Nyheim Hines’ Daily Double: If you need one person to return your punts this holiday season, Colts scatback Nyheim Hines is your man. Two punt-return TDs on Sunday—no one has done that since Reggie Bush in 2008.
Derek Carr Gets Some Love: I mean, sheesh, the guy has had a good year while surrounded by underwhelming talent, and he gets booed and pelted after the final game in Oakland in large part because of a blown call. Nice to see him getting some adoration from the fans in Los Angeles—he is, after all, the quarterback of the most popular team in L.A.
Jared Cook Up the Seam: He had a long catch-and-run TD on a crosser, but this is where he’s a difference-maker for the Saints (and this has been Drew Brees’s favorite throw for, literally, decades).
The Early Promise of Daniel Jones: Jones returned to the lineup and put up 352 yards with five touchdowns and no turnovers against a Washington defense that’s been game. Jones needs to become more urgent in the pocket—a far easier habit to correct than the other end of the spectrum (known in the medical community as “Blaine Gabbert disease”)—because his turnovers are often a result of holding onto the ball too loose and for too long. But anyone pushing the “do the Giants pull a Cardinals and draft another first-round QB?” narrative has a fundamental misunderstanding of quarterbacking. Jones is in a good place in terms of development.
Bad Teams Play Exciting Games: It doesn’t mean it’s good football (though the Giants undoubtedly have their quarterback of the future in Daniel Jones and Dwayne Haskins had the best performance of his rookie year). But even matchups and aggressive (except for Bill Callahan) coaches can lead to close games.
Chris Boswell, Even If It Is a Year Too Late: He quietly had one of the best bounce-back years you’ll ever see from a kicker. A year ago, as everything broke wrong for a good Steelers team, he went 13-for-20 on field goals (6-for-11 from 40 and beyond) and missed five PATs. This year, as everything breaks right for a not-so-good Steelers team, he’s 28-for-30 (10-for-12 from 40 and beyond) and perfect on PATs.
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Regrets
A Dud From the Dallas Offense: Dak Prescott was scattershot all game. When he was on-target, his receivers were drop-prone. Ultimately, they couldn’t take advantage of a weak group of cornerbacks in a do-or-die game. They’re probably going to figure out a way to extend Prescott and Amari Cooper, but after watching this one, it doesn’t give you much peace of mind.
Amari Cooper Goes Invisible (Again): The Cowboys are at their best when he’s a big factor. The offense often doesn’t do anything when Cooper doesn’t do anything. On Sunday, Dak Prescott’s accuracy was an issue, but it was another dud on the road for Cooper, against a team with glaring weaknesses in the secondary. He was on the sideline for the Cowboys' final offensive play.
The Legend of Duck Hodges: The Endening: And boy, was it ugly. Hodges looked like an undrafted rookie from Samford the past two weeks, which makes sense considering he’s an undrafted rookie from Samford. He was game after re-replacing and injured Rudolph late, but he’s a long way from being a starting-caliber quarterback. In a combined six quarters against the Bills and Jets, Hodges averaged 5.4 yards per attempt and threw six interceptions.
Another Browns Meltdown: Surely, the Haslams don’t have the appetite for firing another first-year coach. But the Browns—especially the offense—have looked so unprepared, the game plans so half-baked, the in-game management so full of mistakes . . . the process has truly matched the results in 2019.
Bill Callahan Goes Down a Coward: A meaningless game for an interim coach, the young quarterback already sidelined by an injury, Callahan watched Washington backup Case Keenum lead a touchdown drive in the final minute to pull within a point, and then . . . kicked the PAT!?!?! Daniel Jones took it down the field on the first possession of overtime and won the game, giving Callahan precisely what he deserved.
That Nashville Turf: It looks like an ice rink far too often. Someone get the Wizard of Sod over to Nissan Stadium.
I Don’t Know About These Seahawks, Man: Granted, next Sunday night, when they host the 49ers, is the one that really matters, but getting outclassed at home by the Cardinals could end up costing them the 1-seed if they get that Week 17 win. But this is an 11-win team with a point differential of +12 and inexplicable outlier numbers in red-zone efficiency, takeaways (32 takeaways despite no pass rush!) and opponent kicking. Chris Carson, the centerpiece of the run game that’s the foundation of their offense, left on Sunday, and their down to their fourth back. Is this team really in the NFC’s upper echelon?
It Would’ve Been a Day for Derrick Henry: The Titans made do without him, but protecting a lead for the first 35 minutes of the game, it would have been nice to have Henry in there grinding down the Saints defense.
Lions-Broncos in the Running for Most Poorly Officiated Game of 2019: If you like extended delays in the form of conferences and reviews that end up leading to the wrong call anyway, this was your dream game.
