahawks, 181-98, but the second half saw a complete reversal. The Seahawks dominated in yardage after intermission and constantly ventured into field goal range before being turned away with negative plays or a turnover. The Chiefs accumulated only 116 net yards in the second half, compared to 235 by Seattle. Mahomes’ touchdown was the only time Kansas City scored in the second half despite battling one of the worst defenses in the NFL. This marked yet another occasion in which the Chiefs failed to put together a complete game. If this persists, the Chiefs will lose to a strong opponent in the playoffs.

Mahomes finished 16-of-28 for 224 yards and two touchdowns, as well as a third score on the ground. He saw more pressure than expected, and this performance was disappointing overall, considering how easy the matchup was.

More than half of Mahomes’ yardage went to Travis Kelce, who had a monster performance with six catches for 113 yards. Excluding Kelce’s production, no other Chief logged more than 32 receiving yardage, as JuJu Smith-Schuster caught three balls for just 27 yards. Kadarius Toney scored on his only catch of the day, an 8-yarder, which he bobbled initially.

Isiah Pacheco rushed for 58 yards on 14 carries, outgaining Jerick McKinnon (5 carries, 7 yards) by a wide margin. However, McKinnon scored aerially with three catches for 31 receiving yards.

It was no surprise that Kenneth Walker was the leading rusher in this game. He dashed for 107 yards on 26 carries. The Seahawks did a good job of sticking with the run despite trailing for the entire afternoon.

Geno Smith went 25-of-40 for 215 yards, one touchdown and an interception, which was a miscommunication with his target. Smith was unlucky on another occasion where he appeared to throw a second touchdown to D.K. Metcalf, but Metcalf was able to get just one foot inbounds.

Speaking of Metcalf, he led the Seahawks in receiving with seven catches for 81 yards. Noah Fant (2-12) caught Smith’s only touchdown.

Vikings 27, Giants 24

Considering these teams have been living on the edge the entire season, it can’t be a surprise that this battle came down to the very last second. It didn’t appear it would be that way when the Vikings went up 24-16 in the fourth quarter, but Daniel Jones engineered a brilliant drive that culminated with a 27-yard Saquon Barkley touchdown. Jones converted the two-point conversion, tying the game with 2:01 remaining.

The Vikings had one more chance to win the game prior to a potential overtime session. Kirk Cousins was stuck in a third-and-9, but he moved the chains by locating Justin Jefferson with a 16-yard connection. Cousins was in a similar situation after he took a sack on the next set of downs, but he once again found Jefferson on a third-and-11 for a 17-yard gain. This put Greg Joseph in a position to hit a 61-yard field goal, which he connected to win the game for Minnesota.

Along with Jefferson and Joseph, Cousins was one of the three heroes for Minnesota at the very end of the game. Cousins posted a brilliant stat line, going 34-of-48 for 299 yards and three touchdowns. However, Cousins’ afternoon could have been much worse. He was lucky that a potential interception of his was dropped when he overthrew T.J. Hockenson. He had another possible pick overturned by replay review as well. This will be forgotten, but it must be noted because the Giants could have prevailed if they were more fortunate regarding Cousins’ potential turnovers.

Jefferson, meanwhile, hauled in 12 of his 16 targets for 133 yards and a touchdown. Jefferson came up huge at the end to lead the Vikings in receiving, but this wasn’t the case for most of the afternoon. Hockenson posted the best numbers of any Minnesota skill player for much of the game, snatching 13 of his 16 targets for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Conversely, K.J. Osborn (3-17) and Adam Thielen (1-6) were disappointments.

Speaking of disappointments, Dalvin Cook failed to take advantage of a great matchup. Everyone had been gashing the Giants, but Cook mustered only 64 yards on 14 carries.

Barkley was the leading rusher in this game, thanks to his game-tying touchdown. He dashed for 84 yards and the score on 14 attempts. He was huge in the passing game as well, catching eight passes for 49 receiving yards.

Jones also had a strong fantasy performance. He went 30-of-42 for 334 yards, one touchdown and an interception in field goal range that was a great play by Patrick Peterson. Jones also fumbled on a strip-sack, but was fortunate that a teammate of his recovered.

All three of the Giants’ primary receivers torched the Vikings. Richie James had the yardage lead with 90 on eight receptions, though he dropped a pass on third down. Isaiah Hodgins was one behind him with eight grabs for 89 yards and a touchdown. Darius Slayton was close with four grabs for 79 yards.

