NFL Game Recaps: Week 15, 2022

NFL Game Recaps of previous weeks and seasons can be found via links at the bottom of the page.

49ers 21, Seahawks 13

Thursday night games are often sluggish, defensive grinders, but this was a huge battle in the NFC West. The 49ers would clinch the division with a victory, while the Seahawks could have clawed to within one game with an upset. The 49ers had the challenge of starting Brock Purdy, who would be seeing his first NFL action on the road in a crazy Seattle environment.

Anyone who thought that Purdy would be flustered in Seattle was quickly proven wrong. Purdy completed his first 10 passes, showing off tremendous accuracy, touch, and poise in the pocket. His first incompletion was the result of pressure. Purdy wasn’t as good after that – he was nearly intercepted when he telegraphed a pass and didn’t see Quandre Diggs – but he bounced back with a huge third-and-15 conversion to Ray-Ray McCloud.

Of course, Purdy had tons of help around him. Christian McCaffrey had a big game, which includes a 23-yard burst in the early stages of the evening. George Kittle was wide open for some big gains. And then, there was the defense, which dominated the line of scrimmage. San Francisco clamped down on the run and put tons of pressure on Geno Smith. The 49ers sacked Smith three times, but that’s not indicative of the immense pressure Smith saw. Smith couldn’t get anything going until garbage time, as the 49ers were up 21-6 with a few minutes remaining.

Purdy finished 17-of-26 for 217 yards and two touchdowns. As mentioned, he regressed as the night went on, but he made just a few bad throws. He was excellent overall when considering his lack of inexperience.

Both of Purdy’s touchdowns went to Kittle, who scored on massive plays of 54 and 28 yards. He finished with four catches for 93 yards and the two touchdowns. No other 49er logged more than 31 receiving yards, as Jauan Jennings (3-31) was next in the box score.

McCaffrey was close to Jennings in the receiving column with six receptions for 30 yards. He also eclipsed the century mark on the final drive, gaining 108 rushing yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.

Kenneth Walker didn’t have nearly as much success as McCaffrey, which wasn’t a surprise because no team is better at defending running backs than San Francisco. Walker was limited to 47 yards on 12 carries. The stat line looks much impressive if you remove a fluky 15-yard run of his. The Seahawks wished they had Walker on the field prior to halftime because Travis Homer lost a fumble that set up McCaffrey’s touchdown.

Smith posted decent numbers – 31-of-44, 238 yards, one touchdown – but those stats are misleading. Much of what he did, including his score to Noah Fant (5-32) came in garbage time. Smith is extremely fortunate that he didn’t commit multiple turnovers. He had an early pass that was dropped by a San Francisco defender, and then a lost fumble of his on a strip-sack was recovered by Abraham Lucas. Smith later appeared to throw a pick-six, but the interception was negated by a bogus roughing-the-passer penalty on Nick Bosa.

Tyler Lockett led the Seahawks with seven catches for 68 yards, followed by D.K. Metcalf (7-55), who had a reception negated by his own offensive pass interference.

Vikings 39, Colts 36

When the Colts were up 33-0 at halftime, they almost certainly didn’t lament the loss of Jonathan Taylor as far as their chances of winning this game were concerned. Taylor suffered an injury during the opening drive of the game, but Indianapolis was able to establish a monstrous lead despite his absence. The Colts scored touchdowns via a punt block and a Kirk Cousins pick-six on an inaccurate throw. Combine that with a big Jelani Woods reception, as well as two failed fourth downs by Minnesota, and Indianapolis had full control of the game. Granted, the lead could have been even larger because Taylor’s replacement, Zack Moss, was stuffed on multiple on a pair of third-and-short runs, but the injury didn’t seem to matter because of the 33-0 lead.

Football is played for 60 minutes, however, and Indianapolis’ tired defense allowed some big gains in the second half. It was suddenly 36-28, and the Colts were trying to run out the clock. Moss took a carry and promptly fumbled it. The ball was returned for a touchdown, though the play was whistled dead. Still, the turnover stood, and it’s more likely that Taylor would have both secured the ball and made a nice gain to potentially move the sticks. The Vikings didn’t score on the ensuing possession, but they were given one more chance because a Matt Ryan fourth-down sneak was ruled short. Again, Taylor’s absence was huge because he could have ran for the first down.

Minnesota capitalized on the latest miscue, as Dalvin Cook took a screen and ran for a 64-yard receiving touchdown. With the two-point conversion, the Vikings were able to send the game to overtime. With no threat of a running game, the Colts were only able to achieve a couple of first downs before punting. Cousins took advantage of the opportunity, hitting completions of 15, 21, and 13 yards before moving into field goal range. Greg Joseph converted from 40 yards to give the Vikings the greatest comeback in NFL history.

Cousins had a dreadful first half, struggling with Indianapolis’ heavy pressure. He took some bad sacks, and he fired a horrible pick-six. He had another interception in the second half, but that was on Jalen Reagor, who inexplicably stopped his route. Cousins was brilliant after halftime, as he finished 34-of-54 for 460 yards, four touchdowns and the pair of picks.

With Cousins torching Indianapolis’ secondary following intermission, three Minnesota players logged at least 95 receiving yards. Justin Jefferson hauled in 12 of his 16 targets for 123 yards and a touchdown, and yet he wasn’t even the Vikings’ leading receiver. That was K.J. Osborn, who snatched 10 receptions for 157 yards and a touchdown. Adam Thielen (3-41) also scored.

