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If Week 7 confirmed one thing, itâs that weâre in the midst one of the wildest, most entertaining NFL seasons ever. We saw a few lopsided blowouts, sure, but the week was headlined by another six one-score games and a bevy of edge-of-your-seat endings: When a Marcus Mariota touchdown pass pulled the Titans to within one point of the Chargers with 35 seconds to go, head coach Mike Vrabel opted to go for two and the win rather than play for overtimeâbut Mariotaâs throw missed its mark. The Buccaneers beat the Browns 26-23 in overtime thanks to a 59-yard Chandler Catanzaro field goal. The Patriots survived the Bearsâ last-second Hail Mary attempt by stopping receiver Kevin White at the 1-yard line after Mitchell Trubisky somehow found him in a group of defenders. The Saints beat the Ravens 24-23 when Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker missed his first extra point ever with 24 seconds to go. And the Redskins squeaked past the Cowboys 20-17 when Brett Maher bounced a 52-yard field goal try off the left upright.
Those plays were just the tip of the iceberg. Sundayâs action delivered plenty of excitement and late-game thrills, but a few moments stood out as more pivotal or illuminating than the rest. Hereâs a handful of the biggest game-changing plays, along with what they can tell us about both the teams involved and the season at large.
James Whiteâs Fourth-Quarter Touchdown âSweepâ
The Patriots offense, already short-handed due to Rob Gronkowskiâs late-week back injury, took another hit early in the second quarter, when starting running back Sony Michel went down with a knee injury. New England lacks a backup similar to Michel, whoâd helped revive a listless offense the past month with a LeGarrette Blountâlike physicality between the tacklesâso offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Tom Brady did what they do best: adapted the game plan on the fly.
After running the ball an average of 34 times a game over the past three weeks, the Pats pivoted away from a ground-and-pound approach and made pass-catching specialist James White the focal point of the offense. The 26-year-old veteran did pick up some of the slack on the ground, running the ball a career-high 11 times for 40 yardsâbut made his mark through the air, leading the team in targets (10) and receptions (eight) while gaining 57 yards and scoring twice. His first touchdownâan option route from the 5-yard line on which he torched linebacker Leonard Floyd in the open fieldâgave New England a 21-17 lead at the half. His second touchdown helped seal the game for good: With the Patriots leading 31-24 and 8:44 to go, White lined up on the left wing and scored on what ended up being an, uh, well-disguised sweep. Instead of sprinting across the formation as expected on this type of play, White lulled Chicagoâs defense to sleep, jogging in toward Brady on what looked to be a simple motion back into the backfield; at the snap, though, he hit the afterburners, exploded down the line, and got the angle on the Bearsâ edge defenders to find pay dirt.
A short pass + a quick run = @SweetFeet_White's second TD of the day.#NEvsCHI | #GoPats pic.twitter.com/n4mZM17e1Y
â New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 21, 2018
That score pushed the Patriotsâ lead to 38-24 and gave them a 97.3 percent win probability, according to numberFire. Theyâd go on to hold off a Bears comeback attempt to win their fourth straight game and improve to 5-2 on the season.
No Gronk, no Michel, no matter: The Patriots offense, which had finally picked up steam over the past few games after getting reinforcements in the form of wide receivers Josh Gordon and Julian Edelman, didnât revert to the listless unit we saw early in the year. White picked up the lionâs share of the slack for his injured teammatesâand could keep up his production moving forward regardless of how much time Michel misses. Including last yearâs postseason, White has scored 11 touchdowns in his past 10 games. Heâs on pace to shatter career highs in rushing yards, receiving yards, and total touchdowns.
Kerryon Johnsonâs 71-Yard Run
âBalanceâ is a relative term in the modern NFLâeven the leagueâs most dedicated smashmouth teams still pass more than they runâbut for the Lions, balance has been a foreign concept for most of the past four seasons. That finally may be changing, thanks to the teamâs retooled and mostly healthy offensive line and a new two-headed running back rotation of LeGarrette Blount and Kerryon Johnson. Blount is the type of battering ram the Lions have lacked in previous yearsâDetroit finished dead last in short-yardage and goal-line âpower situationsâ last season but leads the league in the same metric this year, according to Football Outsidersâand the 31-year-old vet punched in a touchdown from 2 yards out Sunday, his third of the year. More importantly, though, Johnson has emerged as a big-play creator everywhere else on the field, showcasing explosive speed and elusiveness with the ball in his hands.
