NFL Sunday Awards: Puka Nacua’s monster day, New York Giants misery and more Kirk Cousins trouble

From Puka Nacua’s monster day for the Los Angeles Rams to more concerns for Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons, we look back on NFL Sunday in Week 14 of the season…

Story of the day…

“You gotta be kidding me?” cried a croaky-voiced Tom Brady, awe-struck at the sight of Puka Nacua’s stunning toe-drag catch at the sideline on Sunday night.

Everything about it was special: the ball tracking over the shoulder, the concentration under tight coverage, the arm-extension to haul in the lofted ball in the tightest of windows, the hand skills to secure control, the awareness to drag both feet while imitating Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal lean on his way out of bounds.

It was the poster image for a night that belonged to Nacua as the Rams wide receiver made 12 catches for 162 yards and a touchdown alongside five carries for 16 yards and a rushing score in a 44-42 win over the Buffalo Bills, marking the highest-scoring game of the season.

It had very quickly become something of a vintage Sean McVay-masterminded Nacua outing, his first touchdown coming via backfield motion as a disguised ball carrier for a four-yard score and a 24-14 half-time lead before the second-year star exploded behind a screen for a 19-yard house call and a 44-35 lead in the fourth quarter.

“He was awesome,” McVay said. “And he’s so physically and mentally tough. Love him. ‘Igniter’ is one of the biggest compliments I can give somebody. You elevate everybody around you, you bring an energy to this football team. And he certainly did that today.”

Nacua now has 50 catches for 673 yards and three touchdowns, including four 100-yard outings, since returning from injury against the Minnesota Vikings in Week Eight. In that time, he has amassed a league-high 383 scrimmage yards after going in motion, Jayden Reed is closest competition with 168.

He has become a picture of reliability and inevitability, capable of buying separation in any route, contorting his body in accordance to any pass and making every calibre of catch as McVay’s chief pest. With Sunday’s performance came the best display from the Rams on offense all season as they posted 457 total yards to deny Josh Allen on a day that saw him throw for three touchdowns and rush for three more.

Nacua shattered rookie records for receiving yards and receptions after arriving as a fifth-round pick in 2023. Could he sustain that influence? The only thing that has looked like stopping him this season is injury. When Nacua, Cooper Kupp, Kyren Williams and Matthew Stafford are healthy and on the field together, the Rams can frighten the best the NFL has to offer.

There may not be a wide receiver playing better football than No 17 on the Rams right now. Los Angeles now sit 7-6 on the tails of the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West, having just blunted a Bills monster as the kind of team nobody wishes to meet in the playoffs.

Chiefs voodoo of the day

It happened again. Andy Reid could not look. The Los Angeles Chargers could not believe it. Matthew Wright and the Kansas City Chiefs could not care less.

The back-to-back defending Super Bowl champions won their 15th straight one-possession game on Sunday night as Wright watched his 31-yard field goal doink in off the upright as time expired to secure a 19-17 victory and clinch a ninth successive AFC West division title.

They have won by the oversized toe of Isaiah Likely, they survived overtime against Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they blocked a game-winning field goal attempt as time expired against the Denver Broncos, they were rescued by a Patrick Mahomes scramble to set up a buzzer-beating field goal against the Carolina Panthers, they benefited from a dramatic last-gasp fumble to break the hearts of the Las Vegas Raiders, and on Sunday turned to the football gods once more as Wright’s kick landed the right side of the posts.

Chiefs voodoo is real.

The Bryce Young comeback story of the day

Bryce Young is starting to get it. He is starting to figure things out. He is starting to look like an NFL quarterback and a potential franchise leader. His confidence is spiking, and with it the production of the phenomenal playmaker that earned him the right to be called a No 1 Draft pick.

The latest instalment of his comeback trail saw him go toe-to-toe with Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, falling short in a 22-16 defeat but yet again showcasing increased aggression with passes into traffic and elite pocket movement to create off platform and off script.

A highlight came with three minutes to play while penned in his own end zone as he climbed the pocket before scurrying away from pressure, shrugging off a would-be-safety and lofting a remarkable strike to Xavier Legette at the sideline to keep the game alive. It was everything Young had been billed as coming out of college.

He finished 19 of 34 for 191 yards, one touchdown and one interception; there is still a chasm for improvement, but recent weeks have been night and day from the nervy, inaccurate, impaired Young who had looked a long way from being ready to star in the NFL.

Midnight thought of the day

New York football is in ruins. Tickets at MetLife Stadium could be purchased for as little as $1 ahead of kickoff between the Giants and New Orleans Saints on Sunday as New Yorkers let their feelings be known over another sputtering losing campaign.

What’s more, some had even forked out to pay for a plane to fly over the stadium accompanied by a banner reading: “MR. MARA ENOUGH – PLZ FIX THIS DUMPSTER FIRE.”

The Giants suffered their 11th loss of the year and eighth in a row after falling 14-11 to the Saints, Graham Gano’s field goal attempt to send the game to overtime being blocked by Bryan Bresee.

It leaves the Giants on course to have the No 2 overall pick at the Draft, and raises further questions over the future of both Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen. Change, once again, feels in the offing.

Monday morning coffee thought of the day

The Atlanta Falcons are in danger of making a real mess of this. They handed Kirk Cousins a $180m contract in the offseason with the belief they had found the answer to their quarterback conundrum, and the veteran play-caller with which to bridge the gap between talented offense and actual postseason contenders.

Cousins threw two more interceptions on his losing return to Minnesota on Sunday, meaning he has now thrown eight picks and zero touchdowns across a four-game losing streak for the Falcons. Once in control of the NFC South, Atlanta now sit behind the Buccaneers and staring at the prospect of missing out on the playoffs.

To rub salt in the wound, Sam Darnold simply refuses to disappear and continued his incredible comeback season with the Vikings by throwing for 347 yards and five touchdowns. Jordan Addison meanwhile continued to prove himself as one of the best No 2 wide receivers in the entire league with eight catches for 133 yards and three scores across from Justin Jefferson, who enjoyed his first end zone visit since October.

Michael Penix Jr is lurking in the wings.

Celebration kings of the day

Another week, another masterful celebration from Vikings duo Josh Metellus and Cam Bynum.

So far this season they have pulled out the Parent Trap handshake, Bynum imitated viral breakdancer Raygun,

They pulled out the Parent Trap handshake, while Bynum has imitated viral breakdancer Raygun and Usher’s “Glitch” dance. And on Sunday the pair teamed up to produce the White Chicks dance while celebrating an interception. The Vikings are winning the good vibes award.

The ‘just realised what game is on next week’ of the day

Stay calm when reminded of this. Clear your plans, get your Christmas movie night booked in advance for Friday or Saturday, load up on elite snacks. Because it is the Buffalo Bills against the Detroit Lions on Sunday night.

A meeting between the NFL’s two most prolific offenses, with an MVP frontrunner quarterback in Allen and perhaps the league’s most gifted skill position group in Detroit. Super Bowl preview, anybody?