Breathe easy Redskins fans, RGIII’s knee looks like it’s going to be fine. He took a shot from Haloti Ngata on a fourth quarter sneak (slide Griffin, slide!) that made his leg bend in a way it shouldn’t ever bend, but thankfully no ligaments were torn. On the bright side, Washington is looking like a real force. With fellow rookie QB Kirk Cousins playing so clutch after Griffin’s injury, not only is the team dynamic, but their depth is something to be reckoned with as well. He threw a spectacular touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon and then put the game on his shoulders ran in on the following two point conversion to force overtime against the Ravens.
Meanwhile Baltimore, on the other hand, is on the downslope, losing two winnable games in a row now and playing inconsistently as ever. Flacco had a good game overall, but the depleted defense allowed the Skins to hang in there long enough to pull off some late-game heroics and steal the W. They don’t like a team who’ll be able to make it out of the divisional round. Also it should be noted that Anquan Boldin made DeAngelo Hall his bitch all afternoon.
The AFC wildcard race is getting tighter and tighter as each week passes by. Pittsburgh got clobbered by San Diego, thus giving hope to the Bengals and (mathematically) the Jets to snatch up the sixth seed. Despite a drubbing at the hands of Philip Rivers, the Steelers still are clinging onto the last spot by virtue of a tiebreaker with Cincinnati, but that should be resolved when they play each other in Week 16. The Jets also have three winnable games left, but as long as Sanchez is their QB they could just as easily end up 0-3 at the end of that stretch.
Quick Hits
— With the season all but over, credit the Browns for not tanking. Cleveland has won three straight including a 30-7 drubbing of Kansas City on Sunday.
— This wasn’t Andrew Luck’s finest day as a pro, but the Colts improved to 9-4 after comeback victory against Titans. Kenny Britt’s fantasy owners, however, are happy people following his eight catch, 143 yard performance.
— The Seahawks beat the Cardinals 58-0. I repeat, the Seahawks beat the Cardinals 58-0. Larry Fitzgerald’s numbers? One catch for two yards.
— The Bears appear to be trying to give away their wild card spot. More importantly, can we all agree that Adrian Peterson is having one of the best individual seasons of all time? Seriously, the former Sooner is not human. Another 154 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday have him this much closer to 2,000.
— Believe it or not, the Rams are in the playoff picture following their 15-12 win over the Bills.
— Tampa Bay wet the bed allowing Nick Foles to secure his first comeback victory with a game winning touchdown as time expired (23-21), thus snapping Philly’s eight-game losing streak.
— Atlanta, at least as of now, may be the first ever (now) 11-2 team the entire country is still not sold on. They made it a game late, but Cam Newton’s 287 yards in the air and 116 on the ground were too much to overcome. According to ESPN, the 2010 Heisman winner became the first quarterback in league history to throw for 250, run for 100, throw a TD and run for a TD in the same game.
— The Giants wiped off the MNF malaise with a pivotal 52-27 win over the Saints. America’s Game of the Week got as ugly as the weather for three quarters. Nevertheless, David Wilson injected some much needed beauty into the mix. The rookie running back cut up the field for a franchise record 327 all purpose yards and three TDs: including his electric 97 yard kick return for a TD. You could almost say he ran like a girl: Rudy “Sweet Feet” Huxtable, that is.
— With a 17-10 win over the Jaguars, the New York Jets are still mathematically in the hunt for the playoffs. They also have the easiest remaining schedule. Will Tebow rise again?
— A day following the tragedy which found Josh Brent in jail for intoxicated manslaughter and teammate Jerry Brown dead, the Cowboys took advantage of Bengals miscues and used a Dan Bryant game-winning field goal to keep playoff their hopes alive.
— The 49ers 27-13 victory over Miami was led by the usual recipe for success. A stout defensive output and an efficient quarterback performance from Colin Kaepernick.