To begin, the somber notes emanating from Cincinnati Monday night in the wake of Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s on-field cardiac arrest dominated the NFL landscape by Tuesday morning. Needless to say, the collective NFL world – and SKA, believe it or not – is hoping and praying for a full recovery for Hamlin, and wish him and his family all support and best cases, such as they are. These tragedies can serve to unite teams and communities, and we’ve witnessed great examples of that the last couple of days.
But games were played prior to Monday night. This is about those games.
Yeah.
Browns 24, Commanders 10
The Browns looked pretty solid defensively Sunday, although they were surely licking their collective defensive chops at the prospect of injured Commanders QB Carson Wentz and his well-documented shaky confidence being named the starter for the Commanders the previous day. Wentz delivered with three interceptions, including two to S Grant Delpit, that were essentially forced by the Browns’ pass rush and edge rusher Myles Garrett (1.5 sacks) in particular. These picks resulted in short fields for the Cleveland offense and QB Deshaun Watson, who threw three TD passes despite little yardage to show for it. Browns RB Nick Chubb had his proverbial way with the Washington defense, picking up 104 yards on only 14 carries. WR Amari Cooper posted 105 yards on three receptions, two for TDs. The Browns, per the eye test, didn’t play particularly well. Thanks to Wentz, they didn’t have to.
Steelers 16, Ravens 13
As the ’22/’23 NFL season has twisted and turned, no team has been more baffling and hard to define than the Ravens. The injury status of nearly-erstwhile starting QB Lamar Jackson notwithstanding, this offense has been declining for the better part of two months – well before Jackson’ injury occurred. Fans…well, this fan anyway – are running thin on patience while waiting for the offense to revive, which will probably not happen this week at minimum, considering Jackson has yet to practice. Backup QB Tyler Huntley has tried his best to be a game manager of sorts in the context of the Ravens’ questionable offensive schemes, but he simply isn’t Jackson, which fans were rudely reminded of as he threw a devastating interception while driving for a game-tying field goal in the final minute of the fourth quarter. The Ravens had little to feel good about overall offensively outside of the weekly improvement shown by recovering RB J.K. Dobbins (17 carries, 93 yards), and a bounce-back performance from TE Mark Andrews (9 catches, 100 yards).
Pittsburgh ran the ball on the Ravens all day to set up their few opportunities, and the Ravens unexpectedly capitulated, allowing Steelers RB Najee Harris to post one of his best days, with 111 rushing yards and the game-winning TD reception. The Steelers’ passing game, outside of Harris’ late TD, was limited/bordering anemic, with TE Pat Freiermuth leading the way (3 catches, 36 yards). QB Kenny Pickett wasn’t too bad, essentially playing carefully and not turning the ball over. But the hero remained Harris and fellow RB Jaylen Warren, who added another 76 yards on the ground. Defensively, the Steelers took advantage of the Ravens’ offensive difficulties. OLB T.J. Watt sacked Huntley once and hurried him countless other times, as Watt faced little resistance from any single blocker all day. Fellow LB Robert Spillane contributed nine tackles, as did S Minkah Fitzpatrick, effectively countering a bizarre first half pileup involving DE Cameron Heyward inadvertently hitting a referee, costing his team 15 yards and leading to a Ravens score.
Again, not a great day for the Steelers, but it wasn’t a day that required perfection.
Note: The Bengals/Bills game Monday was suspended after the Hamlin injury; rescheduling or cancellation issues remain in discussion. Stay tuned.
Enjoy the week.
