September 14, 2026

Bills Defeat Patriots in Critical AFC East Matchup

46 min read
5 years ago 247 ProFootball
Bills Defeat Patriots in Critical AFC East Matchup


NFL Week 16 – Each Sunday, the FO staff sends around emails about the games that each of us are watching. We share information about the games that the rest of the group might not be watching, ask questions, and keep everyone else informed about which games they might want to tune into (if they can).

On Monday, we compile a digest of those emails and produce this feature. By its nature, it can be disjointed and dissimilar to the other articles on the site.

While these emails are generally written with Audibles in mind, they do not represent a standard review of all the games each week. That means we aren’t going to cover every game, or every important play. We watch the games that we, as fans, are interested in watching, so your favorite team’s game might not be covered to your fullest desires or even at all. (If you are a Seahawks or Patriots fan, you are probably in luck; if you are a Lions fan, not so much.) We have no intention of adding new authors solely to cover every game on a given Sunday, nor will we watch a different game from the ones that we’re personally interested in watching just to ensure that Audibles covers every game.

Cleveland Browns 22 at Green Bay Packers 24
Saturday, December 25

Bryan Knowles: Baker Mayfield did, in fact, make it back to play in this one, but more importantly, Nick Chubb is still around. Mayfield hit Chubb on a little screen that ended up rumbling 41 yards (plus 13 more from a low block penalty from Green Bay) as Cleveland just marches right down the field. Chubb pushes the pile in for a touchdown from the one, and the Browns jump right out to a … 6-0 lead, as Chris Naggar’s first NFL kick goes wide right.

Bryan Knowles: ‘Tis the season and all, and Mayfield starts Cleveland’s second drive by delivering an absolute gift to Darnell Savage, a lollipop of a deep throw that ended up being an arm-punt on first down. To be fair, there was some contact on Donovan Peoples-Jones which affected the route, but the throw was pretty darn bad even considering. Rodgers hits Davante Adams for 33 yards past a falling Denzel Ward, and then hits Allen Lazard a few plays later to break Brett Favre’s Packers record for touchdown passes as Green Bay jumps back on top 7-6.

Aaron Schatz: Two of the most aggressive coaches in the league, and each one goes for it on fourth-and-1 on his own side of the field early on in this game. The nerds have won.

Dave Bernreuther: Whoever was in charge of putting the numbers on the Browns’ throwback helmets may have had a bit too much eggnog. Some of them—Denzel Ward’s, for instance—look to be a bit high, forward, and crooked.

Comparing NFL passing totals across eras, or even decades, isn’t really fair at all, but even with that in mind, it just blows me away that Aaron Rodgers just passed Favre’s touchdown total with the Packers while throwing less than a THIRD of the interceptions Favre threw. That’s crazy.

Carl Yedor: I couldn’t tell if Baker dialed back his throw because of the contact, but if you know your receiver is going to be slowed down by contact before it’s in the air, it might be better to look elsewhere. There probably should have been a penalty and it’s a split-second decision to double-clutch the throw, so it’s not the easiest thing in the world. But turnovers against an offense as ruthless as Green Bay’s typically won’t end well.

J.P. Acosta: Browns defensive back Richard Lecounte III waved his arms around like he thought he’d have inside help, but the help never came on that touchdown. Or he was complaining to the ref about something. Either way, beautiful setup on that route by Adams.

Aaron Schatz: Zero blitz on third-and-goal. On Aaron Rodgers. With a rookie on Adams. Insanity.

Bryan Knowles: And more giving from Mayfield, as another overthrow is picked off, this time by Chandon Sullivan. Baker may be “feeling as good as he has in months,” but that does not appear to be translating into actual results on the field, as we’re seeing a Garropolo-eseque performance through the first 20 minutes of this game.

Also, Allen Lazard’s one-handed catch deserves to be seen again for those too deep in their egg and nogs to be watching football on a Christmas afternoon:

Bryan Knowles: Credit where credit is due: Mayfield had a couple of nice throws on the Browns’ ensuing drive—some nice underneath throws to Jarvis Landry and Rashard Higgins in spots where they could add in some yards after the catch. Two-point conversion fail, a move forced by that missed extra point after the first score, but at least Cleveland isn’t just falling over like it looked like they might. Now, if they could just slow down the Green Bay offense…

Aaron Schatz: Mayfield now at three picks in the first half. This is, believe it or not, only his second multi-INT game of the year. He had two against Detroit in Week 11.

And Green Bay goes roughly 50 yards after that third pick. A couple of back-shoulder grabs for Davante Adams, then a touchdown grab, 21-12 Packers.

Bryan Knowles: The Internet is screaming for Case Keenum, as the backup quarterback remains the most popular man in any town. I don’t know if that’s really the answer here; arguably two of Mayfield’s three interceptions weren’t entirely his fault. I get the urge to make the move, but is Keenum really more likely to mount a comeback than Baker at this point in time?

Now, if they were screaming for Nick Mullens…

Carl Yedor: I will always advocate for more Nick Mullens, regardless of whether it is smart or not.

J.P. Acosta: Maybe they should call in Flo from Progressive to play quarterback.

Aaron Schatz: Browns with an outstanding rushing-heavy drive and they’re doing it with three backup linemen plus Joel Bitonio playing out of position at tackle. Bill Callahan really is a great offensive line coach. Finally slowed down by a false start, a Rashard Higgins drop, and a third-down sack. Naggar hits the field goal, 24-15 Packers.

Bryan Knowles: The Packers just refuse to win big. Won’t do it. Their last two drives have gained a total of 6 yards as Cleveland has roared back to a 24-22 deficit with 4:31 left. Green Bay’s rush defense is just being absolutely torn apart; you wonder what the score would be if the Browns had started running from the gun. You’d think the Packers could just run this game out, but they have shown no ability to control the ball over the past 10 minutes or so of game time.

Dave Bernreuther: They’re still a long shot to win, but the Browns show us once again that they can move the ball when they aren’t throwing picks, and we have a 24-22 game. I think that part of the reason it’s not over is that the Packers have eased off the throttle a bit in this half.

Forgive me for looking ahead, but I haven’t really seen anything that makes me think that this Green Bay defense can stop the Buccaneers in the playoffs if they’re anywhere near full strength.

Bryan Knowles: If anyone can explain to me why Cleveland abandoned the running game, which was dicing Green Bay up like so much cheese, on that last drive…

Game ends with Mayfield throwing his fourth pick of the day. The Packers were holding, which wasn’t called, but man, why even let it get there? They could not stop Nick Chubb; just ran the dang ball.

Aaron Schatz: I’m usually all about passing but there are rare times when the run is more efficient than the pass. And I think this was one of those times.