Bengals 22, Patriots 18

The Bengals had every reason to overlook the Patriots. They were coming off some big wins, including a comeback victory after trailing 17 points, and they had impending battles against Buffalo and Baltimore. Rather than take this game for granted, the Bengals put their foot on the throat of the Patriots in the first half, absolutely dominating in every regard. Joe Burrow torched the Patriots mercilessly, while the defense smothered Mac Jones, preventing New England from scoring a single point prior to the second half.

By halftime, Burrow had thrown for 284 yards, while Jones was 4-of-7 for 23 yards. Cincinnati outgained New England in the first half, 303-70. Up 22-0, the Bengals would be able to coast to an easy victory.

Except, they didn’t. The Bengals fell asleep at the wheel following intermission, allowing the Patriots to engineer a comeback. The Bengals missed a field goal, while Tee Higgins and Trenton Irwin dropped potential touchdowns. The defense also allowed a fluky big play after Jones was heavily penalized for intentional grounding. On a third-and-29, Jones heaved a Hail Mary into the end zone, which bounced off a player and into the arms of Jakobi Meyers, who scored on the 48-yard touchdown. Of course, the Patriots missed the extra point, meaning they’d need another score to cover or push.

All the Bengals had to do was run out of the clock with a few minutes remaining, but Ja’Marr Chase fumbled after catching a pass on a third-and-3. New England appeared to take advantage of this gift by moving into a first-and-goal situation, but Rhamondre Stevenson lost a fumble on a carry. It could be argued that Stevenson’s forward progress was stopped, but the officials didn’t call it that way. Stevenson, who started the lateraling on the Meyers Mishap last week, was partly responsible for another loss.

Burrow posted a great stat line that could have been much better. His first-half total indicated that he was on pace for 568 yards. He finished 40-of-52 for 375 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He should have thrown five touchdowns, but as mentioned, Higgins and Irwin dropped potential scores.

Speaking of Higgins’ dropped touchdown, that was the only time he didn’t catch a target of Burrow’s in this game. He snatched all eight of the other targets for 128 yards and a touchdown. Coincidentally, Irwin reeled in Burrow’s other touchdowns with three grabs for 45 yards. Chase logged eight receptions for 79 yards, but the lost fumble was a dark cloud over his performance.

Joe Mixon didn’t run very well against a tough New England ground defense. He rushed for 65 yards on 16 carries, but did well in the passing game with seven catches for 43 receiving yards.

Mixon was the leading rusher in this game by a wide margin, as Stevenson was a huge disappointment. Stevenson mustered only 30 yards on 13 carries, and he also caught just two passes for three receiving yards. He could have made up for all of this by scoring the decisive touchdown, but he lost a fumble instead.

Jones, as mentioned earlier, completed only four passes in the opening half. However, he finished with a solid stat line thanks to the Hail Mary, going 21-of-33 for 240 yards and two touchdowns.

Somehow, Kendrick Bourne led the Patriots in receiving with six catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. Meyers, as a byproduct of his Hail Mary score, was right behind him with six grabs for 83 yards and the score. No other Patriot accumulated more than 21 receiving yards.

Ravens 17, Falcons 9

It was anticipated earlier in the week that the Ravens would have Lamar Jackson back from injury in this game, but Jackson wasn’t able to practice. A banged-up Tyler Huntley would have to start again, and the initial results weren’t pretty. Baltimore continued its trend of advancing into enemy territory and sputtering at times. This was apparent early when the Ravens kicked field goals at the Atlanta 13- and 19-yard lines, and had a field goal blocked from the 37.

The Ravens finally got into the end zone in the second quarter when Huntley found Demarcus Robinson. This was the only time either team would score a touchdown, as Atlanta caught whatever ailment Baltimore has because it moved the chains well in between the 20s, but couldn’t punch the ball in for six. They scored a total of nine points on drives that ended at the Baltimore 26, 18, 16, 14, and 1. Field goals were scored on the middle three possessions, while Tyler Allgeier was stuffed at the goal line on the latter drive. A lost fumble ruined the former possession.

Huntley barely completed half of his passes, going 9-of-17 for 115 yards and a touchdown. He also fumbled on a strip-sack, but a teammate of his recovered. As a result of these poor passing numbers, only two Ravens logged more than 10 receiving yards. Mark Andrews (3-45) made a nice reception on a 36-yard grab, while the newly acquired Sammy Watkins caught just one ball for 40 yards.

With Huntley nursing an injury, the Ravens leaned heavily on their running game. J.K. Dobbins was a disappointment with just 59 yards on 12 carries, as Gus Edwards was the better back, finishing with 99 yards on 11 attempts. Edwards saw all of the work late in the afternoon, as Dobbins inexplicably vanished.