What Is Bless Austin Doing?: With nine seconds left in the first half, no timeouts and the ball at the Jets’ 29, it was pretty clear that the Steelers would be taking a shot at the end zone. By all looks it was supposed to be a Cover-3 look for the Jets (and considering Austin was benched to start the second half, it probably was), yet there was Austin, trailing a wide-open Diontae Johnson into the end zone.
Dwayne Haskins’ Bum Ankle: It was a shame, because an afternoon against that Giants defense was serving as a nice confidence-builder for the rookie.
Zac Taylor and Brian Flores Go From Opposing Each Other in the Super Bowl: To coaching a December game in front of 18 fans in Miami.
People Who Root for Draft Position: Are lame. Sorry. You only get 16 games a year. Root for your team to win. (They’re probably going to screw up the draft anyway.)
Dan Snyder’s Personal Touch: To be clear, team medical staff had already told Dwayne Haskins not to return to the game. But any owner weighing in on gameday personnel decisions is a terrible idea. And when it’s the owner who seems to have nothing but terrible ideas . . .
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Moments We’ll Tell Our Grandkids About
Vernon Butler Earns This Ejection: It starts with yanking Mark Glowinski to the ground by the facemask, a penalty but not ejection-worthy.
Then I guess he lost track of who’s who, because Jack Doyle is just lying there wondering what’s going on and Butler just socks him in the face, like Butler is Flanders and Doyle is Lenny:
Butler also had a message for the Indy crowd on the way out: “Peace Among Worlds”
This Truly Obscene Gesture by Odell Beckham Jr.: Thank goodness that, in another case of wonderful judgment by a person whose only role in the sport is to judge things properly, this was flagged as a 15-yard penalty. For those of us who saw it, the healing process can now begin.
Lamar Hands Out a Metaphorical Swirly:
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What We’ll Be Talking About This Week
Jason Garrett’s Fate Almost Sealed: The Giants did almost knock off the Eagles in Philly two weeks ago, and if they can finish the job this time (and the Cowboys can beat Washington at home) Dallas still gets in.
Which AFC Division Champ Wants to Spoil Someone’s Season?: The Steelers need it to be the Texans. The Titans have the tiebreak over Pittsburgh, which means the Titans will get the 6-seed in the AFC unless, in Week 17, the Texans (with nothing to play for) beat Tennessee and the Steelers beat the Ravens (who also have nothing to play for).
Banged Up Ravens: They have three weeks to get well, but Mark Ingram, Mark Andrews, Marcus Peters and Jimmy Smith all left the game in Cleveland.
What Is the Future of the Steelers at Quarterback?: Obviously it will be Ben Roethlisberger as long as he’s anywhere near healthy, but he’s going to be 38 and coming off elbow surgery when next season starts, and neither Mason Rudolph nor Duck Hodges have looked like more than far-down-the-depth-chart guys.
Get Well Soon, Cam: As long as he’s (relatively) healthy, there’s no logical reason he shouldn’t be the Panthers’ starter in 2020.
Joe Burrow Will Be a Bengal: Congratulations! Or, congratulations? Cincinnati’s loss in Miami clinches the No. 1 pick. The good news is that they’ll get 2019 first-rounder Jonah Williams in the lineup next year, and Zac Taylor runs a fine system. Worry about the bad news later.
Chargers Bid Farewell to the Soccer Stadium: It was an emotional day, like a Sarah McLachlan song for the season-ticket holders. Both of them.
A Reminder: Players and coaches don’t tank; front offices do. No one coaching or playing for the Dolphins or Bengals was trying to lose games this season. The front offices of those teams intentionally constructed teams that made it difficult to win (or, at least Miami’s did).
Chelsea’s big problem this season has been its vulnerability on the counter, leaking a 24% higher proportion of goals on the counter under Lampard than the league average. One of the reasons for Chelsea’s loss of fluency in recent weeks, as it has lost four of its previous five league games, has been Lampard’s attempts to rectify the problem and solidify the midfield. Here his solution was to go back to the old Antonio Conte ploy of fielding a back three with two holding midfielders camped in front in a 3-4-2-1, something he had only previously done in the 5-2 win at Wolves earlier in the season in September.
It worked, particularly before halftime. Spurs were weirdly insipid, as though it were almost intimidated by Chelsea’s ferocity and made poor decisions again and again. The introduction of Christian Eriksen for Eric Dier at halftime was a notional gamble, but the midfielder has sunk into such a slump of form that it hardly felt like one. Spurs had more attacking imagination and purpose in the second half, and if it looked open to the counter-attack that was at least explained by the match situation. This was a game decided before halftime—settled by a barely explicable challenge from the goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga.
