NFL Week 14: Upsets, RG3 injury headline early NFL games

Next Texans’ series: same story. Houston was forced to punt after only four plays, and the Patriots’ offense regained possession and imposed its will yet again. Tom Brady marched his team down the field 70 yards in eight plays, finishing the drive with another touchdown pass to Hernandez to give the Patriots a 21-0 lead.

The game went to halftime firmly in hand for New England, and fans were singing the high praises to their fearless leader.

Drinking and driving is one the most dumbass things you can do. Getting into a car with someone who’s been drinking isn’t malicious but it’s still pretty dumbass. Jerry Brown’s death is a tragedy and a harrowing reminder of the fragility of life and the folly of youth. It doesn’t have anything to do with football; instead it’s a side effect of being young and stupid.

Remember that you’re not invincible, dumbass. Here’s what you need to know from each game this week.

Following another devastating defeat, Zachary Beard of Baltimore Beatdown wrote in his recap that Sunday’s loss “really dampened [his] spirits” on the Ravens’ overall outlook. Here’s exactly what Beard wrote about the direction Baltimore is heading:

For more on the Baltimore Ravens’ recent struggles, head on over to Baltimore Beatdown.

Lots to talk about, starting with the biggest injury of the week.

Figuring out whether he takes too many hits is going to be a very fine line for the Redskins to walk. His legs and his ability to stretch the field that way is part of what makes him an elite rookie, and it’s what helped make him the second overall pick. If Michael Vick, for example, was a pure drop back passer, nobody would hire him because he completes only 56 percent of his passes. His legs make (or made) him special. That’s not a perfect comparison because RGIII is way ahead of Vick when it comes to passing the ball, but the point remains that you don’t want to take away part of what makes him special.

But not only did San Diego get off the schneid in the short term; they also earned their first victory in Pittsburgh in the history of their franchise (0-14 previously). Not being too used to this feeling, John Gennaro of Bolts from the Blue wrote in his recap that the Chargers “looked like the team that fans and the media thought they would see all season.”

For more on the Chargers’ upset, head on over to Bolts from the Blue.

Following the solid performance, Fucillo fully believes that James will be active again next week especially with Gore’s workload being scaled back a bit. Gore only received 12 carries Sunday despite the fact that he was showing some serious burst on nearly every touch (5.8 yards per carry, 85 total yards).

For more on the Niners’ new change-of-pace back, head on over to Niners Nation.

More information should become available Monday after Bowe is re-evaluated.

Griffin is scheduled to have an MRI Monday, which should reveal the exact nature of his ailment.

Then they remembered they’re the Packers, the Lions remembered they’re the Lions, and Green Bay won, 27-20.

Green Bay did a masterful job as the game went on of mixing up the play calls, keeping Detroit’s dangerous pass rush at bay. Over at ACME Packing Company, Kevin McCauley talks about the job Mike McCarthy and his team did:

As August West points out on Music City Miracles, Locker didn’t have his best afternoon by any stretch:

It’s been an up-and-down year overall for Locker, who has thrown nine touchdowns and the same amount of interceptions, all while completing just 57.5 percent of his passes.

Chicago has reason to worry. The Packers supplanted the Bears on top of the NFC North. Worse, an 8-5 Chicago team that has lost four of its last five games looks like an easy target for a hungry group of NFC teams vying for a postseason bid.

This is what the NFC seeding looks like after Week 14:

Robert Griffin III, Washington Redskins (knee)

Griffin stayed on the ground, screaming in agony (but “like a man, of course,” as he put it), hobbled off the field, then returned after missing one play. He proceeded to lead the Redskins down the field, but after taking an intentional grounding penalty on the Baltimore 16-yard line, Griffin called for trainers and asked to be removed due to worsening discomfort in his right knee joint.

Detroit tacked on a field goal with less than 10 seconds to play to tighten the margin, but its onside kick attempt failed, and Green Bay ran out the clock.

Watch:

(H/T to Zach Klein for the video.)

Fat, jolly, whatever you want to call it, linemen scoring touchdowns are one of the most enjoyable happenings in pro football games. Packers defensive lineman Mike Daniels rode his momentum into the backfield, where he scooped up a Matthew Stafford fumble and took it all the way to the end zone.

Even better, Daniels did the Lambeau Leap to cap it off ... the fat guy leap.

Griffin, who tore his ACL while at Baylor, told reporters after the game he was confident it wasn’t a ligament injury, but ‘Skins fans know better than to celebrate before the actual diagnosis. No word from the team yet as to how long, if at all, Griffin will be out. Head coach Mike Shanahan is expected to give more clarity on the situation when he meets with reporters Monday.

Kansas City Chiefs defense lineman Shaun Smith was a little grumpy on Sunday. What else could explain his curious decision to blatantly choke a player from the Browns? It was a pretty ugly incident, but Smith didn’t stop there. He took his control issues public, blasting members of the media on Twitter following the Chiefs’ 30-7 loss to the Cleveland Browns.

It all started because someone dared question his bold prediction prior to the game.

Fantasy Studs and Duds

Anyone with the Seattle defense and special teams in their fantasy league likely had a great day, with the squad collecting twice as many points as the second-place lineup. Anyone starting Marshawn Lynch has to be pleased that three of Seattle’s five offensive touchdowns were in his hands.

The Giants lead the Saints 52-27 at the time of this post.

Fantasy Impact: Wilson probably wasn’t on many fantasy teams this week--the Giants took a lot of heat for essentially hiding him after a Week 1 fumble--but if Bradshaw is out for any amount of time, he’ll be the hot waiver pickup of the week.

Winners

Losers

When a rookie QB throws 18 interceptions with a lot of yards it’s excusable, when Drew Brees does it -- all of a sudden it’s time to take notice.

Although I’m not sure that posing after a big hit that draws a penalty while you are down by 51 points is a good idea.