Plus, Derrick Henry breaks Baltimore again, Saints defense becomes dominant, Burrow’s season ends and more.
Reacting and overreacting to everything that happened in the Week 11 Sunday afternoon games...
Things That Made Me Giddy
Taysom Hill Was the Correct Play: I wrote in Football Things this morning how Jameis Winston’s play last week made Hill the obvious choice to start against Atlanta this week. But Sunday was a reminder that QBs who are running threats, in schemes that effectively meld their mobility with the passing game, are defended differently. With the Falcons preoccupied with the Saints' multi-dimensional run game, there were generous throwing windows for Hill at the intermediate levels. Plus, he brings a downfield element that they just don't have with Drew Brees. Hill had one bad miss when he short-armed a throw on a rollout and also lost a bad fumble on a designed run while protecting a fourth-quarter lead. There was a stunning downfield drop by a wide-open Michael Thomas on an on-target throw. Hill also had a long TD pass called back by a hold, though he hung that throw a bit. And he was also part of whatever it is you see below (Emmanuel Sanders was ruled down by contact, by the way—the result was good, the process not so much). But Hill showed more than enough with his arm and his legs, and the Saints are more than good enough around him (the pass rush dominated), to justify Sean Payton’s decision.
The Saints Defense Has Arrived: After an uneven performance in the first half of the year, they’ve been clicking since that Sunday night beatdown of the Bucs. On Sunday, the pass rush completely overwhelmed Matt Ryan. After taking the lead late in the first half, the Saints held the Atlanta offense to four punts, two interceptions and zero points.
Derrick Henry Saves Christmas: It’s a familiar script: The Titans, even trailing, never get away from Henry. He carried five times for 27 yards with the Titans trailing in the fourth quarter, as Arthur Smith stuck to the wide-zone plus play-action formula. Henry came back in overtime with three carries for 37 yards, including the game-winner from 29 yards out. His final line: 28 carries for 133.
A.J. Brown, Like Super Grover, Shows Up: He spent most of Sunday on the milk carton for a second straight week (save for another bad drop). But with the Titans in need of a play late, trailing by five with a third-and-10 in the red zone with 150 seconds left, Brown caught it short of the sticks but broke multiple tackles before getting carried into the end zone.
Matt Rhule’s Staff Finds Answers: One week after allowing 10 scores on 10 possessions to the Bucs, the defense came out and pitched a shutout. And with former XFL stud P.J. Walker getting an emergency start, they rolled up 375 yards of offense and would have had 30 points if not for a couple of red-zone interceptions. The rebuilding Panthers completely outclassed a Lions team that was supposed to be playoff-ready in 2020.
Yannick Ngakoue Making Noise: The Titans were starting a couple of backups at the tackle spots, and Ngakoue took advantage. It was a reminder that he’s a game-changing talent coming off the edge.
T.J. Watt Was Unblockable in Jacksonville: Though not unholdable—the league has relaxed holding calls this year, but Watt rightfully drew a half-dozen penalties. It’s a two-man race for Defensive Player of the Year: Watt vs. Aaron Donald.
Deshaun Watson Lowers the Shoulder: Maybe we’d all prefer Watson not lead with his throwing shoulder around the goal line, particularly in meaningless games in the second half of a lost season. But through all the GM-brained madness, sometimes it’s important to remember that it’s fun to win football games.
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Regrets
Joe Burrow’s 2020 Is Over: He suffered an ugly left knee injury, bringing to an end a promising rookie year in which he was running for his life more often than not. We’ll wait and see if he’s ready for the 2021 opener, and we’ll hand Offensive Rookie of the Year honors to Justin Herbert as long as he finishes the season.
Bad, Bad Quarterbacking in Cleveland, Wentz Edition: Mark Schlereth broke it down perfectly on the broadcast, but this is unforgivably bad quarterbacking on the pick-six. The play design works—the linebacker gets sucked up by the play-action and the route is run nicely by Jalen Reagor out of the left slot as Wentz stares right at him. Yet instead of taking the easy completion Wentz double-clutches and, after it’s too late, tries to check it down. He gets hit as he does and it’s a free touchdown for the Browns. I don’t think Jalen Hurts is the answer right now, but if Doug Pederson had benched Wentz after this play it would have been understandable.
