Things That Made Me Giddy
Josh Allen Vs. the Patriots: Not to overstate this, but the Patriots’ wind-blown Monday night victory over the Bills a few weeks ago birthed a thousand terrible takes. It was a bizarre game with a unique box score due to the weather conditions, but essentially it was a Patriots coaching staff that knew its quarterback didn’t have the arm talent to succeed in those conditions and called the game accordingly. The bottom of the barrel of the aforementioned terrible takes went along the lines of: . It’s bonkers to argue that any coach—let alone the greatest coach in the sport’s history—put together a game plan that banked on multiple red-zone stops while protecting a four-point lead. But more absurd is failing to understand that Belichick not only respects Allen and Daboll, but probably sees this Bills offense in his darkest nightmares (only in his darkest nightmares Belichick also isn't wearing any pants). For the second straight matchup (in non-hurricane conditions), Belichick couldn’t solve Allen—in large part because Stefon Diggs got the better of J.C. Jackson, Isaiah McKenzie did everything but steal Myles Bryant’s lunch money, and Allen couldn't be tackled in some huge moments. And now the Bills control the AFC East.
Isaiah McKenzie Makes Cole Beasley’s Absence Irrelevant: With safety help devoted to the Stefon Diggs/J.C. Jackson matchup, McKenzie on Myles Bryant was the mismatch of the day in Foxboro. McKenzie ended up catching 11 of his 12 targets (the one miss was a drop) for 125 yards and a touchdown. (His previous career highs were six catches and 65 yards.)
Joe Burrow Has Earned Your MVP Buzz: Tom Brady should be the frontrunner, seeing as he’s not only the quarterback but also the de facto head coach, offensive coordinator and general manager of his team. But even coming into this week, Burrow deserved to be in that second-tier conversation, along with Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes (and, until Sunday’s performances, Justin Herbert and Matthew Stafford). Burrow is being asked to run a very veteran system that requires high-level processing before and after the snap, and the only knock against him is misleading box-score interception numbers, half of which weren’t on him. And on Sunday—though against a shorthanded Ravens defense—he put up 525 yards on 46 pass attempt (an absurd 11.41 per throw).
Damiere Byrd’s Clincher: Matt Nagy wasn’t going to make anyone stay out there in the cold any longer than they had to. Congratulatory mylar balloons for all involved!
The Raiders Are Still in This!: They gutted one out against the Broncos to stay in the wild-card race, an incredible accomplishment by the remaining players and coaches considering what has happened to this franchise over the past three months. If they get to the playoffs, Rich Bisaccia and/or Derek Carr deserve statues outside that stadium.
Rams Survive Matthew Stafford’s Rocky Day: File it under “get it out of your system” for Stafford, who threw another ugly late-in-the-down interception reminiscent of that Sunday night loss to Tennessee, and underthrew a designer deep shot (that wasn't open anyway) for another pick among his three interceptions. But the Rams had enough defense and even (very uncharacteristically) got a big play from special teams in the victory at Minnesota.
The Texans Don’t Just Compete: They went out and steamrolled the Chargers, running for 189, making Justin Herbert uncomfortable all afternoon, and really just outclassing the Chargers. Again, put David Culley in the Coach of the Year discussion for winning four games—equaling last year’s total for the Texans—with the NFL’s worst roster.
Eagles Had Enough of the Nonsense: After a slow and sloppy start against a Giants team that upset them a few weeks ago, Philly went into halftime tied 3–3 but put together four straight scoring drives—three of them touchdowns—then got a pick-six to score 31 unanswered points to open the second half.
Kyle Pitts Is Wonderful: Though it doesn’t change the fact that this Falcons team is the worst seven-win team in NFL history.
The Jets Win Twice: The victory over the Jaguars (acting head coach Ron Middleton is on the board!) was followed by the good news of the Seahawks, who owe the Jets their first-round pick as part of the regrettable Jamal Adams trade, gacking one away against the Nick Foles-led Bears. That Seattle pick is currently seventh overall.
