Tag: NFL Week 13

Antoine Winfield Jr. wins NFC Defensive Player of the Week

The awards keep stacking up for Antoine Winfield Jr.

Antoine Winfield Jr.’s stellar 2023 campaign shows no signs of slowing down.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety won the NFC Defensive Player of the Week award on Wednesday. Winfield Jr. becomes the third Bucs player to win an award from the league in 2023, as punter Jake Camarda has an NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award and defensive lineman Calijah Kancey won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month award for November.

Winfield Jr. won the award for his efforts against the Carolina Panthers — he finished the game with both a sack and interception, two tackles for loss and three pass defenses. Winfield was also among the highest-graded safeties for Week 13 at Pro Football Focus, putting in a 93.8 grade.

It’s been a big week for Antoine Winfield Jr., who was also revealed as Tampa Bay’s nominee for Walter Payton Man of the Year. Winfield continues to play at a high level on the field this year and contributes to his Tampa Bay community off it.

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Week 13 Saints report card: How did each position grade vs. Lions?

Week 13 Saints report card: How did each position grade vs. Lions?

The reviews are in, and they aren’t pretty: we didn’t see the New Orleans Saints’ best work in their Week 13 loss to the Detroit Lions.

But how do you grade this performance? Let’s break it down by position groups to judge whether each unit pulled its weight on Sunday:

Best reactions after Bengals win overtime thriller over Jaguars

Best reactions after Bengals vs. Jaguars in Week 13.

The Cincinnati Bengals surprised many on Monday night during a primetime clash with the Jacksonville Jaguars by coming out firing on offense.

The end result was a 34-31 win. But the Bengals showed serious signs of life with Jake Browning under center in place of the injured Joe Burrow, especially on one notable highlight touchdown to Ja’Marr Chase.

As such, with a primetime audience watching, there were many, many takeaways of note coming out of the game — especially considering the playoff standings and draft order standings.

Here’s a look at some of the best reactions coming from right after the game.

Instant analysis after Bengals upset Jaguars in overtime

Instant analysis after Bengals vs. Jaguars in Week 13.

The Cincinnati Bengals appeared much more comfortable in the second week of Jake Browning under center, putting up a fight on “Monday Night Football” against the Jacksonville Jaguars en route to a 34-31 win.

While things were far from perfect, the offense looked different in quite a few ways through the air and Browning was steadily moving the offense in spurts that had this one a surprise shootout.

Even so, the Bengals never appeared overmatched and had the ball late in a tie game. Here’s a look at the important numbers, thoughts and takeaways from right after the game went final.

Watch: Jake Browning hits Ja’Marr Chase for 76-yard TD

Another epic touchdown for Ja’Marr Chase.

The Cincinnati Bengals took a 21-14 lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night courtesy of a 76-yard touchdown pass from Jake Browning to Ja’Marr Chase

On what was the longest play from scrimmage for the offense all year, Browning properly saw the blitz coming off the snap and fired one up for Chase in single coverage.

Chase came down with it and had so much open space in front of him that he was actually able to slow down before hitting the endzone and — of course — also hitting a variation of the griddy.

Here’s a look at the big play for the suddenly explosive Bengals offense:

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Chad Johnson will join ManningCast during Bengals vs. Jaguars

Chad Johnson will be on the screen during Bengals vs. Jaguars.

Joe Burrow or not, Cincinnati Bengals fans will have plenty to watch on “Monday Night Football” when the team takes on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

There are playoff standings to think about. And draft positioning as the team inches closer to the top 10, too.

And Chad Johnson.

As Omaha Productions revealed on social media before the game, the man formerly known as Ochocinco will appear on the ManningCast alongside Peyton Manning and others during the game.

It’s just another fun Bengals link for the fans during the game, as the Ring of Honor member and former ambassador continues to rep the team well publicly.

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The Morning After…new quarterback, same problems for Patriots

Even with Bailey Zappe under center, the Patriots were shut out at home by the worst passing defense in the NFL.

The New England Patriots had everything in play for a potential turnaround game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Mac Jones, who had handicapped the team with numerous turnovers, was watching from the sidelines, while Bailey Zappe finally got his chance to start and play for an entire game. The Patriots were facing a Chargers team with no Joey Bosa and the worst passing defense in the NFL.

