Z’s Island: Biggest Surprises Heading into Week 13
Commanders Show that Lightning Can Strike Twice: To say the Commanders have had an up-and-down year would be an understatement. The Commanders began the year 0-3. They would then win two more games before week 8 to move their record to 2-5, all before taking on their division rival, the New York Giants. The Commanders shockingly won that matchup 50-14. Fast forward to Week 12 and the Commanders would take on the Giants again. Surely this would be when the Commanders would fall back to earth. The Washington Defense had other ideas. Daniel Jones was harassed all day. Standout pass rusher Trenton Simpson had 4 sacks and 1 forced fumble on the day. Journeyman corner Stefon Gilmore had 2 interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Chase Young and John Allen also chipped in with two sacks. In total, Jones was sacked TEN times on the day as the Commanders would go on to win 59-15, a win that moves them into second place in the NFC East, holding the tiebreaker over the defending Super Bowl Champs if it comes down to it. The Giants, with a 2-4 divisional record on the season (a true shocker), won’t have much time to recover as they’ll host the 9-2 Las Vegas Raiders this week. If they plan to turn things around, now is the time.
Seahawks Survive the Rams in LA: For most of the cycle, the Rams have dominated this matchup, making life difficult for the Seahawks with a stout run defense, excellent pass rush, and blanketing coverage. Despite their slow start to the season, it could be safe to say that the Rams were favorites to win this game over the Seahawks, especially after their dominating win over them week 1. The Seahawks, on the other hand, had different plans. On the first play of the game, a throw out of sack went right to Boye Mafe, who would return it back for a touchdown. Shades of which represented how the Seahawks struck early in the divisional round of the playoffs last season. The Seahawks would jump out to an early 17-0 lead before a Tyler Johnson kick return touchdown would create momentum for the Rams. Despite some early luck in the passing game, the Seahawks would eventually settle in, managing to make life difficult for DJ Uiagalelei (who was maddeningly inconsistent with some wide-open throws). The Seahawks would survive the war of attrition, ultimately winning 36-18, and creating a 2-game divisional lead on the 49ers. The Seahawks will host the Tennessee Titans in week 13.
Panthers Empty the Pool on the Phins: I wholeheartedly did not believe the Panthers would make this column this season. They came into week 12 sitting at 2-10. With not much to play for, you’d expect the Dolphins to cruise to victory, especially with their ability to attack vertically down the field. This wasn’t the case, however, as the Panthers had other ideas. Holding the Dolphins to 17 points across 4 quarters is impressive enough. Doing so while only allowing 266 total yards is even more impressive. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle were held to two combined catches for 30 yards. The Panthers also sacked Leary 5 times on the day. Late in the cycle, it seems that JT has Que’s number, as this is the second time we’ve seen Que fall to JT in a game in which he was the overwhelming favorite. If anything, this serves as a shining moment in a disappointing season for the Panthers and an unacceptable loss for the Dolphins.
Bengals Extend Their Win Streak to 7: After a very surprising 1-4 start, the Cincinnati Bengals find themselves sitting at 8-3. They haven’t lost a game since week 4, and have some marquee wins over some tough playoff teams, including the Dolphins (6-5), Bears (9-2), and Raiders (9-2). Joe Burrow once again leads the way with another excellent passing season. He’s got 3577 passing yards and 30 touchdowns this season while only throwing 12 interceptions. If he can keep this up, the Bengals are sure to make some noise in the playoffs this season as the AFC North looks like they’ll be sending three teams this season. Cincy has a tough matchup with the 8-3 Browns next week in a game that is sure to have playoff implications.
Z’s Happy Hour Bonus
What I liked About This Week:
Joint Content: We’ve seen a couple of collaborations this cycle as the league seems as committed as ever to bringing good content to the forefront of the league. This week, there was a decision to forego competition in exchange for unity and quality. The Unified Power Rankings will be a great step for us moving forward and hopefully provide a Monday Morning Quarterback type feel. I’m excited for the future of content in this league.
“Cracking The Code!”- Codes’ Storylines of The Week
MVP Benched???: Daniel Jones has been the favorite for MVP since the start of the season pretty much. Before going into week 12 he was sitting at 3.4k yards 35 TDs and only 16 interceptions, but in an early storyline a few weeks ago I said all these stats have stopped Cook from winning and it was accurate. Cook is sitting at 5-6 and just got swept by his divisional rival Commanders (which Daniel Jones stunk it up). Coach Bones reportedly has had enough and has benched Daniel Jones for the next game. This impacts a lot… Daniel Jones being taken out of the MVP race, which leads to others now having a wide open shot, and will this mean the Giants will start focusing on winning games instead of stats?
