C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins of the Texans proved Saturday night that they’re ready to face any defense. Just in time for the playoffs.
Before we get into what the Houston Texans did to the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday night, we should remind you what quarterback C.J. Stroud did without. The Texans had lost receivers Nathaniel “Tank” Dell, Robert Woods, and Noah Brown to injury — three of their top five receivers on the season. And it didn’t matter one bit. Partially because Stroud was in as much of a zone as we’ve seen from him in his nearly-sure Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign, and partially because receiver Nico Collins decided to become some unholy combination of Tyreek Hill and Mike Evans.
In the 23-19 win that put the Texans in the playoffs and eliminated the Colts from the postseason, Stroud completed 20 of 26 passes for 264 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 134.1. Stroud’s poise in and out of the pocket, ball placement, understanding of reads and coverages, and ability to sustain big plays through a game have been evident all season long, and never more so than in this game. And in his first prime-time NFL contest, Stroud proved it all the way through.
“C.J. – he doesn’t surprise me,” Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said after the game. “We’ve talked about it earlier in the week with C.J. just being special in these big-time moments. When we need him most to step up and make plays, he has done it time after time throughout the entire year. It’s not surprising to anyone. That’s who he is. He is one of the best passers in this league, and he shows it consistently game in and game out.”
No argument there, and let’s review the details of what both Stroud and Collins were able to do.
The Colts are out of the playoff picture after their loss to the Texans, and everybody wants to know about Shane Steichen’s final play call.
Shane Steichen has been great for the most part in his first season as the Indianapolis Colts’ head coach, but it’s tough not to wonder what Steichen, who’s the Colts’ offensive shot-caller as well, was thinking on what turned out to be his team’s final offensive play of the 2023 NFL season.
With 1:06 left in the game, and the Colts down 23-17, Indianapolis had the ball on the Houston 15-yard line on fourth-and-1. Quarterback Gardner Minshew tried to drive the defense offside before calling a time out, and then, THIS happened. A bad throw from Minshew, and a bad catch attempt from undrafted rookie running back Tyler Goodson, and the Colts’ postseason hopes went right down the drain.
Having Taylor off the field in that instance was certainly… interesting. The star back had left the field earlier in the game with a heel injury, but on the drive that led to that last failed play, he carried the ball nine times for 23 yards. Maybe Steichen thought Taylor needed a breather, or perhaps Taylor re-aggravated his injury, but that put the Colts at a personnel disadvantage. Taylor had run 30 times for 188 yards and a touchdown in the game.
“Yeah, he was all right,” Steichen said of Taylor. “The play we had up, we had to look for it. It was man-to-man coverage and just it didn’t work out.
“Obviously we called time out there. It was fourth-and-one, we saw the front they were in and we liked the look for that play in that situation.
“Felt good about Goodson in that situation. He’s a pass-catcher for us in the backfield. and it is what it is.”
Welp.
Secondly, while the Colts throw the ball frequently on fourth down — Minshew had 20 fourth-down attempts coming into this game — and while 17 of those passes came out of shotgun, by rolling with shotgun and taking Taylor out of the game, the Colts were telegraphing their intent to Houston’s defense. Maybe the play call would have worked had Goodson caught the ball, and we’d prefer to deal with process over outcome, but when the outcome takes you out of the playoffs, that’s a tough one.
Third, Minshew had completed 13 of 24 passes for 141 yards in this game, and he was inaccurate more than he was accurate. So again, the play call was fine. But the circumstances surrounding it will draw questions through a long offseason for the Colts.
“Man, I thought it was a great call — a perfect look.” Minshew said after the game. “It was just one of those plays.”
C.J. Stroud got his Texans off to a big bang against the Colts in a crucial win-and-in game, and social media went wild.
Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud has been one of the most impressive first-year players at his position in pro football history, and in Saturday night’s game against the Indianapolis Colts — the winner takes the AFC North — it didn’t take long for Stroud to show why he is who he is. With 9:06 left in the first quarter, Stroud hit play-action and zinged the ball wayyyyyy downfield in the direction of receiver Nico Collins, who singed rookie cornerback JuJu Brents for a 75-yard score.
