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4B Sunday, December 9, 2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
NFL
Playing for a bye
SAM CRAFT I Associated Press
Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) throws against the Cleveland Browns during a game, Sunday,
Dec. 2, in Houston.
Riding a nine-game winning streak, the Houston Texans
still have a chance to earn a top two seed in the AFC
BY BARRY WILNER
Associated Press
Here’s a crazy thought: The
Houston Texans with home-field
advantage throughout the AFC
playoffs.
Yep, the team that began the
season 0-3 just might sneak past the
Chiefs and Patriots and claim that
coveted spot.
The Texans have won nine in a
row. They’ve done so in all sorts
of ways, from strong defense to
opportunistic offense to solid spe
cial teams to superb coaching.
On Sunday, they face Indianapo
lis (6-6) and can pretty much knock
the Colts out of postseason conten
tion with a win.
Indianapolis has won three of
the past four against the Texans
in a series in which the past eight
games were decided by seven or
fewer points.
Should Houston get by the Colts,
the remainder of the schedule has
visits to the Jets and Eagles and a
home finale against Jacksonville.
Considering that two-month string
of wins, why can’t the Texans run
the table?
“It’s a small accomplishment,”
says defensive end Jadeveon
Clowney, who has justified being
the top overall pick in the 2014
draft. “We still haven’t even won
the division with winning nine in a
row, we have no playoff spot, noth
ing right now locked up.
“So, it’s a small accom
plishment, but hopefully it
will lead to bigger things
for us. We’re playing for
much more than just the
division right now. We’re
trying to play for first, sec
ond, third seed, whoever is
ahead of us right now.”
That would be Kansas
City (10-2) and New England (also
9-3). Both have a more testing
December.
“I think it’s when you start to
look ahead, or you start to get
overly excited about accomplish
ments that, not don’t mean any
thing, but winning nine in a row,
winning a division, you take things
one day at a time,” J.J. Watt adds.
“I think that’s the biggest men
tality I’ve taken away from it all is
just control what you can control.
If you try to start controlling things
that you can’t control, then you can
get in trouble.
The weekend began with Thurs
day night with Tennessee’s 30-9
home victory over Jacksonville.
Derrick Henry sped and stiff
armed his way to a record-tying
99-yard touchdown run for
Tennessee (7-6). Henry tied Tony
Dorsett’s 99-yarder on Jan. 3,
1983, for Dallas against Minnesota
for the longest TD run in
NFL history. Henry set a
franchise record with 238
yards on just 16 carries,
topping the previous mark
of 228 yards set by Chris
Johnson in 2009 against
yes, the Jaguars. Henry
finished with a career-high
four TDs, tying Lorenzo
White and Hall of Fame
running back Earl Camp
bell for most rushing TDs in a sin
gle game in franchise history.
Jacksonville dropped to 4-9.
New Orleans (10-2) at Tampa
Bay (5-7):
The Saints take the NFC South
with a win or a Carolina loss.
They’re eager to get back on the
field after their worst performance
of 2018, a Thursday night loss at
Dallas in which they were over
whelmed by the Cowboys’ defense.
Tampa Bay, which has gained
more yards on offense than any
one — yes, even New Orleans —
won the first meeting to open the
season. Then the Saints won their
next 10 games.
Bucs quarterback Jameis Win
ston has not turned over the ball
since regaining the starting job
two weeks ago. In the past three
games, one in relief, Winston has
completed 61 of 84 (72.6 percent)
with six touchdowns and
one interception for a
119.1 rating.
Los Angeles Rams (11-
1) at Chicago (8-4):
The Rams already own
the NFC West title. They
earn a first-round playoff
bye by beating the Bears.
This is an intriguing
matchup, LA’s second-
ranked offense against Chicago’s
No. 4 defense. The Bears are sec
ond stingiest against the run, and
the Rams’ Todd Gurley leads the
NFL in both yards rushing (1,175)
and yards from scrimmage (1,649).
Chicago’s defense leads the NFL
with 21 interceptions and will test
Jared Goff.
Chicago hopes to have regular
quarterback Mitchell Trubisky
back from a shoulder injury that
cost him two games. He’ll need to
watch for Rams DT Aaron Donald,
making a strong statement for a
second straight NFL Defensive
Player of the Year award. He tops
the NFL with 16 sacks, has at least
two in three straight games.
New England (9-3) at Miami
(6-6):
A Patriots win — this is one place
they don’t like, having lost four of
the past five at Miami — means
yet another AFC East crown,
10 in a row. Tom Brady
has won 12 of his past 13
starts within the division.
