Things That Made Me Giddy
The Ballad of Nameless Joe Burrow: He’s played as well as any quarterback in football over the past two months, and on Sunday he went shot-for-shot with Patrick Mahomes and came away with the win. I can not stress how impressive it is for a second-year quarterback to play out of empty sets as often as Burrow does. He carved up a red-hot Chiefs defense and clinched the AFC North in style. (And apparently his name plate got ripped off at some point.)
Ja’Marr Chase After the Catch: The first one is incredible. The second one is also incredible but will be noticed less because it was a nine-yard gain and not a touchdown.
The Bisaccia Raiders: For the second straight week they lost the turnover battle 2–0, and for the second straight week they won anyway, and this time it was on the road against a quality opponent in Indy. Vegas has withstood an almost unfathomable run of off-field incidents, and yet, 17 weeks into the season, they’re still in it.
Herbert and the Chargers Leave No Doubt: One week after a dud in Houston, and toward the end of a season during which they simply let inferior opponents hang around too often, the Chargers got back on track on Sunday against a stubborn division rival. The questions surrounding this run defense will persist—the Broncos were not going to air it out with Drew Lock under center—but Brandon Staley's defense very much kept the Denver run game in check while the offense did their thing like they usually do.
Vance Joseph to the Rescue: The Cardinals offense got by sprinkling in some big plays (including an early double move on Trevon Diggs) and got some help from a fake-punt conversion. But it was Vance Joseph’s variety of zone looks that led Arizona to the upset in Dallas. It was the kind of performance the Cardinals needed to get back on track. (And it was the kind of performance that should catch the attention of any team on the lookout for a new head coach.)
More Good Than Bad From Isaiah Simmons: He was still uneven out there, but the second-year linebacker had the play of the game forcing a Dak Prescott fumble and was generally a pain in Prescott’s butt in coverage.
Holy Cow, Odell Beckham Jr.’s Hands: He followed this up with the game-winning touchdown, but on a must-have fourth down, these hands, on a ball with this velocity, with a defender hanging off of him… it’s just a monster catch.
Russell Wilson’s (Likely) Seattle Swan Song: Beating the Tim Boyle Lions in a meaningless Week 17 game is probably not a fitting way to go out. But it was at least good to see Wilson put up some gaudy numbers in the form of four TDs.