The third Viking to record 95-plus receiving yards was Cook, who caught all four of his targets for 95 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 95 yards on 17 carries. His one blemish was a lost fumble in the first half that set up a Minnesota touchdown.

The Colts didn’t have as much success running the ball despite their huge lead, thanks to Taylor’s absence. The inability to run allowed the Vikings to come back, thanks to Indianapolis’ failure to drain the clock with Moss, who mustered 81 yards on 24 carries to go along with his lost fumble. Deon Jackson chipped in with 55 yards on 13 attempts.

Ryan went 19-of-33 for 182 yards and a touchdown. He avoided turnovers, but was lucky that he did so. He fumbled in overtime, but a teammate of his recovered. Two plays later, Ryan had a pass float up for grabs, but somehow fell incomplete.

Michael Pittman Jr. was the only Indianapolis player with more than 36 receiving yards. He caught 10 of his 14 targets for 60 yards.

Browns 13, Ravens 3

The Ravens had a habit of squandering opportunities in enemy territory in many of their recent games, but there was at least some optimism entering this affair that they could change their luck in that regard. That’s because they were battling a Cleveland defense ranked near the bottom of nearly every category. Even though Tyler Huntley was set to start for the injured Lamar Jackson, Baltimore seemed likely to snap out of its offensive funk.

That looked to be the case on the initial offensive drive when the Ravens drove down to the Cleveland 7-yard line. However, the Ravens inexplicably called for fullback Patrick Ricard to get the ball despite J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards both being healthy. Ricard was predictably stuffed. This marked one of five times that Baltimore reached or exceeded the Cleveland 35-yard line, and yet the Ravens scored just three total points on those five drives. The other possessions concluded with a made field goal, a Justin Tucker missed 48-yard kick, a Huntley interception that bounced off Desean Jackson’s hands, and a blocked 50-yard field goal.

The Browns, conversely, did more with their opportunities. Cade York whiffed on two kicks as well, but Cleveland actually used its primary running back on a fourth-and-1 play at the Baltimore 7-yard line. Nick Chubb converted, ultimately setting up the only touchdown in this game, with Deshaun Watson hitting Donovan Peoples-Jones to go up 13-3. Baltimore’s offense couldn’t do anything the rest of the afternoon.

Huntley was a huge disappointment in this game. He went 17-of-30 for only 138 yards and the interception. He held the ball way too long in the pocket, failed to recognize when he should throw the ball away, and released his passes to open receivers way too late. He also didn’t run very much for some reason, scrambling only six times for 15 rushing yards. Huntley damaged his stock immensely with this disastrous performance against a miserable Cleveland defense.

Speaking of struggling players, Mark Andrews led the Ravens in receiving, yet converted just three of his seven targets for 31 yards, which includes a horrible drop. He barely edged out Devin Duvernay (2-29) and Demarcus Robinson (6-29) on the stat sheet. Robinson lost a fumble in the second half.

The one positive aspect of Baltimore’s offense was the running game, which makes you wonder why the Ravens didn’t rush the ball more often. J.K. Dobbins gashed the Browns for 125 yards on just 13 carries, while Gus Edwards chipped in with 55 yards on seven attempts.

Moving on to the Browns, Watson had his best performance as a Cleveland player thus far, going 18-of-28 for 161 yards and a touchdown. He made some mistakes, but was much cleaner in his latest performance. He’ll continue to improve with all the great talent around him.

Peoples-Jones recorded Watson’s lone touchdown, as he caught four passes for 31 yards. He finished behind only Amari Cooper (4-58) on the stat sheet.

Chubb had a strong performance, though he just barely missed the century mark. He rushed for 99 yards on 21 carries, doing his best work late in the game after Calais Campbell was knocked out with an injury.

Bills 32, Dolphins 29

Anyone expecting a crazy snow game may have been initially disappointed. The snow everyone was promised was nowhere to be seen as the teams kicked off the final Saturday game. Playing in perfect, albeit cold conditions, both teams generated more than 400 net yards of offense in a thriller.

The Bills looked like they would run away with a huge victory in the early stages of the evening. The Dolphins couldn’t get Buffalo’s offense off the field, and the Bills went into the locker room with an eight-point lead. However, the advantage completely swung in Miami’s direction, as the Dolphins eventually led by eight. This was the result of some huge throws from Tua Tagovailoa, as well as some mistakes from the Bills. Amid from seeing his team commit too many penalties, Josh Allen overthrew a wide-open Stefon Diggs, then fumbled twice. He was lucky that a teammate recovered one of them, but a lost fumble on a strip sack set up a Miami field goal.

The kick put the Dolphins up 29-21, but Allen was able to engineer two scoring drives to win the game. He used his arm and his legs on the first possession, ultimately hitting Dawson Knox in the end zone, then reaching over the goal line for the two-point conversion. It was at this point that a heavy snowfall began, so the Bills adjusted and went to a heavy running game. Devin Singletary was instrumental on this final possession, as was a drawn pass interference by Isaiah McKenzie. This set up Buffalo for the decisive field goal, which Tyler Bass connected from 25.

Allen made a case to be MVP with a terrific performance. He went 25-of-40 for 304 yards and four touchdowns. He also led the team in rushing with 10 scrambles for 77 rushing yards. His only big mistakes were the two fumbles, and he was lucky an offensive lineman of his recovered one of them. Allen had to play most of the game without his center, Mitch Morse, who suffered a concussion.

