Josh Allen stars, concern for Seahawks and Steelers no longer perfect: Neil Reynolds' Final Word on Week 13 in the NFL
Sky Sports' Neil Reynolds has the final word on another extraordinary weekend in the NFL, picking out his five major takeaways, his player of the week, and what is on his radar heading into Week 14...
Tuesday 8 December 2020 14:04, UK
Another incredible week in the NFL! It's hard to say 'weekend' anymore when the games span from Sunday to Tuesday, as they do in Week 13.
As has so often been the case this season, the NFL has been able to serve up incredible drama; Sunday night was especially hectic with furious finishes across the league...
Five Major Takeaways from Week 13
1) Giants statement win in Seattle
The New York Giants look a world away from the team that started 0-5 and featured a mistake-prone quarterback on an offence that was missing its star player for the remainder of the year in running back Saquon Barkley.
There were no mistakes to be made from Daniel Jones on Sunday as he was nursing a hamstring injury while the Giants won for the fourth game in a row, delivering a statement 17-12 victory on the road against a Seattle Seahawks team that had only lost three times going into the game.
Backup Colt McCoy did just enough at quarterback, but it was the ground attack that gained 191 yards and a blossoming defence that powered the win in Seattle. Wayne Gallman and Alfred Morris are an unlikely success story in the offensive backfield and the same can be said of a defensive unit that was derided earlier this season. Led by Leonard Williams, they sacked Russell Wilson five times and forced two turnovers.
2) Saints keep rolling
The New Orleans Saints were the first team into this season's playoffs, booking their berth in the NFC with a 21-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons. And Taysom Hill continues to grab a lot of our attention as he improved to 3-0 in relief of injured quarterback Drew Brees.
But this is a complete team that is about so much more than its quarterback. While Hill impressed by throwing for 232 yards and two touchdowns, plus 83 rush yards, let's look at some other aspects of the Saints that make them genuine contenders for the Super Bowl.
New Orleans rushed for 207 yards and one TD on Sunday and controlled the line of scrimmage all day. They sacked Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan three times and held an opponent under 20 points for the fifth-straight game.
3) The Jets do Jets things!
The New York Jets remain winless after conspiring to throw away their best shot at victory against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday. Leading 28-24 with 13 seconds remaining, the Raiders had one last desperate chance to win the game from New York's 46-yard line.
Rather than play it safe on defence, Jets defensive coordinator Gregg Williams dialled up what has been widely condemned as one of the dumbest plays in the history of the NFL. He attacked the Raiders with an all-out blitz, leaving his cornerbacks isolated with no deep help from the safeties. There is a fine line between calculated aggression and stupidity and Williams tripped over it and fell flat on his face!
That call left undrafted, free agent rookie cornerback Lamar Jackson exposed against first-round receiver Henry Ruggs. The blazing speedster raced past the 'other' Lamar to score the game-winning touchdown for the Raiders.
The fallout began on Sunday night with Jets defensive back Marcus Maye questioning the call. It was felt even more severely on Monday as Williams was fired.
4) Pittsburgh no longer perfect
There is only one drawback to getting home at 2.45am on Monday morning after having a great time in the Sky Sports NFL studio on Sunday night - watching Monday Night Football live becomes something of a challenge, even games that kick off at 10pm.
So, last night, I gave it my best shot and stayed awake long enough to see the Pittsburgh Steelers take a commanding 14-0 lead against the Washington Football Team. Surely they were on their way to 12-0 on the season? Not so fast!
Washington didn't score their first touchdown until midway through the third quarter, but their excellent defence allowed them to hang around before knocking off the last undefeated team in this 2020 season.
In watching this 23-17 Washington win, I came away impressed with the D as usual, but also with a couple of passing game targets who emerged. Wide receiver Cam Sims had several big receptions and picked up good yards after the catch, while tight end Logan Thomas is becoming a significant part of this attack - he set up Washington's first touchdown with a big catch near the goal line and scored the game-tying TD himself.
5) Tight finishes across the board
What a week for close games! With one contest still to be played on Tuesday night, nine of the 14 games played to date in Week 13 have been decided by one score. Very few teams were completely out of the games played at the weekend, apart from the Los Angeles Chargers, who lost 45-0 at home to the New England Patriots.
It has been that way all year long and it's one of the NFL's biggest selling points. Comebacks and dramatic finishes are the norm and not the exception. And that's why most of the head coaches in the NFL have a permanent look of stress on their faces!
Player of the Week: Josh Allen
There were some very good quarterback performances in Week 13, with honourable mentions here going to Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns, and Matthew Stafford, who led the Detroit Lions to victory over the Chicago Bears. But I came away from the Buffalo Bills' Monday Night Football win over the San Francisco 49ers hugely impressed with Josh Allen - and not for the first time this season.
Allen threw from the pocket and while on the move, shredding a pretty good defence to the tune of 375 yards and four touchdowns. Allen is big, mobile and thrives in the creativity of Brian Daboll's offence. It also helps that he has a cannon for an arm that has launched Buffalo to the top of the AFC East pecking order.
Play of the Week
There were so many in Week 13, from Mike Gesicki's one-handed catch for the Miami Dolphins to a pair of very impressive touchdown runs from Chicago Bears running back David Montgomery. But I have to give the nod to Baker Mayfield's 75-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones in Cleveland's win over the Tennessee Titans.
I thought it epitomised how sucked into stopping Cleveland's running game opposing defences can get. And it also showed how explosive the Browns can be in the passing game if Mayfield can execute and take advantage of that focus on shutting down Nick Chubb.
That play alone offered up some hope to me that Mayfield can strike off the threat of a running game come playoff time. If that is the case and he can do so consistently, the Browns just got more dangerous.
Coach of the Week: Sean Payton
Consistency can be so hard to find in the NFL, not just this season but year after year, so what Sean Payton is doing with the Saints is pretty remarkable.
Not only has his team won nine in a row in 2020 to book the first of 14 NFL playoff spots, but they have produced at least a six-game winning streak in each of the last four seasons. And in two of those four seasons, star quarterback Drew Brees has been missing for a decent stretch of time due to injury. The Saints have gone 8-0 in those games, further pointing to the outstanding job being done by one of the best coaches in recent NFL history.
On my Radar
The Seahawks suffered a disappointing home loss to the Giants and they are beginning to show some cracks as we get to the business end of the 2020 season. I've already mentioned above how many yards they shipped on the ground but, by stark contrast, they offered up very little rushing threat themselves.
The Seahawks dropped back to pass on 77 per cent of their offensive plays on Sunday and that was too much on Russell Wilson's shoulders, as he was sacked five times behind an offensive line with issues at tackle. But those sacks were also on Wilson, who definitely held onto the ball for too long at times.
The Seahawks are most definitely a playoff team, but what kind of shape will they be in when they enter the postseason? They are on my radar.
Sky Sports NFL is your dedicated channel for NFL coverage through the season - featuring a host of NFL Network programming, a new weekly preview show as well as at least five games a week and NFL Redzone, you won't miss a moment. Don't forget to follow us on skysports.com/nfl, our Twitter account @SkySportsNFL & Sky Sports - on the go!