Stroud is doing this right now without three of his top five receivers due to injury — Tank Dell, Robert Woods, and Noah Brown — but as long as he has Nico Collins on the field, things will be alright.
Receiver Puks Nacua of the Los Angeles Rams will have something to say about that, but at this point, how do you not have Stroud as No. 1 in the Offensive Rookie of the Year conversation?
C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins combined on a 75-yard Texans touchdown
The United States got to see C.J. Stroud in prime form in prime time and it took one play.
The rookie quarterback of the Houston Texans took their first offensive snap Saturday against the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday and threw a deep pass.
The football found Nico Collins in stride. The wideout corraled it and took the ball into the end zone.
One play, 75 yards, and after the PAT, Houston led, 7-3.
C.J. Stroud has killed Cover-3 all season long, and the Colts play a ton of Cover-3. Something’s going to break on Saturday night.
Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud has been one of the NFL’s most compelling rookies in recent years, regardless of position. He’s a primary reason why the Texans, who finished the 2022 season with a 3-13-1 record, are playing Saturday night for the AFC South championship at 9-7. Stroud and his comrades will tangle with a Colts defense that is quite underrated of late.
New "Xs and Os with @gregcosell" — When the @HoustonTexans take on the @Colts for the AFC South tonight, C.J. Stroud will have to deal with a defense filled with names you may not know, but the youngsters are getting it done. Here's the scoop on Gus Bradley's Colts defense. pic.twitter.com/K7D6LJrrCg
But this Colts defense has already seen more of Stroud than they might like. In Stroud’s second regular-season game of his NFL career, he carved Gus Bradley’s defense up to the tune of 30 completions in 47 attempts for 384 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 103.5.
In the rematch, Bradley might want to switch his priors around a bit. The Colts have played the NFL’s second-highest rate of Cover-3 this season (48.8%, behind only the Carolina Panthers’ 50.0%), and Stroud has killed Cover-3 all season long. The Colts in Week 2 played Cover-3 on a league-high 22 of Stroud’s dropbacks back then, and Stroud completed 14 of 19 passes for 178 yards, 95 air yards, both of his touchdowns, and a passer rating of 137.6 against Bradley’s favorite coverage. For the season, Stroud has completed 91 of 136 passes for 1,211 yards, 798 air yards, six touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 106.6 against Cover-3.
This 23-yard touchdown to rookie receiver Nathaniel “Tank” Dell in Week 2 had Stroud showing off one of his best throws against zone coverage — the quick out. The Texans had a mirrored concept here with two slot verts and two outside out routes, and the structure of the routes had Dell beating cornerback Darrell Baker, who was likely expecting Dell to run something vertical, underneath. Ready, set, go.
C.J. Stroud of the @HoustonTexans has killed it against Cover-3 this season. The @Colts play the NFL's second-highest rate of Cover-3 this season, behind only the @Panthers. Based on Stroud's Week 2 game against Gus Bradley's defense, Bradley might want to switch it up. pic.twitter.com/jhSnN6RvCh
“He’s very talented,” Bradley said this week of Stroud. “First of all, he plays with great poise. He handles pressures, he handles looks, he handles different schemes very well. He gets the ball out timely. Does he hold it some? Yeah, because they take some shots, but it is timely when it is the quick game and when it’s in their intermediate passes. His accuracy is very good so – very poised, accurate, playing above the level of being a rookie. I think at this point in time, he’s not a rookie because the looks that he’s seen. He’s playing very well for them right now. I think they’re third or something in explosive passes. I know very high, I think the analytics told us so. He does a great job with the threats he has on the outside.”
In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into Stroud’s return from a concussion, how he was able to dice up the Titans’ pass defense in Week 17, and what it all means for this crucial Saturday night matchup. The Colts will be ready with some serious improving players on the defensive side of the ball, and it’s important to remember that Stroud was also sacked six times in that Week 2 game.
Week 15 means many are in their fantasy playoffs, big-dollar contests are deciding league winners and kicking off the total-points stretch for the next three weeks. We saw a lot of injuries in the last two weeks, particularly to quarterbacks. Unfortunately, most fantasy teams are just watching by now but there’s always things to learn that can help next season.
