USFFL XX: Week 12

Per the USFFL Rules, coaches have two weeks to complete their games over Thanksgiving Week, and it feels like forever since I wrote the last weekly update. All the games are now in the books, and we are one week closer to USFFL Playoff Time. In the last column, I highlighted the battle of two Division Leaders: the Cowboys vs. the Patriots, as well as the Bucs vs. Falcons, Seahawks vs. Eagles, and the Broncos vs. Bills. While may of these games were well played and exciting, our Division Leaderboard looks very similar to where we were last week, with one significant difference: One fewer game to close the gap on the division leaders. In the AFC, the Patriots lost their game to the Cowboys, but the Bills fell to the Broncos allowing the Patriots to maintain their 3 game lead. Kansas City was on their Bye Week, but the Chiefs still hold a one game lead over the Broncos. The Bengals couldn’t close the gap on the Ravens as both teams lost their respective games. in the NFC, things were also much the same: Dallas and Philadelphia both won their games, keeping things close in the East. Detroit, Chicago, and Green Bay all won their games in the NFC North. Atlanta maintained their one game lead over the Saints. Finally, in the West both San Francisco and Seattle lost their games.

Division Leads

AFC

East – Patriots by 3 over the Bills
North – Ravens by 2 over the Bengals
South – Titans by 2 over the Texans
West – Chiefs by 1 over the Broncos

NFC

East – Cowboys by 1 over the Eagles
North – Lions by 1 over the Bears and Packers
South – Falcons by 1 over the Saints
West – Niners by 1 over the Seahawks

There are 4 games to go, and all teams have had their Bye Weeks.

Week 13 Preview


We have several standout games this week, but my pick for game of the week has to be New Orleans vs. Atlanta. A win by the Falcons could put the NFC South out of reach for the Saints. Other games of note include: Chicago at Detroit, San Francisco at Baltimore, and Buffalo at Dallas. Division leads and Wild Card spots are at stake in each of these games.

Shout Outs!

If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, take a look at the new slack channel: wk13_playoffoverview. Tim Ervin put together some great analysis on the playoff hunt as well as team offensive and defensive rankings. Thanks for the great work Tim!

Game of the Week

Atlanta 20, Tampa Bay 17 (OT)

ATLANTA- Jameis Winston committed his third turnover of the day with 2:30 left in the overtime period to setup a short Atlanta drive that concluded with a 20-yard game winning field goal by Younghoe Koo to give the Falcons the 20-17 overtime win over Tampa Bay.
In a game that did not have many points, there were ample yards by both sides (Atlanta 465 & Tampa 323) along with many miscues that held the offenses back. But the offenses started out slowly combining for 5 punts to start the game, with one returned for a touchdown by Kenjon Barner to give the Falcons an early 7-0 lead.
Up 7-0 and with the ball in Bucs territory, the Falcons were stopped on a 4th and 1, and that sparked the Bucs offense as Winston led the team on a quick 7-play touchdown drive capped by a 4-yard Winston pass to Breshard Perriman to tie the game with 7:30 left in the second quarter. The Falcons got the ball back with 2:06 left in the half and put together a drive that resulted in a Koo field goal from 49 yards for a 10-7 Falcons halftime lead.
After another nice drive led by Matt Ryan (36-53-400-1-1), the Falcons came up empty after a successful field goal was called back by penalty and followed up with a missed field goal attempt by Younghoe Koo. The Bucs took possession and drove 45 yards in 12 plays to setup the only score by either team in the third quarter; a 38-yard field goal by Matt Gay to tie the game at 10.
The ensuing kickoff led to an early fourth quarter scoring drive by the Falcons where Matt Ryan navigated nicely-called double-teams to convert third downs before a 24-yard touchdown pass to Julio Jones (DT’d, 1-man in zone, +31 reading on the d-card) and gave the Falcons a 17-10 lead. Winston answered with an impressive 77-yard, 7-play drive where the Bucs offense moved the ball with ease. Winston scampered 19-yards on a must run for the score and the game was tied at 17 with 10-minutes left in the 4th.
The miscues began piling up in the final 10 minutes of regulation as the teams tried to take a late-lead. The Falcons punted and the Bucs took possession with 7:48 left. Winston drove the Bucs into Falcons territory before throwing his first interception of the day. On the next play, Matt Ryan returned the favor with an interception of his own setting the Bucs up at the Atlanta 35 with 5:24 left. Following a sack near the goal-line, Winston found Ronald Jones on a look-in pass on 3rd down for a dramatic touchdown; but offsetting penalties wiped out the score. On the replay of 3rd down, Winston mishandled the snap and the Falcons recovered sending the game to overtime.
The high-jinx continued in the overtime period where the teams combined for 5 possessions. The initial Atlanta possession ended with Koo’s 3rd missed field goal of the game; this one being of the low-percentage variety (2-6 from 54 yards). The Bucs took over and couldn’t get out of their own way, piling up penalties and then punting on 3rd down presumably to avoid the chance of a Winston interception. The Falcons approached midfield before stalling and punting to the Bucs, where Winston then threw the key interception that led to the game winning Falcons field goal with 1:07 left in the overtime period.
Jameis Winston finished 16-36-247-1-2 with Breshard Perriman leading Bucs receivers with 80-yards on 4 catches and a score. Mike Evans was held without a catch. Julio Jones was held to 3 catches. Both Evans and Jones could not take advantage of GW LP 0-men opportunities. Devonta Freeman led Falcons pass-catchers with 12 receptions and 101 yards. The Falcons led the sack count 5-0. Both teams suffered from penalties; the Bucs committing 7 for 50 yards and the Falcons committing 10 for 60 yards and a first down.
The Falcons improve to 8-3 and next face their rival Saints in Atlanta. The Bucs drop to 5-6 and will take a bus to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars.

Weekly Leaders

Quarterback

Matthew Stafford leads all QB’s this week with 4 TDs. Matt Ryan threw for 400 yards on 36/53 attempts. Ryan threw for 137 more yards than the runner-up Russell Wilson.

Receivers

Marvin Jones and Robby Anderson both caught 2 TDs. Kenny Golladay had 113 yards receiving. Tyler Lockett and Devonta Freeman both broke the century mark.

Running Backs

Marlon Mack, Royce Freeman, and Derrick Henry each had 2 rushing TDs. Saquon Barkley led all rushers with 177 yards on 22 carries. David Montgomery also carried for 17 yards.

Odds and Ends

Artie Burns had 2 picks for Pittsburgh. Greg Zuerlein kicked for 14 points, and Tennessee’s Brett Kern averaged over 56 yards a punt.