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| Monday, December 9, 2024 |
| Welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! |
| I would like to start things off here by nominating Josh Allen for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Sure, his team lost, and sure, you usually have to wait five years after retiring to be inducted, but I think we need to just put Allen automatically in after what he did on Sunday. |
| The Bills quarterback became the first player in regular-season history to rush for three touchdowns and throw for three touchdowns in the same game. That's six total touchdowns if you're scoring at home, and I am, because he's my Fantasy quarterback and he got me 61 points this week. And I needed every single one of those points because I have to win this week to make the Fantasy playoffs. |
| In the end, though, Allen got Joe Burrowed, which is where a quarterback puts up insane numbers, but still loses. Speaking of Burrow, we'll be making picks for tonight's game between the Bengals and Cowboys, plus, we'll be breaking down Allen's performance. |
| As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. Let's get to the rundown. |
| 1. NFL Week 14 grades: Chiefs and Rams get high marks for wild wins |
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| Every Monday, we hand out grades, so that's exactly what we're going to do right now. Here's a look at the grades from two notable games played Sunday: |
| Chiefs 19-17 over Chargers (Click here for full recap) |
| Chargers takeaway: If the Chargers had been able to do anything in the game's first two quarters, things might have turned out differently. They came away with zero points despite driving into Kansas City territory twice in the first half (Both drives ended with a punt). The offense came alive in the second half with the Chargers scoring on all three of their possessions, but in the end, the small mistakes they made came back to bite them. When you're playing the Chiefs, you can't afford to make mistakes, and the Chargers had a few of those from Justin Herbert overthrowing a wide-open Joshua Palmer on a play that would have been an easy TD in the first half, to several dropped passes to Cameron Dicker getting flagged for an illegal kickoff in the fourth quarter. The Chargers only have themselves to blame for this loss, but this game was so close that they'll probably be feeling confident if these two teams should meet again in the postseason. Grade: B-Chiefs takeaway: With a 13-0 halftime lead, it looked like the Chiefs were going to blow someone out for the first time all season, but nothing is ever that easy for Kansas City. A defensive letdown in the second half allowed the Chargers take the lead, but the Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes and there's no one in the NFL better at winning close games. The Chiefs find a new way to win every week, and this week, it was a last-second field goal from Matthew Wright that went off the left upright. There's no team better at making plays in the clutch on both sides of the ball, and that's why they've now clinched the AFC West for the ninth straight season. Grade: B+ |
| Rams 44-42 over Bills (Click here for full recap) |
| Bills takeaway: The Bills got a superhuman effort from Josh Allen, but it still wasn't enough for the win. Allen became the first player in NFL history to tally three touchdown passes and three touchdown runs in a regular-season game. He helped his MVP candidacy by totaling 424 yards and four touchdowns. The problem for the Bills is that the defense had no answers for Matthew Stafford and a Rams offense that torched them for 457 yards. The defense was especially bad on third down with the Rams converting 11 of 15 attempts. They also let the Rams convert a key fourth down late in the game. The other problem for the Bills is that they're now 1-3 on the road against teams that currently have a winning record and that could be an issue if they're forced to go on the road in the playoffs. Grade: B-Rams takeaway: With their backs against the wall in the NFC playoff race, the Rams turned to their not-so-secret weapons: Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. Nacua torched the Bills defense for 162 yards and a touchdown on 12 catches. Not to be outdone, Kupp also went off with 92 yards and a touchdown. Nacua and Kupp made life easier for Matthew Stafford, who threw for 320 yards in this high-scoring shootout. As good as the offense was, the Rams still needed some help to win and that came from their special teams. Hunter Long returned a blocked punt for a TD that put L.A. in control of the game. The Rams got hot at the end of the season last year and rode that momentum to the playoffs, and this year's team is trying to do the same thing. And after this win, it seems like anything is possible for the Rams. Grade: B+ |