Here’s a popular look at meaningful statistics that aren’t usually considered.
1.) Wide Receiver yards per catch – How many yards do each catch average? Here are the Top-20 deep-ball receivers for 2022 with a minimum of 30 catches.
For the last two seasons, there were only seven wideouts with more than 15.0 yards per catch – there are 15 this year. The top receivers in yards per catch represent most of the top players in the position. The increased use of slot receivers tends to bring down their average yardage, but the long ball is alive and well. The bigger surprises are Mike Evans, Odell Beckham, and DeAndre Hopkins who don’t immediately come to mind thinking of players catching deep passes.
2.) Quarterback passes per touchdown – This metric is the ultimate in measuring quarterback effectiveness. What is more telling than how many passes have to be thrown to get a touchdown? Minimum of ten touchdowns.
How impressive is Brock Purdy? Russell Wilson is another surprise since he struggled when landing in Denver. Tua Tagovailoa has been Top-5 the last two years, thanks surely to Tyreek Hill. It is telling for the problems with the Chiefs when Patrick Mahomes rates No. 9, but last year he was No. 1 with 15.5. More passing, fewer scores.
3.) Running Back plays per game – Today’s NFL uses running backs as both rushers and receivers, but it is a little more accurate to count up their carries and targets, since that represents how often teams consider the running back for a play. Snaps are a fairly new metric, though only describes how often a players was on the field rather than actually doing anything fantasy-relevant. Minimum 100 plays.
One of the realities is that this list changes dramatically each year, though there are usually six or seven with 20+ plays per game. Barkley, McCaffrey, and Jacobs are the only backs that repeated a 20-play level from 2022. The biggest falls from 2022 to this year were Dameon Pierce, Jonathan Taylor, and Dalvin Cook – all previous Top-10 backs in the metric.
4.) Tight Ends yards per catch – Maybe you don’t get any fantasy points for “Catch distance”, but it’s a good measure of how much a tight end is really a designed receiver than a blocker. Minimum 25 catches.
The position declines a bit each year as offenses evolve into deeper passing and wider formations. The deeper the catch, the more in indicates that the tight end is being used more as a receiver than just a blocker who occasionally catches a pass. It is encouraging that Kyle Pitts is No. 2 and he was No. 5 last year with a nearly identical average catch. But this too changes – the Top-3 last year were Hunter Henry, Jordan Akins, and Greg Dulcich.
5.)Place Kicker field goal success rate – The reality for kickers is that they are an expression of how often an offense is good enough to get within the opponent’s 40-yard line and yet bad enough that they didn’t score a touchdown. But when that happens, you want a guy that is going to toss three points on the scoreboard.
Good to see newcomer Brandon Aubrey nailing every single attempt, alone with Harrison Butker who had a down year in 2022. He’s better this year, but kicking far fewer field goals.
6.) Defensive “big plays” – There is a wide variation in what fantasy points are awarded for defenses from league to league, but everyone rewards sacks, fumble recoveries, interceptions, and safeties. They reward touchdowns as well, but those come on a fumble or interception. This looks at how many plays NFL defenses have in those categories.
It is always surprising to see how defenses shift from year to year. They are reactive units and, as such, are left to deal with whatever their offense did or did not do. Opponents have to throw the ball in order to get sacks and interceptions. But the upper tier of defenses not only have that advantageous situation, but have the players to make the difference. The top defenses are very well represented among the playoff-bound teams.
About Last Night…
Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
That was not a resume builder for any of the Chargers, much less HC Brandon Staley, who is still the head coach as of this writing. Maybe not tomorrow. It was one touchdown away from repeating the Miami win over the Broncos. 63-21 is just not a score that happens much in a professional game. By halftime, it was getting hard to watch unless you had fantasy players not named Austin Ekeler in it.
These were the same Raiders that lost last week 3-0. That had only totaled 46 points in the previous four games before posting 42 by halftime.
