THE DAILY BRIEFING
AROUND THE NFL
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If The Season Ended Today in the AFC – the rest of the conference is closer to the AFC teams:
W-L HTH Div Conf
Buffalo East 9-3 1 1 6-2
Kansas City West 9-3 -1 1 5-3
Baltimore North 8-4 1 5-3
Tennessee South 7-5 1 5-3
Cincinnati WC1 8-4 1 2 5-3
Miami WC2 8-4 -1 2 6-2
NY Jets WC3 7-5 3 5-4
New England 6-6 4 5-3
LA Chargers 6-6 2 4-4
Las Vegas 5-7 3 4-5
Cleveland 5-7 3 3-6
Pittsburgh 5-7 4 2-6
Buffalo was the only AFC East winner in Week 13, and they played another AFC East team. But they moved into the top seed with Kansas City’s loss and their own head-to-head win over the Chiefs.
With losses by Miami, the Jets, New England and Chargers, the 3 teams at 5-7 all won their way closer to the playoffs with 5 games left.
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NFC NORTH
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DETROIT
Peter King points out that the Lions will once again have an early pick in the next NFL draft (it’s just not their own):
I think one thing I never thought would happen this year is going to happen: Detroit’s first-round pick from the Rams will be higher than its own pick. Right now the pick from the Rams is four and the Detroit pick is 15. That second pick could creep lower, too. Detroit’s 4-1 in its last five and obliterated the Jags Sunday.
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NFC EAST
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NEW YORK GIANTS
Ties or no ties? Dan Graziano:
I mean, nobody really cares that the Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans tied in Week 1 because those teams aren’t in the playoff race. But this New York Giants-Washington Commanders 20-20 tie Sunday? That has a chance to mess stuff up, right? It confuses people.
The Giants still sit in the NFC’s 6-seed with a record of 7-4-1, but now the Commanders are 7-5-1 and the Seahawks are 7-5. Which of those is a better record? Are they the same record? Who wins the tiebreaker, if it even applies? This whole thing is a fiasco. Banish ties forever!
Verdict: OVERREACTION
There’s nothing wrong with a tie. It’s a perfectly acceptable outcome and rare enough that it need not be treated as some sort of scourge. This will all work itself out. The Commanders are on a bye next week, so if the Seahawks win, they’ll be 8-5 and ahead of them, and if they lose, they’ll be 7-6 and behind them. If the Giants and Commanders end up tied with each other in the standings, whoever wins their Week 14 matchup will advance on the tiebreaker.
If they end up tied with someone else … well, they can’t, unless that other team has a tie, too. So ties are actually good, since they avoid weird playoff tiebreaker scenarios, which people tend not to like either. Every time there’s a tie I hear people say it’s awful, but I disagree. Much ado about nothing. And hey, did either one of those teams deserve to win that game Sunday?
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NFC SOUTH
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CAROLINA
We know QB BROCK PURDY is a worthy flavor of the moment in San Francisco – but could the 49ers come calling for QB BAKER MAYFIELD?
The Carolina Panthers waived quarterback Baker Mayfield on Monday.
Carolina (4-8) is still in contention in the weak NFC South and will go the rest of the season with Sam Darnold and PJ Walker at quarterback, with Darnold starting Sunday’s road game against the Seattle Seahawks.
The decision to move on from Mayfield was a mutual agreement between the two sides after Mayfield asked for his release, a league source told ESPN.
Mayfield would have been inactive against Seattle had he remained on the roster this week.
With the move, Mayfield will be available on waivers to the other 31 NFL teams. If he goes unclaimed by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, he will become an unrestricted free agent.
Among the teams possibly looking to add a veteran quarterback are the San Francisco 49ers, who lost starter Jimmy Garoppolo for the season Sunday to a broken ankle. Rookie Brock Purdy finished the 49ers’ 33-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
The Panthers acquired Mayfield in a trade with the Cleveland Browns in July, agreeing to send a conditional 2024 fifth-round draft pick to Cleveland that could have become a fourth had Mayfield, the first pick of the 2018 draft, played 70% of the snaps. That did not happen.
Mayfield won the starting job in training camp after an open competition with Darnold, the third pick of the 2018 draft. He went 1-4 before suffering a high ankle sprain that sidelined him for one game. He remained the backup to Walker while Darnold continued to rehab from a high ankle sprain suffered in the final preseason game.
Mayfield got one other start, after Walker suffered an ankle sprain, and lost, finishing his stint with the Panthers with a 1-5 record. He had a career-low 57.8 completion percentage and threw only six touchdown passes to six interceptions.
Mayfield ranks last in the NFL in Total QBR among qualified quarterbacks with a rating of 18.2. The next closest is Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills at 29.2.
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NFC WEST
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SAN FRANCISCO
Is it possible that QB TREY LANCE could return in the wake of QB JIMMY GAROPPOLO’s mangled ankle? Matt Barrow of The Athletic:
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
What are the 49ers’ QB options?
