NFL Week 14—Panthers shutout Falcons to remain unbeaten, Chiefs win seventh straight

Every Monday morning, Section 215’s Akiem Bailum gives an in-depth and unfiltered look at all of the latest sports news in The Monday Morning Realist. You can follow Akiem on Twitter @AkiemBailum.

NOTE: Apologies for not showering you with Realist goodness last week. I was on vacation in Houston, Texas and the place I was staying at apparently did not know the meaning of the word Wi-Fi, therefore rendering my trusty laptop to be not so trusty.

Anyways as a dear friend told me this week, the past is the past. Forward and onward!

Cam-Olina

Dec 13, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) celebrates as his team goes 13-0 against the Atlanta Falcons at Bank of America Stadium. Panthers win 38-0. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

Dec 13, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) celebrates after his team scores a touchdown during the second half of the game against the Atlanta Falcons at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

Or in the case of the Atlanta Falcons, backward and awkward.

The stories of both the Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons this season cannot be overstated even if it were to be told on a million different occasions. This is more relevant than ever given that they were playing this week against each other in Charlotte.

Both teams started 5-0 this season. The NFC South was supposed to be a dogfight, birdfight, or catfight between these two teams that (let me remind you) are only separated by about three hours of Interstate 85.

Geographically, Atlanta and Charlotte are very close. Economically, Atlanta and Charlotte are very similar with both being major hubs of the banking industry. Geographically (again) Atlanta and Charlotte are very similar with both locales being rather defined in their lack of flatness and especially both are surrounded by a forest of trees.

Trust me as I have been to both cities.

Football-wise since the midpoint of this season—the Panthers and Falcons might as well be on opposite ends of the country as they are on opposite ends of the standings in the division and in their conference.

This season is (thankfully) starting to open more people up to just how good of a quarterback Cam Newton is. After last week, the letters M, V, and P are starting to be used more in the conversation regarding what he has done this year.

Carolina has already clinched the NFC South so their only focus left is managing to hold off Arizona so they can secure a one-seed throughout the NFC playoffs and ensure that the NFC will go through MetroLina this season.

Oh yeah…that defense though too.

Of course this is the perfect example (looking at things from Carolina’s perspective) of what happens when defense and offense mesh well together. In fact, if I was reading tweets correctly the Carolina Panthers had notched over 200 total yards in one quarter en route to a 21-0 lead.

Then that lead would increase to 31-0 and later to 38-0. At this point, all televisions in Atlanta would have been better served by turning off this game and switching to whatever was airing on A&E at the time.

There is embarrassing and then there is beyond embarrassing. And Atlanta Falcons fans have definitely suffered through their fair share of heartbreak and embarrassment. Again, a loss like this against a division rival that appears to have only Arizona cacti standing in between them and Santa Clara is one thing if Atlanta was putting up your garden variety 6-7 season.

Except this is anything but just a typical garden variety 6-7 campaign. This is a team that began the season 5-0 and now has since lost seven of their last eight games.

Plus, the 6-7 record while it is now the official Atlanta Falcons record may as well be one in name only because of the one win they got. They only beat the Tennessee Titans on the road by a final of 10-7. Yes credit the defense for doing a great job against Tennessee but it was not a game that saw a lot of point scored by Dan Quinn and his offense.

In short, the rest of the league has figured out Quinn and now it is his coaching staff’s job to try to adjust. This team has not adjusted hence their paltry play since the midpoint of the season.

As for the Panthers, they are still undefeated at 13-0. I would not start booking plane tickets from CLT or CAE yet to OAK, but I would at least be looking at how much those flights to the Bay Area will cost.

Honestly—at this point in the season only the Cardinals and the surging Seahawks are standing in between the Panthers and their first Super Bowl since 2004 when the Jake Delhomme-led Panthers lost to Tom Brady’s New England Patriots for Brady’s second of four rings.

Cam Newton completed 15 of his 21 passes for a total of 265 yards and three touchdowns. That panned out to a passer rating of 153.3 (that’s kinda good people tell me). Jonathan Stewart had 10 carries for 75 yards plus one touchdown and Ted Ginn, Jr. actually caught the football when he needed to this week. Both of his passes were for touchdowns and for a total of 260 yards.

As for the Falcons, Matt Ryan was 22 of 34 with 224 yards, and one interception. Devonta Freeman had 12 rushes for 40 yards while Julio Jones had seven receptions for 88 yards.
Carolina’s win also clinched them a first-round bye.

