SCOREBOARD
Monday, Dec. 9
New York Giants at Philadelphia, 8:15 p.m. Eli Manning makes his first start since Week 2 for the reeling Giants, who have lost eight in a row. Despite entering with a 5-7 record, the Philadelphia Eagles are still in the race for the NFC East title with the Dallas Cowboys (6-7).
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STARS
Passing
- Drew Brees, Saints, was 29 for 40 for 349 yards and five touchdown passes in New Orleans’ 48-46 loss to San Francisco.
- Ryan Tannehill, Titans, was 21 for 27 for 391 yards and three touchdowns and an interception in Tennessee’s 42-21 win over Oakland.
- Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers, finished 26 for 35 for 349 yards with four touchdown passes and an interception in San Francisco’s 48-46 win over New Orleans.
- Jameis Winston, Buccaneers, was 33 for 45 for 456 yards with four touchdown passes and three interceptions in Tampa Bay’s 38-35 win over Indianapolis.
- Drew Lock, Broncos, was 22 for 27 for 309 yards with three touchdown passes and an interception in Denver’s 38-24 win over Houston.
- Philip Rivers, Chargers, was 16 for 22 for 314 yards and three touchdowns in Los Angeles’ 45-10 win over Jacksonville.
- Matt Ryan, Falcons, finished 20 for 34 for 313 yards with two touchdown passes in Atlanta’s 40-20 win over Carolina. Ryan, who has 50,279 passing yards, reached 50,000 passing yards in his 186th game and became the second-fastest quarterback to reach 50,000 passing yards in NFL history, trailing only Drew Brees (183 games).
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Rushing
- Joe Mixon, Bengals, had 23 carries for 146 yards and a touchdown in Cincinnati’s 27-19 loss to Cleveland.
- Aaron Jones, Packers, had 16 carries for 134 yards and a touchdown in Green Bay’s 20-15 win over Washington.
- Nick Chubb, Browns, had 15 carries for 106 yards and in Cleveland’s 27-19 win over Cincinnati.
- Derrick Henry, Titans, had 18 carries for 103 yards and two touchdowns in Tennessee’s 42-21 win over Oakland.
- Austin Ekeler, Chargers, had eight carries for 101 yards and added four receptions for 112 yards and a 84-touchdown in Los Angeles’ 45-10 win over Jacksonville.
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Receiving
- Emmanuel Sanders, 49ers, had seven catches for 157 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown, and added a 35-yard touchdown pass in San Francisco’s 48-46 win over New Orleans..
- A.J. Brown, Titans, had five catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns, one of them a 91-yarder, in Tennessee’s 42-21 win over Oakland.
- Michael Thomas, Saints, finished 11 catches for 134 yards and a touchdown in New Orleans’ 48-46 loss to San Francisco.
- DeAndre Hopkins, Texans, had seven catches for 120 yards and a touchdown in Houston’s 38-24 loss to Denver.
- Robby Anderson, Jets, had seven catches for 116 yards and a touchdown in New York’s 22-21 win over Miami.
- Noah Fant, Broncos, had four catches for 113 yards and a touchdown in Denver’s 38-24 win over Houston.
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Special Teams
- Diontae Johnson, Steelers, returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown in Pittsburgh’s 23-17 win over Arizona.
- Jason Sanders, Dolphins, was 7 for 8 on field goals in Miami’s 22-21 loss to the New York Jets.
- Robbie Gould, 49ers, was 2 for 2 on field goals, including a 30-yarder as time expired, and 6 for 6 on extra points in San Francisco’s 48-46 win over New Orleans.
- Sam Ficken, Jets, was for 3 on 3 on field goals, including a 44-yarder as time expired, in New York’s 22-21 win over Miami.
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Defense
- Darius Leonard, Colts, returned one of his two interceptions 80 yards for a touchdown in Indianapolis’ 38-35 loss to Tampa Bay.
- Kareem Jackson, Broncos, returned a fumble 70 yards for a touchdown and added an interception in Denver’s 38-24 win over Houston.
- Jayon Brown, Titans, returned a fumble 46 yards for a touchdown in Tennessee’s 42-21 win over Oakland.
- Denzel Ward, Browns, returned an interception 61 yards for a touchdown in Cleveland’s 27-19 win over Cincinnati.
- Danielle Hunter, Vikings, had three sacks in Minnesota’s 20-7 win over Detroit. Hunter, who is 25 years and 40 days old, has 52 1/2 sacks and is the youngest player to reach 50 sacks since 1982, when the individual sack became an official statistic.
- Vic Beasley, Falcons, had two sacks and two forced fumbles in Atlanta’s 40-20 win over Carolina.
