NFL Week 14 roundup: Titans dominate Jags, get 1st home shutout since 2000
Share this post:
NASHVILLE — It took the Tennessee Titans a month to find themselves. This version looks pretty comfortable atop the AFC South.
After two turnover-filled debacles and a bye week, the Titans ended up on the other side of a turnover-fest and got back in the win column Sunday. It surely helped that they faced woeful Jacksonville and rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
The opportunistic Titans took advantage of four interceptions to beat the Jaguars 20-0 and earn their first home shutout in more than two decades.
Rashaan Evans, Jayon Brown, Kristian Fulton and Buster Skrine picked off passes from Lawrence, who hadn’t thrown three or more interceptions in a game since his NFL debut.
“At the end of the day, we know what kind of team we are,” Titans safety Kevin Byard said. “And I felt like the last two losses we had, we kind of got away from that a little bit. … It wasn’t necessarily about the Jaguars and their team. It was more about us know what we needed to do and playing to our strengths.”
Tennessee dominated Jacksonville’s offensive line, sacking Lawrence three times and prompting four holding calls and a false start. All the interceptions were a direct result of pressure, but not blitzes.
Tannewheels are back! @ryantannehill1
????: Watch #JAXvsTEN on @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/M9clclASAn
— Tennessee Titans (@Titans) December 12, 2021
“There’s no better indication of success in this league than turnover margin,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “You can say what you want, but you can look it up over 20 years. It’s real critical that we realize that that’s how we have to play.”
The Titans (9-4) turned the ball over a combined nine times in consecutive losses to Houston and New England. They spent the bye week focusing on better ball security and responded with a clean game on offense and plenty of celebrations on defense.
It was the team’s first shutout since 2018 at the New York Giants and its first at Nissan Stadium since Christmas Day 2000, a 31-0 drubbing of Dallas.
LOLOL look at the handshake between Mike Vrabel and Urban Meyer.
Urban looks absolutely miserable. pic.twitter.com/RF0G3rDuC5
— Ben Stevens (@BenScottStevens) December 12, 2021
Jacksonville (2-11) provided the perfect remedy for Tennessee’s two-game skid. The Jaguars extended a number of streaks of their own while failing to score in a game for the fourth time in franchise history and first time since 2009.
The Jaguars lost their fifth straight overall, eighth straight in Nashville, ninth consecutive in AFC South play and 15th in a row on the road.
“Losing sucks,” said Jaguars coach Urban Meyer, who was previously shut out once in his coaching career, 31-0 against Clemson in a national semifinal following the 2016 season. “That’s all I can tell you. It eats at away at your soul. You got to regroup.”
This one comes after reports attributed to unnamed sources saying there’s mounting angst between Meyer and his staff.
“So what’s the answer? Start leaking information or some nonsense? No. No, that’s nonsense. That’s garbage,” Meyer said. “I’ve been very blessed. I’ve not really dealt with that. I’ve not dealt with, ‘Well, did you hear what he said?’ What? No. Let’s improve on offense and get our quarterback in a position to be successful. That’s our focus.
“What someone’s brother said, or someone said someone said, that will occupy very little of my time. And if there is a source, that source is unemployed. I mean, within seconds, if there’s some source that’s doing that.”
Cowboys 27, Washington 20
LANDOVER, Md. — Beating Washington looked far from a guarantee for the Dallas Cowboys after their big lead shrunk, but coach Mike McCarthy is plenty confident winning a close game is good for his team.
Micah Parsons sacked Taylor Heinicke twice and forced a fumble that was returned for a touchdown, helping the Cowboys make good on McCarthy’s “We’re going to win this game” guarantee by holding on to beat Washington 27-20 Sunday and snap their rival’s winning streak at four.
Dallas led 24-0 and 27-8 before Kyle Allen replaced Heinicke and led a 73-yard TD drive and Cole Holcomb intercepted Dak Prescott and ran it back for a pick-6. Washington’s comeback bid came to an end when Allen fumbled with 2:24 remaining.
“There’s so much value in those moments,” McCarthy said. “To get where we want to go, we need to thrive in those situations. Now we created some of it today, don’t get me wrong, but there’s still benefit in adversity football.”
