If the sight of footballs flying through goalposts is your idea of fun, then the National Field Goal League is for you.
At a time when fabulous passing offenses supposedly have taken over the game, there were 46 field goals kicked in the 13 day games Sunday on Week 13 of the NFL season. End zones were foreign territory in some games.
Seven three-pointers were kicked in Tennessee’s 26-22 win over the New York Jets. Five of them were by New York’s Jason Myers, who had made 28 of 30 tries this season.
Six were kicked in the Los Angeles Rams’ 30-16 win at Detroit, three each by Greg Zuerlein of the Rams and Matthew Prater of the Lions.
Ta’imi Fairbairn of Houston kicked five in the Texans’ 29-13 win over the Cleveland.
Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens kicked four in a 26-16 win over the Falcons in Atlanta. There were only two offensive touchdowns in the game, one for each team.
Two field goals were all there were in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 6-0 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, who had averaged 33 points in their previous eight games.
There were no game-ending field goals, but Aldrick Rosas’ third of the game in overtime gave the New York Giants a 33-30 win over the Chicago Bears at MetLife Stadium.
Upset losses by the Colts, Packers and Falcons were blows to any playoff hopes each had. Atlanta looks dead in the NFC South and Carolina’s chances of winning the division are hanging by a thread.
A capsule look as the Week 13 games:
Game of the day
Chargers 33, Steelers 30
The scoop: After missing once and having a second one blocked — both nullified by Pittsburgh offsides penalties — Michael Badgley kicked a 29-yard field goal after time run out to give Los Angeles victory. The Chargers had trailed, 23-7, at the half but tied the game ona Philip Rivers pass to Keenan Allen and a 52-yard punt return by Desmond King with 2:08 into the fourth quarter. L.A. went in front on an 18-yard run by rookie Justin Jackson only to have the Steelers drive 78 yards to tie on a 10-yard pass from Ben Roethlisberger to rookie running back Jaylen Samuels.
Why the Chargers won: They had no turnovers and kept the Pittsburgh pass rush off Rivers. He was sacked twice in 38 dropbacks.
The contenders
Patriots 24, Vikings 10
The scoop: Minnesota came from 10-0 down to tie the game in the third quarter before Tom Brady directed two New England scoring drives. The first ended in a 24-yard pass to Josh Gordon, the second on a 2-yard run by blocking back James Develin. … Brady reached a milestone he has often joked about. In his 19th NFL season, Brady reached the 1,000-yard mark in career rushing when he scrambled for a 5-yard gain in the first quarter.
Why the Patriots won: They limited the Vikes to 271 yards total offense, intercepted two passes and sacked Kirk Cousins twice while not allowing a sack of Brady.
The contenders
Texans 29, Browns 13
The scoop: Houston won its ninth in a row and has a three-game lead over the Colts in the AFC South with four weeks to go. … DeShaun Watson passed for the only offensive touchdown by the Texans. … Fairbairn kicked three of his five field goals in the first half as Houston took a 23-0 lead into the break.
Why the Texas won: Baker Mayfield threw three interceptions in the first half. Two led to field goals the other was a pick-six by Houston linebacker Zach Cunningham that was returned 38 yards.
Chiefs 40, Raiders 33
The scoop: Although they led all the way the Chiefs needed a fourth touchdown pass by Patrick Mahomes to Chris Conley with 1:54 to play to finally put away the Raiders. Oakland had closed to 33-30 on Derek Carr’s third scoring pass of the game. Mahomes was not sacked or intercepted and was Kansas City’s leading rusher with 52 yards in the Chiefs’ first game without Kareem Hunt, who was fired on Friday. The Raiders rolled up 442 yards of offense and converted 9 of 12 third downs.
Why the Chiefs won: Two Raiders fumbles were converted into 10 points. Kansas City won despite a lack of their usual big plays — Tyreek Hill had only one reception for 13 yards.
Ravens 26, Falcons 16
The scoop: Baltimore’s league leading defense held Matt Ryan and the Falcons to 131 yards total offense. One of the Ravens’ touchdowns was a 12-yard fumble return by cornerback Tavon Young. Lamar Jackson started at quarterback again for the Ravens and ran for 75 yards on 17 carries but was only 12 for 21 passing for 125 yards.
