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NFL Close Calls – Week 14

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NFL Close Calls – Week 14
By Joe Nelson
Nellysports.com

Arizona Cardinals (-10) 23, Minnesota Vikings 20 (46½): With numerous injuries on defense the line on this game skyrocketed from -7 to as high as -10½ with the total also climbing as well. The Vikings had costly fumbles on both sides of halftime as it looked like Arizona might pull away with a 20-10 lead after settling for a short field goal early in the fourth quarter. A strong kickoff return sparked a Minnesota scoring drive with Blair Walsh hitting from 54 yards to put Minnesota back within seven. The defense held on a key 3rd-and-1 play to force a 3-and-out and the Vikings put together an 88-yard drive to tie the game with under five minutes to go. Arizona was down the field and in field goal range quickly but a negative play for the Cardinals set them in a hole and Minnesota used two timeouts to preserve over a minute of clock after Chandler Catanzaro hit the go-ahead field goal. Minnesota hit a few nice gains and wound up with 3rd-and-10 from the Arizona 31-yard line with 13 seconds to go, in range for a field goal to force overtime, a kick that would have also clinched the ‘over’ for most as well. Teddy Bridgewater looked like a still young quarterback on the next play however, taking far too long in what needed to be a quick throw with no timeouts. He was sacked and the ball came out with Arizona recovering to end the game. Minnesota still managed to cover to burn anyone that followed the herd with the line move and the Vikings remained one of the top ‘under’ teams in the league with the game staying just below the total.

Pittsburgh Steelers (+1) 33, Cincinnati Bengals 20 (49): Pittsburgh grabbed an early lead in this key AFC North clash and Andy Dalton exited the game for the Bengals in the first half. Leading 16-7 at the half the Steelers had a pick-six early in the third quarter to basically wrap up the game playing as a slight underdog. The game appeared well on pace to stay ‘under’ with 33 points through three quarters and just a pair of field goals on the early possessions of the final quarter. With Cincinnati pinned deep A.J. McCarron was intercepted to hand Pittsburgh great field position and the Steelers ran in a touchdown with less than four minute to go to make the score 33-13 with little room left to hit the total. Those on the ‘over’ got what they needed as McCarron led an 80-yard drive with a limited effort from the Steelers defense and the Bengals scored a touchdown with just over a minute to go in the game to only lose by 13 but getting enough points to reach the total that was as high as 50 during the week.

Philadelphia Eagles (-1) 23, Buffalo Bills 20 (48): The Eagles led 20-10 early in the second half but the Bills would have the game tied by the end of the third quarter with the small spread on this game meaning in most scenarios the outright victor would also cover. Momentum appeared to stay with the Bills with an interception in the red zone from Sam Bradford. Field position was in Philadelphia’s favor however as the Bills were forced to punt. The Eagles had a quick 3-and-out with the game still tied at 20 but again Buffalo was pinned deep and had to kick it back to the Eagles. Philadelphia drove as far as the Buffalo 12-yard line but ultimately had to settle for three to leave room for the Bills to answer but Buffalo punted again on its next possession and in the final two minutes Tyrod Taylor was intercepted taking a shot down the field as Philadelphia won for the second straight week to stay in the playoff hunt with the game also staying just ‘under’ as well with Buffalo’s inability to find the end zone late.

Washington Redskins (+4) 24, Chicago Bears 21 (43½): Hearing all week about how they had not won a road game all season the Redskins opened up a 14-0 lead in Chicago with two long scoring drives. The Bears managed to find the end zone just before halftime to stay within a score but early in the third quarter Washington connected for another touchdown on a key 3rd down play. Chicago answered and Kirk Cousins was intercepted on the next Washington possession. The Bears tied the game at 21-21 three plays later. Early in the fourth quarter the Redskins went back in front with a field goal and the teams exchanged four punts but with Washington moving the ball more effectively to keep the Bears with a long field to work with. Getting the ball back with just over two minutes to go the Bears moved into field goal range before stalling and Robbie Gould failed with another miss to the right from 50 yards as Washington held on without overtime.