The Falcons also had some success on the ground. Allgeier was stymied at the goal line, but still had 74 yards on 18 attempts. He appeared to wear down Baltimore’s defense with his tough running as the afternoon progressed. He also caught four passes for 43 yards. Cordarrelle Patterson (8-17) was much less of a factor, aside from one play in which he scored a touchdown, only to see it negated by a penalty.

Desmond Ridder performed better than he did in his NFL debut. He went 22-of-33 for 218 yards. He did a good job of managing the game and didn’t make many poor throws. However, one such bad pass occurred when he had a receiver open downfield for a potential touchdown in the opening half, but underthrew him horribly.

Drake London posted some strong numbers with seven catches for 96 yards, including a leaping grab in the final quarter to set up a first-and-goal opportunity. However, he lost a fumble while in field goal range during the first half. He and Allgeier were the only Falcons with more than 18 receiving yards.

Texans 19, Titans 14

Derrick Henry has four 200-yard rushing games against the Texans in his career, and it appeared as though he was well on his way to a fifth early in the afternoon. Henry rumbled for a 48-yard touchdown in the opening quarter to give the Titans a quick 7-0 lead.

The Titans, however, were outscored 19-7 the rest of the way, as their offense was weighed down by their quarterback and offensive line issues. Malik Willis was atrocious against the Texans, but it’s not like he had much of a chance because the Titans were down their top three offensive linemen. Constantly under siege, Willis failed to reach 100 passing yards.

While the Houston defense completely clamped down on the passing attack, the offense lucked out on some of its production. The Texans’ first scoring drive saw a potential Davis Mills interception be dropped by a Tennessee defender. Mills then fumbled the ball into the end zone, but Rex Burkhead was able to pounce on it to tie the game at seven. The Texans lucked out again later when Henry lost a fumble over midfield in the third quarter when they were trailing 14-10. Two scores later, and the Texans were able to win their second game of the year.

Mills finished 17-of-28 for 178 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He should have thrown a second score, but an apparent Brandin Cooks touchdown was negated by two penalties. Speaking of Cooks, Mills failed to connect with him when the speedy receiver was open for a deep touchdown. Mills poorly underthrew Cooks.

Cooks was able to get some redemption with Houston’s final touchdown. He caught four of his nine targets for 34 yards and the score, though his fantasy owners will be lamenting that they missed out on the second touchdown. The Texans’ leading receiver was Phillip Dorsett with three grabs for 45 yards.

The Texans didn’t run the ball very well against Tennessee’s strong ground defense. Royce Freeman was limited to 32 yards on 16 carries.

Henry, conversely, was able to rumble for 126 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries despite the loss. The fumble was a killer, as it cost Tennessee a victory. The Titans can still win the division, however, by beating Jacksonville in Week 18.

Willis was dreadful in this game, going 14-of-23 for only 99 yards and two interceptions. One pick wasn’t his fault because it came on a Hail Mary attempt. Willis didn’t have much of a chance with Tennessee missing Nate Davis, Ben Jones, and Taylor Lewan. He tossed lots of checkdowns, prompting boos from the crowd throughout the final quarter.

With Willis struggling, Tennessee’s receivers failed to do much of anything. Robert Woods led the group with four catches for 30 yards. Treylon Burks failed to log a reception in his return from a concussion.

Panthers 37, Lions 23
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: The highlight of this game wasn’t anything that the players did, but rather, Matt Millen’s quote: “Let’s see if that butt gets down.”

Entering this game at 7-7, the Lions needed to win out their final three games to have a shot at the playoffs. The 5-8 Panthers needed to win their final three to win the NFC South. Carolina showed up to play as they took advantage of terrible tackling to run for 240 yards before halftime and put up an insurmountable lead.

The Panthers took the opening drive down the field with Chuba Hubbard ripping off three runs for 70 yards. To cap the drive, Raheem Blackshear dived into the end zone.

Jared Goff responded with an excellent deep ball completion to D.J. Chark for 39 yards, and a completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown for about 15 to set up a first-and-goal. Goff rolled out and found Shane Zylstra for a score. The Lions’ next drive moved deep into Carolina territory, but a poor snap by Frank Ragnow led to a fumble that was recovered by the Panthers. It proved to be a huge swing in the game.

