Welcome to Part I of my Monday Morning Quarterback Post for Week 13. The week started early again for me as Dallas played their second Thursday game in a row. Spoiler alert: it went a little better this time. Not much, but a little.

It wasn't the greatest slate of games on the schedule this week, very few intriguing matchups. But we still got some good games and some upsets. In fact we got the biggest upset of the season so far in my humble opinion, so all was not lost.

This post will cover half the slate on Sunday while Part II will go over the rest of the games on Sunday and the Monday night game. The Packers, Browns, Panthers and Titans all had a bye this week.

Just remember I am a Dallas Cowboys fan and I'm extremely biased. Feel free to agree or disagree about anything mentioned here. All comments are welcome.

Not Pretty, But I'll Take It

_{Trevon Diggs and the Cowboys defense made life rough for New Orleans
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Cowboys 27 Saints 17

It’s not always easy being America’s Team. The NFL tries to schedule as many prime time games as possible for Dallas because they deliver the goods. Two weeks ago their contest with the Kansas City Chiefs drew the biggest ratings of the season. That mark was smashed on Thanksgiving as the Cowboys/Raiders game drew the largest regular season television audience in 31 years.

That is why the Cowboys had to play another Thursday game against the Saints, their 3rd game in 12 days. No advantage for New Orleans, they also played on Thanksgiving. Tough to handle for both squads. The Cowboys came in banged up by some injuries. The Saints were decimated by injuries on their offense. If both teams were healthier we could have seen a better game.

Dallas was also missing head coach Mike McCarthy due to covid, so defensive coordinator Dan Quinn took over. After watching Quinn lead the Falcons for so many seasons, I wasn’t instilled with confidence. Then again I don’t trust McCarthy either. Now that I think about it I haven’t been confidant in the ability of a Dallas head coach since Bill Parcells left. That was in 2006. No wonder why my hair keeps falling out.

The Cowboys offense looked off-kilter all night, struggling to sustain drives. Luckily the defense had few problems with the Saints “B” offense. The Saints were held to 10 points until late in the game when Taysom Hill connected on a 70 yard TD. But it was too little, too late.

While the Saints offense was missing several linemen, Alvin Kamara and forced to start injured hybrid quarterback Taysom Hill, there defense was healthy and came to play. They only let Dallas put together one sustained TD drive. The other TD scored by the offense came courtesy of a 58 yard run by Tony Pollard.

Dak Prescott (26/40, 238 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) wasn’t consistent with his passes. His interception was a terrible decision that could have let the Saints back into the game if the defense hadn’t forced an interception of their own. No excuses for Dak as all the Cowboys wide receivers played for the first time in several games. Amari Cooper (2 receptions, 41 yards) is still playing limited snaps with a bad leg.

The biggest problem for the Cowboys offense lately has been the ground attack. Zeke Elliott (13 rushes, 45 yards) is playing with an injured knee and looks awful when he tries to run. I have no idea why the Cowboys don’t give him some time off to heal. Tony Pollard (7 rushes, 71 yards, 1 TD) gained most of his yards on one carry.

The Dallas defense came to the rescue with four interceptions. They were impressive all night until they fell asleep at the very end and gave up a 70 yard TD pass. Didn’t matter as time was nearly out, but still it makes the boxscore look worse. The Cowboys improved to 8-4, first place in the NFC East. They head to D.C. next week to play the team with no name.

The Saints have now lost five consecutive games and their season looks lost. Taysom Hill (19/41, 264 yards, 2 TDs, 4 INTs) was a turnover machine and not very accurate with his passes. He did help with a big game on the ground (11 rushes, 101 yards) when he cut loose from the pocket. He had a much better day on the ground than starting running back Mark Ingram (10 rushes, 28 yards).

The New Orleans defense was strong, holding the Cowboys offense to 20 points. The Cowboys other TD came from the defense in the form of a pick-six. Yet they can only do so much as the woes on offense continues. The Saints fell to 5-7, tied for third place in the NFC South. They’ll have an excellent opportunity to snap their losing streak when they play the Jets next week.

I Didn't Think It Was Possible

_{In Detroit you go insane any time you win a game
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Lions 29 Vikings 27

A phrase that is often tossed about in NFL circles is “any given Sunday”. It implies that any team could win a game regardless of the opponent, no matter how atrocious they are. And few teams in recent NFL history have been as atrocious as the 2021 Detroit Lions. Yet any given Sunday was December 5th for Detroit as they accomplished what was thought of as impossible: they won a game.