| As for the other 20 grades I handed out in Week 14, you can check those out by clicking here. |
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| 2. NFL Week 14 winners and losers: Falcons fall apart in Kirk Cousins' revenge game |
| You can't have a week of NFL action without having winners and losers, so we have some winners and losers. |
| Cody Benjamin came up with this week's list, and we're going to check out his losers below. |
| LOSERS |
| Falcons QB Kirk Cousins (Falcons lose to Vikings, 42-21). "It was always going to be a high-stakes Sunday for Cousins, trying to not only outduel his old squad but snap a personal slump on a middling Falcons team. Things started fine for the veteran against the Vikings, but the longer the matchup went, the more his 2024 habit of floating passes reared its head, resulting in two picks and an irrevocable hole against Brian Flores' opportunistic group. Atlanta is sinking fast in the ugly NFC South" Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich (Jets to Dolphins, 32-26). "Aaron Rodgers actually had a decent showing under center for the deflated New York Jets, hitting 300 passing yards for the first time in three years and putting Gang Green in position to upset the rival Miami Dolphins. Ulbrich's defense folded in crunch time, though, allowing Miami to steal it in overtime. The Jets have gone 1-7, blowing multiple late fourth-quarter leads, under his watch as interim head coach." |
| If you want to see Cody's list of winners, be sure to click here. |
| 3. 13 crazy stats from Week 14: Josh Allen makes history as Bills pull off super feat |
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| Every Sunday night, I get an email from our research department here at CBS Sports, and every Sunday, that email always includes some amazingly wild stats about the games that were just played. |
| With that in mind, here are 13 crazy stats about Week 14: |
| Josh Allen makes NFL history. The Bills QB became the first player in regular-season history to have three passing touchdowns AND three rushing touchdowns in a game. If you include the postseason, the only other time that's happened came back in 1954 when Otto Graham did it in the NFL Championship game. Allen now has five career games with at least two touchdown passes and two rushing touchdowns, which moves him past Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young (four games) for the most in NFL history.Bills invent new way to lose. Going into Week 14, NFL teams that scored at least six touchdowns with zero turnovers had gone 245-0 in the Super Bowl era (including playoffs). That record is now down to 245-1 with Buffalo's loss. Highest scoring game of the season. The Rams and Bills combined for 86 points, which makes it the highest-scoring game of the season, topping a game that happened just last week when the Steelers beat the Bengals 44-38. The Rams' 44-42 win marked just the second time in in NFL history that two teams combined for five touchdown passes, five rushing touchdowns and no turnovers (The only other time it happened came in a Chiefs-Broncos game back in December 1965). Saquon breaks Eagles' rushing record. With 124 yards against the Panthers, Barkley now has 1,623 yards for the year, which breaks LeSean McCoy's single-season franchise record of 1,607 yards. The most impressive part is that Barkley broke the record in just 13 games. Eagles and Lions keep winning. With Philadelphia's win, the Eagles have now won nine games in a row. When you combine that with Detroit's 11-game winning streak, that means two teams from the same conference both have an active winning streak of at least nine games for the first time since 2009. Going back-to-back is impossible in the NFC East. With the Eagles win on Sunday, the Cowboys have now been eliminated from winning the division, which is only notable, because it means the NFC East will have a new champion for the 20th straight year. The Cowboys won the title last season and the division hasn't had a repeat winner since the Eagles won it three seasons in a row from 2002-04. Jets' historical drought continues. With their loss to the Dolphins, the Jets have been eliminated from playoff contention. The Jets haven't made the playoffs since 2010 and their 14-year postseason drought is the longest active streak in the four major pro sports (MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA). Aaron Rodgers finally throws for 300 yards. The Jets QB went more than 1,000 days without hitting the 300-yard mark, but that drought ended on Sunday when he threw for 339 against the Dolphins. Rodgers' performance marked the first time since December 2021 that he threw for more than 300 yards.Jets and Dolphins give us a scorigami. The Dolphins' 32-26 win over the Jets marked the first time in NFL history that we've seen a game end with that exact final score. It's the 1,089th unique final score in league history. Dynamic duo. Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison both had big games on Sunday. Jefferson caught seven passes for 132 yards and two touchdowns while Addison caught eight passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns. That combined performance marked just the second time in the past 30 years that two teammates combined for at least 250 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns in a game (Randy Moss and Wes Welker hit those numbers in 2009 while playing for the Patriots in a 59-0 rout of the Titans in 2009).Kirk Cousins is cracking. The Falcons QB has thrown eight interceptions with zero touchdowns in his past four games while Atlanta's opponents have thrown 11 touchdowns with zero interceptions. That makes the Falcons the first team in NFL history with zero passing touchdowns and eight or more interceptions thrown in a four-game span where their opponents threw at least eight touchdowns passes with zero interceptions. Brock Bowers sets rookie record. With three receptions against the Buccaneers, Brock Bowers now has 87 for the season, which is a new rookie record for tight ends. Bowers broke the old mark of 86, which was set by Sam LaPorta last season. Raiders getting run over. The Raiders have trailed by at least 10 points in EVERY game they've played this season, making them just the second team in NFL history to hit that futile mark. The Raiders join the Colts, who trailed by double digits in each of their first 13 games backing 1986. |
| If you see any other fun facts, feel free to tweet them at me. |
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| 4. NFL Week 14 overreactions: Do the Eagles have a Jalen Hurts problem? |
| Everyone on the internet loves to overreact to things, and that's especially true when we're talking about the the NFL. With that in mind, Jeff Kerr decided to take a look at several things that happened around the NFL in Week 14 to decide if we're all overreacting. |
Statement: Jalen Hurts is going to cost the Eagles a Super Bowl.
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction. "There's no denying how inconsistent the Eagles' passing game has been over the last two weeks, as Hurts is 25 of 40 (62.5%) for 226 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions. That's 226 passing yards -- over two games. ... but Hurts has just two giveaways over the last nine games, which is why the Eagles are winning. As long as Hurts prevents the turnovers from happening, the Eagles can beat anyone. The passing game is sill something to monitor, and it all starts with Hurts." |
Statement: Sam Darnold is a top-10 QB this year.
Overreaction or reality: Reality. "Darnold had arguably the best game of his career in Sunday's win for the Vikings, finishing with 347 yards and five touchdowns against the Falcons. His 157.9 passer rating was a Vikings single-game record. ... Darnold isn't going to be the MVP of the league, but statistics show he's a top-10 quarterback in the NFL. He's fourth in the league in passing yards (3,299), third in yards per attempt (8.5), third in touchdown passes (28) and third in passer rating (108.1). There isn't a debate on whether Darnold is a top-10 quarterback based on how he's playing -- and the Vikings' record." |
Statement: Chiefs locked up home-field advantage with Buffalo's loss.
Overreaction or reality: Overreaction. "The Bills still have to play the Lions, followed by the Patriots, Jets and Patriots again to close the year. Buffalo may finish with 13 wins -- at worst. The Chiefs have the Browns, Steelers, Texans and Broncos -- their final three opponents have winning records. A Bills win would have been massive to keep pace with the Chiefs, but the race isn't over yet." |
| There are plenty more overreactions from Week 14, and if you want to check those out, be sure to click here. |
| 5. Monday night preview: Picks and best bets for Bengals at Cowboys |
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| With the Cowboys sitting at 5-7 and the Bengals entering the game at 4-8, this might not sound like an attractive game, but there are plenty of reasons to watch. For one, you get to see Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense. Almost every game involving the Bengals has been fun to watch this year (Unless you're a Bengals fan). Also, the Cowboys and Bengals are both surrendering 28.3 points per game this year, which is tied for the second-worst number in the NFL, so we could get a shootout. |
| Oh, and DIsney+ will be presenting a Simpsons themed alternate broadcast of the game in what they're calling a "Simpsons Funday Football" stream. What does that mean? It means that if you watch the game on Disney+, you'll see players from both teams turned into Simpsons characters (If you're wondering what that will look like, you can get a sneak peek here). |
