Good news, bad news this week. One tight end joined exclusive company. Another potentially had his season end before a snap in Week 11. Another is…well I don’t know what’s going on in Minneapolis. And then we have to talk about a defensive back here in Denver. Let’s get to it.
George Kittle
Normally I bunch the tight ends into one group but we have to go solo with Kittle. Kittle wrapped up San Francisco’s 41-22 win over the hapless Cardinals with 6 receptions for 67 yards and 2 touchdowns. The first
was an absolute dime from Brock Purdy, a 30-yard strike to put the Niners up 14-0.
Kittle added some shine in the third quarter with the Niners firmly in control, hauling in this 4-yarder to make it 35-10.
As you can see in that tweet, that’s now 50 career touchdowns for Kittle. He also went over 500 receptions in his career. He’s one of three 49ers to hit 500 receptions and 50 touchdowns – Terrell Owens and Jerry Freaking Rice. DAMN. What a remarkable career for Kittle so far.
Kittle’s last two weeks have been nothing short of sensational, going for 19 receptions, 183 yards, and 3 touchdowns. Despite missing 5 games, Kittle’s at 27 receptions for 251 yards and 5 touchdowns for the year.
Sam LaPorta
We rave over Kittle but there’s bad news from this weekend, and it’s LaPorta. LaPorta was a scratch Saturday, when it was revealed he would be placed on IR with a back injury. The Lions were optimistic he’d be back in 2025. Which…he might miss the rest of the season now? Yikes for the Lions. It wouldn’t have mattered this week – the Lions went on the road to Philadelphia and got a stinker of a performance from Jared Goff in a 16-9 loss. We’ll come back to that game in a moment.
T.J. Hockenson
I’m not sure what to make of Hockenson’s situation in Minnesota right now. Hockenson had 3 receptions for 39 yards in a 19-17 loss to the Bears. The issue is the quarterback room. J.J. McCarthy has been dreadful for the Vikings. McCathy finished the game with 150 yards passing, with more than half of them coming on Minnesota’s final drive, 1 touchdown, and 2 picks. His QBR was 22. Woof. It’s been like that all season for McCarthy. That’s terrible for all involved.
Riley Moss
Look – we have to talk about this. Moss hasn’t been bad this year. Yes, he gets thrown at a lot due to playing across from Pat Surtain II. No, he doesn’t force turnovers (the Broncos, despite a fantastic defense, don’t have that many forced turnovers, though they have the most sacks for a defense through Week 11 since the 1989 Minnesota Vikings.)
Worst part of this is, despite playing mostly ok, he draws a ton of flags. I mean a ton – he has 9 pass interference penalties through 11 games. Sunday was no different as he drew three penalties against the Chiefs for a total of 92 yards. All three flags were 50/50 and two got the derisive, “I don’t know, Jim!” commentary from Tony Romo, but he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt because he uses his hands so much downfield and officials will call that (BAD weekend for NFL refs; some absolutely heinous interference calls spread over multiple games.) One flag was on an underthrown ball but again, because he uses his hands so much, the Chiefs got the call, and another flag on an illegal contact erased a pick-6 for the Broncos defense. He gets a much-needed week off as the Broncos enter their bye week at 9-2 and in firm control of the AFC West after their 22-19 win. He really needs the week, as the tide has started to turn against him in Denver. Fans are pissed.
I must add – yes, this would have been a penalty were it Moss in coverage.
Cooper DeJean and Jack Campbell
Back to Philly quick – we have a DeJean interception! More Jack Campbell tackles! DeJean finished Philly’s win with 3 tackles, 2 passes defended, and an interception on a deflected pass.
Campbell logged another 15 tackles. He is now 4th in the NFL in tackles on the year with 97.
Potpourri
Noah Fant wrapped up Cincinnati’s 34-12 loss to Pittsburgh with 5 catches for 36 yards. Unfortunately he lost a fumble. Geno Stone logged 8 tackles for the Bengals. Tough season for the Bengals. Kaleb Johnson saw his touches tick up ever so slightly, logging 5 carries for 15 yards as the Steelers remained a game ahead of the Ravens atop the AFC North.
Anthony Nelson had 2 tackles while AJ Epenesa logged 3 in Buffalo’s 44-32 win over Tampa. I watched parts of this game while outside doing yard work and every time I looked up, Ian Eagle was screaming about a touchdown while JJ Watt salivated over Tristan Wirfs getting out in space as a lead blocker. I saw Wirfs do that twice on Sunday. That’s a scary damn sight, Wirfs coming down the tracks like that…
Another team going nowhere is the New York Giants. Dane Belton is stuck there but he logged 7 tackles in their 27-20 loss to Green Bay. Former Hawk Tyrone Tracy was the shining light for the G-men, picking up 88 rushing yards to go with 51 receiving.
To the comments!