Why the Ravens won: Atlanta went five straight series without picking up a first down until its final drive of the game after falling behind, 26-10.
Rams 30, Lions 16
The scoop: Jared Goff’s only touchdown pass of the game, 8 yards to Robert Woods put L.A. in front, 10-3 to stay with 2:28 left in the second quarter. Todd Gurley ran for two touchdowns in the second half to put it away.
Why the Rams won: It wasn’t a banner day for the offense but the defense allowed Detroit to convert only 2 of 17 third downs. Detroit turned the ball over in two of its last three possessions.
Giants 30, Bears 27 (OT)
The scoop: Chicago forced overtime by scoring 10 points in the last 1:49. After recovering an onside kick with 1:13 left they drove 53 yards before running back Tarik Cohen passed 1 yard to rookie Anthony Miller as regulation time ran out. In overtime, the Giant drove 49 yards for a 44-yard Rosas field goal. Chicago stayed in first place in the NFC North, thanks to Minnesota’s loss at New England.
Why the Giants won: After Rosas field goal, they took over on downs to end the game. New York sacked Bears QB Chase Daniel five times and intercepted him twice, one a pick-six by Alex Ogletree for 8 yards.
Say good-night, Gracie
Buccaneers 24, Panthers 17
The scoop: Tampa Bay won for the second week in a row with Jameis Winston at quarterback. Winston threw two TD passes, the first for 3 yards to Adam Humphries made it 7-0 and the Bucs were in front to stay. Christian McCaffrey ran for 106 yards in just 10 carries and caught nine passes for 55 yards in the loss. Chris Godwin had 101 receiving yards including a 13-yard TD catch for the winners. … The loss left the Panthers four games behind first-place New Orleans in the NFC South with four games to go. The team to do meet twice in the last three weeks of the season.
Why the Bucs won: Tampa Bay intercepted Cam Newton four times and sacked him four times
Cardinals 20, Packers 17
The scoop: Surprising Arizona, a two-touchdown underdog, ended its four-game losing streak and any realistic Green Bay playoff hopes, winning at Lambeau. Rookie Josh Rosen completed only 11 of 26 passes for 149 yards, the longest 37 yards, but guided an offense that rolled up 182 yards rushing. Chase Edmonds, a rookie from Fordham, carried only five times for 53 yards but had runs of 6 and 8 yards for the only Arizona touchdowns.
Why the Cardinals won: Aaron Rodgers of the Packers completed 31 of 50 passes, but his longest completion was only 19 yards.
Jaguars 6, Colts 0
The scoop: Josh Lambo kicked field goals of 30 yards in the second quarter and 37 in the fourth for the Jaguars. With Cody Kessler at quarterback instead of Blake Bortles, Jacksonville finally ended a six-game losing streak. Kessler completed 18 of 24 but for only 8.3 yards a completion and no touchdowns, of course, in the field goal duel.
Why the Jaguars won: They ended Andrew Luck’s streak of eight games with three touchdowns or more. Luck completed 33 of 52 for 248 yards and was intercepted once and sacked three times.
Broncos 24, Bengals 10
The scoop: Rookie Phillip Lindsay ran for two touchdowns and Courtland Sutton, another rookie, caught a 30-yard TD pass from Case Keenum as Denver kept its wild-card playoff hopes alive. Already without starting QB Andy Dalton, the Bengals lost receiver A.J. Green to a foot injury early in the game.
Why the Broncos won: A muffed punt and an interception led to Denver touchdown drives of 33 and 85 in the third quarter when they opened a 21-3 lead.
Titans 26, Jets 22
The scoop: New York appeared to be on its way to ending its losing streak which now has reached six, but Tennessee scored the last 13 points of the game to win. The winning points came on an 11-yard pass from Marcus Mariota to Corey Davis with 36 seconds left to complete an 86-yard drive.
Why the Titans won: The Jets’ defense collapsed after holding Tennessee to 24 total yards on its first five possessions. They returned an interception for a touchdown and blocked a point which led to a field goal.
If the sight of footballs flying through goalposts is your idea of fun, then the National Field Goal League is for you.
