Skip to content
Eagles
Link copied to clipboard

NFL Week 14 in review: Winners, losers, and watch the play of the year

Notes, quotes and who doesn't love a faceplant by a cameraman?

Kenyan Drake runs for a last-second touchdown to help the Dolphins edge out the Patriots in Miami on Sunday.
Kenyan Drake runs for a last-second touchdown to help the Dolphins edge out the Patriots in Miami on Sunday.Read moreDavid Santiago / AP

The Cowboys put 576 yards on the Eagles defense, most they’ve had in a game in 45 years. But the ones that mattered most were the last 15. Sigh.

Here’s a look at the highlights and lowlights of Sunday’s NFL action.

Winners

· Dallas wide receiver Amari Cooper’s 217 yards and three TDs are career highs. Maybe giving up a first-round pick for him wasn’t such a prohibitive price. Won the game with 15-yard touchdown in overtime after Eagles d-back Rasul Douglas deflected the ball upward.

· Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes put another line on his MVP resume’ with two fourth-down conversions on the game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter. KC won it in overtime

· Giants running back Saquon Barkley ran for 170 and became the first Giants rookie to run for 1,000 yards in a season. He’s up to 1,124 with three games left.

NFL scoreboard | Standings

Losers

· The Redskins were down 40-0 before scoring two garbage TDs in the fourth quarter at home to the Giants. You gotta be kidding me.

· Because the Panthers continue to collapse, there is still a glimmer of hope for the Eagles' (and others') wild-card chances – but they’ll need Minnesota to lose at Seattle on Monday.

· Bad day for the refs – and not just in the Eagles-Cowboys game.

In the Bengals-Chargers game, officials overturned a touchdown when they determined that quarterback Jeff Driskell was giving himself up when he dove for the end zone and his knee touched inside the 1-yard line. The guy was trying to score a touchdown, for heaven’s sakes.

Cincy committed a penalty on the next play and had to settle for a field goal. They lost 26-21.

“That’s the dumbest rules interpretation I’ve ever heard in my life,” said CBS analyst Bruce Arians.

NFC East
Dallas
W-L
8-5
Remaining schedule
at Indianapolis, vs. Tennessee, at N.Y. Giants
NFC East
Eagles
W-L
6-7
Remaining schedule
at L.A. Rams, vs. Houston, at Washington
NFC East
Washington
W-L
6-7
Remaining schedule
at Jacksonville, at Tennessee, vs. Eagles
NFC East
N.Y. Giants
W-L
5-8
Remaining schedule
vs. Tennessee, at Indianapolis, vs. Dallas

Play of the year

Add the Miami Miracle to the list of funky things to happen in Florida.

The Dolphins used two laterals on the final play of the game to score a 69-yard touchdown to beat the Patriots, 34-33.

Ryan Tannehill threw a 14-yard pass to Kenny Stills, who pitched it to DeVante Parker, who then gave it to Kenyan Drake for the final 52 yards.

New England, which blocked two Dolphins punts in the game, has now lost five of its last six games in Miami. Normally reliable Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed a 42-yard field goal and his first extra point of the season.

He said it

· “Stills to Parker to Drake ... A lateral heard ‘round the world.” – CBS announcer Ian Eagle after the Dolphins’ game-winning touchdown

· “I didn’t think it was going to get to me. I’ve never really been a part of anything like that.” – Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who was the last line of defense on the Dolphins game-winning play; he took a bad angle and missed the tackle

· “His civil engineering degree from Georgia Tech is different than my P.E. degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State.” – ESPN’s Rex Ryan on Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt

· “I had three false starts, and that’s ridiculous. said. “I’m a gambling man, and I broke today. I didn’t play like I’m supposed to today.” – Star pass-rusher Von Miller after the Broncos’ critical loss to the 49ers

· “We’re starting to figure out that kind of this offense runs through him.” – Eli Manning on running back Saquon Barkley,

“It’s extremely frustrating to come up short each and every week with similar settings and not be able to push through.” – Cam Newton following Carolina’s fifth consecutive loss

Did you notice?

· Dallas Goedert became the second guy named Dallas to score a touchdown in Dallas. Indy’s Dallas Clark scored in 2006.

· The high-flying Rams managed just two field goals in a 15-6 loss at Chicago in the Sunday night game. L.A. quarterback Jared Goff threw four interceptions and Todd Gurley had a fantasy-killing 28 yards rushing.

· Packers interim coach Joe Philbin lost his two replay challenges in the first 64 seconds of the game, a rather ignominious record. It was the only thing Green Bay lost. They hammered the Falcons 34-20.

· 49ers veteran offensive lineman Joe Staley joyously celebrated a catch on a deflected pass that had even the Broncos laughing. So what if the play lost 5 yards. San Fran coach Kyle Shanahan said Staley will be fined because he put himself at injury risk by running with the ball. “Joe refuses to believe he’s an O-lineman,” Shanahan said. “... It was not a smart play.”

· The Saints have won consecutive division titles for the first time in their 51-year history.

· Aaron Rodgers broke Tom Brady’s NFL record for most pass attempts without an interception. When Rodgers hit Randall Cobb with a 24-yard touchdown. It was his 359th pass without a pick. He’s at 368 heading into next week.

· The loss by Houston means Dallas (five games) has the league’s longest winning streak.

· The Redskins pulled Mark Sanchez out of their blowout and put in Josh Johnson, who hadn’t thrown a pass since 2011. Johnson will start next week. Johnson will start for Washington at Jacksonville. Meanwhile, Colin Kaepernick sits.

· LeSean McCoy had two carries for one yard before exiting with a hamstring injury.

· Larry Fitzgerald set the record for most receptions for a single team. He’s at 1,286 for the Cardinals. Jerry Rice had 1,281 for San Francisco. The drive he set the record on ended when Arizona quarterback Josh Rosen threw a pick-6. Poor Fitzy.

· Ben Roethlisberger is now 0-4 in Oakland. Unless the Steelers and Raiders play a postseason game there next season.

· Nick Chubb is the first Browns player to score a touchdown in five consecutive games since Greg Pruitt in 1975.

· San Francisco tight end George Kittle had 210 receiving yards in the first half and none in the second. He came within four yards of setting the record for most yards by a tight end. Afterward, San Fran coach Kyle Shanahan apologized for not doing more to get Kittle the record.

Most receiving yards, single game/by position

Position
Quarterback
Player
Joe Flacco, Balt.
Year
2008
Rec.
1
TD
0
Yards
43
Position
Running back
Player
Marshall Faulk, StL
Year
1999
Rec.
12
TD
1
Yards
204
Position
Wide receiver
Player
Calvin Johnson, Det.
Year
2013
Rec.
14
TD
1
Yards
329
Position
Tight end
Player
Shannon Sharpe, Den.
Year
2002
Rec.
12
TD
2
Yards
214
Position
Offensive lineman
Player
Jake Fisher, Cin.
Year
2015
Rec.
1
TD
0
Yards
31

Source: ProFootballReference.com

And finally ...