Monday, December 12, 2016

NFL Today, Week 14

SCOREBOARD

Monday, Dec. 12

Baltimore at New England, 8:30 p.m. EST. The Ravens (7-5) and Patriots (10-2) are meeting on "Monday Night Football" for the first time since 2007. Baltimore is in the mix for the AFC North title on the strength of a defense that has limited the opposition to an NFL-low 73.8 yards rushing per game. Tom Brady has 2,470 yards passing, 19 TDs and one INT for a 113.1 passer rating in the eight games he has played.

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STARS

Passing

— Matt Ryan, Falcons, passed for 237 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-14 victory over Los Angeles.

— Aaron Rodgers, Packers, completed 18 of 23 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns in Green Bay's 38-10 win against Seattle.

— Sam Bradford, Vikings, completed 24 of 34 passes for 292 yards and a touchdown in a 25-16 win at Jacksonville. He wasn't sacked and scrambled four times for 17 yards, and his 3-yard TD toss to Kyle Rudolph with 2:13 remaining sealed the victory.

— Trevor Siemian, Broncos, threw for 354 yards and a touchdown on 35-of-51 passing in Denver's 13-10 loss at Tennessee.

— Carson Wentz, Eagles, was 32 of 46 for 314 yards with a touchdown and an interception in Philadelphia's 27-22 loss to Washington.

— Ryan Tannehill, Dolphins, went 15 for 20 for 195 yards and three touchdowns before leaving Miami's 26-23 win over Arizona with what the team fears is a torn ACL.

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Rushing

— Le'Veon Bell, Steelers, ran for a franchise-record 236 yards and had three touchdowns on 38 carries in Pittsburgh's 27-20 win at Buffalo. He also had 62 yards receiving to account for 298 of the 460 yards gained by Pittsburgh.

— Bilal Powell, Jets, ran for 145 yards, including the game-ending 19-yard touchdown in overtime, and had a career-high 179 yards from scrimmage in New York's 23-17 win over San Francisco.

— Carlos Hyde, 49ers, rushed for a career-high 193 yards on only 17 attempts and caught a TD pass in San Francisco's 23-17 overtime loss to the New York Jets.

— Isaiah Crowell, Browns, had 113 yards rushing on just 10 carries in Cleveland's 23-10 loss to Cincinnati.

— Jeremy Hill, Bengals, rushed for 111 yards and a TD on 25 carries in Cincinnati's 23-10 victory at Cleveland.

— Lamar Miller, Texans, ran 21 times for 107 yards and scored on a 2-yard run late in the first half of Houston's 22-17 win over Indianapolis.

— Ezekiel Elliott, Cowboys, had 107 yards rushing on 24 carries in Dallas' 10-7 loss to the New York Giants.

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Receiving

— Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas, Broncos. Sanders caught 11 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown, while Thomas had 10 receptions for 126 yards in Denver's 13-10 loss at Tennessee.

— T.Y. Hilton, Colts, had nine receptions for 115 yards and a touchdown in Indianapolis' 22-17 loss to Houston.

— Zach Ertz, Eagles, caught 10 passes for 112 yards in Philadelphia's 27-22 loss to Washington.

— Jordy Nelson, Packers, had two touchdown catches in Green Bay's 38-10 rout of Seattle.

— Tyler Eifert, Bengals, caught two first-half touchdown passes from Andy Dalton in Cincinnati's 23-10 win at winless Cleveland.

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Special Teams

— Nick Novak, Texans, kicked five field goals in Houston's 22-17 victory at Indianapolis.

— Graham Gano, Panthers, booted four field goals in Carolina's 28-16 win over San Diego.

— Jordan Phillips, Dolphins, blocked Chandler Catanzaro's extra-point attempt in the fourth quarter of Miami's 26-23 win over Arizona.

— Kai Forbath, Vikings, kicked four field goals to help Minnesota top Jacksonville 25-16 for the Jaguars' second win in nine weeks.

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Defense

— Vic Beasley, Falcons, had three sacks, a forced fumble and a 21-yard fumble-return touchdown in Atlanta's 42-14 win at Los Angeles.

— Damarious Randall, Packers, intercepted two of Russell Wilson's passes in Green Bay's 38-10 win over Seattle.

