Week 16 was full of playoff clinching games. These are the best, worst and ugliest moments of the NFL in Week 16.
The Good
Are the Dallas Cowboys unstoppable? After staying neck-and-neck with the Cowboys on Monday night, the Detroit Lions finished the game with a 42-21 loss. Cowboys’ star receiver Dez Bryant threw his first career touchdown pass, on top of two receiving touchdowns. Running back Ezekiel Elliott, the league’s leading rusher, ran for two touchdowns. Quarterback Dak Prescott was 15-of-20 for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Prescott also tied Ben Roethlisberger’s record for most wins by a rookie (13).
The Bad
This has been a bad year for a majority of NFL kickers, and this week was no exception. The Cleveland Browns avoided an 0-16 season courtesy of San Diego Chargers kicker Josh Lambo. Lambo missed two game-tying field goals during the 20-17 loss. The first was blocked and the second was a 45-yard attempt that went wide right as time expired.
In Houston, the Texans clinched a playoff berth with the help of Randy Bullock. Yes, Bullock was the Texans fifth round pick at the 2012 NFL Draft. However, Bullock was wearing orange and white on Saturday. The Bengals signed Bullock two weeks after cutting long-time kicker Mike Nugent. Bullock had already made one field goal for 43 yards, but when Bullock stepped up for another 43-yard attempt, with :05 on the clock, that kick went wide right.
It may be true that “field goals don’t win games,” but they can certainly lose them.
The Ugly
Last week, I gave “The Good” to the Oakland Raiders for clinching their first playoff berth in 13 years. On Saturday, the Raiders took a crushing blow as quarterback Derek Carr suffered a broken fibula. Carr was in visible pain during the fourth quarter after he was sacked by Indianapolis Colts defensive end Trent Cole. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Carr will miss six to eight weeks with the injury. The Raiders storyline has been one of the most exciting this season. It sucks that the team will have to go into the postseason without Carr.
