The NFL season seems to be over: quarterback star Deshaun Watson, who caused a scandal because of rape allegations, was seriously injured in Week 7, even though no one touched him. The Lions win a dramatic top duel against the Vikings, the Chiefs win the Super Bowl rematch. There are also two special debuts.
Lions win dramatic top duel
It’s not just the top game in the NFC North, but in the entire NFL: The duel between the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings is heating up people’s minds because the Lions have the German superstar receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and the incredibly strong quarterback Jared Goff (36 of 43 passes for 607 yards with five touchdowns and zero interceptions in the last two games) has won four games with just one loss and most recently won two games in a row with 40 points for the first time since 1962. The Vikings, on the other hand, are still unbeaten and have only been behind by three and a half minutes throughout the season.
In the clash between the hottest teams in the league, it’s a cold start for the Lions: In their own half, the team from Detroit, which likes to take risks, plays a fake point (with seven yards to the new first down), but it fails. A few seconds later, the Vikings thanked Aaron Jones with a 34-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0. Thanks to a field goal from 57 yards, strong Minnesota defense (defense coordinator Brian Flores is once again doing a very good job) and several penalties against the Lions, the score is 10-0 at the end of the first quarter (as in every Vikings game so far). ).
Then things get even worse for Detroit: David Montgomery, who has scored a touchdown in eight straight games, the longest current streak in the NFL, limps off the field with a knee injury. But the running back can continue later – and suddenly the game turns around: Jahmyr Gibbs provides new hope with a sensational run of 45 yards (the longest of his career). With a physical illusion, the second running back makes an opponent look completely old, and he sprints splendidly away from the other Vikings to his team’s first touchdown.
Minnesota can’t do anything against it up front, but the Lions are establishing their feared running game. This opens up gaps, one of which is used by German superstar Amon-Ra St. Brown. The wide receiver caught a deep pass and gave his team a 14:10 lead midway through the second quarter. Then the previously strong Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold throws an interception and his counterpart Goff leads his team down the field to Gibbs’ next touchdown.
In the second half, Justin Jefferson shows that he is not considered the best pass receiver in the league for nothing: The Viking’s next spectacular catch this season, in which he sucks the egg out of the air as he falls onto his back, brings Minnesota back up to 17 :21 approaching. Immediately afterwards, however, the Lions ran away again with another touchdown to reach eleven points, especially because Goff once again played an almost perfect game (18 of 19 passes at this point, 227 yards, two touchdown passes and zero interceptions).
But the Vikings turn the game on its head again after a field goal: The defense knocks the ball out of Detroit’s Montgomery’s arms and linebacker Ivan Pace runs into the end zone. Minnesota leads 29:28 with just over five minutes left on the clock. But the drama isn’t enough, Goff has another answer and leads the Lions into field goal range one last time. Former college football player Jake Bates stays ice-cold from 44 yards and kicks the final score to 31:29 in the top duel, which delivers what it promised.
Chiefs celebrate after interception party
Another top game takes place in San Francisco, where the 49ers await the champions in a rematch of the last Super Bowl. After the Vikings’ bankruptcy, the Kansas City Chiefs are the only team remaining in the NFL without a defeat. In the first half, the current champions had the game completely under control, despite an interception by megastar quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and went into the break with a 14:6 lead. The 49ers then hit back with a first touchdown, but then Mahomes’ counterpart Brock Purdy made his interception. The Chiefs playmaker himself punished this with a run to make it 21:12. After Purdy throws the egg into the opponent’s hands again less than ten minutes before the end, the game is almost decided. Kansas City only does what is necessary and in the end still wins relatively safely with 28:18 and remains undefeated.
Season over for scandal quarterback
The Cincinnati Bengals’ third win of the season is almost irrelevant. Charlie Jones creates a spectacle right from the start when he carries the opening kickoff 100 yards into the end zone and gives the Bengals a quick 7-0 lead. But after that it’s all about Deshaun Watson’s horror injury. The Cleveland Browns quarterback took a snap, went straight to the ground – and suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon towards the end of the first half without any outside influence, as his team announced. With a towel over his head, Watson is lifted onto a cart and driven to the locker room. After the game, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said “it looks like” Watson will be out for the rest of the season.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson replaced Watson, but later suffered a finger injury, forcing backup backup quarterback Jameis Winston to come on in the final moments of the 21-14 loss. Watson earns $230 million in five years with the Cleveland Browns, although scandals have been surrounding him for a long time. The 28-year-old is accused, among other things, of raping a woman in 2020. He is also said to have sexually harassed around two dozen women between March 2020 and March 2021. At that time, 24 civil lawsuits were filed and 23 were settled out of court.
Daniels injury shocks Washington
And another injury. It doesn’t take long for superstar rookie Jayden Daniels to show why there’s so much hype around him right now: On Washington’s first snap, the Commanders quarterback dances through the opposing defense and runs for a 47-yard gain. The 23-year-old, who many consider to be the sure rookie of the year, almost made it into the end zone. But shortly afterwards Daniels had to leave the game with a rib injury. After an X-ray check, he does not return to the pitch. In the game against the Carolina Panthers, the loss is not a problem: veteran Marcus Mariota takes over and leads the Commanders to a clear 40:7 victory. If Daniels were to be out for a longer period of time, it would be a significant damper for his team’s playoff ambitions and for his chances of winning the Rookie of the Year Award.
Obliged on Wednesday, ensured victory on Sunday
No football professional could have wished for a better debut: kicker Brandon McManus was only signed on Wednesday, and in his first game for Green Bay he scored a 45-yard field goal in the very last second – and shot the Packers to 24: 22 win against the Houston Texans. Quarterback Jordan Love’s team (five wins, two defeats) loses the ball three times, but in the end the three-game winning streak of the strong Texans comes to an end.
McManus has been unemployed since the summer when two women sued him and the Jacksonville Jaguars in civil court, claiming he sexually harassed them while they worked as flight attendants on the Jaguars’ trip to London last year. The NFL announced late last month that it had found insufficient evidence that McManus had violated any rules. McManus’ lawyers and those of the women said the civil case had been settled.
A touchdown on the first touch of the ball for a new team
The Buffalo Bills are getting going: with their fifth win in the league – and after a 0:10 stuttering start against the Tennessee Titans, they ended up with a clear 34:10 win. This was also guaranteed by Amari Cooper, who, like McManus, only signed a new working paper last week. The superstar receiver moved from the Cleveland Browns and now scores the touchdown with his first touch of the ball to take the lead, which the Bills never relinquish. Together with quarterback Josh Allen, who overcame a weak first half to throw two touchdown passes in his 100th career start, Cooper could make a big splash in the future.
Seahawks can still win
Breathe a sigh of relief in Seattle: The Seahawks can still win. After three defeats in a row, the team around quarterback Geno Smith (many bad passes, but two touchdown passes) clearly beat the Atlanta Falcons 34:14. The Seahawks ended Atlanta’s streak of three straight wins and stopped the Falcons’ offense, which had averaged 37 points in the previous two weeks. With four wins and three defeats each, both teams can still have hopes of making the playoffs.
Saquon Barkley’s sensational return
Saquon Barkley returns to New York’s MetLife Stadium in an unforgettable way: The running back, who moved to the Philadelphia Eagles in March and was selected second in the draft by the New York Giants in 2018 and promptly became rookie of the year at the time, runs a dominant 28:3 -Winning 176 yards and scoring a touchdown. Barkley turned the initial boos from the Giants fans into loud cheers with one of the best games of his career. In addition to Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (two touchdowns, one touchdown pass), Philadelphia’s defense (eight sacks) is the guarantee of success.