Allen’s touchdowns went to Knox and three unlikely players: Quintin Morris, Nyheim Hines and James Cook. Diggs caught five passes for 60 yards, but couldn’t find the end zone. Gave Davis (4-56) was also scoreless.

Singletary had some big moments at the end of the game, but didn’t do much otherwise. He rushed for 42 yards on 13 carries and also caught three passes for 28 receiving yards.

The Dolphins had much more success running the ball. Raheem Mostert looked like a Pro Bowl back as he dashed for 136 yards on just 17 carries. Salvon Ahmed also saw success with 43 yards and a touchdown on six attempts.

Tagovailoa went 17-of-30 for 234 yards and two touchdowns. This was a nice bounce-back performance from him after two poor showings. However, Tagovailoa drove the ball into Buffalo territory on his final possession, but stalled around the 40-yard line, as he failed to connect with Jaylen Waddle on third down.

Speaking of Waddle, he led everyone in receiving with three catches for 114 yards, thanks to a 67-yard touchdown. Tyreek Hill was great as well with nine grabs for 69 yards and a touchdown.

Saints 21, Falcons 18

The Falcons made a quarterback change during the bye week, opting to go with rookie Desmond Ridder. There are plenty of talented quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL Draft class – see our 2023 NFL Draft Quarterback Prospect Rankings for more – so Ridder would have a four-week audition to prove to the coaching staff that he deserves to be the starter next year.

It’s safe to say that Ridder is not off to a good start. He didn’t commit a turnover in this game, but it’s a miracle that he didn’t. He heaved a telegraphed pass in the opening half that easily could have been pick-sixed if the New Orleans defender didn’t drop the ball. Ridder then appeared to throw an interception when he fired a pass right to cornerback Alontae Taylor, but replay review ruled that Taylor was barely out of bounds.

Ridder failed to complete more than half of his passes, and he didn’t exceed 100 passing yards. He also didn’t run nearly as well as Marcus Mariota, scrambling six times for 38 rushing yards. Ridder’s final numbers were a miserable 13-of-26 for 97 yards. This was an easy matchup for him, as the Saints have a bottom-five pressure rate and a secondary missing its top cornerback, Marshon Lattimore, and yet, Ridder was horrible in his debut.

The Falcons lost by just three points because they were able to run the ball well. Tyler Allgeier rumbled for 139 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Cordarrelle Patterson also had success at times wit 52 yards and a touchdown on 14 attempts.

Thanks to Ridder’s incompetence as a passer, only one Falcon exceeded 20 receiving yards. That was Drake London, who caught seven of his 11 targets for 70 yards.

As for the Saints, Andy Dalton was an efficient 11-of-17 for 151 yards and two touchdowns. He was vultured through the air by Taysom Hill, who completed both of his passes for 80 yards and a touchdown, which was a 68-yard bomb to Rashid Shaheed.

Thanks to the deep reception, Shaheed led the Saints in receiving with 95 yards and a touchdown on three catches. Juwan Johnson (4-67) was next, and he scored twice. Chris Olave chipped in with three catches for 53 yards.

Alvin Kamara was a huge disappointment. He rushed for 91 yards on 21 carries, but he failed to score and caught only two passes for 13 receiving yards. David Johnson – yes, the same David Johnson who used to play for the Cardinals and Texans – saw four carries, which he turned into 12 yards. Unfortunately for Johnson, he lost a fumble.

Eagles 25, Bears 20

The Eagles were clearly looking ahead to their matchup against the Cowboys on Christmas Eve next week because they did not play their best. They had an extremely sloppy first half, as Jalen Hurts threw a couple of interceptions. The first was an underthrown pass on the run, while the second was the result of a miscommunication with DeVonta Smith. Meanwhile, the coaches didn’t seem like they were focused either because they seemingly forgot the rushing portion of their playbook at the hotel. Miles Sanders was given just one carry in the first 28 minutes of this game despite this being a huge plus matchup for him.

Fortunately for the Eagles’ offense, their defense stepped up and helped them stay in the game. Haason Reddick, in particular, was a huge force. He caused major havoc for Justin Fields. Reddick blasted Fields for a strip-sack on a 9-yard loss. He also made another sack later in the opening half to move the Bears out of field goal range.

The Eagles were down 6-3 just prior to halftime, but they eventually got their act together. Hurts had a monster second half, going 14-of-21 for 176 yards and two rushing touchdowns following the break. Meanwhile, Philadelphia’s defense continued to play well. They did a number on Fields and forced a turnover when they took the ball away from Velus Jones. Philadelphia ultimately led 25-13 before Fields threw a bomb to Byron Pringle for the back-door cover.

Hurts had a rough first half, but finished strong to possibly maintain the lead in the MVP voting. He went 22-of-37 for 315 yards and two interceptions. Hurts was huge as a scrambler with 17 rushes for 61 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

If Hurts had an enormous second half, then that means at least one of his receivers had to as well. That was A.J. Brown, who caught only two passes for 25 yards by halftime. He finished the game with nine receptions for 181 yards. Smith also had a nice performance with five catches for 126 yards. They were the only Philadelphia receivers with more than nine receiving yards!

