The New England Patriots were off for their bye this past week. However, plenty of their old teammates were in action, including some guys going over to Germany.
From Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers playing in Munich to Kyle Van Noy not knowing all of his teammates, here’s a look at what some familiar faces across the league have done over the past week.
LB Kyle Van Noy (Chargers)
The veteran linebacker has been integrating himself into his new team this season. However, he’s apparently not up to date on all the team’s roster transactions.
In the Chargers’ recent win over the Atlanta Falcons, Van Noy was caught on camera going over to his teammates on the sidelines and asking them if they knew who their new kicker was.
“Hey, I know I’m mic’d up and this is (expletived) up, but what’s our kicker’s name?” Van Noy said. (You can watch the clip here.)
That would be Cameron Dicker, who the team signed on Nov. 3 after an injury to Taylor Bertolet, who had been filling in for injured starter Dustin Hopkins.
Van Noy’s question prompted a brief “Who’s on First?”-esque moment when the linebacker was befuddled by his teammates’ response.
“No, no, no. I know he can make it. I’m talking about his name, though,” Van Noy said, prompting a look of bewilderment from teammate Khalil Mack.
It took a bit, but Van Noy finally learned about “Dicker the Kicker.”
Dicker eventually went out to attempt a field goal to win the game in the final seconds, with Van Noy feeling confident about the kicker’s chances after looking at him trot out.
“This is game over. I can tell. Game over,” Van Noy said.
Dicker made the kick to win the game and won AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
Note: The Chargers-Falcons game itself was back in Week 9. However, the video didn’t come out a bit later, which is why we’re covering it now. The Chargers lost to the 49ers on Sunday Night Football this past week. Van Noy has two tackles in that game — and presumably full knowledge of who the team’s kicker was. (It was still Dicker.)
QB Tom Brady (Buccaneers)
The 45-year-old quarterback made some more history this weekend, leading the Buccaneers to a win in an international matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. With the game held in Munich, Brady became the first player to throw a regular-season touchdown in Germany.
He was also the first player to slip and fall on a trick play where the team tried to throw a pass to a quarterback.
After the game, though, Brady was among those who praised the German fans for an awesome atmosphere at Allianz Stadium.
“It felt very electric from the time we took the field,” Brady said. “The end of the game with them singing ‘Sweet Caroline’ and ‘Country Roads’ — that was pretty epic.”
You can check out Brady’s onfield interview getting drowned out by “Sweet Caroline” here.
CB Stephon Gilmore (Colts)
Gilmore made the game-winning play for the Colts in the final minute of their matchup against the Raiders. With less than a minute remaining, Indy forced Vegas to a 4th-and-6 from the 16-yard line.
Raiders QB Derek Carr opted to go for the win, targeting wide receiver Davante Adams in the endzone. However, Gilmore was all over Adams and broke it up to clinch a victory in Jeff Saturday’s first game as a head coach. (You can check out the play here.)
“I knew it was gonna be one-on-one on the back side with me and him,” Gilmore said after the game. “I knew he was gonna go to his best player and I like being in that position because it allows me to make a play to help out team win. But I’ll take myself each and every week. If the game’s on the line, I like myself.”
K Tristain Vizcaino (Cardinals)
Vizcaino spent much of the season on the Patriots practice squad before getting scooped up by Arizona over the weekend. Vizcaino was thrust into the lineup following an injury to starting kicker Matt Prater. The 26-year-old kicker played Sunday after being signed Saturday.
It wound up working out pretty well, as Vizcaino finished 2-of-2 on field goal attempts and 3-of-3 on extra points in the Cardinals win.
RB Cordarrelle Patterson (Falcons)
The converted receiver has been slowed this season after a strong start at running back. Patterson had just 18 yards on five carries in his team’s Thursday night football matchup as Tyler Allgeier appears to be getting more playing time. He also had one catch for two yards.
QB Jimmy Garoppolo (49ers)
Garoppolo had another outing where he was solid, but not spectacular. But it was enough for San Francisco to get the win.
Garoppolo finished 19-of-29 for 240 yards with no touchdowns, but also no turnovers, in the 22-16 win.
Sony Michel (Chargers)
The former Patriots first-round pick continues to be a non-factor in the Chargers offense. This week, he had one carry for two yards. He now has 105 yards on 35 carries (3.0 per carry) this season.
Jacoby Brissett (Browns)
It was a long day for Brissett in the Browns, who lost 39-17 to the Dolphins this past week. Brissett finished 22-of-35 passing for 212 yards and a touchdown and was also sacked three times. On the bright side, he did run the ball seven times for 40 yards.
