Analysis

12/18/22

5 min read

Week 15 First-and-10: What You Missed Over Wild Weekend of Football

By The 33rd Team

first and 10 graphic

Ten wonderful, weird and wacky items from a wild weekend of football in Week 15:

1st Down

Wrong Side of History

The stage was set for the soon-to-be chaos in U.S. Bank Stadium as the Colts went confidently into the locker room with a 33-0 lead on the Vikings. During halftime, mascots from various professional sports took the field to play kids in a football game.

Blooper, the Atlanta Braves' mascot, took the challenge personally and trucked four kids into the turf on this run play. Some say it was the inspiration the Vikings needed as they turned the tables in the second half, coming all the way back to defeat the Colts, 36-33.

2nd Down

Brand-New Lions

The Lions continued their brilliance in the second half of the season, notching their sixth win in seven games. The Jets' defense is for real, but Dan Campbell had his team ready. Detroit's special teams came through big with a punt return for a touchdown, and this creative fourth-and-inches play late in the fourth quarter helped seal the victory.

3rd Down

Trap Game?

Next week, Dallas has a huge road game against Philadelphia, which might have caused them to overlook this week's matchup against Jacksonville. It was the Trevor Lawrence show as he threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns. A late Jaguars drive into field-goal range sent the game into overtime, where Dak Prescott threw a game-losing pick-six.

4th Down

Snowball Celebration

It will take far more than freezing temperatures and a snowstorm to phase Bills fans. On Saturday night in Highmark Stadium, "Freeze the Fish" signs were seen in the crowd as Buffalo took on Miami. Early predictions had this as a low-scoring affair, but to give credit where credit is due, the Dolphins showed up to play.

Tua Tagovailoa threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns, ballooning the score to 26-21 at the start of the fourth quarter. However, the Bills held the Dolphins to three fourth-quarter points, pulling out the 32-29 win. After every touchdown, Bills Mafia celebrated with snowball fights. It became such an issue that the officials had to stop the game to calm the crowd down.

5th Down

Football in Fenway

There’s something magical about bowl season and playing football where it shouldn’t be. America’s oldest baseball stadium was transformed to host Louisville and Cincinnati in the inaugural Wasabi Fenway Bowl. Louisville came out on top, 24-7.

Louisville might've had a little extra motivation to win this one since their former head coach, Scott Satterfield, left to take Cincinnati's head coaching job. Talk about awkward vibes.

6th Down

Auntie Chill

The son of five-time Pro Bowler Frank Gore ran wild for Southern Miss on Saturday. Frank Gore Jr. set an NCAA Bowl-game record with 329 rushing yards and three touchdowns, leading his team to victory against Rice, 38-24, in the LendingTree Bowl. After the game, Gore’s aunt found her way onto the field and crashed his postgame interview.

7th Down

Turnover Kings

It was a tale of two halves for Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. They led the Bengals 17-3 in the first half, but Brady's four consecutive second-half turnovers allowed Joe Burrow and his plethora of weapons to get back in the game. It was the second time in Brady's career he turned the ball over on four consecutive drives, having also done so in 2001 vs. the Broncos. Cincinnati put up 27 unanswered points to beat the Buccaneers.

8th Down

It Takes Two

Our own Ronde Barber isn't sure if he's seen a better interception in his lifetime than the tag-team pick pulled off by the Titans' Roger McCreary and Joshua Kalu. Who are we to argue?

9th Down

Herbert Heroics

Tie game, 32 seconds left, no timeouts. Justin Herbert connected with Mike Williams to put the Chargers in position for a game-winning field goal. Cameron Dicker split the uprights from 43 yards out to beat the Titans, 17-14.

10th Down

Tribute To Mike Leach

Mike Leach impacted countless lives through the game of football. He was a coach who would spend extra time with players, talking to reporters and helping people in the community where he coached. Leach transformed multiple college football programs, most notably Washington State and Texas Tech.

At Texas Tech there was a unique moment in time when he needed someone to kick extra points. A student was called out onto the field in between quarters to make a field goal for free rent. The student calmly split the uprights and Leach immediately sent an assistant coach to ask him to suit up and play. The rest is history.

 

Tags: Buffalo Bills, Cameron Dicker, Chandler Jones See More

The 33rd Team

The 33rd Team is a Football Think Tank created by Mike Tannenbaum and Joe Banner.

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