Hawks in the NFL: Week 15

Week 15 is in the books. We have a clear top-seed in the AFC. We had key injuries decimate the current AFC champions, plus a crucial NFC challenger. Sucks. It sucks. Anyway – Week 15. Yay?

Tight Ends

We’ll start here. Since missing time early in the year with a hamstring injury, George Kittle has been among the hottest players in the league. Since returning in Week 7, Kittle has 41 receptions for 459 yards and 5 touchdowns. That hot form continued as Kittle caught 8 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown, his sixth of the season as the Niners beat the hapless Titans, 37-24, to move to 10-4 on the season (real quick – Amani Hooker logged 7 tackles for the 2-12 Titans.)

T.J. Hockenson capped the Sunday night schedule in Dallas and had a nice game, finishing with 4 receptions for 66 yards as the Vikings won in Dallas, 34-26. This Vikings team makes no sense at all.

Notable in this position group is Noah Fant, who suffered an ankle injury in Cincinnati’s 24-0 loss to Baltimore. He did not return and had no stats. Bummer. That Bengals team is possibly even more confusing than the Vikings.

Riley Moss and Luka Van Ness

Ok we have to do this. Riley Moss gets the worst whistle in the league. Legitimately the worst whistle in the league, and I think NFL officials are racists (I don’t believe that.) Come on – this is a PI?

This play may or may not have led to a string of profanities in my living room – Green Bay scored on the next play – which then drew curious looks from family. Maybe, maybe not.

BUT – Moss made amends later with a “Ball Don’t Lie” pick late in the fourth quarter as the Broncos slowly choked Green Bay out, 34-26. The pick was Moss’s first of the year and the second of his career.

The win, coupled with a New England loss earlier in the day, placed the Broncos as the clear front-runner for the bye in the AFC. Remember – Denver also has the tie-breaker with the Patriots after Denver swept Las Vegas last week, with the Raiders beating New England all the way back in Week 1. The road to the Super Bowl in the AFC now runs through Denver, which is one of the best sports cities in the country right now (Broncos atop the AFC, Avalanche are a freaking unit, and the Nuggets have the second-best record in the West despite major injuries. This conversation conveniently ignores the Rockies!)

This was not just the Moss show, as Lukas Van Ness made his full return for the Packers after a long absence (he attempted to play against Minnesota in Week 12 but only played a handful of snaps before shutting it down again.) Van Ness finished with two tackles and nearly had a weird pinball pick of his own that bounced off his helmet in the fourth quarter. The Packers will need Hercules desperately down the stretch, as Micah Parsons suffered a season-ending knee injury on a non-contact play in the third quarter. Bad day for the Packers, who went from first in the NFC North and in the running for the top seed in the NFC to 7th.

Tory Taylor

It was another nice day at the office for Taylor – 4 punts, 172 yards – as the Bears smoked Cleveland, 31-3. Next week is massive in the NFC North, as the Packers head to Soldier Field. With the results on Sunday it is now the Bears sitting in first in the NFC North. Bad time for this game for the Packers – they lost Parsons, Christian Watson was also banged up, and despite losing to the Packers in Lambeau two weeks ago, the Bears are among the hottest teams in the league and showed no let down from that 7-point loss at Green Bay. Huge game, and an awesome game.

Desmond King

Quick shoutout to Desmond King, who announced his retirement last week. King played 8 seasons, suiting up for the Chargers, Titans, Texans, Steelers, and Ravens. King was a fifth-round pick of the Chargers in 2017. In 2018, he earned first-team all-Pro honors as a return man, a season that saw him finish with 23 punt returns for 318 yards and one touchdown, plus 22 kick returns for 522 yards (he also returned an interception for a touchdown that season.) Cheers to an excellent career!

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