The 49ers have been adamant that Lance will not be back this season, although he’s been walking around without a limp and has even done some light throwing. Purdy will be the starter as long as Garoppolo is out. The only other quarterback in the building is practice squad player Jacob Eason, who was added last month. Nate Sudfeld, who entered the offseason as the 49ers’ No. 2 passer, is now on the Lions’ roster. If Garoppolo is out for a while, the team could bump Eason up to the active roster and sign Kurt Benkert back to the practice squad. — Barrows
According to an ESPN report Sunday night, San Francisco is signing quarterback Josh Johnson off the Broncos practice squad and onto its 53-man roster.
How the 49ers’ defense fared against the Dolphins’ offense
Very well, as it turns out. But it was not an easy task. The Dolphins shot out of a cannon on the very first play of the game, a 75-yard catch-and-run from Tagovailoa to Trent Sherfield. That spurred 49ers’ defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans into adjustment mode early, and his defense executed tweaks to perfection. The Dolphins managed only 3.4 yards per play over a prolonged mid-game stretch that saw the 49ers take control on the scoreboard and notch interceptions of Tagovailoa on consecutive plays.
Then, the 49ers closed. Nick Bosa delivered three sacks, including one that forced the game-sealing fumble returned for a touchdown by Dre Greenlaw. Arik Armstead, playing for the first time since early October, clearly provided a dominant difference for the 49ers’ defensive line.
The 49ers are clearly fielding a Super Bowl-quality defense, one that atoned for its embarrassing performance against Kansas City just over five weeks ago. And that’s necessary for the 49ers, especially since their quarterback Garoppolo was hurt against Miami and will likely miss time.
Peter King was on the scene so we can get to know QB BROCK PURDY:
This is my 39th season covering the NFL, and one thing that I’ve never liked is making one play a metaphor for an entire game. One play rarely is. Games have 155 plays or so in them, and in this case, it was the San Francisco defense that stood out. But I’m picking a play by this neophyte quarterback to be a vital one. Maybe not the biggest of the day, but certainly the biggest for Purdy.
Let’s recap. Miami 10, San Francisco 10. Niners ball, third-and-10 at their 35-yard line, 79 seconds left in the half, the home team already knowing that they’ve lost their second starting quarterback of the year. Garoppolo got crushed by two Miami defenders four minutes into this game. For the last 56 minutes, Purdy had to earn an incredibly valuable save.
The key point was late in the first half, on that third-and-10. At the start of the play, eight Dolphins crowded the line, a clear sign that again they would pressure Purdy heavily at the snap. On the sidelines, Shanahan prayed that Purdy would recognize the blitz and call for an adjustment to tight end George Kittle’s route. He was the primary receiver on the play, but now the correct read was for an adjustment so that Kittle would cut off his post route a bit shorter. Enough to make the first down, but not enough for a huge gain. “We had to do something quicker because we knew we weren’t going to have the time,” Shanahan said.
It was about 80 minutes after the game now, and the locker room was empty. I talked to Shanahan as he sat at a locker and tried to explain why Purdy’s decision here was so significant.
“I thought this was Purdy’s play of the game,” I said.
“I did too,” Shanahan said. “Especially with what they were doing to us. They were coming after Brock and doing a good job of taking our quick throws away. This was a huge job of Brock signaling something to change the route [for Kittle].”
There is something that Shanahan and Purdy did not know. The average NFL pass this season has been thrown 2.74 seconds after the quarterback gets the ball in his hands. Purdy threw this pass in 1.72 seconds. In the NFL this season, only five times in 13 weeks had a quarterback completed a pass of at least 10 yards in 1.72 seconds or less, per NFL Next Gen stats. This was the sixth. As Purdy prepared to get hit by Jaelan Phillips, he threw a dart to Kittle, who caught and ran for a 19-yard gain. This means something because it shows Purdy recognized the defense, changed the ball, was willing to take a big hit, and he was skilled enough to complete a downfield pass with everything going on.
“Just showing the guys I’m willing to take one on the chin, willing to do what it takes to win,” Purdy said.
Five plays later, at the Miami three-yard line, Purdy threw for Christian McCaffrey in the end zone. Not a perfect throw, but a catchable one. McCaffrey dropped it. Next play, Purdy tried McCaffrey again. Touchdown.
“After the touchdown,” Purdy said, “Christian came to me and said, ‘Thanks for believing in me and trusting me to make the play.’ That’s pretty wild. I mean, saying that to me. I grew up watching him. Now, I’m on his team, throwing him a touchdown pass. Wild.”
Niners 17, Dolphins 10. It was never closer than six the rest of the way. Purdy finished 25-for-37 with 210 yards, 2 touchdown passes and an interception.
Tua Tagovailoa will beat himself up for his consecutive interceptions and his in-and-out accuracy. Understandable. He missed four or five big throws to open receivers. But he did hit TD bombs to Trent Sherfield and Tyreek Hill. This team would be nowhere without him. So he gets a pass, and should, on a wobbly day against a great defense. Miami flew to Los Angeles after the game to practice for next Sunday night’s game at the Chargers—they’ll practice at UCLA—before the finale of a three-game road trip, a huge Week 15 game at Buffalo. Mid-December at Buffalo for the Dolphins. Fun!
