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The baton has been passed, from Tom Brady to Joe Burrow.
As the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback showed Sunday evening in Tampa Bay, Burrow just finds ways to win.
Brady entered Sunday 89-0 in his career with a 17-point lead at home. Burrow was the Bengals’ calming force amid the chaos of falling behind by double-digits, as Brady departed the arena 89-1.
While Brady left Raymond James Stadium on Sunday with his first career home loss after leading 17-0, Burrow and the Bengals boarded a plane to Cincinnati at 10-4, in sole possession of the AFC North lead, and one of the hottest teams in the league.
Cincinnati’s 34-23 victory was forged by a furious second-half comeback, by playing every snap of the 3rd quarter from the positive side of the 50-yard line, and more importantly by converting 4 turnovers into 24 unanswered points.
As an NFC East scout told Heavy, the three words to describe Burrow are “cool, calm, and collected.”
There might not be a better quarterback in the NFL at manipulating coverage from the pocket than Burrow, who boasts some of the best mechanics in the sport. Never was that more evident than an eight-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Marr Chase with 12:49 remaining in the 4th quarter, when Burrow’s quick release hit Chase at the goal line for his 30th touchdown pass of the season.
Burrow’s Bengals have now won six consecutive games, with victories over the AFC South-leading Tennessee Titans, AFC West-leading Kansas City Chiefs, and Brady’s NFC South-leading Buccaneers over that span.
“Joe Burrow is so hard to beat because he’s so poised,” an AFC scouting director told Heavy following Sunday’s game. “He doesn’t panic, and they have built a roster with lots of good players around him.”
Nearly flawless in the second half, Burrow finished 27-of-39 passing for 200 yards with 4 touchdowns to 1 interception. By contrast, Brady tossed a pair of interceptions, as Lou Anarumo’s defense held the Buccaneers’ offense scoreless in the second half, until a garbage time touchdown with 52 seconds remaining after the outcome had already been decided.
Burrow just finds ways to win.
Sunday in Tampa, Burrow authored the kind of performance that doesn’t just go a long way towards defining his legacy, but offers hope in Cincinnati the Bengals can make a legitimate run at a first Lombardi.
Perhaps the best way to evaluate Burrow is by the words he jokingly said after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 37-30 without Chase; “I am who I thought I was.” You have to think Brady has said the same to himself hundreds of times over his career.
That turned out pretty well. It’s now Burrow’s time.
Here are 10 other takeaways from Week 15 of the NFL season.
Bills’ Toughness Shines Through in Playoff Clinching Win
In one of the more wildly entertaining games of the season, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills held off the relentless Miami Dolphins 32-29, just before steady snowfall became an all-out blizzard in Orchard Park, New York on Saturday night.
Tua Tagovailoa and the Dolphins’ offense took Buffalo to the brink, taking a 29-21 lead with 12:01 remaining in the 3rd quarter, as Miami’s defense sacked Allen twice and recovered a fumble in the battle for AFC East supremacy.
However, for the fourth time this season, Allen led the Bills charging back, by throwing to a pass interference flag called on Dolphins defensive back Kader Kohou that set up Tyler Bass’ 25-yard field goal amid swirling snow to put the game on ice.
While the Dolphins proved their postseason character, Buffalo once again proved what makes this team so difficult to beat and a nightmare for potential playoff opponents.
“I think what makes the Bills so tough is they do have consistent mental and physical toughness,” former NFL GM and the 2000 NFL Executive of the Year Randy Mueller told Heavy.
Mueller, a Heavy contributor, believes the Dolphins’ proved they are legitimate contenders, even in defeat, but that the Bills are too much for most teams to overcome.
“The Bills play from start to finish and can wear teams down,” Mueller explained. “Plus with that quarterback, he’s capable of just putting a team on his back and willing them to wins, especially in the last quarter of games.
“Like they say with 7-foot centers in basketball … They are 7 feet tall in the fourth quarter as well. Josh Allen is still 6-foot-5, 245 (pounds) in the fourth quarter when everybody else is tired of tackling.”
Allen and the Bills survived on a night that both exposed to the rest of the league what makes this team such a tough out. Beyond that, Saturday proved how tangibly valuable home field advantage in a place like Buffalo has the chance to be. Especially pairing lake-effect conditions with such a gifted and physically imposing team is a potent combination.
Josh Sweat Emerging as Another Game-Alterer for Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles’ front seven is one of the more dominant in the NFL, entering Week 15 with an NFL-leading 49.0 sacks, have seen a new weapon emerge.
As if trying to identify pre-snap whether the free-rusher is Haason Reddick or Brandon Graham, while making sure to neutralize Fletcher Cox and Javon Hargrave, offensive lines now must account for Josh Sweat. On every snap.
Sweat is in the midst of one of the hottest stretches of his career.
After sacking Justin Fields on a delayed rush up the middle in the first quarter Sunday, and again at the end of the first half, Sweat now has 9.5 sacks on the season, with 6.0 coming the past four weeks.