Indianapolis Colts 22 at Arizona Cardinals 16
Saturday, December 25

Bryan Knowles: On the podcast, we warned that the Colts might have an advantage running up the middle, but with Indy missing all three interior linemen, you’d have to doubt their ability to take advantage of it. Well, so far, so good—the first Colts play from scrimmage is Jonathan Taylor racing 43 yards right up the middle of the field. Yikes. 7-0 Colts, midway through the first.

Bryan Knowles: Now, I’m not an expert, but I’m fairly sure that if Kyler Murray pulls the ball down and runs 57 yards, he has made the correct read, yes?

Plays like that were why I picked Murray over Stafford as my third NFC Pro Bowl passer—he’s just so incredibly fun to watch when things are going well. The Cardinals miss their second kick of the night, however, so the Colts keep a 7-6 lead. Of note: Colt McCoy is the holder tonight; it’s the first time in his career he has done that. He messed up the hold on the 51-yard field goal earlier, and it looked like his timing was off on that extra point as well. Something to watch for.

Aaron Schatz: Sorry, Bryan, I still owe you research on which teams had the most aborted snaps. Cardinals just blew another one, Murray chucked it away, intentional grounding and safety.

Bryan Knowles: When the Colts get into long down-and-distance, I have so little faith in Carson Wentz to do anything. The opening drive of the second half stalled with Wentz throwing an ugly incomplete pass and then absorbing a sack, leading to a massive punt return for Arizona, which in turn sets up a 24-yard touchdown pass to Antoine Wesley. Wesley made a great one-handed grab, but the ball was placed perfectly by Kyler Murray, and Murray was the one who checked into the go route to begin with, so we’ll give credit to Kyler for that one. Cardinals re-take a 13-12 lead.

Dave Bernreuther: It hasn’t been just that drive, Bryan. On the one before the half, after the penalty negated his scramble to the 2(-ish), Wentz went into Alex Smith mode, seemingly deciding on his own that first-and-20 and second-and-25 weren’t worth any real effort to convert, which led to everyone’s favorite field goal: extending the one-score lead to a one-score lead.

To be fair, Wentz’s internal clock seems to be sped up by the lack of his interior linemen, and that’s not the worst process in the world.

Bryan Knowles: Credit where credit is due, however. After the Cardinals missed a field goal that would have given them the lead, Wentz made some damn nice throws, hitting Michael Pittman for 20, T.Y. Hilton for 39, and Dezmon Patmon for a touchdown in the back of the end zone. And, because of all of Arizona’s kicking woes, that leaves the Colts up 22-13 with 6:37 left; that missed extra point is playing huge right now.

Aaron Schatz: It’s worth noting that Jonathan Taylor has been stuffed at the line a lot tonight. This is a good lesson in the value of a strong offensive line to the running game. Put him behind a bunch of backups and he’s not going to be the same guy.

Dave Bernreuther: I have had nothing good to say about Carson Wentz tonight, and neither had most of Twitter … but it’s time for that to change. After Prater’s second missed field goal, Wentz made three big time throws: first to Michael Pittman on second-and-17, next from a designed rollout to T.Y. Hilton for a big gainer, and finally to Dezmon Patmon (who?) while moving to his left and throwing across the body for a touchdown to make it a two-score game. I don’t know how he saw Patmon or where that throw came from, but all three of those were as good as they get, and if the Colts had gone for two like they should have after a roughing the passer call, they could well have extended their streak of games with 10-point leads.

I’m going to be honest here: after the news about Ryan Kelly and the COVID absences, I did not expect this team to win this game, and the first three quarters of Wentz’s play did not change my mind. That swing from missed field goal to touchdown, though, should mean I can safely go to bed. (Merry Christmas to those celebrating, a tip of the cap to Carson Wentz, and my deepest condolences to the Kelly family.)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 32 at Carolina Panthers 6

Scott Spratt: The Bucs are missing the bulk of their starting skill talent today in Leonard Fournette, Chris Godwin, and Mike Evans. But even with Antonio Brown back with the team, the Bucs went with a lot of heavy personnel on their scoreless opening drive and appear to be planning to ride backup running back Ronald Jones. I like that plan. For one, Jones has maintained a top-three 63.4% rushing success rate even after taking a back seat to Fournette this season that ranks third among backs with 50 or more carries. And for another, the Panthers defense ranks eighth in pass defense but 24th in run defense DVOA. The Bucs can probably win this one with a hand tied behind their back.

Scott Spratt: Sam Darnold is active for the Panthers today, and at least Loser League players will be curious to see whether the team uses him in a platoon like they did with P.J. Walker and Cam Newton in their Cardinals upset in Week 10. Well, one drive in, Darnold has yet to play, and Newton had some vintage moments including a 33-yard designed run that the broadcast mentioned was a season long for the Panthers. Yikes to that stat, but the Panthers score first with a field goal that has them up 3-0 over the defending champs.

Scott Spratt: Ok, I’m thinking Darnold could be in sooner than later. Cam Newton just threw a ball up for grabs into heavy coverage to avoid some pass pressure, and Shaq Barrett tipped it to Jordan Whitehead for an easy interception. The Bucs had already taken the 7-3 lead on a 55-yard Ke’Shawn Vaughn run, and now they’re back in Panthers territory in the waning moments of the first quarter.

Bryan Knowles: And indeed, Scott, it’s now sooner—Sam Darnold is now at quarterback for the Carolina Panthers.

May I interest you in a James Richard Garoppolo for 2022?

Scott Spratt: I don’t know about Garoppolo, Bryan. I may be back in on Darnold after this hilarious play.

Nope, never mind. After a couple more Newton snaps in the red zone, Darnold came in for a third-and-goal from the 8-yard line and took a sack. What a relief the Matt Rhule administration is expected back in 2022.

Dave Bernreuther: As soon as Darnold comes in—and completes a 63-yard pass (that I think would have been a score if Shi Smith had been as decisive/bold as the previous S.Smith of Carolina once was), he’s back out for Newton in the red zone … which leads to a slow-motion read-option for almost no gain and a pass for no gain. Re-enter Darnold, who takes a sack, and I’m not sure I can remember a recent first-and-goal situation that I was more certain would end in a field goal than that one.

Scott Spratt: Tom Brady told the FOX broadcast team that he didn’t have any idea how to get the best of his former teammate Stephon Gilmore, now on the Panthers. But one idea is to throw it elsewhere.

Brady just connected with Cyril Grayson of all people for a 62-yard catch-and-run down the right sideline with a rookie corner in Keith Taylor in coverage. And a few plays later, Brady hit Rob Gronkowski for a touchdown to put the Bucs up 19-6 in the final two minutes of the first half.

The Bucs have hardly been slowed by the lack of their normal offensive skill players. Of particular note, Antonio Brown has seven catches and 67 yards and looks as good as ever to me.

Scott Spratt: You know how Tom Brady is famous for scoring points at the end of the first half? The Panthers have punted the ball to the Bucs twice in the final two minutes of the first half today.

