Jared Goff doing the impossible couldn't even beat Josh Allen
This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Robert Zeglinski on the inevitability of Josh Allen.
I want you to visualize something as you read this.
Pretend you don't know the results of Sunday's matchup between the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions. Pretend you didn't see Dan Campbell try an onside kick with 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter in a 10-point game.
If I told you that Jared Goff threw for 494 yards (8.3 yards per attempt), five touchdowns, and had zero interceptions, you'd think his Lions won in a rout, right? That is essentially a perfect game from a starting quarterback. It is tantamount to playing flawlessly.
I see no fault in it. That's an obvious Lions blowout win on paper.
Well, dearest readers, the Lions wasted this Goff effort and lost. Why?
Because for as perfect as Goff was, NFL MVP favorite Josh Allen (430 yards from scrimmage, two passing touchdowns, two rushing touchdowns) might as well have been levitating for the Bills. That's right, Allen was even better than Goff in a performance where he had five touchdown passes and nearly 500 passing yards.
I mean ... Allen's leading receiver was Ty Johnson! No disrespect to Johnson, but the Bills shouldn't be beating the NFL's best team on the road when he's the leading receiver! Also, Allen's defense couldn't get a single stop and was basically in prevent mode for most of the afternoon.
None of that mattered.
No one would deny the guy wearing the No. 17 Buffalo jersey on Sunday. Allen was out there making casual basketball-style passes to his playmakers in the fourth quarter, folks.
He is not of this world:
Goff was great and literally made NFL history in the process, but Allen was on a different plane of existence. That was the difference in a decisive Buffalo victory:
The Lions are banged up on defense and really need to get healthy. There's no need to panic about losing to Allen's Bills. Detroit will be right there in January, regardless. This is just one of those days where you tip your cap to Allen, who, at all costs, was not going to lose.
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It's a 3-Point Parade
The Mavericks and Warriors put a new meaning to the term "shootout" on Sunday, writes Michael Sykes.
The two sides combined for a record 48 made 3-pointers in a game. Fourty. Eight. Makes. We're not talking about attempts, folks. We're talking made 3-point baskets. That's unreal.
Dallas won the game 143-133, by the way. That's a great win for them — Klay Thompson gets his revenge against his old team and Dallas keeps its pace at the top of the West. But that's the secondary story here because, in this game alone, seven guys made at least four 3-pointers:
- Stephen Curry (7-13)
- Luka Doncic (6-11)
- Klay Thompson (7-11)
- Quentin Grimes (4-8)
- Draymond Green (!!!!!!) (5-9)
- Lindy Waters III (4-7)
- Andrew Wiggins (5-9)
That's unreal. This one is worth watching the full game highlight.
I feel sorry for everyone out there who says they hate all the 3-pointers. This one was fun.
The Pop-Tarts Bowl is the best bowl
Guys. The trophy for the Pop-Tarts Bowl is a working toaster.
No, seriously.
Charles Curtis has more here:
"The Pop-Tarts Bowl continues to be the quirkiest thing in all of sports, mostly because of the edible mascot, but we can’t get enough of all the stuff that comes along with that.
And now, there’s a twist with the trophy: thanks to some incredible work with GE Appliances, the winner of the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl between Iowa State and Miami gets a trophy with … A WORKING TOASTER."
This is so on-brand that it hurts.
Quick hits: Jalen Hurts 🤝 AJ Brown ... Bye bye, De'Vondre Cambpell ... and more
— Jalen Hurts and AJ Brown did the Kid 'n Play, so I guess they're friends again, folks. Mary Clarke has more here.
— Here's Charles Curtis on why the 49ers suspended De'Vondre Campbell instead of cutting him. Sheesh.
— The Jets won a football game and that was a mistake. Christian D'Andrea has more here.
— Patrick Mahomes is hurt but everything seems to be relatively OK? This was scary.
— In other news, the Giants are historically awful. Prince Grimes has more.
— Travis Hunter bringing out Lil Wayne for the Heisman ceremony was such a pleasant surprise. Cory Woodroof has more here.
-Sykes ✌️