Baltimore and San Francisco tuned up for Sunday’s showdown in Baltimore by crushing the Rams and Packers. Their matchup may be a Super Bowl preview.
The strange thing is that it is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start, so it won’t be shown in many markets.
Meanwhile, the Rams getting blown out by the Ravens makes it likely they won’t be returning to the playoffs, much less the Super Bowl.
Positives
—Lamar Jackson, drafted with the last pick on the first round just two years ago, threw five touchdown passes in the win over the Rams. Defensive coordinators seem to have no idea how to stop him.
—The 49ers boosted their record to 10-1 with the easy victory over the Packers. Jimmy Garoppolo threw touchdown passes of 42 and 61 yards and their defense handcuffed Aaron Rodgers. Now they face the Ravens and Saints in back to back games.
—The Jets won their third game in a game and scored 30 points in consecutive weeks for the first time in team history (which means Joe Namath never did it) while upsetting the Raiders.
—Devlin “Duck” Hodges replaced Mason Rudolph in the second half and led the Steelers to a victory over winless Cincinnati. He has now been named the starter.
—The Titans scored four touchdowns in six offensive plays to rout the Jaguars. They were also the third team in a row to rush for over 200 yards against the Jaguars.
Negatives
—The Rams are starting to look like a one-year wonder as they were crushed by the Ravens. Jared Goff looks lost and Todd Gurley isn’t the running back he was before he had a knee injury.
—Jerry Jones wasn’t happy with his coaching staff after the Cowboys lost to the Patriots. The Cowboys had a punt blocked and coach Jason Garrett decided to kick a field goal when he was down seven in the fourth quarter instead of going for it on fourth and seven.
—The Eagles lost a chance to gain ground on the Cowboys when they lost to the Seahawks as their defense gave up 129 yards to Rashaad Penny.
—The winless Bengals benched veteran Andy Dalton earlier in the year for young Ryan Finley, but he didn’t provide a spark and after the loss to the Steelers, they’re going back to Dalton. They should have put Dalton in at halftime. The 0-11 start is the worst in Bengals history and now they have a shot at going winless although they play Miami in their Week 15 game.
—The San Francisco-Green Bay game was supposed to be a showdown, but instead it was a rout as the Packers were no match for the 49ers. The one-sided loss raised questions about whether the Packers are a Super Bowl contender.