NFL Week 14 Takeaways
NFL Week 14 Takeaways
After I Criticized The Week 14 Slate As Underwhelming Up Front, The Games Turned Out Eventful. The Steelers Pull Off A Controversial Win Over The Ravens To Take Back The AFC North Lead. Ravens Tight End Isaiah Likely Caught What Many Suspected Would Prove the game-winning 13 Yard Touchdown Before A Ravens Defender Knocked The Ball Free In The End Zone, and the Ravens failed to Get Points Out Of A 12 Play 70 70-yard drive, and the Steelers Wrested Away A 27-22 Win. The Divisional Rivals Will Face Each Other Once More This Season With A Chance To Settle Affairs Once More. The AfC North will Come Down To Either Those Two Teams as the Bengals Fall To the Bills In The First Snow Game Of The Year. Joe Burrow Threw Two fourth-quarter interceptions on back-to-back drives, squandering a ten-point fourth-quarter lead as Buffalo escaped to 9-4. A Devastating Loss For The Colts In Terms Of Morale, Standing, and “vibes” As The Division, the AFC South, Once Thought Of as Lock Down Got Cracked Open As The Colts Lose Starting Quarterback Daniel Jones to an Achilles Injury and The Jags Blow Past Indy 36-19 and Take Charge Of The Division. The Colts Went All in On This Season, and Now They Appear “All Out”. Both Jayden Daniels and JJ McCarthy Returned From Injury to Quarterback Their Team After The Vikings scored zero Points The Week Before. No One Expected McCarthy’s Presence To Improve On That Performance, But The Vikings scored 31 Points As The Defense Hit The Commanders With The Zero On The Score In A blowout win. Daniels Left The Game After Aggravating His Arm Once More. The Broncos Notch Their 10th straight Victory By Knocking Off Divisional Punching Bag The Las Vegas Raiders 24-17. The Titans Win Over The Browns Places Las Vegas In The Driver's Seat For The Number One Pick The Franchise So Desperately Needs
Tampa Bay Vs. New Orleans
If You Read My Previews For This week's Game, then The Final Score 24-20 In Favor Of The Saints Over The Bucs shouldn’t Have Surprised You. The Saints' Defense Came Into Week 14 ranked top Five In EPA Per Play Since Week 8, and they’ve Thrown Some Games Lately. Rookie Quarterback Tyler Shough Has Played Well Enough Recently To Justify the Controversial Season Quarterback Switch From Critical Favorite Spencer Rattler. Shough rushed For Two Touchdowns in the Game as Both Offenses Played Poorly, But The Saints finished 2-3 In The red zone compared to 1-3 for Tampa, 5-11 On Third Down compared to 3-13 for Tampa, as New Orleans Escaped With The Upset. A Little Rain in The Tampa Heat Made The Field Muddied a Perfect Metaphor For These Teams Who Always Play Each Other Ugly. Tyler Shough Barely Out dueled Baker Mayfield 13/20 144 Passing Yards, Zero Touchdowns, One Pick 65.4 Passer Rating. He Took Three Sacks, Ten Passing First Downs as the Saints Offense Averaged -0.040 EPA Per Play. The Buccaneers did not look shocked to see Shough run and even escape some pressure, gaining 39 yards on designed runs.
Mayfield And The Scrappy Bucs couldn’t Survive Another Thrill Ride, Falling Short As His Pass To Cade Otten On Fourth Down On The Bucs' Final Drive Didnt Have Enough yardage To Convert New Downs. The Bucs Offense Outgained The Saints 315 To 260 in Total Offense, but The Too Many Drives Faltered On Downs, Emeka Egbuka Dropped a Touchdown. The Bucs Packed A Run Game 179 Yards On The Ground, -0.12 EPA Per Play, Miserable Efficiency, 4.6 Yards Per Carry. Baker Mayfield was similar To His Last Outing against the Saints, Performance 14/30 121 Passing Yards, -0.54 EPA Per Play, 55.0 Passer Rating, One Touchdown, One Pick, and I don’t Know Why He Passed The Ball short To The Least effective yards After Catch Option On The Team. The loss for the Bucs makes the upcoming games for the Panthers even more interesting, as the Bucs own the tie but no longer hold a game lead. Losing puts Carolina in full control of the division.