The game started off typically for Detroit, i.e. badly. The offense did little in the 1st quarter and the defense gave up two field goal drives. Then something inexplicable happened in the 2nd quarter: the Lions looked like a real NFL team.

Detroit led off the scoring in the 2nd quarter with a TD pass by Jared Goff. The Vikings took possession and fumbled it back to Detroit. Starting on their own 44- yard line the Lions quickly scored another TD, once again on a pass by Goff. Minnesota was flummoxed for the rest of the quarter as the Lions added two field goals to take a 20-6 lead into halftime.

An upset was in the making, but there was still another half of football to be played. I think I was like most football fans, wondering how the Lions were going to blow this game. It started early in the 3rd quarter as the Lions turned back into the Lions again.

The Lions took the kickoff, gained two yards and punted. The Vikings added another field goal. The Lions got the ball back, lost ten yards and punted again. This time the Vikings answered with a TD, but also a failed two point conversion. The Detroit lead was cut to 20-15.

The Lions offense woke up and scored a field goal. Heading into the 4th quarter the Lions led 23-15. That didn’t seem to be a big enough lead to be safe. It wasn’t.

The Vikings scored a TD early in the 4th quarter, but failed on another two point conversion. Yet they chopped their deficit to 23-21. Detroit needed to score, but Goff threw an interception. Lucky for Detroit the defense answered the call and forced a punt. Detroit got the ball back with five minutes left in the game. They needed to make some plays now to ice the game.

It didn’t work that way. Facing a 4th and one on their own 28-yard line, head coach Dan Campbell gambled and had the team go for it. He lost. Goff dropped back and was strip-sacked. The Vikings took possession on the Lions 19-yard line down by only two points. Minnesota ran the ball a few times to bleed some clock before Kirk Cousins threw a TD pass. A third two point conversion failed, but the Vikings had the lead 27-23 with a little under two minutes left in the game.

The Lions got the ball back on their own 25-yard line. One minute and fifty seconds left on the clock, they were out of timeouts and hadn’t made a 3rd down conversion all game. They needed a TD to win and it looked like it was going to be another heartbreaking loss. But Jared Goff started connecting on some passes and Detroit crept down the field. They made it down to the Vikings 11-yard line, where they faced a 4th and two with only four seconds left on the clock. One play left, here it is:

Holy Crap the Lions did it! Listen to that crowd, those fans went insane. Why not? This Lions roster is garbage and beating even a half decent team like Minnesota seemed like a pipe dream. But Christmas came early in Detroit.

Jared Goff (25/41, 296 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT, 1 fumble) was the hero of the day, even though his turnovers almost cost them the game. Yet in the final seconds he led the offense to their winning score. Amon-Ra St. Brown (10 receptions, 86 yards, 1 TD) was his top target and caught the game winning TD pass. It was his first TD catch of the season. Jamaal Williams (17 rushes, 71 yards) led the ground game in replacement of injured running back DeAndre Swift.

The Lions defense wasn’t great, but they made some key stops. They turned back all three of Minnesota’s two point attempts and forced to the Vikings to settle for field goals instead of TDs in the first half. Congrats to the Lions, who won their first game since December 6th, 2020. They went an entire year without winning! Party it up Detroit. The Lions improved to 1-10-1, last place in the NFC North. You might find this hard to believe, but the Lions still aren’t mathematically eliminated from the playoff race. Only realistically. Detroit heads to Denver next week.

Shame Minnesota, great shame. You dug yourselves a deep hole, managed to climb out of it and then blew the game at the end. To the freakin’ Detroit Lions. In last week’s post I proclaimed that if you lost this game you should just fold the franchise and I stand by those words. Minnesota was fighting for their playoff lives and lost to a horrible, horrible team that tried to hand them a victory. Kirk Cousins (30/40, 340 yards, 2 TDs) and Justin Jefferson (11 receptions, 182 yards, 1 TD) had great performances that were wasted.

How in the hell do you beat Green Bay and then two weeks later lose to the Lions? Somebody is going to have to pay the price for this loss and I have a feeling it will be head coach Mike Zimmer. The Vikings fell to 5-7, second place in the NFC North. They have little time to recover from this loss as they host the Steelers on Thursday.

