Longhorns in the NFL: Week 12 — Colt McCoy replaces Daniel Jones, leads Giants to victory

Colt McCoy, QB — New York Giants

I’ve been waiting all year for this. Colt McCoy got his first action of the 2020 season after replacing Daniel Jones in the third quarter during Sunday’s game against the Bengals. Jones suffered an injury to his hamstring, forcing McCoy to take over with 10 minutes left in the quarter on the Cincinnati 17 yard-line. McCoy and the Giants settled for a field goal. Jones tried to play through the injury on the next possession, but ultimately left after one play, clearing the way for McCoy to finish the game.

The 10-year NFL veteran (has it actually been 10 years since he was at Texas?) led the Giants to a 19-17 victory on 6-of-10 passing for 31 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions. New York scored nine points (three field goals) with McCoy under center and that proved to be just enough to beat the Burrow-less Bengals. It was McCoy’s first action in an NFL game since last Oct. 6 when Colt started with Washington against the New England Patriots.

His appearance against Cincinnati means McCoy will have appeared in at least one game in each of his 10 seasons in the NFL.

ESPN reports that Jones suffered a strained hamstring and will most “some time” but there’s no official word on his status for Sunday’s game against Seattle.

The victory moved the Giants to 4-7 and in a tie with the Washington Football Team atop the NFC east standings up the schedule gets tough for McCoy and the Giants. New York travels to Seattle next week and then faces Arizona, Cleveland, @Baltimore, and Dallas to close out the season. Does anything sound better than Colt McCoy defeating Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield in back-to-back weeks? Nope.

Collin Johnson, WR — Jacksonville Jaguars

Welcome to NFL the end zone nearest you, Collin Johnson!

Quandre Diggs, S — Seattle Seahawks

This might have been Carson Wentz’s best throw of the night.

Diggs caught his third interception of the season and added three tackles in the Seahawks 23-17 victory over the Eagles. Diggs wasn’t the only who made Wentz’s night miserable with Poona Ford recording one sack, three QB hits, and four total tackles. Hopefully they’ll take it easy on Colt next week.

D’Onta Foreman, RB — Tennessee Titans

What Derrick Henry did to the Indianapolis defense on Sunday was illegal in at least 20 states. It also meant Foreman was able to get some playing time — four carries for 28 yards as the Titans routed the Colts 45-28.

Geoff Swaim, TE — Tennessee Titans

Shoutout Geoff Swaim for having such an unexpected NFL career. Swaim caught three passes for 30 yards and seems to becoming a safety valve for Tannehill.

Adrian Phillips, S — New England Patriots

Having a rough day at work? Here, enjoy a video of a Texas Ex intercepting a Kyler Murray pass.

Phillips finished with five tackles and the interception as the Pats took down the Cardinals 20-17. Cardinals linebacker and former teammate Jordan Hicks led Arizona with seven tackles and one pass deflection that led to a Cam Newton interception.

Brandon Jones, S — Miami Dolphins

Rookie Brandon Jones recorded his first sack of his NFL career against Sam Darnold, payback for the 2017 loss to USC. Jones finished with three tackles including the sack as Miami improved to 7-4. Sure.

• It was a tough week for the Ravens who battled COVID-19 and played Pittsburgh with half the roster unavailable - including QB Lamar Jackson. Robert Griffin III started in Jackson’s place before being benched for Trace McSorley. Devin Duvernay finished with three catches for 20 yards as the Steelers stayed undefeated. DeShon Elliott was one of the few defensive players available on Wednesday, recording seven total tackles as the Baltimore secondary limited Ben Roethlisberger but lack of help from the offense hurt.
• Kris Boyd had an up-and-down day with the Vikings as Minnesota defeated the Panthers 28-27 on Sunday. Boyd finished with three tackles and recovered a blocked field goal, but had trouble in coverage against former Maryland wideout D.J. Moore (insert Maryland joke here).
• In one of the more interesting games in recent memory, Malcom Brown and the Saints had no issue with quarterback-less Denver Broncos on Sunday. With Jeff Driskel testing positive for COVID-19, the ENTIRE quarterback unit was forced to miss Sunday’s game against New Orleans due to close contact. That meant former Wake Forest wide receiver Kendall Hinton started at quarterback even though he hadn’t played under center since 2017 when he was moved to wideout. Brown finished with three tackles as Hinton only threw nine passes with two being intercepted.
• Not sure what happened in Los Angeles but it was UGLY as Nick Mullens and the 49ers upset the Rams 27-24. Malcolm Brown only saw three carries as Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson Jr. dominated the touches. The running back carousel continues in L.A. but expect to see more Cam Akers with the rookie starting to find more rhythm in the backfield.
• Malik Jefferson recorded a tackle on special teams for the second straight week with the Chargers. Still isn’t getting any playing time on defense... yet.
• Chiefs defensive end Alex Okafor finished with three tackles including a sack against Tom Brady and the Bucs. Chiefs win 27-24.
• Kenny Vaccaro led the Titans with nine tackles (seven solo) including this hit on Nyheim Himes. Never change, Kenny.

• Michael Dickson punted three times with a long of 57 yards and one inside the 20. Justin Tucker went 2/2 on PAT’s without any field goal attempts.

Injuries

Andrew Beck (Denver Broncos) — Injured Reserve

Holton Hill (Minnesota Vikings) — Injured Reserve

Malcolm Roach (New Orleans Saints)