NFL Week 14 winners, losers and observations: Haason Reddick sets a record, the bookies celebrate, MVP race heats up
An unreal interception, more comedy from the Jaguars and next week's point spreads. The Eagles are early 5.5 road 'dogs to Arizona.
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Haason Reddick, whose mom once had to take out a personal loan so that he could eat with his teammates at Temple, had a career day on Sunday. He helped the Cardinals get back into a potential playoff spot, and continued to set himself up for another lucrative contract.
The Cardinals overwhelmed the Giants 26-7, led by Reddick’s five sacks and three forced fumbles. The Haddon Heights native, who went from walking on at Temple to first-round pick in 2017, entered the day already having set a career-high in sacks. He now has 10 for the season. Reddick’s previous best was the four he had in 2018.
In the offseason, the Cardinals decided not to pick up the fifth year of Reddick’s rookie deal, so he can be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
Arizona, which hosts the Eagles next Sunday (4:05 p.m., Fox) was in a bit of a malaise after three consecutive losses and four in their last five.
“When you looked at us in practice, the energy was different,” said the 26-year-old Reddick, whose rookie contract was worth $13.4 million. “The intensity was crazy. I felt like everybody knew this was a game that we needed. The fact that we came out here, played hard and got the W is hopefully a spark for us, and it pushes us for the rest of the season so we can we can continue to the goal we set out, to get into the playoffs”
They feasted on the Giants, which were headed the other way. New York had won four in a row, including a surprise victory over the Seahawks. Could there have been too much wine served on the cross-country flight home?
“I don’t think we have any kind of a hangover from going out to Seattle last week,” said Giants coach Joe Judge. “I don’t think that’s a cause of it right here. … This game was completely independent of anything that happened before.”
Playoff update
Through Sunday night. Baltimore is at Cleveland on Monday.
NFC
1. Green Bay (10-3, bye)
7. Arizona (7-6) at 2. New Orleans (10-3)
6. Tampa Bay (8-5) at 3. L.A. Rams (9-4)
5. Seattle (9-4) at 4. Washington (6-7)
AFC
1. Kansas City (12-1, bye)
7. Miami (8-5) at 2. Pittsburgh (11-2)
6. Indianapolis (9-4) at 3. Buffalo (10-3)
5. Cleveland (9-3) at 4. Tennessee (9-4)
» READ MORE: Playoffs? Don’t count it out if the Eagles’ defense keeps this up | David Murphy
Bad beats of the week
There are back-door covers and then there’s what the Dolphins and Lions did on Sunday.
Down by nine, Miami kicked a field goal with 21 seconds left in order to set up an onside kick. The strategy was sound, but it didn’t work. It sure impacted the point spread, however.
Detroit, down 10, did the same thing. And the house won both.
Miami lost to the Chiefs 33-27, but covered the 7-point spread.
At FanDuel, 76 percent of the money bet on that game was on the Chiefs. At William Hill, it was 78 percent. At PointsBet, it was (gulp) 91 percent on KC.
Detroit lost 31-24 to Green Bay, but covered a line that was 8.5 or so. PointsBet had 79 percent money on that game on Green Bay. William Hill had 83 percent on the Packers. FanDuel was at 86 percent Green Bay.
The Detroit decision was particularly gruesome for one bettor at FanDuel, who had a $20,000 parlay on Tampa Bay (which barely covered) and the Packers. It would have paid $50k.
Winners and losers
Indy running back Jonathan Taylor (Salem H.S.) had a monster game with 150 yards rushing and two touchdowns. After putting up 91 yards a receiving touchdown last week, Taylor is becoming an RB1 for those in fantasy football playoffs.
Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs had 10 catches for the second consecutive week and is the first player to crack 100 receptions for the season.
The Steelers broke Tampa Bay’s record (set from 1999-2003) by recording a sack in its 70th consecutive game. Not that anyone in Pittsburgh cares. They’ve lost two in a row and are leaking oil offensively.