As for the Niners, it’s Brockball now.
“I know the question is, can I step in and continue this ride of what our team has done?” he said after the game. “It’s not just a one-man show or anything like that. What Jimmy did for this team was amazing in terms of getting it rolling and getting us on a streak to win. The challenge for me is like, man, can I step up in that position and continue to feed those guys? Get them the ball. Make the right checks in the run game. Allow the defense to play great and play with them. That’s the challenge for me and that’s how I look at it and I’m excited for it.”
“What impressed me about Brock in camp,” Shanahan said, “is he was always willing to let it rip. He’s decisive. He started for years [at Iowa State] at a high level. You gotta have some balls to play quarterback in this league, and he does. We think we’ll have a chance with him.”
I think San Francisco’s Super Bowl chances got severely diminished Sunday. Hard to imagine Purdy walking into Lincoln Financial Field on Jan. 18 or 25 and winning a division or championship game against the steamrolling Eagles.
But Purdy won’t be afraid. And a guy who won’t give the ball away, playing with the defense, should make it interesting down the stretch. This season’s over for the cursed Garoppolo, but certainly not for the 49ers.
Purdy grew up in the far southeastern wilds of massive Maricopa County, going to a new school – Perry High School in Gilbert. His father Shawn was a Minor League baseball pitcher after going to the University of Miami. Brock was a prolific high school player who chose Iowa State over quite a few offers. He quickly became the Cyclones starter, finishing with 46 starts in his career. He was a two-time First Team All-Big 12 and won the conference’s Sportsmanship Award.
Bill Parcells had the following rules for drafting QBs –
Be a three-year starter
Be a senior in college
Graduate from college
Start 30 games
Win 23 games
Post a 2-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio
Complete at least 60% of passes thrown
We can’t find a degree mention on-line for Purdy, but he was an Academic All-American with a 3.66 GPA at one point.
48 starts, 67.7% career completion percentage, 81 TDs, 33 INTs, 30-18 record for a school where that is mighty good.
We once heard his name as a possible first rounder. So why was he the last player drafted? Only 6-1? Here is the negative part of an on-line scouting report we found:
Areas for improvement
Purdy is a fun prospect, but that compliment is somewhat double-edged. Encased within the word “fun” is an undertone of volatility — something that’s only gotten worse since his breakout 2018 campaign.
First off, Purdy’s accuracy, while solid closer to the line, wanes at times. He doesn’t always utilize proper placement down the field relative to receiver leverage. Furthermore, he can employ better precision and leverage awareness in 50-50 situations. The Iowa State QB sometimes doesn’t position the ball well for yards after the catch. While often compact, his release can be winding at times, impacting his release point and precision.
Mentally, Purdy can improve his consistency as well. He sometimes tries to force the ball in where receivers have little leverage. He’ll try especially hard to force plays under pressure at times, and this can lead to opportunities for a defense. Purdy may take dangerous chances throwing across his body when rolling out, and he’s more confident in his arm than he should be at times. He doesn’t have the arm elasticity to get away with throwing off his back foot, and his velocity doesn’t consistently carry to the intermediate and deep ranges.
Among other things, Purdy can navigate the pocket better when under pressure, as he sometimes works himself into congestion. He occasionally double-clutches when surveying his options, delaying his trigger. Moreover, Purdy throws many schemed, quick-game passes, and he could use more progression work. He doesn’t throw with much anticipation at this point.
More on Purdy’s big day from Matt Barrow of The Athletic:
When informed Sunday that his first NFL start would come against the NFL’s oldest and most revered quarterback, Brock Purdy had a quick reply.
“Yeah, I think it’s cool,” he said of facing Tom Brady and the Buccaneers next week at Levi’s Stadium. “He’s been playing football longer than I’ve been alive.”
Not just that, it’s almost true that Brady, 45, has been playing professional football longer than Purdy has been alive. Purdy, 22, was 10 months old when Brady attempted his first regular-season NFL pass on Nov. 23, 2000.
Still, “cool” was the operative word for the 49ers’ new starting quarterback both during and after the 33-17 win over Miami. The Dolphins learned that Purdy’s a hard guy to rattle. He’s already outplayed a far more heralded quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, and he now holds the fate of the 49ers’ season in his hands.
When Jimmy Garoppolo broke his left foot on the opening drive, it left Purdy as the only healthy quarterback on the 49ers’ active roster. That will change soon. ESPN reported the team plans to sign veteran Josh Johnson — who’s had three stints with the 49ers, including under Kyle Shanahan in 2020 — from the Broncos practice squad. They also have Jacob Eason on their own practice squad.
After Garoppolo was carted into the locker room early in the first quarter, Purdy showed why the 49ers chose him with the final pick in the draft and why they tapped him, not veteran Nate Sudfeld, to be one of the backups when the season began.