Up And Down

_{Justin Herbert showed the Bengals the ball belonged to him and he would do whatever he wanted with it
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Chargers 41 Bengals 22

The Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Chargers have a lot in common this season. Both are led by dynamic young quarterbacks in their second season. Both are taking a big step forward this year after being lousy last season. Both have gained some big wins over good teams. And both occasionally screw the pooch. Cincy screwed the pooch this week.

The Chargers came out firing as Justin Herbert was hitting big passing plays all over the field. The Chargers scored on four of their first five possessions to take a huge 24-0 lead partway through the 2nd quarter. On the other side of the field the Bengals first four possessions ended with a fumble, an interception and two punts. The rout was on.

Then the game script flipped. Suddenly it was the Bengals who could do no wrong while the Chargers started turning the ball over. The Bengals scored two TDs in the 2nd quarter and headed into halftime trailing 24-13.

Things stayed the same to begin the 3rd quarter. The Bengals led off the period with a field goal. The Chargers took possession, but gave it back with a fumble that set Cincinnati up on the Los Angeles 32-yard line. A few plays later Joe Mixon streaked into the endzone. Cincy went for two, but failed. Still they nearly erased their early deficit as the Chargers now led 24-22.

Then both offense went cold for the rest of the quarter. The Bengals had the ball first in the 4th quarter, but Joe Mixon fumbled the ball and the Chargers returned it 69 yards for a TD and 31-22 lead. The Bengals offense died after that play as the Chargers tacked on another 10 points to go home with a big 41-22 victory.

Justin Herbert (26/35, 317 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) started the game red hot and even though he cooled in the middle, he recovered to help L.A. ice the game in the 4th quarter. Herbert connected with Mike Williams (5 receptions, 110 yards) and Jalen Guyton (4 receptions, 90 yards, 1 TD) for big chunks of yardage. Austin Ekeler (14 rushes, 59 yards, 1 TD, 2 fumbles) was fine when he held onto the ball, but his turnovers helped Cincy get back in the game.

The Chargers defense made big plays, forcing four turnovers and sacking Joe Burrow 6 times. A much needed win for the Chargers, who are battling for one of the wild card spots in the AFC. Los Angeles improved to 7-5, second place in the AFC West. They will host the Giants next week.

The Bengals were flying high after stomping the Steelers last week, but they came crashing back down to Earth. The offense overcame a slow start and nearly dug out of a 24-0 hole, but after that they seemed to run out of gas. Joe Burrow (24/30, 300 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs) was under heavy pressure all afternoon and some of his passes suffered. Joe Mixon (19 carries, 54 yards, 1 TD, 1 fumble) struggled to find running lanes.

The Bengals defense forced three turnovers and sacked Herbert four times. But when they couldn’t get to Herbert he lit their ass up good. Disappointing showing for the Bengals, who seem to take one step forward then another step back. The Bengals fell to 7-5, second place in the AFC North. They’ll host another team fighting for a playoff spot when the 49ers come to town next week.

Around The League

_{Tom Brady points to his brain to remind the Falcons he is smarter than they are
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Buccaneers 30 Falcons 17

Tom Brady has never lost a game to the Atlanta Falcons and he isn’t going to start now. Bruce Arians unleashed Brady with 51 pass attempts as the Bucs pulled away from the Falcons in the second half.

Atlanta deserves some credit for making this a competitive game for at least the first half. But they were badly outmanned in the talent department and it was only a matter of time until the Bucs enforced their will.

To say Tom Brady came out firing is an understatement. He threw for 139 yards and 2 TDs in the 1st quarter alone. Yet Atlanta was able to move the ball early and responded with 10 points of their own. Brady fired another TD pass in the 2nd quarter to give Tampa Bay a 20-10 lead.

That is when the Falcons offense started going cold. Their drive ended at midfield and they punted to the Bucs. Tampa had the ball at their own 7-yard line with only 44 seconds left in the first half. Common sense would tell you that Tampa should just run the ball a few times to kill the clock and be content with a 20-10 halftime lead. Yet Bruce Arians is a maniac and Tampa tried to get another score. It backfired badly as Brady was intercepted for a pick-six. The Bucs lead was cut to 20-17 at halftime and we still had a game. In theory at least.

