Well, we’re officially two-thirds of the way through the NFL regular season. It’s Thanksgiving week, and some teams are feasting, while some teams just look cooked. But a lot of teams, frankly, are as divisive as peoples’ food opinions surrounding Turkey Day. One week, we really believe in teams like the Steelers or Cardinals, only to see them crumble, like they did in Week 12.
So as the final stretch dawns, here’s what we know we liked — and what we didn’t like — this week.
Five things we liked
1. Josh Jacobs grinds away
(PSA: Saquon Barkley could be all five things we liked. In fact, he could be 255 things we liked, one for every yard he ran for. It’s ninth-most in a game in NFL history. We really like him, and that should go without saying.)
Josh Jacobs was awesome — an absolute jackhammer grinding through the 49ers’ normally stout run defense to the tune of 106 yards rushing and three touchdowns. He was the first player to go over the century mark against San Francisco in 55 games.
On 26 carries, Jacobs only lost yards on two of them. And on one of those two, he was hit 5 yards into his own backfield and managed to turn it into “only” a 1-yard loss. His 61.5% rushing success rate was his best as a Packer and his best in any game in nearly two years. While Aaron Jones was more of a slashing runner who gashed defenses, Jacobs is a physical thumper, a guy who can keep Green Bay’s schedule on offense while the passing game tries to make the explosive plays.
2. Jahmyr Gibbs makes something out of nothing
Here are images from Jahmyr Gibbs’ two touchdown runs in Week 12:
That’s after he somehow turned this into a touchdown in Week 11:
This is “make grown men look like kids” silly. This season, Gibbs ranks fourth in rushing yards over expected per carry, and it’s plays like these they show why.
Gibbs and David Montgomery’s “Sonic and Knuckles” duo alternates drives. They’ve been excellent all season, and they both fit the Lions’ run game despite different running styles. But Gibbs certainly has a little extra juice, and he has gone over 100 yards from scrimmage in four of his last six games.
What I especially like about Gibbs is that while he has the quickness and elusiveness to bounce things outside, he’s also willing to pound the middle: His 6.7 yards per carry on runs up the middle is first among NFL running backs by a wide margin. What a fun player.
3. Hello, Jonnu Smith!
The Dolphins under Mike McDaniel have typically had an extremely narrow target tree. If it wasn’t Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle or a running back, it probably wasn’t anyone. From 2022-23, Miami targeted its tight ends on 11% of throws, by far the lowest rate in the NFL.
That has changed dramatically in 2024. Miami is targeting tight ends at a 24% clip, seventh in the NFL, and Jonnu Smith is a huge reason why. The athletic, physical Smith has added an entire new element to the Dolphins’ attack, and his nine-catch (a career-high), 87-yard, one-touchdown day is the latest example. Smith’s 188 yards over his past two games are the third-most by a Dolphins tight end in any two-game span … ever.
Smith can stretch the field, but the Dolphins already have Hill and Waddle doing that. Instead, the Dolphins also use Smith for his other excellent skill: after the catch. His average target came just 3.3 yards downfield Sunday, but he racked up 58 yards after the catch. With all the bells and whistles the Dolphins do with motion pre-snap, Smith has become a reliable, versatile contributor and much more than a safety valve.
Basically, listen to McDaniel:
4. John Harbaugh goes super aggressive
Down 10-7 late in the second quarter, the Ravens faced fourth-and-1 at their own 16-yard line. Easy decision to punt, right?
Wrong. Baltimore tried to get the Chargers to jump offsides ahead of the two-minute warning. After the pause, Lamar Jackson and co. came back out on the field, surprising seemingly everyone, and Mark Andrews ran his version of the tush push for a first down. Four plays later, Jackson threw a 46-yard beauty to Rashod Bateman for a touchdown.
But back to the fourth-down call. Per ESPN Stats & Info, no team had converted a fourth down that deep in its own territory in the first half of a game since the 2012 Rams, who did it on a fake punt.
I love the aggressiveness. If you believe in your team to get a yard elsewhere on the field, why not believe in it there? Furthermore, if you don’t get it, what’s the worst that can happen? You trail by 10 at halftime instead of three? If that’s a death sentence for your team’s chances to win, you don’t have a very good team anyway.
Obviously I don’t endorse going for it every time, but when you have a play you feel good about, as the Ravens did, I love the bold call.
5. Caleb Williams absolutely letting it rip
You know the drill. The fifth item in this section belongs to my favorite highlight of the week. And when it comes to Caleb Williams, it’s hard to pick one. So let’s watch a few:
I mean, come on. And that came right after this:
And then how about this one to help Chicago force overtime?
These are insane throws. Any of them could be among the top highlights of an entire season; Williams delivered them all in one game.
