Analysis

12/11/22

5 min read

Week 14 First-and-10: What You Missed Over a Wild Weekend of Football

first and 10 graphic

Ten wonderful, weird and wacky items from a wild weekend of football in Week 14:

1st Down

Tiptoe TD

Football is a game of inches. Sometimes millimeters. En route to defeating the Titans on Sunday, Jacksonville’s Zay Jones walked the tightrope hauling in this incredible catch. 

2nd Down

Heart of a Lion

Lions OC Ben Johnson, a hot head-coaching candidate, went deep into his play-calling bag against the Vikings. Early in the third quarter, he called a successful fake punt from inside his own 30-yard line. Then on third down with two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Johnson caught everyone by surprise again with a designed pass to 335-pound tackle Penei Swell. The big man’s catch led to a field goal that sealed Detroit's fifth win in six games. 

3rd Down

Air Knox

Nothing was stopping Dawson Knox from getting into the end zone, not even gravity itself. Knox lifts, flips and somehow still breaks the plane for six. This play was mesmerizing, to say the least.

4th Down

More Mahomes Magic

A casual Kareem hook-shot pass for a touchdown, simply unreal from Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs held off the Broncos for a 34-28 victory.

5th Down

Brick Walls Be Warned

The 123rd Army vs. Navy game was held Saturday and featured sweet uniforms and patriotism. Most of the game was spent on the ground. So much so that both teams did not complete a pass until the fourth quarter. In the first overtime game of the rivalry's existence, Army pulled out the victory, 20-17. This was the scene in Army’s locker room after the game. Chills.

Navy's locker room was not as celebratory. On Sunday, the Midshipmen fired Ken Niumatalolo, who had been leading the program since 2007, had three double-digit-win seasons and bowl appearances in six straight years and 9 of 10.

6th Down

Chase-ing Records

No Tee Higgins, no Tyler Boyd, no Hayden Hurst, no problem. Joe Burrow was dealing to Ja’Marr Chase against the Browns, connecting with him 10 times for 119 yards and a touchdown. Chase became the second player in NFL history with more than 2,000 receiving yards and 20-plus receiving touchdowns at age 22 or younger. The other? None other than the great Randy Moss.

7th Down

FCS Playoff Pandemonium

One week removed from notching a SportsCenter top-10 play, Incarnate Word quarterback Lindsey Scott Jr. delivered another thrilling performance. In a quarterfinal playoff game, UIW and Sacramento State combined for an FCS-record 129 points. The back and forth slugfest ended with UIW on top, 66-63.

Scott now holds the FCS single-season record for most passing touchdowns with 59 and is only three away from breaking the NCAA record. UIW’s high octane offense plays North Dakota State in the FCS Semifinals on Thursday.

8th Down

A Punter's Worst Nightmare

This is something that doesn’t happen every day. Giants punter Jamie Gillan was flagged for an illegal kick of the football. Turns out, the ball slipped out of his hand right before he was ready to punt. This caused Gillan, a former high school rugby player, to frantically kick the ball away Rugby-style, which resulted in a flag. Pat McAfee is here to explain, from a punter's point of view.

9th Down

Let Russ Cook

Before leaving Sunday's loss to the Chiefs with a head injury, Russell Wilson was having one of his better games this season. This was an exception.

10th Down

High Praise for Brock

Brock Purdy has taken the football world by storm. He went from being the last pick (Mr. Irrelevant) in this year's NFL draft to winning two games in a row for the 49ers. Purdy got his shot last week against Miami when Jimmy Garoppolo left the game in the first quarter due to injury. He threw for 210 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. But this week against the Bucs was judgment week. Could he handle the pressure of playing Tom Brady? Does he really belong in the NFL? Purdy silenced all doubt by beating Tom Brady and the Bucs, 35-7.  He completed 16 of 21 passes for 185 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. His performance even left Jerry Rice a believer.

Tags: 1st-and-10

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