NFL, What Do You Know? Week 12 Edition
Cowboys Feast on Commanders
The Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Commanders 45-10 to extend their winning streak to three games. Since their 28-23 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Cowboys have dismantled the Giants, Panthers and Commanders, and have built momentum into December and for the tough part of their schedule.
Despite all the blowout wins, the thing that looms over them is the quality of the opponent’s that they have beat. As someone who believes this team can get to the Super Bowl, I think that is a valid point, and it is why I am looking forward to seeing how the Cowboys fare against teams like the Eagles, Bills, Dolphins and Lions in the next several weeks. Even if they beat a couple of those teams, some will still want them to prove it in the playoffs. Fair or not, that’s the reality for the Cowboys. We’ll have to wait and see what they do from here on out, but for those discrediting their numerous blowout wins this season, why aren’t other teams doing it as constantly as the Cowboys are if it was that easy?
No matter how good you think the Cowboys actually are, something undeniably impressive has been the play of Dak Prescott. I had to spend all of last season hearing about how Prescott is a “turnover machine” when his previous six seasons of his career showed no evidence of that. To no surprise, he has taken care of the football this season and has been playing the best football of his career since the Cowboys’ loss to the 49ers. Against the Commanders, Prescott completed 22 of 32 passes for 331 yards and four touchdowns. Prescott received an incredible 97.0 grade from Pro Football Focus for his performance. It is the highest grade a quarterback has received from PFF since 2007. Make no mistake about it, he is firmly in the MVP race.
Jordan Love Dominates in Detroit
A few weeks ago, the Green Bay Packers were 2-6 and it looked like they would join the line of teams that would be interested in a quarterback in next year’s NFL draft. The Packers are now 4-6 and alive for a playoff spot in the NFC. In Week 11, they beat the Los Angeles Chargers 23-20, and Jordan Love was spectacular. He completed 27 of 40 passes for 322 yards and two touchdowns. That was his best performance of the season to that point, but he hadn’t shown enough of that this season for me to really believe in him.
The Packers’ 29-22 win over the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving was an even better performance than the Chargers game by Love. He completed 22 of 32 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns. The reason this was so impressive by Love and the Packers was that it was on the road and on a short week against a good Lions team that has a legitimate chance at getting the one seed in the NFC. The one thing you couldn’t question about Love was his arm talent and mobility. He seems to be starting to combine that with decision making.
Bills Playoff Hopes Unofficially Over
The Buffalo Bills suffered a brutal 37-34 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. With this loss, their record is 6-6 and they are 10th in the AFC standings. In a vacuum, losing to the Eagles on the road is nothing to be ashamed of. The Eagles are one of the best teams in the league and have only one loss this season. It’s losing games to the likes of the Jets, Patriots and Broncos that are going to cost the Bills a playoff spot come the end of the season.
Their loss against the Eagles was a perfect example of what this team has been this season. Josh Allen played well for the most part. Allen completed 29 of 51 passes for 339 yards, had two passing touchdowns and two running touchdowns. He also threw an interception in the fourth quarter on the Bills’ side of the field to set up an Eagles’ touchdown. The Bills are supposed to have a good defense, but due to things like injuries, they haven’t been. In this game, they allowed 24 points in the fourth quarter and overtime. Another thing that was lacking against the Eagles was their discipline. They had 11 penalties for 80 yards. We all know that the Bills are familiar with how penalties can cost you a game. Just ask Ken Dorsey.
Header Photo: With the Bills falling out of the unofficial race for the playoffs, the Indianapolis Colts have filled that spot. HOW. (Courtesy of Maverick Athletics)
Write to Mohamed Warsame at mohamed.warsame@mnsu.edu