National Football League

Week 6 wrap: Playoff pressure already getting to some contenders?

Published Oct. 13, 2014 2:14 a.m. ET

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Mike Garafolo

It was 8 p.m. ET Sunday night — nearly three hours after Cincinnati Bengals kicker Mike Nugent had pushed a 36-yard field goal wide right at the end of overtime to turn what should've been a bounce-back win for Cincy into an unsatisfying 37-37 tie with the visiting Carolina Panthers.

It was also a few hours after Bengals cornerback Adam Jones had stormed into the postgame locker room, according to reports, and barked things like "Do your job," in reference to Nugent and "We work hard to miss (expletive) like that!"

So afterward would come the interview where Jones would walk back his comments, right? The one where he'd say he'd let the emotions get the best of him but that his words were taken out of context and that he was speaking about the team as a whole?

Nope. For a 31-year old who once struggled with the concept of accountability, Jones is all about it now.

"What I said was there's no reason we should've lost the game. I expect 'Nuge' to make those kicks," Jones told FOX Sports by phone. "'Nuge' and me have a great relationship. They (in the media) won't be able to do anything to our relationship. But at the end of the day, we all as a team expect him to make those kicks — same way he expects me to make plays when it's third-and-2, third-and-4. We all expect each other to make plays. When you don't, you're in the wrong business."

Jones made his share of plays Sunday. With 4:50 left in regulation, he returned a kickoff 97 yards to set up a game-tying touchdown. It was his first kickoff return since 2012 and it was the longest return of his career. Jones has been working on kick returns in practice and convinced special-teams coach Darrin Simmons to give him a chance. Simmons was hesitant but relented as he told Jones to make sure he was smart with the football and his decision to return a kick he might field in the end zone.

Jones fielded the kick just inside the end zone, made a few moves in the open field ("It's always good when you can get 1-on-1 with the kicker," he said) and then outran everyone except Panthers safety Colin Jones, who caught him from behind at the Carolina 3.

"Like I told (Devin) Hester, he has way more returns than me and I was out of the league 2 ½ years, so of course he has more touchdowns than me, but if you turn on the film and look at yards per attempt (24.9 for Jones, 24.8 for Hester in their careers coming into the weekend), I feel like I'm the best," Jones said, rekindling a war of words from last month. "I work hard, though. It's not like I go out there and it's just something that happens. If you ever come watch practice, I finish every play in practice on punt and kick returns. I put in a lot of work. I catch extra balls. Thursdays I go out early before everybody gets out there. Me and Darrin catch punts and kickoffs and all types of kicks.

"It's not like I'm just talking to create a buzz. I know how hard I've worked."

Jones has also worked hard on his defensive play. In overtime on Sunday, he broke up a potential game-winning pass from Cam Newton toward Jerricho Cotchery in the end zone and then made a stop on big-bodied rookie receiver Kelvin Benjamin on a third down to force the game-tying field goal.

A few minutes later, Jones was watching Nugent line up for what should've been an easy kick.

"He's a good kicker," Jones said, "so I had the popcorn ready."

Except Jones and his teammates would've figuratively choked on it had they started munching.

Nugent has been the hero before. He nailed a 54-yarder as time expired to beat the Detroit Lions last year. This one, though, was the self-proclaimed "worst ball I've ever hit." Jones wouldn't argue with that assessment. Like many of his teammates, Jones has high expectations for this entire Bengals team after recent promising regular seasons have turned into postseason disappointments.

And whereas the Bengals were being talked about as the most complete team in the NFL just nine days ago, they've now been beaten soundly by the New England Patriots and couldn't finish off a battered Panthers team at home. The difference between their being back on track and having only a game-and-a-half between them and the bottom of the AFC North is one pushed kick by Nugent.

"I was telling my wife on the ride home, we're all playing for jobs," Jones said. "If you don't win, they go and find another 20 guys besides such and such to make plays. That was my whole thing."

He added, "I enjoy playing football, so every time I go out there, I try to play like it's my last time. I've been through situations where I call (agent) Peter (Schaffer) crying because I don't even know if my (injured) neck will hold up. I try to hold other guys accountable at the same level because I've been through it."