DJ U SUCKS!!!: I won’t spend too much time on this topic, but DJ is HORRIBLE. This man had a historical rookie season is now following it up with 27-27 TD-INT ratio. Last season it was 51-25… this is a crazy slump. I am usually on the QBs side saying “Well it’s on the coach to put them in better situations” this man DJ has a full all pro oline, just got an upgrade at RB, has 3 85+ OVR WRs, and this man is overthrowing drags with 0 pressure. If DK wants to save his season he may have to look for a replacement and quickly.
Codes’ Unknown Heroes of the Week
Elijah Higgins (3 catches, 157 yards, 3 TDs): When I first saw this statline with the last name Higgins, I was so confused because I know Cammy loves Tee and would never trade him. I have never heard of this guy, and yet he just put up Randy Moss number and every catch was a TD… CEO throw to him more and not the defense.
Amare Barno (3 tackles & 2 sacks): One of JT’s late season athletic demons making a surprise showing. This guy has been getting pumped full of AR since season 1 and it’s about time it starts to show. Especially with his cheesy blitzes.
Fallen’ Abroad, Fallen and Arods Power Rankings Analysis:
- Dallas Cowboys (10-2) PML’s highest ranked team has the 32nd passing offense in the league, so how have they been able to find their success? Defense. The Cowboys have scored 9 touchdowns on defense, that’s just 5 short of the 14 touchdowns thrown this season by Mason Garcia. I like their chances at the lone #1 spot in the playoffs with just two teams above .500 left on their schedule.
- Chicago Bears (9-2) A clean sweep of the Lions after decimating the AFC’s best team 41-16 last week, but slip ups are bound to happen and the Bears are hosting Minnesota this week. They slipped away with a 16-10 victory in week 7, but after riding a three game winning streak, Jordan Love and the Chicago Bears are trying to get back to the Superbowl, something they haven’t done since 2006.
- Las Vegas Raiders (9-2) Are they Raiders back? Despite back to back losses, the Broncos never stood a chance this week. The Raiders haven’t quite clinched the AFC west, but with the next best team having 6 losses already, Las Vegas would have to have a major pitfall to relinquish the hold that they have on this division. Actually, is Matigy in timeshare territory? It’s beginning to look that way.
- Baltimore Ravens (9-2) 9 of Lamar Jackson’s 22 interceptions have come from both of the losses that the Ravens have suffered this season. When Lamar succeeds, so do the Ravens. Baltimore is set to take on the Dolphins this week and they have a colouful history this cycle, especially with the Dolphins defeating the Ravens the last two times these teams met up in the playoffs. Coming off a bye week, the Ravens are looking to fry up some fish.
- Seattle Seahawks (9-3) CJ “The Man” Stroud gets very little credit and takes on way too much criticism. The man hasn’t thrown an interception since week 7 and the Seahawks haven’t lost since week 5. Stroud has a 16-2 TD – INT ratio in that seven game winning streak, for a man that has some controversial overthrows, you can’t argue with these statistics.
- Cincinnati Bengals (8-3) Do you know how hard it is to win 7 games in a row? Extremely, especially in PML, some teams don’t even win 7 games in a season and to take it a step further, some coaches can’t even win 7 games in an entire cycle. The Bengals are learning from their earlier mistakes after defeating the Vikings this week and they’ll face an even tougher opponents against the up-in-coming Cleveland Browns who have been on a roller coaster as of late.
- Indianapolis Colts (8-3) Is JC beginning to doubt his team? It’s been stated that despite his massive lead, he’s worried about possibly not making the playoffs. Ultimately, this would be one of PML’s worst seasons as a coach if the Colts don’t win the division/make the playoffs. Nonetheless, this is all talk. The Colts have one of the best rosters in PML, so much so that JC had to make a tough decision to drop a SS/XF. JC does have a tough road ahead of him though, especially with two games against the Jaguars still left on the schedule.
- Cleveland Browns (8-3) I like the Browns chances at making the playoffs, but I think they’ve gotten exposed against the better teams in the league. I think we see the Browns finish the year at 10-7, but Deshaun Watson’s performance will be the make or breaking point for how far they go in the playoffs.75% of the interceptions that Watson has thrown has come at the Browns expense and they’ve lost those games. It’s time he starts being held up to that guaranteed contract that the Browns gave him.