The Chargers have clearly given up. HC Brandon Staley has lost the team and while they played without Keenan Allen, they weren’t remotely competitive. By halftime, Easton Stick only totaled 75 passing yards. He ended with 257 yards and three scores but never changed the scoreboard until they were down 49-0. Joshua Palmer (4-113, TD) and Gerald Everett (5-41) led the receivers, but 79 yards came on a touchdown catch by Palmer. Austin Ekeler only gained nine yards on five carries and caught four passes for 29 yards, but Isaiah Spiller gained 50 yards on 16 runs and handled most of the work after the first quarter.
Aiden O’Connell passed for 248 yards and four touchdowns. That was as many touchdowns as he had over his first six games combined – and never more than one in a week. It was more of an indictment of the Chargers’ lack of a secondary than any positive advancement of the Raiders offense that was shut out last week. Davante Adams (8-101, TD), Tre Tucker (3-59, 2 TD), Mike Mayer (4-39, TD), and Jakobe Meyers (2-32, TD) all scored, plus Meyers threw the touchdown to Adams. Zamir White ran for 69 yards and a score on 17 carries, while Brandon Bolden (2-25, TD) had his first touches of the year.
It was an embarrassing beatdown from a team that could never score last week.
Tunnel Vision – a look back at Sunday for fantasy free agents, injuries and notable performances.
SUNDAY SALUTES
Quarterbacks
Pass-Rush
TD
Lamar Jackson
316-70
3
Desmond Ridder
347-15
2
Jake Browning
275-7
3
Justin Fields
223-58
2
Joe Flacco
311-(-1)
3
Running Backs
Yards
TD
Ezekiel Elliott
22-68
7-72
1
Breece Hall
10-40
8-86
1
James Cook
10-58
5-83
1
Rachaad White
25-102
2-33
1
Joe Mixon
21-79
3-46
1
Wide Receivers
Yards
TD
Deebo Samuel
7-149
2
Drake London
10-172
0
D.J. Moore
6-68
3-20
2
Cooper Kupp
8-115
1
Rashee Rice
7-72
1
Tight Ends
Yards
TD
Evan Engram
11-95
2
David Njoku
6-91
2
Isaiah Likely
5-83
1
Hunter Henry
3-40
2
George Kittle
3-76
1
Placekickers
XP
FG
Greg Zuerlein
3
3
Justin Tucker
2
3
Lucan Havrisik
2
3
Evan McPherson
4
2
Brandon Aubrey
3
4
Defense
Sack – TO
TD
Vikings
4-3
0
Saints
4-2
1
Broncos
6-2
0
Browns
4-4
0
Bears
4-3
0
Bumps, Bruises and Bowouts
QB C.J. Stroud – Head
QB Justin Herbert – Finger
QB Jake Browning – Cramps
RB Josh Jacobs – Knee
RB Alexander Mattison
WR Mack Hollins – Ankle
WR Devin Duvernay – Back
WR Nico Collins – Calf
WR Tutu Atwell – Concussion
WR Justin Jefferson – Chest
Chasing Ambulances
QB C.J. Stroud – Landed on his back and his head whipped back to the turf for a concussion. In the protocol now and Davis Mills will fill in this week in Tennessee if needed. The Texans have gone through a rash of injuries and Stroud is the one piece they cannot lose.
QB Justin Herbert – Fractured the index finger on his throwing hand and that may be season ending with just one month left to play in a year already gone bad. Easton Stick is the next man up. This week is a trip to face the Raiders and looks like another low-scoring affair there.
RB Josh Jacobs – He injured his knee early in the game but continued to play through it until finally giving up with six minutes left because of the pain. Speculation is that he hyperextended his knee and likely damaged ligaments and if so, he will not play on Thursday at the least. Zamir White would replace him versus the Chargers.
RB Alexander Mattison – Left the win over the Raiders with an ankle sprain which HC Kevin O’Connell later confirmed. His status for the Saturday matchup in Cincinnati will be determined after tests on Monday. Ty Chandler will take the start if needed.
WR Nico Collins – Injured his calf on the first series and was ruled out during halftime. Tank Dell was already lost for the season, so if Collins misses games he’ll be replaced by the group of Noah Brown, Robert Woods, and John Metchie, though C.J. Stroud’s status is uncertain this week as well.