This has been the most encouraging thing over the past two weeks: Williams becoming a walking/running/throwing highlight reel, like his college career. Under Shane Waldron, Williams seemed glued to the pocket. It felt robotic. Under Thomas Brown, Williams has been outstanding extending plays to either run or pass. On Sunday, on throws that took three seconds or more, Williams went 7 for 9 for 146 yards and a touchdown. Both the completion rate and the yardage were career bests. Even the plays that didn’t result in huge gains were impressive.
Quickly, I also liked how the Bears moved D.J. Moore around: both sides of the formation and even in the backfield. Then, they got the ball to him quickly and took advantage of his after-catch abilities. It was another loss, sure, but I’ve been impressed by Brown and Williams in their time together post-Waldron.
Five things we didn’t like
1. Brandon Graham’s injury
For much of Sunday night’s game, when I wasn’t marveling at Barkley, I was impressed by Philadelphia’s non-Jalen Carter pass rushers. As the Rams double-teamed Carter often to try to take him out of the game, the Eagles’ other front-seven defenders feasted. Milton Williams had two sacks, Nakobe Dean had a sack and three pressures, and Josh Sweat had a sack.
But Brandon Graham might have been the most impressive: a sack, a team-high four pressures and two tackles for loss. That makes his season-ending torn triceps all the more devastating. Graham, 36, will always be a Philadelphia hero for his strip-sack of Tom Brady in the Super Bowl LII victory, but he was having an especially awesome 2024 as the Eagles have emerged as legit Lombardi Trophy contenders again.
Graham had already surpassed last year’s totals in sacks (3.5) and tackles for loss (six). He’s a good player and a phenomenal leader and locker room presence. This one hurts, literally and figuratively.
2. The Giants
I can’t believe we’re here again, yet somehow I can believe it. The Giants, as we all know, benched Daniel Jones and went straight to third-stringer Tommy DeVito as their starter, bypassing Drew Lock, who they paid $5 million this offseason. Then they lost 30-7 to the Buccaneers, with star players calling out the team.
“We played soft, and they beat the shit out of us today,” said Dexter Lawrence. (Lawrence, for what it’s worth, voiced his displeasure with the Jones benching earlier in the week.)
Malik Nabers said the team was “soft as f—” and was very upset about his lack of targets.
There are plenty of bad teams in the NFL that have something — anything — to be happy about. Or, at the very least, they’re still trying. I mean, there are still seven games to go! It’t not even December yet!
The Giants’ best move this entire week was granting the release request of a guy they signed to a $160-million deal under two years ago. Yikes.
3. C.J. Stroud’s turnover regression
C.J. Stroud threw two more interceptions Sunday and is up to nine this season, nearly double his rookie total (five) in three fewer games. One pick against the Titans was a miscommunication. The other was just a bad throw, when a big opportunity was there.
Stroud’s interception rate has more than doubled this year, from 1% to 2.3%. Perhaps we should have seen this coming — Stroud had six potential interceptions dropped last year per Pro Football Focus — but the jump is still alarming. His turnover-worthy throw rate, which measures just the throw and not the outcome of it, has risen from 2.2% to 3%.
Furthermore, Stroud has taken more negative plays and done a worse job mitigating pressure. He’s not a big-time scrambler, but his rushing — a minor positive last year — has been a negative this year. Stroud has dealt with a brutal offensive line and injuries to his receivers, but his step back has surprising.
4. Commanders can’t get pressure
Dallas had allowed at least 14 pressures in six straight games entering Sunday. Then, against the Cowboys’ backup quarterback and several backup offensive linemen, the Commanders managed just four. Cooper Rush was sacked just once after being sacked five times last week against the Texans.
Much of the Commanders’ three-game losing streak has been due to the offense falling apart, and historically awful special teams didn’t help Sunday. But four pressures isn’t good enough. The Cowboys were rarely in uncomfortable down-and-distances. Combine that with a pair of key miscues on the back end, and Washington lost yet another winnable game.
5. A major officiating blunder
The Eagles took advantage of a significant officiating mistake Sunday night. In the third quarter, the Rams had third-and-3 at the Eagles’ 14-yard line, trailing 27-14. Beaux Limmer was called for a hold. Nick Sirianni declined the penalty. Fourth-and-3. But when the Rams offense stayed on the field, Sirianni apparently changed his mind and accepted the penalty. And the officiating crew accepted that, making it third-and-13. Matthew Stafford got sacked, John Karty missed a field goal, and the Rams never threatened again.
Here’s the thing: You can’t change your mind. (Well, you can, but referees can’t honor it if it’s not “within a reasonable period of time,” per Pro Football Talk.) This was a poor job by the officials.
When determining whether to accept or decline a third-down penalty by the offense, coaches must between knowledge/yardage or down advantage. If you want the yardage, you accept the penalty, willing to afford the offense another down and, in turn, another chance. You know they’re keeping the offense out, but you get the penalty yardage.
If you decline the penalty, you have to be OK with some uncertainty: Teams can stay on offense on fourth down without having lost the penalty yardage. This is the crux of the entire situation.
You can’t have it both ways. Apparently, Sirianni could.