The Cowboys staked themselves to such a big lead thanks to a big first-half showing by their defense. Dallas forced four turnovers and had five sacks.
Doran Armstrong recovered the fumble Parsons forced and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown, and Randy Gregory picked off Heinicke and forced Allen to fumble on a sack the day after he was activated off injured reserve. Armstrong and his teammates celebrated his TD with some of the many Cowboys fans in attendance for what felt like a home game for the leaders in the NFC East, complete with custom benches on the visiting sideline.
“They were great benches,” Prescott said. “They were heated, so they did the deed and did what we needed them to, so I guess that’s why we brought them in.”
In the aftermath of McCarthy saying, “We’re going to win this game — I’m confident in that,” his team sputtered late but took care of business. Prescott threw a touchdown pass to Amari Cooper and two interceptions, Ezekiel Elliott ran 12 times for 45 yards through a knee injury and the Cowboys (9-4) distanced themselves from Washington (6-7) in the NFC East.
“We got high standards and high expectations for ourselves,” said Prescott, who was 23 of 39 for 211 yards. “Got going pretty early, got a big lead, but we’ve got to be able to finish it off and not let them back in the game.”
Tensions boiled over with 10:29 left when Washington rookie William Bradley-King — promoted off the practice squad in the morning because of covid-19 absences — shoved Prescott near the Cowboys sideline. Elliott shoved Bradley-King, and Dallas right tackle La’el Collins was ejected for his role in the skirmish.
With blue and white jerseys outnumbering burgundy and gold at FedEx Field, the Cowboys made themselves at home by ordering heated benches with the silver star logo and team wordmarks. Owner Jerry Jones made a point this week to say the D.C. area is his team’s biggest concentration of fans outside Texas.
By far the biggest crowd to witness a Washington home game this season saw Heinicke get sacked four times and exit with a left knee injury. Heinicke finished 11 of 25 for 122 yards, a 43-yard TD pass to Cam Sims and a diving 2-point conversion after his miserable first half.
Antonio Gibson fumbled for the sixth time this season, Allen was 4 of 9 for 53 yards and Washington’s streak came to a screeching half after allowing 18 points in the first quarter — more than it was giving up per game over the past month.
“The Washington Football Team versus Dallas should be a big game like it was today,” coach Ron Rivera said. “We’ve just got to play better.”
Chiefs 48, Raiders 9
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Las Vegas Raiders were last seen in Kansas City taking a victory lap around Arrowhead Stadium in their team buses, and they decided it was wise to stomp on the Chiefs’ logo at midfield shortly before kickoff Sunday.
They probably regret both of those ideas.
Patrick Mahomes threw his first two touchdown passes in nearly a month, Clyde Edwards-Helaire added two more scores on the ground, and the Chiefs’ suddenly stingy defense forced five turnovers in rolling to a record-setting 48-9 victory over the Raiders that kept them comfortably atop the AFC West.
“You don’t want people coming into your stadium and trying to disrespect things you’ve built,” Mahomes said. “So for us, there was a little more motivation to go against a really good football team that we have a rivalry against.”
Derek Gore’s 51-yard TD run with 7:19 left in the fourth quarter allowed Kansas City (9-4) to eclipse the largest margin of victory in a series that began in 1960 and has been played 126 times. The previous record was 35 points in 1964.
Tyrann Mathieu had an interception and fumble recovery, Mike Hughes forced two fumbles and returned another 23 yards for a touchdown, and the reigning AFC champions built a 35-0 first-half lead before cruising to their sixth consecutive win.
They’ve won eight of their last nine against the Raiders (6-7), outscoring them 89-23 in two meetings this season.
“I think everybody was clicking,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who improved to 15-3 against the Raiders. “The neat part is we have a chance to be even better. We just have to keep the foot on the pedal as we go.”
Reid also joined Marty Schottenheimer and Hank Stram as the only coaches to win 100 games in Kansas City.
Derek Carr had 266 yards passing, much of it going to Hunter Renfrow, who caught 13 of 14 targets for 117 yards and a score. But Renfrow also had one of the Raiders’ four fumbles, as did Josh Jacobs, who was held to 24 yards rushing.