There was no pressure or high expectations with the team sitting at 2-9 and pegged as underdogs in their home building. And the defense was playing lights out, as it has for most of the season, by limiting the previous two opponents to only 10 points.

Heaven itself opened and delivered a rainy, messy football game to help limit quarterback Justin Herbert and the Chargers’ potent offensive attack to give the Patriots a chance to compete on even ground.

None of it was enough for the Patriots, who crashed and burned with Bailey Zappe at the wheel for their second shutout loss at Gillette Stadium this season.

Here are some leftover notes from Sunday’s game:

Final score predictions for Bengals vs. Jaguars on MNF in Week 13

A final prediction for Bengals vs. Jaguars in Week 13.

The Cincinnati Bengals have to hope the second week of the Jake Browning era goes better than the first if they want to avoid losing a fourth straight game.

Not that the backup quarterback is the only one to blame for the 16-10 loss to Pittsburgh one week ago, but going 19-of-26 with 227 yards, one touchdown and interception with four sacks didn’t help.

The Bengals will get star wideout Tee Higgins back for Monday night’s primetime game. But that won’t help a running game that has appeared broken since the summer and currently averages 3.8 yards per carry.

That’s especially notable because the hosting Jaguars have a defense that ranks third overall against the run at 87.4 yards allowed per game on average. It’s a unit that allows just 20.5 points per game, too,

For comparison’s sake, an underwhelming Bengals defense ranks second last in rush defense at 139.6 yards per game surrendered. The unit’s struggles in coverage aren’t shocking given the youth movement, but the rush defense suddenly being a sour point has cost the team games.

None of this has even mentioned Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who has completed 67.3 percent of his passes this year with 12 scores and seven picks and running back Travis Etienne Jr., who has 726 yards and seven scores on the ground and 36 more catches through the air.

Even with the Jaguars missing some key linemen that could help pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson and breaking-out rookie Myles Murphy hit home on Lawrence, the Jaguars were favored by more than a touchdown in this one for a reason.

While this has never felt like a team that will simply throw the proverbial towel if someone as important as Joe Burrow goes down, the difference in losing a top-five passer can’t be understated.

If the Bengals put up a fight on primetime, get some core pieces of the future must-have developmental snaps and even earn the silver lining of better draft positioning, that’s not necessarily a bad thing given the circumstances.

Prediction: Jaguars 27, Bengals 14

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Brothers Zac and Press Taylor match up in Bengals-Jaguars game Monday night

A family trophy is at stake on Monday night.

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and his brother Press Taylor will be facing off against each other on Monday night when the Bengals head to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars in Week 13.

Press Taylor is the offensive coordinator for the Jaguars, so this matchup against his brother is different from the previous four they have had in the NFL because he will be calling plays.

The two brothers were both quarterbacks through high school and college and have brought their offensive minds to the NFL as young coaches, both with successful careers to this point.

According to AP, Sherwood Taylor, their father has a family trophy for the winner of the games when the brothers match up on opposite sidelines, which he gets engraved with the scores of each game.

Zac Taylor won the first meeting when he was offensive coordinator with the Miami Dolphins in 2015, beating the Philadelphia Eagles and their offensive quality control coach Press Taylor. Press got his revenge the next two games in 2017-18 when the Eagles beat the Los Angeles Rams twice, where Zac Taylor was the assistant wide receivers coach and quarterbacks coach.

The Bengals and the Eagles tied 23-23 in 2020, which was the most recent matchup between the brothers, so Zac Taylor could even the series up if he and Jake Browning lead Cincinnati to a win Monday night.

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New Orleans Saints fall farther behind Falcons after Week 13

The Saints aren’t even tied for the NFC South lead. They’re in third place again after investing $150M in a quarterback and doubling down on Dennis Allen:

This isn’t what anyone in the building expected coming out of Week 13. The New Orleans Saints aren’t even tied for the NFC South lead after losing to the Detroit Lions on Sunday. They’re back in third place again after investing $150 million in a quarterback and doubling down on Dennis Allen’s vision for the team.

With the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers winning their games and the Saints coming up short in their third consecutive loss, New Orleans finds itself even further back in the division standings. Sure, the NFC South crown isn’t yet out of reach — but it’s growing more distant by the week.

Here’s the state of each NFC South team as they exit Week 13 and begin to prepare for what’s next: