Many teams will look back on week 14 as the turning point in their season while others will see it as continuing the playoff charge. The Eagles fall into the latter category as A.J. Brown got his revenge in torching his former team, the Titans, with 119 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-10 win. After weeks of competitive games since the regime change, the Colts threw away their chances on Sunday Night Football literally through 3 interceptions from Matt Ryan to give up 33 unanswered points in the 4th quarter. Ouch! Another headline is the controversial yet successful return to the NFL for Deshaun Watson in a 27-14 win over his former team, the Texans. Also, the Raiders have quietly won three straight games and put the Chargers’ playoff chances in jeopardy with a 27-20 win. Yet, these stories did not crack the top 3 headlines from a gripping week 14.
1. Reality Check- the Patriots headed into the matchup against the Bills with several factors in their favor including it being the Bills’ third road game, the absence of Von Miller, and Josh Allen struggling with an elbow injury. However, it became clear that these two teams did not belong on the same field as the team got outplayed in all 3 phases. It was a definite reality check that the Patriots are not on the Bills’ level. The Vikings also delivered another reality check to the New York Jets. After a 3-touchdown performance last week against the Browns, Mike White came back down to earth with a two-interception dud. The Jets did move the ball against the Vikings, but five field goals will not get it down. It was a bad loss for the Jets because they are only one game ahead in the loss column above the Patriots, who won the head-to-head contest.
2. Cooling Down Operation-whenever there is a raging fire in a building, and there is no hope of salvaging the property, then the fire department will conduct a cooling down operation to minimize and end the threat to life. In week 14, it felt like the 49ers and Bengals did a cooling-down operation on the Dolphins and Chiefs. The Dolphins were riding a 5-game win streak heading into their matchup against the 49ers, and Mike McDaniels trying to grab a win over his former employer. The Dolphins started with an explosive play from Trent Sherfield who scored a 75-yard catch and run touchdown. However, the 49ers’ defense settled in and forced two interceptions from Tua to clinch the win. The Dolphins did miss Jaylen Waddle who exited with an injury, but Tyreek Hill still finished with nine catches, 146 yards, and a touchdown. The Chiefs were also riding a 5-game-win streak into Cincinnati against a team, and they were 0-2 against them last season. It doesn’t happen often against Patrick Mahomes, but I thought Joe Burrow outdueled the Chiefs’ number 15. Burrow completed 25/31 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns compared to Mahomes’ 16 of 27 for 223 yards and one touchdown. Burrow had 11 rushes for 46 yards compared to Patrick’s 2 rushes for 9 yards. It was an awesome performance by Joe Cool to cool down the Chiefs.
3. Another Brady Comeback- At age 45, Tom Brady proved for the umpteen time he cannot be counted out of any game. On Monday Night Football, the Buccaneers looked dead and buried. The Bucs were down another lineman, could not get any traction all night long on offense, and trailed the Saints 16-3 with 5:21 minutes left in the game. Hopeless, right? Not with number 12 under the center. Brady started the comeback with a 91-yard drive that saw him complete passes to six different receiving targets and was punctuated by a 1-yard pass to tight end Cade Otton. Then, the defense forced a three and out to give him a chance with 2:29 left in the game. Brady rose to the occasion as he always does by completing 8 of 10 passes and ending the possession with a 6-yard touchdown to rookie running back Rachaad White, who dove over the goal line with 8 seconds left in the game. It was Brady’s 44th comeback win that made him surpass Peyton Manning for a career record. Also, Brady defied the odds in the process because teams over the past five seasons are 3-530 when down 13-plus points in the final four minutes of regulation. Just another amazing from the G.O.A.T.