— Cre'Von LeBlanc, Bears, scored on a 24-yard interception return in Chicago's 20-17 loss at Detroit.

— Leodis McKelvin, Eagles, returned an interception 29 yards for a TD early in the fourth quarter of Philadelphia's 27-22 loss to Washington.

— Deion Jones, Falcons, returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown in Atlanta's 42-14 win at Los Angeles.

— Mario Addison, Panthers, sacked Philip Rivers in the end zone for a safety in Carolina's 28-16 win over San Diego.

— Sean Lee, Cowboys, had 18 total tackles in Dallas' 10-7 loss to the New York Giants.

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STREAKS & STATS

The New York Giants snapped the Cowboys' 11-game winning streak with a 10-7 victory, preventing Dallas from clinching the NFC East. Dallas (11-2) hadn't lost since the season opener against the Giants (9-4), who solidified their position in the NFC playoff chase as the top-wild card team. ... Denver, which leads the NFL in three-and-outs, snapped an 0-for-17 drought on third-down conversions late in the third quarter of a 13-10 loss at Tennessee when Trevor Siemian found Demaryius Thomas on third-and-14 with a 15-yard pass. ... San Francisco (1-12) led the New York Jets 17-3 at halftime, but fell flat after that and lost a franchise-worst 12th straight game. The 49ers also had just 17 yards passing after halftime — its fewest in 11 years. ... New Orleans' Drew Brees failed to throw for a touchdown for the second straight week, the first time he's done that in consecutive games since 2009. ... Tampa Bay has won five straight for the first time since 2002 , the season the Buccaneers (8-5) went on to win their only Super Bowl. The surge has them in contention for their first playoff berth since 2007. ... Tampa Bay's Jameis Winston was 16 of 26 with no touchdowns or interceptions in the Bucs' 16-11 win over New Orleans. He had thrown for at least one TD in 28 consecutive games to begin his career. ... Atlanta's Matt Ryan surpassed 4,000 yards passing for the sixth consecutive season, tying Peyton Manning for the second-longest such streak in NFL history. Brees reached 4,000 for his league-record 11th straight season.

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MILESTONES

Indianapolis' Frank Gore finished with 74 yards from scrimmage in the Colts' 22-17 loss to Houston to move past Terrell Owens (16,185) for No. 11 on the NFL's list. ... Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri scored five points, ending the day with 104 to extend his NFL record to 19 100-point seasons. ... Houston linebacker Brian Cushing had six tackles against Indianapolis, giving him 639 in his career — breaking DeMeco Ryans' franchise record (636). ... Anquan Boldin's 16-yard TD catch with 19 seconds left in the first half was the 1,063rd reception of his career, moving him past Andre Johnson for 10th place on the NFL's career list. ... Brandon Marshall finished the Jets' 23-17 overtime win at San Francisco with 33 yards receiving on three receptions, bringing his career receiving total to 12,017 yards to become the 25th wide receiver in the NFL history to amass 12,000 or more. He's also the eighth wide receiver in NFL history to accomplish the feat in 165 or fewer games. ... Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes to Jordy Nelson, giving the duo 57 TD passes overall, which ties Brett Favre and Antonio Freeman for the most touchdown passes from a quarterback to a receiver in Packers history.

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STILL WINLESS

Robert Griffin III returned from injury and played for the first time in three months, but didn't stop Cleveland from falling closer to a 0-16 finish as the Cincinnati Bengals built a big early lead and held off the winless Browns 23-10 on Sunday in the snow. The Browns (0-13) lost their 16th straight, going back to Dec. 13 last season. Cleveland has lost 23 of 24 and 31 of 34 since the end of 2014. The Browns have three games left to avoid joining the 2008 Detroit Lions as the NFL's only 0-16 teams. Cleveland is also the seventh team since 1962 to start 0-13, joining the '08 Lions, 1980 Saints, 1976 Buccaneers, 2011 Colts, 2007 Dolphins and 1962 Raiders.

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COMEBACK CATS

Matthew Stafford's go-ahead, 7-yard touchdown with 3:17 left made up for his two interceptions in the fourth quarter, one that was returned for a score, and helped the Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears 20-17. The Lions became the first team in NFL history to have eight comeback wins from fourth-quarter deficits in a season, according to information provided by the team from the Elias Sports Bureau.

