One of the better days of games, I think, with a lot of down-to-the-wire outcomes. More being decided by touchdowns rather than field goals would be nice, but what are you gonna do. Hope things went your way more often than not.
Commanders versus Dolphins in Spain: NFL really selling its product with some awesome international games. Last two have gone overtime, so there's that. But this was a clown show game between a couple of clown show offenses. At least there are some injury excuses I guess. Harder to explain was the game going to overtime after both teams, in the final 6 minutes of a low-scoring tie game, passed up chip-shot field goals to go for it on fourth down (unsuccessfully, natch). Miami did it with 1:45 left, which defies credulity. But they get the win, to the dismay (I mean delight) of their fans. Deebo Samuel the lone decent Commander, backfield committee, DeVon Achane very good for the Dolphins. Just him.
Panthers at Falcons: I've been a pretty big Bryce Young skeptic and I still feel that way, but he came up big in this game. Trailing throughout, big at times, and banged up on a couple of plays too, he kept coming back to lead drives, make big throws to Tetairoa McMillan (and even other receivers, like Xavier Legette, TD, and Jalen Coker, key 2-point conversion), and the Panthers pulled it out in overtime. Other side of the ball, I was going to talk about Bijan Robinson's big day, including being left in to score a couple of short touchdowns (Tyler Allgeier has been getting more of those). But his work building the big lead didn't hold up, Michael Penix got hurt after having his leg bent under him awkwardly on a tackle, and the Panthers added to Atlanta's seasons of painful losses (last three by 1 point at New England and then in overtime the last two weeks).
Buccaneers at Bills: Monster game for Josh Allen, throwing and running, hope you weren't facing him. Big game for Sean Tucker, score one for the rankings which slotted him favorably versus my Saturday skepticism. If I scared you away from him and you lost, well, apologies. Big games for the offenses and it seemed whoever touched the ball last would win, but Buffalo did a little more defensively late. Bills not dead yet in the AFC East and should be noted they've beaten two pretty good teams (KC, Tampa) in their last two.
Chargers at Jaguars: Surprising one here, with the Jaguars clearly coming to play and kind of dominating on both sides of the ball. Chargers have offensive line and defensive injuries and just aren't as good right now as they seemed at the start of the season. Still 7-4 let's not talk crazy, but will be tough for them to win a lot more games the way they look on their worst day. Jaguars somehow 6-4 and looked pretty good here, with Bhayshul Tuten getting a lot of run early until leaving in the midst of an ugly pileup where he got stood up and bent backward in the middle of a pile, I haven't seen a status update but it didn't look good.
Bears at Vikings: This game. J.J. McCarthy was so terrible for three quarters (and his receivers also dropped a bunch of passes) that I honestly thought he was going to get benched. But just like in the first meeting he played better enough in the fourth quarter to lead a touchdown drive that might have been a winner. Instead the Vikings gave up a long kick return (I would have kicked into the end zone) and a long field goal and lost anyway. Cardiac Bears didn't look good for much of this game either but did enough to win.
Packers at Giants: Tough day for those of us starting Josh Jacobs. He seemed to score on an early carry where the officials decided to rule him short, and the Packers rather than challenge the bad spot tried to run it quick and got stopped again. Jacobs suffered a knee injury on the followup and didn't return. As for the rest of the game, Jordan Love also got knocked around early but was OK and led the late touchdown drive, with a pretty remarkable throw and touchdown catch by Christian Watson, who has looked really good since coming back from injury. Not pretty, but Packers came up off the mat to get the win. Jameis Winston looked pretty good, albeit with a game-ending end-zone interception where it appeared like a miscommunication with the receiver. Wind at MetLife made kicks adventurous, with some really ugly-looking misses, we're at the point where it's reasonable to favor kickers in indoor situations where possible. Tyrone Tracy all the yards, Devin Singletary all the touchdowns.
Bengals at Steelers: Game started out like the first, Thursday night meeting -- a wild shootout -- with both quarterbacks leading touchdown drives finishing with touchdown passes to open things. But then the Steelers defense started playing better and Aaron Rodgers got buried on a red zone series and came up with an injury to his non-throwing hand. Going forward, we'll see (I tend to think they can win some games with Mason Rudolph, depending on the matchup I guess). Jaylen Warren also left with an ankle injury. Steelers apparently focused on Ja'Marr Chase, who had a quiet game; Chase Brown good and Tee Higgins scored. Big star for Pittsburgh was Kenneth Gainwell, who nobody started.