- Green Bay Packers (7-4) Aaron Rodgers has thrown 449 touchdowns in his career and despite retiring in PML, the Packers found his successor in Hendon Hoocker. He has only thrown 62 touchdowns in his three seasons, but he has found a similar fashion of success as a starting quarterback. He has his work cut out for him though. The Packers have to face off against the Ravens, Bengals, Bears, and Falcons to end the season.
- Jacksonville Jaguars (6-5) In a league with 91 overall teams, you’d think having an 81 overall team would be a death sentence, but not for the Jaguars. Sitting at 1-4, all hope felt lost in Jacksonville, but the Jaguars have a real chance to fight for the division, but that would mean defeating the Colts twice. It’s a tall task for a very young team, but the road to the playoffs starts in week 13.
- San Francisco 49ers (7-5) 32nd. The 49ers have the 32nd ranked passing defense and total yards given up, but that’s not the worst part, it’s their remaining schedule. I was so hopeful that Ant could pull off his first playoff berth of the cycle, but he has the hardest schedule remaining of all the contenders. However, Trey Lance can stand to prove the doubters wrong and Ant has a chance to pull off a few upsets late in the season and prove that all of his trading was all for not.
- Atlanta Falcons (6-5) What’s with teams starting 1-4 and making a miraculous comeback this season? Give Greeny credit, when his team was injured to all h***, he didn’t give up, he kept fighting, and now he’s in prime position to win his division. Can Greeny be both GM and Coach of the cycle by getting to the playoffs and bringing a SB to the NFC South, the fans in Atlanta sure think so.
- Los Angeles Chargers (6-5) HD is full of surprises. Justin Herbert is having one of the best seasons this cycle. In his first two seasons, he threw 39 interceptions, last season he threw 29 interceptions, but he’s only thrown 19 interceptions so far and the Chargers are in the thick of the playoff hunt. Clutch HD has to come out these next three weeks.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-5) Jacurri Brown had his highest QBR (140) of his career against the Patriots this week. Brown is developing his accuracy with the more games that he plays in PML and the Buccaneers are trying to help him along the way. He’s averaging 6.1 yards per carry on the ground, so if the Buccaneers can make him an ultimate dual threat quarterback, they can reclaim their hold on the NFC South.
- Buffalo Bills (6-5) Despite suffering a loss to the Steelers, the Bills bounced back with a win against the Texans. Houston hasn’t been very formidable this season, but Buffalo has to trust in the arm of Josh Allen. His abilities are on par with the best in the league, but Tbandit forces his throws way too often. Allens 14-23 touchdown to interception ratio is by far one of the worst ratios in his career, but the path to the playoffs comes at the hands of the AFC East. The Bills play 5 straight division games to end the season and despite the records at an all time low, the Bills will need to go into those games with some new tricks to win them all.
- Los Angeles Rams (6-5) 14-3, 12-5, and 14-3. These are the records for the Rams the last three seasons, but they are on pace for their worst season this cycle. It really comes as a surprise, especially with the defensive firepower that they loaded up on in the off-season. The Rams only have two teams left on the schedule with records above .500 and they’ve already beaten the 49ers once this season. Damien Harris has only two touchdowns this season, that’s definitely not what the Rams expected when they received him in the trade with the Chargers. The yards are there for Harris, but opposing defenses understand that in the redzone, DJ U is going to be the one looking for the endzone.
- Miami Dolphins (6-5): Nobody in the AFC east wants it huh? Bills lose to Steelers, Dolphins lose to Patriots, will somebody pull ahead already! Thats now two in a row for the Dolphins and don’t look now. Lbs, there is a great chance the Dolphins season is doomed. With the Ravens and Jaguars up next, they could very well be 6-7 by week 15. Yikes.
- Washington Commanders (5-6): Wimmy is back! That is the good news. The bad news is, it might be a little too late in the season for a last second surge. They’ve outscored the last two opponents 109 to 28, including a 59-15 blowout to the defending Super Bowl champion Giants led by the 34 year old Stephon Gilmore who snagged two interceptions and a score. I mean Wimmy did this last year, so the book is definitely still open in Washington.
- Minnesota Vikings (5-6): Joe Burrow threw the ball 45 times and the defense could only come up with 1 interception? Matthew Stafford threw the ball 32 times and the Bengals defense had 4 interceptions. This was the difference maker in the game that could have put the nail in CEO’s season. There may be some salt in the wound as Justin Jefferson (669/5TD) is a little too close for comfort for black Monday in PML when x-factor superstars become average joes.