Darnold took advantage with a 17-yard pass to Tommy Tremble, D’Onta Foreman took off on a 38-yard run, and then two Sam Darnold runs finished the drive for a touchdown to go up 14-7. After a Lions punt, Darnold connected with Terrace Marshall for 36 yards, and Foreman ripped off another chunk run as the Lions were missing a ton of tackles. Foreman finished the drive with a short touchdown run and then Carolina added a field goal in the two minute drill to put the Panthers up 24-7 at the end of the first half.

In the third quarter, Darnold hit D.J. Moore on a 47-yard bomb to set up a first-and-goal. A receiver screen to Moore scored from the five out to put the Panthers up 31-7. Midway through the third quarter the Lions offense finally came alive with Goff lofting in a bomb to Kaliff Raymond for 56 yards. On a fourth-and-2, Goff threw a strike to Zylstra for a touchdown. The two-point conversion failed to keep it a three score game at 31-13.

D.J. Moore made an incredible reception to set up a 40-yard field goal and the Panthers went up 34-13 early in the fourth quarter. After some punts, the Lions hit a long pass to D.J. Chark in garbage time and that set up the third touchdown pass to Zylstra. The Panthers answered with a field goal to ice the win.

Goff completed 25-of-42 passes for 355 yards with three touchdowns.

D’Andre Swift (4-12) and Jamaal Williams (7-11) were completely shut down by the Panthers defense.

The Panthers limited St. Brown (7-76), and Chark (4- 108) led Detroit in yardage while Zylstra had his three touchdowns on five catches for 26 yards.

Darnold completed 15-of-22 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown

Hubbard (12-125) and Foreman (21-165-1) dominated the Lions defense to win the game for Carolina.

Moore had five catches for 83 yards and a touchdown.

Bills 35, Bears 13
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: Talk about a misleading score! The Bears were up at halftime, and it looked like they were going to cover for most of the afternoon. Also, R.I.P. to Stefon Diggs fantasy owners.

Buffalo clinched the AFC East title with a road win in Chicago. Josh Allen and the Bills offense struggled with turnovers, but they made enough big plays to support their defense that shut down the Bears offense. Chicago’s defense played better than the score indicates, but once again the offense could not play complementary football.

The Bears took the opening drive down the field with a pass to Bryon Pringle and a run by David Montgomery 28-yard run. Allen responded with moving down the field before finding Gabe Davis open in the back of the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown, but Buffalo missed the extra point. The Bills’ next drive moved down the field before Kyler Gordon intercepted Allen in the front of the end zone and returned it about 35 yards.

A fourth-down conversion with Fields hitting Montgomery for a short completion kept the drive alive to get inside the Bills 30. The drive ended in a field goal to give the Bears a 10-6 lead. Buffalo then drove into Chicago territory, but Tyler Bass missed a 38-yard field goal.

The Bills quickly took the lead in the third quarter with a 33-yard touchdown run from Devin Singletary. David Montgomery then fumbled after taking a hard hit from Dane Jackson with Tim Settle recovering the loose ball. Buffalo took advantage as James Cook went up the middle of the Bears defense for a 27-yard touchdown run.

Late in the third quarter, Gabe Davis was stripped of the ball by Matt Adams. The next play Fields laid out a deep ball to Velus Jones for 44 yards. However the Bills got a fourth down stop to get the ball back for Buffalo, but Allen threw a bad pass that was intercepted by Nicolas Murrow to set up the Bears offense at the Bills 18-yard line. The Bears could only produce a field goal and made it 21-13.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Bills put the game away with a ground-based drive and Allen scored on his own, taking a boot leg run into the end zone from about a dozen yards out. Shortly later in garbage time, Allen hit Dawson Knox for a score to produce 14 late points that made the game look less competitive than it was.

Allen completed 15-of-26 passes for 172 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Singletary (12-106-1) James Cook (11-99-1) ran well for Buffalo.

Shockingly, the Bills did not even target Stefon Diggs (2-26) in the first half, and the star receiver continued his late season drop in production. Gabe Davis led the Bills with three catches for 45 yards and a touchdown, but also had a fumble.

Fields was 15-of-23 for 119 yards with a touchdown through the air. The Bills were ready for his running element as they held him to 11 yards on seven carries.

David Montgomery ran for 62 yards on 16 carries and had a fumble.

Rookie Velus Jones led the Bears in receiving with two catches for 52 yards.

49ers 37, Redskins 20

Brock Purdy battled two defenses ranked in the bottom 10 of adjusted EPA in his first couple of starts. This was a big test for him because Washington’s stop unit would be a big step up in competition. The Redskins rank second in that category, so any regression for Purdy would be understandable.

