When the NFL season began, Joe Flacco, like most of us, watched from the couch. The 38-year-old player, who entered the season unsigned, stayed in shape and played with his brother in case an offer came. But he mostly shifted his focus to his coaching career.
Then the Cleveland Browns called up their $230 million man after Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. He started last week and was average, but was significantly more productive than Flacco, who we saw play for the New York Jets last season. In Sunday’s 31-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Flacco was better, definitely above average. Maybe even very good. We’re talking about Flacco here, so he’s never going to be a jaw-dropping fireworks display, especially at this point in his career, but boy is he solid. He finished Sunday on 26-of-45 passing for 311 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He was savvy, including taking a fake coverage to Kareem Hunt on the opening drive that left tight end David Njoku wide open on the first of his two scores. There were mistakes and a few missed opportunities, but for the most part Flacco played like an experienced and reliable game manager.
Relating to: One-man avalanche Myles Garrett should be a rare NFL defensive MVP
Now, with the Browns at 8-5 and in good position to play in the postseason, a reliable game manager under center could be enough. After all, Cleveland’s defense is terrible, opportunistic, and championship-caliber when healthy.
Jim Schwartz’s group once again showed that they are particularly strong at home. The score was deceiving, considering 14 of Jacksonville’s points came from Cleveland turnovers. The Browns surrounded Trevor Lawrence, who somehow played despite an ankle sprain. In total, Cleveland pressured Lawrence 26 times, sacked him four times and forced four turnovers. And that’s because Myles Garrett still isn’t playing 100%.
While Garrett gets healthy, the defense needs to be bolstered by other key players. Rookie Cameron Mitchell returned from injury Sunday and broke up a pass from Lawrence to Zay Jones on fourth down with 3:30 left. The Browns also hope to corner Denzel Ward in the next few weeks.
In recent years, the offenses of teams like the Chiefs, Bills or Bengals have been too good for teams that can’t fight them. But this season has been great in the AFC. Miami has a legitimately electric offense, but it has been hampered recently by major injuries on the defense and offensive line. The Bills are hanging by a thread, but Josh Allen can and will lose games and has little support elsewhere. Fox’s pregame show did a parody this week called Mahomes Alone, and they nailed it, except for Travis Kelce. In Sunday’s loss to Buffalo, the Chiefs didn’t score a single point until there was a minute left in the first half. That doesn’t exactly scream Super Bowl contender. The Ravens are always a threat, but Lamar Jackson also has a tendency to make some off-target throws.
After Cleveland’s win, reporters asked Garrett his thoughts on Flacco. Garrett showed off his sense of humor, calling him “elite.” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski didn’t go that far, but named him a starter for the rest of the season.
The quarterback carousel has been busy this season. But Flacco’s opportunity to transition from head coach to QB1 is truly one of the most endearing stories of the season. And he’s enjoying the moment.
“It’s incredible to be there. It’s a truly unique experience,” he told reporters. “I can’t say enough about having kids old enough to understand what’s going on.”
Who knows how far this Browns team can go? They’re still a ways away from making the championship game, but there’s precedent for winning a Super Bowl with a top-tier defense and a suddenly exciting quarterback: 2012 Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.
MVP of the week
Jake Browning, quarterback, Cincinnati Bengals. It turns out the Bengals’ playoff hopes didn’t end when Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending ligament tear last month. The undrafted 27-year-old Browning took the AFC South team by storm in his second straight game. Browning, who stunned the Jaguars in overtime last week, led the Bengals to a much less concerning 34-14 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, completing 18 of 24 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns (he ran for another). . Browning has rarely looked flustered since taking over as one of the best quarterbacks in the league and has helped the 7-6 Bengals stay in the playoff conversation.
Video of the week
Dawg Travis Kelce was crazy for this play but I wish he had scored 🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/tGCeqrJ0qt
— Shannonnn sharpens Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) December 11, 2023
The Kansas City Chiefs looked set to beat the Buffalo Bills in agonizing fashion again; Travis Kelce, a high school quarterback, would pass Kadarius Toney, who rushed home for a touchdown, which would give his team the lead. less than one minute per hour. It was a risky move by Kelce—perhaps he was taken aback by Tony Romo’s description of Taylor Swift as the tight end’s “wife” on the CBS broadcast—but it still all came to naught: Toney was in an offside position and the play was called back. Especially Patrick Patrick. Mahomes was outraged by the call, saying players are usually warned if they are offside, but the officials were correct to the letter of the law. After the game, referee Carl Cheffers said, “No warning is needed, especially when they’re lined up all the way to the offside line, they’re blocking our view of the ball.” He managed to stay in the play-off fight by winning -17.
