Week 15 was absolutely ludicrous! This week will long live in the memory of football fans for years to come. A major headline from the weekend were teams going on the road like the 49ers and Giants to knock off a divisional playoff contenders in the Seahawks and Redskins. Another storyline from the weekend is that the teams playing should aim to peak at this juncture of the season and it appears the Lions and 49ers are emblematic of this after continuing their respective win streaks. However, the preeminent storyline of the week is that if you are a Colts, Cowboys, Bucs or Patriots fan you will feel sick for about a week because your team snatched defeat out of the jaws of victory. Therefore, let’s discuss the top 3 headlines from this wild week of football.
1. Minnesota Miracle-Colts Interim Head Coach Jeff Saturday scored a nice win in his first game in charge by beating the Raiders on the road. However, since then the team has gone off tracks because the team lost three consecutive games including a 54-19 drubbing prior to their team’s bye week. Therefore, with nearly two-weeks to prepare Jeff and his team headed to Minnesota to play a Saturday game. The Colts showed they were well prepared for the game because flew out of the gate and dominated the 10-3 Vikings. The game was 33-0 in the middle of the third quarter and credit the Vikings for not giving up. However, the Colts got way too predictable and their consecutive play calling cost them this game. The Vikings comeback victory is the biggest in NFL history. Ironically, Matt Ryan now has ridiculous record of being the quarterback that gave up biggest comeback in the Superbowl and league history! Yikes!
2. Allen outduels Tua-the Dolphins defeated the Bills earlier this season and so Buffalo were under pressure to win the second matchup to keep the division lead and avoid losing the tiebreaker. Despite the forecast for snow, the bad weather did not arrive until the fourth quarter. The teams played out a tense affair with the Bills coming from behind in the end to grab the big win. Tua Tagovailoa rebounded from a couple of weeks to keep his team in position completing 17 of 30 passes, 234 yards and 2 touchdowns. However, Josh Allen was superman for the Buffalo Bills in a statement performance in completing 25 of 40 passes for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns. Buffalo is now firmly in line to win the division with a 3 game lead and the battle for the number 1 seed with the Chief will go into the final three weeks.
3. Epic Collapses-a great weekend would be to have a game unfold like the Vikings and the Colts. The weekend was littered with the unpredictable and downright absurd. America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys, had a 17-point lead on the road and collapsed against the suddenly pesky Jaguars. Trevor Lawrence is starting to validate his number 1 pick status as shredded the much-hyped Cowboys defense for three consecutive touchdown drives while Dak Prescott had two interceptions to hurt his team down the stretch. It’s a costly loss for the Cowboys as it leaves them three games behind and almost certain to be the high wild card seed entering the playoffs. Two other ridiculous collapses from the past week involve the Buccaneers and the Patriots. The Bucs led 17 to 3 at halftime and appeared to be cruising towards to a much needed win. The Bucs second half first six possessions in the second half are the following: fumble, interception, fumble, fumble, interception and punt. Yikes! Brady’s former team, the Patriots, found a new way to lose a game. The Patriots mounted a furious comeback from 17 to 3 in the second half to lead 24-17. However, the Raiders made a few key conversions and Derrick Carr led to the end zone to tie the game. The game appeared to be heading for overtime on the final play of regulation when Rhamondre Stevenson made a big game on the ground and decided to make a lateral to Jakobi Myers who in turn decided to heave the ball across the field. The ball was intercepted by Chris Jones who walked it in a touchdown and the game winner. It leaves the Buccaneers scrapping it out with a slender one-game lead over the three other teams while the Patriots are on the outside of the playoff picture with a lot of work to do to make it. No bueno!