He’s also ready to estab
lish another NFL record:
Brady has 579 career TD
passes, including postsea
son, tied with Peyton Man
ning for the most.
New England also has
found a rushing defense,
not allowing a 100-yard gainer
since Week 3.
Miami has been outgained by
1,168 yards and is on pace to break
the 1967 team record yet is in wild
card contention. The Dolphins do
rank third with 25 takeaways.
Baltimore (7-5) at Kansas City
(10-2)
Cincinnati (5-7) at Los Angeles
Chargers (9-3)
Pittsburgh (7-4-1) at Oakland
(2-10):
Two AFC division races involved
here.
The Ravens have crept within
a half-game of the Steelers in the
North, but they have a massive
challenge at KC while Pittsburgh
shouldn’t struggle much at lowly
Oakland.
Beating the high-powered Chiefs
at Arrowhead calls for a monstrous
defensive showing, and Baltimore
has the top-ranked D. It also has a
clock-killing run game with rookie
Lamar Jackson at QB: The Ravens
have had at least 200 yards rushing
in three straight weeks.
Still, Kansas City is 5-0 at home
and leads the league in scor
ing at 37 points a game. Patrick
Mahomes has a league-leading 41
TD passes and 43 throws of 25-plus
yards.
Kansas City, which gets a play
off berth with a win, can’t afford
a stumble with the Chargers one
game back; they meet next Thurs
day night. With Cincinnati in a rug
ged, injury-caused slump, LA could
romp Sunday.
The Chargers have a few compli
cated ways of getting at least a wild
card this week. Philip Rivers has
thrown two or more TDs in each of
his first 12 games, tied for the third-
longest streak to begin a season in
NFL history.
Rivers has 10 TDs and six INTs
in six games against the Bengals,
who have won four straight meet
ings in the regular season.
The Raiders have won the past
three home games in this series
since losing in 1995 and the Steel
ers are 3-8 all time in Oakland.
Clowney
Brady
JOHN BAZEMORE I Associated Press
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (2) works against the Baltimore
Ravens during the game, Sunday, Dec. 2, in Atlanta.
Struggling Falcons
and Packers look to
get back on track
BY GENAR0 C. ARMAS
Associated Press
GREEN BAY, Wis. — How
fortunes have changed in less
than two years for the Atlanta
Falcons and Green Bay Packers.
The participants in the NFC
title game in January 2017 are
floundering this season. The
Packers have already fired head
coach Mike McCarthy.
Falcons owner Arthur Blank
reaffirmed support for his coach,
Dan Quinn, after a four-game los
ing streak dropped the team out
of the playoff picture.
The game between the Falcons
(4-8) and Packers (4-7-1) on Sun
day at Lambeau Field was once
circled on the NFL calendar as
a potential matchup between
contenders jockeying for a home
game in the playoffs.
Instead, it’s turned into a
matchup between disappointing
teams each trying to avoid a los
ing season.
“I think what you want to do
when you go through a difficult
stretch is you want to
make sure you take the
lessons first, and when
you do that, there’s
something that you have
to gain,” Quinn said.
“Sometimes you don’t
like to admit it, but that’s
where the learning takes
place the most.”
It sounds a lot like
what the Packers are
going through at Lambeau,
where the future is clouded by
uncertainty.
Offensive coordinator Joe
Philbin took over as interim head
coach after McCarthy was fired
following the stunning 20-17 loss
last week to the lowly Arizona
Cardinals.
A coaching veteran with a dry
sense of humor, Philbin has deliv
ered simple messages at a time of
upheaval.
“I told the offense, we’ve
got to block, we’ve got to throw
and catch, we’ve got to
run hard with the ball.
That’s really ultimately
what wins games,” Phil
bin said. “Schemes are
important, but not as
important as playing
guys together and play
ing with great effort and
playing fundamentally
sound.”
The Packers have
lost three straight and five of
six. They need lots of help to get
into the postseason even if they
can somehow win their last four
games.
“I think everybody’s kind of
realizing that we’re all under
the microscope even more. Who
knows what the changes are
going to be after the season,”
quarterback Aaron Rodgers said.
“So I feel like the energy was
good today. Unfortunately the
urgency that you need early in
the season, we kind of had out in
practice today.”
RODGERS RECORD WATCH
At least the game could
be worth watching for the
quarterback play. Rodgers’ 61.8
percent completion rate this
year is his lowest since 2015 (60.7
percent), though he has thrown
just one interception all season.
Rodgers has thrown a franchise-
record 336 attempts without an
interception, trailing only New
England’s Tom Brady (358 in
2010-11) for longest such stretch
in league history.