On the first play of the second quarter, with Detroit backed up deep into its own end, the rookie back out of Auburn took the handoff and sprinted through a crease, accelerating through Miamiâs defense before getting tracked down 71 yards downfield.
.@AyeyoKEJO with 100+ yards already pic.twitter.com/rsGGsMJXjM
â The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) October 21, 2018
On that field-flipping play, Johnson hit 21.21 miles per hourâthe third-fastest speed on a rush attempt this year, according to NFL Next Gen Statsâand took the Lions to the Dolphinsâ 20-yard line and into scoring range. The drive stalled, but a Matt Prater field goal pushed the Lionsâ lead to 10-0 and gave them a win probability of 76.9 percent. Theyâd go on to win 32-21 and improve to 3-3.
Detroit racked up 35 rush attempts for 248 yards, the most for any Lions team since 1997, against a strong Dolphins front that had come into the week ranked 10th in rush defense DVOA. Johnson finally got a bigger piece of the offensive pie, carrying the ball a career-high 19 times for 158 yards. The teamâs newfound punch in the ground game took some pressure off of quarterback Matt Stafford, whoâs had to do it all for the one-dimensional Detroit offense for virtually his entire career. The Lionsâ balanced, unpredictable approach kept the Dolphins on their heels while Stafford efficiently picked them apart, completing 18 of 22 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns. The teamâs passing attackâwith Stafford, Golden Tate, Marvin Jones, and upcoming star Kenny Golladayâstill makes up the backbone of coordinator Jim Bob Cooterâs offense. But with a viable ground game, Detroit has an insurance policy for those days when Staffordâs not at his best. The team just has to keep feeding Kerryon.
Alshon Jefferyâs 11-Yard Touchdown Catch
Carson Wentz has put fears of a postâACL tear slump to rest. The third-year quarterback, who took back the reins as the teamâs starter in Week 3, notched his fourth straight strong performance Sunday, posting a 119.6 passer rating while completing 30 of 37 passes for 310 yards and two touchdowns in the Eaglesâ 21-17 loss to the Panthers. Heâs averaged 311 yards a game and tossed nine touchdowns and zero picks in the teamâs past four outings, showing few signs his surgically repaired knee is holding him back. Heâs gotten a boost from another player coming off major injury, receiver Alshon Jeffery, who returned in Week 4 to hit the ground running as the teamâs mismatch-creating outside threat.
Jeffery, who had offseason surgery to repair his rotator cuff, has been mostly unguardable in his first four games back. Sunday, the 6-foot-3, 218-pound pass catcher grabbed seven balls for 88 yards and a touchdown, which came on a second-quarter isolation route and gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
Alshon Jeffery or Ronaldo? pic.twitter.com/ZE2yUH8O0o
â Def Pen Sports (@DefPenSports) October 21, 2018
Jeffery, who also had a leaping fourth-down sideline grab and caught a deep bomb, has emerged as more than just a complementary piece of a balanced offense. Despite the loss, heâs racked up 12 touchdowns in the past 17 games that Wentz has started and is looking like a dominant no. 1 receiver for the Eagles. His chemistry with Wentz has reached a whole new level. This could be the beginning of a beautiful quarterback-receiver relationship.
Cam Newton Hits Devin Funchess for a Touchdown
Itâd be easier to get excited about the Wentz-Jeffery relationship had the Panthers not erased a 17-0 fourth-quarter deficit to come back and win the game. And Carolina needed a crucial seven-play, 87-yard touchdown drive midway through the fourth quarter to give itself a chance to do just that.
Trailing 17-6, the Panthers got the ball back at their own 13-yard line with 6:52 to go. They went right into their no-huddle, hurry-up offense, turning up the tempo to get the Eagles on their heels. It worked: The Panthers sliced through the bewildered defense with relative ease; Newton completed five straight passes for 61 yards and added an 8-yard scramble to set up Carolina at the Philly 18-yard line. Thatâs when he found Funchess in the end zone on a slick double move.
Cam âĄď¸ Funchess!
â FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 21, 2018
The Panthers close the gap to 3-pts with under 4 min to play #CARvsPHI pic.twitter.com/wdqXs7aVsP
The drive, along with the successful two-point conversion, cut the Eaglesâ lead to 17-14, took just 2:44 off the fourth-quarter clock, and gave the Panthers new life, boosting their win probability by 22 points (to 25 percent). Newton and the Carolina offense would need another big driveâand a huge fourth-down conversionâlate in the game to take the lead and seal the win, but those heroics would never have been possible without the decisive, aggressive, and, most importantly, quick scoring drive in the middle of the quarter.
