Lamar Jackson was back on Sunday. For one play.
His return was marred by a shocking injury one play into Sunday’s game, and his injury figures to have massive long-term ramifications for the Ravens.
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That was clearly the most momentous play of Sunday’s early and afternoon action, although we also saw a struggling kicker miss again, threatening his career with the only franchise he’s known.
We also witnessed the Cowboys melt down in real time and the Buccaneers somehow win a game without completing a forward pass.
The Chargers also have gone this season without a win, and it’s easy to see why, given their passive approach.
Here are the five most momentous plays from Sunday’s action:
Momentous? It could derail the Ravens’ entire season.
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On Jackson’s first snap of Sunday’s big showdown against Buffalo, he suffered a thumb injury after being hit by the Bills’ Greg Rousseau.
Jackson was ruled out shortly thereafter and will be placed on injured reserve. Backup Tyler Huntley later was also knocked out of the game, replaced by undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano in his NFL debut. The Ravens hung around until the third quarter, but the Bills won going away, 36-10.
Fagnano was thrown into a tough spot, throwing a pick and losing a fumble. The Ravens’ season is now very much in question, in spite of a 4-4 record.
There was no mystery with this play. No second-guessing strategy. Just terrible luck in Jackson’s return for the first time in nearly a month. His stay lasted exactly one play.
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Let’s call the Buccaneers’ third-down play on their opening possession of the second half their most momentous snap, just for laughs. Why? Because it was the final forward pass the Bucs attempted all game.
The Bucs led, 9-0, at that point. Baker Mayfield’s third-down pass in the deluge that was Tampa on Sunday fell incomplete. The Bucs would run 28 more plays from that point on. None of them would be thrown passes.
It was the first time since 1974 that an NFL team completed zero passes and won a game. The Bucs actually finished with negative pass yards thanks to a 2-yard sack on Mayfield.
Mayfield finished the game 0-for-3 passing in the rainy conditions. He also had three fumbles, but he recovered them all.
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He still had a better game than Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr., who attempted 24 passes, completed eight to his team and four to the Bucs. Penix’s four INTs were a career high and were as many as he’d thrown in his previous 14 games combined.
The Bucs appeared to figure out the wet conditions better than the Falcons. After Mayfield’s final throw, they ran the ball 28 straight times — and 56 times total for 324 yards on the ground. Credit offensive coordinator Zac Robinson for understanding what it would take to win Sunday.
The Cardinals overcame a 14-point deficit and survived a missed extra-point attempt at the end of regulation to shock the Cowboys in overtime.
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After Jacoby Brissett was benched, the Cardinals turned to magic man Gardner Minshew. The wizard delivered — and two key plays late in regulation helped complete the miracle comeback.
The Cowboys took a 30-24 lead with just over a minute left, and the Cardinals were staring at a third-and-5 play from Dallas’ 40-yard line with 27 seconds left. That’s when Minshew hit Michael Wilson for a 27-yard pass to the 13-yard line.
The Cardinals were out of timeouts and had to spike it with 11 seconds left. Minshew went back to Wilson for the TD strike — and what appeared to be the game-winner on a terrific catch.
Tyler Allgeier, Wilson and Minshew made that final drive happen. It wasn’t their fault that kicker Chad Ryland missed the extra point, sending the game to overtime.
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In OT, it was more Allgeier and Wilson, despite Wilson reportedly suffering two broken ribs, which may have occurred on the game-tying TD.
Ryland made amends with the overtime field goal to win it. But they wouldn’t have won without the clutch drive and Wilson’s two great catches.
The Rams and Chargers started out slowly offensively in Sunday’s matchup, but the Chargers gained offensive inertia first. The problem was they slowed themselves down.
The Chargers ended up kicking three field goals. Those kicks came on fouth-and-2, fourth-and-3 and fourth-and-3. Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh was happy enough to take a 9-3 lead and not attempt to go for any of those first downs, despite all three coming from the Rams’ 28-yard line or closer to the end zone.
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You could argue the fourth-and-2 situation was the key play because it previewed the level of aggression with which the winless Chargers would play: shockingly low.
If Harbaugh wasn’t going to go for it on that one, from the Rams’ 16-yard line, he apparently wasn’t ever going to go for it from the 28- or the 23-yard line. The funny irony was that all three third downs that preceded the field goals were handoffs, which often indicates an offensive coordinator willing to go for it on fourth. Nope!
The biggest fakeout came right before halftime. The Chargers were facing a fourth-and-3 after Omarion Hampton was stuffed for no gain on third. They let the clock tick down to the two-minute stoppage, brought the offense back out there and tried to get the Rams to jump. No one was buying it. The Rams knew how conservative they were, and the plot was easily foiled.
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The Rams took the ball down the field in the final 90 seconds of the half, scored the go-ahead touchdown and never looked back.
Up three points in the fourth quarter in Denver, facing a fourth-and-8 in Broncos territory, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid did Sunday what he historically has done with a narrow lead in similar situations: He called on his kicker.
Reid’s faith in Harrison Butker, however, backfired. Butker missed a 54-yard field-goal try with 2:36 remaining and the Chiefs leading, 24-21. It was Butker’s sixth missed field-goal try of the season. Considering the Chiefs signed Justin Tucker to their practice squad last week, it’s fair to wonder whether Butker’s miss was the final one in his Chiefs career.