There was no regression. In fact, Purdy was excellent, misfiring on just seven occasions. The box score shows that he threw an interception, but that was the byproduct of Jauan Jennings dropping a pass and having the ball sail into the arms of a Washington player. Purdy otherwise shredded a helpless Washington secondary and linebacking corps that couldn’t deal with any of his weapons.

Purdy finished 15-of-22 for 234 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. The 49ers had a slow start in terms of scoring points, but that’s because of the Jennings-induced interception and a Kyle Juszczyk stuff on a fourth-and-1 deep in Washington territory. Once the 49ers stopped making mistakes, they began dominating the game.

George Kittle was the best skill-position player for the 49ers. The Redskins had no answer for him, as Kittle caught six of his eight targets for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Brandon Aiyuk also hit a big play with a 54-yard reception, allowing him to finish with five receptions for 81 yards.

Ray-Ray McCloud was another 49er who hit a huge play. This was a 71-yard touchdown run. He was the leading rusher in this game, as the one thing the Redskins did well defensively was limit Christian McCaffrey to 46 yards on 15 carries. McCaffrey didn’t do much as a receiver either – two catches, 12 receiving yards – but he was able to make up for that with a touchdown.

As for the Redskins’ offense, there was a quarterback change because Taylor Heinicke couldn’t take care of the football. Heinicke lost a fumble on a strip-sack and then was intercepted because Brian Robinson stopped his route. He ended the game 13-of-18 for 166 yards, two touchdowns and the two give-aways. Carson Wentz stepped into the game and was a solid 12-of-16 for 123 yards and a touchdown, albeit against a soft prevent defense.

Washington’s top three receivers all caught touchdowns. Terry McLaurin led the team in receiving yardage with 77 yards on four catches. He just barely edged out Jahan Dotson (6-76). Curtis Samuel reeled in all five of his targets for 52 yards.

Robinson made a big mistake on a route that caused Heinicke’s interception. He mustered just 58 yards on 22 carries against San Francisco’s No. 1 rush defense.

Cowboys 40, Eagles 34

The Eagles will claim the division and the No. 1 seed with any victory to close out the year. They could have accomplished this with a win over Dallas, but needed to prevail without their starting quarterback. Jalen Hurts was sidelined with a shoulder injury, so Gardner Minshew would have to lead the team to a victory.

Minshew was in a position to do so despite some mistakes. He threw an early interception and then missed Quez Watkins for a touchdown, but rebounded by finding DeVonta Smith for a touchdown on fourth down to put his team up 27-17 in the third quarter. Minshew played extremely well, particularly in the second half, but his teammates let him down.

The Cowboys were able to come back from their 27-17 deficit, thanks to a Boston Scott lost fumble. The Cowboys turned the short field with a Michael Gallup touchdown. The Philadelphia defense then gaffed, surrendering a 52-yard reception to T.Y. Hilton on a third-and-30. This also set up a CeeDee Lamb touchdown that tied the game at 34.

It appeared as though Philadelphia would be able to take the lead when it crossed midfield, but Watkins allowed cornerback Da’Ron Bland to wrestle the ball away from him for Minshew’s second interception. A Dallas field goal later, Miles Sanders took his turn to screw up, losing a fumble on the ensuing drive. This transformed into another Cowboys field goal, meaning the Eagles would need a touchdown to win the game instead of a kick of their own to send this contest to overtime. Minshew drove the team into the red zone, but the drive stalled because the Philadelphia offensive line failed to protect Minshew.

Minshew went 24-of-40 for 355 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. As specified earlier, only one pick was his fault. Minshew was far from the reason the Eagles lost this game, as many of his teammates disappointed him.

One of the players who didn’t let Minshew down was Smith, who had eight catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns. This includes an amazing toe-tap reception along the sidelines for a gain of 23 yards. A.J. Brown was next on the stat sheet with six grabs for 103 yards. Brown suffered an injury in this game, but didn’t miss much action.

Sanders was a huge disappointment in this game. In addition to fumbling, Sanders failed to take advantage of a favorable matchup with just 65 yards on 21 carries. Here are the 2023 NFL Draft Running Back Prospect Rankings for Philadelphia to replace Sanders.

Sanders actually led all rushers in this game, as Ezekiel Elliott (16-55) and Tony Pollard (9-19) had disappointing rushing performances. Both salvaged their fantasy outputs, however. Elliott scored a touchdown, while Pollard caught six passes for 61 receiving yards. Pollard dropped a touchdown, however.

Dak Prescott made up for the lackluster running game, going 27-of-35 for 347 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, which was a pick-six as a result of him underthrowing a wide-open Dalton Schultz. Prescott rebounded extremely well from this mistake, completing his next 10 passes.