The second half was miserable for the Falcons as the Bucs pass rush got persistent pressure on Matt Ryan. Atlanta’s three 3rd quarter possessions ended with two punts and a fumble. The Bucs offense tacked another TD to go ahead 27-17 into the 4th quarter.

Tampa just cruised home from there. They kicked a field goal to move ahead 30-17. Atlanta padded their yardage totals in garbage time, but they never came close to scoring again.

Tom Brady (38/51, 368 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT) had little trouble incinerating the Falcons secondary. Chris Godwin (15 receptions, 143 yards) was open the entire day and Brady still spread the ball around to 9 different receivers. Leonard Fournette (14 rushes, 44 yards) got some carries, but basically the running game was an afterthought.

The Bucs defense gave up some yards early, but quickly clamped down on the Falcons. They sacked Matt Ryan five times and shut Atlanta out in the second half. The Buccaneers improved to 9-3, first place in the NFC South. They host the Bills next week.

The Falcons made an effort, but they were way short on talent to compete with Tampa Bay. Matt Ryan (30/41, 297 yards) started well, yet he got crushed by the pass rush as the game went on. Russell Gage (11 receptions, 130 yards) had by far his best game of the season. Cordarelle Patterson (13 rushes, 78 yards) provided the ground support.

The Falcons defense had no answers for Tom Brady and his cast of talented receivers. They got no pass rush and their coverage was lacking. The Falcons fell to 5-7, tied with the Panthers and Saints for second place in the NFC South. They travel to North Carolina next week.

Dolphins 20 Giants 9

The Dolphins continued their second half resurgence by winning their fifth game in a row. They did it with relative ease because they were playing the Giants and the Giants are baaaad.

The Giants offense is poor enough usually, but it was worse this week as Daniel Jones missed the game with a neck injury. Mike Glennon started at quarterback for New York and he is not a runner like Jones. He is a sitting duck hanging out in the pocket. The Giants never found the endzone, settling for three field goals.

The Giants defense stepped up and kept the game close until the 4th quarter. Yet they eventually ran out of gas and the Dolphins added 10 points in the final period to ice the game. Miami was able to win because the few times they drove deep into Giants territory they scored TDs, going 2 for 2 in redzone opportunities.

Tua Tagovailoa (30/41, 244 yards, 2 TDs) isn’t getting much love from the Dolphins front office, but he is improving each week and playing well. The emergence of rookie wideout Jaylen Waddle (9 receptions, 90 yards) certainly helps. I don’t know what Miami expects Tua to do considering he plays behind a lousy offensive line and the running attack stinks. The Miami running backs only gained 67 yards on 23 carries. With the little help he gets I’d say Tua is doing a good job in tough circumstances.

Miami’s defense has been much improved since the beginning of the season. Of course it’s hard not to look good against the Giants. The Dolphins improved to 6-7, third place in the AFC East. They host the Jets next week.

The Giants are quickly becoming a joke. They fired offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and are finding out he wasn’t the main problem as the offense has gotten worse. Their game plan was stupid. Having to start a sub-par backup quarterback, they dialed up 44 passing plays against 17 rushes. Mike Glennon (23/44, 187 yards, 1 INT) was awful as expected. Saquon Barkley (11 rushes, 55 yards) and Devontae Booker (6 rushes, 36 yards) were much, much better with their limited chances.

The Giants had healthy running backs with a bad backup at quarterback and decided to play chuck and duck. Good Grief. They deserved to lose. Credit to the Giants defense for keeping the score close. New York fell to 4-8, last place in the NFC East. They head to L.A. to play the Chargers next week.

Colts 31 Texans 0

When good teams play bad teams they are supposed to kick their ass. Despite their lackluster record the Colts are a good team. And the Texans are a bad one. So the Colts did what they were supposed to do by thrashing the Texans. Indianapolis made it look easy.

Houston received the opening kickoff and Tyrod Taylor promptly threw an interception with his first pass attempt. The Colts said thank you for the short field and scored their first TD. They could have called the game right there. The Texans offense was putrid. They never even made it past midfield once in the entire first half. Hell they only crossed midfield once the entire game. Their deepest drive of the game ended at the Colts 40-yard line with a turnover on downs. Woof.

