With the NFL regular season slowly coming to a close, week 14 brought a total of five division match-ups and plenty of highlights from each of them.
Take a look at our round-up of the week’s best moments below.
Last week, several St. Louis Rams players showed support for ongoing protests in Ferguson with a “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” tribute to Michael Brown before their game. Yesterday, Reggie Bush and other NFL players took to the field wearing “I Can’t Breathe” shirts while warming up, a protest statement against Eric Garner’s strangulation by the NYPD that follows Derrick Rose wearing a similar shirt the day before.
Photo credit: Larry Brown Sports
Instead of celebrating his sack on Rams quarterback Shaun Hill, Washington Washington Football Team defensive end Chris Baker opted to use the spotlight for his own “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” tribute.
By game’s end, NY Jets quarterback Geno Smith actually put up fair numbers against the Minnesota Vikings yesterday: 18-of-29 for 254 yards and both a touchdown and interception. But, less than a minute into the game—11 seconds in to be exact—the struggling Jets QB threw an interception that was run back for a touchdown.
In a final bit of humiliation, watch Smith get lit up at the end of this clip.
And for posterity:
Photo credit: NFL.com
Later in the same game, Smith had Chris Owusu to thank for a completion on this mind-boggling catch.
The Vikings won the game in overtime with an 87-yard touchdown reception from Teddy Bridgewater to Jarius Wright.
Early in a decisive win over the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton’s second touchdown, an impressive jump-over-the-pile stunt— and the celebration that followed— quickly sparked an all-out fight on the field. By the end of the scuffle, two players had personal fouls and the Panthers’ own Brandon Williams was ejected for running in and throwing punches.
Watch a video of the whole thing below:
Here you can see the Washington Football Team’s #71 Trent Williams apparently fall asleep on the offensive line, wake up, and turn around to see his quarterback getting acquainted with a Rams linebacker.
Later in the game, the same #71 seemed to watch Colt McCoy get sacked right in front of him, one of six sacks the Rams had on him by the end of the game.
The 24-0 win over the Washington Football Team earned St. Louis back-to-back shutouts—the first time that’s happened since 2009—and an ongoing streak of 83 unanswered points (76-0 over the last two games). All that for a sub .500 team?
While the score was tied at 7-7 in the second quarter, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Ricardo Lockette had apparently no shame in flopping dramatically right in front of a ref.
The San Diego Chargers’ punter Mike Scifres, who’s been active on the team for more than a decade, took an unlucky hit when the New England Patriots managed to block his punt in the first half of their Sunday evening matchup.
Later in the game, the Pats had a pick 6 called back for a controversial but undeniably huge hit from cornerback Brandon Browner. The refs called the play back for an illegal hit, but their decision immediately sparked dispute online about whether or not there was actually helmet-to-helmet contact.
This is undisputable: Ndamukong Suh with a late, dirty hit on Josh McCown. Expect a fine.
And then, literally twenty seconds later on the clock, Suh is not on good terms with the ref for a different play.
Monday night’s Packers vs. Falcons game ended with Green Bay holding onto their one-game lead in the NFC North thanks to a 43-37 win over Atlanta. As much as the Falcons offense was able to accomplish, Aaron Rodgers and Eddie Lacy in particular were able to hold on to an early lead throughout the game.
Watch Lacy refuse to get tackled after a reception below:
And then, with a more head-on approach, Lacy again:
The Falcons had their moments of course, like Julio Jones with a 3rd quarter 79-yard reception that helped his team mount a near-comeback.
