1. New England’s perfect record has gone, but did they also come face to face with their own mortality?
Last night’s 30-24 comeback victory by the Denver Broncos dropped the Patriots to 10-1, ending their hopes of repeating their 16-0 campaign of 2007, but New England looks to have dodged a far more serious loss as tight end Rob Gronkowski awaits diagnosis on a second-half knee injury.
The New England offence was already down to its bare bones following injuries to receivers Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola and running back Dion Lewis, but it seemed like the Pats could overcome anything as long as the reassuring presences of the dominant Gronkowski and quarterback Tom Brady remained in the line-up.
Then this happened…
Prayers out to Gronk! Does not look good. pic.twitter.com/EwYlv0s2b4
— ACL Recovery Club (@ACLrecoveryCLUB) November 30, 2015
Panic ensued as Gronkowski was taken from the field on a cart. Brady was spotted looking utterly crestfallen as his top target was wheeled away.
However, there were positive signs to be had as he was spotted back up on his feet after being seen by doctors, and early reports suggested the injury may not be as serious as it first appeared.
Gronk just left the x Ray room pic.twitter.com/nGcMOD4keS
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) November 30, 2015
Sources tell me pending MRI, Rob Gronkowski's injury is not as bad as it looked. #Patriots
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) November 30, 2015
The belief is #Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski suffered no structural damage in his knee. Tests coming today, but his time out should be minimal
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 30, 2015
Sounds like #Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski (knee) is unlikely to miss more than one game, I'm told. In fact, he may not even miss that.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 30, 2015
Without Gronk on the field, the Patriots offence spluttered as the Broncos roared back from 14 points down to force overtime and ultimately win the game, and that impotence is the shadow that hangs over the team today as they await the medical reports and realise they dodged a huge bullet.
With a reasonably easy remaining fixture list, the Pats might be well advised to rest Gronkowski for a couple of weeks and wrap him in cotton wool for the postseason, regardless of the severity of his injury.
With Gronk joining Edleman, Lewis and Amendola on injury list, Tom Brady without all 4 of his most targeted receivers
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) November 30, 2015
2. Did Brock Osweiler retire Peyton Manning last night?
Potentially, yes.
Aging superstar Manning’s poor play this season, combined with the injury that currently has him is sitting out a couple weeks, has given understudy Osweiler to seize the opportunity to rise to the top of the Denver depth chart for good.
Osweiler, a second round pick in 2012, made his first career start in last week’s low-scoring win over Chicago, but faced a much tougher proposition last night, a prime-time match-up with Tom Brady in the midst of a snowstorm that made playing conditions even more difficult.
Yet despite a slow start, some awful drops by receiver Demaryius Thomas and several big hits from Patriots defenders, Osweiler showed great poise to keep it together and eventually lead the Broncos back from a 21-7 deficit to win the game in overtime and keep the 9-2 Broncos three games ahead of the hard-charging Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.
The numbers might not jump off the page – completing 23 of 42 passes for 270 yards and a touchdown – but his performances might just be enough to convince the Broncos boss John Elway to keep Manning in his seat.
Too early to say much about Osweiler long term, but the game is not too big for him. That alone is impressive.
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) November 30, 2015
Brock Osweiler: 1st QB to lead team to win vs Patriots when down 14+ in 4th quarter since Peyton Manning, 2009 Colts
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 30, 2015
Elway's already made the decision. Just don't know if he told Peyton yet or not https://t.co/TYTNcxT11s
— John Middlekauff (@JohnMiddlekauff) November 30, 2015
3. Is Big Ben evidence of a change in concussion culture in the NFL?
Ben Roethlisberger might have taken himself out of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defeat in Seattle last night, but nobody is daring to criticise the quarterback after he made the sensible decision to self-report a head injury during the game.
The 33-year-old picked up the injury on a third down late in the fourth quarter as the Steelers looked for the touchdown that would give the lead, Roethlisberger admitted feeling concussion symptoms on the sideline and was taken out of the game.
#Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger entered the NFL's concussion protocol after self-reporting symptoms on the sideline late in the 4th quarter.
— Burt Lauten (@SteelersPRBurt) November 30, 2015
Back-up Landry Jones entered the game and was picked off late by the Seattle defence as Pittsburgh lost a crucial game that knocked them out of the current AFC wild card places, but Roethlisberger is to be commended for putting his health first.
