A quick recap of five early games from the NFL’s Week 14 action.
Steelers 42, Bengals 21
Taking a 21-20 lead into the fourth quarter, Cincinnati (8-4-1) gave up three touchdowns to turn a tight game into a blowout, their second straight blowout loss against an AFC North opponent at home. A week after a pathetic defeat at the hands of the Saints at Heinz field, the Steelers (8-5) made the call today to play real football. Now they just need to do it two weeks in a row.
Game Leaders:
- Steelers – Ben Roethlisberger: 25-of-39 for 350 yards and 3 TDs
- Steelers – Le’Veon Bell: 26 carries for 185 yards and 2 TDs
- Steelers – Antonio Brown: 8 catches, 117 yards
- Steelers – Martavis Bryant: 4 catches, 109 yards, 1 TD
- Steelers – Arthur Moats – 2 sacks
- Bengals – Vincent Rey: 15 tackles, 6 solo
[divider]Rams 24, Redskins 0
The Rams (6-7) recorded their first consecutive game shutouts since 1945 thanks to a hapless Washington (3-10) offense and a Jim Haslett defense that couldn’t stop a snail riding a turtle walking backwards. Before last week’s blanking of the Raiders, the Rams had only posted three shutouts since moving to St. Louis.
Game Leaders:
- Rams – Robert Quinn and James Laurenitis: 1.5 sacks each
- Rams – Jared Cook: 2 TDs
- Redskins – Ryan Kerrigan: 2 sacks
- Redskins: Will Compton: 14 tackles, 9 solo
[divider] Giants 36, Titans 7
The Giants (4-9) stopped their own 7-game losing streak by giving the Titans (2-11) their own 7-gamer. The Titans’ last victory was a 16-14 win over Jacksonville back on Oct. 12. The good news for Tennessee is that Jacksonville is coming back up on the schedule in two weeks. Odell Beckham Jr and Andre Williams scored the only touchdowns for New York, but Giants kicker Josh Brown probably hit every incentive in his contract in this one.
Game Leaders:
- Giants – Josh Brown: 5-for-5 field goals. Long 52. 18 points.
- Giants – Williams: 24 carries, 131 yards, 1 TD
- Giants – Beckham Jr.: 11 catches, 130 yards, 1 TD
- Titans – Michael Griffin and Jason McCourty each finished with 10 tackles and 9 solos
[divider] Panthers 41, Saints 10
The Saints (5-8) and Panthers (4-8-1) did all they could Sunday to make sure a team with the losing record is going to make the playoffs in the NFC. New Orleans used to be unbeatable in the Superdome, but didn’t manage to get on the board Sundya until a Shayne Graham 37-yard field goal in the second quarter. But the good news for Benjamin Watson fantasy owners, he got a garbage-time touchdown with five minutes to go. The only time the defense showed up for the Saints is when they got their feelings hurt by Cam Newton’s touchdown celebration in the first quarter and started 22-man Royal Rumble wrestling match that spilled over into the Superdome tunnels.
Game Leaders:
- Panthers – Cam Newton: 3 TD passes, 1 TD run.
- Panthers – Jonathan Stewart: 20 carries, 155 yards, 1 TD
- Panthers – Greg Olsen: 10 catches, 1 TD
- Saints – Curtis Lofton: 17 tackles, 11 solo
[divider]Vikings 30, Jets 24
For most of the first half the Jets (2-11) made late-season survivor pool players pretty nervous, but since Geno Smith is still their quarterback, there was nothing really to fear. In Smith’s favor, he only served up one interception in probably his best performance since a Week 1 19-14 win over the Raiders. Teddy Bridgewater again showed why he was the best rookie quarterback in the last draft by not only giving his team the lead before halftime with a 56-yard touchdown pass to Charles Johnson, but also the win in overtime with an 87-yard strike to Jarius Wright.
Leaders:
- Vikings – Bridgwater: 19-of-27 for 309 yards, 2 TDs and 117.7 passer rating
- Vikings – Wright: 4 catches, 123 yards, 1 TD
- Vikings – Johnson: 4 catches, 103 yards, 1 TD
- Vikings – Chad Greenway and Robert Blanton had 11 tackles apiece.
- Jets – Percy Harvin: 6 catches, 124 yards 1 TD