After Jimmy Garoppolo’s injury, there’s only one way for the 49ers to respond
Purdy has a release that’s nearly as quick as Garoppolo’s and he’s able to throw with all sorts of arm angles. Some of his screen passes Sunday came out positively side-armed and Purdy completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 210 yards.
He’s neither big nor fast, but Purdy’s good on the hoof, and the 49ers often rolled him out wide of the pocket to buy extra time. He did exactly that on a 10-yard throw in the third quarter on which he feathered a ball down the sideline to Deebo Samuel.
He’s also smart. That he’d already digested Shanahan’s playbook by mid-August hinted at that, and the way Purdy handled the Dolphins’ bevy of blitzes Sunday confirmed it. The 49ers had been careful to ease another young quarterback, Trey Lance, into action because he attempted so few throws, 318, in college. Purdy, on the other hand, was a four-year starter at Iowa State and attempted 1,467 throws.
Most of all, the 49ers are impressed by the rookie’s fearlessness.
Purdy seemed to truly find his groove late in the second quarter when the Dolphins sent a blitz on third-and-10. The rookie stepped forward and fired a bullet to George Kittle for 19 yards. When Kittle watched the replay on the stadium video board he saw that Purdy took a big hit as he let go of the ball.
“You’ve gotta love that,” Kittle said. “He’s willing to take a hit for the boys. Woo!”
The throw led to a 3-yard touchdown pass from Purdy to Christian McCaffrey just before the half. And it was reminiscent of another gutsy, under-pressure, over-the-middle pass to Kittle from a lightly regarded quarterback. Back in 2018, it was Nick Mullens, who like Purdy began that season as the No. 3 quarterback, who delivered the throw, which Kittle turned into a 71-yard gain in a rout of the Raiders.
In fact, the postgame verbiage Sunday — warning: it’s decidedly below the belt — was similar to how Mullens was described by teammates four years ago. Back then, cornerback Richard Sherman revealed that Mullens’ nickname in the locker room was “Big d— Nick.” After the win over the Dolphins, Shanahan said Purdy showed “some balls out there” while Kittle used “cajones” to describe how the quarterback played.
Between series, Kittle said Purdy pulled receivers and tight ends aside to tighten up assignments and go over plays. Which is to say, he acted more like a general than a rookie.
“He’s just got confidence,” Kittle said. “You can feel it, too. He’s not shy. There’s no awkwardness to him. He’s a little quiet at times. But there’s no timidness to him.”
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AFC NORTH
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BALTIMORE
QB LAMAR JACKSON did not finish Sunday’s game against the Broncos, and he might not play this week. But the Ravens believe he will return to action soon. Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com:
Lamar Jackson’s knee injury is not a season-ending one, but there is no definitive timetable for the Pro Bowl quarterback’s return, coach John Harbaugh said after the Baltimore Ravens’ 10-9 victory over the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
Jackson is scheduled to undergo more testing Monday. Harbaugh said the team would know by Wednesday at the latest on how long Jackson will be sidelined.
“It’s going to be a number [of] days to weeks. We’ll see,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll see if he can go back this week. If not, it’ll be sometime after that shortly.”
Like last year, Jackson was injured while trying to elude the pass rush. And, like last season, he was injured in December when the Ravens sat atop the AFC North standings.
On Sunday, Jackson was hurt on the final play of the first quarter when he was sacked from behind by Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper. It appeared as if Jackson’s left knee was driven into the ground as Cooper landed on top of his back. After being evaluated in the medical tent, Jackson walked without a limp to the locker room with the medical staff at the start of the second quarter and was ruled out at the start of the second half.
This marks the first time that Jackson has missed any snaps since last season, when he injured an ankle in Week 14. The Ravens, who were 8-4 at the time, lost their last five games with Jackson sidelined and missed the playoffs.
This season, Jackson has led Baltimore to first place in the AFC North. The Ravens improved to 8-4 with Sunday’s victory.
“There were plenty of times where guys could have said, ‘Poor me, poor me,’ but guys kept fighting and fighting and fighting,” Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said. “Then, finally [we] broke through at the very end. That’s awesome to see.”
Filling in for Jackson, backup quarterback Tyler Huntley led a game-winning, 91-yard drive in the final minutes of regulation. Huntley was 8-for-8 for 50 yards on the final drive and scored on a 2-yard touchdown run with 28 seconds remaining.
Asked about his mindset if Jackson misses more games because of injury, Huntley said, “Just like every week — just prepare. That’s about it. That’s all to it.”
Huntley finished 27-of-32 for 187 yards with an interception in his first snaps of the season. Last season, he kept Baltimore competitive filling in for Jackson, but he was 1-3 as a starter.
“He just has so much confidence,” Andrews said of Huntley. “You see the way he plays. Things weren’t perfect, but for him to be able to come in — especially that last drive — and do what he did, and have the composure that he had, just shows you how good he really is, how much he’s learned. I’m thinking about Lamar, but you have to tip your hat to ‘Snoop’ [Huntley] [and] just how well he played. It’s impressive football.”
