Vita Vea disappears and so does Dwayne Haskins

In 12th week of NFL’s centennial celebration, 347-pound Vita Vea disappeared, and so did Dwayne Haskins.

Sure, cream team in each conference had statement-stamping victories — 49ers established ir bona fides by handing Aaron Rodgers a beating likes of which he hadn’t felt since 2015 Broncos bamboozled him on ir way to winning Super Bowl 50, when Denver’s defense carried a post-prime Peyton Manning across finish line.

It appears pesky Patriots defense is doing same thing for 42-year-old Tom Brady, something that was demonstrated anew in New England’s 13-9 grind-it-out win over confounding Dallas Cowboys on a rain-soaked Sunday night in Foxborough.

weekend’s truly memorable moments, though, belonged to Vea, Buccaneers’ beefy second-year defensive tackle, and Haskins, raw rookie quarterback who ignited a debate over wher his selfie was selfish .

Tampa Bay wideouts Mike Evans and Chris Godwin each surpassed 1,000 yards receiving in a 35-22 win over Atlanta as Jameis Winston led Buccaneers out of NFC South basement with his sixth consecutive 300-yard game.

“It was kind of cool to see both of m go over 1,000 on same day,” Winston said.

What else was kind of cool was watching coach Bruce Arians reach into his bag of tricks to line up Vea as a blocker in offensive backfield on second-and-goal from Atlanta 1-yard line.

Vea had never caught a pass or run ball in college or pros. So, Falcons igred him as he lined up at 5 and slipped into end zone untouched and uncovered and easily hauled in Winston’s TD toss that gave Bucs a nine-point halftime lead on ir way to a 28-16 victory.

As AP’s Fred Goodall wrote, “Expect to see Vita Vea, 6-foot-4, 347-pound defensive tackle who had a sack and also caught a 1-yard TD pass against Atlanta, continue to be used in goal-line situations on offense. Three weeks ago, he wiped out three defenders with a block that opened a huge hole on a rushing TD against Arizona, creating prospect for an even bigger role against Falcons.”

“It’s always nice to get those (big) guys ball. But y earn it by blocking,” Arians said.

Usually a quarterback getting his first NFL win will keep football tucked tight after taking a knee in victory formation.

Haskins couldn’t do that Sunday in Redskins’ 19-16 comeback win over Detroit because he wasn’t on field at end of his inaugural win as a pro. He was posing for a selfie with a fan in front row while Case Keenum took a knee as Redskins (2-9) worked off final seconds.

“I look up and we were in victory (formation) and said, ‘Oh, I thought game was over with already,’” Haskins said. “But I’ll get it next time.”

Dustin Hopkins connected on a 39-yard field goal with 16 seconds left for winning margin, and Lions fill-in quarterback Jeff Driskel threw his third interception, this one to cornerback Fabian Moreau, giving Redskins ball back with two seconds left.

Where was Haskins?

“We were looking for him,” interim coach Bill Callahan said. “I think he thought game was over.”

So, Keenum did hors, taking a knee to seal rookie’s first career win while putting minus 1-yard rush on his own stat line.

Former Redskins QB Joe ismann found thing funny about Haskins’ gaffe, tweeting, “How do (you) miss last snap of a game because ur taking selfies. That’s unprofessional & wrong.”

Ar object of ire on airwaves and social media alike was Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, who settled for Dallas’ third field goal when trailing by seven in a driving rain at Foxborough with six minutes remaining.

Hall of Fame quarterback and Fox television analyst Troy Aikman questioned call by his former backup QB, but Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wouldn’t second-guess team’s most table kicking decision after ripping his special teams’ ugly performance , insisting, “Special teams is 100 percent coaching.”

Garrett explained he wanted to keep his team within one score in case Patriots answered with a field goal of ir own.

Dallas was down a touchdown, so Brett Maher’s short field goal on fourth-and-7 from Patriots 11 got m within four.

So, when y got ball back after a New England punt, y still needed a touchdown to beat Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

On road.

In a driving rain.

Against NFL’s top defense.

y reached ir own 25.

And lost by four.

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AP Sports Writer Stephen Why contributed.

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Follow Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton

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