FORSETT INSPIRED BY GRANDMOTHER

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

My help cometh from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

That is the beginning of Psalm 121, and it's what Louise Williams would often recite to her grandson Justin Forsett before football games in college. When he was younger and would be worried about playing bigger kids in Pop Warner games, the message was even simpler: "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."

Unfortunately, there was no poignant message for Forsett when he visited Williams on Saturday outside of Tampa, where the Baltimore Ravens had traveled to face the Buccaneers. Williams is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, so she's on bed rest, is struggling to feed herself and doesn't say much.

Forsett hadn't seen his grandmother in more than a year. That last time, she recognized him. This time, he had to take comfort in her merely replying "Yes" when he asked her if she'd be watching Sunday's game, even if he's not sure she understood who he was or what he meant.

But Forsett still vowed to have a big game for his grandmother, and he did just that. He didn't score any of the Ravens' six touchdowns in their 48-17 win over the Bucs, but he ran for 111 yards, becoming the first Raven to rush for more than 100 yards in a game since Ray Rice did it Nov. 17 last year. And Forsett's 52-yard run on the second play from scrimmage sparked the rout for Baltimore.

The thoughts of his grandmother just moments before that play helped motivate Forsett.

"I was with her a lot growing up," he told FOX Sports by phone Sunday evening after landing in Baltimore along with his teammates. "When my parents were working she would take us to the football games, take us to the recitals, practice a lot. On Saturday, if we didn't have a game or anything, she would give us $5 and we would go to the store to buy a toy of our choice. She was our transportation to go to practice and games and things we were involved in.

"She had a huge impact in my life. It was definitely tough seeing her in that condition (this weekend)."

As for the football end of things, Forsett and the Ravens have to be pleased with the way their running game has responded after the Rice fiasco. They've run for 127 or more yards in four of their six games. Those four games are their four victories.

There were adjustments to make to the ground game without Rice, and Forsett is confident the Ravens have made them.

"I think so. With any team, you want to get that rhythm and that only happens with reps," he said. "Every game we've had challenges along the way and we've been getting more in a rhythm than we were in Week 1."

CARDINALS DO SOME SCOREBOARD WATCHING

Every now and then, players will take a peek at the out-of-town scores, even if many of them won't admit to doing so.

Arizona Cardinals safety Rashad Johnson admitted he saw the Seattle Seahawks had lost to the Dallas Cowboys even before the Cards had finished off their 30-20 defeat of the Washington Redskins.

"They definitely showed it to us and we were able to see it late in the ballgame," said Johnson, who had two interceptions of Kirk Cousins in the fourth quarter, including a pick-six to seal the game. "But we were still in the fight and we had to make the plays we needed to make and finish it off, come out and be in first place."

That's right, first place. That's where the 4-1 Cardinals are right now, one game ahead of the preseason co-favorites, the Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. Next Sunday, the Cardinals head to Oakland to face the Raiders and then it gets real: vs. Philly, at Dallas, vs. St. Louis and Detroit, and then to Seattle for the first of two matchups with the Seahawks.

The Cardinals can't hide anymore.

"We're not trying to hide," Johnson shot back. "We're in the position we believe we should be in. We've worked hard this entire offseason, finished last year very strong and we've been taking this momentum into this year and trying to continue to build on it each and every week one weekend at a time."

FIVE QUICK THOUGHTS

1.  A few words of praise for Byron Hansen. He was the man sitting next to the New York Giants' Victor Cruz as Cruz was carted off the field after suffering a torn patellar tendon. Hansen is a member of the team's athletic training staff and his title is coordinator of rehabilitation, so he will be working closely with Cruz over the coming months. For Hansen, rehab started the second he and Cruz took that slow ride toward the locker room because Hansen, an athletic trainer for more than three decades, knows by now rehab is as much mental as it is physical. The conversation he was having with Cruz on the cart was between the two of them, so there's no way to know what was said — but Hansen's expression showed how genuine his concern and compassion were for Cruz, who had his head buried in his hands as he wept. The Giants lost badly on Sunday, but they can take pride in knowing a veteran of more than three decades did a fine job Sunday night.