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CINCINNATI
Quite rightly, the Bengals are not willing to conceded that the AFC’s current Brady-Peyton Manning situation is exclusively the property of QBs JOSH ALLEN and PATRICK MAHOMES. Ben Baby of ESPN.com:
Bengals coach Zac Taylor didn’t hesitate when asked whether quarterback Joe Burrow should be in contention to win the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award.
“Absolutely,” Taylor said.
Burrow added to his growing list of credentials in a statement 27-24 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. Burrow became the first quarterback to beat K.C. counterpart Patrick Mahomes in three straight games. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Tom Brady is the only other quarterback to have that many victories versus Mahomes, the 2018 MVP.
Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase firmly agreed with his coach about Burrow’s MVP candidacy.
“He’s one of the best quarterbacks in this league,” Chase said. “Everybody knows that. He should be in the MVP race. If he’s not in it, he should be. Number one quarterback in the race.”
Burrow was 25-of-31 passing for 286 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday.
Cincinnati (8-4) entered the fourth quarter trailing Kansas City (9-3) by a touchdown before things turned in the Bengals’ favor. After linebacker Germaine Pratt stripped the ball out of Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce’s grip and recovered the fumble, Burrow and the offense went to work.
With the Bengals trailing 24-20 at that point, Cincinnati went on a 10-play drive capped by an 8-yard touchdown pass from Burrow to running back Chris Evans. That was Burrow’s ninth passing score in the fourth quarter, the most by any quarterback in the NFL this season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
Taylor was quick to praise Burrow’s pass protection on Sunday. Burrow was not pressured on 27 of his pass attempts, per NFL Next Gen Stats, and was sacked just once.
But the third-year player proved slippery throughout the day. He had a career-high 11 carries for 46 yards and one rushing touchdown. He now has five rushing touchdowns, matching Jack Thompson’s 1979 record for the most by a Bengals quarterback in a single season.
“He has great size and elusiveness,” Kansas City defensive end Frank Clark said. “People don’t really put a lot of respect on his name when it comes to how elusive he is in the pocket and his pocket presence.”
Taylor, the team’s playcaller, put the ball in Burrow’s hands to seal the game and end Kansas City’s streak of 14 consecutive victories in the month of December, a stretch that dates back to Mahomes’ first year as a starter in 2018.
On third-and-11, Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins said he and Tyler Boyd thought Cincinnati was going to run the ball to chew up some clock. Higgins said the receivers looked at Burrow in the huddle and asked him a simple question: run or pass?
“He said, ‘Pass,'” Higgins said. “We all looked at each other. He said, ‘Let’s get it done.'”
Burrow and the Bengals did just that. He found Higgins for a 14-yard completion that effectively ended the game.
Both of Cincinnati’s victories against Kansas City last season came on winning field goals as time expired. Against the AFC’s top team so far in 2022, the winning margin was bigger.
Burrow shrugged off the MVP discussion from Taylor and his teammates.
“I don’t play the game for those kinds of accolades,” Burrow said. “I play the game for those guys in the locker room. What it takes from me every Sunday, that’s what I’ll do. If I have to hand the ball off 72 times and come out with a win, I’ll be happy.”
Entering Sunday, Burrow ranked third in the NFL in fourth-quarter QBR, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
When Cincinnati needed big plays against one of the NFL’s best teams and quarterbacks, Burrow delivered.
“He’s playing at the level we need for him to lead us, to be confident that we can win every game we play,” Taylor said, adding that there’s no doubt about Burrow’s standing in the MVP conversation. “I’ve said it before. I wouldn’t trade him for anybody in the world.”
Peter King:
I’m fascinated by the pennant race in the AFC North. Baltimore and Cincinnati are tied for the top spot at 8-4. The Ravens have the tiebreaker with a win over the Bengals in Week Five; they have a rematch at Cincinnati Week 18. Their comparative schedules give the Ravens a slight edge, mostly because Cincinnati has a dangerous Monday night game against Buffalo at home in Week 17.
Baltimore: at Pittsburgh, at Cleveland, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, at Cincinnati.
Cincinnati: Cleveland, at Tampa Bay, at New England, Buffalo, Baltimore.
But the quarterback gives the Bengals a big edge:
Baltimore: Lamar Jackson suffered a knee injury that will sideline him for an undetermined amount of time. Tyler Huntley, a nice backup, will hold the fort.
Cincinnati: Joe Burrow’s last seven weeks: 6-1, NFL-best 118.1 rating, 74.7 percent accuracy.
In the last two weeks, Burrow has beaten Tennessee and Kansas City in one-score games, playing his best when the best was required. The throw that blew me away watching the highlights of this game was a throw that was next-to-impossible to execute, at a time when the stakes of the game were high.
