When the players decided to not get in an all-out brawl, this Sunday’s NFL games featured some pretty compelling outcomes. Of course there were a few blowouts (cough, the Rams creaming the Giants, cough, cough), but Week 9 also included five games decided by six points or less.
Outside of the major headlines that most will likely hear all about, what were some of the lesser known moments from this Sunday’s NFL action?
T.Y. Hilton looks like his old, Uber-talented self against the Texans
A few days after reportedly being on the trading block, Indianapolis Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton had a very impressive showing against the Houston Texans and resembled the player he was in 2016 when he led the NFL in receiving yards.
After only hauling a combined five passes for 61 yards in his previous three games, Hilton finished Sunday with five catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns. On his very first target of the day, the Colts’ receiver caught a 45-yard pass for a score to put his team up 7-0 early in the first quarter.
T.Y. Hilton – still awesome. The deep post has been killing quarters this year more than ever as safeties look to trap the underneath route and corners fail to carry in man pic.twitter.com/g8AMa502Xx
— Ian Wharton (@NFLFilmStudy) November 5, 2017
Hilton found the end zone once again in the third quarter after hauling in a short throw and taking it 80 yards the other way for a touchdown. A play that also included the receiver pretending he was tackled around Houston’s 30-yard line and then immediately getting back up to run into the end zone.
T.Y. HILTON! 80 yards to the house! #INDvsHOU pic.twitter.com/C5P7z1C8N5
— Chat Sports (@ChatSports) November 5, 2017
Jaguars’ defense continues to make their opponents look foolish
This season has seen some surprising success from the Jacksonville Jaguars and a lot of it has to do with their talented defense. The Jaguars’ defense kept up with its 2017 reputation on Sunday as it helped lead Jacksonville to an easy 23-7 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Many casual NFL fans will likely hear all about the fight between Bengals receiver A.J. Green and Jaguars corner Jalen Ramsey, but the story of Sunday’s game was really all about how well Jacksonville’s defense played.
The Jaguars held Cincinnati’s offense to just eight first downs and 148 total yards on Sunday. Aside from the Bengals’ lone 80-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter, Jacksonville did not allow Cincinnati to gain more than 27 yards on any of their other offensive drives during their matchup.
Jaguars defense has allowed just 7 points in 8 quarters. https://t.co/GNWrcxftpe
— chaps (@UncleChaps) November 5, 2017
Sunday’s impressive performance from their defense definitely made it a lot easier for Jaguars fans to breath after the team decided to bench star rookie running back Leonard Fournette for the game after he violated a team rule earlier in the week.
Titans safety Kevin Byard cannot stop intercepting the ball
Not many around the league likely know who even Kevin Byard is. But following his last two games, the Tennessee Titans safety should certainly be getting noticed.
After picking off three passes in the Titans’ Week 7 win over the Cleveland Browns, Byard added two more interceptions on Sunday during Tennessee’s 23-20 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. The safety’s five interceptions in his last two games are tied for the most ever by a player during a two-game stretch in the NFL since 1970.
“I’m in the zone.”
Kevin Byard is hot » https://t.co/QvlaGK7pnZ pic.twitter.com/i9idfhzBwH
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) November 5, 2017
With his two picks on Sunday, Byard now leads the NFL in interceptions this season with six. If he continues to keep up with his recent two-game pace, he should finish the year with 26 interceptions.
Seems reasonable.
Adrian Peterson just keeps going, and going, and going
With quarterback Carson Palmer suffering a broken arm last week, it was safe to assume that the Arizona Cardinals were going to run the ball a little more on Sunday in their matchup with the San Francisco 49ers. However, few probably predicted they would hand the ball off to Adrian Peterson as much as they did.
The 32-year-old running back set a new single-game career high this week when he carried the football a whopping 37 times. He ended up with 159 rushing yards on the day and he also caught two passes for eight yards.
Peterson has only played in three games for the Cardinals this year, but he has already finished with at least 100 rushing yards in two of them. Perhaps the old guy still does have a little left to prove in his NFL career after all.