| Anyway, here's one reason why each team should be feeling confident going into tonight: |
| Why the Bengals can win: We have Joe Burrow going up against one of the worst defenses in the NFL, which is good news for Burrow, but bad news for the Cowboys. That being said, Burrow has been putting up big numbers all year and the Bengals have still been losing, so if they can help Burrow tonight by getting their rushing attack going, that would be a good thing considering the Cowboys are 0-5 this season when they surrender 150 yards or more on the ground. The Cowboys will be gunning to stop Burrow, which should open things up on the ground if the Bengals are willing to take it. The Cowboys are 1-7 when their opponent totals 305 yards or more, so that feels like the magic number for the Bengals. Why the Cowboys can win: Don't write the Cowboys off just yet. This team has won two games in a row and they've done it because the defense has come alive, forcing four turnovers over the past two weeks. The Cowboys are 3-1 this season when the force multiple turnovers, so if they can force Burrow to make some mistakes, that will keep Dallas in the game. Also, the Bengals have one of the worst passing defenses in the NFL, so if Cooper Rush can take advantage of that, then the Cowboys will be primed to pull off the upset. |
| You can get a full preview of the game from Jared Dubin by clicking here. |
| If you're thinking about betting on the game, here are a couple of props. |
ONE PLAYER PROP I LIKE: Cooper Rush OVER 234.5 passing yards (-115 at BetMGM): I like this prop for three reasons: First, Rush will be going up against a Bengals defense that is surrendering 241 passing yards per game this year, which is the sixth-worst number in the NFL. Second, if the Bengals turn this into a shootout, the Cowboys are going to have to throw the ball to keep up. And finally, Rush has gone over this number in two of his past three games, which gives me some faith that he'll be able to do it tonight.
ONE KICKING PROP I LIKE TONIGHT: Brandon Aubrey OVER 7.5 points (+105 at BetMGM): If you can get plus money on a kicking prop involving Aubrey, you have to take it. The big reason I like this is because the Cowboys' offense has actually looked competent over the past two weeks. With Cooper Rush running the show, the Cowboys have given Aubrey multiple scoring opportunities during their two-game winning streak. Aubrey has averaged 9.5 points over the past two weeks and I won't be surprised if he hits double digits tonight. |
| And in case you're wondering, my props are now 33-26 on the season (16-12 on kicker props and 17-14 on all other props). |
| We also have a full betting preview from SportsLine that you can check out here. |
| And finally, here are our picks for the game. |
BENGALS-COWBOYS PICKS
My pick: Bengals 34-27 over Cowboys
Dubin's pick: Bengals 30-17 over Cowboys
Prisco's pick: Cowboys 27-26 over Bengals |
| Over on our CBSSports.com picks page, our experts are somewhat split on this game with five of us taking the Bengals and three of us taking the Cowboys in a game where Cincinnati is favored by 5.5 points. |
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| 6. Extra points: NFL headed to Berlin in 2025 |
| It was a busy weekend in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. |
| NFL getting set to play first game in Berlin. The NFL has been playing games in Germany since 2022 with Munich and Frankfurt both getting to host games over the past three seasons. In 2025, a new German city will enter the fray with Berlin expected to host the annual Germany game, CBS Sports Lead NFL Insider Jonathan Jones has reported. You can read more details on Berlin here. Derek Carr feared to have fractured left hand. During the Saints' win over the Giants on Sunday, Carr appeared to suffer a fracture in his left hand. Since it's not his throwing hand, it does seem possible that he could try to play through it, but it seems unlikely that he'll be able to play this week against the Commanders. You can read more about Carr's injury here. Raiders lose Aidan O'Connell. The Raiders QB had to be carted off the field on Sunday after suffering an injury to his left knee. After the game, Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said the injury "didn't look good." If O'Connell is done for the season, that means the Raiders will be turning to Desmond Ridder for their final four games. NFL closes case on Deshaun Watson investigation. The Browns QB had been under investigation since September after he was accused for sexual assault, stemming from an incident in 2020, but the league has closed the investigation due to "insufficient evidence." Watson settled with the accuser in October and the accuser refused to meet with the NFL. You can read more about Watson's case here. |
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