The Panthers now travel to New York to face the Giants while the Falcons will go on the road to Jacksonville where the Jaguars await. Surely, the Falcons will beat Jacksonville…will they?
But then again—this is the same Jacksonville team that owned the Indianapolis Colts this week 51-16. That does not happen very often…

Final Score: Carolina Panthers 38, Atlanta Falcons 0

Declawed by way of Steel

Dec 13, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams (34) runs with the ball as Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Josh Shaw (26) defends during the fourth quarter at Paul Brown Stadium. The Steelers won 33-20. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

If you were the Denver Broncos or the Cincinnati Bengals last week, it was a banner week.

Not only did both Denver and Cincinnati win, but the New England Patriots were upset by the Philadelphia Eagles in Foxboro.

Wait a second…the Patriots LOST in a December game in Foxboro…and to a team that does not have either one of the Mannings at quarterback? Football can be such a bizarro world sometimes.

Fast forward to this week. With the Cleveland Browns once again being this year’s rendition of the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Ravens having been mathematically bounced from any and all playoff scenarios, the AFC North is basically a Cincinnati Bengals/Pittsburgh Steelers party at the top.

And as we know, those AFC North rivalries have a tendency to become rather heated—especially when something is on the line like…potential playoff berths as was the case here.

With Andy Dalton being taken out of the game due to injury, QB’ing duties for Queen City’s team were given to A.J. McCarron who was once famous at the college level arguably moreso for his girlfriend than his throwing abilities.

One of Dalton’s throws prior to him being taken out of the game was a pick.

McCarron at least knew the offense well enough to acknowledge when you throw the football in A.J. Green’s direction that positive things will happen. Green caught six passes for 132 yards as well as one touchdown and was targeted on nine occasions.

That touchdown pass, by the way, went for 66 yards. Yep—good things certainly happen when you are a quarterback and you throw the football in his general direction.

Positive results will also happen when William Gay plays defense the way he can play defense. One of those McCarron picks—he returned and made it into a pick 6 for a touchdown.

It was a play that produced a rather lengthy touchdown celebration that received a lot of play on social media but at least there was a little bit of emotion showed on the field which the NFL does not seem to like given who is showing said emotion.

Minus the lack of touchdown receptions, Ben Roethlisberger’s stat line appeared to be in line with what a Ben Roethlisberger stat line can look like from week to week. He threw for 282 yards on 30/39 passing with one interception.

Big Ben did not need to find the end zone with his arms as long as DeAngelo Williams was getting the job done with his cleats. Williams had two touchdown runs in addition to 23 carries for a grand total of 76 yards.

The Steelers also had no problems with offensive drives stalled and field goals had to be settled for as Chris Boswell was four for four when attempting to drill the football through the uprights.
Antonio Brown also caught seven passes for 87 yards.

This probably was not expected by a few people or so but we sometimes forget the Steelers are a good team. And we also sometimes forget that even as good as the Cincinnati Bengals have been in 2015, injuries happen to all NFL teams. Some can overcome theirs and others can’t. We also know that there is a history that follows this team when it comes to the playoffs and those games are just around the corner.

Can the Steelers do what it did to the Bengals to Brock Osweiler’s Denver Broncos? We’ll see. It should be the Bengals that should receive a reprieve—traveling to Santa Clara to face the San Francisco 49ers.

That, Realists, is the dictionary definition of bye week.

Final Score: Pittsburgh Steelers 33, Cincinnati Bengals 20

Seventh Heaven

Dec 13, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Dee Ford (55) is congratulated by cornerback Marcus Peters (22) after the game against the San Diego Chargers at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City won 10-3. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier in the season, the offerative phrase most used when talking about the Kansas City Chiefs was that this was a team that was beaten up, banged up, and broken down. Just ask Jamaal Charles.

In fact, ask anyone else on this team after blowing that lead late to the Denver Broncos in a game where Peyton Manning looked old and said game was so hyped up in Kansas City you would think they were getting ready to play in a Super Bowl.

The team that plays its home games at Arrowhead Stadium apparently did not get the memo about their season being over and them being left for dead after starting the season at 1-5.

Dare I say this team is the polar opposite right now of the Falcons who started good and now look cruddy.

The Chiefs began this season at 1-5 and were going into their game against the division rival San Diego Chargers with a golden opportunity to make that seven in a row. Such an 8-5 mark would also allow them to keep pace with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC’s Wild Card race as Pittsburgh won this same day.

On paper as we know this looks like a win. It appears to be a win primarily because we know at this point what to expect when it comes to the San Diego Chargers. Philip Rivers will put up huge statistics only for it to mean nothing in the end due to a lack of confidence, lack of defense, or lack of team chemistry.

After all, this is the same team that recently had Rivers and Antonio Gates exchange verbal barbs on the sidelines. Rivers has also known to be a quarterback throughout his pro career to put up even bigger statistics with his mouth than his arm.