St. Louis Rams (+3) 21, Detroit Lions 14 (41½): The only scoring in the first half was a 58-yard interception return touchdown for the Rams and St. Louis still led 14-7 after trading touchdowns in the third quarter. Capping off a big day Todd Gurley rushed in for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to put the slight underdog up by 14. The Lions eventually added another touchdown a possession later with a 14-play drive but a lot of time was used up leaving just over two minutes to go. With hopes to deliver a miracle comeback of their own the Lions actually got the on-side kick to sit in a great position to have a chance to tie the games but Detroit failed to pick up a first down and the Rams picked up the first down they needed to run off the clock with the ‘under’ on one of the lower totals of the week also staying there.

Kansas City Chiefs (-12½) 10, San Diego Chargers 3 (42): With the Chiefs leading 10-3 into the fourth quarter the ‘under’ was a clear winner in this AFC West clash and while the Chiefs were in San Diego territory twice in the fourth quarter they never threatened to score opting to leave the Chargers with a long field. A pick-6 was certainly a possibility with Philip Rivers but the Chargers made a great final drive that included three 4th down conversions, eventually lining up with 1st-and-goal from the 1-yard line but with only 16 seconds to go for those hoping to extend the game or possibly cash a San Diego moneyline ticket that would have been north of +400. Both San Diego pass attempts as the rally fell short again for the Chargers as the S/U win streak for the Chiefs continues but the six-game ATS run was stopped.

Oakland Raiders (+6) 15, Denver Broncos 12 (43): The Broncos completely dominated the yardage totals in this game but settled for four field goals in the first half including two of which came from less than 30 yards. That left Oakland in the game down just 12-0 despite picking up one first down in the first half and that first down came on a penalty. Getting the ball first in the second half Oakland came out with a different energy, going 80 yards and connecting for a touchdown on a big third down play. Neither offense accomplished a lot on the next several possessions and after a long pass completion was overturned on review for the Raiders a great punt pinned Denver at the 2-yard line. The ball was knocked away from Brock Osweiler a few plays later and recovered by Denver in the end zone to avoid a go-ahead touchdown for the Raiders with the loose ball but giving the Raiders a safety to make it a three-point game. The Raiders did not make the most of the extra possession but on the punt the Emmanuel Sanders fumbled to hand Oakland the ball at the Denver 11-yard line. The Raiders scored on a 3rd-and-15 throw but missed the two-point conversion to lead 15-12. Denver had its chance to answer early in the fourth quarter but Brandon McManus missed from 49 yards with a chance to tie the game. Sebastian Janikowski missed from 43 yards later in the quarter to return the favor and Denver was forced to go for it on 4th down on its next two possessions in its own territory, coming up short both times as the Raiders delivered the low output upset.

New York Giants (-2) 31, Miami Dolphins 24 (48): Miami took a 17-10 lead Monday night but in the final minute before halftime the Giants were able to tie the game. Both teams had touchdowns in the third quarter to keep the game tied and the total of 48 was reached with the score knotted at 24-24 heading into the fourth quarter after the Giants missed a field goal in the final minute of the third quarter. Getting the ball back pinned deep the Giants took only two plays to go 96 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with an 84-yard pass play to Odell Beckham. Miami moved to the edge of field goal range on the next possession but a holding call forced the Dolphins to punt. The Giants were not able to get a first down and Miami got the ball back near midfield with still over five minutes to play. The Dolphins were set back with a costly unnecessary roughness penalty and had to punt again. Miami had two timeouts remaining but the Giants picked up three first downs to run down the rest of the clock, keeping pace in the NFC East and with Beckham, Eli Manning, and Lamar Miller likely winning some fantasy playoff matchups around the country with big statistical nights.

 
Posted : December 15, 2015 4:20 pm
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