“I don’t have a lot of words for it,” Raiders coach Rich Bissacia said. “It started with a fumble the first play of the game. As it went on, we missed more and more tackles. We had more dropped passes. Penalties on defense, gave up explosive plays. Struggled to protect the quarterback. Struggled to run the football. And on top of that, missed a PAT.”
Indeed, the Kansas City dominance began with the game’s first play, when Jacobs was shoved back about 3 yards and lost the ball in the process. Hughes alertly picked it up and waltzed 23 yards to give the Chiefs a 7-0 lead.
The real onslaught began a few minutes later.
Mahomes capped a five-play, 80-yard drive with a 23-yard pass to Darrel Williams, the first touchdown pass thrown by him since the last of his five in mid-November in Las Vegas. After a quick punt, he marched the Chiefs another 80 yards in seven plays, and Edwards-Helaire scooted into the end zone to make it 21-0.
Then the Chiefs’ nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award got into the act.
Mathieu was there to pick off Carr when his pass slipped through Foster Moreau’s hands, and the Chiefs needed a mere nine plays before Mahomes hit Josh Gordon in the end zone. It was the first TD scored by the oft-troubled wide receiver since Sept. 8, 2019, when he caught a pass from Tom Brady for New England in a game against Pittsburgh.
On the next drive, Mathieu was in the right spot when Renfrow coughed up the ball for the Raiders’ third turnover of the first half. The Chiefs breezed downfield again and Edwards-Helaire’s second TD run made it 35-0, putting the game out of reach before the teams even hit the halftime locker room.
After that, it was a matter of the Chiefs driving home a simple point: Don’t disrespect us in our house. The Raiders took a celebratory victory lap in their buses after a win at Kansas City last season, and then there was Sunday’s gesture before the game.
“I would have been upset, too, if I was them,” said Raiders linebacker K.J. Wright, adding the pregame huddle at midfield was a spur-of-the-moment idea. “They responded to their anger. We didn’t respond when they did that.”
Seahawks 33, Texans 13
HOUSTON — Russell Wilson threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns and the Seattle Seahawks won consecutive games Sunday for the first time this season with a 33-13 victory over the Houston Texans.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll earned his 150th regular0season win a week after the Seahawks (5-8) beat San Francisco 30-23. He did it in front of a sparse crowd that appeared to have more Seattle fans than Houston followers. Neon green shirts peppered the stands and chants of ‘Seahawks, Seahawks,’ echoed through the stadium throughout the game.
Wilson threw a 55-yard TD pass to Tyler Lockett in the second quarter and his 1-yard pass to Gerald Everett and 2-point conversion to Lockett made it 27-13 with about 7 ½ minutes left.
Lockett had 142 yards receiving to give him 1,023 yards this season. He joins Hall of Famer Steve Largent as the only players in franchise history to have at least 1,000 yards receiving in three straight seasons.
Rashaad Penny ran for a career-high 137 yards with two touchdowns. He scored Seattle’s first touchdown on a 32-yard run in the first quarter and his 47-yard scamper extended the lead to 33-13.
Rookie Davis Mills threw for a career-high 331 yards and a touchdown starting in place of Tyrod Taylor, who was benched after the Texans (2-11) were shut out 31-0 by the Colts last week. He looked great early, completing his first 14 attempts to set a franchise record.
But he struggled after that, completing 19 of 35 passes to fall to 0-7 as a starter as the Texans were shut out in the second half.
Mills put the Texans up early when he found rookie Brevin Jordan on a 5-yard touchdown pass on the first drive.
The Seahawks were down 7-3 when Penny’s first touchdown gave them the lead. Justin Reid was in position to tackle him, but Penny stiff-armed him and dashed to the end zone.
Houston tied it with a field goal midway through the second quarter, and there was less than a minute left in the second quarter when Wilson threw his strike to Lockett. Jason Myers’ extra point was no good to leave Seattle up 16-10.
Lockett landed face down on the turf after his score and remained there for a few seconds acting like he was swimming to celebrate.
The Texans cut the lead to three at halftime when Kaʻimi Fairbairn set a franchise record with a 61-yard field goal as time expired.
Saints 30, Jets 9
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Alvin Kamara ran for 120 yards and a touchdown in his return from a four-game absence, and the New Orleans Saints snapped a five-game losing streak with a 30-9 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday.
