It was a quiet week in the National Football League for former Hawkeyes. Sam LaPorta is still out. Jack Campbell keeps putting together an all-Pro season. Let’s dive in!
**Sam LaPorta** is still out. We knew that.
**TJ Hockenson** might as well be out too, given JJ McCarthy is stinking up the joint in Minneapolis. I know Sam Darnold isn’t great and has a tendency to self-destruct in all of the biggest spots - Week 18 plus the playoffs as a Viking last year, then he had a disaster-class performance against the Los Angeles Rams a couple of weeks ago in a big NFC West game - but he wasn’t this.
Cool, only the second-worst quarterback in 25 years!
Hockenson ended Sunday’s uncompetitive 23-6 loss at Green Bay with 4 catches for 19 yards. He has also had 1 carry for 0 yards, as the Vikings attempted a tush push with Hockenson but he was stopped for no gain.
Equally tough is the situation in Cincinnati, where **Noah Fant** doesn’t get all that many touches either. Fant finished Sunday’s 26-20 loss to the Patriots with 1 catch for 9 yards.
Things were better on Monday Night Football for **George Kittle** and the 49ers as they beat the Panthers, 20-9. Kittle pulled down 6 receptions for 78 yards as the banged up Niners moved to 8-4 and kept their playoff hopes alive. Looking at their roster, I counted 8 players on IR, plus another 9 marked as “out” this week. This happens to them every year.
**Jack Campbell and Dane Belton**
One guy that is NOT out and is very much putting himself in the conversation for all-Pro is Jack Campbell. Campbell had another great day for the Lions defense, racking up 11 tackles and a tackle for loss as the Lions won over the New York Giants in overtime, 34-27. Campbell’s only done this so far this season.
I don’t know if that means a lot given it’s been mostly time wandering the desert for the Lions since 1994, but hey - great stat and the guy is having a marvelous season. He’s now third in the NFL in tackles with 108.
On the other sideline, Belton led the Giants in tackles with 9, including 1 tackle for loss. The Giants just can’t get out of their own way. They led this game by 3 in the final moments of the 4th quarter, but instead of pushing the lead to 6 and forcing Detroit to score a touchdown, interim coach Mike Kafka - remember him from Northwestern?? - decided to go for a touchdown. Of course they didn’t convert, Detroit tied the game, then won in overtime. Classic G-men! (**Tyrone Tracy**, real quick - 20 carries for 62 yards and 3 receptions for 68 yards.)
**Cooper DeJean** finished with 7 tackles and a pass defended in Philly’s 24-21 loss in Dallas. DeJean forced a fumble in this game but it bounced out of bounds before the Eagles could recover. Hmmm where have I seen bad bounces involving Iowa players this year…
**AJ Epenesa** had 3 tackles last Thursday as the Bills couldn’t complete the comeback against Houston, losing 23-19. Weird season for Buffalo now. They look lost at the moment.
**Anthony Nelson** had 3 tackles, but things look like they’re coming off the rails for the Bucs as they lost 34-7 to the Rams. Baker Mayfield is injured and the Bucs had to go to Teddy Bridgewater. Yikes.
We’ll end with Chicago-Pittsburgh, where the Bears won, 31-28, to move to 8-3. Yes, the Chicago Bears are now 8-3. **Tory Taylor** punted 4 times for 202 yards, a 50.5 yard average. **Kaleb Johnson** had no touches again for the Steelers.
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