Tuesday 25 December 2018 06:49, UK
Who were the top performers from Week 16 in the NFL? We have picked out our Team of the Week...
Week 16 was full of surprises as the Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers all lost, leaving the AFC Playoff picture wide open. The NFC will also go down to the final week as seedings are up for grabs and last year's Super Bowl champions are fighting to get in.
There were many superstar performances in Week 16 of the NFL season, and we have picked out some of our stars from the action…
Last season's Super Bowl MVP threw for a franchise record 471 yards during the Eagles' 32-30 win over the Houston Texans. Foles completed 35 of 49 passes for 471 yards and four touchdowns during the victory.
The Eagles found themselves 16-13 down at half-time before turning the game around in the second half to go 29-16 up, thanks to Foles throwing an 83-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor followed by a 23-yard hook-up with tight end Zach Ertz.
The Texans attempted a late comeback, and looked as if they could have done it until Foles led the Eagles 57 yards to set up a game-winning field goal from Jake Elliott as time expired.
With Todd Gurley sitting this game out because of an injury, Anderson stepped up to fill the gap left by the 24-year-old during the Rams' 31-9 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
Anderson rushed for 167 yards and a touchdown on just 20 carries - an average of 8.3 yards per carry. The 27-year-old ploughed in for his only touchdown of the game from four yards out, as the Rams went 21-9 up late in the first half.
With the Rams now looking very likely to secure a first-round bye, it wouldn't be a shock if Anderson gets the nod above Gurley against the San Francisco 49ers in their Week 17 matchup.
Despite the Steelers going down 31-28 to the relentless New Orleans Saints, Brown put in one of his best performances of the season. The 30-year-old caught 14 passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns.
His first touchdown was on a three-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger. His second came on a deep pass to the left from Roethlisberger. Brown could have had a touchdown just before, when he attempted a spectacular one-handed catch. However, he could only get one foot down.
Brown also became the first wide receiver in NFL history to record six seasons in a row with at least 100 receptions. Alongside this, he had his seventh game with 10-plus receptions and two touchdowns - the most in NFL history.
Kirk Cousins finally found a connection with Kyle Rudolph during their 27-9 victory against the Detroit Lions. Rudolph had nine catches for 122 yards and two touchdowns in the game, with one of them coming from a Hail Mary pass.
The pair linked up on the 44-yard Hail Mary with the last play of the first half, when Rudolph jumped highest in the end zone among a number of Lions defenders.
The 29-year-old hauled in his second touchdown grab late in the third quarter on a four-yard catch, which all but sealed the win for the Vikings.
Rudolph now has 60 receptions, 615 receiving yards and four touchdowns this season.
The Patriots offensive line showed up big time during their 24-12 win against the Buffalo Bills. They carved out holes for all three of their running backs - or five if you include wide receivers Cordarrelle Patterson and Phillip Dorsett, who also ran the ball.
Between them, they accumulated 273 rushing yards - the second highest total since Bill Belichick took over and the 10th highest in franchise history.
The Bills rush defense had been fairly good before yesterday, as they had only allowed an average of 104.7 rushing yards per game. The Patriots offensive line played a massive part in this. Sony Michel averaged 6.4 yards per carry from 18 attempts, while Patterson averaged 16.5 from four attempts.
Aaron Donald could have beaten the Cardinals offensive line on his own in this game. However, he had the rest of the Rams' defensive line right there with him as they bullied Josh Rosen, who got benched (again) during the 31-9 Rams victory.
The Rams' line sacked the Cardinals quarterbacks four times, and added a further four QB hits on top of that. As well as eliminating the passing game that saw wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald throw the only Cardinals touchdown pass, David Johnson was silenced. He was held to just 35 rushing yards from 10 attempts.
Before this game, not a lot of people had even heard of the third-year linebacker - but after it, he's certainly a lot more known around the league. Onwuasor put in a stellar performance as the Ravens took down the Los Angeles Chargers 22-10.
The 26-year-old - nicknamed "Peanut" - came up big with nine tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble that sealed the win for the Ravens.
With under three minutes to go in the game and the Ravens up 16-10, Onwuasor's hit on Antonio Gates saw the ball pop loose and cornerback Tavon Young took the ball to the house for the Ravens.
The Patriots wrapped up the AFC East with their 24-12 victory against the lacklustre Bills, who never really got going on offense. Jason McCourty ensured this, as he had an interception, a forced fumble, two pass deflections and three tackles.
The 31-year-old, whose brother Devin is also a safety for the Patriots, intercepted Josh Allen late in the fourth quarter - and any wide receiver would be proud of his toe-tapping ability to secure the ball.
The 25-year-old helped out massively on defense for the Titans in their 25-16 victory over the Washington Redskins, as he hauled in his fourth interception of the season.
His interception was crucial for the Titans, as the Redskins were driving into Titans' territory. Byard also had nine tackles in the game.
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