Derrick Henry, Antonio Gibson and Tyreek Hill scored hat-tricks; the Broncos played without a quarterback; The Raiders lost big to a 3-7 team and the Steelers scraped past the covid-torn Ravens.
The Buccaneers will be having nightmares about Tyreek Hill. It didn’t take long for the Chiefs to assert their dominance in this one; they scored 17 points in the very first quarter. Patrick Mahomes torched the Bucs’ defence for 460 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers. Hill provided 269 of those yards on 13 catches, both career highs, along with all three scores. The Bucs secondary had no idea what they were doing, and left poor Carlton Davis to match up one-on-one with Hill almost all game. The Chiefs took their foot off the gas slightly after their perfect start, but the Buccaneers came up short in their comeback attempt and fell to a mediocre 7-5.
It’s pretty hard to win a game without a quarterback. The Broncos made headlines in week 12 after they had to rule out all of their QBs due to them meeting without face masks. Tut tut. The NFL made a statement by denying them a postponement of the game, forcing them to turn to practice squad receiver Kendall Hilton to suit up under centre. Surprisingly, this didn’t work out too well as the Saints blew them out 31-3. At least they did better against them than the Bucs a couple of weeks ago. Speaking of makeshift quarterbacks, the Saints continued to go with Taysom Hill over Jameis Winston. Hill threw just 78 yards with an interception, leading to many fans and even some Saints players (allegedly) to demand Winston in Drew Brees’ absence.
The Cleveland Browns are finally good at football. The Browns go under the radar to improve to 8-3, on course for their best season in 26 years. They already have more wins than they have had in a season since 2007. Their elite running back tandem continues to tear defences to shreds. Being able to split carries between running backs the calibre of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt is a luxury no other team possesses. They’re averaging 161 rushing yards per game, more than any other team. If Myles Garrett stays healthy then the Browns defence will remain strong, and if Baker Mayfield looks after the ball they should comfortably make the playoffs. On the other side, Mike Glennon had a solid performance after being promoted to starter over Jake Luton. He threw for 235 with two touchdowns and no turnovers, but the Jags still came up just short.
The steel curtain has been reborn. A strange turn of events led to the Steelers-Ravens game being played on Wednesday afternoon. Multiple Baltimore players, including reigning MVP Lamar Jackson, were ruled out due to covid-19. Having been re-scheduled twice, this game really wasn’t worth the wait. Ben Roethlisberger and the Steeler offence looked out of sorts, but their defence was exceptional. They held the Ravens to a measly 219 yards whilst forcing four turnovers and scoring a pick-six. They lead the NFL in both turnovers and sacks by some margin, making them a truly formidable unit to face. On the side of the Ravens, Trace McSorely could be the best player in the NFL despite playing just half a game. In all seriousness, the rookie was ice cool when he was introduced and almost led the Ravens to a comeback win.
Detroit Lions 25-41 Houston Texans. Life, death, taxes and the Lions losing a football game on thanksgiving. The Detroit side improved drastically after they were shut out by the Panthers last week, but they still got embarrassed on defence. Deshaun Watson continued his dominant campaign, throwing for 300+ yards and four touchdowns. Star receiver Will Fuller II contributed 171 of those plus two scores, but got banned for the remainder of the season after he tested positive for PEDs. Is Watson the most unlucky man in football?
Dallas Cowboys 15-41 Washington Football Team. It goes from bad to worse for America’s team. Rookie Antonio Gibson exploded for 115 and a hat-trick of touchdowns, further exposing just how weak the Cowboys are defensively. Washington won their second straight game and, despite being 4-7, have the best record in the NFC East.
Buffalo Bills 27-17 Los Angeles Chargers. In the battle of the big-arm quarterbacks, Josh Allen’s Bills come out on top despite his own underwhelming performance. Justin Herbert notched yet another 300+ yard game, and is now surely the top candidate for rookie of the year.
Indianapolis Colts 26-45 Tennessee Titans. Derrick Henry appreciation post. The league’s leading rusher continues to prove he’s not human with 178 yard, three touchdown performance. Great game to watch if you’re a fan of offensive football, not great if you’re a Colts defender trying to get in Henry’s way.
Minnesota Vikings 28-27 Carolina Panthers. In the closest game of the week, Kirk Cousins continued his season revival with a 300+, three touchdown performance against the Panthers. Oh, and he led a perfect game-winning drive. The Vikings had four receivers with at least seven receptions.
Cincinnati Bengals 17-19 New York Giants. Not exactly a game to write home about. The Bengals look dead and buried without Joe Burrow, who surely would’ve broken all kinds of rookie records had he stayed fit. Evan Engram stood out for the Giants with 129 yards receiving. Despite his issues dropping the ball, he’s a great talent.
New England Patriots 20-17. Arizona Cardinals. Kyler Murray put in by far his worst performance of the season as the Cardinals dropped their second straight game.
Las Vegas Raiders 6-41 Atlanta Falcons. Wow. The Raiders offence almost shot a blank against a team that came into the game 3-7. The Falcons defence had a lot to prove following their early season woes, but they stepped up big time here. Five sacks and an interception held the Raiders to just six points.
Green Bay Packers 41-25 Chicago Bears. Aaron Rodgers scored four touchdowns to down the inconsistent Bears. Mitch Trubisky threw 46 passes but again suffered problems with accuracy, getting picked off twice.
Seattle Seahawks 23-17 Philadelphia Eagles. D.K. Metcalf is exceptionally skilled as a reciever. Mix that with his athleticism and you get an unstoppable offensive weapon. The Eagles couldn’t stop him today and their comeback fell short.
New York Jets 3-20 Miami Dolphins. Hold onto your hats, the Jets might actually go 0-16. Also, the Dolphins are actually pretty good and their defence has the potential to dominate.
Los Angeles Rams 20-23 San Francisco 49ers. The rams really aren’t consistent. A week after they torched the Bucs on offence, the Rams come up short against the league’s most injury stricken team. Deebo Samuel was back to his electric best with 11 catches for 133 yards.
