There was stability at the top in N.F.L. Week 12. The San Francisco 49ers improved to 10-1 for the first time since 1997 with a huge win over the Green Bay Packers, while the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks came away with crucial, albeit ugly, victories. Things were far more exciting for lesser teams like the Jets, the Cleveland Browns and the Tennessee Titans, each of whom enjoyed a day of pure dominance. The week, however, belonged to Frank Gore, the ageless running back who ran right past a legend in the record books.
Here’s what we learned:
Frank Gore does not get enough respect. In a televised announcement last week, 12 running backs were named finalists for the N.F.L. 100 All-Time Team. Gore’s name wasn’t on the list. Not only that, the Buffalo Bills’ veteran running back wasn’t even among the group of 24 semifinalists who had been previously announced. No matter. With a 6-yard run in the fourth quarter of Buffalo’s win over Denver on Sunday, Gore passed Barry Sanders — Barry Sanders! — for third place on the league’s career rushing list.
Gore sits at 15,289 rushing yards for his career. At 36, he is incredibly unlikely to get the 1,437 he needs to catch Walter Payton for second place. But keep in mind, LaDainian Tomlinson, Curtis Martin and Sanders all seemed safe before Gore cruised right past them. Sanders and others recorded an emotional video tribute to Gore that helped make up for other snubs.
The 49ers aren’t going away. Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers represented one of the biggest tests of the season for upstart San Francisco, and the 49ers passed with flying colors. The team’s outrageous defensive line disrupted Rodgers throughout the game, its solid secondary frustrated Green Bay’s receivers, and its offense, bolstered by the return of tight end George Kittle, looked playoff-caliber as well. It added up to a 37-8 victory at home. The 49ers’ next, and possibly biggest, test comes in Week 13: A road game against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
The Patriots don’t need an offense to win. If Tom Brady was frustrated with his team’s offensive effort before this game, it’s hard to imagine how upset he is after New England did almost nothing at home against the Dallas Cowboys in a 13-9 victory. Brady’s squad was mostly lifeless, generating 282 yards while converting just three of 14 third-down opportunities. It was enough to make New England sweat — even on a windy and rainy day in Foxborough, Mass. — but the Patriots improved to 10-1 thanks to the team’s terrific defense (and some help from a crucial drop by Amari Cooper on a fourth down in the game’s final two minutes).
Myles Garrett is gone but not forgotten. Cleveland’s standout defensive end had his indefinite suspension upheld last week, but he was a hot topic in the Browns organization and among the team’s fans. The attention ranged from interesting (Dee Haslam, a co-owner of the team, wearing a knit cap with Garrett’s number on it) to “yikes” (Browns fans constructing a piñata effigy of Mason Rudolph and recreating Garrett hitting the quarterback with a helmet). In less uncomfortable news, the Browns won a third consecutive game, keeping the team’s slim playoff hopes alive.
Vita Vea is a two-way player. Vea appeared to be coming in as an extra blocker for Tampa Bay late in the first half against Atlanta, but the mammoth defensive lineman nimbly split out into the flat uncovered, and Jameis Winston hit him for a 1-yard touchdown pass. Vea became just the ninth player since 1982 (when sacks became an official statistic) to record a sack and a receiving touchdown in the same game. Even more impressive: According to Pro Football Reference, at 347 pounds, Vea is the heaviest player to catch a touchdown pass, narrowly edging Jonathan Ogden (345 pounds) and absolutely crushing William Perry, whose nickname was the Refrigerator (335 pounds).
“I scored?” Vea said to reporters with a laugh. “I thought it was a dream.”
Sunday’s Top Performers
Top Passer: Baker Mayfield
Mayfield came into the season with Super Bowl aspirations, but through eight games he was one of the biggest liabilities on a team that was drastically underperforming. Over the last four weeks, however, he has cleaned up his game considerably and has helped resurrect his team’s playoff hopes. Miami was hardly a formidable opponent, but Mayfield’s efficiency and production were still notable.
Top Runner: Derrick Henry
It seemed fairly obvious that Henry, a big play running back, would dominate against Jacksonville’s horrific run defense. We predicted that he should wear his track shoes, and it looked like he listened as he reeled off a 74-yard touchdown run that was part of a terrific day in which he and quarterback Ryan Tannehill had their way with the formerly stout defense.
Top Receiver: Chris Godwin
Fantasy football experts were expecting huge things from Atlanta’s talented wide receivers in a matchup with Tampa Bay’s porous secondary, but it was Godwin who tore up the Falcons instead. The third-year wide receiver is up to career highs of 1,071 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. His teammate, Mike Evans, also reached 1,000 yards for the season, tying Randy Moss for the most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons to start a career (six).
One* Sentence About Sunday’s Games
*Except when it takes more.
Patriots 13, Cowboys 9 There is plenty of finger-pointing to go around in terms of Dallas’ effort, but Amari Cooper being held without a catch, and dropping a fourth-down pass at the end of the game, puts him near the top of the list. Making matters worse, the player who primarily covered Cooper, Stephon Gilmore of the Patriots, caught one of Dak Prescott’s passes for an interception.
49ers 37, Packers 8 For an idea of how good San Francisco’s defense is, and how much pressure it creates, Green Bay went 1 for 15 on third-down conversions, and the lone success came after Aaron Rodgers had been pulled to get his backup, Tim Boyle, a few snaps.
Seahawks, 17, Eagles 9 Philadelphia was playing without several key players on offense, but the defense failing to slow down Rashaad Penny (129 rushing yards on 14 carries) was fairly shocking.
Buccaneers 35, Falcons 22 One could nitpick that even in a big win, Jameis Winston still threw two interceptions, but instead, just watch Vita Vea’s touchdown again.
Saints 34, Panthers 31 A team actually won a challenge on a missed pass interference call, but it went against New Orleans, which was extremely awkward. Luckily it did not decide the game.
Titans 42, Jaguars 20 Tennessee was favored coming into the game, and figured to make some noise on offense, but was anyone expecting the Titans to reel off four touchdowns in a span of six plays? Because they did.
Browns 41, Dolphins 24 “It didn’t mean extra, but it was fun,” Jarvis Landry said of his performance against Miami, which included 10 catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns. The Dolphins traded Landry to Cleveland before the 2018 season.
Jets 34, Raiders 3 It is hard to say if the Jets have actually improved during a three-game winning streak, but it’s safe to declare Oakland is not nearly as far along as it had seemed in recent weeks.
Bills 20, Broncos 3 You have to consider the competition, but Buffalo absolutely dominated on both sides of the ball and, according to The Upshot, now has an 81 percent chance of making the playoffs.
Redskins 19, Lions 16 Washington was in danger of having a week where it could just be happy, but instead the world will opine on Dwayne Haskins’s decision to shoot selfies with fans rather than go onto the field for the final snap of his first N.F.L. win.
Bears 19, Giants 14 “I’m happy we won, but it’s not good enough, not really good enough,” a fairly self-aware Mitchell Trubisky told reporters after the game.
Steelers 16, Bengals 10 Mason Rudolph got himself benched but Cincinnati is bad enough that Devlin Hodges was able to lead Pittsburgh to victory.
Source: Football - nytimes.com
