Costly setbacks for Raiders, Colts
We’re at the point in the NFL season when the playoff picture starts to settle and teams who look the part start to separate from the rest of the field.
Week 12 provided some clarity, with AFC East teams like the Bills and Dolphins continuing to stack victories, while upstarts like the Raiders stumbled. In the NFC, the Buccaneers lost a key battle against the Chiefs. Given that the Saints keep piling up victories, Tampa Bay may be relegated to a wild card berth.
Meanwhile, players and coaches are making their cases for individual awards. And although he’s facing stiff competition for Coach of the Year and likely won’t be a serious candidate, the 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan deserves a ton of credit for keeping his team in the race.
Here are the Week 12 winners and losers.
Winners
The Mahomes-hill connection: Their 17-point lead nearly evaporated, but in a 27-24 victory against the Buccaneers on the road, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and receiver Tyreek Hill were close to making history. Hill caught 13 of 15 targets for 269 receiving yards with three touchdowns.
There has been some debate about whether Hill is a legitimate top-tier wide receiver in the NFL or whether he’s the beneficiary of an all-time quarterback and pass-happy coaching staff. But Hill’s 1,021 yards and 13 receiving scores are tops in the league.
Mahomes, meanwhile, had 462 passing yards to go with his three scores.
49ers’ playoff hopes: This is a team that has had numerous injuries at just about every key position, but with their 23-20 victory against the NFC West-rival Rams, the 49ers (5-6) are keeping their postseason aspirations alive.
The win snapped a three-game losing streakand sealed a season sweep against Los Angeles (7-4), putting San Francisco just one game back of the last wild-card seed in the NFC.
It’s the defense that is carrying this team. The Niners forced four turnovers, and defensive coordinator Robert Saleh continues to put his players in spots where they can make plays. But San Francisco also is getting reasonably healthy.
Aaron Rodgers’ MVP argument: Mahomes is the likely leader for MVP, but there’s one player who might be on his heels. With his 21-of-29 showing with 211 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-25 dismantling of the Bears, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is also in contention.
While Chicago’s offense is horrendous, its defense entered Sunday with the league’s best red zone efficiency (44.1%).
General manager job candidates: After the Jaguars announced they fired general manager Dave Caldwell and the Lions dismissed Bob Quinn two days after their disastrous Thanksgiving loss, there are now four open general manager jobs in the NFL.
The other two are with the Falcons and Texans. For both veterans of player personnel and up-and-coming candi
dates, this is great news.
Losers
Health and safety: As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on and with no bubble for the NFL to play in, it only makes sense that new confirmed cases within the league would would mirror trends in the country. But at this point, just three days after the U.S. reported 205,557 new confirmed cases, we need to seriously consider the merits of both playing pro football and hosting fans in stadiums.
At the very least, the NFL should more seriously weigh the health and safety of its workforce and the integrity of hospital capacity within its communities against the need to sustain a TV schedule and generate revenue. Tight schedules are certainly better for business. But extending the season or adding weeks would give teams more flexibility and ensure the product is stronger.
Broncos quarterbacks: After thirdstring passer Jeff Driskel tested positive for COVID-19 and the rest of the Broncos’ quarterbacks violated mask requirements, the team had to start a practice squad receiver, Kendall Hinton, at quarterback. In a 31-3 loss to the Saints, the outcome was as bad as you’d expect.
The Broncos rotated through Hinton and running backs Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman as players who took snaps. Hinton was the lone player to attempt a throw, and he completed just one of nine for 13 yards with two interceptions. This note is not to denigrate those three, who were put in an impossible position.
The blame rests with starter Drew Lock, backup Brett Rypien, Driskel and practice squad passer Blake Bortles for letting their “masking slip,” as Lock characterized it. Mask usage and social distancing are challenging to enforce. The debate across the country proves that.
Raiders: It seems like every year, the Raiders look like they’re on the cusp of breaking through and booking a trip to the postseason for the first time since the 2016 season. And it seems like every year, they suffer a head-scratching collapse.
Take last season. The 6-4 Raiders entered Week 12 ... before they lost 34-3 to the Jets, who were 3-7 at the time. This year, they entered Week 12 at 6-4 before they lost to the Falcons, 43-6, another team that was 3-7 entering Sunday.
Including that Jets game, the Raiders went on to drop five of their last six contests last season. While that doesn’t mean the team will have a similar collapse, familiar problems on defense were on display against Atlanta.
The Raiders allowed the Falcons to convert nine of 19 third-down tries. Atlanta scored in each of its five trips into the red zone, including three touchdowns. And Las Vegas’ pass rush was essentially nonexistent.
Colts’ D: This was actually one of the league’s better units headed into Sunday, one that hadn’t allowed an opposing offense to reach 400 total yards all season long. In a 45-26 demolition by the AFC South-rival Titans, Tennessee gained 449.
Running back Derrick Henry alone was responsible for 185 of them, including 178 on the ground. Indianapolis entered the week having allowed just 89.2 rushing yards per game.