The Panthers are perfectly built for those no-huddle looks, and it wouldnât be surprising if they go to those more and more as the season goes on. With Newton under center and backed by Ăźber-versatile offensive weapons like Christian McCaffrey, D.J. Moore, and Curtis Samuel, Carolina can vary its formations and strategy without substituting by running the ball against light fronts or passing it if opponents get stuck in base looks. The Panthers have the athleticism and speed on offense to tire out teams, and the best part is they can do it all game long without hurting their defense.
The no-huddle isnât always synonymous with the hurry-up: Even when the Panthers donât huddle, they can still go to the line and let seconds tick off the play clockâgiving Newton the time to survey the defense and get the right play dialed up. As Newton said after the game, âOur edge at some particular times is the hurry-up. ... Hurry-up doesnât mean panic.â
Andrew Luck Finds T.Y. Hilton for a Touchdown
Hilton wasnât lying when he said after the game, in reference to the Colts offense, that âit seemed like they missed me.â
During the teamâs previous three games, all losses, Luck shouldered an enormous weight, throwing the ball 164 times for 1,130 yardsâan average of almost 55 attempts and 376.7 yards a gameâwhile collecting 11 touchdowns and five picks. Luckâs stat line seems more impressive knowing he did it mostly without Hilton, running back Marlon Mack, and trusty tight end Jack Doyle, all of whom missed time with hamstring injuries. Indyâs injury spate left Luck throwing to a ragtag collection of late-round picks, middling veterans, and no-namers, who combined to drop an unbelievable 18 passes in that three-game stretch.
Hiltonâs return after two weeks out was just the spark this Colts offense needed. The 28-year-old pass catcher didnât post an eye-popping lineâjust four catches for 25 yardsâbut he didnât have to: He made the most of his four targets by finding the end zone twice. His first score all but put the game away and demonstrated the type of quarterback-receiver chemistry that can be earned only with years of experience together. On a third-and-4 from the 5-yard line, Luck escaped pressure, drifted to his right, and, just when it looked like he was going to throw the ball away and settle for a field goal, fired a pass through three defenders and right into Hiltonâs waiting arms.
Andrew Luck scrambles and hits TY Hilton for a #Colts TD pic.twitter.com/UxKri3RU2c
â Def Pen Sports (@DefPenSports) October 21, 2018
That score pushed the Coltsâ lead to 21-0 and gave them a 98 percent win probability going into the half. They coasted from there, with the help of another Hilton touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
ANOTHER ONE FOR #THEGHOST! pic.twitter.com/KCCVTH0C9k
â Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) October 21, 2018
Mack made a huge difference for the Colts offense too. The second-year pro carried the ball 19 times for 126 yards and a touchdown, giving us a glimpse of what the Indianapolis unit can do when healthyâagainst a Buffalo defense that came into the week ranked third in DVOA, no less. Luckâs arm seems to have gotten stronger as the seasonâs worn onâthereâs more zip on his passes and heâs attacking further downfieldâbut, crucially, he didnât have to throw the ball 55 times for the Colts to win: The veteran passer tossed four touchdowns on just 23 attempts.
DeAndre Hopkinsâs One-hander
I canât end this column without mentioning Hopkins. Itâs almost trite at this point to write about how good the sixth-year pass catcher is, but he continues to make an astonishing play or two just about every week. Sunday, he lined up against cornerback Jalen Ramsey, got off the press, and separated late with a subtle push-off before reeling in the pass with one hand.
DeAndre Hopkins burns Jalen Ramsey pic.twitter.com/R6SEnZkLzk
â 360°FantasyFootball (@360FFB) October 21, 2018
Later in the game, Hopkins again beat Ramsey, this time for a touchdown. That play was the final nail in the Jaguarsâ coffin.
DeAndre Hopkins beats Jalen Ramsey for a 10-yard TD. His hands are insane.pic.twitter.com/aclwZLtIsJ
â NFL Update (@MySportsUpdate) October 21, 2018
For all thatâs wrong with the Houston offense, including its porous offensive line, the lack of a consistent run game, and the at-times-mystifying play-calling from head coach Bill OâBrien, Hopkins continues to be the most matchup-proof, coach-proof, and just-about-every-variable-proof pass catcher in the NFL. The guy just gets it done, and he gives the Texans a chance to win every week.