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MILESTONES
Adrian Peterson is the sixth player in NFL history to reach 14,000 rush yards. He joins Emmitt Smith, Walter Payton, Frank Gore, Barry Sanders and Curtis Martin to reach the 14,000-yard mark. … Baker Mayfield is the third Browns QB in franchise history with at least 3,000 passing yards in consecutive seasons. He joins Bernie Kosar (1986-1987) and Brian Sipe (1979-1981). … Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson threw three touchdowns and one interception for a 102.5 passer rating and added 40 rushing yards in the Ravens’ Week 14 win at Buffalo. Jackson has 1,017 rushing yards this season and joins Michael Vick (1,039 rushing yards in 2006) as the only quarterbacks with at least 1,000 rushing yards in a single season in NFL history. … San Francisco wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders had seven receptions for 157 yards and a touchdown, and threw a 35-yard touchdown pass, in the 49ers’ 48-46 win at New Orleans. Sanders, who had both a passing and receiving touchdown with Denver in Week 7 of the 2018 season, joins Hall of Famers Walter Payton and LaDainian Tomlinson, along with Odell Beckham Jr. as the only non-quarterbacks to have both a passing and receiving touchdown in multiple games since 1970. … New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees threw five touchdowns and added a rushing touchdown. Brees has 11 games with at least five touchdown passes, the most such games in NFL history. Brees became the fourth player in the Super Bowl era with five passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in a single game, joining Mark Malone (Week 1, 1985), Aaron Rodgers (Week 7, 2019) and Mark Rypien (Week 11, 1991).
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PLAYOFF SPOTS
With a 23-16 victory at New England, combined with Oakland’s Week 14 loss against Tennessee, the Kansas City Chiefs clinched the AFC West for the fourth consecutive season. … With a 24-17 win at Buffalo, the Baltimore Ravens clinched a playoff berth for the second consecutive year. Baltimore extended its franchise-best winning streak to nine straight and improved to 11-2, its best record through 13 games in team history.
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STREAKS & STATS
The Steelers have won seven of their past eight games after their 23-17 victory over the Cardinals, who lost their sixth straight game. … The Titans extended their winning streak to four games with a 42-21 rout of the Raiders. Tennessee finished with 552 yards, its second most since the merger in 1970. The franchise had 563 in a 27-10 win over Kansas City on Dec. 16, 1990. The Raiders lost by 31 points in successive road games against the Jets and Chiefs and then fell apart in the second half against Tennessee. This marked just the second time in franchise history that Oakland dropped three in a row by at least 21 points, having also done it in 2012. … The Jaguars lost 45-10 to the Chargers. It was Jacksonville’s fifth consecutive lopsided loss, all by at least 17 points. The Jaguars have dropped 19 of their past 25 games - 11 of those by double digits. The 1986 Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the previous NFL team to drop five straight by at least 17. … The Buccaneers have won three in a row and four out of five after a 38-35 victory over the Colts. The Colts (6-7) have dropped five of six following a 5-2 start, falling from first place to third in the AFC South. … The Panthers (5-8), who fell to the Falcons 40-20, were eliminated from playoff contention with their fifth straight loss, which ruined the debut of interim coach Perry Fewell. He took over at the beginning of the week after longtime coach Ron Rivera was fired. … The Lions’ losing streak reached six games after a 20-7 defeat at Minnesota. The Lions fell to 9-19-1 under coach Matt Patricia, including 2-5 against NFC North foes. … The Bengals lost to the Browns 27-19 and have dropped 19 of 21 over the past two seasons.
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SIDELINED
Tampa Bay wide receiver Mike Evans caught a 61-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and injured his hamstring on the play. Evans suffered the injury as he was outrunning Pierre Desir on the TD catch. The receiver tried to walk it off in the end zone, but fell to the ground in pain and was limping when he left the field. … It was a rough day for Miami receivers as DeVante Parker and Albert Wilson were knocked out of their game against the Jets with concussions. New York lost tight end Ryan Griffin and running back Bilal Powell to ankle injuries. … The Saints lost tight end Jared Cook to a head injury after he caught two touchdown passes against San Francisco. Defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins had an ankle injury. The 49ers lost pass rusher Dee Ford to a hamstring injury. … Baltimore tight end Mark Andrews hurt his knee and receiver Chris Moore had a stinger in the win over Buffalo.
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SPEAKING
“I know a lot of people are still looking at him to see what kind of player he is, but I’m telling you he’s a baller. When you’ve got somebody like Jimmy with the personality he has and the hard work he puts in, in the clutch moments, he’s not going to fold.” - 49ers receiver Emmanuel Sanders on quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo after his team’s 48-46 win over New Orleans.
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“I tried to make a big deal out of it in the locker room, and the guys kind of gave me a smattering of applause. They’ve expected that and I think they earned the right to expect that.” - Ravens coach John Harbaugh on his team’s reaction to clinching a playoff spot for the eighth time in 12 seasons.
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