Scarlet Knights in the NFL - Week 13: Pats DBs can’t stop, but do contain Britt

For the second week in a row we saw three grudge matches with former Scarlet Knights squaring off for bragging rights. Here is what you might have missed.

Thursday night, no one saw the field in the Cowboys-Vikings, but in the Sunday Early games Mohamed Sanu (2 catches, 26 yards) saw his Atlanta Falcons lose in a manner only Brandon Coleman can relate to. The Falcons had a furious comeback to go up 28-27 with only four minutes to go. To try and push the lead to 3, they went for a two point conversion. BUT Ryan’s pass was intercepted by Eric Berry and run back for two points for the Chiefs!?! who would hold on to win 29-28. A similar thing happened to Coleman and the Saints earlier this season, when a game winning XP was blocked and run back by Denver in the Superdome. Sanu might have gotten a future HOF jersey though.

Coleman and the New Orleans Saints took on a yet another former Knight, the Lions’ Michael Burton. Neither player recorded any stats on offense or special teams, but the Lions pulled it out continuing their surprising season, while the Saints momentum was totally halted on their home field. It will be interesting to see both players official snap counts tomorrow.

Kenny Britt’s Rams matched up for the third straight week against another former Scarlet Knight, but this time he was seeing triple. The Pats DBs, Duron Harmon (2 tackles), Devin McCourty (2 passes defended), and Logan Ryan (5 tackles, one sack) all took turns trying to blanket him. It worked for 3.5 quarters crippling the entire L.A. offense, but the Rams avoided their lowest yardage total since 1969 with Britt’s spectacular 66 yard catch and subsequent 1 yard TD. The Pats moved to 10-2 with the 26-10 victory. This tweeter didn’t realize that I am both a fantasy owner and Rutgers/Jets fan so I sure enjoyed it!

Clark Harris and Tyler Kroft of Cincinnati hosted the Eagles. The Bengals who had been struggling since Green went down awoke in a big way dominating Philly 32-14. Neither Harris nor Kroft had any official stats on offense, nor any special teams tackles. Harris did snap on four field goals by Mike Nugent in the contest as Cinci’s mathematical playoff hopes remain alive another week.

Leonte Carroo and the Dolphins looked to extend their six game winning streak against Jeremy Zuttah’s Ravens. Just as people started to get on the Miami bandwagon they actually faced a real test and got demolished 38-6. Carroo only had one pass thrown in his direction, so Zuttah clearly got the better of the two Knights. In fact, the Ravens despite their lead threw 50 passes to only 20 rushing attempts yet did not allow a single sack! Clearly Zuttah and Flacco were on the same page with the protection schemes and PFF agreed.

Marcus Cooper followed his 9 tackle effort with 6 more Sunday including a touchdown saving tackle, holding Washington to 3 on that drive. That play influenced the score and momentum naturally as the Cardinals held on 31-23. Andrew DePaola snapped successfully on two field goals and two extra points as the surprising Bucs, probably the NFL’s best kept secret moved to 7-5 with a 28-21 win over San Diego.

For the third straight week, no one who finished their career on the banks participated in Sunday Night Football or Monday Night football.

Jason McCourty and the Titans had a bye, but he is the subject of this week’s, “Knights in the pros FLASHBACK” from Week 13.

Back in 2014 with the rival Texans marching toward an insurmountable 24 point lead, McCourty returned a fumble 62 yards in the third quarter to cut their lead down to 10. McCourty has only recovered six fumbles in his eight year career, but this was his second scoop and score! He may have 13 career interceptions (still a long way to catch Deron Cherry in that category), but none of those went for six points. Perhaps more importantly in the family, this broke a tie with his brother Devin for NFL touchdowns.

Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

NOTES: Injured Reserve tracker (Freeny, Wright, Johnson). Practice squad (Gause, Longa)