With all the games, backstories, injuries and developments in a given week in the NFL, it is tough to know what to look for on Sunday. Here are five things to watch:
Budding star to watch
Firing coach Lovie Smith in favor of the unproven Dirk Koetter isn’t looking like a rash move anymore by the Buccaneers.
Tampa bay did so because Koetter was considered adept at developing quarterbacks, and that certainly has been the case with Jameis Winston over the past month.
The Buccaneers — who haven’t made the playoffs since 2007 — enter Sunday’s pivotal NFC South home matchup with the Saints at 7-5 thanks to a four-game winning streak that includes upsets of the first-place Chiefs and Seahawks.
Though Tampa Bay’s defense has played a big role in that hot stretch, Winston is coming into his own, too.
The former No. 1-overall pick has played some of the best and most consistent football of his young career since early November, completing 67 percent of his passes for an average of 281 yards per game with nine touchdowns and just three interceptions.
The resulting 103.0 quarterback rating is almost as impressive as the Bucs’ 4-1 record in that span.
Passer on a hot streak to watch
Joe Flacco is resurgent, and so are the Ravens.
It doesn’t appear to be a coincidence.
Baltimore enters Monday night’s big AFC road matchup with the Patriots on a 4-1 roll — improving the Ravens to 7-5 overall — that ties in neatly with a big comeback by their veteran quarterback.
Flacco has flourished since Marty Mornhinweg took over for Marc Trestman as offensive coordinator, especially over the past five games.
Flacco is completing 70 percent of his passes for an average of 284 yards per game with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions in that span, for a passer rating of 98.2.
That is in sharp contrast to Flacco’s mediocre-to-awful play in Baltimore’s 3-4 start, when he completed just 61 percent of his throws for an average of 262 yards with five TDs and six interceptions (a 75.4 rating).
Flacco has had relative success in his career against New England, which only can hope it doesn’t see Flacco and the Ravens in the playoffs. Baltimore has beaten the Patriots twice in the postseason under Flacco, who is 6-2 overall in the playoffs since 2011 with 21 TD passes, three interceptions and a Super Bowl ring.
Career rescue to watch
Matt Barkley might have a future in the NFL after all.
After washing out with the Eagles, Barkley landed in Chicago and has been pressed into duty with the Bears the past two games by season-ending injuries to Brian Hoyer and Jay Cutler.
And to the surprise of many, Barkley hasn’t been horrible. In fact, the USC product actually has shown a few flickers of the talent that briefly had draft experts projecting him as a possible No. 1-overall pick four years ago, before Barkley struggled and ended up going in the fourth round.
After throwing for 316 yards and the first three TDs of his career two weeks ago in a close loss to the Titans, Barkley was error-free last week in a 26-6 victory over the 49ers.
Barkley’s numbers were modest a week ago against the NFL’s worst defense (he completed 11 of 18 passes for 192 yards), and his task gets much harder Sunday on the road against the first-place Lions.
But Barkley, who is unsigned beyond this season, probably has earned himself a job somewhere next year with his play the past two games. That by itself qualifies as a late-season upset.
Potential receiving history to watch
Antonio Brown has a good chance Sunday in Buffalo to cement his eventual trip to Canton.
Already one of the most prolific wideouts in NFL history, the Steelers star can etch his name in the record books this weekend. With seven catches against the Bills, Brown will set the mark for the most receptions (470) by a player over any four-year span in league annals.
Brown is chasing newly crowned Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison for that title. Harrison compiled 469 receptions for the Colts from 1999-2002, with the next closest player aside from Brown being Wes Welker with 449 catches for the Patriots from 2009-12.
Brown hasn’t seen much of Buffalo, his Sunday opponent, and never on the road. He has faced the Bills just once in his seven-year career, hauling in six passes for 104 yards in a 23-10 victory home victory in 2013.
Buffalo’s sixth-ranked pass defense will pose a test for Brown and the Steelers. The Bills have allowed more than 285 passing yards just once in 12 games this season.
Underrated workhorse to watch
Ezekiel Elliott might be (deservedly) grabbing the spotlight, but Cardinals running back David Johnson is having a season just as remarkable as that of his celebrated Cowboys counterpart.
Johnson enters Sunday’s visit to the Dolphins leading the NFL with 15 touchdowns, including 11 rushing TDs and four receiving scores. Johnson’s rushing output is just one TD behind Elliott, and Johnson’s 1,005 rushing yards might be more impressive than Elliott’s because Johnson is running behind a vastly inferior line.
A third-round pick in 2015 out of Northern Iowa, Johnson can at least grab a share of NFL history Sunday. With one rushing TD against Miami, Johnson would join Hall of Famer Gale Sayers as the only players to compile 20 rushing TDs, five receiving TDs and a kickoff return for a score in their first two seasons.
Johnson also has at least 100 total yards in each of 5-6-1 Arizona’s 12 games this season. If he extends that mark Sunday, Johnson would tie Edgerrin James’ 13 consecutive games with 100 or more total yards in 2005 with the Colts for the longest such streak in NFL history.