Bad, Bad Quarterbacking in Cleveland, Baker Edition: Baker Mayfield was spraying the ball all over the field once again, including an overshot to a wide-open Austin Hooper in the end zone that was as bad a miss as you’ll see. Conditions were a factor, sure—it was raining in Cleveland again. But I still have a tough time wrapping my head around it because I was promised, due to the fact that a guy once missed a target square by six inches during a Senior Bowl drill, Baker would be forever accurate and Josh Allen would not. I’ll write more in-depth in next week’s Football Things column, but Baker is on the brink.
“Forward Progress”: Following a long Nick Chubb run to set up first-and-goal in the fourth quarter, there were so many poor judgments on the subsequent play: The Browns, for putting it in the erratic Baker Mayfield’s hands on a first-and-goal. Mayfield for managing to cough up a fumble when protecting a two-point lead on a first-and-goal. But the worst was the “forward progress” ruling by the officials, which was not only objectively incorrect and completely unnecessary to announce, but announcing it erased the possibility of a challenge correcting the call for them. The Browns scored a touchdown one play later to stretch it to a two-possession game. It was a brutal, game-changing error by the officiating crew.
The Lions’ Death Deserves a Darwin Award: Against all odds, the Lions were sitting on the fringe of the NFC Wild-Card race. Getting to face a Panthers team who were (a) missing their best offensive player, (b) coming off a week in which their defense allowed points on all 10 opponents possessions, and (c) starting a quarterback who was playing in the XFL nine months ago, seemed to be the kind of break Detroit needed to stay alive at least one more week. For the season—and likely the tenures of GM Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia—to end like this is humiliating.
Matthew Stafford Crumbles at the Wrong Time: After years of carrying an atrocious roster on his back, Stafford—nursing a thumb injury—delivered one of the worst performances of his career precisely when the Lions couldn’t afford it.
The Patriots Drop Out of the 2020 Playoff Race: Sunday was a reminder that they don’t have a player as good at football as Deshaun Watson is.
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Moments We’ll Tell Our Grandkids About
The Stiff Arm of the Season: Everyone got all giddy about Derrick Henry stiff-arming the much smaller Josh Norman on Tuesday Night Football, but this is Nick Chubb discarding a guy who outweighs him by a good 40 pounds.
A Receiver Onside Kick: This is a great attempt by Keelan Cole! And even if it wasn’t: Heck yes, Jaguars, you’ve lost eight straight, your opponent has won nine straight, take some chances and win a game.
Logan Woodside Makes the Fake Punt Work: The fake didn’t exactly fool the Ravens—backup QB as personal protector might have tipped their hand—but Woodside fits in a tight-window throw on the move to salvage it. (That’s also the first career completion for the backup QB, so congratulate him on Facebook.
Midfield Logo Shenanigans: By the Titans in Baltimore. Which is always kinda lame, but they did back it up.
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What We’ll Be Talking About This Week
But Are the Ravens Really In Trouble?: They weren’t going to catch the Steelers regardless of what happened Sunday, and there’s still four very winnable games left on the schedule (home against the Cowboys, Jags and Giants, at Cincinnati) as well as a road game against a Browns team they’ve destroyed the last two meetings. The defense was the issue against Tennessee, but a lot of that had to do with Calais Campbell and Brandon Williams being out against a Derrick Henry-based offense, as was the always fickle red-zone offense (four trips, three of them goal-to-goal, but only one touchdown). They’re figuring things out offensively, though the tools are there, even behind an injury-plagued offensive line. There’s no reason the Ravens can’t be ready for January football.
Eagles on the Brink: Cleveland was the most winnable game they’ll have until after Christmas, the defense got their act together, but the offense continues to be a disjointed mess featuring a quarterback who doesn’t trust anything they do. You don’t want to say they had to have it on Sunday, because who knows if the Giants will keep collecting wins, but Philly continues to make things difficult on themselves.
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