WR Justin Jefferson – He suffered a chest injury in the second quarter and was forced to the sideline. He was later sent to a nearby hospital. His prognosis and status should be known on Monday but the Vikes play on Saturday in the early game at the Bengals. The No. 1 pick in nearly every fantasy draft is yet another instance where the best player for a season cannot replicate their success.
Free Agents, Flops and Other Notables
QBDesmond Ridder (ATL) – Turned in a season-high 347 yards and a score on the visiting Buccaneers that included Drake London’s ten-catch, 172-yard performance for a career-best. Granted – the Buccaneers secondary is one of the worst. But Ridder threw three completions for 57 yards and a score to Kyle Pitts.
QB Jake Browning(CIN) – He left the win over the Colts with what were described as “hand cramps” but returned to the game and ended with 275 yards and two touchdowns, plus ran in a touchdown. He may be no Joe Burrow, but he looks like a guy who needs to be more than an unseen backup.
QB Trevor Lawrence (JAC) – When he was awkwardly bent backward over his ankle last week, it looked like the season was over. But Robo-QB showed few signs of the injury and was one of the best quarterbacks for Week 14 with 257 yards and three touchdowns – though he had three interceptions.
WR Parker Washington (JAC) – The rookie replacement for Christian Kirk only managed two catches for 27 yards, but he’s started his career with a touchdown in his first two games.
RB Chase Brown (CIN) – He only ran for 25 yards on eight carries, but Brown led the Bengals’ receivers with three catches for 80 yards that included a 54-yard touchdown catch. The Bengals still ran Joe Mixon 21 times for 79 yards and a score, but Brown has looked sharp for the last two weeks. The Bengals have a potential out in Mixon’s contract next year and Brown can promote more confidence in him for the final month of the season.
RB Keaton Mitchell (BAL) – He ran for 54 yards on nine carries in the win over the Rams but the Ravens still used Gus Edwards for six rushes for 15 yards. They speak about getting Mitchell more involved and he’s impressed when given the chance. Apparently, getting him more involved is a slow process.
QB Joe Flacco (CLE) -After posting 254 yards and two scores on the Rams, the Browns waited until late in the week before naming him as the starter versus the Jaguars. Flacco ended with 311 yards and three scores for the first 300-yard game by any Browns’ quarterback this year. He was named the starter the rest of the season before he reached the locker room.
TE Isaiah Likely (BAL) – He took over for Mark Andrews for the last two games and only managed four catches for 40 yards at the Chargers in Week 12 before their bye. Versus the Rams, Likely caught five passes for 83 yards and a touchdown – very Anderson-ish.
Huddle player of the week
Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Evan Engram – Engram has been involved weekly for four or five catches, but now has two straight weeks as the primary receiver with at least nine catches and a touchdown in each. Engram faced the Browns who had the No. 1 defense against tight ends and caught 11 passes for 95 yards and two scores yesterday. That’s catching fire right when we need it most.
Salute!
Drama 101 – Somebody has to laugh, somebody has to cry
The Houston Texans passing game is able to reap the benefits of hard work put in over the course of training camp.
Heat and humidity made for long summer days during the Houston Texans’ training camp. The layout made for an introduction to to the brutal regiment orchestrated by former Texans player and first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans.
Yet, one position group wanted to do more, knowing they would have to prove themselves to new offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, who would have to design the plays for them. Day after day, the wide receivers could be found getting in extra work with rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud or getting tips from defensive backs such as Derek Stingley, Steven Nelson, and Jalen Pitre.
Thanksgiving is a great time of the year, an occasion that hopefully most of you could reconnect with people from your past and mix them with others from your present. Hopefully, it offered a chance to ponder and discuss commonalities and not differences. And regardless, it is a day to give thanks and appreciate what I hope are the positives in your life.
In that vein, and with fantasy roster improvement in mind, here are the players that, through Week 11, have produced more than one “big game.” It’s not hard to create an average starting lineup, but you need those players to twist the fantasy point spigot open and offer difference-making to your weekly score. As usual, these lists contain a few surprises and just as notable, some exclusions of players that should have been there. Performance scoring with reception points and showing players with more than one instance.