Sanders, conversely, barely did anything. He rushed just 11 times for 42 yards despite the Eagles having the lead for the entire second half. Perhaps Philadelphia was saving him for next week.

Fields ended up being the leading rusher in this game. He nearly hit the century mark, scrambling 15 times for 95 rushing yards. He also went 14-of-21 for 152 yards and two touchdowns. Fields played well, considering the extremely difficult matchup and the complete lack of help around him. He was knocked out with a leg injury in the fourth quarter, but was able to return to action to throw the back-door touchdown.

David Montgomery had a great fantasy performance despite trailing in the second half. That’s because he scored twice, once on the ground and once through the air. He rushed for 53 yards on 12 carries and caught all three of his targets for 38 yards.

The only player with more receiving yards than Montgomery was Pringle, who had two receptions for 39 yards. Cole Kmet chipped in with four grabs for 25 yards.

Lions 20, Jets 17

The Lions began the season 1-6, but they had an opportunity to claw their way back to .500 with a victory over the Jets. Despite this, it seemed like they were doing everything in their power to sabotage a potential victory. For example, they had a great opening drive to move to the New York 5-yard line. They did this aerially, but ran four times once they reached the 5-yard line, failing to break the goal line. Also, the Lions had a sequence where Jared Goff underthrew a wide-open Jameson Williams for a potential 45-yard touchdown, then Jamaal Williams had a rushing touchdown negated by a hold. That wasn’t all, with a D’Andre Swift run in the red zone being wiped out by a hold.

Whatever negatives the Lions were guilty of, the Jets’ poor plays were worse. Right after that initial botched red zone sequence, the Jets had a punt blocked returned for a touchdown. Zach Wilson also gave Detroit a free possession with a horrible interception where he threw the ball right to Jerry Jacobs as a result of failing to read the coverage. The Jets still had the lead in the final minutes, but their defense inexplicably allowed Brock Wright to score on a 51-yard touchdown to give Detroit the victory.

Wilson will take the heat for this loss, and deservedly so. He threw for 317 yards and two touchdowns, looking good at times, especially in the first half, but he barely completed half of his passes (18-of-35) and threw that horrible interception. There’s little doubt that the Jets would’ve had a much better chance had Mike White started instead.

Jared Goff, meanwhile, had the worse fantasy numbers, but led his team to a victory with a final drive that featured the 51-yard touchdown to Wright. Goff finished 23-of-38 for 252 yards and a touchdown, though he should’ve thrown a second score had he not underthrown Jameson Williams.

It’s no surprise that Garrett Wilson and Amon-Ra St. Brown led their teams in receiving yardage. Wilson caught four passes for 98 yards, while St. Brown registered seven receptions for 76 yards.

Elsewhere in the receiving corps, someone named Jeff Smith was the Jets’ second-leading wideout after Wilson. Playing for an injured Denzel Mims, Smith caught four balls for 77 yards, and he was even targeted in the red zone, but the touchdown never occurred because Zach Wilson threw an inaccurate ball in his direction. Wilson’s two touchdowns, meanwhile, went to C.J. Uzomah (2-41). That means the tight ends were the only players to score offensive touchdowns in this game.

Swift was the leading rusher in this affair with 52 yards on eight carries. He also caught five balls for 23 receiving yards, though he dropped a pass. Jamaal Williams (13-33) did nothing, as a potential touchdown of his was wiped off the board.

The Jets got nothing out of their rushing attack against Detroit’s extremely underrated run defense. Zonovan Knight mustered just 23 yards on 13 carries before getting knocked out of the game with an injury.

Jaguars 40, Cowboys 34

The Cowboys were a complete no-show versus the Texans last week. They prevailed, however, so no one would have blamed them for being flat once again in Jacksonville, given that they had a Christmas Eve battle against the Eagles on the horizon. Instead, Dallas came to play and dominated Jacksonville in the opening half. The Cowboys outgained the Jaguars heading into intermission, 223-152, opening up a two-touchdown lead.

Jacksonville showed little resistance to Dallas’ offense, with Dak Prescott misfiring just once prior to halftime. Meanwhile, the Jaguar offense gave the Cowboys an opportunity they didn’t need when Travis Etienne lost a fumble on the initial offensive drive. This set up an Ezekiel Elliott touchdown. It was more of the same to start the second half, with Trevor Lawrence gifting a possession to Dallas with a telegraphed interception while down 24-10. This gave Dallas a 27-10 lead, and the game was over.

Except, no one told the Jaguars. Lawrence caught fire and began torching Dallas’ secondary, and Prescott took his turn to give the Jaguars a free possession with an interception while under heavy pressure. Lawrence was able to capitalize with a touchdown to Marvin Jones. Prescott rebounded by engineering a 75-yard touchdown drive that spanned seven minutes, ultimately hitting Noah Brown for a touchdown to go up 34-31. Lawrence responded with a 41-yard drive that featured a deep completion to Zay Jones to set up Riley Patterson for the tying field goal to send the game to overtime.

Jacksonville won the overtime coin toss, but Lawrence failed to move the chains on the initial drive. Dallas took over, but a Prescott pass to Brown was deflected and snatched by Rayshawn Jenkins, who sprinted 52 yards the other way to score the decisive touchdown.

Lawrence finished 27-of-42 for 318 yards, four touchdowns, an interception and a lost fumble. He also scrambled three times for 21 rushing yards. Lawrence didn’t even log 100 yards at halftime, but was amazing following halftime.