Vince Verhei: Matt Rhule with one of the most delusional post-game quotes I have ever seen.

I don’t even know where to begin with this. Why does he believe it’s working? If it’s working, why can nobody see it? Is he really comparing himself to Jay-Z? Is he implying that he’s going to start an expansion team like Jay-Z started an agency? And most of all, does he really think he’s going to get seven years to turn the Panthers around … which would mean that the players who are going to be on the next good Panthers team are still in high school right now?

Buffalo Bills 33 at New England Patriots 21

Aaron Schatz: Strong first drive from the Bills. Josh Allen was patient and had time in the pocket, finding open receivers in the holes in the zone, with a couple of underneath passes to Devin Singletary where Singletary pushed forward for extra yards. A fourth-and-2 on the New England 3 led to yet another discussion of analytics with the announcers urging the Bills to kick the field goal. Instead, Allen found Isaiah McKenzie crossing in the back of the end zone for the touchdown, 7-0 Bills. It’s going to be a long day if the Patriots can’t get more pass rush than this.

Bryan Knowles: The Bills have decided their strategy for today will be to blitz Mac Jones on first down, blitz Mac Jones on second down, blitz Mac Jones on third down, and, if necessary, blitz Mac Jones on fourth down. Makes sense—challenge the rookie quarterback’s processing, see if you can’t get him into making some mistakes. It results in a three-and-out for the Patriots on their opening drive, and Buffalo responds by marching down the field for the opening touchdown. It does take them four cracks from red zone to score—they don’t have the power running game to smash the ball in, and Josh Allen was stuffed once—but Allen finds Isaiah McKenzie on fourth down for the score and the 7-0 lead.

Bryan Knowles: An odd response drive from New England—not bad, mind you, just odd. A flea-flicker checkdown? An option run on fourth down from Mac Jones? Belichick going for it on fourth down not once, but twice? Sure, why not.

The Bills are slamming the boxes to try to stop the Patriots’ run offense which ran all over them in the wind a few weeks ago, and it’s not really working—New England’s at 5.3 yards per rush, with Damien Harris taking it in 16 yards to tie the game at seven as we begin the second quarter.

Aaron Schatz: Aha, the Patriots have discovered their game plan from the first game. They just had a drive made up almost entirely of runs, 10 plays out of 13, to tie it with a touchdown. The Patriots went twice on fourth-and-1, going outside both times including a fourth-and-1 college-style option. Then the last play was a fake to the fullback up the middle, pitch wide left to Damien Harris, great blocks from the wide receivers in front of him (N’Keal Harry and Jonnu Smith), and the score. Lots of six-lineman formations on that drive, just like we saw in the first Buffalo game. Now 7-7.

Aaron Schatz: As for the flea-flicker, I mean, it wasn’t SUPPOSED to be a checkdown. It’s supposed to be a deep pass to Kristian Wilkerson but he was covered.

Carl Yedor: Ground-and-pound approaches typically don’t work in the modern NFL when compared to how high-flying some offenses are, but it’s still fun to watch it when it’s working well. The main drawbacks of that style are that 1) you normally have to rely on converting on third down multiple times to sustain drives; and 2) penalties like holding put you seriously behind the eight ball in a way that is a bit more manageable if you are more pass-oriented. The Patriots ran into those problems on their second drive, but they were able to make it work thanks to multiple conversions on fourth-and-1 courtesy of Damien Harris, who eventually punched in the touchdown. If teams are more willing to go for it on those fourth-and-short situations, I wonder if we see more viability in run-heavy methods. Baltimore sticks out as an obvious example, and it would likely take incorporating more quarterback runs to really make it viable in the long run.

Dave Bernreuther: I have found something that bothers me more than otherwise decent announcer Kurt Warner’s use of “anyways” (which is not an actual word): otherwise decent announcer Charles Davis’s use of “reports ineligible” with regard to Mike Onwenu of the Patriots.

Half the reason I mention this is because I know and like that Aaron cares about proper written and spoken grammar; the other half is just because I just want it on the record that the resident Colts fan is watching—and rooting for—the Patriots.

Speaking of which, those heavy sets with linemen reporting eligible paired rather nicely with pitches and a bit of misdirection on this last drive. On consecutive plays starting with a fourth-and-1 from the 28, we watched pitches to Harris on the “weak” (by which I mean one fewer blocker than the other side) side lead to open space and big plays.

Sequences like that sometimes make me wonder if Bill Belichick, a noted appreciator of ancient NFL history, is having more fun coaching this offense than he did during Brady’s heyday. This is also why it bothered me a bit that they didn’t ever get a chance to fully take advantage of Cam Newton’s size to exploit the numbers difference between 10-on-11 and 11-on-11 in the running game. But it also makes me more impressed with what they have been doing in the more traditional 10-on-11 setup with Jones at quarterback. Not that the Bills’ run defense is the fairest opponent to use to judge success.

Aaron Schatz: Bad interception for Mac Jones, who forces the ball into N’Keal Harry and it ends up behind him, tipped into the air, and then Micah Hyde comes down with it. Bills get the short field. Another short dumpoff to a running back over the middle, this time Zack Moss for 13 yards. Then when J.C. Jackson goes out with an injury they immediately go to Stefon Diggs for 10 yards. Moss runs it 6 yards but slips in front of the goal line. Two incomplete passes, fourth-and-goal from the 1. Bills go for it again. Bounces off of Emmanuel Sanders’ hands and the Patriots get VERY lucky. Still not bringing a lot of pressure and Allen has plenty of time to throw and he’s making the right decisions. Just needs a little more help from his receivers. 10-7 Bills.

Aaron Schatz: Patriots three-and-out and punt. Bills start the next drive in Patriots territory. That’s one reason why you take the gamble and go for it on fourth-and-goal.

Aaron Schatz: Bills make it down for another touchdown, Stefon Diggs beating J.C. Jackson on third-and-11 from the 12. Patriots just getting no pass rush at all. There are only so many times you can have everybody covered for long enough to stop the Bills passing game.

Carl Yedor: Buffalo attempted to draw the Patriots offside on fourth down and it actually worked! That set up a big play to Stefon Diggs on the subsequent fourth-and-2 to put the Bills in prime scoring territory inside the two-minute warning. I feel like the teams that try that are usually the teams that don’t really want to go for it in the first place, so the hard count is less credible and therefore less likely to cause the penalty. On the other hand, the Bills are absolutely a credible threat to go for it, meaning they’re probably better-positioned to actually succeed. Allen links up with Diggs for the touchdown afterward and it’s a 17-7 game.

Bryan Knowles: The Bills lined up for a fourth-and-7 on their ensuing drive. I don’t know if they really would have gone for it or if they were just playing the hard count game, but it worked—Christian Barmore jumped offside. The Bills weren’t going to pass up fourth-and-2, and Allen hit Stefon Diggs with a dagger into the red zone. And then Allen nearly giveth away, nearly throwing a pick on second down. That felt like a huge bullet missed, because Allen hit Diggs for a touchdown on the next play, and it’s 17-7, Buffalo.

