Ridley longest reception over 23.5 yards -114

Kirk longest reception over 21.5 yards -114

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So many weird games, a couple of good ones, and a battle of top teams that was very one-sided. Week thirteen isn’t in the books until tonight, so I jotted down a couple of things that stuck with me from yesterday.

I’ll have my thoughts on every game from week 13 tomorrow, after taking in the cat-battle tonight.

Chain Reaction

I hate to take away anything the Colts did to win that game and push their name decisively into the playoff hunt, but what a wild chain of events to get this one to overtime.

With Tennessee leading 17-16 late in the third quarter, a three and out led to a blocked punt that was scooped up for a TD return and the Colts snagging their first lead of the game. They opted to try for two in in order to grab a seven-point lead, but Minshew’s pass was intercepted and HOUSED for the ultra-rare defensive two-point conversion.

22-19

Another 3 and out for the Titans led to another punt, and more blocking issues up front for the punt team. The boxscore actually lists this one as a fumble since it was never actually kicked, but for all intents and purposes, the Colts would block another punt deep in their opponent’s end, this time only getting a FG on the ensuing possession.

25-19

More importantly, though, the hit from Tony Brown would knock punter Ryan Stonehouse out of the game with a leg injury. We’d later find out the place kicker Nick Folk has a pretty decent leg as well and filled in nicely as the emergency punter, but that wasn’t Stonehouse’s only responsibility with the team.

The Titans then put together an 11-play touchdown drive to tie the game up with five minutes and change on the clock. When it came time to kick the extra point, it would be QB Ryan Tannehill receiving the snap from Morgan Cox in place of the injured Stonehouse. I don’t think he did the worst job of it and to his credit, would successfully hold for a FG in overtime, but something apparently wasn’t quite right about his hold and place. Nick Folk would miss his first extra point of the entire year.

25-25

Indy would get the ball three more times before the end of regulation and obviously would have treated those possessions differently had they been trailing by a point rather than tied, but still.

The AFC South never disappoints, this one deserved to be a week three Thursday Night Football game. The Colts are now in a playoff spot if the season were to end today.

Love Beats Mahomes

I was in on this Packers team before the season, not because I had some magical understanding of how Jordan Love would progress as a passer and leader, but because they had so many unknowns at skill positions players on this offense, Love included. It’s a high-variance proposition that can go either way, so I was willing to look at this team as a dark horse.

That said, I was OUT on them after six weeks after not seeing much in the ways of improvement from the young signal caller. I guess maybe the injuries to the RBs and WRs should have pushed me into having a bit more patience, but even considering that, after eight weeks, Love was the 28th-ranked QB in Completion Percentage Over Expected metrics and in the bottom half of the league in EPA/play.

Since week 9, he’s ranked 6th and 3rd, respectively.

So what changed?

We absolutely need to give LaFleur and the coaching staff credit, but as simple and stupid as it sounds, it’s just looking like a guy who got rid of the mistakes.

He was making big throws early in the year, but it was hard to laud his overall performances when he was mixing in so many bad misses and inaccuracies. Sometimes there isn’t some secret formula past just needing more real game action.

From his post-game: “I’ve got more reps, I’m more comfortable, understanding where I need to go with the ball.”

Again, it sounds simplistic and painfully obvious, but a big part of getting rid of the bad parts of his game that we saw early on is his improved pocket presence and how he handles the pressure by knowing when to find a check-down option. These aren’t things that will improve without the real-game experience and the time he’s spent with this young receiving corps.

Splitting his season into the first eight weeks (seven games) and everything since, he’s seen his completion rate vs the blitz and vs all pressure take nice-sized jumps up. Still a long way to go to keep the ungodly long streak of elite quarterbacking in Wisconsin going, but things are looking hopeful again in Titletown.

I was going to rock an old cliche but it appears this morning the Athletic beat me to it: the Packers are the “team that no one wants to face right now”*

_{*If Christian Waton’s hammy is okay}

What’s on the docket for tomorrow?

• Full Week 13 Round Up

• A look at which lines are moving early in the week

• Award markets including a shake-up in the MVP pricing

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