NFL Week 13 Overview | The Chiefs still the favorites of the American?

The Denver Broncos had a great opportunity to prove to the NFL world that they were a good team on the rise on Sunday night. Instead, they delivered a performance that was sorely lacking in inspiration and suffered a 12^e straight loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, 22-9.

Miguel Bujold
The Press

It wasn’t the first time the Broncos were down for a prime-time game. Vic Fangio’s squad played very softly in a loss to the Browns in Cleveland in a Thursday night game in October. Difficult to understand.

Teddy Bridgewater is a good reserve quarterback, but he seems unable to carry a team when he faces top opponents. On Sunday, he threw two interceptions, including one that resulted in a touchdown from safety Daniel Sorensen, which ended the suspense in the fourth quarter. If the Broncos want to make the playoffs, maybe they should bring in Drew Lock, who has more upside than Bridgewater, if not such a consistent player.

As for the Chiefs, their fifth straight victory was won despite an ordinary game from Patrick Mahomes (15 of 29 for 184 yards, no touchdown passes and one interception). Steve Spagnuolo’s defense put up another great performance, though, and if they keep playing like this, the Chiefs will likely be seen as the team to beat in the American when the playoffs get under way in mid-January. . It’s a turnaround that few people would have predicted just over a month ago.

Watt on track to beat Strahan’s mark

What’s most remarkable about TJ Watt’s performance on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens is that he hadn’t practiced all week (COVID-19) and was playing despite injuries ( knee and hip). The Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker had a career-high 3.5 sacks and forced Lamar Jackson to throw a pass that lacked precision when the Ravens went for broke attempting a two-point conversion late in the game. match. It failed and the Steelers prevailed, 20-19, in what was one of the best games of the season in the NFL.

Watt thus equaled a team record that belonged to James Harrison with 16 sacks, he who has only played 10 games since the start of the season! The Steelers star player has now had 13 or more sacks four years in a row, something only the legendary Reggie White has managed to accomplish before. Watt is 6.5 sacks away from tying the mark for most in the same season (22.5) set by Michael Strahan in 2001. Not only is Watt the favorite in the race for the Defensive Player of the Year, but his name has started to circulate as the league’s MVP. The Steelers are 6-3-1 when Watt is in uniform.

Season over for Marlon Humphrey

Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said after his team lost in Pittsburgh that he opted for a two-point conversion late in the game because his team was short on cornerbacks to play. a potential extension. The Ravens’ top cornerback and defensive player, Marlon Humphrey, suffered a torn pectoral muscle and will miss the rest of the season.

It’s a very heavy loss for the Ravens, who currently sit first in the North American with an 8-4 record. And the end of the Ravens schedule will not be easy. After visiting the Browns, who will want to keep their playoff hopes alive and returning from their spring break, the Ravens will face the Green Bay Packers, Bengals in Cincinnati, Los Angeles Rams and Steelers to close. their season. The battle between the Ravens, Bengals, Steelers and Browns promises to be thrilling until the schedule concludes.

The first round at Herbert

The first duel between Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow was played in three stages, Sunday afternoon, in Cincinnati. Thanks to the brilliance of Herbert, who multiplied the long passes in the first half, especially in the first quarter, the Los Angeles Chargers gave themselves a 24-0 lead, to the amazement of the Bengals, who however came back into the game after this nightmarish start to the match.

Despite a right-hand pinkie injury, Burrow did a good job and the Bengals scored the next 22 points. They were also able to take advantage of two fumbles from running back Austin Ekeler. Excellent in the passing game, Ekeler is not a particularly robust running back and the absence of a halfback who could serve as a complement is also one of the weaknesses of the Chargers. The Bengals looked set to take the lead for the first time in the game, but their own running back, Joe Mixon, inexplicably dropped the ball untapped. Safety Tevaughn Campbell picked up the object and raced into the end zone for a 61-yard touchdown, and that’s where the game was decided.

The Chargers added 10 more points to win, 41-22. Burrow is a very good quarterback and should have a great career, but right now it’s Herbert who deserves to be considered the best quarterback of 2020.

A victory for Oxford

The Detroit Lions’ first win of 2021 couldn’t have come at a better time than Sunday. Days after the horrific tragedy at a high school in Oxford, Michigan, that claimed the lives of four people, Jared Goff delivered a game-winning 11-yard touchdown pass to receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown on the very last play, giving the Lions a 29-27 win over the Minnesota Vikings.

Head coach Dan Campbell said after the game that his team’s victory was dedicated to the Oxford community. The Lions, who had scored 20 straight points in the second quarter, let slip some games they should have won this season, but never gave up despite their poor record. Their victory on Sunday was fully deserved after a few heartbreaking defeats.

Ultra-talented Cowboys

The 13^e week of activities in the NFL had opened with a domination of the Dallas Cowboys, Thursday night in New Orleans. Cut off from several key players, the Saints simply didn’t have the resources to compete with the Cowboys, who haven’t had so many top talent since their glory days of 1992-95 and won 27- 17, a mark that does not really represent the pace of the game.

The Cowboys’ two most recent first picks, receiver CeeDee Lamb and linebacker Micah Parsons, seem destined to become superstars; cornerback Trevon Diggs already has nine interceptions this season; and running back Tony Pollard is one of the most explosive and dangerous players in the NFL. That’s not to mention Dak Prescott, DeMarcus Lawrence, Amari Cooper and Ezekiel Elliott…

Very few teams have a roster of players of this caliber in the circuit. So it will be very interesting to see how the Cowboys play in the playoffs, as they currently hold a two-game lead at the top of their division. Unless they lose their two games against Washington on Sunday and Dec. 26, the Cowboys should actually finish first in the National East.