Lions vs Cowboys
The Cowboys Put Down Both Participants In The Super Bowl From Last Season in back-to-back wins, three Straight Games Overall, To Find Themselves In a Playoff Position, Shaking Off A Slow Start To The Season. The Cowboys need to win and hope for a collapse from the Niners or Packers. Winning out starts against the Lions. The Lions Have The More Talented Roster On Paper, and the Cowboys' Defense Just Got Torched By Patrick Mahomes, completing 23/34 pass attempts and 261 passing yards, but I don’t Like This Matchup for the Lions Based On Their Defense. The Cowboys, just like the Packers, can spread Defenses Out and Attack Man Coverage In With various Concepts And Route combinations. Worse yet, the Cowboys roster features higher-caliber players on the outside, in George Pickens and Ceedee Lamb, who both excel at attacking man coverage, with 1.05 EPA per target and 0.31 EPA per target, respectively. Dak Prescott Leads The League In Passing Yards against Man Coverage. On Thursday night, Dak produced another big Game In Terms Of Numbers, Throwing For 377 Passing Yards On 31/47 Passing Attempts, One Touchdown, But Threw Two Picks, Finishing With a 79.8 Passer Rating as the Lions played the Cowboys 44-30. This Game Bucked Trends For Both Teams. The Cowboys' defense entered Week 14 allowing just over 21 points per game since adding Quinnen Williams.The Cowboys' Defense Held The Lions' Run Game To A Net 91 Yards Gained On Decent Efficiency +0.23 EPA, 4.3 Yard Per Rush, and Four Red Zone Touchdowns, Three For Running Back Jahmyr Gibbs. David Montgomery Produced A 35 Yard Rushing Touchdown In The Second Quarter. Jared Goff And The drop-back Offense Coming In Off Of Struggles Against Green Bay finished 26/35, 328 passing yards, One Touchdown, and a Passer Rating Of 112.6. Goff’s Needle-Like Precision Dotted The Cowboys Linebackers and The Middle Of The Cowboys in The Short and Intermediate Game 15/17 185 Passing Yards On throws 0-9 Air Yards. The Lions' Yards After Catch Game remained dominated. The Cowboys' As Slant, Digs, and Other Crossing routes got Open At 62.8%, 206 Yards, of Goff’s Yardage Came After The Catch. Jahmyr Gibbs Set The Record For Touchdowns For A Player Under 24 After Registering Three Touchdowns On The Ground On His Way To 18 Touches for 120 Yards, 96 Receiving, 91 After The Catch, and 24 Yards On the Ground. Three Explosive Runs and Two Touchdowns Of Ten Yards or More. The Dallas offense kept pace with Detroit for much of the game but was hindered by three turnovers, including a fumble by Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson. Additionally, the team was penalized seven times for a total of 76 yards, which included a penalty that negated a pass interference call in the second quarter. The Cowboys lost 13.2 expected points added (EPA) due to turnovers and had a -0.12 EPA with a 38.9% success rate on third and fourth downs, Ultimately Dooming Their Offensive Production. The Playoffs Yielded Short Field For The Lions Offense to Attack The Cowboys Defense, So In Many Ways Turnovers Put The Defense at a Disadvantage, But Also Prevented The Lions From Piling On More Yards On The Stat Sheets. The Lions' Three Players Over 90 Yards Receiving In This Game, 96 receiving yards for Jameson Williams, and 92 Receiving Yards For Amon-ra St. Brown, Who Played Despite leaving the Thanksgiving Matchup Against The Packers With An Ankle Injury. The Lions' Ability To Pick Apart The Cowboys’ Defense Underneath raises suspicions That They’d Return To Super Bowl Caliber Offense, But Against Stronger Opponents With The Personnel To Sit On Underneath Routes and dare Jared Goff To Beat Them Over The Top, which he hasn’t proven This Season. Detroit Posses Enough Talent On Their Roster To Make The Playoffs, But Without The Right Matchup, The Lions Appear Headed For Another Round Exit.