Taysom Hill ran for two scores and shook off a banged-up finger on his throwing hand to pass for 175 yards for the Saints (6-7), whose skid was their longest since Sean Payton took over as coach in 2006.
Brett Maher added three field goals and the defense stifled Zach Wilson and New York’s short-handed offense as the Jets (3-10) were eliminated from playoff contention. They have missed the postseason 11 straight years, tying the franchise’s longest drought set from 1970-80. It is also the longest active skid in the NFL.
Hill, who injured his right middle finger in the Saints’ previous game, finished 15 of 21 passing and ran for 73 yards on 11 carries.
Kamara, who missed four games with a sprained knee, looked fully healthy again while carrying the ball 27 times in his fifth career 100-yard rushing performance. He also caught four passes for 25 yards.
New York was missing wide receivers Corey Davis (groin) and Elijah Moore (quadriceps) and running backs Michael Carter (high ankle sprain) and Tevin Coleman (concussion) — and it showed. The Jets went just 3 of 14 on third down.
The rookie was coming off his best performance of his NFL career, but missed receivers short at times and overthrew them at others. He finished 19 of 42 for 202 yards.
After not getting a first down on their first three possessions, Wilson got one right away with an 18-yard scramble. He converted another a few minutes later, completing a 14-yard pass to a sliding Braxton Berrios on fourth-and-7 from the 35. But the drive stalled and Eddy Pineiro, the Jets’ third kicker in as many games, booted a 36-yard field goal to tie it at 3 — prompting some mock cheers from the MetLife Stadium crowd.
A few minutes later, an interference penalty by Justin Hardee on a punt by the Jets put the Saints at their 46 to start. And Kamara sliced through the Jets’ porous run defense.
On his fourth straight carry, Kamara took the handoff from Hill, made a pretty juke to slip a tackle attempt by Bryce Hall and then zipped into the end zone for a 16-yard TD that gave New Orleans a 10-3 lead. Kamara had 35 yards on four carries on the drive.
Pineiro ended the first half with a 46-yarder to make it 10-6. The Jets got down to the Saints 24, but consecutive penalties on wide receiver Denzel Mims — illegal hands to the face and illegal formation — hindered the drive.
Maher’s 31-yarder increased the Saints’ lead to 13-6 with 58 seconds left in the third quarter after New Orleans chewed up 9:01 on the drive. Maher added a 37-yarder early in the fourth quarter.
With the Jets trailing by two scores, they went for it on fourth-and-6 from their 49 and Wilson’s pass to Keelan Cole went off the receiver’s outstretched hands as Marcus Williams disrupted the play.
That gave the Saints the ball and Hill capped the drive with a 2-yard TD run. He capped his day with a 44-yard touchdown scamper — the longest of his career — with 1:07 remaining.
Falcons 29, Panthers 21
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Matt Ryan threw for 190 yards and a touchdown, Mykal Walker returned an interception of Cam Newton 66 yards for a touchdown and the Atlanta Falcons continued to play well on the road with a 29-21 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
Cordarrelle Patterson ran for 58 yards and a touchdown for the Falcons (6-7), who improved to 6-2 away from Mercedes-Benz Stadium and kept their playoff hopes alive.
Newton ran for a 12-yard touchdown but turned over the ball twice and was benched midway through through the fourth quarter for P.J. Walker. The Panthers (5-8) turned it over three times in all and have lost eight of their last 10 games under second-year coach Matt Rhule. Newton has lost his last 11 starts as Carolina’s starting quarterback dating back to 2018.
With the Panthers trailing 20-14 midway through the third quarter, Newton tripped over center Pat Elflein’s foot after taking the snap. He tried to reach out to hand off to running back Chuba Hubbard, but instead fumbled near midfield.
The Falcons took advantage with tight end Hayden Hurst, just back from short-term injured reserve, hauling in a wide-open 3-yard touchdown pass in the flat for a 26-14 lead.
Atlanta seemed in control and was working the clock when third-string running back Qadree Ollison fumbled at midfield and the Panthers recovered. Walker cashed in with a 5-yard pass to Robby Anderson to cut the lead to 29-21 with 3:11 left.
