12 week schedule
Thursday Bills 28, Lions 25 (Takeaways) Cowboys 28, Giants (Takeaways) Vikings 33, Patriots 26 (Takeaways) Sunday Jets 31, Bears 10 (Takeaways) Commanders 19, Falcons 13 (Takeaways) Bengals 20, Titans 16 (Takeaways) Dolphins 30, Texans 15 (Recap) Panthers 23, Broncos 10 (Bccaaneers) ) Jaguars 28, Ravens 27 (Recap) Chargers 25, Cardinals 24 (Takeaways)Chiefs 26, Rams 10 (Recap)49ers 13, Saints 0 (Recap)Raiders 40, Seahawks 34 (OT)Packers (OT) 8 p.m. ET (Preview) Monday Steelers at Colts, 8:15 p.m. ET (Preview)
Josh Jacobs is calling it quits!
The former first-round pick, in a monumental contract year, has been one of the best backs in the NFL this season through 11 weeks. On Sunday against the Seahawks, he added “best performance by a running game this season” to his resume for 2022. Seriously, these stats are crazy:
Rushing: 33 carries for 229 yards and two touchdowns Receiving: Six catches for 74 yards
Add them up and you have 39 (!) touches for 303 (!!!) total yards and two scores. Oh, and he also gave the Raiders a blowout win in overtime with his 86-yard scamper to the house.
THE CHARGERS WIN!
Trevor Lawrence did it in the early window of games and Justin Herbert did it in the late window! With the ball on the Cardinals’ 38-yard line with 1:48 to play, the Chargers played it perfectly. They methodically moved the ball down the field so that if they scored, Arizona wouldn’t have much time to attempt a game-winning field goal. With the game on the line, Los Angeles relied on one of the most reliable players in the NFL in Austin Ekeler, who stretched the ball across the goal line from one yard out with just 12 seconds to play. Like the Jaguars’ Doug Pederson, Chargers coach Brandon Staley had no interest in playing for overtime. His team had Justin Herbert, so he went for the two-point conversion and the win. It looked like Herbert was going to throw Ekeler into the right flat again, but at the last second, Gerald Everett turned toward the middle of the field. Nobody expected it, which allowed Herbert to make one of the easiest completions of the game to put the Chargers up 6-5.
Raiders tie it up!
The way this game went, you just knew Derek Carr was going to tie things up in the final moments. He showed nice touch on the looper of a touchdown pass that landed in the arms of tight end Foster Moreau in the back right corner of the end zone. Come with this catch. Adams makes it look so easy as he lifts the big gain with one hand as the defender holds the other.
The Seahawks are driving!
The back-and-forth nail-biter has taken another turn, with Travis Homer making the short catch and rumbling into the end zone from 18 yards out.
Back to back INT
You’re not going to stop Patrick Mahomes, but the Rams defense has done a great job of containing him. In fact, it even forced him into a rare end-zone interception to keep the upset hope alive. But just a few plays later, Bryce Perkins fed the ball to right back and allowed the Chiefs to add a goal with less than seven minutes to play.
STUFFED
More defense in Seahawks-Raiders! In the quarter and inches, Las Vegas did not stay hidden. He didn’t give Josh Jacobs the ball up the middle. On the biggest play of the game, he settled with Jacobs, who tackled the gang behind the line of scrimmage for a turnover on downs.
FUMBLE
The defenses finally showed up for the second half between the Raiders and the Seahawks. After 44 points in the first half, the two teams have combined for 10 in the second half. Seattle was poised to take the lead early in the fourth quarter, but a botched handoff between Geno Smith and Kenneth Walker caused the ball to fumble and Chandler Jones was there to recover.
Conner for six
James Conner’s best game of the season just got even better with a 6-yard catch and run to put the Cardinals back in front early in the fourth quarter. He already has 111 yards rushing with almost a full quarter left to play
18 straight!
Justin Herbert completed 18 straight passes between the second and third quarters on Sunday against the Cardinals. (Here is one of them): It could have been 19 as Keenan Allen made a tough contested grab in the end zone, but the refs ruled the pass incomplete as Allen couldn’t get his feet in bounds. After that, the Cardinals defense stiffened, forcing Los Angeles into the tying field goal.