Lawrence continued to favor Zay Jones, who had a monster game. Jones caught six passes for 109 yards and three touchdowns. Christian Kirk was next on the stat sheet with six grabs for 92 yards, followed by Evan Engram (8-62). The other Jones, Marvin, caught Lawrence’s fourth score.

Etienne bounced back from his lost fumble to eclipse the century mark. He rushed for 103 yards on 19 carries, and he also caught two passes for 24 receiving yards. Etienne had some chances inside the Dallas 10-yard line, but couldn’t do anything with them.

Dallas split the workload with its running backs. Tony Pollard had more carries and catches than Ezekiel Elliott, but it was close. Pollard gained 75 yards on 19 carries to go along with four catches for 31 receiving yards. Elliott rushed for 58 yards and a touchdown on 16 tries, and he also collected two receptions for 13 yards.

Prescott had a great game if you take away his two interceptions. He went 23-of-30 for 256 yards and three touchdowns otherwise. Dallas’ offense was highly efficient when Prescott wasn’t throwing the ball to Jacksonville.

CeeDee Lamb had nearly half of Prescott’s yardage. He caught all seven of his targets for 126 yards. Brown (6-49) had both touchdowns.

Chiefs 30, Texans 24

The Chiefs shouldn’t have been completely caught off-guard by the Texans, given that they just watched Houston nearly upset Dallas last week. Yet, the Chiefs still didn’t bring their “A” game against the Texans. The Chiefs made mistakes, like giving Houston a touchdown because of an Isiah Pacheco fumble, or negating their own score when JuJu Smith-Schuster fumbled deep in enemy territory. The Chiefs also committed 102 yards’ worth of penalties and saw Harrison Butker miss some kicks, while Patrick Mahomes took untimely sacks. One such sack even occurred in overtime when the Chiefs had possession. The Texans received the ball, and they were in position to pull an enormous upset.

It was Houston’s turn to make a huge mistake, however. Davis Mills was strip-sacked, which set up the Chiefs on a very short field. All they needed was a field goal to win, but Jerick McKinnon scored instead, giving the Chiefs a six-point victory in overtime.

It’s truly amazing that the Chiefs nearly lost to the Texans when considering that Mahomes threw just five incompletions, though one was a very bad miss of Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a big gain. Mahomes went 36-of-41 for 336 yards and two touchdowns. He also scrambled five times for 33 rushing yards and another score.

Mahomes threw mostly to Travis Kelce and Smith-Schuster. Both players had 10 targets, and they caught all 10 for 105 and 88 yards, respectively. Mahomes’ touchdowns went to McKinnon and Valdes-Scantling (3-26).

Speaking of McKinnon, he had a huge fantasy performance. He rushed for 52 yards on 10 carries, and he reeled in all eight of his targets for 70 yards. He scored twice in the process, including the game-winner in overtime. He was as good as the numbers indicate. He juked helpless Houston defenders and was constantly open against pedestrian Houston defenders. Pacheco, meanwhile, rushed for 86 yards on 15 attempts, but lost a fumble.

As for the Houston numbers, Mills completed just half of his passes, going 12-of-24 for 121 yards. However, he threw two touchdowns and ran in another one, as he scrambled five times for 21 rushing yards.

Chris Moore led the Texans in receiving with four catches for 42 yards. Jordan Akins (3-22) and Teagan Quitoriano (1-8) hauled in Mills’ touchdowns.

Houston split its carries with Royce Freeman (11-51) and Dare Ogunbowale (8-14). It was surprising to see Rex Burkhead not mixed in, though Burkhead caught two passes for 17 receiving yards.

Steelers 24, Panthers 16
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: I still can’t believe this spread moved 5.5 points from the advance line of Steelers -2.5, all because Mitchell Trubisky would be starting over Kenny Pickett. This was not Ben Roethlisberger circa 2010!

The Panthers were still in the playoff race for the sub-.500 NFC South, but Pittsburgh’s defense outplayed Carolina’s to pick up the road win in this battle of backup quarterbacks.

After a Panthers punt, the Steelers went down the field, picking on Carolina safety/linebacker Jeremy Chinn on a few plays, including on Najee Harris’ 10-yard touchdown run, where Chinn had a painful hesitation and missed tackle. The Panthers responded with Sam Darnold and D.J. Moore eating up zone coverage. Darnold then lofted in a well-placed deep ball to Terrace Marshall for 41 yards to set up a first-and-goal. To cap the drive, Darnold scrambled and threw a laser to Moore for a five-yard touchdown.

The Steelers responded with Mitch Trubisky tossing an excellent pass to George Pickens for 38 yards, and few plays later, Jaylen Warren plunged into the end zone. The defenses locked down the remainder of the first half to make it 14-7 Steelers at halftime.

Midway through the third quarter, Steven Sims had a nice run before Trubisky connected with Diontae Johnson for a few receptions. Johnson received a painful taunting penalty, but his teammates bailed him out, and Trubsiky dove into the end zone for a touchdown from a yard out to give the Steelers a 21-7 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Carolina responded with a short pass to Hubbard that was turned into a 45-yard gain by Hubbard, and that produced a field goal. After a Steelers punt, Darnold moved the ball inside the 10, but a goal-line stand produced another field goal to make it 21-13. Pittsburgh then produced a crushing drive on the ground, draining the clock and setting up Chris Boswell to drill the game-clinching field goal with a minute remaining.

