It was an instant viral moment.
Aaron Rodgers had just thrown a game-ending interception. He was about to lose consecutive games for the first time since 2010. And what did he see on his Microsoft Surface™, the official tablet computer of the NFL? Randall Cobb wide open in the end zone.
When you send a good tweet and it gets no likes or retweets: https://t.co/VQ7T1SyHDk pic.twitter.com/L5xFBRdquV
— SB Nation (@SBNation) November 8, 2015
He threw down the tablet, the internet made a bunch of gifs and Vines of it, and it was great: One of the most popular, recognizable players in the league was destroying an item a sponsor had paid to put in his hand. Indeed, it wasn’t just Rodgers who the Panthers had managed to rattle – the Packers defense lost their col too. Ha Ha Clinton Dix apologized after he had to be separated from Julius Peppers during an argument on the sidelines. When you’re willing to take on a team-mate six inches taller and 80lbs heavier than you, the opposing team must be doing something right.
I apologize for my play and sidelines issues. We are good just two emotional guys with heart and passion trying to find away to win.
— Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (@haha_cd6) November 8, 2015
The Packers had lost their second straight for the first time in two years. Lost in it all is the team that made the plays that sent Green Bay to their second straight loss: the 8-0 Carolina Panthers.
Thomas Davis Jr made the interception on the play when Cobb was wide open. He said post-game he had one thought on his mind on that play: “Just don’t drop it.” But he could have ... it was fourth down already! The Panthers’ defense had played well enough to put Green Bay in a do-or-die situation despite the drive starting at the Carolina 22 after a Cam Newton interception. The Panthers haven’t allowed a touchdown this year after the offense has turned the ball over.
The Panthers’ defense was a large part of the team’s first half success against the Packers on Sunday – and indeed their success all season – with Newton still prone to lapses of concentration (that late interception goes along with a 53.7% completion rate this season, the worst of his career). After giving up a 65-yard touchdown drive late in the first quarter, Carolina completely dominated the second. The Packers had four consecutive terrible drives, losing yardage on three of them and fumbling after two plays on the other. A 7-3 Carolina deficit became a 27-7 halftime edge. Rodgers got a rhythm in the second half, eventually connecting for four touchdowns. Although the Packers came back and made it close, the late pick meant Carolina held on. Luke Kuechly had nine tackles (six solo) while Charles Tillman had eight (six solo).
Three teams are 8-0 for the first time in NFL history this season. The Patriots and Bengals are also 8-0, tied atop the AFC. The Panthers are two games ahead of the rest of the NFC after today’s win – and they have the tiebreaker over the Packers. Five of their final eight games are on the road, but they’re in the best position of any team in the NFL at the halfway point, standings-wise.
Quote of the week
I’m a father of three daughters so any man that beats a woman, I think that’s hard for me to swallow but the Cowboys did make their choice… As a teammate, I’m not sure I would want him in the locker room, especially as a distraction when you’re already losing”
Seahawks DE Michael Bennett, on Greg Hardy
NBC’s talking heads did not shy away from talking about Greg Hardy, whose 2014 domestic violence conviction (and eventual dismissal and expungement of the charges) received renewed scrutiny this week when Deadspin posted photos of his ex-girlfriend. The Fox and CBS pre-game crews addressed it, as did multiple announcers during NBC’s Sunday Night Football telecast.
The NBC broadcast took an uncomfortably awkward pro-Roger Goodell stance, actually: Bob Costas used his pregame soapbox to make the overall point that you couldn’t blame Goodell this time, because he tried to suspend Hardy 10 games. Michaels and Collinsworth blamed the NFLPA for defending Hardy. Both of these could be true, but was there no one there who thought to spend some time reciting the national domestic violence hotline (1-800-799-7233)?
Other players seemed to have the harshest words for Hardy. In addition to Michael Bennett, who made his comments while appearing on NFL programming during the Seahawks’ bye week, members of the Eagles went after Hardy. “I’m glad he didn’t have a good day,” Center Jason Kelce said after the Eagles beat the Cowboys in OT. “It’s a joke a guy like that is able to play this quickly.”