Texans at Titans: Because one low-scoring game decided by field goals isn't enough on Sunday, we got this one. Kudos to the Titans for competitiveness and being right there until the end, leading for most actually. But Nico Collins and yep Davis Mills made some big plays and the fill-in kicker made a clutch field goal, and the Texans got it done. Disappointing outing for Woody Marks, Dalton Schultz worked out, Tennessee's offense (despite nearly winning) had no usable production and Calvin Ridley left with an injury on his only catch.
49ers at Cardinals: I guess the big takeaway is that San Francisco, injuries on both sides of the ball and all, can still play some pretty good football and is very much in the playoff picture. The Cardinals, well, it's all fallen apart, and at one sideline shot of Jonathan Gannon I found myself thinking, this guy knows it's probably his last season. Or maybe not. Arizona lost by nearly the same score they did a week ago (44-22 and 41-22, kind of weird). Anyway, another huge week of garbage-time production for Jacoby Brissett, which involved him completing 47 passes for 452 yards. the 47 establishing an NFL record. Michael Wilson caught 15 of them, nearly doubling his total for the season. Fantasy football bruh. Congrats to those who dared to start him. Looking at the offensive numbers you might think Arizona won this game easily rather than being blown out.
Seahawks at Rams: Rams seemed to kind of outclass the Seahawks for a lot of this game, but there we were in the final seconds with Seattle lining up a 61-yard field goal that would have won the game. It was short and off-target, but it could have happened. Not a big game for a lot of guys you'd expect to have big games, the usual for Nacua and Smith-Njigba, but most everyone else underperformed. AJ Barner a big game in defeat, with Seattle trying to get back into it and almost pulling it off. Bad Sam Darnold showed up with 4 interceptions, causing some trepidation for Seahawks fans that last year's late stumble is upcoming I imagine. Pretty good game; these Rams are pretty good.
Ravens at Browns: Browns controlled most of the first half, with their defense making plays (lots of Garrett sacks, a Pick Six that was a drop by Keaton Mitchell). But their offense didn't really do a ton, and it was even less after Dillon Gabriel was knocked out halfway through, putting Shedeur Sanders in the lineup. Crowd was thrilled, but then they had to watch him play and complete 4 of 16, with the team frittering away the lead and a possible win. Ravens winning points on a seeming Tush Push short-yardage play where Mark Andrews instead ran around the edge for a 35-yard touchdown. Clever.
Kansas City at Broncos: As some know I root for Denver so I was happy with the outcome. Regardless it was a pretty great game, with both sides making clutch plays on offense and defense right up until the very end. A few random notes. One, Denver almost got screwed at the end on a bad spot and a "virtual measurement." I ask you, what is the point of the virtual measurement when the spot is the critical thing? I'm sure the chain system was exactly 10 yards, the problem is a ref from behind the play running up to spot the ball, of course he's not gonna get it right. Other random note is I find Tony Romo very difficult to listen to. Liked him as a player. Appreciate that he seems to be having fun calling these games. Don't like that he just seems kind of smug about it. Maybe it's just me. Some big plays by Mahomes and Kelce, and some clutch throws late by Bo Nix, maybe that will get people off the kid's back a little. Quiet game for RJ Harvey, with his best run erased by a penalty and a touchdown vultured too. Heard a stat that Kansas City now 0-5 in one-score games. That might not mean anything in January of course.
Lions at Eagles: I had my doubts about the low ranking on Jared Goff, but this Eagles defense is playing lights out right now. Back to back shutdowns of opposing offenses at Green Bay and versus the Lions last night. You tip your cap and avoid them going forward. Some ugly stat lines, like Amon-Ra catching 2 of 12 and the run game doing almost nothing, with Jahmyr Gibbs saving his day with a 100-yard receiving night. The Eagles offense turning in a virtual no-show, again, was harder to accept, but the Eagles have been content to win ugly for most of the season, leaving those of us with A.J. most weeks and DeVonta and Dallas last night holding the bag.
Monday, Monday: A lot of matchups probably hinge on this game, with CeeDee Lamb, Javonte Williams and the available Raiders enjoying favorable matchups in the last game of the week. I am/was a little wary of Geno Smith with him not having any wide receivers to speak of, but Bowers and Jeanty should be catching some balls. The Raiders defense isn't horrible but I expect Dak Prescott will be doing some good things. I'll call it Dallas 26, Las Vegas 21.