Chalk this one up to a defense in Kansas City that held the Chargers to only three points overall by way of a Josh Lambo field goal (and he missed a second field goal attempt).

Kansas City’s defense forced Rivers into one interception and its defensive line made #17 eat KC-MO-KS turf throughout. Rivers was sacked five times for a loss of 27 yards, so just over five yards per sack for you math Realists out there.

Also, despite this game being winnable throughout, the Chiefs presented a much more balanced offensive output than did San Diego. The Chargers had very little in terms of a running game as evidenced by the fact that they only ran 18 running plays and Rivers threw the ball 43 times.

Way to make things easy for a defense, Chargers. Stay predictable, San Diego.

Whereas the Chiefs threw the football 23 times and ran it on 25. Balanced offenses and running the football wins games in the NFL, especially in the cold months of December, El Nino or no El Nino.

Surprisingly despite all of this, the Chargers actually possessed the football for a longer period of time than the Chiefs did. The Chiefs just came through when it mattered while San Diego just seemed to be off from start to finish. And it showed on the field.

If you were to think that after starting 1-5 the Chiefs would be sitting pretty with a playoff berth as a Wild Card staring them straight in the face and did not live within a 50 mile radius of Kauffman Stadium, you would have been laughed at.

Who’s laughing now? Everyone in Kansas City is—that is who.

Alex Smith threw for 191 yards, one touchdown, and one interception and completed 15 out of his 23 passes. Albert Wilson’s Georgia State Panthers recently qualified for its first bowl game in its short history. Some of that GSU football magic rubbed off on Wilson as he caught four passes for 87 yards plus one touchdown. Charcandrick West rushed for 54 yards on 10 carries.

On Rivers, he threw for 263 yards and completed 24 of 43 passes. Melvin Gordon only had 35 yards on 14 carries while Gates had six receptions for 76 yards.

Can you say 9-5? Kansas City gets Baltimore next week in Baltimore and they have already been eliminated from playoff contention. San Diego goes back home to face Miami, primate or no primate.

Final Score: Kansas City Chiefs 10, San Diego Chargers 3

The Great Khalil

Dec 13, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack (52) prepares to sack Denver Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler (17) during the second half at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Raiders won 15-12. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Looks like Brock Osweiler the great finally met his match this week.

And that has not been much of the case as of late ever since Osweiler took over the starting duties in the stead of the injured and seemingly close to over Peyton Manning.

As mentioned when talking about the Steelers/Bengals game, last week went rather great for both Denver and Cincinnati as those teams moved into the top spots in the AFC with New England suffering that shocking upset at home to Philadelphia. That put the Patriots in the three-seeded spot in the AFC.

Oakland Raiders vs. Denver Broncos in Week 14, though, turned out to be more about the Raiders than anything else.

It feels like last year (or even two years ago) when I would write this season’s Realist articles with glowing praise for Derek Carr and how the Raiders could be the future Best team in the West.

That still may happen, but based on this season—the Kansas City Chiefs may have something to say about that.

I was writing about Derek Carr and comparing him to the debacle that was David Carr in his days as a Houston Texans quarterback. I was making all sorts of references to the fact that the Raiders were once again living up to the Al Davis maxim, “Just Win Baby.”

And I even made references to the idea of football (for the time being) stealing all of the Silver & Black related headlines away from the Raiders’ desire to move out of Oakland and into Los Angeles. Not to mention comparing them to that other team in the Bay Area that wears red & gold.

Then reality set in, and it led the Raiders to being 5-7 coming out of Week 13.

A 5-7 clip may be enough this season to win a team either the NFC East or even the AFC South. It will not be enough to win a team a Wild Card in the AFC given where Pittsburgh and Kansas City are right now.

Oakland did have the opportunity to improve to 6-7 if they were to beat Osweiler and his 10-2 Broncos team.

And much to the chagrin of football fans in Colorado, the Raiders did just that. Another one for the “Any Given Sunday” file.

Philip Rivers turned out to be not the only quarterback in the AFC West to be put onto NFL turf on five different occasions. It also happened to Osweiler and it came at the hands of the Raiders’ Khalil Mack.

Osweiler will probably be having nightmares about that guy for a few days. Mack sacked Osweiler on five different occasions for a grand total of 32 yards. Plus, the Raiders were down 12-0 at the half.

It may not be the kind of victory that vaults the Raiders back into the thick of things in the AFC Wild Card race, but there were a lot of New England Patriots fans, Kansas City Chiefs fans, and Khalil Mack fantasy owners who will probably have a huge pep in their step for the next couple of days after this game.