Thoughts from Dan Graziano of ESPN.com in his Monday – Overreaction? Column:
The Bengals will be the most dangerous team in the NFL playoff field
Burrow is now the first quarterback to beat Mahomes three straight times. They got Chase back from injury for this game. They overcame an inexplicable drop by the always-reliable Tyler Boyd and a 24-17 fourth-quarter deficit to beat the team that’s bullied everybody in the AFC but them for the past half-decade. They feel like they can beat anybody, and no other team that’s going to be in the playoffs this year was in last year’s Super Bowl.
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
Again, they still have to get in, and they would still like to get in with a high seed. Maybe the highest, if they can get there. But their ability to follow the old cliche of “one game at a time,” their ability to put to the side the win or the loss they just endured and focus on the upcoming week, that’s going to serve them well.
“Joe’s really grown and matured as a quarterback, as crazy as that sounds, given how good he already was,” Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan told me this week. “Just his understanding of what it means to play quarterback in this league, that every week requires something different of you. He’s done a really good job of getting his teammates to trust that he knows that, and of learning how to play smart and still be aggressive. Knowing it’s time to get the ball out of your hand instead of taking a sack. His growth has been really, really fun to see.”
An improved Burrow behind an improved offensive line with all those same weapons and the confidence of a Super Bowl team? That should scare anybody.
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CLEVELAND
The Browns level of quarterback play did not elevate Sunday as QB DESHAUN WATSON made his debut. Jake Trotter of ESPN.com:
Quarterback Deshaun Watson struggled in his first game back playing against his former team.
Returning from an 11-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy by committing sexual assault, as defined by the league, Watson failed to lead the Cleveland Browns on a touchdown drive Sunday against the Houston Texans.
Cleveland still defeated the league’s worst team 27-14 behind two defensive touchdowns and a punt-return score from Donovan Peoples-Jones — the first time in 33 years the Browns scored three non-offensive touchdowns in a game.
Watson completed 12 of 22 passes for 131 yards in his first regular-season game in exactly 700 days. He also threw an interception in the end zone that negated Cleveland’s best offensive scoring opportunity.
Although NRG Stadium was half-empty, Watson was loudly booed before every Browns snap throughout the game.
“They’re supposed to boo,” Watson said. “I’m a Cleveland Brown now, and we’re on the road, so they’re supposed to boo.”
Coach Kevin Stefanski said of Watson’s performance: “Obviously you’re missing a bunch of time. So you’ve got to get back in it. You’ve got to get this first one out of the way. But I know what the kid is capable of.”
The Browns traded for Watson in March, sending the Texans three first-round draft picks. Cleveland then signed Watson to a five-year deal worth $230 million guaranteed, the richest contract in NFL history.
Watson demanded a trade from the Texans after the 2020 season. He was then accused by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and other sexual misconduct during massage sessions before he sat out the entire 2021 season.
A few of those women had planned to attend Sunday’s game, according to their attorney Tony Buzbee, who had said he would be at the game with them.
Over the summer, Watson agreed to settle 23 of the 24 civil lawsuits against him. Two lawsuits against him remain outstanding, including one filed on Oct. 13. Two other women filed criminal complaints against Watson but did not sue him.
Watson wasn’t charged criminally. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and said people haven’t been interested in hearing his side of the story.
As part of the suspension settlement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association, Watson also had to pay a $5 million fine and participate in a treatment program.
On Thursday, speaking for the first time since August, Watson refused to answer any “non-football questions.”
After Sunday’s game, Watson was asked whether he had any remorse for the actions the league described as “predatory” and “egregious,” which led to his suspension. Once again, Watson declined to answer those questions.
“That’s something that, legal and clinical, we’ve answered before. And they don’t want me to address anything like that,” he said. “Of course, it was a tough situation. The suspension was tough. But at the same time, my main focus is just trying to be 1-0 as a football player today.
“I was just excited to be back on the field today. I did everything that I was asked and was required to do. I did all that. And I was able to play and be on the field today.”
This from Albert Breer:
Watson continued up the field toward center Hjalte Froholdt, slapping hands with his teammate. As he set up to take a snap, he spotted the owners of the two teams 10 yards away. So he veered over to give his old boss, Houston’s Cal McNair, a handshake and half hug, while nodding and acknowledging his current boss, Cleveland’s Jimmy Haslam, and retreating back to Froholdt to warm up.
But what was most notable, and maybe symbolic of this weird Sunday, was what happened just to Haslam’s left. There stood McNair’s wife, Hannah. She was wearing purple shoes, as part of the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats campaign, emblazoned with the logos of the Houston Area Women’s Center, a facility serving local victims of sexual and domestic violence. She also wore a purple dress, as a sign of solidarity with those women.
As Watson approached her husband, she subtly turned her back to the quarterback. My understanding is it was not by accident.
When I asked the McNairs about Watson later, both politely declined comment. But Hannah had made her point. She’d delivered the visual that will stick with me most from the afternoon during which the embattled star, accused by more than two dozen women of sexual harassment and sexual assault, and coming off an 11-game suspension, returned to the NFL.
