Sky Sports' Cameron Hogwood returns with a weekly look at the big storylines, star performers, top statistics and injury news from Sunday's NFL action. Week 14 concludes on Monday night when the Los Angeles Rams visit the Arizona Cardinals in a crucial NFC West matchup live on Sky Sports.
Monday 13 December 2021 13:01, UK
Justin Herbert drops jaws, the Denver Broncos honour Demaryius Thomas, the Las Vegas Raiders are made to pay for their logo antics, Aaron Rodgers meets his doppelganger and George Kittle shines for the San Francisco 49ers.
We reflect on Sunday's Week 14 action around the NFL...
Baltimore Ravens 22-24 Cleveland Browns
Atlanta Falcons 29-21 Carolina Panthers
Las Vegas Raiders 9-48 Kansas City Chiefs
New Orleans Saints 30-9 New York Jets
Seattle Seahawks 33-13 Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars 0-20 Houston Texans
Dallas Cowboys 27-20 Washington Football Team
San Francisco 49ers 26-23 Cincinnati Bengals
New York Giants 21-37 Los Angeles Chargers
Detroit Lions 10-38 Denver Broncos
Buffalo Bills 27-33 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Chicago Bears 30-45 Green Bay Packers
Pittsburgh Steelers 28-36 Minnesota Vikings (Thursday)
Sometimes there are neat and nerdy Xs and Os to droll over, a trips flood concept or an orbit screen, an outside zone RPO or crack toss, a salem, Y Cross or mesh combination. Sometimes advanced planning-turned-precision timing-turned-pristine execution is the most satisfying part of offensive football; sometimes it is also just big arms and grown men strength heaving a ball downfield.
Justin Herbert doing the latter has become one of the NFL's prized possessions, a chief and unfortunate obstruction to a two-deep coverage trend designed to starve offenses of chunk plays being that we perhaps don't see it as much as we would like this season.
Anyhow, the Chargers quarterback dropped jaws and piled onto Giants misery on Sunday as he slung a 59-yard missile strike to Jalen Guyton, letting rip just as the hit was coming having scampered right to evade Lorenzo Carter, who must have thought his luck was out after beating standout rookie tackle Rashawn Slater in one of his best reps of a lacklustre season.
The aesthetics were spine-tingling, the strength and power superlative-draining, Logan Ryan and Xavier McKinney stood bewildered wondering how they had been beaten in coverage and a famously self-effacing Herbert afforded himself some fire as he soaked up helmet pats before bounding over to Guyton. Los Angeles wanted a superstar, here he was.
"When you see something special, normally, it looks easy," said head coach Brandon Staley said post-game. "That's what he does, he makes the really, really challenging stuff look easy. That's a pretty good indicator that you are witnessing something rare."
Herbert finished 23 of 31 for 275 yards and three touchdowns, becoming the first player to throw for 30 touchdowns in each of his first two seasons while also becoming the second fastest quarterback to throw for 8,000 yards in NFL history. So of course afterwards his first reaction was to deflect the praise towards those that catch his passes.
He's a player you want to watch every single week, and a player you can't help but want to see win a Super Bowl in his career.
Stick a fork in it, because Defensive Rookie of the Year is done, and has been for some time now. Unconfirmed, unofficial, impending winner Micah Parsons began his lap of honour Sunday with two sacks, three quarterback hits, three tackles and a tackle for loss in the Cowboys' win over Washington; it means he now has 9.5 sacks, 16 quarterback hits, 10 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles in his last six games.
George Kittle reminded why the 49ers gave him a five-year, $75m deal as he caught 13 of 15 targets for 151 yards and a touchdown against the Bengals. His leaping grab for 21 yards on third-and-10 with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter gave San Francisco the chance to win the game, only for Robbie Gould to miss his field goal, before Kittle played a starring role with three catches for 38 yards on the decisive touchdown drive in overtime.