J.P. Acosta: It looked like the linebacker to that side could have helped Jackson some more by falling into that passing window instead of drifting towards grass

Aaron Schatz: 17-7 Bills at halftime. Some weird officiating on that last Patriots drive, but what’s more important is that Mac Jones is having a bad, bad game. He’s 5-for-13 for 47 yards. A couple of drops, yes, but mostly Jones is inaccurate. He’s outright missing guys. The Patriots have to get back to the run in the second half, but also Jones has got to play better when it’s time to pass.

Vince Verhei: Bills get a field goal to go up 20-7, but oof, that was a bad red zone possession for Allen. Lots of drift-drift-drift-drift-drift before throwing moon balls to nobody in particular that may or may not have been fumbles.

Cale Clinton: For how bad Mac Jones has looked today and for how porous this Patriots defense has been at times, I’m a little surprised this is still a two-score game. Buffalo has looked good, sure, they have just left some points on the board early with their decision-making. Passing three straight times on the 1-yard line after picking up 6 yards on a Zack Moss run is a bit head-scratching. Then Buffalo gets in their own way with an ineligible man downfield and a holding call on back-to-back plays pulls them out of field goal position. Can’t complain too much about scoring on four of your first six possessions, but New England is hanging around when their play suggests they don’t have any business being in this game.

Aaron Schatz: Wow, what has gotten into Belichick today? Just went for it on fourth down for the FOURTH time today. And they have converted all four of them.

Bryan Knowles: And full credit where it’s due—if Belichick hadn’t been going for fourth a lot, this might be a blowout right now. Instead, Damien Harris just ran in his second touchdown of the day and we’re back to a one-score game. Bills just letting the Patriots hang around, and that has to feel uncomfortable.

Cale Clinton: Loved the play design on that fourth-and-3, too. Mac Jones faked the handoff left side then rolled back right. As he was fading toward the sideline, Jones was able to throw across his body and find Jakobi Meyers, who was lost in-between zone coverages. Broadcast commentators said Jones showed shades of Josh Allen on the play. I wouldn’t go that far, but it converted the fourth down and set up for the Harris touchdown two plays later.

J.P. Acosta: For what it’s worth, Mac Jones made some great throws on that drive, especially the fourth down where he redirected traffic. The Bills defense has played stupendous, but their offense stalls out in the red zone. Can’t settle for field goals anymore.

Aaron Schatz: I wonder why Isaiah McKenzie doesn’t get more play. He got some playing time at the end of last year and was very good, and he has been excellent as Cole Beasley’s fill-in today. Just had a diving catch for 28 yards on a drive where the Bills really need a score.

Bryan Knowles: Wait, the Bills scored on a traditional handoff inside the 5-yard line? They’re allowed to do that?

Scott Spratt: I wonder if it’s because McKenzie tends to air out his feelings on things like being benched on special teams on Twitter?

Head coach Sean McDermott strikes me as a “keep things in the locker room” kind of guy.

Bryan Knowles: If anyone can explain to me why the late hit on Mac Jones resulted in offsetting penalties … I mean, the Patriots were coming in to defend their quarterback, no blows were exchanged, and they got called for taunting? Ugh.

Well, anyway, a nice pass from Mac Jones to Jakobi Meyers, and a nice scramble before taking the shot set up New England to score Harris’ third touchdown of the day. 26-21 Bills, and the Patriots keep hanging in there. They’ll need a stop at SOME point, though, if they actually want to get on top.

Aaron Schatz: Much better drive by Mac Jones. He showed good touch to hit receivers on the run and did a good job of moving around in the pocket to avoid blitzers. His best drive of the day. Let’s see now if the Patriots defense can actually hold the Bills. They haven’t been able to do it at all today: five scores and a drive that ended on fourth-and-goal from the 1.

Aaron Schatz: Bills get two big catches by Isaiah McKenzie on their next drive. One in stride, one diving. Myles Bryant of the Patriots simply cannot cover him today.

Cale Clinton: McKenzie’s second catch really highlighted the mismatch between him and Bryant. Bryant had hands on him, playing decent man coverage early in the route. McKenzie broke in toward the middle of the field and left Bryant in the dust. An extra 1 or 2 yards of separation before Bryant changed direction. As they both continue to develop McKenzie and Gabriel Davis are going to make for a good duo behind Diggs in Buffalo’s offense.

I forgot that McKenzie was fined along with Cole Beasley for not following unvaccinated guidelines back in August. While Beasley continued to, well, be Beasley, McKenzie got his first dose the very next day.

Probably not the only reason he’s playing today, but that definitely played a small part in his availability]

Cale Clinton: Cause of death: shovel pass.

Josh Allen escapes pressure and finds Stefon Diggs on a shovel. Diggs smashes the spin-move button like he’s playing a Mario Party minigame to make it down to New England’s 7-yard line. Two plays later, Allen throws a shovel touchdown pass to Dawson Knox along the goal line. Buffalo has hung 33 points on the top-ranked defense by DVOA.

Aaron Schatz: Just wrapping this up: an all-around loss for the Patriots. Can’t blame the running game, which had a good day, but Mac Jones was off most of the afternoon and definitely showed his weaknesses. There was really no danger of the deep pass. And the defense had a terrible day, with the Bills not punting a single time. Buffalo scored on nearly every drive except the one that ended on fourth-and-goal at the 1, plus the end of each half. They did a good job of covering Stefon Diggs, but could not stop Isaiah McKenzie or the underneath passes to the running backs. Very little pass rush for most of the day. They just were not winning with four rushers and sometimes they were using three or even two rushers and definitely not winning on those downs.

The order of New England’s good and bad performances complicated things, but in the end, we’re going to be pretty much where we predicted things before the season, with the Bills winning the division and the Patriots winning a wild card. The Pats will be favored in their two remaining games, especially Jacksonville next week, although the Dolphins aren’t a pushover. The Bills should win their last two games (Atlanta, Jets) pretty easily, although, hey, this year’s Bills, you never know. In the offseason we’ll have to look and try to figure out why DVOA loved the Patriots’ performances against Cleveland and Tennessee so darn much, and if there’s a lesson in there that will help us to improve the system overall.

Aaron Schatz: Just to add, to keep from being too Patriots-centric … Josh Allen was awesome today. You saw every good thing he can do. Strong arm, mobility, good decision-making, ability to improvise like on those shovel passes at the end. He’s very difficult to defend and the lack of a pass rush didn’t help, but even if the pass rush gets there, he improvises and gets out of the pocket and then he could find an open receiver or just run 20 yards. Ben Volin said on Twitter that this game should win Allen the MVP. I think that’s ridiculous because you vote for awards based on an entire season instead of just one game and the Bills and Allen had some bad games this year, but if Allen had played like this the entire season he would definitely be the MVP.