Hopefully, seeing someone with the visibility of the two-time Super Bowl winner, who is now in the league’s concussion protocol, taking the issue so seriously will encourage others to make the same call.
4. Who can stop Carolina?
With the fall of New England, the Carolina Panthers are the last remaining undefeated team in the NFL, as they routed the Dallas Cowboys, reinjured the broken collarbone of quarterback Tony Romo and ended Dallas’s faint postseason hopes.
Remarkably, despite their stellar play on both sides of the ball, Carolina have flown under the radar a little as fans and the media focused on the Patriots’ pursuit of perfection, but now the Panthers stand alone at 11-0 and the spotlight is deservedly on them.
With Cam Newton playing MVP-calibre football and stud players at every level of the defence, there is no reason to suspect that Carolina will fold under the pressure, so will any team stop them from going 16-0?
Today marks 1-year anniversary of Panthers' last regular-season loss. Their regular-season win streak now at 365 days – and counting.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 30, 2015
Here is there remaining schedule: at New Orleans, Atlanta, at NY Giants, at Atlanta, Tampa Bay.
The Panthers should be heavily favoured in all five of those games, but with four divisional encounters, plus a trip to the Meadowlands to take on the NFC East contending Giants make a slip-up more likely than not at some point.
Our money is on the Week 16 visit to the Georgia Dome, when Cam and co might well have already tied up a No.1 postseason seed and Atlanta might still be fighting tooth and nail for a wild card.
5. Which pretenders have been weeded out this week?
Remember last week when we gave you the rundown of the 14 teams clumped in the middle of the NFL pack? Well 10 of those 14 teams met in Week 12 and for some it meant the end of any realistic postseason hopes.
Miami were trounced by the New York Jets and New Orleans were stifled by the Houston Texans to fall to 4-7, as did the St Louis Rams and Jacksonville Jaguars, while the Philadelphia Eagles looked terrible yet again in their defeat by Detroit but remain just a game out of the NFC East lead after Washington beat the Giants to join them at 5-6.
Moving up once again are the Jets and the Chiefs (both 6-5), who came from 10 points down to beat the Buffalo Bills (5-6), while Indianapolis and Houston, who have now conceded just 35 points in four games, both had impressive wins to stay tied atop the AFC South at 6-5.
In the NFC, Seattle (6-5) leapfrogged Atlanta (6-5) into the final wild card spot, while victory over struggling Green Bay kept Chicago (5-6) in the hunt.
A Moment in Time with JJ Watt:
1) Sack Drew Brees
2) Bust out the HR Derby Dance #NOvsHOU https://t.co/LY0ZQ66dtp— NFL (@NFL) November 29, 2015
Monday Night Football – Baltimore Ravens (3-7) at Cleveland Browns (2-8)
Nobody outside of Baltimore, Cleveland or Las Vegas give a flying —- about this game, so good luck to ESPN and their ratings.
Two struggling AFC North teams with nothing to play for but pride, and two back-up quarterbacks on the field.Josh McCown at least looked mildly competent before he was briefly replaced by Johnny Manziel, so we’ll take the Browns over Ravens No.2 Matt Schaub, who replaces the injured Joe Flacco, and was last seen chucking pick sixes to the opposition at regular intervals.
And finally…
We brought you Odell Beckham’s masterful touchdown catch last night, but this is the other side of the coin.
When things are not going your way, they really don’t go you way, and despite a brave display against the superior Arizona Cardinals, the San Francisco 49ers’ 19-13 defeat will be mostly remembered for this dropped interception by cornerback Tramaine Brock.
@T26Brock @DrinkBODYARMOR Some extra catching drills this week? #YouOwePushups pic.twitter.com/SILvI6Lxvq
— Gabbert For MVP (@Jared_Schablein) November 30, 2015
Week 12 results:
Detroit 45-14 Philadelphia
Carolina 33-14 Dallas
Chicago 17-13 Green Bay
Oakland 24-21 Tennessee
Kansas City 30-22 Buffalo
Indianapolis 25-12 Tampa Bay
Washington 20-14 NY Giants
Houston 24-6 New Orleans
Minnesota 20-10 Atlanta
Cincinnati 31-7 St Louis
San Diego 31-25 Jacksonville
Arizona 19-13 San Francisco
NY Jets 38-20 Miami
Seattle 39-30 Pittsburgh
Denver 30-24 New England OT
