2023 NFL season, Week 14: What We Learned from Monday night doubleheader 

Tennessee Titans

2023 · 5-8-0

28-27

Miami Dolphins

2023 · 9-4-0

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• READ: Dolphins fall to AFC No. 2 seed after Monday night loss
• READ: Levis leads improbable 14-point comeback over Dolphins

1. Will Levis, Titans deliver shocking win. Tennessee was in the midst of a full-blown collapse in the fourth quarter Monday night, muffing a punt to give the Dolphins a great chance to score (they did), then fumbling away another possession to give the Dolphins a second opportunity to pad their lead (they did). Most teams would fold in this scenario. Tennessee, however, did not. With just 4:34 left on the clock and a two-touchdown deficit staring them down, Levis and the Titans went right back to work, covering 75 yards in nine plays and capping it with an excellent cross-body touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins. A two-point conversion made it a six-point game, and after getting a pivotal stop, Levis and the Titans sliced right through Miami’s defense, hooking up with Hopkins for a gain of 36, and Chigoziem Okonkwo for 16. Derrick Henry finished off the drive with a rushing touchdown from three yards out, and a fourth-down sack of Tua Tagovailoa on the ensuing Miami possession completed what was once seen as a nearly impossible comeback. These Titans are all but out of the playoff race at 5-8, but credit is due to a group that could have laid down and prepared for a flight home. Instead, Mike Vrabel’s bunch fought to the final whistle and will reap the rewards of its effort — and might even look at Levis a little differently after he led the Titans to victory.
2. Dolphins fumble great chance to keep pace atop AFC. Miami had this game — an ugly battle that eventually tilted in its favor — all but wrapped up in the fourth quarter. All the Dolphins needed was one more stop to finish it, and instead of doing so, they fell asleep. That isn’t to discredit Tennessee, but there’s no excuse for how Miami let this one slip away. And for a team that has a Super Bowl appearance on its vision board, this isn’t good enough. A championship-level team finishes this game, especially against a team that has little more to play for than pride. After dropping a chance to keep pace with Baltimore in the race for the AFC’s top seed, the Dolphins will now have to start watching the scoreboard in the final month ahead, which includes dates with New York, Dallas, Baltimore and Buffalo. None of those games will be easy (not even the Jets, thanks to their stingy defense), and unless Miami takes down Baltimore and lucks out with another late-season Ravens loss, the Dolphins will lament Monday night as a blown opportunity.
3. Extended absence underscores Tyreek Hill‘s value to Dolphins. Hill is very much in the most valuable player conversation with a month to play, and if one needs proof of why he deserves consideration, look no further than Monday night. Miami’s offense ran aground once Hill exited with an ankle injury, struggling to muster much of anything when possessing the football, and it wasn’t until he found a way to return that the Dolphins were able to find success. When he was out, Miami’s high-powered offense went missing. When he returned, the Dolphins covered 67 yards before their offense stalled and settled for a game-tying field goal. Simply, there are two different units with and without Hill, who still finished with Miami’s second-most receiving yards (61) on four receptions, despite running just 22 routes (and playing less than 50 percent of Miami’s offensive snaps). No skilled position player matters more to his team than Hill does to the Dolphins in 2023. And when it comes time to vote for MVP, those casting ballots better not forget Monday night.

Next Gen stat of the game: According to Next Gen Stat’s win probability model, the Titans’ chances of victory were as low as 0.4% when they trailed Miami, 27-13, with 3:08 left in regulation. Their comeback win was the second-most statistically improbable victory in the Next Gen Stats era (dating back to 2016).

NFL Research: In Week 14, the Titans became the first team to win a game in which they were trailing by 14-plus points with under three minutes remaining since the Saints in Week 11, 2017 versus Washington. From Week 12, 2017 until the Titans’ Week 14 win, teams trailing by 14-plus points with under three minutes remaining were 0-582.

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New York Giants

2023 · 5-8-0

24-22

Green Bay Packers

2023 · 6-7-0

FULL BOX SCORE

• READ: Niners become first team to clinch playoff berth after Packers’ loss
• READ: Packers still in NFC playoff bubble despite defeat
• READ: DeVito’s underdog story headlines Giants’ third straight win
• READ: LaFleur: Packers ‘learned a valuable lesson’ in loss to Giants

1. Tommy DeVito authors another chapter in his growing legend. The rookie now known affectionately as “Tommy Cutlets” didn’t stuff the stat sheet, but that didn’t matter as much as the results. DeVito started slowly, missing an open Wan’Dale Robinson, but with the game on the line and another opportunity to connect with Robinson in the final minute, he didn’t miss, hitting Robinson for a 32-yard gain to set up Randy Bullock‘s game-winning field goal. It was that kind of night for DeVito, who took what the defense gave him (rushing for 71 yards to bump his scrimmage yards total to 229) and ripped a few highlight-level passes, including a fantastic completion to Isaiah Hodgins for a touchdown. With his parents and fashionably dressed agent in the stands, DeVito put the Giants on his back and carried them to a win in front of a jubilant audience at MetLife Stadium. Bottom line, DeVito’s a gamer, one Giants fans are happy to rally around, and even if New York’s playoff hopes are still far-fetched, it’s nice to see the Giants have a reason to be happy again — especially because it’s coming from the most unlikely individual.
2. Green Bay receives some humble pie. The Packers entered Monday night on quite a hot streak, but played the first half of this game as if they never finished preparing for it, delivering few answers at best for what Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale cooked up. Everything seemed difficult for an offense that had made so much look easy in recent weeks, yet they still took a 10-7 lead into halftime. But second-half mistakes began to pile up, starting with Keisean Nixon‘s muffed punt, and continuing with a sack taken on a red-zone possession that ended in a field goal instead of a touchdown. As Green Bay’s defense started to fall victim to a crafty Giants offense, the Packers couldn’t respond, taking another red-zone sack that preceded a missed field goal. And even after the Packers recovered an uncharacteristic Saquon Barkley fumble and turned it into a Jordan Love touchdown pass, their defense couldn’t hold against DeVito. The Packers’ recent resurgence has been a fun story, but they’re still the youngest team in the NFL. And when the bright lights of prime time in New York shined down on them, they failed to deliver, reminding everyone that they’re still trying to figure out how to be a winner.
3. Brian Daboll is finishing strong. This season hasn’t gone according to plan for the Giants, who have been forced to start three different quarterbacks and lost their franchise signal-caller to a season-ending injury. When Week 10 concluded, the worst — a house-cleaning — was very much on the table. But credit is due to Daboll, who has overseen three straight wins recorded with DeVito as the Giants’ offensive leader. At 4-8, the Giants won’t start watching the scoreboard. But a season that seemed to be pointless is starting to be worth watching again for New York, where Daboll is proving that while his team isn’t living up to expectations, he’s still a good coach.

Next Gen stat of the game: Tommy DeVito completed 10 of 13 passes on longer-developing plays (time to throw over 2.5 seconds) for 119 yards, a touchdown and a completion percentage over expected of plus-17.6.

NFL Research: With Monday night’s victory, Tommy DeVito tied the NFL record for the most wins (three) by a rookie undrafted quarterback in the common draft era.

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