Los Angeles Chargers 29 at Houston Texans 41

Scott Spratt: This game pitted a stoppable force in the 32nd-ranked Texans run offense against a movable object in the 32nd-ranked Chargers run defense, and the early advantage goes to the former. Rex Burkhead ran for 37 yards and a touchdown on three carries on the Texans’ opening drive, and the Texans lead 7-3 midway through the first quarter.

Scott Spratt: Wait, the Jets jumped the Chargers for last place in run defense DVOA? How very Jets of them. They rank 32nd in both pass and run defense.

Vince Verhei: Um, guys? The Texans have a nine-point lead over the Chargers in the fourth quarter. And they have the ball. I have zero idea how we got to this point but I just put this game on one of my screens.

Scott Spratt: The Texans, Jaguars, and Lions all have a chance to win in their respective fourth quarters. This race for the No. 1 pick is about to become as muddled as the AFC playoff picture!

Vince Verhei: Texans kick a field goal to open up a 27-15 lead. As for how we got here, I assume Houston’s 3-0 advantage in the turnover margin largely tells the story, but it’s also a case where the league’s worst rushing offense is trampling the second-worst rushing defense (and the Chargers might fall back into last place after this one). Rex Burkhead has run for 92 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries.

Vince Verhei: Well, that didn’t last long. Chargers take barely three minutes to drive 75 yards in nine plays. They didn’t even get to third down on the drive. Justin Jackson runs in a 9-yard touchdown (his second score of the day) and Jared Cook adds a two-point conversion, and the lead is cut to 27-23. Still nearly six minutes left in this one so we have a long way to go.

Vince Verhei: Burkhead finishes the Chargers off and the Texans are going to win this one. Burkhead got a 4-yard gain on third-and-3 to prevent a three-and-out, then gains of 36 and 14 yards to put Houston into the red zone. That makes him Houston’s first 100-yard rusher this year. Davis Mills hits Nico Collins for a 13-yard touchdown and Houston goes up 34-23 with less than three minutes to go.

Rivers McCown: This was a big game for dissonance. I was very confused by the Chargers not challenging Mills more with blitzes or really doing anything to change up their game plan once it looked solved early. Here’s the entirety of my thoughts.

Jacksonville Jaguars 21 at New York Jets 26

Aaron Schatz: Zach Wilson 52-yard scramble touchdown? Sure.

J.P. Acosta: It looked like Jaguars defensive back Rudy Ford slowed up thinking that Wilson would go out of bounds. He chose incorrectly.

J.P. Acosta: It doesn’t get any more Jets-Jags than this: Trevor Lawrence keeps the ball on a read option but fumbles before he gets to the end zone. Ball rolls into the end zone and is picked up by Jaguars right guard Will Richardson, who scored his first touchdown ever. The play is under review right now however.

J.P. Acosta: Rough news for James Robinson. Ian Rapoport confirms that Robinson tore his Achilles.

J.P. Acosta: The Jaguars immediately give up a 103-yard kickoff return touchdown to Braxton Berrios and the Jets go back up 13-9.

J.P. Acosta: If there’s anything you can learn from watching these offenses play, it’s that their rookie quarterbacks need help. Zach Wilson had his second offensive possession of the game, and one bad throw on first down, a small gain on a run, then a drop on third down sits him back down for the drive.

J.P. Acosta: That’s the second tipped pass for Wilson that was almost Intercepted. Tyler Kroft almost caught it as well

J.P. Acosta: Trevor Lawrence dropped back to pass off play-action and the Jets sent a blitz. Three Jet defenders get to Lawrence, who loses the football trying to make a play. An accurate summary of the Jaguars season.

J.P. Acosta: The Jets go for it on fourth down with a … designed option play with the kicker? They faked the field goal and it’s stuffed by Jaguars defensive back Tyson Campbell, and the Jaguars get the ball back only down 4.

J.P. Acosta: This is the Zach Wilson the Jets were hoping for. Fourth-and-goal, Wilson is rolling out and evades pressure to find Connor McDermott, the extra offensive lineman, for a touchdown to push the Jets lead back out to 8.

J.P. Acosta: Trevor Lawrence looked the part of a franchise quarterback, leading the Jaguars down to the goal line, but an illegal shift on fourth-and-goal ended their hopes of a comeback victory. The Jets won 26-21, and Zach Wilson and the Jets running game ran all over Jacksonville.

Baltimore Ravens 21 at Cincinnati Bengals 41

Scott Spratt: The Ravens were already missing their entire starting secondary and then lost their backup cornerback Anthony Averett charged with defending Ja’Marr Chase early in this one. And it shows. Tyler Boyd ran a tight out-and-up and was just streaking upfield for a 68-yard touchdown.

It’s 17-7 Bengals, and I don’t know how the Ravens keep this game close.

Scott Spratt: Daryl Worley (former Panthers legend) just got flagged for a pretty iffy defensive holding penalty on what became his interception in the back of the end zone. That looks like a back-breaker for the depleted Ravens. Two plays later, the Bengals scored their 31st point, still in the first half. Third-string Ravens quarterback Josh Johnson has performed admirably with 7.8 yards per attempt and no turnovers. But the depleted Ravens defense is no match for Joe Burrow and a healthy Bengals offense. It’s 31-14 just in the final few seconds of the second quarter.

Vince Verhei: Discussion point: The Bengals have the best wide receiver corps in the league.

Exhibit A: Ja’Marr Chase. Just, Ja’Marr Chase.

Exhibit B: That catch-and-run touchdown by third receiver Tyler Boyd:

Exhibit C: This catch by Tee Higgins:

Yes, they’re playing the backups to the backups to Baltimore’s backups, but Zac Stacy comes from the Sean McVay tree, and like McVay, he has built his offense around a talented, deep set of wideouts, and the Bengals have done a fine job of getting him what he needs.

Scott Spratt: I’ll agree if we’re only including healthy players. But if everyone is included, I’ll take the Bucs trio of Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, and Antonio Brown. The Bucs even have starter-worthy bench receivers such as Scotty Miller and Tyler Johnson. The Bengals have a thin bench of guys like Mike Thomas and Stanley Morgan, often confused with the other Mike Thomas and with an investment banking firm, respectively.

Scott Spratt: Per the broadcast, Joe Burrow has two of the just seven ever performances with 400 passing yards and three passing touchdowns against the Ravens in the latter’s franchise history. And Burrow had both of his this season. The other four 400-3 games came from Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady.