The Cowboys nearly leveled the Lions In Terms Of offensive Yardage, 420-421 for Detroit and Matching Success Rates (43.2–44.4, respectively), But The Cowboys ran 76 Plays Compared To 57 for Detroit as the Cowboys Constantly Found Themselves Playing Against The Sticks, facing 15 Third Downs And Converting Just 6 of Them, 2 of 2 On Fourth Down. The Cowboys needed To Win this game; the loss for Dallas surrendered the tiebreaker Between Them and the Lions, another wild-card team, to Detroit. Dallas's odds of making the playoffs dropped to 10% the rest of the way.
Dolphins Vs Jets
The Dolphins Stay Hot In The Cold Weather In Upstate New Jersey. Quarterback Tua Tagaivoloa Continues His Dominance Over The Jets A Team He’s Never Lost To and Shaking His Cold-Weather Jitters. The Jets played in their "Gotham City Football" uniforms, featuring a sleek design. However, the team's performance resembled something more akin to Killer Croc than Batman. The Offense Generated Just Three Points. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor Left The Game With an Injury In The First Half. Back-up Brady Cook Stepped In With Justin Fields Out With an Injury. Special Teams Contributed To The Jets' Final Score. Isaiah Williams cut the Dolphins' Early Lead To 21-7. The Dolphins' Offense Score Three Straight Touchdowns In The First Quarter. Tua Started The Game 7/7, Finishing 13/21 For 127 Passing Yards With One Passing Touchdown. The Dolphins Rush For Three Scores, 239 Yards, 5.8 yards Per Carry, 8 Explosive Runs, +0.22 EPA Per Play. Jets Quarterback Brady Cook finished 14/30 for 164 Passing Yards, 11.3 Yards Per Completion, Two Picks, and a 36.0 Passer Rating. A Rough Follow-up For The Jets, A week after an Impressive Win Over The Falcons. The Dolphins Have Won Four Straight games, Primarily Against teams that didn’t Want To Win On The Opposite End.
Seahawks Vs Falcons
Sam Darnold Needed A bounce back, His Second Bounce Back Game In the Pass Four game after Struggling Against His Former Team, the Vikings. After Darnold Struggled against The Rams in Week 11, He Bounced Back Against The Titans in Week 12. But Facing The Falcons' Pass Defense, Not As Strong A Unit As The Start Of The Season, They Gave Up Some Big Plays To the Jets' Offense And Wide Receiver Adonai Mitchell. The Falcons' pass Defense Ruffled The Seahawks' Feathers Early In The Game. The Falcons' Pass Rush Kept Darnold Out Of The Pocket and On The Move. One such play resulted in an interception. For the Falcons, when Darnold Had Time In The Pocket, His Propensity For Hunting Downfield Plays led to Sacks, and the Falcons Shut Down Darnold In The First Half. Rashid Shaheed Got The Seahawks On The Board and scored the First Touchdown Of The Game On A 100 Yard Kick Return Touchdown To Start The Third Quarter. The Jets' Special Teams Also Ran Muck On The Falcons' Special Teams, and the Seahawks turned The Knife A Little Deep On The Falcons' Special Teams Woes. Darnold and The Pass Game Would Get Clicking In The Third Quarter, Getting Off To A 5/5 second-half start for 81 Yards, Two Explosive Pass Plays Of 28 and 30 Yards, and Jaxson Smith-Njigba Scored The Seahawks' First Touchdown. Smith-Njigba Would Catch His Second Touchdown in The Fourth Quarter, One Of Four touchdowns the Seahawks Scored in The Second Half As The Seahawks pulled away From The Falcons 37-9. The Seahawks Defense Shut Down Kirk Cousins, who Finished 15/30 For 162 Passing Yards, Two Picks, and A Passer Rating Of 38.5. Falcons Tight end Kyle Pitts had 6 Catches For 90 Receiving Yards, Bijan Robinson had 20 Carries For 86 Yards On The Ground as the Falcons' Offense finished 1-13 On Third Down and 0-4 in The Red Zone, including a Bijan Robinson Fumble. The Seahawks Offense Produced 261 Yards Of Offense In The Second Half as Sam Darnold Gets His Bounce Back Game After Early Struggles 20/30, 249 Passing Yards, Three Touchdowns, One Interception, 111.7 Passer Rating. Jaxson Smith Njigba Finished With 7 Catches For 92 Receiving Yards, Two Touchdowns in A Bounce Back Game. Losses Don’t Help The Falcons, Who Don’t Own The Rights To Their Pick In The 2026 Draft, Will Face a Season-Long Overall In The Coaching Staff, And Probably Beyond. The Falcons' Defense Played a Coverage Shell On Sam Darnold, forcing Him To Hold The Ball, 3.00 seconds to throw, Inviting Two Sacks And 12 Pressures. If Defenses continue To Play Coverages That Force Darnold To Process Longer Reads, The Secret Formula To Breaking The Seahawks may Become Universally Known To The League. The Seahawks finished +0.07 EPA per Run Play, 132 Yards, and 5.3 Yards Per Carry, FOUR (4) explosive runs. Seattle Will Need More consistency From Their Run Game If They Hope To Make A Deep Playoff Run.
