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

The Denver Broncos had a great opportunity to prove to the NFL planet that they are a good, rising team on Sunday night. Rather, 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
Press

It wasn’t the first time the Broncos have been flat out for a prime-time game. Vic Fangio’s side played very soft 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 transport a team when he faces top-notch opponents. On Sunday, he threw two interceptions, one of which resulted in a touchdown by safety half Daniel Sorensen, which ended the suspense in the fourth quarter. If the Broncos want to advance to the playoffs, maybe they should call on Drew Lock, who has greater potential 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 for 29 for 184 yards, no touchdown pass and an interception). Steve Spagnuolo’s defense delivered another excellent performance, however, and if they continue to play that way, the Chiefs will likely be seen as the team to defeat in the American when the playoffs get underway in mid-January. . It’s a turnaround that few would have predicted just over a month ago.

Watt on track to beat Strahan’s mark

What is most remarkable about TJ Watt’s performance on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens is that he had not trained for the week (COVID-19) and was playing despite injuries ( knee and hip). The Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker had 3.5 sacks, a personal best, and forced Lamar Jackson to throw in a sloppy pass when the Ravens went all-out while attempting a two-point conversion late in the game. match. It failed and the Steelers won, 20-19, in what has been one of the good games of the season in the NFL.

Watt tied 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 all-star has now had 13 or more sacks four years in a row, something only legendary Reggie White had managed to accomplish before. Watt is 6.5 sacks away from tying the mark for most in the same season (22.5) that Michael Strahan set 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 explained after his team’s loss to Pittsburgh that he opted for a two-point conversion late in the game because his team were short of cornerbacks to play. a potential extension. Ravens top cornerback and defensive player Marlon Humphrey suffered a torn pectoral muscle and will miss the remainder 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 Ravens’ end of calendar will not be pie. After visiting the Browns, who will want to keep their playoff hopes alive and return from their spring break, the Ravens will face the Green Bay Packers, Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Rams and Steelers to close. their season. The fight between the Ravens, Bengals, Steelers and Browns promises to be exciting until the end of the schedule.

The first run 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 after this nightmarish start to the match.

Despite an injury to the little finger on his right hand, 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 running back who could complement him is one of the weaknesses of the Chargers. The Bengals looked on their way to taking the lead for the first time in the game, but their own running back Joe Mixon inexplicably dropped the ball without being touched. Safety back Tevaughn Campbell picked up the object and streaked to the end zone for a 61-yard touchdown, and that’s where the game was played.

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 rather Herbert who deserves to be considered the best quarterback of 2020.

A victory for Oxford

The Detroit Lions’ first victory of 2021 could not have been captured at a better time than on Sunday. Days after the horrific tragedy at a secondary school in Oxford, Mich. That claimed the lives of four people, Jared Goff landed a winning 11-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown on the very last play, giving the Lions a 29-27 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

Head coach Dan Campbell said after the game his victory was dedicated to the Oxford community. The Lions, who had 20 consecutive points in the second quarter, have let slip a few games they should have won this season, but have never given up despite their poor record. Their victory on Sunday was well deserved after a few heartbreaking losses.

Ultra-talented Cowboys

The 13^e A week of NFL activity opened with dominance of the Dallas Cowboys Thursday night in New Orleans. Amputated by several key players, the Saints simply did not have the resources to compete with the Cowboys, who have not had as many talented players since their glorious days of 1992-95 and who won 27- 17, a mark that does not really represent the look of the game.

The Cowboys’ two most recent top picks, receiver CeeDee Lamb and linebacker Micah Parsons, appear destined to be super stars; 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 bunch of players of this caliber on the circuit. So it will be very interesting to see how the Cowboys play in the playoffs, who currently hold a two-win lead at the top of their division. Unless they lose their two games against Washington on Sunday and Dec. 26, the Cowboys should indeed finish first in the National East.