New York Giants 10 at Philadelphia Eagles 34

Bryan Knowles: I have had this game on my second screen because of its importance to the playoff race, and my first-half opinion is that both teams should be thrown into the sun, and then maybe we should trigger the sun to go supernova to avoid anyone else from having to watch these teams play football. The Giants are offensively incompetent—Jake Fromm is 5-for-15 for 18 yards, and Saquon Barkley leads their rushing attack with 12 attempts for 27 yards. Philadelphia has one big play, a 46-yard pass to DeVonta Smith, but that’s it. Take it out, and the Eagles are averaging 3.6 yards per play, which is still better than the Giants’ 2.2 yards per play. Oh, and it’s 3-3, because that huge Smith catch led to Philly settling for a 22-yard game-tying field goal.

The sun. Just don’t let either of these passers do the throwing, because they’ll miss.

Vince Verhei: San Francisco’s loss on Thursday night offered the Eagles a prime opportunity, needing only a home win against a bad team playing a third-string quarterback to make up ground in the playoff race. They have responded with their worst half of football in a long time and are tied 3-3 at halftime. They were trailing for a good chunk of the first half before a big DeVonta Smith deep-ball catch set up their field goal. Every time I look at this game the Eagles are putting the ball on the ground or dropping passes or committing penalties or missing field goals. The Giants haven’t intercepted any passes yet, but it’s not for lack of opportunity—Hurts is giving them all sorts of chancees, and shows little sign of being a guy you’d want starting for your team in 2022.

The Giants aren’t hiding Jake Fromm as much as you might expect—they have called 16 passes, 18 runs—but, well, it’s Jake Fromm. He has only completed five passes, none have gained more than 8 yards, and two have gone backwards.

Bryan Knowles: The second play of the second half is Jake Fromm throwing a terrible lollypop right to Rodney McLeod—the first of what, I am sure, will be many for Fromm. Boston Scott converts it into points, and the Eagles have a 10-3 lead. Thrilling!

Vince Verhei: Fromm threw that while taking a hit from a rusher coming right into his face. Eagles got away with a facemask on the hit, but that doesn’t change what was a terrible decision/throw by Fromm.

Bryan Knowles: Mike Glennon is now in for the Giants. You may be surprised to learn it has not immediately solved all of New York’s problems.

Bryan Knowles: I suppose one of the differences between a team of Philadelphia’s quality and a team of New York’s quality is that the former can go into halftime after a terrible half and shake things off, but the latter cannot. The third quarter has been all Eagles, as they have opened things up to a 20-3 lead.

The last touchdown was, uh, interesting, to say the least. DeVonta Smith caught a pass which was ruled a touchdown on the field. And then they went into the replay booth, and overturned it. And then, apparently, New York buzzed them again and went “wait, what?” because they went back to review it AGAIN, and decided it was, in fact, a touchdown. Uh … I’d love to hear an explanation of what happened there; it would probably be more entertaining than this game has been.

Los Angeles Rams 30 at Minnesota Vikings 23

Vince Verhei: Rams lead 13-3 at halftime in a game that has been much sloppier than you might expect, given the dome in Minnesota and the quality of the teams involved. But neither Kirk Cousins nor Matthew Stafford is averaging even 6 yards per throw, and each has thrown a costly interception in the Vikings territory. Cousins threw a tip-drill pick on third-and-8, costing the Vikings a field goal opportunity, but he later got another crack at the red zone when Stafford threw one of the worst interceptions of the year.

If Zach Wilson or Drew Lock or Panthers QB had thrown that pick we’d be making jokes about him all week.

Sony Michel is the biggest reason the Rams are winning—he’s up to 11 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown.

The Vikings may have to come back in this one without their full arsenal. No Dalvin Cook today, and Adam Thielen has left the game with an ankle injury.

And now Stafford opens the second half with another interception, underthrowing Van Jefferson on a deep ball into double-coverage.

Vince Verhei: Two first-rounders and a starting quarterback for this. And Jared Goff hasn’t thrown three picks in a game this year.

Alexander Mattison punches it in from there to cut the lead to 13-10.

Vince Verhei: This turned into something of a shootout in the last 20 minutes or so, but it looks like the Rams are going to come away with a win. They got a punt return touchdown by Brandon Powell, a long touchdown drive ending in a Stafford-to-Odell Beckham scoring strike, and just now a long field goal drive for a 30-20 lead that should salt this away. The Vikings have scored a field goal and a touchdown of their own (the latter a touchdown catch by K.J. Osborn), but the early hole they dug themselves was too much to overcome.

Detroit Lions 16 at Atlanta Falcons 20

Scott Spratt: Remember when Tim Boyle threw for just 77 yards and two interceptions in a spot start in Week 11? Well, he is close to 200 yards today without an interception and is leading a two-minute drive to try to beat the Falcons in the fourth quarter. The fighting Dan Campbells are at it again!

Scott Spratt: Oof, I should have kept my mouth shut. Boyle just threw an interception on the goal line right to Falcons defender and Aaron’s favorite player Foyesade Oluokun. The Falcons are going to win 20-16 and are alive for the playoffs at 7-8 despite ranking 32nd in overall DVOA.

Chicago Bears 25 at Seattle Seahawks 24

Vince Verhei: Welcome to Seattle, where the Seahawks will play a home game in the snow for just the third time ever. And it’s a good snow, and still falling, the kind of weather that can obscure yard lines and cause all sorts of chaos. Could be a memorable game, if not particularly meaningful.

And, because the Seahawks are lousy, and also because two inches of snow will shut the city of Seattle down like … well, much more than a pandemic, if I’m being honest … this stadium is maybe half-full. The XFL Dragons may have drawn more fans in this building. It’s an eerie atmosphere.

Carl Yedor: Frankly, with how this season has gone for Seattle, this game deserves to be a mess. I have a feeling that if Seattle wins today, Carroll will describe the game as “so frickin’ fun.” Both teams traded punts on their opening possessions, but Seattle put together a pretty explosive drive on its second one. Rashaad Penny broke a 25-yard run before DK Metcalf beat his man deep down the sideline for a 41-yard touchdown. 7-0 early here.

Carl Yedor: Update here: the Bears just had a 15-play, 71-yard drive result in no points after being stopped on fourth-and-goal at the 4 when Nick Foles tried to throw short of the end zone to David Montgomery. Montgomery had two defenders near him as he caught the ball, leaving him no chance of getting in. Chicago’s biggest play of the drive was a well-underthrown deep shot on third-and-long that drew pass interference. Fun stuff.

Vince Verhei: And then it’s the 2021 Seahawks Defense specialty, the drive that lasts forever and ever but doesn’t get a touchdown. Bears go 71 yards on 15 plays as Nick Foles converts on third-and-9, third-and-8, and third-and-10 (the latter on a DPI so doesn’t officially count as a play). But on third-and-goal, Foles’ pass at the goal line is tipped and doesn’t come close to anyone. Fourth-and-goal, he hits David Montgomery well short of the end zone, and Montgomery is tackled at the 2. That’s one hell of a failed completion there. Seahawks still up 7-0 at the start of the second.

