Ghost tackles and ill-timed celebrations: in the NFL, silly mistakes doom teams
There is a reason why they don’t call American football “the beautiful game.” It can be poetic, for sure, but often NFL games are decided by flat-out ugly mistakes. Successful NFL play-calling requires pinpoint execution by every player on the field and a single slipup can lead to disaster. We saw several such cases on Sunday.
Let’s start with the Carolina Panthers, who were a successful extra-point attempt away from beating the Atlanta Falcons. PJ Walker had connected with DJ Moore on a 62-yard Hail Mary pass that no less of an expert than Patrick Mahomes called “the best throw of the year.” The game was tied and there were just 12 seconds left on the clock.
Unfortunately, Moore was so (understandably) enthused that he removed his helmet and celebrated what he was sure would be the game-winner. The Panthers were quickly dinged with a penalty that pushed back the extrapoint attempt. As a result, Eddy Pineiro had to hit one through the uprights from 48 yards. He was unsuccessful.
The game remained tied, so both teams headed into overtime where the fates handed Pineiro another chance to make a game-winner. In overtime, Falcons quarterback Marcus Mariota threw an interception that gave them possession, eventually setting up a 33yard field goal attempt that … Pineiro also missed.
It was the Falcons’ Younghoe Koo who ended up making the actual gamewinner on Atlanta’s next possession. With their 37-34 victory, the Falcons secured the top spot in the NFC South, just above Tom Brady’s 3-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, despite having just a 4-4 record. Meanwhile, the Panthers are 2-6 and prop up a bad division.
Pineiro probably had the worst Sunday of just about any NFL player – kickers are usually the goat and never the GOAT. But he was not alone in making high-profile screwups. Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields had one of his best statistical games on Sunday, even if his team lost 49-29 to a superior Dallas Cowboys team. He threw for 151 yards, with two touchdowns and no picks, all part of an efficient 17-for-23 performance.
That’s not what people will remember about Fields in this game though. No, the abiding image was Fields hopping over Micah Parsons after the Cowboys linebacker scooped up a fumble. Any contact would have led to the end of the play, but Fields’s ill-conceived leap gave Parsons the time to score a defensive touchdown.
“It was my fault for just hopping over him,” the second-year QB said afterward. “I should’ve tagged him. But I can’t tell you the last time I made a tackle.”
Sometimes games are determined simply by which side screws up the least. Take, for instance, how things shook out between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets. Already down 10-3, Patriots quarterback Mac Jones threw a brutal pick-six that had seemingly given the Jets a 16-3 lead, 17-3 if you assume the extra point. (Eddy Pineiro would like to remind you to never assume the extra point.)
However, that play and those points were wiped away after Jets defensive end John Franklin-Myers was called for roughing the passer. The Patriots, as teams often do when given a do-over, took advantage of this momentum shift – plus three interceptions from the Jets’ increasingly suspect quarterback Zach Wilson – and ended up winning by a mere five points. The Patriots were delighted with the win – but, as so often in football, it was the other team’s mistakes that decided the game.
MVP of the week
Jalen Hurts, QB, Philadelphia Eagles. It’s safe to say that things are exciting in Philadelphia sports right now. At the same time the Phillies are facing the Houston Astros in the World
Series and the Union are preparing for the MLS Cup final, the Eagles are continuing their unbeaten streak here in the NFL. Some credit must go to Hurts, who looked every bit a franchise quarterback during his team’s 35-13 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Despite not being known for throwing the deep ball, Hurts proved his skeptics wrong with long touchdown passes to shut down the Steelers. On Sunday, Hurts threw for four touchdowns, and zero interceptions, for a total of 285 yards. If Hurts continues like this, there may well be another Philadelphia team playing for a title in a few months.
Video of the week
Blocking a field goal is tricky even when you are using the entirety of your body. So we should give Arizona Cardinals lineman Leki Fotu the honor of our video of the week after he blocked a kick with his face. Here’s the sloweddown version in case you want to see, in detail, Fotu’s helmet taking one for the team.
