Final NFL Week 14 Observations ... With Dolphins Angles

Week 14 of the 2022 NFL season began with the Los Angeles Rams' Baker Mayfield-led comeback against the Las Vegas Raiders and ended with the New England Patriots defeating the Arizona Cardinals in a game marred by Kyler Murray's potentially serious non-contact knee injury.

It was a devastating loss for the Raiders, who appeared ready to make a late run at a playoff berth after winning three in a row but instead made critical mistakes to squander a 16-3 lead in the final five minutes.

At 5-8, the Raiders now find themselves with only a 4 percent chances of making the playoffs, per analytics site fivethirtyeight.com.

The Monday night game had more of an impact on the Miami Dolphins and the AFC. playoff picture because the 27-13 victory moved the Patriots to 7-6 and into the seventh spot in the conference standings.

Not surprisingly, it was the defense that led the way for the Patriots, who had six sacks and two takeaways.

Three of the sacks came from outside linebacker Josh Uche, who has 10 sacks in his past six games after having none in the first five. New England now has two players in double digits in sacks, the only team in the NFL with that distinction.

Matthew Judon leads the team with 14.5, tied for first in the NFL with Nick Bosa of the 49ers.

So the Dolphins will have their hands full with Uche and Judon when they play at Gillette Stadium on New Year's Day.

Two former Dolphins player made highlights in the Monday night game, but for very different reasons.

For linebacker Raekwon McMillan, it was scoring the game-winning touchdown with a fumble return.

For wide receiver DeVante Parker, it was sustaining a fairly obvious concussion and then lining up for the next play before teammate Nelson Agholor kept waving his arms to alert anyone who would listen that Parker needed to be pulled out of the game.

Play was stopped when Arizona challenged the completion to Parker on the play he was injured, and Parker then was pulled out of the game and didn't return.

The Patriots and Raiders will face each other at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday in what was supposed to be the Sunday night game before it was flexed out in favor of the Giants-Commanders rematch, which was one of the five Week 15 TBD games on the original schedule.

The Dolphins game at Buffalo also was one of those TBD games until the NFL slotted it to Saturday night.

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JETS QB WHITE WINS IN LOSS

It's important to keep an eye on the Jets from a Dolphins standpoint not just because of the standings, but because of their quarterback situation and how it might play out when they come to Hard Rock Stadium in Week 18.

Head coach Robert Saleh said after switching to Mike White that he expected Zach Wilson to be back in the lineup at some point in 2022, but it may become hard for him to justify switching back with the way White keeps performing and just as importantly scoring points with his teammates.

While the Jets lost at Buffalo on Sunday and scored only 12 points in the process, White showed some major-league guts after taking two massive hits in the midsection area, leaving the game twice but coming back both times, saying afterward they would have had to peel him off the turf to keep him out.

Now, contrast that to Wilson dismissing after his atrocious performance against New England the idea that the offense let down the defense, and you can see why teammates would much rather play with White than Wilson, production aside. And it's why, injuries aside, we'd expect White to be facing the Dolphins in Week 18 and not Wilson.

Mike White says in his mind he was never not going back in the game. Says they would’ve had to peel him off the turf. #Jets pic.twitter.com/kK6VgZXgcF
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) December 12, 2022

BILLS KEEP GETTING IT DONE

For whatever reason, whether it be injuries or underachievement by some players, the Bills don't seem as intimidating as they once did, but their Week 13 victory against the Jets moved their record to 10-3, good for first place in the AFC standings.

But here's the thing: Remember not so long ago when some folks were making the point that, yeah sure, Buffalo can blow out teams but can't win the close ones. Well, now, they've won four in a row and three have been by eight points or less.

The Bills actually were outgained 309-232 in their 20-12 win against the Jets and were only 2-for-13 on third down with Josh Allen passing for only 147 yards, but it somehow was good enough.

Like it or not, they don't give style points in the NFL.

QUICK HITTERS

-- Don't look now, but the Lions are making some noise in the NFC, at the same time showing that maybe Dan Campbell does have what it takes to become a successful NFL head coach. Detroit still has an uphill climb to make the playoffs because they're 1.5 games behind the final playoff spot, currently held by the New York Giants, and three of their last four games are on the road — starting with a matchup against the Jets at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Detroit is 5-1 since facing the Dolphins in Week 8, the only coming against Buffalo on Thanksgiving in a game they clearly could have won.

-- Just below Detroit in the NFC standings is Green Bay, which will face the Rams on Monday night coming off their bye. The Packers (5-8) are 2.5 games out of the last playoff spot, but they play three of their last four at home. The only exception, of course, is the Christmas Day game at Hard Rock Stadium.

-- Not sure if it made Dolphins fans feel any better than 49ers rookie seventh-round pick Brock Purdy had another productive outing against Tampa Bay last Sunday after he replaced Jimmy Garoppolo against the Dolphins. While "Purdy Mania" is raging right now, it should be noted that Kyle Shanahan's system is QB-friendly and it certainly helped against Tom Brady's Buccaneers that the 49ers rushed for 209 yards.

-- We close with the team that would be the Dolphins' first-round playoff opponent if the regular season ended today, and that's the Baltimore Ravens. And let's just say it's not the same Ravens team we saw in Week 2. For one, Lamar Jackson is on the sideline with a knee injury and the Ravens may have to go with rookie free agent Anthony Brown against Cleveland on Saturday after Tyler Huntley sustained a concussion against Pittsburgh last Sunday. The Ravens were able to win that game thanks mostly to a defense that's been much improved since the acquisition of linebacker Roquan Smith and that looks vastly different from what the Dolphins saw in Week 2.

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