The Panthers were looking for a stop on Atlanta’s final possession, but Ryan hooked up with Kyle Pitts for a 24-yard gain on a third-and-14 on a busted coverage; two Carolina players collided. The Falcons then ran out the clock.
Things started well for new Panthers signal caller Jeff Nixon, who took over this week after offensive coordinator Joe Brady was fired.
Carolina drove 65 yards in nine plays on its opening drive while going up-tempo, and Newton capped it with a 12-yard touchdown run for an early 7-0 lead. But the Panthers’ offense after that, and Newton’s 12th pick-6 of his career helped the Falcons take a 17-7 halftime lead.
Newton was trying to get the ball to Ameer Abdullah out of the backfield, but Atlanta’s Walker undercut the route and took it to the end zone.
Buccaneers 33, Bills 27, OT
TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady became the NFL’s all-time completions leader and threw his 700th touchdown pass for the winning score as the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers got a 33-27 overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Brady threw for 363 yards and two touchdowns, and scored on a quarterback sneak set up by the 7,143rd completion of an unmatched 22-year career that includes seven Super Bowl titles.
Tampa Bay won it on Breshad Perriman’s 58-yard catch-and-run with 5:31 left in OT — the 700th TD pass of Brady’s career, including playoffs.
Despite blowing a 21-point halftime lead, the Bucs (10-3) won their fourth straight game and moved closer to clinching Tampa Bay’s first NFC South title since 2007.
Brady, who ruled Buffalo and won 17 AFC East titles during a two-decade stint with the New England Patriots, improved to 33-3 in career starts against the Bills. He broke Drew Brees’ record for most completions in a career late in the second quarter and finished 31 of 46 with no interceptions.
Josh Allen shrugged off a slow start to throw for 308 yards and two touchdowns for Buffalo. He also rushed for 109 yards and a TD, becoming the fourth player in league history to throw for over 300 yards and also rush for 100-plus in the same game.
Since starting 4-1, the Bills (7-6) had hardly resembled the team that won its first division title since 1995 and enjoyed its deepest playoff run in 27 years before losing to Kansas City in the AFC championship game last January.
They are 3-5 over their last eight games and have lost two in a row for the first time this year, jeopardizing their playoffs hopes with four weeks remaining in the regular season.
The Bucs, who have won four straight on the heels on a two-game skid, exposed the Bills offensively and defensively before Allen and the league’s No. 1 ranked defense got back on track after halftime.
Buffalo’s red-zone issues contributed to falling behind, with the offense settling for a field goal on a drive inside Tampa Bay’s 5 with the Bills trailing 10-0 in the second quarter.
A tendency to be overly reliant on Allen was a hindrance, too, with the absence early of a rushing attack that actually involved running backs. Buffalo ran just four times for 43 yards in the opening half, with Allen logging all the carries. The first rushing attempt by a running back came early in the third quarter, when Matt Breida took the snap on a fake punt and lost 3 yards on fourth-and-2 from the Bills 45.
Devin Singletary’s first carry went for 29 yards on Buffalo’s next possession, launching a long drive Allen finished with an 18-yard TD run, making it 24-10. Turns out, the Bills quarterback was just getting started.
Allen moved his team within striking distance with TD passes of 15 yards to Dawson Knox and 4 yards to Gabriel Davis, trimming the deficit to 27-24 with just under five minutes remaining in regulation.
Buffalo got the ball back with 3:05 left and put together a 70-yard drive to force overtime with a 19-yard field goal.
Chargers 37, Giants 21,
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Justin Herbert threw for three touchdowns and the Los Angeles Chargers won consecutive games for the first time since early October, defeating the New York Giants 37-21 on Sunday.
Dustin Hopkins added three field goals for the Chargers, who improved to 8-5 and are a game behind the Kansas City Chiefs going into Thursday night’s pivotal AFC West matchup.
Herbert also reached a trio of milestones in the win. He is the first player to reach 30 touchdown passes in his first two seasons; has the most completions by a player through his first two seasons (734); and is the second-fastest player to reach 8,000 career yards (28 games).
The second-year signal caller went 16 of 22 for 204 yards and a touchdown as the Chargers took a 24-7 lead into halftime. His final throw of the first half was a 59-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Guyton.