In for Kenny Pickett, Trubisky completed 17-of-22 passes for 179 yards.

Harris ran 24 times for 86 yards and a touchdown.

Johnson caught 10 passes for 98 yards.

Darnold completed 14-of-23 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown.

Hubbard (4-10) and D’Onta Foreman (10-9) were completely shut down by Pittsburgh.

Moore had five receptions for 73 yards and a touchdown.

Broncos 24, Cardinals 15
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: This was the only bet we lost on Sunday. I don’t know if the Cardinals would have covered with Colt McCoy, but they had no chance once McCoy went down because Trace McSorley couldn’t complete half of his passes.

This was a battle of the backup quarterbacks in Brett Rypien taking on Colt McCoy, but McCoy went out with a concussion at halftime, giving way to third-stringer Trace McSorley. Both teams are not in the playoff chase, so this was more relevant for draft positioning for the Cardinals and the Seahawks, with the latter holding Denver’s first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. In that regard, Arizona improved its draft positioning by falling to 4-10, while Seattle’s pick from Denver took a hit by the Broncos getting their fourth win of the season.

Denver moved the ball into Arizona territory on the opening drive before stalling out and settling for a 52-yard field goal from Brandon McManus. Justin Simmons then picked off McCoy, and a good return had the Broncos set up on the Arizona 24, but McManus shanked the 38-yard attempt. The Cardinals took advantage of the field position, with McCoy finding DeAndre Hopkins to lead them for a game-tying field goal. Late in the first half, the Broncos were driving, but J.J. Watt picked up his third sack of the opening half while also stripping out the ball, which Arizona recovered just shy of midfield. The Cardinals then connected on a field goal to make it 6-3 at the half.

Arizona then tacked on added another long field goal in the third quarter to take a 9-3 lead. The Broncos got going when Latavius Murray took off on a 36-yard run. A few passes then set up a short touchdown run by Marlon Mack. Midway through the second half, Denver was driving, but Watt produced another pressure that caused an errant throw, which Budda Baker intercepted. However, Denver got the ball back and benefitted from some bad calls by the officials. Mack ran well and set up Murray for a touchdown run to put the Broncos up 17-9. Just a few plays later, Simmons got his second interception, returning it about 20 yards to get inside the Arizona 10-yard line. Rypien then hit tight end Eric Tomlinson for a short touchdown pass to put Denver up 24-9.

Arizona responded with a nice drive that utilized James Conner, and a completion to DeAndre Hopkins set up a first-and-goal that Conner turned into a touchdown. Kareem Jackson got away with a horrible pass interference on Hopkins to make a two-point conversion go incomplete. To clinch the win for the Broncos, Patrick Surtain intercepted McSorley.

Rypien was 21-of-26 for 197 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Latavius Murray ran 24 times for 130 yards and a touchdown. He also had a 12-yard catch.

Jerry Jeudy caught seven receptions for 76 yards.

McCoy was 13-of-21 for 78 yards and an interception.

Conner ran for 63 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries

Hopkins caught seven passes for 60 yards.

Watt turned back for the clock for a vintage defensive performance that was fun to watch. He looked like the dominating defender he was in his glory years with the Texans. In the first half, Watt collected three sacks, a forced fumble, three tackles for a loss, one pass batted, and a number of pressures on Rypien.

Raiders 30, Patriots 24

This game was decided by the dumbest play in NFL history, and that is not an exaggeration. Everyone knows about the Stanford Band play, which is one of the greatest moments in the history of football. Teams often try to mimic the Stanford Band play when time expires and they need a score to either win or tie because they are trailing. Everyone knows this. Everyone, that is, except the Patriots.

Teams don’t do Stanford Band plays when the game is tied at the end of regulation because there’s an obvious downside, and that would be the defense scooping and scoring. And that’s exactly what happened in this contest. The Patriots and Raiders seemed locked into overtime when New England took the final snap of regulation on its own 45. Rhamondre Stevenson rushed forward for 23 yards, then pitched the ball back to Jakobi Meyers. This was fine, but Meyers then tried to hurl the ball to Mac Jones, but Chandler Jones intercepted it. Chandler Jones then broke a Mac Jones tackle with a fierce stiff-arm and ran 48 yards to inexplicably win the game.

This was a painful loss for the Patriots, who had a chance to distance themselves from the Jets. They now also trail the Chargers, who prevailed versus the Titans this week.

It’s unclear who would have won in overtime, but Mac Jones would have needed some completions to get back to a 50-percent conversion rate. Jones had an awful afternoon, which featured him repeatedly yelling at the coaching staff once again. He finished 13-of-31 for 112 yards. It’s unclear why he hasn’t been benched in favor of Bailey Zappe.

The Patriots were able to move the chains primarily with Stevenson. It wasn’t even clear if Stevenson would play as of Sunday morning, yet he rumbled for 172 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. He vastly outgained Josh Jacobs, who rushed for 93 yards on 22 attempts.

Though Meyers sabotaged a potential victory, he was able to lead the team in receiving because of a 39-yard completion. Meyers caught two passes for 47 yards. Jonnu Smith (2-24) was next on the receiving list.

Derek Carr wasn’t much better than Mac Jones. Carr barely completed half of his passes for 231 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. The pick was a routine throw in the flat, but Kyle Dugger recognized what was happening and jumped the route to snatch the ball to quickly return it the other way.