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PITTSBURGH
The Steelers inched back into contention with their win over Atlanta and Brook Pryor ofESPN.com has the story on how two of them gained inspiration.
– Before heading to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, Connor and Cameron Heyward made the 35-mile trip to Lawrenceville, Georgia, to be close to their dad.
Together, the brothers — also Pittsburgh Steelers teammates — visited Craig “Ironhead” Heyward’s grave at Gwinnett Memorial Park where he was buried in 2006 after a long battle with cancer. Hours later, Connor scored his first career NFL touchdown at the home of the Atlanta Falcons, the same organization where his dad played for three seasons and rushed for a career-high 1,083 yards in 1995 — the last time a fullback had a 1,000-yard rushing season — and earned a Pro Bowl nod.
“I was pretty emotional when he got the touchdown,” said Cameron Heyward, wearing his dad’s old No. 34 Falcons jersey in the postgame news conference. “I don’t like to be Mr. Sap, but like that really hit me. Luckily there wasn’t a camera on me because I was a mess.”
Connor Heyward, 23, scored on a 17-yard pass from rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett in the second quarter as he got behind the defense deep in the end zone, hauling in the ball before he ran out of bounds. The touchdown also looked similar to his dad’s first in 1988 as a rookie with the New Orleans Saints.
Heyward’s touchdown gave the Steelers (5-7) a 13-3 lead and helped propel them to a 19-16 victory — their second consecutive. And it gave the rookie tight end a moment he’ll never forget in front of more than 30 friends and family who attended the game.
“It was everything,” he said of his catch. “It was really cool. The ball was in the air and my heart kind of dropped, like, ‘Oh, it’s coming to me.’ But just glad I made the play. Glad everybody, all the other 10 guys on that play did their job.”
Not only did Connor Heyward score Sunday, but Cameron Heyward recorded a sack. They’re the first pair of brothers to do that for the same team in a single game since sacks became an official statistic in 1982, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
The brothers grew up outside Atlanta and went to Peachtree Ridge High School. Though their dad, who was just 39 when he died, went to Pitt, neither followed — but both still wound up playing football in the same city where their dad launched his football career. Connor Heyward, a decade younger than Cameron Heyward, was drafted by the Steelers in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL draft. Cameron Heyward was the organization’s first-round pick in 2011.
Cameron Heyward shared a photo on Instagram before the game of himself as a child wearing his dad’s jersey.
Before the Steelers took the field Sunday, he also talked to the team about the significance of the game for his family and about his dad’s legacy. It left a big impression on Pickett, a Pitt product like Craig Heyward.
“It was special, and Cam talked to the team before, and I talked to Connor,” Pickett said. “We were walking out to the tunnel, and I said we’re gonna get the win for his pops today. Connor to go out there and get his first touchdown in this building, it’s incredibly special. It’s not a coincidence. I think everything happens for a reason. Incredibly proud of him and really happy we got the win for both those guys.”
Dan Graziano thinks 9-8 or better is possible:
Mike Tomlin is going to coach his way to a winning season after all
We did this one a couple of weeks ago, and I believe I called it an overreaction. But the Steelers have won two straight games — and three of their past four — to improve to 5-7 after a 2-6 start. The 19-16 victory in Sunday’s field goal fight with the Atlanta Falcons wasn’t pretty, but the standings don’t have a column for “pretty,” and the Steelers found a way to win.
With five games left in the season, Tomlin has to go 4-1 (or 3-1-1) to keep alive his remarkable streak. Tomlin is in his 16th season as Steelers head coach and has never finished a season with a losing record.
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
All right. He’s got me. I’m not ready to say he’ll do it, but I think you have to at least acknowledge the possibility. The only loss the Steelers have in their past four games was a very close one to the Bengals, who were as good as any team in the league in November.
Pittsburgh’s remaining games are home against the Ravens, at Carolina, home against the Raiders, at Baltimore and home against the Browns. You’re telling me they can’t go 4-1 (or 3-1-1) against that schedule? Especially if Lamar Jackson isn’t playing for the Ravens? I’ve reached the point where I’m no longer comfortable telling Tomlin what he can’t do. That was my bad.
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AFC EAST
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NEW ENGLAND
Peter King tiptoes around it, but he seems to be hearing that Bill Belichick, yes Bill Belichick, could be on the hot seat with the Patriots:
I think I’ve started to wonder—and I emphasize started—whether Bill Belichick, who needs 21 wins to break Don Shula’s all-time record for coaching victories, will get them in New England. Series of “I thinks” will explain why.
I think I got a great text Thursday night, in the midst of the Buffalo-New England game, from a smart, veteran NFL scout. The text: “Watching Mac Jones and Josh Allen throw in the same game isn’t good for Mac Jones.” I swear, 30 seconds later, Allen, running to his right, threw a perfect strike 58 yards in the air into the end zone for what momentarily was a touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs. (It got called back.) But the collective difference between the passers in the four meetings between Allen and Jones is stark.