1.) Quarterbacks – Here are the quarterbacks that have turned in 30 points or more in a game. As they typically score more than any other position, these can make a difference for your team.
Quarterbacks
30 Pts
Dak Prescott
3
Jalen Hurts
3
Josh Allen
3
Lamar Jackson
3
Justin Fields
2
Justin Herbert
2
Kirk Cousins
2
Tua Tagovailoa
2
First off, where is Patrick Mahomes? What a telling absence. Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson are no surprises, but Dak Prescott does exceptionally well when he faces a weak defense. Tua Tagovailoa has two, but that reflects that he really only does well in relation to the one receiver as we will see later. These were the game performances that likely won your week.
2.) Running Backs – The position has been devalued in recent years, so getting one of the high-scoring backs is still a major advantage.
Running Backs
25 Pts
Christian McCaffrey
3
Jahmyr Gibbs
3
Raheem Mostert
3
Alvin Kamara
2
Austin Ekeler
2
Brian Robinson Jr.
2
De’Von Achane
2
Kyren Williams
2
Saquon Barkley
2
As many points as David Montgomery produces, he wasn’t on this list and yet Jahmyr Gibbs was with three. That bodes very well for his future whenever he takes an even more prominent role. Raheem Mostert continues to defy all we thought for the first years of his career. Brian Robinson is a sign that the new offense under OC Eric Bieniemy is better than you think and headed in a positive direction.
3.) Wide Receivers – There are more of these on the field at one time than the other positions considered, and if you can own two or more of them, they can help sustain high weekly points from the position.
Wide Receivers
25 Pts
Tyreek Hill
7
CeeDee Lamb
4
Keenan Allen
4
A.J. Brown
3
Adam Thielen
3
Ja’Marr Chase
3
Justin Jefferson
3
Stefon Diggs
3
Tank Dell
3
Amon-Ra St. Brown
2
Brandon Aiyuk
2
DJ Moore
2
Mike Evans
2
Nico Collins
2
Puka Nacua
2
Well hello, Tyreek Hill. The most notable surprises are Adam Thielen, Tank Dell, and Puka Nacua. Where is Cooper Kupp? Davante Adams? Garrett Wilson? Want a sign that the Texans are on the right track? Both Tank Dell and Nico Collins are here as the only two from the same team. What are the Texans going to be like next year?
4.) Tight Ends – They score less than the other positions, and even less this year, so any difference-making tight ends are an advantage.
Tight Ends
20 Pts
George Kittle
4
T.J. Hockenson
3
Travis Kelce
3
Cole Kmet
2
Mark Andrews
2
Trey McBride
2
George Kittle is still a little inconsistent, but no arguing what he’s done when he has a big game. The notables here are Cole Kmet and Trey McBride. Kmet had double touchdowns with both Justin Fields and Tyson Bagent and yet several outright dud games. For any Arizona tight end to be on this list flies in the face of every Cardinal offense for a few decades. And he is only a second-year player.
5.) WR A.T. Perry (NO) – In the wake of Michael Thomas’ latest trip to IR, the Saints brought back Keith Kirkwood and Marques Callaway and the Saints prefer veteran receivers. Callaway was the replacement for Thomas in 2021 and had a career year with 46 catches for 698 yards and six touchdowns – his only notable season. But the Saints want to give the 6-4 sixth-round rookie Perry a shot as the replacement. He already had his first action last week with two catches for 38 yards and a touchdown at the Vikings. Thomas leaves behind 7 or 8 targets weekly. The Saints host the Lions this week and no other teams with a winning record are on their remaining schedule.
6.) QB Kenny Pickett (PIT) – Despite the winning record, the Steelers offense is abysmal and they rank No. 32 in fantasy points from their quarterbacks. They just fired OC Matt Canada and will rely on QB coach Mike Sullivan and RB coach Eddie Faulkner for the rest of the season. Many teams get a positive bounce from such a move and there is talent on the roster with George Pickens, Diontae Johnson, and Pat Freiermuth. The Steelers face the Bengals and Cardinals next, which should indicate if there are any changes that benefit the rest of the season.