Carr’s touchdowns went to Darren Waller (3-48), Mack Hollins (4-40) and Keelan Cole (2-50). Cole’s touchdown shouldn’t have stood because one of his feet was out of bounds. The officials spent what seemed like 10 minutes reviewing the call, but they allowed it to stand for some reason.

None of the three touchdown scorers saw the most targets from Carr. That was Davante Adams, who had nine balls go his way. He caught only four of them, however, for 28 yards. Hunter Renfrow converted one of his three targets for 14 yards.

Chargers 17, Titans 14

For a while, it seemed as though this game would resemble the disastrous Cardinals-Patriots Monday night affair when numerous star players suffered injuries. That was the early trend in this contest, as Ryan Tannehill and Austin Ekeler were knocked out after getting hurt. Both, however, were able to return after brief absences.

Tannehill missed one drive, but based on the defensive presence he saw, he may have wished he had been out longer. Tannehill saw relentless pressure and struggled to keep drives alive, as he failed to even reach 75 passing yards in the opening half. The Chargers weren’t that much better at moving the chains. In fact, this was a 7-7 affair from the beginning of the second quarter until the fourth frame. There was a growing sensation that this contest was destined to conclude in a 7-7 stalemate, but Ekeler scored a touchdown to break the tie.

Tannehill struggled for the entire afternoon, but finally engineered a scoring drive at the end of regulation. He leapt into the end zone on a sneak with 44 seconds remaining to tie the game at 14. This was too much time for the Chargers, however, as Justin Herbert connected with Mike Williams for 35 yards to set up the decisive field goal.

Herbert had a nice game if a couple of passes are excluded. He moved the chains well in between the 20s, but stalled in Tennessee territory. He saw tons of pressure from the Titans’ front, and as a result, he threw two interceptions. That said, one of his picks was the byproduct of a ridiculous volleyball-type play when one Tennessee defender batted the ball while falling out of play to a teammate standing inbounds. Still, Herbert redeemed himself with a strong, decisive possession. He finished 28-of-42 for 313 yards and the two picks.

Though Williams had the big play on the final drive, it was Keenan Allen who paced the team in receiving with eight catches for 86 yards. Williams had four grabs for 67 yards.

Both of the Chargers’ touchdowns came on the ground. Ekeler rushed for 58 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. He wasn’t as big of a factor in the receiving game with only two receptions for 12 yards. Joshua Kelley (10-24) also scored.

It was shocking to see Derrick Henry fail to dominate a horrible Charger rush defense. He still eclipsed the century mark to finish with 104 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, but more was expected from him. He was the leading receiver, however, catching four passes for 59 yards.

Tannehill went 15-of-22 for 165 yards and an interception, which was the result of a horrible pass into double coverage. He also scored a rushing touchdown, but struggled to do much on his bum ankle. He saw relentless pressure from the Chargers.

Aside from Henry, Chig Okonkwo led the Titans in receiving with four grabs for 54 yards. Henry, Okonkwo and Austin Hooper (2-33) were the only Titans with more than 20 receiving yards.

Bengals 34, Buccaneers 23

Despite the Bengals prevailing by 11, it appeared as though they would get blown out themselves in the third quarter. They trailed 17-3 at that point, as Tampa Bay was dominating on both sides of the ball. The Buccaneers outgained the Bengals in the first half, 261-83, and they were averaging 2.3 more yards per play. Their defense, missing both Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard, couldn’t stop Tom Brady, while their offense couldn’t produce anything.

Then, everything changed, as Tampa Bay self-destructed with turnovers. The first was a botched fake punt that set up a Cincinnati field goal. On the next drive, Tom Brady hurled an interception because of heavy pressure, allowing Joe Burrow to throw a touchdown to Tee Higgins. On the next drive, Brady was strip-sacked, and the fumble transformed into a Burrow touchdown to Tyler Boyd. On the next drive, Brady and Leonard Fournette fumbled an exchange, and this led to a Burrow touchdown to Ja’Marr Chase. On the next drive, Brady was picked because he was hit as he released the ball.

This was a complete disaster for the Buccaneers, as five consecutive possessions ended in take-aways, allowing the Bengals to outscore them in the second half, 31-6.

Burrow finished 27-of-39 for 200 yards, four touchdowns, an interception off a deflection, and a lost fumble on a strip-sack. He struggled with pressure early, and a suddenly healthy Tampa secondary did a good job of smothering his receivers.

Speaking of those receivers, Chase led the way with seven catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. Boyd (5-35) and Higgins (5-33) also scored, as did tight end Mitchell Wilcox (3-34).

Joe Mixon didn’t get to run very much because the Bengals were down early. He mustered only 21 yards on 11 carries, but caught five passes for 33 receiving yards.

The Buccaneers didn’t have a big producer at running back either. Leonard Fournette outgained Rachaad White, 44-38, on one fewer carry, 11-10. Fournette did the receiving work, catching all four of his targets for 30 yards.

Brady finished with a solid fantasy performance, going 30-of-44 for 312 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He was absolutely on fire in the first half, but capsized following halftime.

Mike Evans appeared as though he was going to have a monstrous performance with five catches for 83 yards in the first half alone, but that was his final stat line. Chris Godwin (8-83), who scored a touchdown, ended up tying him for the receiving lead in this game. Russell Gage, who hauled in eight of his 12 targets for 59 yards, scored twice.

