SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
Despite finding out that disappointing quarterback Cam Newton is not Tom Brady, the New England Patriots are still in the hunt for the usual playoffs as Nick Folk kicked a 50-yard field goal as time expired in Sunday’s 20-17 home win over the Arizona Cardinals in the National Football League.
Folk, once the kicker for the winless New York Jets, also did the same back on Nov. 9 when his 51-yard field goal on the final play of regulation downed the same Jets, 30-27. As for Newton, it was again a mediocre game. He connected on 9 of 18 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown through the air. Plus, the Pats put together only 179 total yards
Now at 5-6, New England is in third place in the AFC East behind the first-place Buffalo Bills (8-4) and Miami Dolphins (7-3), but time could be running short for the perennial division champions.
The Bills turned in a 27-17 win over the visiting Los Angeles Chargers as a Tre’ Davious White fourth quarter interception set up Tyler Bass 43-yard field goal as Buffalo held off the challenge of Los Angeles. The Dolphins had no problem disposing of the 0-11 Jets behind veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick’s two touchdown passes and 257 aerial yards, while on defense, they held the Jets to just a field goal, 10 first downs and 260 total yards.
It was a surprise in Los Angeles when the state rivalry brought the San Francisco 49ers a 23-20 stunner over the LA Rams when Robbie Gould kicked a 42-yard field as time expired. It ended a San Francisco 3-game losing skein, it was a sweep of the series for the second straight time, and upped the Niners to 5-6 and put the Rams at 7-4and a half-game behind the Seattle Seahawks, who play at the Philadelphia Eagles tonight.
The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs didn’t have an easy time at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before almost blowing 27-10 lead after three quarters and holding off two Tampa Bay fourth quarter touchdowns to prevail 27-24, and advancing to their 10th win in 11 starts and maintaining their lead in the AFC West and way ahead of the rest. The Bucs are now 7-5 and two games behind the New Orleans Saints in the NFC South, while also being swept by New Orleans.
The Saints (9-2) had no problem at the Denver Broncos, who played without none of their four quarterbacks who tested positive for COPID-19, so they went with a no-quarterback experienced reserve who relied on a ground game in the 31-3 rout. The Saints had the upper hand in first downs, 19-6, total yardage, 292-112, and in possession time, 35:46 to 24:14. The Broncs dropped to 4-7.
The Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears stayed three games behind the first place Green Bay Packers, who surged past the visiting Bears,41-23, behind four touchdown passes from veteran signal-caller Aaron Rodgers, and led 41-10 before Chicago turned in a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns. Green Bay is now 9-2 and the Bears 5-6 and tied with the Vikings.
But Minnesota did emerge victorious, nipping the visiting Carolina Panthers, 28-27, when Chad Beebe caught a 10-yard touchdown pass with 48 seconds left. Then Carolina’s Joey Slye missed a 54-yard field goal try on the game’s final play. The Panthers fell to 4-8.
In what was expected to be a close contest when the Tennessee Titans played at the Indianapolis Colts in a clash for first place in the AFC South, but it instead turned into a 45-26 rout led by Tennessee running back Derrick Henry, the NFL rushing lead, who piled up 140 yards and scored three times in the first half. In quest of his second-straight rushing title, he wound up with 179 yards, it was third 100-yard game in a row, and eighth consecutive road game with 100 or more yards. The Titans are now 8-3, the Colts 7-4.
EXTRA POINTS: Henry was no doubt the rushing leader again, while the Bears’ David Montgomery ran for 103 yards on 11 carries and the Giants’ Wayne Gallman scored the opening touchdown and picked up 94 yards on 24 tugs.
On the receiving end, Cleveland’s Jarvis Landry scored once and caught eight passes for 143 yards. Right behind with six receptions for 129 yards was the Giants’ Evan Engram, while Scott Samuel of San Francisco reeled in 11 catches for 133 yards, and Miami’s Rodney Parker latched onto eight throws for 119 yards.
The most throws on the day belonged to the Chargers’ rookie quarterback Brad Herbert when he 52 passes and completed 31 for what amounted to 316 yards. Then there was Kansas City’s Mahomes making good on 37 of 49 attempts for 462 yards.
The most field goals on the day was a 5-for-6 performance by Arizona’s Tommy Koo, while the Giants’ Graham Gano made 4-of-4.
The top attendance for the day was 15,950 in Tampa Bay. Right behind was Jacksonville with 15,926, there were 12,464 in Indianapolis, 10,208 in Cincinnati, and 9,134 in Las Vegas. All the other games announced zero attendance with no fans in the stands. And seven of those teams all lost. But in the attended games, four of the visitors came away with wins.
Green Bay leads the league with 349 points scored, one more than Kansas City and five more than Tampa Bay. The least amount belongs to the Dolphins with 205, ten less than the Rams.
HLandry led the way, the Chiefs’ Scott Samuel of the 49ers made 11 catches for 133 yards, the Giants’ Evan Engram reeled in six for 129 yards, and Miami’s Rodney Parker caught eight for 119 yards,