Two of Prescott’s three touchdowns went to CeeDee Lamb, who had a monstrous performances. Lamb hauled in 10 of his 11 targets for 120 yards and the pair of scores. Gallup (4-36) reeled in Prescott’s other touchdown.

Steelers 13, Raiders 10

The Steelers already planned to celebrate the 50th-anniversary of Franco Harris’ Immaculate Reception by retiring his number, but Harris unexpectedly passed away three days prior to this affair. Steeler players wore his jersey to the game and put on a spirited performance, at least defensively. Aside from the Raiders’ opening touchdown drive, which featured a third-and-16 conversion by Ameer Abdullah, Pittsburgh restricted the Raiders to just three points the entire evening.

Despite this, the Steelers trailed for most of the game. This is because their sluggish offense struggled to produce anything of note. Kenny Pickett was especially bad, and he was booed consistently throughout the second half. Pickett had one sequence where he threw way behind Diontae Johnson, then fired an interception as a result of pressure being in his face. On another drive, Pickett tossed a 2-yard pass on a third-and-7. Another possession saw Johnson ruin things by dropping a pass.

The Steelers had one final chance with a couple of minutes remaining, and they finally made the most out of it. Taking advantage of injuries to Chandler Jones and Denzel Perryman, Pickett finally moved the chains with some connections to Pat Freiermuth. Najee Harris also picked up 19 yards on a reception that featured a great hurdle. Pickett then moved the chains via a fourth-and-1 sneak, then hit George Pickens for a touchdown that finally gave the Steelers a 13-10 lead.

The Raiders had a good chance to strike back in the final minute because they still possessed all three timeouts. However, Derek Carr heaved his third interception of the evening on an overthrow in Hunter Renfrow’s direction, sealing the victory for Pittsburgh.

Pickett finished 26-of-39 for 244 yards, one touchdown and an interception. The stats don’t look terrible, but Pickett really struggled against one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL. The cold and windy conditions didn’t help, but Pickett made a number of poor throws.

Pickens caught five passes for 57 yards to go along with the decisive touchdown. He finished third on the team in receiving, trailing Freiermuth (7-66) and Johnson (5-64).

Harris didn’t get much on the ground, rushing for 53 yards on 16 carries, but he was a big factor as a receiver out of the backfield. He caught six passes for 42 receiving yards.

Harris ended up being the leading rusher in this game because Josh Jacobs didn’t have any running room. The Steelers swarmed him, limiting him to just 44 yards on 15 attempts.

As mentioned earlier, Carr threw three interceptions. The third pick was terrible, but the other two weren’t his fault because they were off the hands of Foster Moreau and Renfrow. Still, Carr wasn’t very accurate for the most part, going just 16-of-30 for 174 yards, one touchdown and the trio of picks.

Carr had issues connecting with Davante Adams, who snatched just two of his nine targets for only 15 yards. Darren Waller led the Raiders in receiving with four grabs for 58 yards. Renfrow was next with four catches for 42 yards and a touchdown.

Packers 26, Dolphins 20

It took the Packers a while to get their footing in this game, and I mean that literally because Christian Watson and A.J. Dillon stumbled to negate potential touchdowns. Other mistakes were made as well. Aaron Rodgers took a bad sack in the red zone. Romeo Doubs and Allen Lazard both dropped passes. A fake punt failed. And Rodgers missed Christian Watson for a potential touchdown.

While the Packers were constantly shooting themselves in the foot, the Dolphins capitalized on the errors. Miami went up 20-10 and looked like it would run away with a blowout victory. Then, everything changed in the second half. The Packers, despite losing Watson to an injury, began moving the chains, while the Dolphins committed numerous turnovers. Tua Tagovailoa was to blame for this, as he was intercepted thrice. The first was an overthrow, while the second and third were the result of him not seeing De’Vondre Campbell and Rasul Douglas, respectively. The second pick set up an insurance field goal for the Packers, while the third officially ended the game, negating a potential decisive touchdown for Tagovailoa in the final seconds.

While the Packers won to keep their playoff hopes alive, there have to be major questions surfacing about Tagovailoa. The third-year quarterback shouldn’t have had a meltdown like this. Tagovailoa was just 7-of-13 for 81 yards and three picks in the second half despite possessing his all-world receivers. This loss was all on him, and if he continues to perform this way, the Dolphins won’t be playing very deep into January.

