Rivers, Luck, Allen put up a productive week
The 32 things we learned from the NFL’s Week 12:
1. Fair to say Philip Rivers was on point Sunday? He completed 25 passes in a row, most in a single league game, in the Chargers’ smackdown of Arizona.
2. It’s time to start talking about @CaptAndrewLuck (even though he was sacked for the first time since Week
5) as a bona fide MVP candidate. It’s much easier to imagine the Saints or Chiefs as potential playoff teams without their respective stud quarterbacks than the Colts sans Luck, who lofted at least three TD passes for the eighth consecutive game (second longest such streak in league history).
3. That said, does the public really want Indianapolis (6-5) or Miami (5-6) sneaking into the postseason? In one particularly putrid stretch of three plays between them, two Xavien Howard interceptions of Luck sandwiched a fumble by Miami rookie TE Mike Gesicki.
4. Linemen giveth: 6-9, 320-pound Steelers LT Alejandro Villanueva — he once played wide receiver for Army — caught his first NFL pass, a 2-yard TD ... naturally thrown by Pittsburgh K Chris Boswell.
5. Linemen taketh away: The 56th and final pass by Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger was intercepted in the end zone ... by Broncos NT Shelby Harris.
6. Was Indianapolis TE Eric Ebron the free agent signing of the offseason? He has 11 TD grabs in 2018, matching his total from the previous four seasons — combined.
7. Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey said of Bills rookie QB Josh Allen in an offseason interview with GQ: “Allen is trash. I don’t care what nobody say. He’s trash. And it’s gonna show too. That’s a stupid draft pick to me.” Sunday, Allen proceeded to trash the Jaguars, throwing a
75-yard TD and running one in from 14 yards in a 24-21 Buffalo win.
8. Welp. You coulda kept your job as Bills coach, Doug Marrone. After watching your talented but careening Jacksonville team — did you really have to drop the gloves, Leonard Fournette? — drop its seventh in a row, no guarantee you’ll be hanging onto this gig much longer.
9. It’s getting really hard to find the silver linings, @BortlesFacts, but the fact remains: BB5 has never lost to Buffalo ... in the playoffs.
10. I touted the Browns as a playoff dark horse in Week 3, after rookie Baker Mayfield cracked the lineup. Sure, they’re a pedestrian 4-5 since — though that’s a very happy factory by Cleveland standards — but are only 11⁄ games out 2 of the AFC’s final wild-card spot. On Sunday, Cleveland trounced the Bengals
35-20; Mayfield threw TD passes to four separate receivers, in Cincinnati.
11. Christian McCaffrey became the first Panthers player with 100 yards rushing (125) and receiving (112) in the same game.
12. However, Carolina couldn’t overcome more decisions that backfired on coach “Riverboat Ron” Rivera in a 30-27 loss to Seattle. He spurned a nearly automatic field goal in the first quarter, going for it on 4th-and-2 from the Seattle 5. Oops. With the score tied on the Panthers’ final possession, Rivera (understandably) allowed Graham Gano to attempt a 52-yard field goal, but that didn’t work out, either. Gano’s miss gave the Seahawks a short field — which they ultimately parlayed into Sebastian Janikowski’s winning, 31-yard field goal on the final play. (And, don’t forget, Rivera’s failed decision to go for two cemented a loss in Detroit last week.)
13. Despite the long flight, the Seahawks have won their last four regularseason games at Carolina.
14. Had the Jets’ Sam Darnold (foot) been able to play Sunday, there would have been a two-decade difference between starting quarterbacks: Darnold is
21 and New England’s Tom Brady 41.
15. Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski scored a touchdown for the first time since Week 1. Gronk’s stretch of six scoreless games had been the longest of his nine-year career.
16. Since trampling Denver for 323 rushing yards in Week 5, the Jets have averaged 77.5 in six games and been held to fewer than 100 in five in a row.
17. After surviving the Giants, the Eagles are one game out of first in the NFC East. However, history is against them. No team has repeated as division champion since Philadelphia’s four-year stranglehold from 2001 to 2004.
18. Could Matt Judon be the Ravens’ next great pass rusher? Stay tuned, but it’s worth noting he had a career-best three sacks Sunday and 14 since the start of the 2017 season, when he became a starter.
19. Could Joey Bosa be the league’s next great pass rusher? He collected two sacks Sunday in his second game of the season after coming back from a foot injury. Bosa averages 0.83 sacks per game in his three-year career.
20. Kudos to 49ers GM John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan for adhering to their zero-tolerance policy on Reuben Foster, a 2017 first-round pick. The
49ers will release the troubled linebacker, who incurred a domestic violence charge stemming from an alleged incident at the team hotel Saturday in Tampa, Florida. He also was arrested earlier this year, but that domestic violence charge was dropped after his accuser recanted.
21. Buccaneers WR Mike Evans has now eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards in each of his five seasons. Only Randy Moss (first six) and A.J. Green (first five) have gotten off to equally good starts.
22. This isn’t baseball, with its American League vs. National League purists, but still seemed kinda odd that the league scheduled only NFC teams for its Thanksgiving tripleheader.
23. All four of Drew Brees’ TD passes Thursday night went to undrafted Saints: Tommylee Lewis, Austin Carr, Dan Arnold and Keith Kirkwood.
24. Did you know the 21 head-tohead matchups between Brees and Matt Ryan are the most between opposing quarterbacks?
25. Julio Jones has at least 100 receiving yards in six games in a row, an Atlanta record.
26. Aaron Rodgers’ continued frustration was evident in Sunday night’s loss at Minnesota. But the two-time MVP, usually accurate as an atomic clock, continues to hoist too many offtarget throws.
27. Chicago QB Chase Daniel ... started his first game Thursday since 2014 ... did it on a short week that didn’t allow for needed reps with the first-team offense ... connected for two TD passes anyway ... and kept the Bears rolling with his second career win.
28. Washington QB Colt McCoy ... started his first game Thursday since
2014 ... did it on a short week that didn’t allow for needed reps with the firstteam offense ... connected for two TD passes anyway ... but couldn’t prevent the Redskins from losing their grip on first place.
29. Ezekiel Elliott’s 143 total yards and a TD in Thursday’s win over Washington was nice. What’s better? Elliott, who tossed $21 (he wears No. 21) into the Salvation Army kettle at AT&T Stadium this year, will match $21 donations to this year’s Red Kettle Campaign (the Cowboys will also match those gifts).
30. I still think Dallas gave up too much for WR Amari Cooper in the long run, but he’s certainly starting to pay dividends in the near term.
31. Was the Bears’ Motown troll the celebration of the year thus far?
32. Late Texans owner Robert McNair made unfortunate statements in recent years. But let’s not allow them to overshadow the fact he brought the NFL back to Houston and, more important, had a hugely philanthropic spirit which he didn’t publicize. Rest in peace.