2.  It's evident by now the league and the NFL Players Association underestimated how long the investigation being conducted by Robert Mueller into how the Rice situation was handled would take. Packers president Mark Murphy said there was a belief the investigation would be complete by the time the league meetings began in New York last week. Not even close. And the union had been hopeful they could postpone Rice's grievance until Mueller's report was made public. But a source said the tentative plan is for the grievance to be heard early next month, so the stall tactics are off the table, as well. Also, it should be noted the NFLPA says it will serve as lead counsel on the grievance with Rice's outside attorney Peter Ginsberg "providing support," per a union spokesman.

3.  We'll bet Alex Mack is glad he signed a long-term deal (via an offer sheet from the Jacksonville Jaguars that was matched by the Cleveland Browns) instead of just signing his one-year tender Cleveland offered on the transition tag this past offseason. Mack is expected to miss the rest of the regular season with a broken leg suffered during the Browns’ 31-10 win over the Steelers on Sunday. He's under contract for a guaranteed $8 million next year. Had he signed the tag, he'd have faced a more uncertain future as a free agent this spring. Mack can either opt out of the deal after the 2015 season or continue with another $8 million coming his way in 2016.

4.  You can't say Richard Sherman doesn't match up against No. 1 receivers anymore because that's exactly what he did for the Seahawks on Sunday after fellow starting corner Byron Maxwell left with an injury. Sherman and Dez Bryant went at it all game long, with Bryant beating Sherman for a 23-yard catch and a 16-yard grab but Sherman playing his share of solid coverage in between. The show of respect from both men that the FOX cameras caught was a great display of sportsmanship for two guys who are often criticized for not showing it. "It's always a great battle," Sherman said after the Seahawks lost at home 30-23. "He's a great receiver. He's going to get some, I'm going to get some. That's a battle between two great players."

5.  The New York Jets did a nice job confusing Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos early, but the only thing that can slow down Manning for an entire game is consistent pressure in his face. That's difficult to do for four quarters, and once the Jets' pass rush took a breather, Manning figured things out pretty quickly. On the Broncos' second touchdown drive, he was 5-for-6 (not including a spike to kill the clock) for 72 yards and the 22-yard scoring strike to tight end Julius Thomas. That's the drive that really seemed to stagger the Jets' defense. On the other side of halftime, Manning completed three of four passes on a touchdown drive, including a 4-yard scoring play that Thomas believed was "Too easy."

TEN EVEN QUICKER THOUGHTS

1.  Stevan Ridley and Jerod Mayo: Two huge losses for the New England Patriots. Both players are expected to miss the rest of the season with knee injuries. Mayo has played only 12 games total the last two years and has $4.5 million of his $7 million compensation for 2015 guaranteed for injury. That's a great element of the deal negotiated by his agent, Sean Kiernan of SSG Football, because it nudges the Patriots toward keeping Mayo instead of cutting him.

2.  Tony Romo: After getting up from that shot from the Seahawks' Bobby Wagner and finishing a fine performance, his toughness should once again not be in question.

3.  Detroit Lions: They're on pace to allow only 218 points. In the decade from 2004-13, only two teams — the 2005 Bears (202) and 2006 Ravens (201) — allowed fewer.

4.  Aaron Rodgers: OK, yeah, the fake spike was cool. But don't overlook his scrambling touchdown pass to Randall Cobb earlier in the game when he was practically toying with Dolphins pass rushers before throwing a dart.

5.  Branden Oliver: Anyone who watched Sunday's victory over the Oakland Raiders and saw how physical the San Diego Chargers' running back can be should never mention Darren Sproles in the same breath as Oliver ever again. Oliver is a much more complete player.

6.  Dee Milliner: In another time, he's a solid No. 2 opposite Darrelle Revis. Right now, he's an injury-plagued guy who can't get his career as a No. 1 corner going. He's out for the year with an Achilles injury.

7.  Derek Carr: He throws a gorgeous back-shoulder pass that's extremely tough to defend. That pass could be part of his arsenal for years.

8.  Jared Allen: He vowed the sacks would come and he's officially on the board for the Chicago Bears after getting to Matt Ryan in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 27-13 win at Atlanta.

9.  Kyle Fuller: The Bears' cornerback continued his solid rookie season with a diving pass breakup on a crossing route by Julio Jones on a third down in the third quarter Sunday. The Bears put the game away on the next drive.

10.  Rob Gronkowski: All-Pro tight end. Hall of Fame wingman.

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