Millimeters cost NFL wunderkind his next heroic deed
The NFL is slowly turning into the home stretch. The Texans and their prodigy C.J. Stroud make a dramatic splash, Philadelphia and Buffalo offer an overtime thriller - and the Kansas City Chiefs defeat a frightening curse. Rapper Ludacris, meanwhile, rappels from the stadium ceiling.
Thanksgiving is over and the NFL's regular season is slowly turning into the home stretch. The Texans, led by wunderkind C.J. Stroud, and the Patriots are coming up short in dramatic fashion, Philadelphia and the Bills are offering an overtime thriller - and the Kansas City Chiefs are defeating a frightening curse. Then there's rapper Ludacris rappelling from the stadium ceiling. Week 12 in a quick check.
Not another Stroud masterpiece
Earlier this month, kicker Matt Ammendola is transferred from his couch to the Houston Texans team. Previously, the 26-year-old, who was without a club, was unable to assert himself with any NFL team. He has had four attempts over 50 yards in his career so far (one on this evening), none of which he converted.
Now, with 34 seconds left in the game, Ammendola runs 58 yards, the kick looks perfect, flies beautifully high and centered. But just before the goalposts, it drops sharply and the faces of the Texans are puzzled. And indeed: millimetres are missing. The ball crashes onto the crossbar and from there, instead of going between the posts, it trundles back into the field. Jacksonville wins 24:21, Houston and quarterback C.J. Stroud are served.
In dramatic fashion, Stroud is robbed of his next heroic feat after his breathtaking last plays to win recent games. The rookie led his team back on track against the Jacksonville Jaguars in spectacular fashion (304 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions) and almost tied the game on the final drive. But only almost.
Stroud has thrown for 3266 yards in eleven games this season, just under 300 per game. With six games left for his Texans, the 22-year-old is on course to break Andrew Luck's 2012 rookie record for passing yards (4374). The duel between the two high-flyers of the season does not go to the super rookie (has already won more games with the Texans than the team collected in the three previous seasons), but to Trevor Lawrence, who is playing even better than expected this year with his Jaguars. With the win, his team (8-3) retains first place in the AFC South and can start planning for the playoffs.
Chiefs free themselves from the curse
The Las Vegas Raiders get off to a strong start and surprise the reigning champions: the underdogs lead 14-0 early in the second quarter. But Kansas City doesn't have the best quarterback in the NFL for nothing, Patrick Mahomes leads his team back and after some Chiefs magic just before the break, they actually manage to equalize. The Chiefs throw three backward passes before Mahomes finds his best teammate, Travis Kelce, near the end zone with a long pass. Shortly afterwards, Justin Watson's catch made it 14:14.
In the play that opened the third quarter, the Chiefs finally managed to do something they had failed to do in the previous three games (!) after the break: they scored. Isiah Pacheco runs for the lead, a relief from the weird curse of the second half. Once broken, the witchcraft no longer matters, Mahomes dominates as usual and the Chiefs win 31-17.
Eagles win comeback thriller
What a game! In an insane thriller with overtime in constant rain, the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen first prove what they are capable of. Not only the quarterback's 46th and 47th touchdowns (second place in this category in NFL history), but also his spectacular throws put the weakening Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles in the shade in the first half.
Things get wild shortly before the break. First the Eagles block a field goal attempt. Then they try to score quickly themselves but fumble the ball, giving the Bills the ball again. With just twelve seconds left on the clock, Allen throws a perfect rocket between three defenders for a touchdown. In the second half, things don't go well for the Bills again, kicker Tyler Bass misses a second field goal. But Hurts turns on the heat and the Eagles stalk back to 14:17 after his touchdown throw.
It continues wildly: Allen runs the score to 21:14, but the Eagles come back to within three points a little later. On the very next drive, the Bills quarterback throws an interception, Hurts takes over and the playmaker sends the fans in Philadelphia into a frenzy: Olamide Zaccheaus spectacularly snatches his deep pass out of the air for a 28-24 lead. Of course, the Bills responded and took the lead again with three points with just under two minutes left to play. But the Eagles equalized with a field goal with 20 seconds left. Whew.
In overtime, Allen, who has never won in overtime in his career, has the win in his hands for the Bills, but the quarterback and his pass receiver fail on the throw due to simple communication. Buffalo went ahead with a field goal, but Philadelphia countered with precise passes and runs - and then Jalen Hurts put the outstanding finishing touches on the game: a body fake, ducked once, blocked once and the quarterback ran himself to a 37-34 victory. For the fourth game in a row, the Eagles trailed at halftime and still won.