About Thanksgiving…
Credit: Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports
Green Bay 29, Detroit 22
Hope you didn’t get to the game late. The Packers pulled away 23-6 at halftime looking exactly like we expected from the Lions. They missed Aaron Jones and Luke Musgrave landed on IR. But Jordan Love passed for 268 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers. Christian Watson (5-94, TD), Jayden Reed (4-34, TD) and even Tucker Kraft (2-15, TD) took care of the scoring. AJ Dillon wasn’t much as the starting running back when he gained 43 yards on 14 rushes but he added three catches for 38 yards. The Green Bay offense threw well and made no mistakes. They rise to 5-6 and and host the Chiefs for another challenging matchup.
The Lions lost their seventh-straight Thanksgiving game, even though they were favored by seven points. Jared Goff threw for 332 yards and two touchdowns but lost three fumbles. Amon-Ra St. Brown (9-95) and Kalif Raymond (5-90) were the top receivers and Jameson Williams (2-51) caught a 38-yard pass. Sam LaPorta (5-47, TD) caught the only first-half score and the Lions should have been in this one more but gave up a touchdown on one of Goff’s fumbles. David Montgomery (15-71, TD) and Jahmyr Gibbs (11-54) ran effectively, and Gibbs added four receptions for 19 yards. This was a tough loss since it drops the 8-3 Lions behind in the race for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and even could give the Vikings an opening to challenge them. The Lions head to New Orleans for Week 13.
Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Washington 10, Dallas 45
This was the expected outcome when the Cowboys face the worst defense in the NFL. Sam Howell threw for 300 yards, but no scores and one interception. Curtis Samuel (9-100), Jahan Dotson (5-52), and Terry McLaurin (4-50) were the only receivers with more than 30 yards, Brian Robinson was limited to 53 yards on 15 carries while Antonio Gibson turned in 37 total yards. Both scores from the Commanders happened in the second quarter when they drew as close as 14-10 but they never reappeared after halftime. They drop to 4-8 and will make the Dolphins very happy next week.
Dak Prescott threw for 331 yards and four touchdowns, though the top receivers Brandin Cooks (4-72, TD) and CeeDee Lamb (4-53, TD) didn’t manage monster games. All the rest of the receivers were held to fewer than 36 yards. The run game was better than usual, though Tony Pollard (13-79, TD) only rushed 13 times in a game that the Cowboys always led. Rico Dowdle (3-11) caught a 15-yard touchdown but totaled just four touches. The lack of a rushing effort is perplexing for this supposedly conservative offense. The Cowboys rise to 8-3 and host the Seahawks this week.
Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
San Francisco 31, Seattle 13
Yet another big win, only in this case the Seahawks were 6-3 just a week ago and yet had no answer for the 49ers defense. Geno Smith was held to 180 passing yards and an interception. Jaxon Njigba-Smith (2-41), DK Metcalf (3-32), and Tyler Lockett (3-20) all saw limited effectiveness and yet nearly all the targets. With Kenneth Walker out, Zach Charbonnet had the start and only gained 47 yards on 14 rushes with four catches for 11 yards. The Seahawks were entirely outclassed and outplayed. They never even scored on offense, their lone touchdown coming off a Brock Purdy pass that was deflected into a defenders hands for a 12-yards interception return. The Seahawks drop to 6-5 and head to Dallas.
The 49ers were in control for the entire game and never trailed. Brock Purdy passe for 209 yards and a 28-yard score to Brandon Aiyuk (2-50) in the fourth quarter. Christian McCaffrey was the star of the game with 114 yards on 19 carries and five receptions for 25 yards with two rushing touchdowns. Deebo Samuel ran for a two-yard touchdown and led the wideouts with seven catches for 79 yards, George Kittle was only used to catch three passes for 19 yards. These teams meet again in two weeks, The 8-3 49ers have righted themselves from that three-game losing streak and take complete control of the NFC West over the No. 2 6-5 Seahawks. The 49ers spend next week in Philadelphia before returning home to host these Seahawks again.
