Schrock's Week 13 takeaways: Rams give 49ers hope for 2020, beyond
What didn't Week 13 of the NFL season have?The Raiders had all but handed the New York Jets their first win of the season. The obituaries were sent in on the 2020 season. All that was left were 15 ticks of a New York clock. It turns out that's more than enough time for Adam Gase and Gregg Williams to slip on a few banana peels.In Arizona, the 49ers watched the Los Angeles Rams handle the Arizona Cardinals to re-take the NFC West lead and give San Francisco a stronger postseason heartbeat. The Rams' win Sunday and their entire 2020 season should serve as a light for the 49ers to follow when they turn their attention to 2021.Elsewhere, the Seattle Seahawks got upended by Colt McCoy and the New York Giants, Baker Mayfield torched the Tennessee Titans and the New England Patriots molly whopped the Los Angeles Chargers without amassing 200 yards.Here were the biggest takeaways from Week 13.
Baker Mayfield set several rookie passing records during his first NFL season. A Year 2 leap was probable if not expected given the arrival of Odell Beckham Jr.
But that never happened as Mayfield struggled and the overhyped Browns flopped with one-and-done head coach Freddie Kitchens at the helm.
New head coach Kevin Stefansky entered and immediately put in a game plan and concepts that work to Mayfield's strengths, getting him out of the pocket and relying on a strong ground game to set up the pass.
It's been a slow build-up for Mayfield this season, who has waffled between solid performances and duds.
Sunday, facing a Tennessee Titans team with a shoddy pass defense, the Browns needed Mayfield to stop being a game manager and become the dynamic passer they saw during his rookie year.
He answered the bell Sunday, putting together a historic first half in which he threw four touchdowns, becoming the first Browns quarterback to achieve the feat since Otto Graham in 1951.
He completed 12 of his first 14 passes (one of the incompletions was a drop that would have given him five first-half touchdowns) and finished with 334 yards passing since Week 11 of last season.
After the game, Mayfield was asked what he attributes his growth to, offering a nod to Dwight Schrute.
“Whenever I’m about to do something, I think to myself, ‘Would an idiot do that?‘ And if they would, then I don’t do that,” Mayfield said.
Mayfield has thrown six touchdowns in his last two games and hasn't thrown an interception since Week 7. The Browns are 9-3 and cruising toward the No. 5 seed in the AFC and a date with either the Titans or Indianapolis Colts -- two teams they have beaten this season -- in the wild-card round.
If Mayfield's growth continues over the final month of the season, the Browns have the running game and defense to put together a playoff run. But Mayfield must wake up feeling "dangerous" for them to reach their ceiling in 2020.
The NFC playoff picture is jam-packed with four weeks to go. Thanks to the Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers sliding, several teams, including the 49ers, who were thought to be dead, have renewed playoff life.
While the race for the final two wild-card spots will be fun to watch, it's the battle for the No. 5 seed that should have everyone's attention.
With the Seattle Seahawks' loss to Colt McCoy and the New York Giants, Seattle now slides out of first place in the NFC West and into the No. 5 seed where -- if the playoffs started today -- they would have to head to the Meadowlands to face the Giants.
It's a curious equation for the Rams, Seahawks and Bucs, the three teams who possibly could land the No. 5 seed. All three teams who have each played the Giants and struggled to beat them. The Rams won a 17-9 grind fest. The Bucs survived a 25-23 dog fight on a Monday night, and the Seahawks were fell 17-12 at home Sunday.
At face value, playing a team with a losing record in the first round of the playoffs would seem to be a gift for a real contender who couldn't win their division. But the last two teams to earn a playoff spot with a below-500 record each won their first playoff game.
The 2020 Giants will be the next sub-500 playoff team, and they won't be a pushover. They have steadily improved and have played a number of contenders close.
In fact, the Giants have only lost two games by double digits this season, losing by 10 to the Pittsburgh Steelers and 25 to the Nick Mullens-led 49ers.