Giants 20, Redskins 12

This was obviously a key battle in the NFC playoff picture because the winner would have the better record and tie-breaker for the sixth seed. The loser, conversely, would be just a half-game ahead of the Seahawks and Lions.

It initially appeared as though the Redskins would prevail, as they dominated with their running game. Brian Robinson had some big gains in between the 20s, though Washington stalled in the red zone. Thanks to an Antonio Gibson drop and some other miscues, the Redskins stalled over midfield. Still, they had a 3-0 lead and possession when disaster struck. Kayvon Thibodeaux strip-sacked Taylor Heinicke, who then recovered the ball and scored a touchdown to put his team ahead.

This huge defensive play sparked the Giants, who maintained a lead throughout the evening. The Redskins, however, had some good chances to either win or tie at the end. Down 17-12, Heinicke connected with Jahan Dotson on a 61-yard bomb, but then lost a fumble on a strip-sack. The next possession, with the score now 20-12, featured some terrible officiating that capsized Washington’s chances. Dotson made another big play, but it ultimately didn’t matter because a Robinson touchdown was negated by a very ticky-tack illegal formation penalty. The next two plays saw Heinicke throw incomplete passes to turn the ball over on downs, though his final throw should have been a drawn Curtis Samuel pass interference. The obvious penalty wasn’t called, allowing the Giants to hold on to the victory.

Heinicke had a very mixed performance. He went 17-of-29 for 249 yards and a touchdown, with his passing yardage being boosted by some deep completions. However, Heinicke made some glaring mistakes. He lost two fumbles, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and he was very fortunate that the Giants dropped a potential interception of his.

Dotson was the leading receiver in this game with four catches for 105 yards and a score. Terry McLaurin reeled in all six of his targets for 70 yards.

Robinson was close to reaching the century mark despite being given only 12 carries. He finished with 89 yards on the ground. He saw way more work than Antonio Gibson (5-21), who dropped a pass.

Robinson barely outgained Saquon Barkley, who looked fully healthy once again. Barkley dashed for 87 yards and a touchdown. He also caught five passes for 33 receiving yards.

Daniel Jones had a nondescript game, going 21-of-32 for 160 yards. He also scrambled 10 times for 35 rushing yards. Jones didn’t have too many flashy moments, but made a brilliant pass to Richie James to convert a fourth-and-9 in the second quarter. Otherwise, Jones managed the game well and didn’t commit any turnovers.

Speaking of James, he led the Giants in receiving with four catches for 42 yards. Isaiah Hodgins (4-37) was next on the stat sheet. Darius Slayton was limited to five grabs for 23 yards.

Packers 24, Rams 12

The Packers hadn’t won consecutive games since Week 4, but they needed to do so Monday night to keep their slim playoff chances alive. Things didn’t look very promising in the early stages when the offense stalled in the red zone and Aaron Rodgers threw an interception when he overshot Allen Lazard. In fact, this was just a 10-6 affair at halftime, so the Packers were in danger of dropping out of the playoff picture.

Everything changed when they turned to their running game. The Packers rushed the ball 13 times in the first half, but did so on 19 occasions following intermission. The Aaron Donald-less Rams had no answer for Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon, which opened up easier passing opportunities for Rodgers. The second half proved to be much different than the first, as Rodgers remained mistake free. In fact, he completed 12 of his 15 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown following halftime. Meanwhile, the defense put the clamps on the Rams outside of one possession to preserve the much-needed victory.

If there’s a dark cloud over this victory for the Packers, it’s that Dillon left early with a concussion. He rumbled for 36 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, while Jones dashed for 90 yards on 17 attempts. Jones also caught four passes for 36 receiving yards and a touchdown. Jones lost a fumble in field goal range during the fourth quarter, but the Rams produced no points off the give-away.

Rodgers’ final numbers were 22-of-30 for 229 yards, one touchdown and an interception. He should have thrown two scores, but Christian Watson didn’t turn his head around when the ball sailed his way on the penultimate real play of the game.

Speaking of Watson, he caught four passes for 46 yards, trailing only Romeo Doubs (5-55), who made his return from injury. The failed touchdown opportunity was a disappointment for Watson owners, but perhaps the rookie will redeem himself against Miami’s leaky secondary on Christmas.

As for the Rams, Baker Mayfield had a much more underwhelming night than he did in his surprise victory over the Raiders. He went 12-of-21 for 111 yards, one touchdown and an interception that occurred when he was hit. Mayfield didn’t have much time in the pocket, thanks in part to center Brian Allen’s injury in the first quarter, but Mayfield still deserves some blame. He had an open Van Jefferson in the early stages of the evening, but didn’t throw the ball to him for some reason. He also easily could have thrown a pick-six, but the ball was dropped by Quay Walker. Mayfield fumbled on a strip-sack as well, but the ball was recovered by his teammate.

Cam Akers did most of the work for the Rams, rushing for 65 yards on 12 carries. He also led the team in receiving with three catches for 35 yards.

Jefferson finished right behind Akers on the stat sheet, as he caught a pair of passes to move the chains on two separate third-and-15s. This was the only thing he did the entire night, with his two catches going for 32 yards. Tyler Higbee (4-27) caught a touchdown.

For more thoughts, check out my updated NFL Power Rankings, which will be posted Tuesday morning.

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