With the defense dominating, Indy never hammered the gas pedal on offense. They were content to ram the rock down the Texans throats on the ground, slowly adding on points while chewing up the clock. The Colts had a ridiculous time of possession of over 41 minutes.

Carson Wentz (16/22, 158 yards, 1 TD) had a quiet game because the Colts didn’t need him to throw the ball. They piled up 238 yards on the ground as Jonathan Taylor (32 rushes, 143 yards, 2 TDs) led the way with a monster game. Taylor gained more yards (143) than the entire Texans offense (141). Taylor was good before, but he is having a massive breakout season this year. This was the 10th consecutive game he has scored at least 1 TD.

The Colts defense let the Texans do nothing. They recorded four sacks and two turnovers as they pitched a shutout. The Colts improved to 7-6, second place in the AFC South. They need to keep winning if they want to make a playoff push. They get to rest up for that push next week as they have a bye.

There really is no need to talk about the Texans stats. They are practically nonexistent. Houston’s performance was simply a disgrace. The Texans fell to 2-10, third place in the AFC South by tiebreaker over the Jaguars. They host the Seahawks next week.

Cardinals 33 Bears 22

The Cardinals got good news as quarterback Kyler Murray and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins were both able to return for this game. The Arizona defense made their comeback easy by setting them up for a few quick scores to start the game. The Bears fell into a deep hole early and were never able to find their way out.

Much like the Texans, Chicago shot themselves right in the foot from the get go. Andy Dalton threw an interception with his first pass and the Cardinals set up shop on the Bears 28-yard line. The defense forced a 4th down, but the Cards went for it and were rewarded when Kyler Murray hit DeAndre Hopkins with a 20 yard TD pass.

The Bears second possession started out better, but ended up just as bad. Chicago made it all the way down to the Arizona 23-yard line, but Dalton was intercepted again, this time by Budda Baker. Baker returned the pick for 77 yards, all the way down to the Bears 15-yard line. A few plays later Murray ran the ball into the endzone and the Cardinals exited the 1st quarter with a 14-0 lead.

The Bears had the first possession of the 2nd quarter and Dalton stopped (temporarily at least) giving the ball away. Chicago scored a TD to cut their deficit to 14-7. After the kickoff the Cardinals offense had to face a long field in front of them for the first time. No problem as the Cards needed only seven plays to cover 74 yards and score their 3rd TD. The quarter ended with a few punts as Arizona led 21-7 at halftime.

Chicago kept fighting back after the break. They scored a TD in the 3rd quarter while holding Arizona to only a field goal. 24-14 Arizona heading into the 4th quarter. Then the Bears turnover problems returned.

Dalton threw interceptions on both of the Bears first two possessions of the 4th quarter and Arizona took advantage of the short field to score 10 more points and go ahead 33-14. The game was lost by that point, but the Bears squeezed in another TD and a two point conversion to make the final score look not quite as bad, 33-22.

With the defense setting up so many short fields, the Cardinals rarely had to drive the ball far to score. That is why they only needed to gain 257 yards of total offense to score 33 points. The defense made it easy for Kyler Murray (11/15, 123 yards, 2 TDs) to ease back into action. Murray showed he was healthy by having a good game on the ground as well: 10 rushes, 59 yards. 2 TDs. 4 total TDs is good way to show the league you are back.

The Arizona defense harassed Andy Dalton with four picks and three sacks, but they let Chicago convert four 4th down attempts. That is why the Bears were able to put up some points. At least put up some points when they weren’t giving the ball away. The Cards improved to 10-2, first place in the NFC West and the NFL in general. They will host the Rams next Monday night.

The Cardinals are tough team to beat, even when they are on the road. Yet they are invincible if you hand them short field opportunities all game long. Andy Dalton (26/41, 229 yards, 2 TDs, 4 INTs) made way too many mistakes. David Montgomery (21 rushes, 90 yards, 1 TD) had a good game on the ground.

Hard to fault the Bears defense as their backs were forced against the wall all afternoon. Chicago fell to 4-8, third place in the NFC North. If there isn’t a major shakeup in the front office and the coaching staff after this season the fans will revolt. The Bears head to Green Bay next week so things won’t be getting better.

We've reached the end of Part I. Part II will cover the rest of Sunday's slate and the crazy Monday night game in Buffalo. Remember Mother Nature always wins, the Bills and the Patriots won't be forgetting that any time soon.

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a comment below.