Chelsea went ahead after 12 minutes as Tottenham’s defensive issues were exposed. Like Chelsea, Tottenham went into the game having kept only three league clean sheets all season and, after Toby Alderweireld signed a new contract last week, Mourinho is believed to be keen to replace the other three members of the back four. Serge Aurier has been improved under him, at least going forward, but it was his hesitation in getting out to Willian as a corner was half-cleared that gave the Brazilian the opportunity to cut inside and whip the ball into the far corner.
A dreadful half for Tottenham got worse in injury time as the Gazzaniga mystifyingly tried to kick a head-high bouncing ball from Willian, missed and clattered into Marcos Alonso. Quite why he didn’t simply catch the ball is a mystery. The referee Anthony Taylor, equally mystifyingly, initially gave Spurs the free-kick (he had also failed to award a penalty in the Manchester derby when Marcus Rashford was tripped by Bernardo Silva, only for VAR to correct his decision), but a VAR review overturned that to give a penalty. Willian calmly converted.
Any thought Tottenham might get back into the game disappeared after 62 minutes as Son was sent off after kicking out at Antonio Rudiger. It wasn’t the most heinous offense, and Rudiger appeared to overreact, but from a prone position he did flick his boot into the defender’s chest. It was Son’s third red card in eight months—albeit the one he got for the foul that led to Andre Gomes’s horror injury at Everton was subsequently overturned.
But in truth Son’s red was a symptom of Tottenham’s defeat rather than a cause of it, his frustration a reflection of the mood throughout the stadium, the game lost with a dreadful first half. The details of the game, though, feel like minor details beside the alleged racist incidents.
110-107 on Sunday, the biggest comeback in franchise history and the NBA’s largest in a decade.
Lowry had one fewer point in the fourth quarter (20) than the Mavericks managed as a team (21).
It was the first 30-point comeback in the NBA since Sacramento beat Chicago on Dec. 21, 2009, according to Elias.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson scored 18 points and Fred VanVleet had 10 as the short-handed Raptors won their fifth straight and improved to 13-3 at home, ending the Mavericks’ seven-game road winning streak.
Kristaps Porzingis had 19 points and 12 rebounds and Jalen Brunson scored 21 points as Dallas dropped to 2-2 without guard Luka Doncic, who sat for the fourth straight game due to a sprained right ankle.
Toronto trailed 83-53 with 2:55 remaining in the third, but used a swarming defense and hot shooting from Lowry to tie the score at 95 with 5 1/2 minutes to go in the fourth.
Hollis-Jefferson made a pair of free throws with 4:31 remaining to put the Raptors up 98-97, their first lead of the second half. Lowry hit a three-pointer on Toronto’s next possession, making it a four-point game.
A three-point play by Brunson with 1:14 left cut it to 106-105 and Porzingis made a pair from the line with 32 seconds remaining, giving Dallas a one-point lead.
Lowry fed Boucher for a go-ahead dunk and, after a Dallas timeout, Brunson missed a jumper that would have given the Mavericks the lead.
Boucher was fouled as he grabbed the rebound and made both free throws, putting Toronto up by three with 1.6 seconds left. Porzingis launched a game-tying shot from his own side of half before the buzzer, but it fell short.
The Raptors made four of 23 attempts from three-point range through the first three quarters, then made six of 11 shots from distance in the fourth, four of them from Lowry.
Dallas missed 11 straight field-goal attempts to begin the game, and did not score until Porzingis hit the second of two free throws with 6:43 left in the opening quarter. Dorian Finney-Smith made a three-pointer with 6:19 left in the first to halt the shooting slump.
The Mavericks had more turnovers (seven) than made baskets (five) in the first, but Toronto could not take advantage and led 20-17 after one.
Toronto led 32-26 with 7:07 left in the second but Dallas used a 16-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 42-34 lead. Porzingis hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the half, putting the visitors up 51-42.
Brunson and Tim Hardaway Jr. each scored 10 points in the third as the Mavericks outscored Toronto 35-21, taking an 86-63 lead into the fourth.
TIP-INS
Mavericks: Dallas G Delon Wright played in Toronto as a visitor for the first time. The Raptors drafted Wright 20th overall in 2015 and he played in 172 games with Toronto before being traded to Memphis last season, part of the trade that sent Marc Gasol north of the border. The Raptors honored Wright with a tribute video at the end of the first quarter. Brunson led Dallas with nine assists. Six of Dallas’ 12 made baskets in the second were three-pointers.
Raptors: Lowry had eight rebounds. Center Dewan Hernandez (right ankle) was inactive.
LATEST ON LUKA
Doncic worked out and ran sprints on the court before the game, and is expected to take part in Monday’s practice. Asked when Doncic will play again, coach Rick Carlisle said the four games between Christmas and January are “certainly in play.”
