1. The Johnny Football hour is neigh
NFL scores, news and highlights: What happened Sunday in Week 13
The Packers won a big one. Johnny Football played meaningful snaps. Here’s everything you need to know from Sunday.
By Eric Sollenberger
America's most polarizing backup quarterback Johnny Manziel got the call and stepped in for Brian Hoyer in the fourth quarter of the Browns' 26-10 defeat to the Bills. He played well, but the Browns ultimately fell short in their comeback attempt.
Hoyer struggled mightily throughout the game, especially the third quarter, leading head coach Mike Pettine to turn to Johnny Football. Offensive Coordinator Kyle Shanahan put Manziel in his comfort zone early, calling bootlegs and play actions designed to let him operate in space. Manziel responded by going 3-for-4 and leading his team on an 80-yard drive that culminated with the Heisman Trophy winner taking a shotgun snap up the middle for a 10-yard touchdown scramble. There was an undeniable spark that Manziel brought to the Browns stagnant offense, and one would imagine that it’s going to be hard to but the genie back in the bottle as Cleveland looks to make a playoff push.
Hoyer was surprised with the benching, but he couldn't have expected his leash to be terribly long, given how much the Browns management invested in Manziel. Hoyer has been hot and cold, but his ceiling isn't as high as Johnny's, although his basement isn't as low either. Pettine says he will decide by Wednesday whether or not Manziel or Hoyer will get the start next Sunday as the Browns head back to Cleveland to take on the Colts.
Johnny Football Time
Meanwhile the Bills showed they're not ready to give up on their playoff aspirations just yet. Kyle Orton didn't light up the scoreboard, but Buffalo's defense played extremely well, limiting the Browns to just 74 yards on the ground and breaking up eight passes. After giving up the 80-yard TD drive to Manziel, the Bills milked the clock on a 10-play, 5:15 drive that ended with a field goal, a 13-point lead, and only three minutes and thirty-two seconds left in the game. The defense stepped up again by forcing a Browns turnover on downs followed by an easy field goal to make it a 16-point Buffalo victory.
The result leaves the Bills at 7-5 along with the Browns, Steelers, and Ravens.They're all on the outside looking in on the playoff picture at this point, but this victory was huge for the Bills as they look to go on a run over the last four weeks of the season. In the meantime the Browns will have some decisions to make.
2. Bengals back into a win
By Ryan Van Bibber
All that time Marvin Lewis dedicates to the NFL competition committee finally paid off. Hell, it might have been the only thing that saved the Cincinnati Bengals from an appearance by Bad Andy Dalton.
The Bengals quarterback had a terrible first half, with three interceptions and just 62 yards through the air. In fairness, he had been battling the flu and got a pre-game IV for his troubles. He managed to score a rushing touchdown on a read option play with one minute left in the second quarter. Dalton played better after the half, connecting with A.J. Green to give Cincy the lead in the third quarter.
But it was Lewis' heads up and totally illegal challenge flag that saved the day for the Bengals. Lewis challenged a 21-yard completion to Louis Murphy that put the Bucs in field goal range on the basis that Tampa Bay had 12 men on the field. It did too. But coaches aren't allowed to challenge inside the two-minute mark. Fortunately for Lewis, the penalty for that has been softened to taking away a timeout. During the pause, the booth decided to review, and, yep, the Bucs had 12 men on the field. That kept them out of field goal range, and the Bengals held on for a 14-13 win.
The good news for Cincinnati is that the rest of the AFC North lost on Sunday, giving them a 1.5-game lead for the division crown and overcoming yet another bad game from Dalton. We’ll have to see if illegal challenges will be enough to get the Bengals past the divisional round in the playoffs.
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3. New York’s other struggling team
By Ryan Van Bibber
Tom Coughlin's team pissed away a 21-0 lead in the second quarter on their way to a 25-24 loss ... to the Jacksonville Jaguars. It may not be the most humiliating loss in Giants' history, but it's up there. And what a way a lose to the game.
The Giants turned the ball over three times. Eli Manning didn't throw any interceptions, but he did fumble twice. Tight end Larry Donnell had the other one. Jacksonville turned two of those fumbles into touchdowns. Naturally, the game ended the only way it possible could: an Eli sack/fumble with 32 seconds remaining.
We can expect another busy offseason for the Giants. It was hard enough to imagine Coughlin coming back to coach the team anyway; this game probably seals his fate. A bigger question for Big Blue’s offseason are what becomes of general manager Jerry Reese. It feels like it’s time for a clean break overall. And what about Manning? It’s probably not practical to move on from him for 2015. He would at least give a new administration a bridge, but it is the last year of his contract and cutting him would save more $17 million against the cap. It might be the most reasonable excuse the Giants will have for starting over.
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4. The Packers are the best team in the NFL ... for now
By Ryan Van Bibber
Any amount of hyperbole about the Packers you read this week is probably justified. Beating the New England Patriots at Lambeau Field on Sunday qualifies as one of the more impressive wins of the season for any team. This wasn't the New England team that was feeling it's way blindly through the the month of September. This was Brady and Belichick and a loaded defense playing their best football, decisively toppling opponents like the Broncos and the Colts over the last month. And despite Green Bay winning by a final score of 26-21, it never really felt like it was that close.
Belichick put his top corners, Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner, on Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb. It worked for a while too, but Aaron Rodgers went to rookie Davante Adams instead. Adams hauled in three catches for 90 yards in the first half, including a 45-yarder in the first quarter that set up Green Bay's first touchdown.
Nelson got the best of Revis later in the first half, sailing his boat unmolested through the lagoon around Revis Island for a 45-yard touchdown that gave the Packers a 23-14 lead at the half.
It’s not exactly a secret that Rodgers is cruising to an MVP trophy. The real revelation here for the Packers and their fans is the defense faced a tough test and passed with flying colors. That bodes well for the postseason. Green Bay is now in the driver’s seat for the top seed in the NFC.
The Patriots weren’t bad either, not by any way you want to look at it. However, they’re back in a horserace with the Broncos (pun intended) for home-field advantage now that each team has a 9-3 record. New England still has an edge after beating Denver earlier this month, but they don’t have much room for error beyond that.
Pick six
2. Tom Brady is so mad. He's also on a leash.
3. RG3 didn’t play, but his lunch decisions were closely scrutinized anyway.
5. Raiders were tackling Raiders in their 52-0 loss to the Rams.
Sunday scoreboard
Indianapolis Colts 49, Washington 27 (final)
Houston Texans 45, Tennessee Titans 21 (final)
Cleveland Browns 10, Buffalo Bills 26 (final)
Baltimore Ravens 33, San Diego Chargers 34 (final)
New York Giants 24, Jacksonville Jaguars 25 (final)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 13, Cincinnati Bengals 14 (3 things)
St. Louis Rams 52, Oakland Raiders 0 (final)
New Orleans Saints 35, Pittsburgh Steelers 32 (3 things)
Minnesota Vikings 31, Carolina Panthers 13 (final)
Arizona Cardinals 18, Atlanta Falcons 29 (final)
New England Patriots 21, Green Bay Packers 26 (3 things)
Denver Broncos 29, Kansas City Chiefs 16 (3 things)
★★★
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