This isn’t news, but Washington rookie defensive end Chase Young is going to be a problem for the next decade or so. He had six tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble return for a touchdown and two passes defensed. Whoa.
Tom Brady is 15-4 after regular-season byes.
Another lethal day for the Aaron Rodgers-Davante Adams combination. Adams (7-115-1) joined Antonio Brown (2018) as the only players with at least five catches AND a touchdown in eight consecutive games. Rodgers (290 yards, three TD passes, one rushing) is making a late-season push for MVP. The Packers close with Carolina, Tennessee and at Chicago.
Patrick Mahomes, who threw more interceptions Sunday (three) than he had in the first 12 games (two) still would probably get it right now. The Chiefs finish at New Orleans and with home games against the Falcons and Chargers.
Derrick Henry also is making an MVP bid after rolling for 215 yards in Tennessee’s win over comical Jacksonville. Henry has run for at least 100 yards in nine consecutive road games, one shy of Barry Sanders’ record (1996-97). He has a home game next week against Detroit and trips to Green Bay and Houston left on his schedule.
Seattle safety Jamal Adams had a sack in his fourth consecutive game and has set the single-season record for defensive backs with 8.5.
Miami’s Xavien Howard had an interception for the fifth game in a row. The QBs he’s victimized: Justin Herbert, Drew Lock, Sam Darnold, Brandon Allen and Mahomes. Miami hosts New England next week.
The Jaguars can be quite humorous sometimes.
Washington moved into first place in the NFC East despite losing quarterback Alex Smith to a calf injury that is not considered serious.
Denver’s K.J. Hamler, a rookie from Penn State, had two catches. One was a 37-yard touchdown. The other was a 49-yard score.
Cincinnati running back Giovanni Bernard fumbled on the second play of the game, snapping a league-best 829 rushing attempts without putting it on the ground. He did not see the ball again until the second half.
The Jets have scored on their opening possession in seven consecutive games. That was it for Sunday, though. They lost at Seattle, 40-3.
All 10 members of the pregame shows on ESPN and the NFL Network picked the Eagles to lose to the Saints. Six of the seven Inquirer staff writers picked the Saints to cover. Only Vegas Vic got it right. It was another victory for the bookies.
Play of the day
Colts coach Frank Reich said the interception by his cornerback Kenny Moore reminded him of Odell Beckham, And he wasn’t exaggerating.
“I had to stop for a second there and kind of think, ‘Did he actually catch that ball?’” Reich said. “It was really just one of those once-in-a-lifetime chances, a really great play.”
Quoting here
“We think it’s just a stomach thing.”
— Denver coach Vic Fangio who lost left tackle Garrett Bolles and tight end Noah Fant to illness. The players tested negative for COVID-19 prior to the game, but remained in Carolina overnight pending another test.
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“It makes you sick to start the way we started today,”
— Bengals coach Zac Taylor after his club fumbled on its first three drives and lost big to Dallas.
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“I don’t think we could get any more people up there.”
— Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone explaining his defense had stacked the line of scrimmage and Derrick Henry ran for 215 yards anyway.
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“It is a one-read, break-the-pocket [and] scramble offense.”
— CBS analyst Adam Archuleta trying his best to describe Jacksonville’s offensive philosophy. Pretty much sums up the 1-12 Jaguars.
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“This dude [weighs] almost 300 pounds and moves like that?”
— NFL Red Zone host Scott Hanson watching Washington’s Chase Young run a fumble back 47 yards for a touchdown.
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“This looks like a game between two teams who can’t figure out how to win close games.”
— Fox announcer Joe Davis, who was calling the Falcons at Chargers game. L.A. won it with a field goal on the final play as both teams moved to 4-9.
***
“Seeing so many guys, it just brings back a lot of memories because I do miss those guys. This is bigger than football. It goes back to just relationships.”
— Jamal Adams on his first game against the Jets, who drafted him in 2017.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.