Kelce also said: “three people I have zero respect for in this world: people who hit women; who molest children; rapists.” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett was beseiged with questions, eventually saying to reporters: “I don’t want to talk anymore about Greg Hardy.”
Stat of the week
6. The Dallas Cowboys have lost six straight games. The last time the Cowboys lost six games in a row in a season, they went 1-15. Other than an awful record, this year is not much like that infamous 1989 season: The Cowboys were 2-0 with starting quarterback Tony Romo, and have shuffled quarterbacks since. Brandon Weeden went 0-3. Matt Cassel, who replaced him, is now 0-3.
Some of the games have been close; the Cowboys lost by a point against the Seahawks and a touchdown to the Giants. Tonight was another OT backbreaker: For the second time during this losing streak, the Cowboys lost on an overtime touchdown. The Eagles took the opening kickoff of the extra session and went down the field with ease. Jordan Matthews caught a Sam Bradford pass at the 25 and outran the Dallas defense to the end zone.
Cassel played his best game of the season; he threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns. But he also tossed a pick-six to Jordan Hicks with the score tied at 14, and his one touchdown to Dez Bryant was a Hail Mary-style desperation heave into the end zone. The Cowboys defense gave up 4.92 yards per carry to the Eagles. They play five of their final eight games on the road. The NFC East is bad, but the Cowboys can probably be counted out of it.
Fantasy player of the week
Antonio Brown, Steelers. Brown had 10 receptions for 180 yards receiving, which is a stellar fantasy performance. It was Brown’s first half. For the game, he finished with 17 catches for 284 yards despite losing QB Ben Roethlisberger to injury with eight minutes left in the fourth. His 57-yard reception from Landry Jones with less than a minute to go set up Chris Boswell’s 18-yard field goal with two seconds left. The Steelers won, 38-35.
It’s unclear what Brown’s fantasy value will be going forward. Roethlisberger will reportedly miss a few weeks with a foot sprain. When Big Ben missed weeks four through seven, Brown’s numbers plunged. In a league with half-point per a reception, Brown averaged just 8.4 points in the games Roethlisberger missed. The good news for fantasy players: Michael Vick started three of those games, and Brown did much better in the game Jones was at QB.
How the Patriots cheated this week
Is Bill Belichick a magician? Does Tom Brady dabble in the dark arts? Or is it as simple as Robert Kraft bribing the referee, Mutant League Football style?
There can be no other explanation for this story in the Boston Globe late last week: Coming into Sunday, the Patriots were on a 19-6 run in their last 25 coin flips. Of course the Pats attempted to fool us by losing the coin flip in Sunday’s game against Washington. No matter that New England is 2-6 in coin tosses in Super Bowls, that they’re now only 19-8 in their last 27 coin flips (they lost the one before the 25-game streak started, too) and that coin flips are random chance.
The Patriots were able to overcome their coin flip loss this week and won, 27-10, in a game where Washington dropped seven passes and the Pats were up 14-0 just 10 minutes in. Tom Brady threw a pair of TD passes. New England is 8-0, but lost running back Dion Lewis – maybe the surprise of the season – to a non-contact knee injury. His ACL is loose, and it could be a tear. LeGarrette Blount ran for 129 yards on 29 carries in Lewis’ absence.
Gif of the week
Aqib Talib goes 3 Stooges and pokes Dwayne Allen in the eye pic.twitter.com/kwxavTse51
— The Cauldron (@TheCauldron) November 9, 2015
The Broncos are undefeated no more. A week after beating Green Bay in the battle of the unbeatens, Peyton Manning and company dug a 17-0 hole against the Colts, rallied in the second half, but eventually fell to Indy, 27-24. With Oakland’s loss to the Steelers, Denver remains three games up in the AFC West. But they’ve fallen behind New England and Cincinnati in the race for a first-round bye.