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DUBIOUS MARK

Los Angeles' Jeff Fisher, who received a two-year contract extension, tied Dan Reeves' NFL record with his 165th career coaching loss when the Rams got routed by Atlanta 42-14.

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ZIMMER RETURNS

Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer returned after a one-game absence and was on the sideline for the Vikings' 25-16 win at Jacksonville. Zimmer missed last week's game against Dallas because of a detached retina and was unsure earlier in the week whether he would be on the field or in an upstairs box. Zimmer, who needed a doctor's clearance to fly to Jacksonville, was wearing a patch over his right eye. He also had protective glasses on beforehand, but ditched those when the game started.

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BELL TOLLS

Pittsburgh's Le'Veon Bell scored three times and gained a franchise-record 236 yards rushing in a 27-20 win over the Buffalo Bills in the snow. Bell also had 62 yards receiving to account for 298 of the 460 yards gained by Pittsburgh. It was the second three-TD game of his career, and first in which he scored three times rushing. Bell broke the franchise rushing record set by Willie Parker, who had 223 yards against Cleveland on Dec. 7, 2006. Bell is also the second player in NFL history with at least 225 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns and 50 receiving yards in a single game, joining Jim Brown (Nov. 19, 1961).

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LOTS OF MISTAKES

Frequent heavy rain resulted in a sloppy game, including four turnovers by Arizona — all in the first 20 minutes — and three by Miami in the Dolphins' 26-23 win at home. The Dolphins overcame 14 penalties for 118 yards, and Arizona had seven for 54. In addition, the Cardinals' Chandler Catanzaro missed a field-goal attempt and two extra points, with one blocked PAT returned for a 2-point conversion.

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OH, SNAP!

Philadelphia lost long snapper Jon Dorenbos to a right wrist injury, and then backup Brent Celek made a poor snap on a 50-yard field goal attempt and suffered a stinger, leaving Trey Burton to handle the tough task in the Eagles' 27-22 loss to Washington. After the offense lined up to go for fourth-and-1, quarterback Carson Wentz called a timeout. Burton practiced a couple of snaps on the sideline along with linebacker Mychal Kendricks. Holder Donnie Jones had to reach up to catch Burton's snap and Caleb Sturgis took a stutter-step before kicking the ball through the uprights for a 41-yarder.

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BACKWARDS BILLS

Buffalo had minus-1 yards through two series in the first quarter of a 27-20 loss to Pittsburgh, becoming the NFL's first team this season to have negative yards through the first 15 minutes. Buffalo didn't get into positive yardage until its first snap of the second quarter, when LeSean McCoy had a 9-yard run.

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SUPER SPROLES

Philadelphia's Darren Sproles had a 4-yard touchdown catch in the Eagles' 27-22 loss to Washington, his 30th touchdown reception. Sproles is the first player in NFL history to have at least 30 receiving TDs (30), 20 rushing TDs (21), a punt-return TD (seven) and a kick-return TD (two).

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SIDELINED

San Diego running back Melvin Gordon was carted off the field in the first quarter of Sunday's loss to Carolina after injuring his left hip. He's expected to undergo an MRI on Monday. The Chargers suffered another significant injury when this year's first-round pick Joey Bosa stayed in the locker room at halftime to be evaluated for a neck injury. ... Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill limped off with a left knee injury in the third quarter, and the Dolphins fear their quarterback tore his ACL. He'll undergo further testing Monday. ... Jets running back Matt Forte left the game with a knee injury and didn't return. He'll have an MRI. Safety Marcus Gilchrist will undergo season-ending surgery for a patella tendon tear. ... San Francisco wide receiver Torrey Smith left with a concussion after his helmet slammed against the turf following an incomplete pass in the third quarter against the Jets.

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SPEAKING

"We're not going 0-16. We're going to keep fighting to the very end. We still have three more games left." — Cleveland rookie linebacker Emmanuel Ogbah after the Browns dropped to 0-13 and could join the 2008 Detroit Lions as the NFL's only 0-16 teams.

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"How much can I appreciate it? About as much as any Steeler fan. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. When you're running the ball as well as you do, might as well stick to it." — Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on teammate Le'Veon Bell, who ran for a franchise-record 236 yards and had three touchdowns on 38 carries in Pittsburgh's 27-20 win at Buffalo.

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