Storylines from Around the League

• Twenty-two-year age difference: Tom Brady, born August third, 1977, played against Zach Wilson, born August third, 1999. These two quarterbacks are exactly twenty-two years apart, even down to the day. Basically, Tom Brady has been playing in the NFL for the same amount of years that Zach Wilson has been alive (he was one year old when Tom Brady was an NFL rookie). Going into the week, the Buccaneers had a win-loss record of 11-4, while the Jets had one of 4-11. Will the lack of experience for Wilson, and the extreme rebuilding of his team, the New York Jets, cause a loss against such a talented, on-fire Tampa Bay Buccaneers team? For the entire game, it seemed like there was going to be a massive upset. The Buccaneers were in a point deficit for the entire time. However, after a failed Jets quarterback sneak on fourth down around ten yards from their scoring endzone, the Buccaneers were given possession of the ball with two minutes left, no timeouts, down four points (meaning that they had to score a touchdown since a field goal is only worth three points), and ninety yards from the endzone. With twenty-three seconds left in the game, Tom Brady fired a thirty-three-yard touchdown pass for receiver Cyril Grayson Jr. After a completed two-point conversion attempt, the Jets were given the ball with sixteen seconds left. No, they couldn’t score, and the Buccaneers ended up winning after seeming to not be playing their best for the entire game. Despite the loss, Zach Wilson, the young quarterback for the Jets, should be very proud of himself, because although it wasn’t the outcome that he was hoping for, he still played his best game of the season, and almost won against the greatest quarterback of all time. For the Buccaneers, this was their first away win against the Jets in franchise history
• Battle of the rookie quarterbacks: New England Patriots faced the Jacksonville Jaguars in Foxboro on Sunday. The Jaguars’ quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, was the very first pick in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft, while Mac Jones was the fifteenth pick in the first round. While Lawrence and the Jaguars have struggled all season on a subpar team, Jones has prospered. This showed greatly in the game, which was a beatdown by the Patriots. They got score after score after score, while the Jaguars struggled, and the final score was 50-10
• Mid-game meltdown: During the second half of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the New York Jets, Buccaneers receiver Antonio Brown was seen fuming on the sidelines. Fellow receiver Mike Evans was seen trying to calm him down, but nothing worked. Brown ultimately ripped off his helmet and shoulder pads, before taking his undershirt and gloves off, then throwing them into the stands. After, he ran off of the field, waving at the fans, and throwing a peace sign up with his fingers. He ran across the endzone to the stadium tunnel in the middle of a play, and the security guards almost took him down, thinking that he was a fan. Allegedly, he ran out of the stadium shirtless and got into a police car to be escorted to the airport for a private flight back to Tampa Bay. All of this came after his return from suspension due to a fake Covid-19 vaccine card, and a variety of other troublesome moves from his times on the Pittsburgh Steelers, a brief stint with the new Las Vegas Raiders (Oakland Raiders during his time), and the New England Patriots. As of right now, it is unknown what started his meltdown, but it is believed that he was told to go into the game, and refused, then was told to again, and refused again, before his coach told him to get out. After the game, Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians was quoted, saying that Brown is no longer a member of the team. 
• For the third time this season, the Baltimore Ravens lost by one point
• Two Los Angeles Rams players, Jalen Ramsey and Taylor Rapp, got into an altercation, which ended with Ramsey punching Rapp. Something similar happened last week with two teammates from the Washington Football Team, who were also teammates in college
• Washington Football Team tight end Ricky Seals-Jones had to be carted off on a backboard with a neck injury after crashing into a cameraman on the sidelines, which caused him to go headfirst into the wall of the stadium
• FedEx Field Mishap… part three: The Philadelphia Eagles had a road game against the Washington Football Team. During this game, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was high-fiving fans as he exited the field after the game. The railing of the stadium broke, causing many fans to fall onto the field. All fans were alright and got to be right next to Hurts for a brief moment while he helped them up. This isn’t the first time that something stadium-related has gone wrong during Washington’s games. The first time, the sewerage system broke, causing dirty water to begin leaking onto the fans. The second time, the heated benches for the visiting team were broken, meaning that the opposing team, which was the Dallas Cowboys, had to bring their own benches for the chilly game
• Last-minute arrival: Two of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers players, Jamel Dean and Sean Murphy-Bunting, had tested positive for COVID-19. They had to get tested the morning of the game, but they had to be tested in Tampa Bay. The only problem was that their game was away, in East Rutherford, New Jersey, versus the New York Jets. After testing negative, they had to board a private plane on Sunday. Then, right before they were supposed to leave, there was another curveball… their pilot tested positive for COVID-19. They scrambled for another pilot, and due to air traffic, they had to take a longer route to New Jersey, and they arrived at the stadium less than an hour before kickoff

Week 17 Final Scores

• Jacksonville Jaguars versus the New England Patriots (played in New England) — Patriots win 50-10
• Philadelphia Eagles versus the Washington Football Team (played in Washington D.C.) — Eagles win 20-16
• Carolina Panthers versus the New Orleans Saints (played in New Orleans) — Saints win 18-10
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers versus the New York Jets (played in New York) — Buccaneers win 28-24
• Miami Dolphins versus the Tennessee Titans (played in Tennessee) — Titans win 34-3
• Las Vegas Raiders versus the Indianapolis Colts (played in Indianapolis) — Raiders win 23-20
• Kansas City Chiefs versus the Cincinnati Bengals (played in Cincinnati) — Bengals win 34-31
• New York Giants versus the Chicago Bears (played in Chicago) — Bears win 29-3
• Atlanta Falcons versus the Buffalo Bills (played in Buffalo) — Bills win 29-15
• Arizona Cardinals versus the Dallas Cowboys (played in Dallas) — Cardinals win 25-22
• Houston Texans versus the San Francisco 49ers (played in San Francisco) — 49ers win 23-7
• Denver Broncos versus the Los Angeles Chargers (played in Los Angeles) — Chargers win 34-13
• Los Angeles Rams versus the Baltimore Ravens (played in Baltimore) — Rams win 20-19
• Detroit Lions versus the Seattle Seahawks (played in Seattle) — Seahawks win 51-29
• Minnesota Vikings versus the Green Bay Packers (played in Green Bay) — Packers win 37-10
• Cleveland Browns versus the Pittsburgh Steelers (played in Pittsburgh) — Steelers win 26-14

Kristina Klauzinski ’24

24kklauzinski@montroseschool.org