Speaking of those all-world receivers, Jaylen Waddle had a monster game with five catches for 143 yards and an 84-yard touchdown. Tyreek Hill also topped the century mark, hauling in four balls for 103 yards. No other Dolphin logged more than 25 receiving yards.

The Dolphins ran well on the Packers, so it’s unclear why they went away from their rushing attack in the second half. Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson Jr. registered 45 and 37 rushing yards on eight and nine carries, respectively. Wilson scored a touchdown.

Despite Miami not running nearly enough, both Dolphin backs outgained their counterparts. Dillon rumbled for 36 and a touchdown on 11 carries, while Aaron Jones was limited to just 25 yards on six attempts.

Contrary to Tagovailoa, Rodgers had a big second half. He went 12-of-16 for 124 yards and a pick after halftime. His overall numbers were 24-of-38 for 238 yards, one touchdown and the interception, which was a deep pass to Lazard in double coverage where there was possible pass interference.

With Watson hurt, Lazard led the Packers in receiving with five grabs for 61 yards. Watson was next with six catches for 49 yards.

Rams 51, Broncos 14

If I showed as much effort as the Broncos did in this game, there would be no recap. Their defense was a complete no-show, surrendering big play after big play. Their offense, meanwhile, saw Russell Wilson throw three interception in a completely embarrassing performance in front of a national children’s audience on Nickelodeon.

Wilson set the stage for the Rams’ 51-point output, as two of his interceptions transformed into a pair of Los Angeles touchdowns. The first, an overthrow to Courtland Sutton, turned into a Baker Mayfield touchdown to Tyler Higbee. The second, which occurred because Wilson didn’t see former teammate Bobby Wagner, led to Cam Akers reaching the end zone to give the Rams a 17-0 lead.

From there, it seemed like the defense waved the white flag. They showed no effort to stop Mayfield and Akers, who looked like John Elway and Terrell Davis. Denver couldn’t get off the field at all, allowing the Rams to achieve 26 first downs and win the time-of-possession battle by 13 minutes.

Mayfield misfired on just four occasions, going 24-of-28 for 230 yards and two touchdowns. He threw just eight passes in the second half, so he could have posted even better numbers if the Rams didn’t take their foot off the gas after establishing such a big lead.

Both of Mayfield’s touchdowns went to Higbee, who had a monster game. He caught nine of his 11 targets for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Brycen Hopkins (3-57) was the only other Ram with more than 30 receiving yards.

Mayfield had an easy time in the pocket because he had so much success from his running game. Akers looked like the running back of old, rushing for 118 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. He also caught two balls for 29 receiving yards.

As for the Broncos, Wilson barely completed half of his passes, going 15-of-27 for 214 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. The first two picks were referenced already. The third was a deep shot into double coverage toward Greg Dulcich in the end zone.

Denver’s play-makers at least didn’t disappoint their fantasy owners. Jerry Jeudy led the Broncos in receiving with six catches for 117 yards, while Courtland Sutton reeled in five balls for 64 yards. Dulcich made four grabs for 39 yards and a touchdown.

Latavius Murray didn’t get a chance to be productive because his team was constantly in a deficit. He rushed for 34 yards on just eight attempts.

Buccaneers 19, Cardinals 16

Because of the Saints’ victory over the Browns, the Buccaneers needed to win one additional game besides their Week 17 battle against the Panthers, provided New Orleans prevails in its next two contests. A loss here would have put more pressure on Tampa Bay in its final two weeks, but this didn’t seem like it would be a factor. The Buccaneers, after all, were favored by 7.5 points as a result of Trace McSorley starting for Arizona. Everyone believed the Buccaneers to cruise to an easy victory, which was a legitimate expectation, given how terrible McSorley looked in the prior week’s loss to the Broncos.

What everyone failed to anticipate was that Tom Brady would perform worse than McSorley for most of the evening. The Buccaneers struggled to move the chains for the most part, as Brady heaved many erratic throws. He missed Julio Jones for a potential touchdown on the opening drive, then had two interceptions on underthrows in Mike Evans’ direction. Brady was just 12-of-20 for 87 yards otherwise in the opening half.

Things looked their bleakest for the Buccaneers when they trailed 16-6 in the fourth quarter. Brady, however, repeated what he did versus the Saints. He caught fire and scored 10 unanswered points, sending the game to overtime. Following an Arizona punt, Brady continued to improve, completing all six of his passes for 69 yards. He moved his team into position for a 40-yard field goal, which Ryan Succop drilled to give Tampa Bay its seventh victory of the year. As a result, the Buccaneers can clinch the NFC South with a win next week.

