Plus, Lions dominate Arizona, Texans get a season sweep, Burrow shines in Denver, chain gang drama, Jets’ bag of tricks, and much more!
Welcome to the Week 15 edition of the Sunday FreakOut, where we react and overreact to everything that happened in the Sunday afternoon games. For the full Sunday roundup podcast-style, be sure to subscribe to The MMQB Podcast, in your feed every Monday morning...
Things That Made Me Giddy
A Very Steelers Victory: It’s December, and we know that every team has their identity, but it’s incredible the Steelers are still in this thing with their identity: No semblance of an offense, and a defense that can’t stop the run and must take the ball away multiple times every week (which, when you have T.J. Watt, you at least have a chance to do). They won the turnover battle 4–0 against the Titans and stole one on Sunday.
Joe Haden Saves Christmas: It was his return to the lineup after missing the previous four games, and the vet delivered the game-clinching tackle on fourth down.
Chain Gang Drama!: Courtesy of a spot that was off by almost a full yard (the Titans were not close to converting that first down), but still…
Ravens Were Right to Go For Two, Reprise: You can criticize the playcall, a sprint out that cut the field in half and simplified things against a Packers defense that couldn’t get out of its own way in the fourth quarter. But, with your backup quarterback and an injury-ravaged offensive line and secondary, your odds against Aaron Rodgers in OT are not good.
Tyler Huntley Is Game: Greg Roman did a nice job scheming some looks for him and the Packers did a terrible job containing him—right now Huntley probably still profiles as a longterm backup. But how many quarterbacks would be able to not only protect themselves behind a scotch-taped offensive line, but consistently create time and space and then deliver on-target throws late in the down like Huntley did on Sunday? The way Huntley played the past two weeks would be a marked improvement under center for about a fifth of the teams in the NFL at the moment.
The Packers Have Margin for Error: Both to get the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and to win on the road even in a game when Aaron Rodgers misses on a couple throws he hits 90% of the time.
That's Riiiight, the Cowboys Also Have DeMarcus Lawrence: To go along with Micah Parsons; Lawrence forced two turnovers in the first half against the Giants—a hit on Mike Glennon that caused an interception, and a strip of Saquon Barkley.
Joe Burrow Is Firmly In the MVP Conversation: The cons are that he has a really good receiving corps and a solid offensive line. The pro is that they are putting a ton on his plate on every snap, and he’s delivering every time they need him to.
Jared Goff Lives: Make it two of three for the Lions, as Goff returned after a lower-leg injury took him out for a snap toward the end of the first half. Upon his return, he stood in against pressure and delivered a 22-yard touchdown pass to Josh Reynolds to make it a three-possession game going into halftime.
Deebo Samuel Out of the Backfield: He had his seventh rushing touchdown of the season on Sunday. The 49ers qualify as a “team no one wants to face in January” primarily because it means having to tackle Samuel, George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk at the end of a long season.
Christian Wilkins Takes Full Advantage of the TD Celebration Opportunity: After a play-action touchdown catch as a fullback. I believe that’s The Worm.
Evan McPherson Breathes the Thin Air: The Bengals rookie hit from 53 and 58 in a field goals–only first half in Denver.
Davis Mills Is All Right: There probably isn’t a quarterback worthy of the No. 1 overall pick this year; it’s fair to wonder if Mills would have been at the top of the 2022 QB class had he returned to Stanford. He’s far from a sure bet at this point, but Mills is worth a full-season look as a starter. (And I know the city of Houston will disagree, but I like what Tim Kelly has done considering the quarterback situation.)
Regrets
Titans Can’t Stop Giving It Away: They lost the turnover battle 4–0 in Pittsburgh, including three in the game’s final 16 minutes. Two of their turnovers were fumbles after the catch, and one was a pass deflected at the line of scrimmage then intercepted.
Teddy Bridgewater Carted Off: He went limp after hitting the ground hard at the end of a scramble; he reportedly had sensation in his extremities. It was another scary injury for a guy who’s already had one too many.
Ravens at the Reactionary Positions: There’s nowhere to hide for a secondary missing their two best cornerbacks, and on the offensive line they were already patchwork when Tyre Phillips, really a guard who’s been forced to play right tackle, went down with a knee injury on Sunday.
Josh Allen’s Bad Wheel: He was clearly working around the sprained left foot—the Bills didn’t call a designed run for him and he had only one scramble as he clearly trying to limit his off-schedule play. That’s fine for now, but not ideal heading to Foxboro (and, later, the postseason).
Joe Barry’s Long Day: I know Tyler Huntley is praised above in this column, but the Packers defense was a mess on Sunday. Along with absolutely no discipline in the pass rush, allowing Huntley to break contain again and again, they didn’t cover Mark Andrews for most of the afternoon.
Unnecessary “Roughness”: This was thrown after a third-and-long sack in Buffalo territory, resulting in an automatic first down on what would result in a touchdown drive. Can you identify who the penalty is on? (If so, give yourself 15 Sunday FreakOut points, which are redeemable for nothing.)
Moments We’ll Tell Our Grandkids About
Panthers Kicker Tryouts: After a Zane Gonzalez pre-game injury. Carolina went for two after both their touchdowns, and wide receiver Brandon Zylstra kicked off three times, with the Bills getting starting field position at the 29, 26 and 43.
Saquon Barkley’s Very Good Hand:
Jets Chicanery, Part I:
Jets Chicanery, Part II: This is pretty neat, I’d say…
What We’ll Be Talking About This Week
So Many Games on Monday and Tuesday: Ergo, I’m not even touching the playoff picture in this column. Except to say that the Chiefs are the best team in the AFC, followed by the Colts, the Browns are going to win the AFC North with a Week 18 win over the Bengals, and the 49ers and Vikings will grab the final two playoff spots in the NFC. But that’s all I know for sure.
Kan Kliff Find Answers?: The Cardinals’ unsustainable efficiency on fourth downs and in the red zone proved, well, unsustainable; Kyler Murray is no longer completing downfield throws at a historically high rate; and Murray’s most valuable weapon is out for the rest of the regular season. Through two-plus seasons problem solving has not been a strength of Kingsbury, who has relied on superior talent to carry his offense. But this is when a Coach of the Year candidate proves his worth. The Cardinals are 3–4 over their last seven, getting outclassed by the Lions, Panthers, Packers practice squad, and COVID-stricken Rams along the way.
Texans Complete a Series Sweep: Which is why the NFL must seriously consider contraction.
That Dallas Passing Game: It’s not quite there right now. They had a handful of drops, but Dak Prescott continues to be off-target and/or off-schedule on a lot of deep and deep-intermediate throws.
The Steelers and Dolphins Are [Sigh] Still In It: And Krampus is coming around on Christmas Day to throw naughty children in his sack and force them to watch cutups of Pittsburgh’s and Miami’s respective offenses.
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