While the play saved the Cardinals three points it didn’t end up being a game-changer. In fact, the Minnesota Vikings eventually defeated them 34-26. The Vikings improved to 6-1 and the Cardinals fell to 3-5.
Stat of the week
135. That’s how many games it took for the Detroit Lions to score at least 27 points in a first half since the last time they did it back in November 2013. It was the longest such drought in the NFL, which is somehow not the most Lions-y part of this statistic. No, the truly predictable part was that after putting up a 27-17 halftime lead on the Miami Dolphins, Detroit failed to score again and eventually lost 31-27. The Lions are now 1-5 on the year and if they aren’t actually tanking, it’s probably time for them to start pretending that they are just to save face.
Quote of the week
“The best cowboys team I seen since the 90s… I’ll argue with whoever about it.” – Former Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant on Twitter, hyping the 2022 incarnation of the team.
Bryant knows that he’s making a bold claim, as those 90s Cowboys won three championships. Since then, however, Dallas have been mostly underperforming in the playoffs. Bryant knows this firsthand as well, given that one of those defeats was the infamous loss to the Green Bay Packers that hinged on a reversed call on his apparent catch.
Could this be the team that changes that trend? Well, at 6-2, the Cowboys are looking sharp in the regular season at least. On Sunday, Dak Prescott – one of those most underrated QBs in the game – proved that his thumb injury wasn’t bothering him by throwing two touchdowns. He also ran for a third TD during the team’s impressive 49-29 win over an overmatched Chicago Bears. Their main problem at the moment? Sharing a division with those pesky Eagles.
Elsewhere around the league
-- The Carolina Panthers traded running back Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers earlier this month and the acquisition has already paid dividends for San Francisco. During the 49ers’ 31-14 win over the Los Angeles Rams, McCaffery was involved in three separate touchdowns, which is impressive enough on its own.
Well, it becomes an even more startling accomplishment considering the different ways McCaffrey was involved with each touchdown. Now, one of those was a rushing TD in the fourth quarter, which is the kind of production you expect from a star running back. Before that, he had a receiving TD after hauling in a Jimmy Garoppolo throw in the third quarter. Again, many running backs also sometimes double as receivers, so that’s not shocking.
No, it was in the first quarter that he pulled off the real stunner, throwing a 34-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk to put up the first 49ers points of the game. The last player to throw for a touchdown in the same game where he also had a receiving and rushing touchdown? That would be the great LaDainian Tomlinson back in 2005.
-- The Green Bay Packers are off to their worst eight-game start (3-5) under Aaron Rodgers after a 27-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday Night Football. It’s also the first time they’ve been 3-5 since 2006 when Brett Favre was their quarterback.
-- Have the New York Giants finally run out of luck? The Giants beat all preseason odds by going 6-1 through their first seven games, but facing the Seattle Seahawks on the road ended up being too tough of a task on Sunday. They lost 27-13 to fall to 6-2. The good news for the Giants is that they have a bye coming up and then their next game will be at home against the dreadful Houston Texans, whose record fell to 1-5-1 after their loss to the Tennessee Titans. 7-2 seems quite doable. Meanwhile, Geno Smith continues his brilliant late-career renaissance for Seattle – he threw two touchdowns on Sunday in another impressive performance.
-- Russell Wilson continues to have less-than-stellar moments during marquee games. This time around, the Denver Broncos quarterback was in London playing the Jacksonville Jaguars. With the seconds ticking away before the end of the second half, Wilson attempted what appeared to be a Hail Mary. Except there were no receivers to catch the pass.
The internet got a good laugh at the result, but Wilson ultimately salvaged the day, piecing together a touchdown drive that helped a 21-17 come-frombehind victory. The Broncos are now 3-5 while the Jaguars are 2-6. It wasn’t really a battle of juggernauts, but since when does the league ever send those games to London?