Brady finished 32-of-48 for 281 yards, one touchdown and the two interceptions. Brady looked terrible through three quarters, though that wasn’t entirely his fault. Arizona’s pass rush gave the Tampa Bay offensive line major problems, especially when backup tackle Josh Wells was carted off with an injury. However, Brady looked like he finally solved the Arizona puzzle late in the game when he caught fire in his no-huddle offense.

Leonard Fournette was a big part of the comeback, thanks to a 44-yard reception. He rushed for 72 yards on 20 carries and also caught nine of his 10 targets for 90 receiving yards. The only blemish on the night was that he was stuffed on yet another fourth-and-inches opportunity, which has been a running theme for Tampa Bay this year.

Aside from Fournette, Russell Gage led the Buccaneers in receiving with five catches for 65 yards, followed by Chris Godwin (8-63). Evans was far less of a factor with three grabs for 29 yards, but he had a pair of clutch catches in overtime.

As for the Cardinals, it was a rough night for McSorley. He made a great throw to Marquise Brown on a 47-yard bomb, but struggled to move the chains otherwise. He finished 24-of-45 for 217 yards, an interception and a lost fumble on a strip-sack.

Perhaps the worst aspect of McSorley’s performance was that he couldn’t connect with DeAndre Hopkins. The Pro Bowl receiver was targeted on 10 occasions, but caught only one pass for four yards. Instead, McSorley focused on getting the ball to Greg Dortch, who came out of nowhere to catch 10 balls for 98 yards.

James Conner had the best fantasy performance of any Arizona player. He rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, and he also caught seven passes for 41 receiving yards.

Chargers 20, Colts 3

The Colts are coached by an ESPN analyst, so you’d expect them to make stupid decisions. This was quite apparent when Jeff Saturday named Nick Foles as the starting quarterback over Matt Ryan. Foles was a complete and utter disaster in his first start of the season, giving Indianapolis no chance to prevail. He threw three interceptions, took seven sacks, and failed to convert a single third down.

The first sign that Foles was in for a rough night was when he threw a pass right to linebacker Kenneth Murray, but the Charger dropped the ball. Foles then overthrew a wide-open Mo Alie-Cox, then heaved his first interception off his back foot. Foles’ next pick occurred when Derwin James committed an uncalled hold. This one wasn’t on Foles, but the next interception was because he didn’t see Asante Samuel. As all of this was happening, the Colts couldn’t run the ball at all, as Saturday didn’t utilize Deon Jackson for some unknown reason, opting to go with ineffective plodder Zack Moss instead.

Despite all of this offensive incompetence, the Chargers led just 10-3 at halftime and 13-3 after three quarters. They didn’t have the best luck offensively either. Justin Herbert saw tons of pressure in the pocket. He threw an interception as a result of a deflection, while Keenan Allen dropped a pass. Herbert was later strip-sacked deep in his own territory, though the Colts didn’t score a point off the turnover because of a failed Foles sneak.

The Chargers were able to finally put this game away when Kwity Paye left the game with an injury. The Colts really missed their stud defensive end, as Herbert finally had time in the pocket. Herbert put together a great drive that culminated with an Austin Ekeler touchdown to make the score 20-3.

Herbert didn’t have a terrible performance, but it could have been much better. He went 24-of-31 for 235 yards and the two turnovers. He really needs Rashawn Slater to return from injury because the pass protection is woeful right now.

Both of the Charger touchdowns were scored by Ekeler. He rushed for 67 yards and the two touchdowns on 18 attempts. He also caught four passes for just 12 receiving yards.

Allen had a huge performance despite the drop. He caught 11 of his 14 targets for 104 yards. Mike Williams was next on the stat sheet with four grabs for 76 yards. They were the only Chargers with more than 16 receiving yards.

As for the Colts, Foles finished 17-of-29 for 143 yards and three interceptions. Foles was abysmal in every possible way. He threw off his back foot, showed poor accuracy, and displayed no feel in the pocket. He did not resemble an NFL quarterback of any sort. Unless the Colts are trying to lose on purpose, they will bench Foles in favor of Ryan or Ehlinger for the final two games.

Jelani Woods led the Colts in receiving with three catches for 43 yards, followed by Michael Pittman (4-39). Ashton Dulin (0 catches) was lost for the game when Derwin James blasted him with a violent helmet-first hit. James was promptly ejected, but the Colts failed to take advantage of his absence.

Moss plodded for 65 yards on 12 carries. Curiously, Deon Jackson didn’t receive a single carry. Saturday and Jackson reportedly had a shouting match ahead of this game. Saturday should not be coaching on this level.

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

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