Final NFL Week 13 Observations ... With Dolphins Angles
Week 13 of the 2022 NFL season began with the Buffalo Bills defeating the New England Patriots in an AFC East battle and ended with Tom Brady pulling off another fourth-quarter comeback for Tampa Bay against New Orleans.
It wasn't an overwhelming performance by QB Josh Allen in that game, to be sure, but he was efficient and the Bills were in control most of the night. And then, three days later, the Bills watched the Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs both lose and just like that they were back holding the top seed in the AFC standings.
For New England, maybe the lasting image and effect of that game involved QB Mac Jones caught screaming on the sideline something like, "Thrown the darn ball, the darn running game stinks."
The problem for the Patriots is their passing game isn't exactly dynamic, either.
Former Dolphins wide receiver DeVante Parker had two catches for 16 yards for the Patriots in that game and, no, he's clearly not making a major impact for his new team. He's averaging 2.1 catches per game, his lowest average since his rookie year of 2015. On the bright side, he's averaging an NFL-high 19 yards per reception and he has played all but one game so far in 2022.
As a reminder, the Dolphins got a 2023 third-round pick from New England for Parker and a 2022 fifth-round selection.
From this vantage point, we'll never understand the NFL scheduling a team for so many consecutive national TV appearances, particularly late in the season, because you just don't know what teams might fall off from one season to the next.
The Rams are another example of that. Starting with this Thursday, the Rams are scheduled for a Thursday night game against the Raiders, a Monday night game at Green Bay, a late Christmas afternoon game against Denver and a Sunday night game against the Chargers on New Year's Day. It's not good considering the Rams are out of playoff contention and Matthew Stafford is done for the season.
The last game against the Chargers likely will be flexed out, and the Dolphins game at New England that day certainly would look like a candidate to replace it — if the Patriots remain in contention at that time — along with the Jets at Seattle game, and possibly a couple of others featuring teams currently 5-7.
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NOTHING CHANGES FOR CHARGERS
The Dolphins will play Sunday night against a Chargers team that's now lost three out of four to drop to .500, and their same old issues surfaced in their 27-20 loss against Las Vegas on Sunday.
In a nutshell, the Chargers couldn't run, couldn't stop the run and couldn't protect Justin Herbert.
For all the talk about the 49ers pass rush affecting Tua Tagovailoa on Sunday, the official gamebook credited San Francisco with five QB hits. In the Chargers' 27-20 loss, Herbert officially took 14 QB hits and was sacked five times.
The Chargers are last in the NFL in yards allowed per rushing attempt (5.4) and 30th in yards per rushing attempt on offense at 3.7. It's a wonder that team has managed a 6-6 record so far.
PACKERS KEEP PLUGGING
The Green Bay Packers still own the Chicago Bears — using Aaron Rodgers' words from last year — and their victory Sunday kept their faint playoff hopes alive.
The Packers are still only 5-8 heading into their bye this weekend, but their schedule is favorable down the stretch with three home games and the one road game at Hard Rock Stadium on Christmas Day.
It's a different Green Bay team right now because Rodgers is hurting and not as productive as he usually is — he's gone four games without reaching 250 passing yards — but rookie Christian Watson has broken out in a big way recently with seven touchdown catches in the past four games, plus a 46-yard touchdown run in that 28-19 victory against the Bears.
The Packers face the Rams in that Dec. 19 Monday night game in their only game before their trip to Miami, so it's not likely they will have shut down Rodgers for the season by then.
QUICK HITTERS
-- That was a frustrating and painful loss for the Jets at Minnesota last Sunday when they couldn't get into the end zone after having a second-and-goal at the 1 after the two-minute warning, and it could end up costing them a playoff spot. In the big picture, Mike White showed again he's a better alternative at quarterback right now than Zach Wilson because he at least gave his team a chance.
-- We'll go ahead and mention it since it involves a team the Dolphins faced this year, but Deshaun Watson looked awful in his first game since the 2020 season when the Cleveland Browns defeated the Houston Texans 27-14. Watson had a paltry passer rating of 53.4 but was bailed out by the Browns scoring on a punt return, fumble return and interception return.
-- The battle for the AFC North title will come down to the Bengals and Ravens, and it's one to watch because that winner could end up facing the Dolphins in the playoffs. And right now it's obvious Cincinnati looks like a much better team, even before the news that Lamar Jackson is dealing with an MCL sprain. The Ravens were looking to get by the lowly Denver Broncos on Sunday and currently hold first place in the division on a tiebreaker, though it's difficult to see them hanging on to their division lead.
-- If there's a team to watch with the potential to make a late-season push for the playoffs, we'd suggest keeping an eye on the 5-7 Steelers, whose offense is much more efficient these days than when they faced the Dolphins in Week 7, also have T.J. Watt back on defense, and have a pretty favorable schedule to close out the season — vs. Baltimore, at Carolina, vs. Las Vegas, at Baltimore, vs. Cleveland.
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