Pigskin Papers Take 2: 2022 Week 13
Joe Brrr and the Bengals Do it Again!
(Published December 6, 2022)
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Welcome to another edition of “Take Two”. Week 13 was among the most entertaining and consequential weeks of the season so far, so let’s dive right in. Once again I’ll follow this format: Take One will be a series of takeaways and observations from Week 13, and Take Two will be an another edition of Fun Stats of the Week.
*****See the Week 14 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Column Here: https://www.thepigskinpapers.com/posts-1/pigskin-papers-2022-waiver-wire-week-14
The Cowboys’ Posse is Riding High
TAKE 1 - WEEK 13 TAKEAWAYS:
From the column last week: “I think these are the best teams in each conference, after 12 weeks of play: AFC: (1) Kansas City, (2) Buffalo, and (3) Cincinnati; NFC: (1) Dallas, (2) San Francisco, and (3) Philadelphia.” Nothing I saw in Week 13 changed my mind - these are the 6 best teams, and the gap to the next group of teams is wide. I’d certainly reorder the top 3 in each conference, but that’s just quibbling. The 49ers did suffer the blow of losing their starting QB, but if there’s one team where that might matter the least, it’s them. Not so much because Jimmy G isn’t that good, but because of the system, the quality of the offensive playmakers around the QB, and the suffocating defense. Remember Nick Mullens? I think SF will be fine.
The Giants-Commanders tie was a negative for NFC wild card hopefuls who sit below those 2 teams in the standings - a loss by one of the teams would have been better for the Seahawks, and for the long-shot pursuers like the 5-7 Lions and 5-8 Falcons and Packers.
Keep an eye on the 5-7 Raiders. They might be too far back to make the playoffs in a competitive AFC, but they’ve got a shot. They caught fire late in the season last year to get in, and this run is looking similar. They’ve won 3 straight, and their offense is just plain scary right now. Jacobs and Adams might be the most lethal RB-WR combo in the league. The 5-7 Steelers are also making a move - and for them it’s probably also too little, too late.
With one glaring exception whose first name rhymes with hustle, muscle, and bustle, the teams who made big trades for very high-end offensive players in the last 12 months are getting excellent returns. Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, and A.J. Brown have all been as good as advertised (or better), and big difference-makers for their new teams. CMC is proving to be exactly what the 49ers needed. Hollywood Brown and Amari Cooper aren’t in the same category of talent, and Brown missed time with injury, but both have helped their new teams a lot. Deshaun Watson is an incomplete, as he’s only played one game.
It seems like every week, we watch teams fail to put away wins because they can’t protect a 4th quarter lead. You’d think the culprit is always the defense but often if you look more closely, the offense is plenty culpable. In the case of the Saints and Giants this week, the offense’s inability to get critical first downs in crunch time was a dagger. At least the G-Men left with a tie, but a look at their final possessions reveals why they didn't win. Their final 4 possessions of regulation were all punts, with 0 first downs. Their first 2 possessions of OT also resulted in punts. The Saints had 2 possessions in the final 6 minutes, after they took a 16-3 lead, and punted twice without gaining a first down, and worse, they only took 2 minutes (total) off the clock. The Saints’ loss was well-deserved as they put on a clinic in how to lose a game with poor coaching and time management decisions - not the kind of mistakes you can afford to make against Tom Brady. Give Brady and the Bucs credit, but the Saints GAVE that game away. A win by NO would have put the NFL’s worst division into complete chaos.
Dan Campbell’s Lions are playing really well, without biting any kneecaps. They’ve won 4 of their last 5 and the only loss in that stretch came on a last second FG to an excellent Bills team. Don’t be at all surprised if they hang an L on the first place Vikings this coming Sunday at Ford Field. Lions fans - it’s OK, you can start to smile now, and especially with the Rams’ first round pick in your back pocket.
The Cowboys led the NFL in scoring last season, but through the first third of this season they were in the bottom quarter of the league in most offensive categories, including scoring. Here they come again. Dak is back at the helm, Gallup and Schultz are also healthy, and this offense is taking off. The Cowboys have scored 40+ points in 3 of their last 5 games. Look out.
Is Lamar Jackson going to regret not signing a contract with the Ravens before the season? We’ll see, but his second straight good (but certainly not great) season coupled with him getting hurt again late in the season isn’t a plus. Meanwhile, the contract that presumably made it harder for the Ravens to sign Lamar was the ridiculous one the Browns gave to Deshaun Watson. Speaking of Watson, he was very rusty in his return - not a huge surprise when you consider that he hadn't played in an NFL game in close to 700 days, but still, not at all what the Browns were hoping for. Watson faces a tough defense in Cincinnati this week.