These Giants have embraced Joe Judge's personality and ethos. They scrap, claw and fight every week until the final whistle no matter the talent disparity.
Whichever team lands the No. 5 seed and books a trip to MetLife Stadium for the wild card round: Beware.
Sometimes you are what your record says you are, and other times the wins and losses are deceiving.
But with the case of the 2020 Raiders, I have no idea which it is.
The Raiders have impressive wins over the Chiefs, Saints and Browns, all three playoff teams. They also got bludgeoned by the Falcons.
And then there was Sunday.
The 6-5 Raiders, needing a win against the 0-11 New York Jets to keep their season alive, trailed 28-24 with 15 seconds left, no timeouts and the ball at midfield. They had given 206 yards rushing, turned the ball over twice and were two snaps away from suffering a humiliating loss. It was but a formality.
But these are the Jets we're talking about.
Inexplicably, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams elected to send seven, leaving undrafted rookie corner Lamar Jackson on an island against Henry Ruggs. The speedy Ruggs raced past Jackson and Carr hit him for a 46-yard touchdown with five seconds left to rescue the Silver and Black's season.
It was a confounding decision by the Jets. Per ESPN stats and info, the Jets are the only team since 2006 to send six or more defenders when they had at least a four-point lead with less than 15 seconds to play and the opponent had more than 40 yards to the end zone.
The ONLY TEAM IN 14 YEARS. That's what it took for the Raiders to move to 7-5 against a historically inept group.
Now, the Raiders close with the Colts, Dolphins, Chargers and Broncos. The Chargers game should be a win. Los Angeles can't even put the proper number of guys on the field to cover a punt. The Raiders pasted the Broncos a few weeks ago, so 9-7 or 10-6 seems realistic.
But the Raiders' cracks have started to show over the past few weeks. The offensive line has begun to buckle and the defense, never a stout unit, was gashed by Ty Johnson on Sunday.
After the win vs. the Jets, Carr said he wants to play in the playoffs for the first time in his career. The Raiders still control their own destiny, but they don't look like a playoff team at the moment. Not even close.
Say what you will about the idea of a "Super Bowl hangover," but it exists. Whether caused by bad luck or a supernatural curse, both the 49ers and Los Angeles Rams have experienced it.
Last season, fresh off a loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII, the Rams finished at 9-7 and in third place in the NFC West, becoming the fifth team in the last 10 years to miss the playoffs the year after losing the Super Bowl.
The 2019 Rams' offense struggled to find an identity, the defense was prone to blow-ups and quarterback Jared Goff was among the most inconsistent performers. Their offensive line was among the worst units in football and former Pro Bowl running back Todd Gurley experienced one of the sharpest falls from stardom in recent memory.
The 49ers, likewise, entered this season fresh off a Super Bowl loss with eyes on avenging their title loss. But San Francisco has been eviscerated by injuries all season and never got off the ground. After a loss to the New Orleans Saints sent them to 4-6, it appeared they'd join the Rams in missing the playoffs a year after becoming one step shy of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
But hope is not lost for the 49ers. The Rams gave them a double dose of it Sunday when they beat the Arizona Cardinals 38-28 to take over first place in the NFC West.
The Rams' win brought the 49ers, who are finally getting healthy, to within a half-game of the No. 7 and final playoff spot in the NFC. A win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday night will put the 49ers right on the heels of the Minnesota Vikings, who currently own the tie-breaker over San Francisco for the moment.
But the Rams, who now are 8-4 and in first place, should serve as a reminder to the 49ers that a Super Bowl hangover season is something that can be survived. You can survive the curse of the Super Bowl loser as long as you have a good culture, infrastructure and a talented roster. The 49ers check all those boxes.
San Francisco still has a chance to not join the Rams on the list of Super Bowl losers to flop the following season.
And even if they do, they need only look to their division rivals to see it's possible to come out the other sign and return to contention.
