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Week 16 in the NFL was certainly one of the weirder ones of the year. Perhaps that had something to do with the Christmas holiday.
The Pittsburgh Steelers got back in the playoff race with a huge win over the Cincinnati Bengals, while the Seattle Seahawks had another fourth-quarter comeback to snatch the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoff race. The Baltimore Ravens crushed the San Francisco 49ers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did the same against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
No one seems to want to win the AFC South or the final AFC wild-card spot. As the new year approaches, here’s what we learned about every team in Week 16.
The pass game still needs some work: Perhaps Kyler Murray is still coming back from his knee injury (he’s only played six games), as the pass offense looks out of sync. Murray completed just 10 of 17 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown in the first half, averaging just 5.0 yards per attempt. In six games, Murray has provided stability to the offense completing 62.3% of his passes with six touchdowns and four interceptions (81.9 rating) — but the production could be better going forward. The Cardinals are averaging 20.7 points in Murray’s six starts.
They got what they needed from Taylor Heinicke: In a move that the Falcons had to make to salvage their season, Heinicke gave Atlanta a significantly better performance than anything from his first two starts prior to the bye week. He went 16 of 22 for 171 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions (110.2 rating) in the first half, scoring on three of five possessions. Heinicke’s play in the first half allowed the Falcons to establish the run later, as they had 124 rushing yards and 5.9 yards per carry in the second half — preserving the dominant victory. No turnovers from Heinicke was the biggest factor (even though he did fumble once). This is all they can ask for from Heinicke.
Defense makes a ‘best unit in NFL’…
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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/one-thing-we-learned-about-each-nfl-team-in-week-16-dolphins-shed-popular-narrative-ravens-expose-49ers/
Author : Jeff Kerr
Publish date : 2023-12-26 18:55:12
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