The Christian Watson Breakout has been Breathtaking
TAKE 2 - FACTS AND STATS OF THE WEEK:
The Vikings are 9-0 in one score games.
The Steelers’ win over the Falcons on Sunday made them the first team to get to 500 wins since the 1970 merger.
The Rams (3-9) have the worst record through 12 games of any defending SB champ.
The Texans have not had a lead at any time in the second half of a game since Week 5.
The Lions scored points on their first 8 possessions vs. the Jaguars. Their 9th possession consisted of 2 kneel downs by backup QB Nate Sudfeld to end the game.
Davante Adams is 5th all-time among WRs in this stat: Most TDs in the first 9 seasons of a career. His 85 TDs (and counting) in his first 9 seasons trails only this elite group: J. Rice, R. Moss, T. Owens, and M. Harrison.
Christian Watson’s last 17 touches have resulted in 8 TDs, and he has 7 receiving TDs on just 23 career receptions.
Watson joins Martavis Bryant as the only rookie WRs over the last 25 seasons to have 7+ receiving TDs within their first 25 career receptions.
The last time a Giants’ game ended in a tie was in 1997, also against the Commanders, and that was also the last NFC East game to end in a tie.
Graham Gano had made his last 6 FGs from 50+ yards before his 58 yarder at the end of OT came up short.
Every team in the NFC East is over .500, no team in the AFC East is under .500, and no team in the NFC South is over .500.
Every team in the AFC East has a positive point differential, and every team in the NFC South has a negative point differential.
Marcus Jones of the Patriots scored a TD on his first offensive snap of the season.
New England DB Devin McCourty on Thursday night became the 4th DB to have 200 starts with the same team.
The Cowboys’ 54-19 win over the Colts was a Scorigami (an NFL score that is a first). It was the 1,074th unique score in NFL history.
The Colts scored 10 points in the first quarter on Sunday night, which matches the total first quarter points the team scored in the 9 games Frank Reich coached this season. Their first quarter TD was the first one Dallas allowed all season.
Dallas outscored Indy 33-0 in the 4th quarter. It was only the third time in NFL history that a team scored 33 or more points in the 4th quarter (Chicago Cardinals 1925, Lions 2007). Yes, the Lions!
The Cowboys are the only team in the league with at least 2 sacks in every game this season.
If the season ended today, the Seahawks (via the Broncos), Lions (via the Rams), and Eagles (via the Saints) would have the 3rd, 4th, and 5th overall picks in the 2023 NFL Draft (in addition to their own picks).
Justin Fields has 6 straight games with 50+ rushing yards and a rushing TD. That’s the longest such streak for the Bears since 1969 (G. Sayers).
The Bears and Packers met for the 206th time on Sunday, the most of any two teams in NFL history. Fields’s 56 yard TD run was the longest TD run by a QB in the series.
The 49ers’ defense had not allowed a point in the last 94 minutes of game action heading into Week 13, and Miami scored a TD on them on its very first play from scrimmage.
The 49ers’ defense had not allowed any second half points since Week 8, until Tyreeek Hill caught a TD pass from Tua in the 4th quarter on Sunday.
A.J. Brown against his former team on Sunday: 8 rec., 119 yds., 2 TDs. All Titans’ WRs vs. the Eagles on Sunday: 4 rec., 41 yds., 1 TD. Ouch.
The Browns covered an 8.5 point spread without scoring an offensive TD. Really, they did.
Patrick Mahomes’s streak of 26 straight wins in the months of November and December came to an end on Sunday.
The Bengals beat the Chiefs 27-24, the identical score of Cincinnati’s win over KC in OT in last year’s AFC Championship game.
The Chiefs are 11-3 in their last 14 games where they entered the 4th quarter either leading or tied, and having scored at least 21 points. All 3 of those losses were at the hands of the Bengals.
In 3 career starts vs. the Chiefs (and Mahomes), Joe Burrow is 3-0. He’s the only QB with 3 straight wins against Mahomes, and joins Brady as the only QB with 3 career wins against Mahomes. For the record, QBs do not play each other - teams do.
On Monday night, Tom Brady threw his 200th TD to a Tight End.
Brady got his 44th comeback win in the 4th quarter or OT this week, which is the most since at least the merger (he had been tied with P. Manning).
The Broncos have scored 14 TDs and allowed 17 TDs in 12 games. Both are league-lows. Unsurprisingly, the Broncos have scored the fewest points in the league, and allowed the fewest points in the league.
70 teams in the SB era have allowed 17 or fewer TDs through 12 games. The first 69 were .500 or better through those 12 games. The Broncos are 3-9.
Davante Adams: Many Happy Returns for LV
And…CUT!
DH
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