And then there were two.
Heading into Monday night’s action, the NFL had three remaining unbeatens: the Panthers, the Patriots (barely) and the Bengals.
Now we can cross the Bengals off that list. The Texans pulled a Holly Holm and went straight for the jugular Monday night in Cincy. And just like Ronda Rousey two nights ago in Australia, the Bengals fell flat.
Andy Dalton’s MVP candidacy lost some of its steam Monday as the Bengals’ signal caller endured his worst game of the season. He threw for just 197 yards on 22-of-38 passing with no touchdowns and one interception. Dalton was sacked three times, including once by J.J. Watt, who seemed pretty fired up after the game. “Our goal was to come out here and make the Red Rifle look like a Red Ryder BB gun,” said Watt. “And I think we did that today.” You’ll shoot your eye out, kid.
Dalton never looked comfortable on Monday, consistently missing his targets and leading his receivers out of bounds on many of his deep throws. His interception to Johnathan Joseph in the third quarter was a good old-fashioned arm punt. Tyler Eifert did Dalton no favors Monday by dropping three passes. The Bengals couldn’t muster much on the ground either with running backs Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard totaling just 51 yards on 15 carries.
Houston’s 10-6 win was painfully short on highlights. But if there was one play worth revisiting, it would certainly be DeAndre Hopkins’ game-winning touchdown. It came on a 22-yard heave from T.J. Yates (I’ll explain later) with 14:20 remaining in the fourth quarter. Hopkins absorbed the catch with one hand while keeping both of his feet inbounds, all while being blanketed by Pacman Jones. Nuk had a quiet game overall, hauling in just five of 11 targets for 57 yards. Hopkins, who is already closing in on 1,000 yards for the season, was held without a catch in the first half.
Dalton is now 1-4 in his career against Houston with two of those losses coming in the postseason. A playoff rematch isn’t out of the question. The 4-5 Texans are tied with the Colts for first in the AFC South. The Colts might struggle without Andrew Luck (lacerated kidney) and the Texans have winnable games against the Saints, Titans and Jaguars still left on the schedule.
Houston might also be down a quarterback. Brian Hoyer left Monday’s game with a concussion, leaving T.J. Yates to take over. Yates wasn’t any worse than Hoyer, who threw for just 123 yards on 12-of-22 passing. Two notable players—Latavius Murray and Teddy Bridgewater—were cleared to play Sunday after suffering concussions a week earlier. So it’s still possible Hoyer could suit up Sunday against the Jets.
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Quarterback Shuffle
The revolving door known as quarterback keeps on turning. Next Sunday’s slate will feature a nice mix of new and old faces. Brock Osweiler will be filling in for Peyton Manning against the Bears. It will be his first career start. Manning turned in arguably the worst game of his career Sunday against the Chiefs while playing through a torn plantar fascia in his left foot. He hasn’t looked right all year and may very well be nearing the end of his career. Osweiler, an Arizona State product who stands at a towering 6’8,” completed 14-of-24 passes for 146 yards with one touchdown and one pick after Manning was benched on Sunday.
The NFL loses Manning this week but it gains Tony Romo, who is finally healthy after missing seven games with a broken collarbone. Dallas went 0-7 during his absence. The Cowboys still need a bag of miracles to make the playoffs, but at least fantasy owners can expect better production from Dez Bryant now that Romo’s back. Dez never clicked with Matt Cassel, catching just 12-of-27 passes for 161 yards in three games. Bryant averaged 87 yards per contest with Romo under center last season.
The Rams have also announced a change at quarterback. Case Keenum will start in place of Nick Foles Sunday against the Ravens. While the Manning and Romo switches were motivated by injuries, this move was a straight demotion. Since leading an improbable win over the Seahawks in Week 1, Foles has averaged just 172.6 passing yards per game. That’s not going to cut it. As long as Keenum hands the ball off to Todd Gurley and picks up the occasional first down, he’ll be an improvement over the rapidly regressing Foles. The two-year extension the Rams signed Foles to this offseason is looking worse every day.