No Burrow, no Bengals victory
Almost everything is at stake for the Cincinnati Bengals in the important clash between the AFC North rivals: if the Super Bowl participants from the season before last still want to make the playoffs, they have to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. After the shock of losing quarterback superstar Joe Burrow (out for the season with a wrist injury), replacement Jake Browning must show that the Bengals can still make it to the knockout round with him.
And although Browning doesn't have a bad game (227 yards, one touchdown, one interception), his Bengals lose 10-16 in a defensive struggle, especially with Pittsburgh's resurgent running game against Cincinnati's 31st-ranked run defense hurting Burrow, who is watching on the bench. The Steelers ran for 154 yards (99 including a Najee Harris touchdown) to just 25 for the Bengals. Also, for the first time in 57 games, Pittsburgh puts up over 400 yards of offense, ending the longest drought in the NFL in that category.
Fumbles and interceptions make for a diffuse game, but Bengals receiver Ja'Marr Chase manages an incredible highlight at the start of the second half: while still holding his mouthguard in his hands, he catches a pass from Browning. Wow. But after a crucial interception by backup quarterback Browning, the Steelers take a 10-7 lead in the third quarter and the Bengals can't get any closer and will soon have to check off the season in last place in the AFC North if things continue this negatively.
Patriots' worries increase against Giants
How much more bitter can the New England Patriots' season get? With three seconds on the clock, the former team of retired superstar Tom Brady can equalize with a field goal against the New York Giants (coach Bill Belichick could have gone for the win). But kicker Chad Ryland missed from just 35 yards. In addition, the Patriots' woes at the quarterback position continue after Mac Jones was on the field for the first ten games but was benched after throwing an interception near the end zone in a 10-6 loss to Indianapolis in Frankfurt. This time, both Jones (two interceptions, no touchdowns) and his replacement Bailey Zappe (one interception, no touchdowns) were given the chance to play without success.
The spasmodic 10-7 victory for the Giants (4-8) shows: The glory days of the rivalry between the Patriots (2-9) and the team from the Big Apple are long gone. The teams faced each other in the Super Bowl in 2008 and 2012, and for the first time since 1999, neither Brady nor Eli Manning will be the quarterback on either side.
Broncos win fifth game in a row
The Denver Broncos and Russell Wilson win their fifth game in a row (6-5), dominate against an otherwise strong Cleveland Browns defense and now have a legitimate shot at the playoffs again, something no one would have thought possible weeks ago. The 29:12 victory was mainly due to a better running game.
Ludacris raps Atlanta to victory
In a wild game, Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder makes up for two interceptions by throwing a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to give the Atlanta Falcons a 24-15 victory over the New Orleans Saints. Halftime highlight: Rapper Ludacris, who hails from Atlanta, rappels down from the stadium roof and performs a few songs.
Colts hope, Buccaneers tremble
Things go horribly for the Buccaneers on the first drive: quarterback Baker Mayfield is injured, but can at least return later. But it doesn't help because Jonathan Taylor runs for two touchdowns and the Colts' defense forces a late turnover, Indianapolis beats Tampa Bay 27-20. Indy (6-5) wins for the third time in a row and can continue to hope for the playoffs, the two-time defending NFC South champions from Florida (4-7) have to start trembling after losing four away games in a row.
Stafford with four touchdowns
The Los Angeles Rams run over the Arizona Cardinals in a 37-14 victory. Quarterback Matthew Stafford excels with a season-best four touchdown passes, and his offense delivers a strong 457 yards compared to 292 for the Cardinals. The Rams (5-6) continue their recent dominance in the NFC West against Arizona, winning all nine games at the Cardinals since 2014.
Panthers can't find an answer for Derrick Henry
Derrick Henry is unstoppable, running for two touchdowns and helping the Tennessee Titans to a 17-10 win over the Carolina Panthers. Carolina (1-10) remains the worst team in the NFL, conceding its fourth straight loss and having lost all six games away from home this season.
In the NFL, the Texans and their quarterback C.J. Stroud put up a dramatic fight against their opponents, but American Football comes down to the smallest of details. Stroud's kick could have sealed a win, but millimeters made all the difference, leading to a loss.
During the game, kicker Matt Ammendola had a potential game-winning kick, but misfortune struck once again. Just before the goalposts, the ball dropped and hits the crossbar, eventually bouncing back into the field. The Texans lost by a narrow margin to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Source: www.ntv.de