The game was tied at 7 after the first quarter before the Chargers broke it open with 30 straight points. Joshua Palmer and Jalen Guyton — who picked up the slack with Keenan Allen on the covid-19 list — each had TD receptions in the second quarter.
Palmer, who had five receptions for 66 yards, had a 12-yard score to give the Chargers a 14-7 advantage. Herbert, who completed 23 of 31 for 275 yards, then connected with Guyton on the 59-yard bomb with 17 seconds left in the half. Guyton, who made three catches for 87 yards, blew by Logan Ryan and Xavier McKinney.
Herbert also had a 1-yard TD pass off play-action early in the fourth quarter to make it 37-7.
Mike Glennon, starting for the second straight week with Daniel Jones out with a neck injury, was 17 of 36 for 191 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for the Giants (4-9), who have dropped three of their last four. He also ran for a score.
Glennon had a 3-yard TD pass to Eli Penny late in the first quarter to tie the game at 7. New York added a pair of scores in the final 15 minutes on Glennon’s 18-yard pass to Saquon Barkley and Glennon’s 7-yard scramble, plus a 2-point conversion.
Broncos 38, Lions 10
DENVER — The Denver Broncos honored the memory of Demaryius Thomas with tributes, decals and a 38-10 walloping of the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
Running backs Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon each scored a pair of touchdowns and Dre’Mont Jones had a monster game that included two sacks of Jared Goff.
Several Broncos arrived at the stadium wearing No. 88 jerseys and kicker Brandon McManus wore custom cleats featuring Thomas’ famous mile-wide smile. The retired receiver died at his Georgia home on Thursday at age 33.
About an hour before kickoff, local artist Armando Silva delivered a portrait of Thomas which he painted in the parking lot to the Broncos’ locker room. That was followed by a pregame moment of silence and a video tribute featuring Thomas’ 80-yard touchdown catch from Tim Tebow on the first play of overtime against the Steelers on Jan. 8, 2012.
Then, the Broncos (7-6) took the field with just 10 men in honor of Thomas. The Lions (1-11-1) declined the delay of game penalty.
The Broncos then recorded just their second opening-drive touchdown in 29 games under embattled offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur with Williams scoring from 5 yards out, carrying safeties Dean Marlowe and Jalen Elliott across the goal line with him.
Gordon’s 1-yard TD run after a three-and-out by Detroit made it 14-0, and the first quarter ended with the Broncos holding an 11-0 advantage in first downs and a yardage disparity of 135 to minus-1 in offensive production.
Their fortunes also flipped when the teams switched sides, however, and Goff quickly drove the Lions downfield and hit Kalif Raymond from 7 yards out to cut Detroit’s deficit in half.
The Lions pulled to 14-10 on Riley Patterson’s 36-yard field goal, but the Broncos went into the locker room up 17-10 on McManus’ 52-yarder as the first half expired.
The Lions, coming off their first win but hit hard by covid-19 last week — they had seven players on the virus list Sunday — coughed up the football on the second snap of the third quarter when Shelby Harris punched the ball from Godwin Igwebuike’s grasp and linebacker Jonathon Cooper recovered at the Detroit 30.
Five plays later, Williams caught a 10-yard TD pass from Teddy Bridgewater, stretching Denver’s lead to 24-10.
Jones had a dominant series on Detroit’s next drive. He dropped Goff for a 9-yard loss on his second sack, stuffed Igwebuike for a 3-yard loss and batted down Goff’s pass on fourth-and-2.
The Broncos took over at the Lions 33 and Gordon ran it in from 14 yards out to make it 31-10. Albert Okwuegbunam’s 4-yard TD catch capped an 88-yard drive late in the fourth quarter.
Denver’s defense also had a goal line stand with safety Kareem Jackson breaking up Goff’s pass to tight end Shane Zylstra on fourth-and-goal from the 4.
Midway through the fourth quarter, safety Justin Simmons picked off a pass and immediately darted to a blue circle on Denver’s sideline and placed the ball in the middle of “88” stenciled in white paint as teammates respectfully gathered around in a subdued celebration of Simmons’ fifth interception of the season, which tied a career high.