Joe Burrow was unfortunate to find himself on the losing side after supplying his own increasingly-prominent blend of finesse and moxie, finishing 25 of 34 for 348 yards and two touchdowns including a strike to Ja'Marr Chase at the back of the end zone to make it 20-13 with 9.20 to play after scurrying and orbiting away from pressure, followed by a 32-yard touchdown pass to his favourite target on the next drive. The 49ers could have been home and dry were it not for Burrow.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers finished 29 of 37 passing for 341 yards and four touchdowns against the Bears to remain in the MVP hunt, with Davante Adams accounting for 10 completions for 121 yards and two scores.
Myles Garrett broke the Browns' single-season record with his 15th sack on the year, stripping the ball from Tyler Huntley before scooping it up and running it back for a touchdown.
Rashaad Penny provided welcome respite for an under-the-cosh Seattle run game with 16 carries for 137 yards and two touchdowns against the Texans, while Tyler Lockett made five catches for 142 yards and a score as evidence that the Russell Wilson deep ball remains alive and well when unshackled.
Alvin Kamara refastened the strap carrying the Saints on his back with 27 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown along with four catches for 25 yards against the Jets, while Melvin Gordon and Javonte Williams combined for 194 scrimmage yards and four total touchdowns in Denver's victory over the Lions.
And a shout must go to the Chiefs defense, which, following their blowout win against the Raiders, has now allowed just 48 combined points over their last five games while collecting 13 sacks and 15 turnovers in that span. Talk about a turnaround.
There were wonderful tributes at Mile High as the Broncos honoured former wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, who passed away unexpectedly at the age of 33 last week.
The Denver offense fielded 10 men in the huddle at the start of their opening drive from kickoff, wide receiver Courtland Sutton remaining on the sideline to leave open the spot Thomas had occupied for eight seasons. Chants of "DT" spread throughout the stadium and players from both teams paid their respects before Detroit swiftly declined the delay of game penalty incurred by the Broncos.
A video montage remembered the life and career of Thomas both on and off the field followed by a minutes silence prior to kickoff, and the Broncos sectioned off part of the sidelines with his No. 88, on which safety Justin Simmons placed the ball after his diving interception.
How many times does it need to be jinxed!? The Raiders opted to stomp over the Chiefs logo at mid-field in a bid to fire themselves up prior to kickoff, only to get stuffed 48-9 having 35-3 at half-time. Tut, tut, tut.
"There wasn't a lot of conversation about it," said Patrick Mahomes after the game. "I mean, you definitely don't want people coming into your stadium and trying to disrespect things that you've kind of built. And so, for us, just gave us a little bit more motivation to go out there and win against a really good football team that we have a rivalry against that usually is a tough football game."
Spot the real Aaron Rodgers...
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson exited Sunday's loss to the Browns after suffering an ankle injury, while Baltimore also lost defensive end Calais Campbell (thigh). Cleveland saw running back Kareem Hunt leave and not return after picking up an ankle injury.
Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson was forced off due to back spasms against the 49ers, although reports suggest he is likely to be ready to feature in Week 15 against the Broncos.
The Chargers, who were without safety Derwin James through injury, saw running back Austin Ekeler leave with an ankle problem against the Giants, for whom defensive lineman Leonard Williams was ruled out with an elbow issue.
Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke (knee), wide receiver Terry McLaurin (concussion), tight end Sammis Reyes (concussion) and center Tyler Larsen (Achilles) were ruled out against the Cowboys.
Falcons safety Erik Harris (chest), linebacker Emmanuel Ellerbee (knee) and linebacker Dante Fowler (calf) had their days cut short against the Panthers, who lost cornerback A.J. Bouye to a foot injury.
Packers quarterback Rodgers admitted his toe felt worse after Green Bay's win over the Bears as he and the team continue to put off surgery until the end of the season. Chicago lost linebacker Roquan Smith to a hamstring injury in the second half.
Cowboys offensive tackle Tyron Smith left with an ankle problem against Washington before teammate La'el Collins was ejected in the fourth quarter.
The Bucs lost running back Giovani Bernard (hip) and cornerback Jamel Dean against the Bills, Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams exited early with a shoulder injury against the Saints and 49ers linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair sustained an elbow injury against the Bengals.
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