Bengals Vs Bills
In 2022, most analysts would have voted for either Joe Burrow or Josh Allen (or Lamar Jackson) as one of the two quarterbacks in line to take over in the AFC whenever the Chiefs' dynasty declined. Both Quarterbacks Squared Off With Mahomes In The Playoffs, With Burrow Overcoming Patrick Once, and Burrow Has Two Wins To One Loss Over Allen. In 2025 The Chiefs Dynasty Looks Crumbling(For Now) But The Bills and Bengals Appeared To Have Missed Their Window for Ascension In The AfC instead Young Quarterbacks Like Bo Nix And Drake Maye Both In Their Second Season Have Taken Over For Mahomes In The AfC. Allen And Burrow Battle In The Snow As The Bills Overcome A 10 Point Deficit, After The Defense Picks Off Joe Burrow Twice On Back To Back Drives In The Fourth and Buffalo Survive 39-34. A Loss Would’ve pushed Buffalo Out Of The Playoff Standing and into “Hunting” Position, But The Bills powered on Another Monster Performance, flipping the Scoreboard in A Short Amount Of Time, Taking Their Own 10 Point Lead In The Fourth In Less Than Six minutes after the Bengals Scored The First Touchdown Of The Fourth Quarter. The Bengals Made The Game interesting, Scoring A Quick touchdown On The Following Drive With a Couple Of Explosive Plays, a one-handed 37 Yarder By Tight End Mike Gisecki, and a 25 Yard Score from Burrow to Tee Higgins. The Bengals scored both the first and last touchdowns of the game, but fell short By The End Of The GAme.Joe Burrow Fumbled The Point Conversion Opportunity In The Cold Before The Bills got The Ball Back. The Bengals defense forces a 3rd and 15 After Sacking Josh Allen for 8 Yards, Facing Pressure, Allen scrambles for 17 Yards, Converting For New Downs and Ending A Thriller In The Cold. The Lose Ends The Bengals' Wild Season that Featured Multiple Trade Requests, Some Bad Tackling, a Spitting Incident, and Three Quarterbacks, But In The Fourth Quarter, Joe Cool Shattered For A Crucial Stretch. Josh Allen 22/28 for 251 Passing Yards, 9 Carries For 78 Rushing Yards, 329 Yards Of Total Offense, 139.7 Passer Rating, Four Total Touchdowns, Three Passing touchdowns, His Third Such Game This Season. Joe Burrow 25/36 for 284 Passing, Four Passing touchdowns For Himself, Two Picks, A Passer Rating of 106.7. In The Cold Against This Anemic Bills Rushing Defense, the Bengals couldn’t Escape Their Tendencies For Drop-backs, just 62 Yards Rushing, on 19 Total Carries, One Touchdown By Chase Brown, Just Five Rushing Attempts in The Fourth Quarter, Nursing A Lead Against One of The Most dangerous Quarterbacks. Allen Put Together Some Incredible Plays: 17 17-yard pass to Gabe Davis That Converted a 4th down and led to A Bills’ touchdown and a 40 Yard Touchdown Run In The Fourth Quarter. The Bills Rushed For 183 Yards, 80 Rushing Yards For James Cooks On 18 Carries, 4.4 Yards Per Carry. The Bills March Into New England Next week With Confidence, Hoping To Take A Bite out of New England's Hold On The Division and the AFC East. The Bengals Move Into Top Ten Pick Position. Something The Team needs More Than A late Playoff Run.