At a time when fabulous passing offenses supposedly have taken over the game, there were 46 field goals kicked in the 13 day games Sunday on Week 13 of the NFL season. End zones were foreign territory in some games.
Seven three-pointers were kicked in Tennessee’s 26-22 win over the New York Jets. Five of them were by New York’s Jason Myers, who had made 28 of 30 tries this season.
Six were kicked in the Los Angeles Rams’ 30-16 win at Detroit, three each by Greg Zuerlein of the Rams and Matthew Prater of the Lions.
Ta’imi Fairbairn of Houston kicked five in the Texans’ 29-13 win over the Cleveland.
Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens kicked four in a 26-16 win over the Falcons in Atlanta. There were only two offensive touchdowns in the game, one for each team.
Two field goals were all there were in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 6-0 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, who had averaged 33 points in their previous eight games.
There were no game-ending field goals, but Aldrick Rosas’ third of the game in overtime gave the New York Giants a 33-30 win over the Chicago Bears at MetLife Stadium.
Upset losses by the Colts, Packers and Falcons were blows to any playoff hopes each had. Atlanta looks dead in the NFC South and Carolina’s chances of winning the division are hanging by a thread.
A capsule look as the Week 13 games:
Game of the day
Patriots 24, Vikings 10
The scoop: Minnesota came from 10-0 down to tie the game in the third quarter before Tom Brady directed two New England scoring drives. The first ended in a 24-yard pass to Josh Gordon, the second on a 2-yard run by blocking back James Develin. … Brady reached a milestone he has often joked about. In his 19th NFL season, Brady reached the 1,000-yard mark in career rushing when he scrambled for a 5-yard gain in the first quarter.
Why the Patriots won: They limited the Vikes to 271 yards total offense, intercepted two passes and sacked Kirk Cousins twice while not allowing a sack of Brady.
The contenders
Texans 29, Browns 13
The scoop: Houston won its ninth in a row and has a three-game lead over the Colts in the AFC South with four weeks to go. … DeShaun Watson passed for the only offensive touchdown by the Texans. … Fairbairn kicked three of his five field goals in the first half as Houston took a 23-0 lead into the break.
Why the Texas won: Baker Mayfield threw three interceptions in the first half. Two led to field goals the other was a pick-six by Houston linebacker Zach Cunningham that was returned 38 yards.
Chiefs 40, Raiders 33
The scoop: Although they led all the way the Chiefs needed a fourth touchdown pass by Patrick Mahomes to Chris Conley with 1:54 to play to finally put away the Raiders. Oakland had closed to 33-30 on Derek Carr’s third scoring pass of the game. Mahomes was not sacked or intercepted and was Kansas City’s leading rusher with 52 yards in the Chiefs’ first game without Kareem Hunt, who was fired on Friday. The Raiders rolled up 442 yards of offense and converted 9 of 12 third downs.
Why the Chiefs won: Two Raiders fumbles were converted into 10 points. Kansas City won despite a lack of their usual big plays — Tyreek Hill had only one reception for 13 yards.
Ravens 26, Falcons 16
The scoop: Baltimore’s league leading defense held Matt Ryan and the Falcons to 131 yards total offense. One of the Ravens’ touchdowns was a 12-yard fumble return by cornerback Tavon Young. Lamar Jackson started at quarterback again for the Ravens and ran for 75 yards on 17 carries but was only 12 for 21 passing for 125 yards.
Why the Ravens won: Atlanta went five straight series without picking up a first down until its final drive of the game after falling behind, 26-10.
Rams 30, Lions 16
The scoop: Jared Goff’s only touchdown pass of the game, 8 yards to Robert Woods put L.A. in front, 10-3 to stay with 2:28 left in the second quarter. Todd Gurley ran for two touchdowns in the second half to put it away.
Why the Rams won: It wasn’t a banner day for the offense but the defense allowed Detroit to convert only 2 of 17 third downs. Detroit turned the ball over in two of its last three possessions.
