BBNFL Week 13: 5 former 'Cats play in same game
The Detroit Lions-New Orleans Saints game may have looked like a fairly innocuous Week 13 matchup, but to the trained BBNFL eye, it featured five former Kentucky players, the most in any single NFL game all year.
Landon Young, Lynn Bowden, and Lonnie Johnson Jr. took the field for the Saints, while Quinton Bohanna and Josh Paschal suited up for the Lions. There were several plays where it looked like a scrimmage in Lexington and four former players were on the field at once: Bohanna and Paschal on defense for Detroit, Bowden and Young on offense for New Orleans.
Bohanna and Paschal came away with bragging rights, as the Lions upended the Saints, 33-28.
After the game, the players took part in a jersey swap. With an uneven number of players on each side, it looks like Lynn Bowden was the odd man out but he took part in the BBNFL reunion photo anyway. The picture puts an exclamation mark on the talent Stoops has brought to Kentucky during his tenure.
Josh Allen continues his dominance
Last week, Josh Allen jumped up to second place on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ sack leaders list. On Monday Night Football against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 13, he tacked on another sack and a half. Then, just to mix it up, he picked off a pass as well.
The interception came off a gimmick play attempt by the Bengals that did not fool the former Kentucky edge rusher. He picked off the pass from wide receiver Tyler Boyd and nearly took it to the house for a touchdown.
The Jaguars would ultimately fall to the Bengals in overtime, 34-31.
Allen’s 13.5 sacks through 12 games is now third in the NFL in sacks this season and second all-time in sacks by a former Kentucky player in a single season since 1982. He is tied with Za’Darius Smith who had 13.5 in 2019 and trails only Art Still, who had 14.5 sacks back in 1984. I think it is safe to say that Allen will top this list by the end of the year.
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Will Levis loses tough one in overtime
The Jaguars weren’t the only BBNFL overtime loss in Week 13. The Tennessee Titans fell to the Indianapolis Colts, but don’t blame this one on Will Levis.
I had it all written out in my head as I watched the end of the game unfold. The BBNFL Week 13 headline would be “Will Levis leads Titans to the first 4th quarter comeback win of his career.” However, a gruesome injury to the Titans’ punter and more importantly placekick holder, forced Ryan Tannehill into holding duties. After a Will Levis touchdown pass that should have won the game, the inexperienced holder-kicker combo missed the extra point and the game went into overtime.
That’s okay. I would just update the headline to “Will Levis leads Titans to first overtime win of his career.” Well, the Titans squandered that too. Levis led his team down the field on the first possession of overtime to a field goal that wasn’t botched this time around, but the Titans’ defense gave up a touchdown drive with just four minutes remaining and lost the game 31-28.
Once again the rookie former Kentucky quarterback did not get much help from his teammates. His offensive line allowed six sacks on the day, and his receivers dropped five passes (23.8 percent of his on-target throws). He still finished the game with 225 yards, a touchdown, and an incredible scrambling leap for a first down. On top of all that, he had a crazy sequence where he gave up a turnover and forced one in the same play. It almost led to a touchdown but refs deemed him down after the fumble recovery.
Both plays converted a third down. Call Levis what you want, but you can’t say that he is soft.
BBNFL snap counts and PFF player grades for Week 13
PFF grades reflect the players’ respective offensive or defensive grades unless the first snap count listed is special teams (ST), in which case it is the special teams’ grade.
| Player | Pos | Stats | PFF Grade |
| Bud Dupree (ATL) | LB | 50 snaps, 4 pressures, 2 sacks, 3 tackles, 1 FF | 82 |
| Josh Paschal (DET) | DE | 43 snaps, 3 tackles, 2 pressures | 72.4 |
| Josh Allen (JAX) | LB | 61 snaps, 5 pressures, 1.5 sacks, 2 tackles, 1 INT | 67.4 |
| Chris Rodriguez Jr. (WAS) | RB | 12 snaps, 7 att, 29 yards | 66.8 |
| Will Levis (TEN) | QB | 85 snaps, 33 att, 16 comp, 224 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT | 66.2 |
| Carrington Valentine (GB) | CB | 68 snaps, 1 tackle 1 pass breakup | 64.9 |
| Brandin Echols (NYJ) | CB | 15 ST snaps | 63.8 |
| Jamin Davis (WAS) | LB | 55 snaps, 5 tackles, 2 assists | 62.6 |
| Lonnie Johnson Jr. (NO) | CB | 8 snaps, 25 ST snaps | 61.7 |
| Za’Darius Smith (CLE) | DE | 31 snaps, 2 pressures, 1 assist | 61 |
| Landon Young (NO) | OT | 20 snaps, 0 pressures allowed, 4 ST snaps | 58.3 |
| Mike Edwards (KC) | S | 52 snaps, 4 tackles, 3 assists, 1 pressure | 57.2 |
| Lynn Bowden (NO) | WR | 48 snaps, 1 target, 1 rec, 5 yards, 2 rush, -6 yards | 53.7 |
| Quinton Bohanna (DET) | DT | 25 snaps, 2 tackles, 1 assist | 53.4 |
| Luke Fortner (JAX) | C | 69 snaps, 3 pressures allowed, 1 pen | 51.8 |
| Wan’Dale Robinson (NYG) | WR | Bye Week | |
| Randall Cobb (NYJ) | WR | Inactive | |
| Josh Ali (ATL) | WR | Injured Reserve | |
| Darian Kinnard (KC) | OT | ||
| Tashawn Manning (BAL) | G |
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