Monday 5 December 2016 13:12, UK
While we were not served up many close games on Sunday night, NFL Week 13 still produced many talking points and one sensational end to a thrilling contest in Atlanta.
Here are six storylines that caught my eye this week after a very enjoyable eight hours as we welcomed the always-entertaining and excellent Dallas Clark (former Super Bowl-winning tight end of the Indianapolis Colts) back to the Sky Sports studios.
The term 'pick six' is not one created for this humble column - far from it! It is, of course, a well-used and widely accepted term to describe an interception that a defender returns for a touchdown and six points. We may though have to come up with a new one now following Eric Berry's sensational game-winner for the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Atlanta Falcons had moved into a 28-27 lead on Matt Ryan's touchdown pass to Aldrick Robinson with just over four minutes remaining and decided to go for a two-point conversion to stretch the lead to three.
But Ryan threw an ill-advised pass that was returned the length of the field by Berry for a pick two! Since the start of last season, defences have been permitted to score two points of their own if they return a blocked extra point or two point conversion attempt to the other end zone.
Berry did just that and for the second week in a row, the Chiefs scored touchdowns from all three phases of the game - on offence, via a fake punt on special teams and twice on defence. That was a complete performance and a massive road win for this play-off-bound club, who were missing a few key players and still came up trumps.
The Baltimore Ravens have played very good defence all season long but if their offence can perform like it did against the Miami Dolphins in a 38-6 win, this could be a very dangerous team if they can edge past Pittsburgh and into the AFC play-offs.
The Ravens and Steelers are currently locked in a tie for first place in the AFC North with 7-5 records and they meet in what could be a division decider on Christmas Day. If Baltimore can maintain the offensive form they discovered against the Dolphins, they will fancy their chances against any opponent.
Joe Flacco went into Sunday with the lowest touchdown total of any NFL quarterback who has started every game this season with 11 but he exploded against a Miami defence that has proven difficult to handle during their six-game winning streak.
Flacco threw for 381 yards and four touchdowns and the Ravens are most definitely a team I have my eye on as we approach the final run-in to the end of the regular season.
Finding ways to win when things are not always going your way… that is the key to making a serious run as the NFL play-offs approach. And that's what the AFC-leading Oakland Raiders continue to do behind 'never knows when he is beaten' quarterback Derek Carr.
Oakland trailed Buffalo 24-9 at home in what always had the feel of a dangerous trap game. But Jack Del Rio's men never flinched. In fact, they appeared to thrive in the high pressure situation and Carr, as he has done so often this season, came into his own and led his club to a 38-24 win.
I still worry about some of these shoot-out games the Raiders find themselves in. But you have to give them credit because they find a way out of them more often than not, as evidenced by their 9-2 record. Finding a way to win when it's not always pretty? That's an art form in itself.
I have liked a lot of things about the way the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been playing in recent weeks, but I didn't pick them to win against the Chargers after making the long cross-country trip out west to San Diego.
Jameis Winston has been taking care of the football, Mike Evans is developing into a beast of a wide receiver, the return of Doug Martin at running back has been timely and the defence has been playing much better.
But every NFL player I speak with tells me that travelling from one coast to another is tough to handle. And I guess that is even more the case when the always-dangerous Philip Rivers is waiting to give you a not-so-warm welcome.
Winston's numbers are not spectacular at 280 passing yards and one touchdown, but what stood out to me was the fact he hit nine different receivers. Every time I watched the Bucs in action, Winston was throwing to a different player.
And that defence stepped up in a big way yet again with two interceptions of Rivers. The first was turned into a touchdown by Lavonte David and the second came in the end zone from Keith Tandy to seal a win that gave Tampa six wins from their last eight.
The Bucs are now tied for first place in the NFC South at 7-5 and playing with the kind of belief and confidence that so often results in a play-off berth.
We have seen a few games end in ties this season and it is clear from the demeanour of the players and coaches around the league that they absolutely hate them - in fact, it often looks like teams would rather lose than have a tie.
But it appears Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera is a big fan of ties, but we are talking the clothing type rather than the match result type. When the Panthers began their must-win game at Seattle, star quarterback and reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Cam Newton was on the bench. Before we had time to be shocked and stunned, his back-up, Derek Anderson, had thrown an interception deep in his own end of the field, leading to Seattle's first points en route to a 40-7 hammering.
After the game, it emerged that Newton - who returned to action on Carolina's next drive - had travelled to Seattle without wearing a tie, breaking one of Rivera's team rules. You can question the wisdom of benching one of Carolina's best players but at least Rivera had the courage of his convictions.
He puts the rules in place and whether players like them or not, what kind of message would it have sent if the star quarterback openly flouted and ignored the stipulations and went unpunished? Rivera took a big picture view and it hurt his team in the short term but was most definitely not the reason they lost a one-sided game.
As for the long-term impact, we cannot know for sure if the players harbour ill feelings towards their coach over this action without actually being in the Carolina locker room. It is a tough one because I applaud Rivera for his actions, but his players cannot have been happy starting a big game without Cam at the helm.
Tom Brady, take a bow. The New England Patriots quarterback won his 201st NFL game on Sunday, breaking a tie at the top of the all-time charts with long-time nemesis Peyton Manning.
Brady is going down as an all-time great, of that there is no dispute. But as he continues to roll along and produce the goods every Sunday, there is an argument to be made for him as the greatest ever. I certainly have him on a short-list of two alongside Joe Montana.
Brady has beaten every team in the NFL at least once during that 201-win run, he was won games in 37 different stadiums and, at 39, he is showing no signs of slowing down. Bad news for the rest of the NFL, good news for the Patriots.