“Sweat’s a really good player,” an NFL executive recently told Heavy. “And he’s getting better every week now. He still has a little more upside to go.”
Sweat, Hargrave, and Reddick each sacked Fields twice.
The Eagles are starting to see more of Sweat’s upside each week, and he’s making Philly’s front seven even more difficult to counteract.
Trevor Lawrence’s Ascension Continues
Trevor Lawrence continues to author the kind of performances that elevate his status among the NFL’s quarterback hierarchy.
In a lot of ways, Lawrence came to age against an elite Dallas Cowboys defense, completing 27-of-42 passes for 318 yards with 4 touchdowns to 1 interception in a wild 40-34 victory.
Lawrence led three separate 75-yard touchdown drives, in one of the most consistent performances of his career, finishing off his third 4th quarter comeback of the season. There’s a strong feeling inside the league that 15 weeks into his first season with head coach Doug Pederson overseeing his development, Lawrence is making significant strides.
“He’s taking care of the football better than ever,” a rival AFC South scout told Heavy, following Sunday’s game. “He’s not putting the ball in harm’s way nearly as much.”
The Jaguars have now won three of their last four, with Lawrence as the catalyst. Since tossing a pair of interceptions in Week 8, Lawrence has averaged 280 passing yards per game with 14 touchdowns to 1 interception over the past six games.
Jacksonville is just one game behind the Tennessee Titans for the division lead, with Tennessee making its way down to DUUUVAL in Week 18.
Don’t count Lawrence and the Jaguars out, just yet.
Bucs WR Chris Godwin Heating Up
Chris Godwin appears to be getting healthy and is undoubtedly returning to form as one of the biggest matchup nightmares from the slot in the NFL.
Godwin caught all 8 of his targets from Brady for 83 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s Bucs loss to the Bengals, continuing a hot streak that spans the last four games. Over that stretch, Godwin has caught 33 passes for 310 yards and 2 touchdowns.
It was a slow ramp-up for Godwin, after tearing his ACL on December 20, 2021, the 26-year-old is playing some of his best football of the season.
Sunday was one of the more complete offensive efforts for the Buccaneers, who remain atop the NFC South. If Tampa makes the postseason, it will be a team no one will want to see across the sideline. Especially because of Brady’s historic postseason track record, and with a healthy Godwin, Brady’s chances of adding to his legacy increase dramatically.
Detroit Lions Closer to Competing Than Many Believe
Since overcoming a 1-6 start, the Detroit Lions look more like legitimate playoff contenders each week.
Sunday in East Rutherford, head coach Dan Campbell’s Lions played a brand of complementary football that overwhelmed quarterback Zach Wilson and the New York Jets, en-route to surviving 20-17 for a third consecutive win.
Beyond a punt return touchdown opening the scoring, the defense intercepting Zach Wilson, and quarterback Jared Goff leading a seven-play 78-yard game-winning drive capped by Brock Wright’s 51-yard catch and run for the touchdown, Detroit is primed to make a lengthy run at future NFC North crowns.
Winners of six of the past seven games, not only is Detroit knocking on the doorstep of the postseason this year but own the Los Angeles Rams’ first-round pick that is primed to be a top-5 selection in next April’s draft.
Since Goff hasn’t thrown an interception since Week 9 against the Packers, and surpassed 300 passing yards each of the past two games, he has played his way into the role of a long-term solution.
If Goff is entrenched at quarterback, the Lions can bolster a roster that has bought into Campbell’s relentlessly competitive culture with top defensive talent at the top of the draft. Likewise, Detroit is expected to have over $30 million in cap space, offering the ability to build out the roster in a division littered with plenty of opportunities to climb the ladder.
Detroit might sneak into the postseason this year, as one of the hottest teams in the league, currently sitting No. 11 in Football Outsiders’ total DVOA. But, the future is significantly brighter in the Motor City.
Perfect Patrick Mahomes Puts Chiefs on His Back
For the second consecutive week, the Houston Texans took a contender to the absolute brink, and for the second game in a row, it was a second-half surge from the quarterback that foiled the upset bid.
Sunday in Houston, Patrick Mahomes gave his MVP candidacy a boost, leading the Kansas City Chiefs storming back from down 21-16 with 1:25 remaining in the 3rd quarter to escape the Lone Star State with a 30-24 overtime win.
Mahomes was the definition of perfect from the 3rd quarter onward, completing all 19 of his passes after halftime for 172 yards.
Kansas City finds itself in the rare position of chasing the Bills for the No. 1 seed, having lost to Buffalo earlier this season in Arrowhead. But, Mahomes’ performance against the Texans not only underscores his generational talent but just how valuable he is to the Chiefs’ Super Bowl aspirations.
Jakobi Meyers’ All-Time Gaffe Lets Raiders of Lost Leads Off Hook
Josh McDaniels’ Las Vegas Raiders were on the cusp of coughing up a fifth game it led by double-digits this season, when New England Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyers couldn’t resist creating his own Leon Lett moment.