And just as the Chiefs defense made the Chargers one-dimensional, Oakland’s also suckered the Denver running game into your proverbial black hole. Denver passed the football 51 times while only pounding the rock 21 times.

And just as was the case in the other AFC West divisional matchup, the team with the more balanced offensive attack turned out to be victorious The Raiders threw 29 times while running 23.

Carr passed for 135 yards and two touchdowns on 12/29 passing. Latavius Murray had only 27 yards on 16 carries while Mychal Rivera had 49 yards receiving on three receptions with one touchdown.

For Brock Osweiler—35/51 for 308 yards. Ronnie Hillman only had 20 yards on the ground despite 12 carries and DeMaryius Thomas caught 10 passes for 95 yards.

Next week, Denver gets Pittsburgh on the road while Oakland gets Green Bay at home.

Final Score: Oakland Raiders 15, Denver Broncos 12

NRG for NE

Dec 13, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) reacts during the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

At first glance when one thinks of the prospect of a New England Patriots/Houston Texans matchup being flexed for the purposes of Sunday Night Football, it is easy for one to think “What in the Sam Hilton are the Texans doing being featured in primetime?”

Pats/Texans on its face does seem like somewhat of a mismatch—there is no question about that. But the Texans as we know have been the beneficiary of playing in the thin-as-paper AFC South this season.

It and the NFC East will effectively steal a playoff berth from one other team each in their division.

But New England actually was coming into its game with a little bit of a chip on its shoulder.

The Patriots at one point were one of the last undefeated teams in the NFL this season. This was of course prior to somebody by the name of Brock Osweiler (plus a little bit of help from C.J.

Anderson) willing the Denver Broncos to a victory over Bill Belichick’s Pats as any hopes of duplicating their undefeated regular season from 2007 effectively vanished into the thin Mile High air.
Or dare I say like air out of a…nah, let’s not go there.

Then in stunning fashion, the Patriots lost to the Eagles in Foxboro which is almost impossible to do if anyone has followed the Patriots in the Brady-Belichick era. The Patriots led a furious comeback late as 35-14 became 35-28 before time ultimately ran out on New England and their hopes of a victory against Philly.

Ironically that same week, the NFL Network was replaying Super Bowl XXXIX (39) from Jacksonville which featured Brady’s Pats and Donovan McNabb’s Philadelphia Eagles.

Plus as mentioned earlier, last week was not exactly a great week for the Patriots in terms of playoff standing. The loss meant that New England had dropped to the three seed in the AFC. And given the way the Steelers and Chiefs have looked as of late as they lead the Wild Card chase, this may not be the year to be a division winner that has to play a Wild Card game. You want a first-round bye.

New England ultimately recognized this—not to mention the fact that Denver and Cincinnati already suffered losses earlier in the day. The Broncos was against a team they should beat while Cincy’s did come against the Steelers a team that is rather formidable competition.

The Texans never held a lead against the Patriots in this game and their only six points came courtesy of a pair of Nick Novak field goals. Other than that it was essentially all Patriots on offense and defense as they put the rest of the league on notice that they’re still the Patriots.

Unfortunately, it also came at the expense of Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer who reports say is being evaluated for a concussion.

Prior to that, he threw for 155 yards on 11/22 passing. Jonathan Grimes rushed for 53 yards on seven carries while DeAndre Hopkins had 52 yards on three receptions.

On the Patriots’ end of things, Tom Brady threw for 226 yards and completed 22 of his 30 passes. Number 12 also threw for a pair of touchdowns.

LeGarrette Blount rushed for 53 yards on ten carries while Rob Gronkowski caught four passes for 87 yards.

Oooh, this should be interesting. Next week, Houston heads to Indianapolis to face the Colts which will certainly have implications for the AFC South. They probably shouldn’t have to worry about Tennessee though—the Patriots get them next in Foxboro.

Final Score: New England Patriots 27, Houston Texans 6

Other Games

Nov 1, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; NFL logo after the game between the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Arizona Cardinals defeat Minnesota Vikings 23-20

Philadelphia Eagles defeat Buffalo Bills 23-20

Cleveland Browns defeat San Francisco 49ers 24-10

St. Louis Rams defeat Detroit Lions 21-14

New Orleans Saints defeat Tampa Bay Buccaneers 24-17

New York Jets defeat Tennessee Titans 30-8

Jacksonville Jaguars defeat Indianapolis Colts 51-16

Washington Redskins defeat Chicago Bears 24-21

Seattle Seahawks defeat Baltimore Ravens 35-6

Green Bay Packers defeat Dallas Cowboys 28-7

New York Giants vs. Miami Dolphins (8:30, Monday Night Football)