Status of the week
11th. There were 11 complete drives in the first half of the Houston Texans’ visit to the New York Jets, and all 11 of them resulted in punts. It was the same old story for the Jets: Great defense let down by a terrible offense. Then something strange happened: Zach Wilson started kicking the ball. It was his third 300-yard passing game in 32 starts and led to a 30-6 rout of Houston. Wilson frequently connected with Garrett Wilson, threw to varying depths, and looked like a guy with little to lose. “[Wilson] ‘What’s the worst that could happen, would I get benched again?’ said. That’s what She said and that’s how she played it. “It showed,” cornerback DJ Reed said after the game.
Quite an impressive feat for Wilson and the Jets, considering the punt-fest and the taunts directed at him in the first half. It was also a look at what could have been this season if the Jets had the offense to back up their defense.
Elsewhere in the league
— Suddenly the Dallas Cowboys are looking like a very dangerous team, and they’ve won seven of their last eight games. The last ones were also the most impressive; They easily beat the Philadelphia Eagles 33-13 on Sunday Night Football, leaving both teams 10-3 atop the NFC East, but the Cowboys would be declared the division winners if the season ended. Today. Dak Prescott and the defense were impressive as always, but credit must also be given to kicker Brandon Aubrey, who has made all 30 field goals this season, including efforts from 50, 59 and 60 yards on Sunday. The result also gives the No. 1 seed in the NFC to the 10-3 San Francisco 49ers, who have beaten the Eagles and Cowboys convincingly this season.
— The Chicago Bears embarrassingly took a 12-point lead over the Detroit Lions with 4 minutes left a few weeks ago. Faced with the same scenario this week (leading by 12 points in the fourth quarter), Chicago left the field with a surprising 28-13 victory. The Bears’ turnover-inducing defense held the Lions’ offense scoreless in the second half. Offensively, Justin Fields was sensational on the field and adept enough at the ball to once again force some interesting organizational decisions come draft time.
— Say hello, Tylan Wallace. This is how a football match ends …even if the callback was aided by a missed block. The Ravens ultimately secured the 37-31 overtime victory because their defense didn’t completely collapse in the fourth quarter, as it has so often this season. The impressive Los Angeles Rams hung in there with Matt Stafford scoring three goals, Cooper Kupp coming to life and Kyren Williams continuing to be a spark on the field, but it wasn’t enough. The Ravens became the first AFC team to win 10 games this season.
— Sunday’s results meant the New England Patriots were eliminated from playoff contention at the earliest season since 2000. Bill Belichick’s tenure in New England may be on thin ice, with Don Shula 27 games behind the 71-year-old. Won time coaching record.
— Scary moments during the Texans’ loss to the Jets. NFL running back CJ Stroud appeared to be in serious discomfort after hitting his head on the turf when he was tackled by Quinnen Williams. Stroud was placed in concussion protocol; It’s a disturbing sight for a player who was outstanding in his rookie season but was under pressure on 44% of his takedowns on Sunday. “At the end of the day, our job is to protect the point guard and we didn’t do that well enough today,” Texans guard Shaq Mason told ESPN after the game.
— There are currently six 7-6 teams in the AFC – Steelers, Colts, Texans, Broncos, Bengals and Bills – which is also the cutoff for wildcard spots. If the season ended today, the Steelers and Colts would prevail in various tiebreakers. This hasn’t been a great year in the NFL, but the tie means we should have an exciting finish to the regular season.
— 3-0 An impressive victory in the Premier League, slightly less so in the NFL. This was the result of the Minnesota Vikings blowing out the Las Vegas Raiders in the league’s lowest-scoring game in 16 years. In a game that epitomized much of the lackluster attacking we’ve seen this season, the winning goal didn’t come until the final two minutes. The 7-6 Vikings are still in the playoffs and Justin Jefferson is recovering from a serious injury after taking a heavy hit from Raiders safety Marcus Epps.