Sam Bradford, the player Foles was traded for this past offseason, sprained his AC joint and suffered a concussion Sunday against Miami. He’s likely to miss at least one game, which opens the door for Mark Sanchez to start Sunday against the Buccaneers. Sanchez recorded a dismal 63.0 passer rating in relief of Bradford on Sunday. His last start came in Week 17 of the 2014 campaign.
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Quick Hits: New Orleans fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan on Monday. The Saints have allowed more yards (4,247) than any team in football this year. They’ve also given up the most points (315). Dennis Allen will take over as defensive coordinator … Julian Edelman had surgery Monday to repair his broken foot. The Patriots are hoping he’ll be back in 6-to-8 weeks … Michael Floyd is day-to-day with a hamstring injury. He’s coming off his best game of the year, a 113-yard, two-touchdown effort against Seattle on Sunday night … Mike Iupati is day-to-day with a stiff neck. He suffered the injury on a helmet-to-helmet collision with Seahawks SS Kam Chancellor on Sunday night. Iupati went to the hospital but joined the team for their flight back to Arizona … Bruce Irvin sprained his MCL Sunday against the Cardinals. That’s usually a multi-week injury … Marshawn Lynch’s agent Doug Hendrickson sent an angry tweet to Russell Wilson during Sunday night’s game but quickly deleted it. Here’s the screenshot … Landry Jones has been diagnosed with a severe low-ankle sprain. He’ll serve as the No. 3 quarterback behind Ben Roethlisberger and Michael Vick when the Steelers return from their bye week … The Titans sent two players to injured reserve on Monday. Jason McCourty will undergo season-ending groin surgery while Justin Hunter is out with a broken ankle … Sen’Derrick Marks tore his triceps in Sunday’s win against the Ravens. He’s likely out for the year … Allen Hurns is dealing with an abdominal injury and might need sports-hernia surgery. It’s unclear if he’ll be able to play Thursday night against Tennessee. The second-year wideout has caught a touchdown in seven straight games … T.J. Yeldon is wearing a walking boot on his injured foot. Denard Robinson and Toby Gerhart would likely split carries if Yeldon can’t play on Thursday … The NFL has acknowledged that an officiating mistake occurred at the end of Sunday’s Jaguars/Ravens game. Elvis Dumervil was flagged for a facemask penalty on Blake Bortles that led to Jason Myers’ game-winning field goal as time expired. The only problem was, Luke Joeckel wasn’t set when the ball was snapped. That should have triggered a false start penalty and a 10-second runoff that would have ended the game. Tough break for Baltimore … Victor Cruz is headed for season-ending injury on his torn calf. He hasn’t seen the field since Week 6 of the 2014 season … Greg Hardy was reportedly late to a team meeting last Thursday. Naturally, he played 60-of-71 snaps Sunday against Tampa Bay … Quincy Enunwa will return for Sunday’s game against Houston. He just finished serving a four-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy … Brandon Marshall (toe, ankle) didn’t practice on Monday. He was held to a season-low 23 yards in Thursday night’s loss to Buffalo … The Jets are hoping Ryan Fitzpatrick will return to practice on Wednesday. He had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his non-throwing thumb on Friday … Emmanuel Sanders hurt his finger in Sunday’s loss to Kansas City. That might explain why he didn’t have any catches … Andrew Hawkins was released from the hospital on Monday. He suffered a concussion in Sunday’s loss to Pittsburgh. Hawkins was also concussed in Week 7 … Falcons wide receivers Leonard Hankerson (hamstring) and Devin Hester (toe) returned to practice on Monday. Hester can’t come off injured reserve until Week 13 … Not that we were worried, but Dolphins coach Dan Campbell confirmed that Lamar Miller is still his main man at running back. Rookie Jay Ajayi outgained Miller by seven yards Sunday despite logging 10 fewer carries … Anquan Boldin still isn’t running at full speed. He’s missed the Niners’ last two games with a hamstring injury … The 49ers are calling Carlos Hyde “day-to-day.” He’s sat out the last two games with a stress fracture in his left foot … Aaron Rodgers wasn’t happy with a comment he heard during Sunday’s moment of silence for victims of the Paris attacks. Here’s what he had to say about it.