THIRD-QUARTER BLUES
One of the Falcons’ goals for
the week is to jump-start their
abysmal third-quarter scoring.
Atlanta has been outscored 71-34
in third quarters, including 6-0
in last week’s 26-16 loss to Balti
more. The Falcons ran only five
plays and held the ball less than
two minutes in the quarter. By
contrast, the Falcons’ 115 second-
quarter points and 107 fourth-
quarter points rank among the
top five in the league.
CALLING PLAYS
Philbin, the former Dolphins
head coach in his sec
ond stint as a Packers
assistant, has extensive
experience coaching and
putting together offen
sive game plans. But
the previous time that
Philbin called plays was
when he was a college
assistant at Northeastern
in 1995-96. He’ll assume
those duties again on Sunday
since McCarthy was the play-
caller in Green Bay. Of course,
the Packers also have a veteran
at quarterback in Rodgers who is
often at his best out of the pocket
when a play breaks down.
WELCOME BACK
The Falcons have lost eight
players to injured reserve this
season, including long snap
per Josh Harris this week. They
finally had a key starter return
from IR last week when
linebacker Deion Jones
set a career high with
15 tackles and a sack
against the Ravens.
Jones missed 10 games
after suffering a broken
right foot in the opener
against Philadelphia.
Jones’ 15 tackles were
the most by a Falcons
player this season.
RUN TIME
The Falcons have the NFL’s
worst rushing attack, averaging
just 79 yards a game. They were
held to 34 on the ground last week
against Baltimore, a week after a
season-low 26 against the Saints.
“When we’re at our best,
we’re running the football and
we’re able to create play-action
passes,” quarterback Matt Ryan
said.
This might be the week they
get things going. Green Bay
allowed a season-high 182 yards
on the ground to the Cardinals
last week, who have the league’s
second-worst rushing offense.
Jones
Walter Payton Man of the Year award bigger than football
BY BARRY WILNER
Associated Press
Winning any of the AP’s individ
ual NFL awards, from MVP to top
rookie, means plenty to players.
Being nominated for, no less
winning, the Walter Payton Man of
the Year award means more.
Don’t minimize how proud a guy
is when he’s voted one of the presti
gious individual awards. It’s a por
tion of his resume that jumps off
the page the way Saquon Barkley
hurdles over potential tacklers.
But being selected for the Pay-
ton award, renamed in 1999 for
the great Chicago Bears running
back and humanitarian, involves
so much more than football
achievements.
“It is probably one of my great
est accomplishments,” says 2013
winner Charles Tillman,
who played 12 seasons at
cornerback for the Bears
and his final year with the
Panthers.
“When fans see us, they
just assume a lot of times
we are just athletes. They
don’t know what these
men do on their days off
during the season, in the
community. A lot of play
ers really put their community ser
vice in every week of the year.
“The Walter Payton Award is
about excellence off the field. I am
proud to be associated with that
award.”
Who wouldn’t be? In a time when
many NFL players have been criti
cized or even condemned
for their protests of social
and racial injustice during
the national anthem, many
— if not most of them —
also have been doing good
deeds in their communi
ties. They don’t do it for
recognition or applause.
As Tillman notes, they do
it because they can “shed
light on a bigger thing. It’s
not just football.”
Unlike in the past, when three
finalists were selected before a
recipient was chosen, one player
from every NFL team is a finalist.
All will be recognized and partici
pate in NFL functions during Super
Bowl week. The Man of the Year
will be revealed at NFL Honors,
when The Associated Press’ indi
vidual NFL awards are announced
Feb. 2 in Atlanta.
Five current players have won
the award: Drew Brees, Thomas
Davis, Larry Fitzgerald, Eli Man
ning and J.J. Watt, and they wear
a Man of the Year patch on their
jerseys. All 2018 finalists will wear
a Man of the Year helmet decal
beginning this week through the
end of the season.
“It’s a tremendous honor,”
Jets offensive tackle Kelvin Bea-
chum says. This week, Beachum
surprised Ca’moore Jones, an
eighth-grade student at Orange
Preparatory Academy in New
Jersey, with two Super Bowl tick
ets. Moore was nominated by his
teacher, Glenn Gamble, for his
performance and growth with the
Character Playbook course that is
embraced by the NFL.
“Just the name Walter Payton,
he’s the gold standard,” Beachum
said. “What he did off the field
and on the field, his excellence is
bar none, top in history. So to be
mentioned in the same name and
the same breath as him, it’s truly
humbling.”
Humbling is an appropriate
word because the award finalists
often feel that sensation during
their community work.
Tillman
