Sunday in the NFL | Joe Flacco to the rescue

The 38-year-old quarterback threw three touchdown passes in a Browns victory over the Jaguars.

Of pain and misery

The Baltimore Ravens needed overtime to defeat the Los Angeles Rams 37-31 and sign their tenth victory of the season. The play of the game came down to special teams, as Tylan Wallace scored the game-winning touchdown on a 76-yard punt return. Lamar Jackson threw three touchdown passes, as many as his counterpart Matthew Stafford. But he stood out with 316 yards through the air and 70 by rushing. Two of his three successful passes were on long gains of 54 yards and 46 yards, captured respectively by Isaiah Likely and Odell Beckham Jr. For the Rams, Kyren Williams stood out with 114 yards rushing, and Cooper Kupp was productive with 115 yards and a touchdown on 8 catches. Jackson is 18-1 in his career against National Conference teams.

Back in the race

When the Cincinnati Bengals lost quarterback Joe Burrow for the rest of the season, few people were giving their all. The day Jake Browning was appointed to take over from Burrow, there was no more hope among Bengals fans. But Browning’s performances reignited the flame in Cincinnati, particularly after the 34-14 victory against the Indianapolis Colts in the 14^e week. Browning generated 275 passing yards and had three touchdowns: two passing and one rushing. University of Washington alumnus boasts two wins and one loss in three starts this season. With two consecutive wins, the Bengals are part of a group of six teams with an identical record of 7-6 in the American. Including the Colts, who hold the seventh and final place giving access to the playoffs.

The Bills will take it

The Buffalo Bills inflicted a second straight loss on the Kansas City Chiefs (8-5) and remain in the playoff race with a 7-6 record. It’s a good victory for head coach Sean McDermott. The latter was talked about for having used the example of the terrorists of September 11, 2001 to motivate his troop to be more united and more coordinated in a speech in 2019. McDermott apologized in the hours which preceded the duel against Kansas City. For the Chiefs, the 20-17 defeat is difficult to digest as they were deprived of a touchdown from Kadarius Toney on a lateral pass from Travis Kelce at the end of the game. Toney was penalized for offside during the throw-in. An unforgivable penalty. After the game, Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid said the officials had been harsh on Toney and that they should have warned the receiver before the throw-in instead of giving him a penalty.

At the top

With their 28-16 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers are now first in the overall Goodell Tour standings, with the advantage in the tiebreaker. The Niners are one of four teams with a 10-3 record. Kyle Shanahan’s men signed their fifth victory in a row thanks to their main players. Brock Purdy finished his day with 368 passing yards and two touchdown passes. Deebo Samuel rushed for 149 yards and a touchdown on seven catches. He also scored a rushing touchdown. Samuel became the second player in NFL history with at least 100 yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown in two consecutive games. Christian McCaffrey and Brandon Aiyuk had over 100 yards each.

The Niners’ next opponents are the poor Arizona Cardinals (3-10).