So usually, on a typical week, I will not watch any NFL games. Maybe I will catch a few minutes of the end of a Giants or Jets game after coming home from work, or possibly part of the Sunday Night Football or Monday Night Football games.
This week, I watched most of the fourth quarter of the game in snowy Cleveland between the Steelers and the host Browns. Cleveland survived that one, 24-19, which was a big upset over a heavily favored team. Then, I watched a part of the Giants-Bucs game but found it both boring and depressing. So I tuned instead to the game between Dallas and Washington.
When I first tuned in, Dallas was winning, 10-9.
Wow, I thought. This is a pretty low-scoring game. Still, it's more interesting and intriguing than the Big Blue game, so let's watch that instead.
What a game that turned out to be!
Briefly, I want to the bathroom, then to the kitchen, not really paying attention to the game, which was mostly background noise.
But when I sat down in front of the television, Dallas had taken a 20-9 lead. It looked dire for the Commanders, to the point where I will admit to assuming that the game was, for all intents and purposes, over.
The next few minutes, however, proved to be a bit of madness. What had been a seemingly boring, low-scoring game suddenly saw an explosion of points. I missed the first explosions by Dallas to build that 20-9 lead. But I watched as Washington then scored a touchdown to suddenly get within a field goal.
On the ensuing kickoff, it looked as first like it might be disastrous for Dallas, after KaVontae Turpin missed the ball and it bounced back into the end zone. Then, Turpin picked it up, made a few impressive moves to evade tackles, before finding an open field which he sprinted down. Just like that, the Cowboys scored a touchdown to make it 27-17 with under three minutes left.
The cameras showed the reaction on the Dallas sideline. Everyone was smiling and laughing. It sure seemed like they had clinched the win to snap their current losing streak. That touchdown sure felt like the kind of dagger in the heart that would kill Washington's chances.
Once again, game surely over, right?
Wrong.
Washington was able to move the ball down the field, although the drive stalled. With less than two minutes to go, the Commanders got the quick field goal, then hoped that they could recover an onside kick. They failed to do that, however. So Dallas got the ball back and just had to kill time.
Except that the Commanders had a couple of time-outs left. They stopped the 'Boys and got the ball back with forty seconds. But could they really drive the ball the length of the field and get the touchdown needed to tie the game and force overtime?
On the very first play, quarterback Jayden Daniels found Terry McLaurin fairly deep. Somehow, he was able to maneuver around Dallas defenders and sprinted for the touchdown that Washington needed.
Tie game, right?
Not so fast.
Washington placekicker Austin Seibert had not missed a PAT all season prior to this game. But earlier in the day, he missed his first one. Now, with the game on the line, he missed again. Just like that, what had seemed like a miraculous play to give Washington life ended with an astonishing miss of what normally seems like a routine extra point play that would have tied the game.
So Dallas kept a very slim 27-26 lead. All they have to do is recover the ball during the inevitable onside kick, and kill the clock, right?
Except that Juanyeh Thomas recovered the ball for Dallas, and ran for a 43-yard touchdown instead. After the extra point, it was not 34-26.
So Washington still had a chance.
As crazy as the game had been - particularly the ending - there were no more surprises left. The last play was a long bomb, a Hail Mary prayer. Earlier this season, Washington defeated Chicago on such a play at the end of a game.
This time, however, it was not answered.
What a game!
After that, I turned on the Green Bay Packers hosting the San Francisco 49ers. At least the first half. Green Bay went into the locker rooms with a 17-7 lead, but that was when my girlfriend got tired of watching football. So we watched something else. The Packers ended up winning, 38-10.
Later, I also watched much of the Eagles-Rams game. This was after my girlfriend had gone to bed. The Eagles were dominating and sealed the deal with a decisive performance towards the end. Philadelphia improved to 9-2 on the season, and they have two potential candidates for MVP this season. One of them is Saquon Barkley, who was a Giant until recently. He enjoyed one of the best days that any running back has ever had, running for 255 yards and two touchdowns. Seeing how the G-Men have fared this season, with their dismal 2-9 record and not a single win at home (nor having managed to score 30 points in any game so far this season), I could not help but wonder why they could not have kept him at running back.
That was it. No more football games watched this weekend.
However, it was interesting to see that the Kansas City Chiefs, having suffered their first and only defeat just last weekend, struggled to get past the Carolina Panthers. They won, but it was far more difficult than I would have expected it to be.
Out West, the Cardinals had a chance to add some cushion to their lead in the NFC West, which was just one game over the rest of the division. Instead, the Seahawks grounded out a tough 16-6 win. That meant that Seattle pulled even in the division race, and are now tied with the Cardinals atop the NFC West with identical 6-5 marks. The 49ers and Rams, meanwhile, both lost, but remain just one game behind at 5-6.
Elsewhere, the top teams in the NFC North kept rolling. I already mentioned the Packers, but the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings also both won. Detroit retains sole possession of first with a 10-1 mark, following by the 9-2 Vikings, and the 8-3 Packers. It seems clear that this is the best division in the NFL this year, probably by far.
Miami also remained hot, winning their third straight game since Tua's return. They very well may make a run to the playoffs. One other AFC team, the Denver Broncos, are looking more and more like a playoff team after going on the road and defeating the Raiders, 29-19.
And the Texans seem to be one of the most inconsistent teams in the league. At times, they look ready to step up and rank among the elites. Then at other times, they lose games almost inexplicably, which they did yesterday in dropping a home game to their division rival Titans, 32-27.
Go figure.
Finally on Monday Night Football, two likely playoff teams squared off when the Chargers hosted the Ravens in Los Angeles. The Chargers scored early and held a 7-0 lead, but the Ravens came storming back and took control of the game. Ultimately, Baltimore won, 30-23, although it was not really that close, as the Chargers scored a touchdown with less than a minute to play to make it look closer than it actually was.
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