ALERT Offensive Rookie of the Year
Just give Kenneth Walker III NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year already. It’s time. He has two more touchdowns against the Raiders, though his offensive line should get half the credit for literally getting him into the end zone from a few yards out.
FAKE EVERYTHING
If third baseman Bryce Perkins doesn’t cut it, why not try punter Riley Dixon at quarterback? On fourth-and-5 in their own territory, Dixon took the snap, looked right and darted to tight end Jacob Harris on a hook route for the first down.
Kyler takes it inside
It’s good to see Kyler Murray back and making big plays with his feet. He looked fully recovered from his hamstring injury as he ran toward the left pylon for a 5-yard touchdown that put the Cardinals back in front.
Fourth down stuff
It was night and day for the 49ers offense from “Monday Night Football” to Sunday afternoon. After scoring 38 points in a game against the Cardinals, San Francisco was still looking for its first touchdown late in the first half. He had a chance on fourth-and-goal, but a broken play resulted in Jimmy Garoppolo trying to run for the score and fumble.
Lockett goes on TD streak
One of the most underrated wide receivers in the NFL continues to produce at a high level. Make it four straight games with a touchdown for Tyler Lockett, who won a last-minute breakaway to catch a perfectly thrown ball from Geno Smith for the 35-yard score.
INT –> TD
Nobody wants to play defense in the Seahawks-Raiders game (well, except Denzel Perryman). The Las Vegas linebacker took advantage of an awful throw by Geno Smith and his interception set up Josh Jacobs for a touchdown on the next play.
Kelce for president
Travis Kelce, on pace to have the most productive season in NFL history, is simply unstoppable. His final score, from 39 yards out, was classic Kelce as he weaved and evaded defenders all the way to the end zone. Allen, who has been dealing with a hamstring injury for much of this season, returned last week against the Chiefs but found the end zone for the first time in 2022 against the Cardinals. It was a short, simple score, but still significant as he returns to full health. He will have to be productive if the Chargers want to land a wild card in the AFC.
NOT GOOD
With Justin Tucker anything is possible for the Ravens. Well, almost everything. Trailing 28-27 with 14 seconds left, the Ravens nearly pulled off a Chiefs-like comeback in the AFC divisional round against the Bills a year ago. A short punt gave Baltimore good field position, then a 12-yard completion by Lamar Jackson set up the Ravens at the Jaguars’ 50-yard line. That’s when Baltimore took the greatest punter of all time for a 67-yard field goal – which would have been the longest in NFL history. It looked good for Tucker’s leg, but even the best have limits and his effort fell just a few yards as the Jaguars completed the stunning comeback.
THE JACKS!
Trevor Lawrence is starting to show in the NFL why he was considered the best pro prospect since Andrew Luck. Needing a touchdown with just over two minutes to play, Lawrence made long throw after long throw to drive the Jaguars 75 yards on 10 plays — the last of which led to a beautiful touchdown grab by Marvin Jones with 14 seconds left. Instead of going for the draw, Jacksonville coach Doug Pederson showed complete confidence in the former No. 1 overall pick by leaving the offense back on the field. And once again, Lawrence delivered with a laser on target that Jay Jones grabbed to take the lead.
Cooper breaks free, Chub wins it!
The Browns stole the game from the Buccaneers. First there was David Njoku’s one-handed interception on fourth down to tie the game, and then Amari Cooper broke free in overtime for a huge gain, taking Cleveland inside the Tampa Bay 5-yard line. Two games later, Nick Chubb homered to get the Buccaneers back under .500.
Game-tying one-handed TD!
With one last chance on fourth-and-10, Jacoby Brissett saw David Njoku and a short space in the back half of the end zone. So he shot it there and somehow Njoku plucked the ball out of the air with one hand for the acrobatic touchdown. A successful point since it ensured the Browns and Bucs would go to overtime.
End zone INT
The Commanders continue to win with Taylor Heinicke under center. But as has been the case during their hot streak, the defense came up big once again on Sunday. With the Falcons threatening to take the lead in the final minute, defensive tackle Daron Payne threw Marcus Mariota’s pass in the air and cornerback Kendall Fuller came down with a diving interception in the end zone.
TeeD
When Joe Burrow needs a play done, he usually goes to his college teammate Ja’Marr Chase. Well, Chase remains out with a hip injury, so Burrow has turned to fellow talent Tee Higgins. And in a tied game early in the fourth quarter,…