With the game tied at 24, time expired, Rhamondre Stevenson inexplicably lateraled to Meyers as he was being tackled near the sideline, with overtime already assured. There was no reason whatsoever for Stevenson to lateral the football, or attempt to extend the play. But Meyers compounded Stevenson’s mistake by making one of the worst decisions in sports history.
Meyers, for some reason, attempted to pass the ball 15 yards backward, back to quarterback Mac Jones, but the backward pass was intercepted by Raiders star Chandler Jones who returned it for the game-winning touchdown.
For the Raiders, Meyers ended any chance of humiliatingly blowing a fifth double-digit lead this season. Vegas has now won four of the last five games, and are within striking distance of the AFC Wild Card.
But, For Meyers, this play will go down alongside Leonard Marshall running the wrong way, DeSean Jackson fumbling the football while celebrating, at the 1-yard line, and Lett having the ball knocked loose at the goal line by Don Beebe in the 1993 Super Bowl, as one of the historically monumentally stupid plays in NFL history.
Matt Ryan Steals Defeat From Jaws of Victory … Again
There’s something poetic, and a little bit ironic, about Matt Ryan and the Indianapolis Colts coughing up a game they led 33-0 at halftime against Minnesota on Saturday afternoon.
Not only does Ryan now own the largest collapse in league history, after already carrying the weight of watching a 28-3 lead in the 2017 Super Bowl evaporate to Brady and the Patriots, but Saturday’s meltdown came 40 days after Frank Reich was fired as the Colts head coach. Reich, of course, led the largest comeback in NFL history, when the Bills overcame a 32-point deficit to knock the Houston Oilers out of the AFC Wild Card on January 3, 1993.
For Indianapolis, Sunday’s defeat may be the most stunning in a stunningly disappointing season, and the fourth consecutive loss with interim head coach Jeff Saturday. Ryan’s legacy is now a tad more complicated, especially considering that only three quarterbacks in league history have more 4th quarter comebacks than Ryan’s 38, and Brady (44) is the only active signal caller with more.
It seems none of those comeback wins matter. Ryan, fairly or unfairly, seems destined to be remembered for two of the biggest choke jobs in league history.
Justin Herbert Shows He’s Special … Again
If the Los Angeles Chargers could manage to pair Justin Herbert with a competent offensive mind at head coach and add weapons to his supporting cast, the sky might be the limit for this franchise.
Herbert was nothing short of surgical on the Chargers’ final drive of the game.
Completing 3-of-4 passing attempts for 57 yards, including an absolute strike to Mike Williams for a 35-yard gain that few passers would attempt, let alone be able to fit into such a tight window along the sideline, Herbert led Los Angeles 57 yards in 44 seconds to set up a Cameron Dicker 43-yard game-winning field goal.
The comeback was Herbert’s 11th 4th-quarter comeback, 13th game-winning drive, and vaulted the Chargers into the No. 6 seed in the AFC. Herbert proved that Los Angeles is never out of a game until the clock reaches 0:00, and it is far from midnight for the suddenly Cinderella Chargers.
Matt Canada Finally Discovers Steelers’ Winning Formula
It’s likely too late to preserve any sort of Pittsburgh future for Matt Canada, but Sunday afternoon the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator finally discovered the winning formula.
Against the Carolina Panthers, Canada leaned significantly on the ground game, dialing up 45 running plays, and was rewarded by backs Najee Harris (24 carries for 86 yards, 1 touchdown), and Jaylen Warren (11 carries for 38 yards, 1 touchdown).
Canada took the air out of the football, by not asking quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to carry the offense, despite only throwing 5 incompletions in 22 attempts. This could potentially be an offseason of change for the Steelers, but at least with the personnel in place, Sunday seems like the offensive blueprint moving forward.
Week 15 Breakout Star: Jaguars S Rayshawn Jenkins
Few players across the NFL more tangibly figured into his team’s success in Week 15 than Jaguars safety Rayshawn Jenkins, who terrorized Dak Prescott and the Cowboys offense all afternoon.
Long before Jenkins intercepted Prescott, on a ball that deflected off wide receiver Noah Brown, returning it 52 yards for the game-winning touchdown in overtime, the six-year veteran made a consistent impact on the game. Jenkins finished with 19 total tackles, 2 interceptions and the game-winning touchdown.
Week 15 MVP: Eagles QB Jalen Hurts
Sunday was far from Jalen Hurts’ finest performance from the pocket, he threw a pair of interceptions after entering Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears with just three picks on his ledger this season. But, the Eagles don’t win Sunday’s game without Hurts taking control, especially in the red zone.
Hurts rushed for 3 touchdowns, increasing his season total to 13, trailing Cam Newton for the single-season record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback by just one score.
The Eagles can lock up home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs by winning just one of their final three games, and while Hurts was far from his best, wouldn’t have escaped Chicago 25-20 without him.
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