Highs And Lows: The Biggest Winners (& Losers) Of NFL Season
Highs And Lows: The Biggest Winners (& Losers) Of NFL Season Week 12 & Belief In Higher Powers
Imagine going to a big college to play quarterback. Imagine your college career is good and then comes the draft. You aren’t as big or as fast, but you can sling it. They see that, right? They have to see that. The accuracy is there. The commitment is there. But everyone is telling you that you’re a prospect at best. No one wants to take a chance on you, and you keep hearing quarterback names called before you. What many people don’t know is that your dad didn’t even want you to play football. He saw your talent before anyone else but he was worried about the concussions and the injuries. But you know you can play, you just need someone else to see it and take a chance on you. And then finally, after all that waiting, you get the call that you will be playing in the NFL.
Are you still imagining?
Then you know exactly how Tom Brady felt.
This is Week 12 of the NFL football round-up in which we separate the wheat from the chaff (whatever that means) and figure out which teams are winners, losers, and everything in between.
Winners
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions beat the New York Giants 34–27 in overtime. Beating the Giants doesn’t make them winners, as the Giants are still figuring it out. What makes the Lions winners is that they didn’t give up and they had several chances. They literally scratched and clawed their way back into this game despite Jameis Winston doing everything he could to spoil their chances. But in the end there was just too much Jahmyr Gibbs who rushed for 219 yards and two rushing TDs.
New England Patriots
I keep trying to figure out if I’m all in on the New England Patriots. Sure, they look the part. And, yes I saw that they beat the Cincinnati Bengals 26–20. But the Bengals have been having a lackluster season ever since Joe Burrow went down. But what did impress me is that the Patriots are 10-2 and they just keep beating whoever is in front of them. Also helps when your tight end goes for 7 catches for 115 yards and a touchdown.
Green Bay Packers
Don’t look now but the Green Bay Packers are now 7-3-1 after dismantling division rivals Minnesota Vikings. They handled the Minnesota Vikings 23–6. Their defense shut down Minnesota, keeping them in the playoff hunt and just barely ahead of the Detroit Lions. Packers quarterback Jordan Love didn’t do much, going 14-21 for 139 yards, but he didn’t have to when running back Emanuel Wilson ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries.
Middle of the Road
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs have been a rollercoaster this year. At 6-5 the Chiefs barely have a winning record but they did just beat the red hot Indianapolis Colts in Overtime 23-20. So there is that. Not one NFL team wants to see the Chiefs in the playoffs but they may not have to worry about that as the Chiefs sit in third place in the AFC West. Yes, the Chiefs are still the Chiefs, but Patrick Mahomes’ performance against the Colts, 29-46, 352 yards and 1 interception, shows what I mean when I say rollercoaster.
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers beat the Tennessee Titans 30-24. The 49ers are getting healthy as Brock Purdy is back but he showed all of his inner Marcus Mariotta going 23-32 for 193 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. That isn’t going to cut it. If running back Christian McCaffrey can stay healthy then this team is going to be hard to beat but Purdy has to find his rhythm again and until then I’m not sold.
Dallas Cowboys
At halftime the Dallas Cowboys were losing 21-7 and my neighbor and I were joking about how Cowboys fans think their team is so much better than the Washington Commanders when we both suck. It’s as if Cowboy god Beyonce heard our laughter because the Cowboys came back and won the game 24-21. Not only are the Cowboys second in the saddest division in football, the NFC East but they are now 5-5-1 on the season. If the Cowboys are thinking playoffs they are going to have to win out and that’s not going to be easy considering they have the Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, and the Minnesota Vikings in their next three games.
Losers
Washington Commanders
I know that the Washington Commanders were on a bye this past week, but this is just how awful this damn team is. I mean have you seen their defense? Neither have I. At this point, a random group of 75-pound eight-year-olds could beat this team. Marcus Mariota is so bad that I’ve started naming things that don’t work “Marcus Mariota.”
Ex. “It was working fine and then it just Marcus Mariota’d.”
Mariota’s name is a synonym for ass.
Seriously, how bad do you have to be to make the Loser List on an off day?
New York Jets
I know I say this every week, but the New York Jets are just destined to lose at this point. It’s in their DNA. They lost to Baltimore, 23–10 and even the Jets penciled it in as a loss before the game even started. They are 2-9 on the season and Tyrod Taylor, a serviceable backup, played well going 17-28, 222 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, against a tough Ravens defense. But the Jets are just Mariota and may not win another game all year.
Cleveland Browns
Don’t make that face. Of course I saw what happened on Sunday when Shedeur Sanders made his first start and helped the Browns beat the Las Vegas Raiders 24-10; the first win by a Browns rookie since Eisenhower was president. I also saw that ridiculous throw for 50 yards and learned just like everyone else that Sanders will be starting again this week. But the Browns as a staff, record label, and a crew are just a bunch of losers. They know good and well Sanders should’ve been the starter since Day 1. They tried everything possible to break that young man’s spirit and they don’t get a pass for that. As the great Malcolm X once said, “If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, there’s no progress.”
But there is a lesson here about perseverance and performance. Once your footsteps have been ordained, there is no man-made decision that can stop what a higher power has decided. The 199th pick in the 2000 NFL draft, Tom Brady, is proof of that.
