Plus, Trubisky tops Watson, Daniel Jones struggles, a record-setting day for Haason Reddick, Derrick Henry rolls again, Dan Bailey misses them all, Andy Dalton’s revenge and more.
Reacting and overreacting to everything that happened in the Week 14 Sunday afternoon games...
Things That Made Me Giddy
The Mahomes Rope-a-Dope: He had two interceptions and took two sacks—one of them for a 30-yard loss!—in the first quarter, as the Chiefs were down 10-0 in Miami early in the second quarter. Mahomes responded by putting up 21 points in less than 10 minutes (it was 30 unanswered points overall for the Chiefs, but nine came from special teams and defense and Mahomes doesn’t get credit for that charity).
Kliff Owes Vance Joseph a Coke: Arizona put all their tokens on the offensive side of the ball, only to see that unit struggle during the second-half slump. Meanwhile, Joseph’s unit lost their best player in Chandler Jones but has been carrying the load for the Cards. On Sunday, Joseph’s unit held the Giants to 159 yards and recorded eight sacks in a dominant performance.
Haason Reddick Devours Andrew Thomas: A slow-starting first-rounder of the past had his way with a slow-starting first-rounder of the present. Reddick has had a mini-breakout since Chandler Jones went down, and on Sunday he lit Thomas up for a franchise-record five sacks, including two strip sacks, in East Rutherford.
The Bucs Have One Fall Into Their Laps: They played… fine. This wasn’t a bad performance. But rarely do you have your opponent control the clock for nearly 40 minutes only to miss three field goals and a PAT and commit a number of boneheaded unforced penalties.
Mitchell Trubisky Shows Deshaun Watson How It’s Done: First lesson: Don’t be on a team that trades your all-world receiver for pennies on the dollar. But in all seriousness, for the rest of his life Trubisky will be the recipient of taunts and barbs anytime he’s within a 1,000-mile radius for Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson. As he plays out the string on his Bears career, it was nice to see him deliver in a head-to-head matchup with one of those guys. That Texans defense doesn’t present much of a challenge, but Trubisky was sharp nonetheless: 24-for-33, 267 yards, 3 TDs, 0 turnovers.
Drew Lock. Better.: Ball placement is still an issue, but on a day when his receivers were blowing away the defensive backs, Lock finally started delivering the ball to the right spots.
Derrick Henry Restores Order: After a nightmare afternoon against the Browns last week, Henry took full advantage of a get-right opportunity in Jacksonville: 26 carries, 215 yards, 2 TDs.
Revenge Is a Dish Best Served to Someone Starting Brandon Allen at Quarterback: For those watching for history, Andy Dalton indeed surpasses Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson for most QB wins in Cincinnati since the start of 2019. The ex-Bengal got to take it easy thanks to an early defensive touchdown and a hapless Cin City offense—just 25 dropbacks for the Red Rocket.
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Regrets
Fumbilitis Redux in East Rutherford: The Giants hadn’t had multiple turnovers during their four-game winning streak and had only lost one fumble in their last five games. They lost two in the first half, and both included huge field-position swings. On a second-and-10 on the opening drive, Daniel Jones was strip-sacked at the 50 and it was returned to the Giants 9. And after allowing a field goal midway through the second quarter, Dion Lewis coughed up the ensuing kickoff—the Cardinals scored a touchdown four plays later. For good measure, their final offensive snap of the game was Colt McCoy getting strip-sacked.
Abracadaniel Didn’t Have It: He wasn’t moving well, and his internal clock issues came back in a big way in his return to the lineup—he took six sacks on 27 dropbacks, threw for 127 yards and didn’t have a single rushing attempt. He’ll still have a chance to play this team into the postseason, but Sunday was discouraging.
Dan Bailey: One on the most reliable kickers of alltime in his prime, Bailey is, sadly, falling apart. One week after missing two extra points and a field goal, Bailey went 0-for-4 in Tampa (a PAT and FG attempts of 36, 46 and 54), leaving 10 points on the field in a must-win game.
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Moments We’ll Tell Our Grandkids About
A.J. Brown With 2 x 1 – 1 Hands: Off a flea-flicker even!
A Hail Mary Pass Interference: I’m undecided. This is a 46-yard penalty on the final play of the half, so this flag is essentially awarding three points to the Bucs. Game situation dictates you don’t throw the flag. But also, Todd Davis plays this as poorly as you could possibly play it—what in the world is he doing?
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What We’ll Be Talking About This Week
Chiefs Vs. the Field is Even Money: Mahomes’s worst performance in a couple of months resulted in a relatively comfortable road win over an 8-4 opponent.
Cardinals Re-Take the Seventh Seed: With a one-game lead on the Vikings and Bears. But because they knocked off the Giants, this underwhelming playoff race can once again look down its nose at the NFC East.
What Do the Texans Do Now?: On the heels of this, Cal McNair witnessed his team get outclassed on Sunday by a hapless Chicago team starting a benched quarterback, and watched his franchise quarterback get beaten to a pulp in the process.
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