Indianapolis grabbed a 17-0 lead on the strength of three 60-plus yard drives in the first half. They looked like they’d go into halftime pitching a shutout, but Omar Bolden returned a punt 83 yards for a touchdown at the first-half gun. The Broncos rallied early in the second, scoring on their first two possessions to tie the game at 17. After the Colts went back ahead, an Owen Daniels touchdown tied it up again.
But Andrew Luck drove the Colts for a field goal, and Manning threw an interception on the very next play from scrimmage. Denver never touched the ball again. That was in part due to an unnecessary roughness penalty from Aqib Talib, who poked Dwayne Allen in the eye. Three Stooges style! “I was not faking it,” Allen said postgame, adding that his eye was sore.
Talib said the eye poke was an accident. “You think I play football to poke people in the eye? It was an honest mistake.” He also said it was just something that happened: “You guys ever played football? You ever lost, at the end of the game? If you can remember back at how that feels, that’s how I felt. I was just mad, man. It was the heat of the moment.”
The Broncos defense defended him, and the only thing facing Talib now is what’s sure to be a hefty fine from the league. Denver is 7-1 and plays at Kansas City next week. The Colts lead the AFC South with a 4-5 record; they’re off next week.
Elsewhere around the league
— A blue chip rookie quarterback outdueled a future Hall of Famer on Sunday. Marcus Mariota threw for 371 yards and four touchdowns, including the game-winner, to help the Tennessee Titans beat the Saints, 34-28. He hit Anthony Fasano in the end zone on a throwback bootleg pass from five yards out on the first drive of overtime. Drew Brees, coming off a record-tying seven-touchdown performance against the Giants, threw for 387 yards and three scores.
Of course, Mariota’s game-winning performance wasn’t without a few breaks. Down 14-3 late in the first quarter, Mariota threw what could have been intercepted by Jarius Byrd or Keenan Lewis. But the two crashed into each other, the ball popped up into the air and Delanie Walker caught it at the 35. He then rumbled all the way for a 61-yard touchdown. Walker actually caught three passes on tipped balls in the game. He finished with seven catches for 95 yards and two scores. The win was the first this year for interim head coach Mike Mularkey, who replaced Ken Whisenhunt.
— Blaine Gabbert replaced Colin Kaepernick in the lineup and led the San Francisco 49ers to a 17-16 upset of the Atlanta Falcons. Gabbert went 15-of-25 for 185 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. (Kaepernick went 0-for-1 after being inserted into the lineup when Gabbert went out briefly with an injury.) Gabbert didn’t exactly light the world on fire, but the patchwork 49ers offense (Shaun Draughn led all rushers with 58 yards) did enough to win.
The Falcons lost their second straight, and are 6-3 after a 5-0 start. Matt Ryan threw for 303 yards, but the Falcons rushed for only 17 yards on 14 carries. Even Gabbert (32 yards) rushed for more yardage. Atlanta could have won it, but Dan Quinn decided to kick a field goal on 4th and Goal at the 1-yard line with three minutes left. The Falcons never got the ball back.
— Tyrod Taylor threw just 12 passes in his return to the starting lineup for the Bills, but he completed 11 of them and Buffalo rolled to a 33-14 win over the Miami Dolphins. Most of the damage was done on the ground: LeSean McCoy rushed 16 times for 112 yards and a touchdown, and rookie Karlos Williams ran 9 times for 110 yards and two scores. Buffalo is now 4-4, a half-game back of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the playoff hunt. The Bills haven’t made the playoffs since 1999 – they were all set to play another playoff game, and then the Music City Miracle happened – but they’re in the mix this year especially because they still have two games against the Jets left. A win next week on the road would be a good start to second-half push.
— Meanwhile, Ryan Fitzpatrick played despite injuring his thumb last week. He threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns, helping the Jets beat the Jaguars, 28-23. The Jets’ run defense again held an opponent to below 100 yards rushing, something it has done five times this season. Meanwhile, Chris Ivory never got going against the Jaguars defense – he had just 26 yards on 23 carries – but still came through (for fantasy players, at least) with a pair of touchdowns.
