Hawks in the NFL - Week 12

It’s Week 12 and OH MY GOD THAT’S CALEB SHUDAK’S MUSIC! LET’S GO!

Caleb Shudak

Shudak made his debut for the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, a 20-16 loss to Cincinnati. He made the most of it, going 3-4 on field goal attempts in windy conditions and nailing his lone extra point. Here is Shudak’s first career field goal in the NFL.

Congratulations to Shudak. I know I get tired of the “good story” stuff from Kirk, but this is a legitimately good story, a walk-on that had a good college career, looked to be on the Titans roster but had to ride out a leg injury in camp. And there he is playing on Sunday. Great story.

T.J. Hockenson and James Ferentz

After a bad week in Minnesota’s horrific 40-3 loss to Dallas last week in which he dropped a touchdown, Hockenson bounced back with a good showing against New England. The former Detroit tight end pulled in 5 receptions for 43 yards and capped a Minnesota drive with this 1-yard touchdown in Minnesota’s impressive 33-26 win over the Patriots.

Meanwhile, on the other sideline, James Ferentz started at center in place of David Andrews. Andrews missed time with a thigh injury, though the latest Patriots practice report listed Andrews as “limited” so he could make a return soon.

Tristan Wirfs

This is where things get sideways. Wirfs was doing his usual Wirfs thing, then this frankly bizarre play happened.

Wirfs had to be carted off the field. Thankfully, he appears to have avoided a major injury. He’ll miss time, but a major injury was avoided.

WHEW

Potpourri

Beyond those notable moments, this was a quiet week for former Hawks. You had the odds and ends tackle numbers - Christian Kirksey with 7 tackles, a sack, and a tackle for loss, Desmond King 6 tackles and a tackle for loss to go with 3 punt returns for 38 yards, Josey Jewell with 8 tackles and a tackle for loss, Ben Niemann with 4 tackles and a tackle for loss - and all of those players lost this week. Houston fell to Miami, Denver hilariously lost to the putrid Panthers, and Arizona dropped another game, this time to the Los Angeles Chargers late on a touchdown plus 2-point conversion.

Our anticipated San Francisco-Seattle game hit a road bump, as Seattle gave up approximately 1,000 yards from scrimmage to Josh Jacobs in a 40-34 overtime loss. That, coupled with San Francisco’s 13-0 win over New Orleans, puts the Niners in clear control in the NFC West (George Kittle pulled down 3 passes for 26 yards against the Saints, while Noah Fant had 3 receptions for 34 yards in the Raiders loss).