Wrapping Up: NFL Week 13
It was an absolutely wild week in the NFL and for literally all of the wrong reasons. Teams that you expected to look great looked terrible. Teams that were supposed to roll over fought to the end then came up short in disappointing fashion. The Bears did whatever the hell they did, and Bill Belichick refuses to go away. He does not care about your little rookie quarterback sensation. Before we get to some of the more interesting games, let’s get to the quick hitters.
The Raiders clawed their way to staying relevant in the playoff picture with a win they didn’t deserve against a Jets team that just blitzed a game away. The game ended 31-28 and I am sad I had to see a single snap of this dumpster fire of a game. The Vikings pulled off a very similar feat of incompetence against the Jaguars. The Vikings would get the 27-24 win in overtime. The race for Trevor Lawrence is still very much alive. The Dolphins beat the Bengals 19-7 and everyone laughed at the Bengals then cried shortly thereafter as we all realized Joe Burrow will eventually be healthy again. The Colts kept pace in the AFC South with the 26-20 win over the Houston Texans. Save Deshaun Watson please. The Saints continue to look like the NFC front runners as they win their game against the Falcons by a score of 21-16. The Patriots took the Chargers, placed them over their knee, and spanked the Chargers’ little bottom until they cried and cried. The final score was 45-0 and it somehow could have probably been worse. The Packers beat the Eagles 30-16. The big story here is Carson Wentz finally being benched. Lastly, the Bills took care of business against the 49ers by a score of 34-24. The Bills are for real and are not going to be an easy out come playoff time. It’s worth keeping an eye on.
The NFL truly does put on a lot of games every week. Let’s get to the important ones shall we?
Cleveland Browns 41 - Tennessee Titans 35
Cleveland might just be a legitimate contender. Were the Tennessee Titans a legitimate contender? Both of these teams suffer from the exact same issue and that issue is wild inconsistency and a knack for winning games they maybe shouldn’t. Cleveland’s defense is probably a little better than this game indicates. The score was 38-3 at one point and Tennessee went on a second half garbage time tear and had it back to 41-21 before the fourth quarter. It was a very strange game with a strange result and now we really do have to ask an interesting question. Can Cleveland compete for a Super Bowl this year?
Detroit Lions 34 - Chicago Bears 30
This game is actually completely irrelevant other than the absolutely brutal collapse of the Chicago Bears. The quarterback issues in Chicago are legitimately going to waste the careers of these incredible defenders on the other side of the ball. Something needs to be done, maybe a staff overhaul. Either way, this season is nothing but a disappointment for all involved.
New York Giants 17 - Seattle Seahawks 12
This was a weird game. Seattle is not the team we saw at the beginning of the year. They weren’t exactly the undefeated powerhouse they presented as, but they were at least contenders. Some outlets have begun asking if the Giants defense can carry them to and into the playoffs. This is a little bit of a reach for interest in a floundering division. That being said, I will be getting more into divisional implications as I get to the other big game this division was involved in this week. As for other implications of this disappointing performance by the Seahawks, Russell Wilson is out as MVP and this team will not be going far in the playoffs, probably. With the way they played today and recently against the Rams, it just doesn’t look good.
Las Angeles Rams 38 - Arizona Cardinals 24
The Rams continue to confound me. So do the Cardinals. The NFL is truly ridiculous and everyone is a giant catfish this year. Shout out to the Stadio podcast for enlightening me to the idea that a team can indeed catfish me. Jared Goff is not going to carry this team to a Super Bowl, he is just plain not good enough. Unless he plays like this then he will. Odds are he will collapse at least once during the playoffs but he looked good today and is surrounded by great talent. Kyler Murray, on the other hand, continues to make me regret giving him the top five ranking I gave him in my mid season quarterback rankings. The Cardinals were my pick for Cinderella story in the playoffs. They would be that team to upset a contender, make it to the championship round, then get beat but everyone would say next year is their year. They would be this year’s Tennessee Titans or 2015 Chicago Cubs. That image looks more and more unrealistic with every passing week. The Cardinals offense looks shaky as DeAndre Hopkins struggles to stay involved, and the defense continues to look leaky at best.
Denver Broncos 16 - Kansas City Chiefs 22
A wacky score for a really strange game. The AFC West has done everything in its power to be the only division that can seemingly do anything to stop the Chiefs. The Chiefs had the ball plenty but the defense that Vic Fangio had dialed up looked fantastic today. Holding Pat Mahomes to merely one touchdown is a feat worthy of some sort of medal or trophy. The Chiefs still won this game even with a struggling offense and the Broncos getting Drew Lock back. They are still the favorites to win it all. This game just deserved a highlight for how well the Broncos played defense against the best offense we have seen since the 2007 Patriots.
Washington Football Team 23 - Pittsburgh Steelers 17
The Steelers stock has not changed at all after this game. They are a talented but flawed team that finds weird ways to win games. They will probably go on to be a team that loses to the Chiefs in the playoffs. As for Washington and comeback player of the year Alex Smith, we have life! The NFC Least is still actually terrible, however the Giants and Washington have both strung together multiple wins and sit at nearly respectable 5-7 records. I still think 7-9 wins this division but there was a point where five wins looked like a realistic target for the winner of this division. Neither of these teams will do anything of value come playoff time but it does at least make the division a little less painful to watch.
Dallas Cowboys 17 - Baltimore Ravens 34
This game is only interesting because the Ravens got back on track. The Dallas Cowboys are a bottom three team in the NFL right now and the Ravens should not be anything more than vaguely satisfied by this win. However, sometimes it just takes a strong win against a bad team to get back into winning form for an NFL team. The Ravens may not be back to what they were last year, but with Lamar Jackson behind center, anything is possible.