"The Stack" 11-26-18
Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield had himself a day with four touchdown passes as the Browns routed the Cincinnati Bengals 35-20. Postgame, he had some things to say about Hue Jackson and let's just say that the two of them probably wont be exchanging Christmas cards this year.
The Stack is back on this Monday and hopefully everyone had a great holiday weekend. We had a number of good games in the NFL yesterday so let’s get right to what we do every Monday during the NFL season. Let’s recap and react to week 12 in the NFL in “the stack” for today, Monday, November 26th:
Raiders 17 Ravens 34
Another 100 plus yard rushing performance by Gus Edwards and another overall decent performance by quarterback Lamar Jackson (minus the two interceptions) and the Baltimore Ravens rose to the occasion and did what they should do and that was beat the Oakland Raiders. Terrell Suggs’ fumble recovery and return for a touchdown sealed the deal. The Ravens will make a playoff push.
Jaguars 21 Bills 24
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen impressed with his legs and had he not taken a couple of knees at the end, he would have finished with over 100 yards. This game was marred though by the ugly fight in the third quarter after what appeared to be a Donte Moncrief touchdown. Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette ran from the sideline and got involved in the fracas and both he and Bills linebacker Shaq Lawson were ejected. It was ugly…just like Jacksonville’s season so far.
Seahawks 30 Panthers 27
You can never count out Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks. Multiple times the Carolina Panthers got ahead only to see Wilson lead the Seahawks to tie up the score. Wilson threw some beautiful passes to D.J. Moore and Tyler Lockett for touchdowns and it was his throw to Lockett late that led to the game-winning field goal. The win negated the huge day by Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey who had over 100 yards rushing and receiving. He is so good. The Panthers though are now on a three-game losing streak.
Browns 35 Bengals 20
The Cleveland Browns have finally won a game on the road. They pummeled the Cincinnati Bengals in this one. Baker Mayfield threw four touchdowns and the Browns jumped out to a 28-0 lead before the Bengals even got on the board. Adding insult to injury, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton hurt his thumb and had to leave the game. After the game, Mayfield threw some shade at former head coach Hue Jackson who is now an assistant on the Bengals staff. No love lost over the fact that Hue is no longer coaching the Browns.
Patriots 27 Jets 13
It may have been a little more difficult than the New England Patriots envisioned, but they were able to wear down the Jets. Sony Michel had a big day rushing the football with over 100 yards and a touchdown and Rob Gronkowski finally found the endzone for the first time since early September. Josh McCown just couldn’t do a whole lot for the Jets, but at least they had a little more fight this week than two weeks ago against Buffalo.
Giants 22 Eagles 25
The New York Giants looked like world beaters early in this game jumping out to a 19-3 lead. Rookie running back Saquon Barkley could not be stopped. He had a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown. Momentum seemed to shift late in the first half when up 19-11, Eli Manning threw an interception with the Giants in field goal range. Their offense stalled in the second half and inexplicably only handed the ball off to Barkley four times. Carson Wentz and the Eagles took advantage and won on a field goal late. The refs missed a couple of potential calls against the Eagles on Odell Beckham Jr., but the fact of the matter is that the Giants shot themselves in the foot in this game. Should never have come down to those penalties.
49ers 9 Buccaneers 27
The San Francisco 49ers were just overmatched in this one. Plain and simple. Maybe they were distracted by the Reuben Foster release (he was arrested on domestic violence charges Saturday night). Either way, the Bucs were the better team in this one. Jameis Winston did not throw an interception and was tremendous all afternoon long. Neither of these teams are going anywhere, but for the Bucs it was nice to finally get back on the winning track.
Cardinals 10 Chargers 45
The Los Angeles Chargers spotted the Arizona Cardinals a quick ten point lead and I’m sure Chargers fans were thinking, “Oh no, here we go again. Another letdown.” Philip Rivers and company put an end to that quickly. The Chargers scored touchdowns on five consecutive drives and Rivers set an NFL record with 25 straight completions. He was 28-for-29 for the game and was simply brilliant. There is slight concern though as running back Melvin Gordon left the game with a leg injury. Hopefully it isn’t serious.
Dolphins 24 Colts 27
An impressive comeback by Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts. They scored the final, what, 13 points in this one to extend their win streak to five games. Luck had two interceptions, but did well down the stretch and made several big throws. T.Y. Hilton had a big game with over 100 yards receiving and Adam Vinatieri came through with the game-winning field goal. Ryan Tannehill coming back to start at quarterback for Miami certainly helped them, but down the stretch, the Colts were just too good. This is a red-hot team right now.
Steelers 17 Broncos 24
What a crazy game this was in the Mile High City. The Pittsburgh Steelers outgained the Denver Broncos by over 200 yards, but were done in by a blocked field goal, a fumble at the goal line with the ball going out of the endzone and an interception at the goal line to end the game. All of that negates a tremendous game by JuJu Smith-Schuster who had a 97-yard touchdown catch. Big Ben had nearly 500 yards passing, but those previously mentioned turnovers were the culprits in the Steelers loss.
Packers 17 Vikings 24
The Green Bay Packers had great back-to-back drives in the first half that led to touchdowns. Those would be their only two good drives of the night as after those touchdowns the Vikings defense made life very difficult for Aaron Rodgers and the offense. They were able to sack Rodgers multiple times without blitzing him, but the major reason why Minnesota won was due to Kirk Cousins. He threw for over 340 yards and three touchdowns. He did that in both meetings against the Packers this season, one of only four quarterbacks to throw for 340 yards and three touchdowns against an opponent twice in a season. This was a huge win for the Vikings and a damaging loss for the Packers and their playoff hopes.
5-5 Tennessee Titans @ 7-3 Houston Texans 8:15 PM ET ESPN MNF
Hard to figure out what Titans team is going to show up tonight, but I do know that Houston will play inspired tonight with the passing of their owner Bob McNair. This team doesn’t need a lot of additional motivation, after all they are on a seven game winning streak, but with what happened over the weekend, I think the Texans more than handle the Titans.
Prediction: Texans 27 Titans 13
Coming up Tuesday: MNF reaction plus college football thoughts and other headlines from the sports world