- New York Giants (5-6): I have to check with PML historians, but I don’t recall the last time our reigning Super Bowl champion wasn’t able to defend their trophy the following season. Coming off a blowout loss in Washington, the Giants PR department released a statement that they were benching Daniel Jones in favor of rookie 5th round pick Harrison Bailey. Yes, MVP frontrunner Daniel Jones is somehow the scapegoat for the Giants drastic fall. I didn’t see any of this coming.
- New England Patriots (5-6): The Patriots were riding high after a miraculous victory over the Jets last week, but blew an early lead against Codes and the Buccaneers. That is now four one-score losses for Nef and the crew. Caleb Williams has had a nightmare of a season after riding high in season 3 and was clearly outplayed by the rookie 3rd overall pick Jacurri Brown in all elements of the game. Back to the drawing board for the Patriots as they sit a game behind the Dolphins and Bills. The Patriots have a great chance to get back to .500 as they draw the Steelers this week before a week 14 showdown with the Bills.
- New York Jets (5-7): The Jets are clearly missing their star running back they dealt in the Mahomes deal. They will not produce a 1,000 yard rusher this season, and again this is putting too much pressure on Mahomes as Gibbs only carried the ball 11 times in the latest loss to Cleveland. At 5-7, Fallen and the Jets are the odd team out of a tight AFC race and as they leave the bye week they’ll take on the suddenly dangerous Atlanta Falcons.
- Detroit Lions (4-7): How was Dak Prescott reward for coming in and absolutely slaying the Cardinals after taking over for a struggling Baker Mayfield? He was put back on the bench only to watch Mayfield come up short vs the Chicago Bears. I am eager to see the Lions start on a fresh slate next season as they have been a lot more competitive with the roster in full force (minus the turnovers).
- Houston Texans (4-8): The offense has been efficient this season but the defense continues to let the team down. It will be more or less a very similar roster next season and the only change should be regression to some of the team’s older stars. The big moves the Texans made the past few seasons are coming back to kick them in the behind.
- Kansas City Chiefs (4-7): So I just found out the Chiefs hold the Panthers 1st round pick in the upcoming draft. That is pretty big news considering a potential once in a lifetime QB will be on the board and the Chiefs clearly are not in a good position with Trevor Lawrence. As it sits today, the Panthers hold the #1 overall pick, but are sitting with about 5 teams at the two win mark, 3 of which are QB needy. Something to keep an eye on.
- Philadelphia Eagles (4-8): The Eagles had a two-score lead on the Cowboys, and then I went to walk the dog and came back and they were down 7, then proceeded to lose by 35. Drake Maye was pulled for the second straight week after throwing 6 interceptions to now total 11 over the past two weeks.
- Tennessee Titans (3-8): The losing streak hits 6 in Music City. Malik Willis has the offense playing at a bottom 2 spot in the passing game and things just continue to be messy for Bubba this cycle. With Zstar up neck, the L’s could continue to pile up for the Titans.
- Denver Broncos (2-9): The Broncos who haven’t won since they beat the Chiefs in week 5, hope to end the drought when they play the Chiefs this week in Kansas City. Ty Simpson had yet another stinker as he followed up his 14 yard performance in week 11 with a 5 interception game against the Raiders in week 12. Can we just see what Russell Wilson can do? It cannot be any worse.
- New Orleans Saints (2-9): The Saints have now lost 8 straight games on the year. With the lack of production on the ground, the Saints have become one dimensional at times this season and opposing offenses are taking notice. The Saints get the Lions this week and have a fairly decent chance to end the skid and get some momentum to close out the season.
- Carolina Panthers (2-10): JT and the Panthers end the losing streak with an impressive win over the Miami Dolphins. The steak could hit two when they host the struggling Arizona Cardinals this week. Don’t look now, but the streak could hit 3 when they head out to New Orleans the following week. Fun times in Carolina!
- Arizona Cardinals (2-9): And yet another team on a major losing streak, the Arizona Cardinals come in riding a 6 game streak and look to end it as the aforementioned Panthers roll up on the schedule. Zach Wilson actually had a pretty solid game against the Falcons finishing 27/33 with 1TD/0INT. Pretty impressive Zach. Lets build off that!
- Pittsburgh Steelers (2-10): And to close out the rankings, here I am, back at the bottom. Nearly defeated the Packers this past week but came up short in the final seconds of the game. The defense continues to keep the Steelers in the games, but the offense is yet to consistently put together successful drives through the game. They have a chance to play spoiler against Nef and the Patriots in week 13 action.
