NFL Week 9: Smile like you mean it
We needed a Sunday like this one.
I have to give the NFL credit. This week’s schedule looked like a dud on paper, especially with six teams on their bye. But Sunday’s games were more entertaining than they had any right to be. Eight of the 11 matchups were decided by one score; six of them were three-point margins.
More notably, at least for me, is how many joyous moments the league delivered on Sunday. The timing on that could not be any better, with the end of Daylight Saving Time ushering in SAD season and the uncertainty and fear of what Tuesday’s midterm elections will bring.
For one day, though, the NFL gave us a healthy distraction. Here’s what made me smile most on Sunday.
Justin Fields, who has been balling out lately
I’m an unabashed Justin Fields fan who has been rooting for him to succeed as a pro, but I also try to keep my bias in check. I spent his rookie season worried about his safety more than anything else. Though it was a rocky year, he flashed his potential enough that I felt hopeful he could take a step forward in 2022, even if the Bears didn’t surround him with much help.
Fields didn’t get off to a strong start this season, however. While the Bears got a couple of early wins, Fields was struggling with his passing and decision-making in Chicago’s new offense, leading the sports take industry to deploy the overused and premature “bust” label. I never stopped believing in Fields, but his confidence seemed shaken. Due to the coaching staff change and the lack of talent around him, I thought it would take a while until he had the chance to turn things around.
Instead, a week after a particularly awful Thursday night showing against the Commanders, the Bears decided to tweak their offense and start calling designed runs for Fields, which is what those of us who watched him in college have been begging them to do.
Since then, Fields’ play has improved dramatically.
First six games: 54.8% completion rate, 4 TDs, 5 INT, 72.7 passer rating, 132 yards rushing, 1 rushing TD
Last three games: 65.3% completion rate, 6 TDs, 1 INT, 104.7 passer rating, 320 yards rushing, 3 rushing TDs
Fields has never played better in the NFL than he did on Sunday against the Dolphins, and he did it with his arms and legs. He made some beautiful throws, including this touchdown to Darnell Mooney (one of Fields’ three TD passes of the day). But Fields really turned heads as a runner. In fact, he set a regular season NFL record with 178 rushing yards, the most by a quarterback in a single game.
His longest run was also his biggest highlight of the day. On third down, it looked like the Bears were destined to punt, but Fields evaded a would-be sack and somehow flew by every Dolphins defender on his way to a 61-yard touchdown:
That was the one of eight third-down conversions that Fields was responsible for against Miami.
No wonder Mike McDaniel was kindly asking Fields — for whom he had high praise after the game — to show a little mercy:
Fortunately for McDaniel, and unfortunately for Fields, the Dolphins came away with the 35-32 win. Fields had a chance to lead the Bears to a victory in the final two minutes, but two plays in particular stymied their effort: 1) a no-call pass interference on third down that would’ve put the offense in field goal range and 2) Equanimeous St. Brown not corralling Fields’ pass on fourth down.
Even in a loss, Fields was a star. I won’t pretend that it’ll be all smooth sailing from here. I’m sure he’ll have setbacks — kinda hard not to, when you still lack weapons — but I’m so happy that Fields is starting to produce the type of performances I always knew he was capable of, and I hope to see many more like them in the future.
The J-E-T-S, giving the Bills the Sauce
Coming into the week, Josh Allen was one of the favorites to win NFL MVP honors this season. He still will be after Sunday, but those odds took a hit after his encounter with the Jets’ relentless defense.
The Jets bullied Allen into his worst passing game of the season: 205 yards, 0 TDs, two INTs, 46.8 passer rating, and five sacks. Though Allen ran for a game-high 86 yards and two touchdowns, it’s hard to argue with his self-assessment that he played like dookie.
Then again, rookie Sauce Gardner is making life hard for every opposing quarterback:
Gardner added two more big plays to his short but impressive resume: a third-quarter interception that set up the Jets’ first lead of the afternoon and a game-clinching pass breakup.
Allen and the Bills will be fine; every team, even a contender, lays an egg or two during the season. The real story is how the Jets are not a joke anymore. At 6-3, they’ve already won as many games in 2022 than they did in the past two seasons combined. There’s still a lot of season left, but Robert Saleh might get this team to the postseason, with the defense leading the way.
The Jaguars, who used their butts instead of playing like butt
Each loss in the Jaguars’ five-game skid had a similar trajectory: the defense blows it, the offense can’t make a play, Jacksonville comes up just short.
This week, they fell behind 17-0 early but kept fighting, sometimes with their behind:
Chad Muma’s butt pass breakup saved a touchdown near the end of the second quarter, and the Raiders settled for a field goal to take a 20-7 lead.
That was the last time the Raiders scored. The Jags stormed back in the second half, led by a resurgent Trevor Lawrence and a defense that forced two turnovers (on downs and a fumble) and had a key sack late in the fourth quarter.
The Jaguars ended their losing streak with the franchise’s second-biggest comeback ever. As for the Raiders, those 17-point collapses are officially a trend now. But hey, as the Jaguars proved, as well as the next team on my list, it only takes one good game to break out of a bad habit.
The Lions, for finally having a little luck on their side
Like the Jags, the Lions had been losing in almost the same way each week: by not being able to close out games.
Despite never trailing the Packers, the Lions held a precarious six-point lead Sunday and, after failing to convert a fourth down at the Green Bay 43-yard line, put the ball in Aaron Rodgers’ hands with two minutes remaining.
Normally, this would lead to disaster for the Lions, who have watched helplessly as Rodgers has broken their hearts time and again.
Despite Rodgers playing his worst game ever against Detroit* — including throwing three interceptions, two of which came in the end zone and one of which bounced off a helmet — and generally looking miserable, it seemed fated that the Lions would screw this up somehow.
That looked like a near certainty when the Packers converted a fourth down and then fumbled, which the Lions recovered … out of bounds:
Yet, with four more chances at the end zone, Rodgers threw four incompletions and Detroit’s defense *gasp* held on. (That didn’t stop Rodgers from taking any unnecessary dig at his opponent afterward.)
I’d like to see the Lions make a habit out of that, not just because they deserve better luck than the football gods have given them, but also because I love watching Dan Campbell’s emotional postgame celebrations:
Almost as much as I love Aaron Rodgers schadenfreude.
*Not including a 7-3 loss in 2010, a game in which Rodgers left in the second quarter due to a concussion
The Chargers and Falcons, for being true to their very nature
While the Jaguars and Lions were able to break free from their worst tendencies (at least for this week), the Chargers and Falcons played their role to a T: as bringers of chaos.
Both teams’ weird energy was on display throughout the day, like Khalil Mack ripping the ball away from Drake London and stealing his soul in the process. Or the Falcons getting the ball right back when Justin Herbert’s pass bounced off Joshua Palmer’s hands, flew 30 feet in the air, and landed in the waiting arms of Richie Grant. Or Austin Ekeler’s “was he down?” non-touchdown.
As expected, though, the last few minutes of the game was when things devolved into farce. The real suspense was finding out which team’s boneheadedness would strike next.
The answer was the Chargers … immediately followed by the Falcons.
Absolutely perfect. No notes.