Vince Verhei: Seahawks lead 17-7 at the half. Bears’ only points came on a 15-yard touchdown drive set up by a 28-yard Dazz Newsome punt return. They’re averaging less than 3 yards per rush and less than 5 yards per pass play, they have committed five penalties, there’s about nothing they can do. Carlos Dunlap has found a role as a relief edge rusher, playing much more effectively coming off the bench than he did as a starter. He swatted the ball out of Foles’ hands on one play where all 22 players thought was an incomplete pass and just stood there. Then they ruled it a fumble and Seattle’s ball. Then they reviewed it and said it was incomplete after all. That was Chicago’s most exciting play today.

Seattle used a lot of empty sets on second-quarter drives that ended in a touchdown and a field goal. It seemed to simplify things for Russell Wilson, letting him diagnose pass rushes and know when he had time to scramble and when he had to hit the hot route. He did miss a wide-open Nick Bellore on a go route for what would have been a long touchdown, but at least his checkdown throw did pick up a first down.

Scott Spratt: A snow storm has to be the dream for a defense like the Seahawks that is seventh in DVOA against the run and 28th against the pass.

Vince Verhei: I mean, the weather probably helps. But it’s the Bears. It’s not like receivers are slipping or dropping passes. Seattle’s defensive front is blowing up the Bears line. They’d be winning in the snow, or rain, or sun, or the top of a mountain or the middle of the street or the bottom of the sea.

Vince Verhei: Bears running backs carry them back into this game. David Montgomery runs for first downs on a pair of third-and-1s, with a 16-yard gain on a screen pass on second-and-11 mixed in. Khalil Herbert then gets loose around left end for a 20-yard touchdown run on second-and-8, and the lead is cut to 17-14.

Carl Yedor: And then Seattle answers right back with a four-play touchdown drive capped off by a 24-yard strike to Gerald Everett on a corner route to make it 24-14. The offenses appear to be coming alive as the game progresses. Chicago’s response drive is filled with chunk plays to end the third quarter. On the other side of the quarter break, the Bears end up converting a fourth-and-inches to set up first-and-goal from the 5 before immediately going backwards. Cairo Santos hits the 35-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 24-17 with about 11 minutes remaining.

Vince Verhei: The snow and wind have mostly stopped, which somewhat explains the offenses warming up.

A big Rashaad Penny run gets Seattle into the red zone (he’s up to 126 yards on 15 carries now), but Wilson takes a monster sack to turn third-and-5 into fourth-and-17. And then Jason Myers misses a field goal, and now the Bears have the ball, only down seven, with about seven minutes to go.

Vince Verhei: Much to my surprise, we haven’t mentioned Matt Nagy at all today. But now the Bears have a fourth-and-4 at their own 46, trailing 24-17, and they opt to go for it. Foles has a clean pocket at first, but nobody open, and pressure finally gets to him and forces him to throw wide downfield. (There’s contact, but nothing like what we saw go uncalled at the end of the Rams game.) Seattle takes over in Bears territory.

There’s still more than four minutes left and the Bears have all their timeouts. The Seahawks are dangerous but have been a three-and-out machine for most of the year. If I’m Chicago I’m punting there and trusting my defense.

And in fact Seattle gets one first down but then goes backwards on a holding penalty. They end up punting from the 41-yard line, only 5 yards downfield from where they took over.

Bryan Knowles: After punting, Seattle’s defense, err, parts. Darnell Mooney gets 30 yards, with 15 more tacked on for roughing the passer. Then a couple of screens to David Montgomery drive the Bears closer, and Jimmy Graham, of all people, catches a touchdown.

And, because why the heck not, the Bears go for two, with Damiere Byrd displaying amazing body control to get his knee down as he was being shoved out of bounds. Bears take a 25-24 lead. The Seahawks will be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs if Russell Wilson can’t do something in the last 61 seconds.

Vince Verhei: Seattle’s defense decides not to tackle. Bears get gains of 30, 10, and 11 yards as defenders are trying to rip the ball out instead of putting the ball carrier on the ground. There’s a sack-fumble in the red zone, but Bears recover, and on third-and-14 it’s Jimmy Graham of all people out-jumping double-coverage for the touchdown grab.

But then the Bears go for two with 1:01 to go and Seattle still with two timeouts! They get it, so they’re up 25-24, but Seattle has plenty of time to drive for a winning field goal. Definitely should have gone for one there.

Bryan Knowles: Counterpoint, Vince: Would YOU want to play extra football in the snow?

Vince Verhei: OK, Bryan, there is a valid point I had not considered.

Vince Verhei: Or not. Yet another hold puts Seattle in long-yardage, then a false start turns fourth-and-1 into fourth-and-6, then offsetting penalties means we do fourth-and-6 again, and then Wilson has Lockett open for a first down but overthrows him, and the Bears win.

Carl Yedor: Seattle had several chances to ice the game before the Bears’ go-ahead touchdown drive, but self-inflicted wounds kept this a seven-point game and allowed the Bears to take the lead on that two-point conversion. The Seahawks seemingly employed a similar defensive approach as they did protecting a lead against the Titans in Week 2 where they simply conceded checkdowns to the running back with tons of time remaining while only up one score. It’s not like the clock prevented those plays from being viable, and in both cases, the Titans and Bears were able to easily move the ball down the field ahead of the touchdown.

Seattle’s attempted comeback drive stalls out immediately because of a holding penalty, and Chicago will (somehow) win this game.

Vince Verhei: Don’t forget, Carl, they used a similar strategy against Minnesota even though they were losing for most of the game. They have a knack for relying on prevent defenses and soft zones, giving up way too many easy completions, and losing winnable games because of it.

Oh well. In the long run, a miracle rally into the playoffs might have done more harm than good if it convinced the franchise that they were on the right track and prevented needed changes from being made.

Scott Spratt: I think the Bears may hang a banner of Vince’s comments in their locker room: “Seattle’s defensive front is blowing up the Bears line. They’d be winning in the snow, or rain, or sun, or the top of a mountain or the middle of the street or the bottom of the sea.”

Vince Verhei: Well, in the first half, that was true!

Bryan Knowles: Amusingly, this game locks Seattle into fourth place, meaning they’ll play the Jets again next season, the first 17th game to be secured. They’ll get to see how their first-round pick is doing!

Pittsburgh Steelers 10 at Kansas City Chiefs 36

J.P. Acosta: The Chiefs defensive line getting after Ben Roethlisberger early, forcing him to move off his spot, and eventually getting a sack to end Pittsburgh’s opening drive. Since adding Melvin Ingram and moving Chris Jones back to defensive tackle, their defensive line has taken off as a unit.

J.P. Acosta: Despite not having Travis Kelce, the Chiefs pretty much marched down the field to open up the scoring with a touchdown run by Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who bounced off of a couple of Steelers defenders. Tackling is a lost art form!

Patrick Mahomes was taking the underneath passes that were given to him, and easily found holes in the Steelers zone defense. Rather easy drive.