I think that game Thursday night said this to me: The Bills have become to New England what the Patriots were to Buffalo for two decades. Not to put Josh Allen on a Tom Brady trajectory, but just in terms of football, the gap between Allen and Jones is worrisome for New England, and the talent gap between the depth of the Brandon Beane Bills and the Bill Belichick Patriots is big. That gap has led to the Bills winning the last three games in the series by an average of 19 points. Amazing to consider that the Patriots really aren’t close to Buffalo now. To triple-down on the differences between the two teams, consider how non-competitive that game felt. Buffalo was playing without two of its five most important defensive players, Von Miller and Micah Hyde, and still controlled the ball for 38 minutes. Midway through the fourth quarter, with the Bills up 24-7, New England, needing three scores, had the most painful, clunky drive imaginable—17 plays, taking almost six minutes, and getting just a field goal out of it. Six incompletions on the drive. When it was over, and Buffalo got the ensuing onside kick, Belichick didn’t even bother to use his three timeouts to try to get the ball back. He white-flagged the last two minutes. That’s how hopeless this felt.
I think Robert Kraft, who is 81 and will enter his 30th year of Patriots ownership in 2023, is not in this to rebuild deliberately. He has to be looking at the dung-show on the Patriots’ offensive staff and wondering why Belichick left the offense so wanting this year. Anyway, I can’t see anything weird happening this year. But I have my antennae up about the Patriots for 2023.
So – last week came the first rumors that QB TOM BRADY could play for the Patriots. We all assumed they were talking about a Brady-Belichick re-union, but…
Are we looking at Brady and Sean Payton in New England?
Or could the re-union happen somewhere else, like the Buccaneers?
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THIS AND THAT
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BROADCAST NEWS
The NFL has another big Flex decision coming up for Week 15 – do they keep New England at Las Vegas on Sunday (and what to do with the 5 games that are eligible for Saturday that week). Peter King:
The NFL took it to the wire last week, announcing at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday that Kansas City-at-Denver was out of Sunday Night Football next week and the Dolphins and Chargers were in. Lots of drama went into that. The NFL didn’t want to leave FOX naked in the early window by moving Philly and the Giants from 1 p.m. ET to Sunday night. CBS protected the Jets-Buffalo game at 1 p.m., while the NFL, mindful of the Niners playing the following Thursday night, didn’t want to move Bucs-49ers to Sunday night. So that left NBC with Dolphins-Chargers, preferable to KC-Denver but not quite the ratings draw that Eagles-Giants would have been. Still, Tua-Herbert’s pretty good.
This week, it’s hard to imagine (but not impossible) that the league would keep in its prime Sunday night window 6-6 New England, playing poorly, at 5-7 and improving Las Vegas. Choosing a game to replace Pats-Raiders is complicated by the fact that the league has an NFL Network tripleheader on Saturday, Dec. 17, and one of those games is the best game of the weekend: Miami at Buffalo. The NFL may do its in-house network a solid and allow Dolphins-Bills to highlight the day and get plugged into the 8:15 Saturday night slot. NFL Network is praying for that.
But the NFL is more concerned with putting the best game it can on Sunday night. CBS has likely protected Bengals-Bucs in the Sunday doubleheader window, leaving Miami-Buffalo clearly the only choice—if the NFL is willing to diminish its Saturday lineup for Sunday night. I hear the league may be. One other factor: The Dolphins would not want to play Saturday. They got moved from Sunday afternoon in L.A. to Sunday night, meaning they probably wouldn’t arrive back home to Fort Lauderdale until around 7:45 a.m. Monday. To turn around and play arguably their most important game of the year on Saturday night, on the road, would not be desirable.
I guessed right last week—that Dolphins-Chargers would be flexed to Sunday night in Week 14. This one’s tougher, but my guess is Dolphins-Bills will go to Sunday night in Week 15. Re: the Saturday games? I’ll throw these three darts (times Eastern), with the games I think deserve a Saturday airing: Baltimore at Cleveland, 1 p.m.; Indianapolis at Minnesota, 4:30 p.m.; Giants at Washington, 8:15 p.m.
And here is what they did:
The NFL made several announcements for the Week 15 schedule on Monday afternoon, including moving the season’s second matchup between the Giants and Commanders into a national viewing window.
The Patriots and Raiders game has been flexed out of Sunday Night Football in favor of the NFC East contest. New England and Las Vegas will now play at 4:05 p.m. ET on FOX. New York and Washington will start at 8:20 p.m. on NBC on Dec. 18.
The NFL also has determined the three games for its Week 15 Saturday pool, with all three games shown on NFL Network. Colts at Vikings will start at 1 p.m., Ravens at Browns at 4:30 p.m. and Dolphins at Bills at 8:15 p.m. on Dec. 17.
Falcons at Saints and Lions at Jets were also eligible to play in one of the Saturday slots, but those games will start at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Falcons-Saints will be on FOX with Lions-Jets on CBS.
Week 15 will start with 49ers at Seahawks on Thursday night and conclude with Rams at Packers on Monday.
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