Giants 30, Bears 27 (OT)
The scoop: Chicago forced overtime by scoring 10 points in the last 1:49. After recovering an onside kick with 1:13 left they drove 53 yards before running back Tarik Cohen passed 1 yard to rookie Anthony Miller as regulation time ran out. In overtime, the Giant drove 49 yards for a 44-yard Rosas field goal. Chicago stayed in first place in the NFC North, thanks to Minnesota’s loss at New England.
Why the Giants won: After Rosas field goal, they took over on downs to end the game. New York sacked Bears QB Chase Daniel five times and intercepted him twice, one a pick-six by Alex Ogletree for 8 yards.
Say good-night, Gracie
Buccaneers 24, Panthers 17
The scoop: Tampa Bay won for the second week in a row with Jameis Winston at quarterback. Winston threw two TD passes, the first for 3 yards to Adam Humphries made it 7-0 and the Bucs were in front to stay. Christian McCaffrey ran for 106 yards in just 10 carries and caught nine passes for 55 yards in the loss. Chris Godwin had 101 receiving yards including a 13-yard TD catch for the winners. … The loss left the Panthers four games behind first-place New Orleans in the NFC South with four games to go. The team to do meet twice in the last three weeks of the season.
Why the Bucs won: Tampa Bay intercepted Cam Newton four times and sacked him four times
Cardinals 20, Packers 17
The scoop: Surprising Arizona, a two-touchdown underdog, ended its four-game losing streak and any realistic Green Bay playoff hopes, winning at Lambeau. Rookie Josh Rosen completed only 11 of 26 passes for 149 yards, the longest 37 yards, but guided an offense that rolled up 182 yards rushing. Chase Edmonds, a rookie from Fordham, carried only five times for 53 yards but had runs of 6 and 8 yards for the only Arizona touchdowns.
Why the Cardinals won: Aaron Rodgers of the Packers completed 31 of 50 passes, but his longest completion was only 19 yards.
Jaguars 6, Colts 0
The scoop: Josh Lambo kicked field goals of 30 yards in the second quarter and 37 in the fourth for the Jaguars. With Cody Kessler at quarterback instead of Blake Bortles, Jacksonville finally ended a six-game losing streak. Kessler completed 18 of 24 but for only 8.3 yards a completion and no touchdowns, of course, in the field goal duel.
Why the Jaguars won: They ended Andrew Luck’s streak of eight games with three touchdowns or more. Luck completed 33 of 52 for 248 yards and was intercepted once and sacked three times.
Broncos 24, Bengals 10
The scoop: Rookie Phillip Lindsay ran for two touchdowns and Courtland Sutton, another rookie, caught a 30-yard TD pass from Case Keenum as Denver kept its wild-card playoff hopes alive. Already without starting QB Andy Dalton, the Bengals lost receiver A.J. Green to a foot injury early in the game.
Why the Broncos won: A muffed punt and an interception led to Denver touchdown drives of 33 and 85 in the third quarter when they opened a 21-3 lead.
Titans 26, Jets 22
The scoop: New York appeared to be on its way to ending its losing streak which now has reached six, but Tennessee scored the last 13 points of the game to win. The winning points came on an 11-yard pass from Marcus Mariota to Corey Davis with 36 seconds left to complete an 86-yard drive.
Why the Titans won: The Jets’ defense collapsed after holding Tennessee to 24 total yards on its first five possessions. They returned an interception for a touchdown and blocked a point which led to a field goal.
Dog of the day
Seahawks 43, 49ers 16
The scoop: Russell Wilson completed 11 of only 17 passes but four went for touchdowns including a 52-yarder to Tyler Lockett. Wilson has 29 TD passes and only five interceptions for the season. … Dante Pettis caught two TD passes for the Niners.
Why the Seahawks won: They limited the Niners to only a field goal on the last play of the first half while building a 20-3 lead on three Wilson touchdown passes.
News wire services contributed to this report.
Seahawks 43, 49ers 16
The scoop: Russell Wilson completed 11 of only 17 passes but four went for touchdowns including a 52-yarder to Tyler Lockett. Wilson has 29 TD passes and only five interceptions for the season. … Dante Pettis caught two TD passes for the Niners.
Why the Seahawks won: They limited the Niners to only a field goal on the last play of the first half while building a 20-3 lead on three Wilson touchdown passes.
News wire services contributed to this report.