Scott Spratt: Well that was the funniest flea-flicker I have ever seen.

Bonus points for coming right after CBS ran a Roethlisberger go route Next Gen Stats package.

J.P. Acosta: The Chiefs followed up on that Yakety Sax interception with another easy touchdown. Mahomes had all the time in the world to scan the field then fire a touchdown. 14-0 Chiefs early.

Scott Spratt: You can probably blame heavy winds for Chris Boswell’s 36-yard field goal miss, but the Steelers don’t look like they belong on the same field with the Chiefs. The Chiefs are out-gaining the Steelers 5.6 yards per play to 4.3. They have 15 first downs versus five. They have 18:01 time of possession to 8:52. And they lead the game 17-0 and just made it back to the red zone in the final few minutes of the first half.

Aaron Schatz: Even the two long Chase Claypool catches on that Steelers missed field goal drive had very strong coverage, Claypool had to make great hands catches to bring those balls in.

And Mecole Hardman just found the end zone after a long throw to Derrick Gore getting past Minkah Fitzpatrick for 50 yards, and now it will be 24-0 (assuming they get the extra point, which, you know, backup kicker, so… ).

Aaron Schatz: Ha ha ha, backup kickers. The Chiefs miss the extra point. So make it 23-0.

Aaron Schatz: Hell for a Pittsbugh Steelers fan is mesh that gets tackled short of the line to gain, over and over and over and over again.

Scott Spratt: Let’s check in on the Steelers offense…

Yikes! This isn’t even the snow game. The Steelers could not afford that down 23-0.

Bryan Knowles: Well, fear no more, the Steelers are roaring back. A 34-yard field goal down 30-0 is definitely what they need to make things competitive once again. Well done, excellent job all around.

Denver Broncos 13 at Las Vegas Raiders 17

Bryan Knowles: The Raiders, just trying to play safe with 30 seconds in the half, call a nice little screen pass. But Derek Carr can’t get the ball over Bradley Chubb’s head; Chubb tips and intercepts it and brings it back down to the 1. Javonte Williams punches it in a play later, and instead of going into half with a 7-6 lead, the Raiders now are down 13-7! Disaster!

Vince Verhei: That came right after the Broncos recovered a Josh Jacobs fumble to set up a Brandon McManus 55-yard field goal.

Denver’s last two drives: four plays, 5 yards, 10 points.

Bryan Knowles: The Raiders may have a strategy here in the second half. The take the kickoff and go: Run, run, run, play-action pass, run, run, run, run, run for a touchdown. It’s not like Denver is particularly bad against the run compared to the pass or anything, but after a balanced first half, Las Vegas has just said “screw it, we’ll pound Josh Jacobs until you stop us.” So far: the Broncos have not stopped them. 14-13 Raiders.

Washington Football Team 14 at Dallas Cowboys 56

Scott Spratt: Wow, Trevon Diggs straight-up looked like a wide receiver on this interception down the right sideline.

Diggs now has three interceptions in his last four games. That isn’t quite seven straight games, but it seems like it could put him back in the defensive player of the year race. Eleven is a lot of interceptions.

Bryan Knowles: Dallas may be having a secret bet to see how many times they can put the ball on the ground and be OK. They ran a copy-cat lateral play on their first drive, with Amari Cooper dropping the pass back and losing all the ground the initial completion had gained. When you’re copying the Jets’ offense, something may be amiss. On their second drive, Ezekiel Elliott just didn’t catch the pitch, but was lucky enough to dive on the ball before Washington could capitalize. Dallas scored two plays later, so they’re up 7-0, but hold on to the ball, guys.

Bryan Knowles: The refs may still be working off their hot bowls of Christmas punch, because I’m fairly sure centers aren’t allowed to be this far downfield before the ball is thrown.

J.P. Acosta: One thing I have noticed in the game so far outside of that egregious missed offensive lineman downfield is how the Cowboys are using CeeDee Lamb in the slot. It has been all season, but Dak Prescott is just finding Lamb in the soft spots of the zone because he’s such a matchup nightmare in that position.

Bryan Knowles: We’re not even done with the first quarter yet and Washington already has a pair of interceptions, the latest one returned for a touchdown by Demarcus Lawrence. Washington is, theoretically, a playoff contender.

Turn out the lights, the party’s over…

J.P. Acosta: Washington’s offensive line is getting eaten alive. They can’t block and it’s forcing Taylor Heinecke into low-percentage throws. And also Demarcus Lawrence is fantastic.

Aaron Schatz: We are now at 35-7 and it isn’t even halftime. I think the Dallas offensive slump is over.

Vince Verhei: I realize this game is terrible and there is nothing else to talk about but I am already sick of seeing and talking about the stupid fight on Washington’s sideline.

J.P. Acosta: 42-7 before halftime. Does Washington plan on playing defense tonight? Will we see Cooper Rush? Should Jerry Jones take snaps at receiver in the second half? Find out next time on Dragonball Z.

Tom Gower: I have spent most of the weekend engaged in holiday-related activities and travel, so Sunday Night Football is the first game I have been able to watch since the 49ers-Titans game on Thursday, and, well … the Cowboys look awesome, and Washington does not.

Trevon Diggs again—Aaron mentioned on his appearance on Good Morning Football that Night Train Lane’s record of 14 interceptions is the most unbreakable NFL mark. Diggs needs three in the final two and a half games to match that, but even in the unlikely event he gets there, Lane did it in 12 games, and needing potentially 17 games to get there is quite a different accomplishment. Kind of like Eric Dickerson needed 16 games to set the single-season total rush yards record compared to O.J. Simpson’s 143 yards per game in 1973, a per-game average that, say, Derrick Henry was never at at any point this season.

Taylor Heinicke is, well, Taylor Heinicke, and Washington’s depleted line is what it is, but the Dallas defensive front has been great even well beyond Lawrence’s terrific individual effort on his pick-six.

The offense, yeah, this is the offense we saw a bit of early in the season and haven’t been seeing lately. J.P. mentioned earlier the use of Lamb in the slot; the wide receivers have been so banged up we haven’t really seen the obvious potential of those three receivers, with Gallup taking a sideline position and Lamb and/or Cooper moving inside when asked, on display in their full form until tonight. The running stats aren’t super-impressive, and of course they’re still missing Tyron Smith, but the line’s playing well enough against Washington’s still-talented defensive tackles. And whenever they haven’t, Dak has shown off that pocket movement. He hasn’t been perfect, but the timing and ball placement has still been excellent tonight. Now we just have 30 more minutes of hoping nobody gets hurt.

Bryan Knowles: I think my takeaway from this game is that bringing their own heated benches from home did not help Washington tonight.

compiled by Andrew Potter


https://www.footballoutsiders.com/audibles/2021/bills-defeat-patriots-critical-afc-east-matchup

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