Week 13 Review

 

Week 13 came and went! Maybe a little less action then anticipated but still a fun one. Let's jump into our review:

Bills 24- Patriots 10

This game was 17-7 at the half and looked like it had the makings for an entertaining finish. Josh Allen had been moving the Bills well, the Pats looked competent enough offensively. Then the third quarter happened, and it was still 17-7 going into the final frame. Devin Singletary punched in a touchdown at the beginning of the fourth and that was all she wrote--outside of a sad field goal down 17 with 1:53 left on the clock.

Coolest play of this game for New England was their rookie corner Marcus Jones taking a screen pass 48 yards for a touchdown. It accounted for about 25% of Mac Jones total yardage on an evening where he looked tentative and bad. Given some of the disgruntled interactions the Pats' QB was having on the sideline, it's hard to say how much of that was on him or the play caller. Definitely realistic for both parties to be at fault here.

Big divisional win on the road for the Bills as they continue their pursuit of the #1 overall seed in the AFC.

Steelers 19- Falcons 16

The only thing worth noting about this game may have been that I predicted Pittsburgh to win. Expectations for this matchup were low and it certainly delivered. Najee Harris ran pretty well and Kenny Pickett was alright, giving some hope for the Steelers' future. George Pickens though was surprisingly uninvolved, expressing some frustrations late in the game on the sideline.

Atlanta was riding out Marcus Mariota until the playoffs were out of the picture. While they're not mathematically there just yet, it's as grim as it's been all year in the ATL. Given that Mariota is absolutely not the long term fix at QB, why not let Desmond Ridder take the reins the rest of the season? Shoot for a higher draft pick or possibly uncover a hidden gem. Arthur Smith has shown he can maximize the talent on this team, hopefully Arthur Blank can find him an actual quarterback to work with.

Packers 28- Bears 19

Aaron Rodgers still owns Chicago. Even after trailing 16-3 late in the second, among his worst statistical season ever, the Green Bay quarterback found a way to lead the team back to a decisive victory. AJ Dillon rumbled after lead back Aaron Jones went down with a shin injury and Christian Watson continued to shine, scoring by ground and air. He's storming into the Offensive Rookie of the Year discussion.

Justin Fields started the game really strong but faded late when he was forced to pass more. It was an effective showing though for him, especially given the lack of talent he's working with at receiver. He's an electric talent who's more then earned this job for the foreseeable future. The Bears officially have their QB and currently hold the #2 pick in the draft, which they should be able to parlay into a massive trade down to help fill the numerous holes on their roster. Chicago may be back sooner then we think.

Lions 40- Jaguars 14

Clap it up for Dan Campbell and the Lions. They throttled the Jags at home, scoring on all eight of their possessions. Jared Goff threw for 340 yards, finding Amon Ra St. Brown early and often. The sophomore wideout posted an insane line of 7/114/2, torching the Jacksonville secondary. D'Andre Swift regained control of the backfield, taking 18 touches for 111 yards. First round draft pick Jameson Williams also made his debut, failing to catch his only target. This Detroit team is playing really well and currently have a viable path to the playoffs.

Huge letdown for the Jaguars after their big comeback victory a week ago. Unless he was targeting Christian Kirk, Trevor Lawrence couldn't get the offense moving consistently through the air. He also luckily avoided what initially appeared to be a devastating knee injury right before halftime. We'll give some credit to the Lions' D too, rookies Kerby Joseph and Aiden Hutchinson appear to be real building blocks.

Vikings 27- Jets 22

The Mike White experience is in...a holding pattern. The Jets quarterback drew the support of many teammates sporting T-shirts with his face on it on the team plane. I wonder how it feels to be Zach Wilson seeing that type of embrace? 

New York fell down 20-3 late in the second quarter and looked to be toast, but they kept driving. Their red zone inefficiency ended up being their undoing, only scoring one touchdown on six opportunities. The offense gained 486 yards, nearly doubling Minnesota's yardage, but they just didn't punch it in when it mattered, costing them the game late with a failed connection to Braxton Berrios in the end zone. Garrett Wilson continued to show good rapport with White, snagging eight catches for 162 yards. He's been awesome when they've gotten him the ball.

Another week, another million reasons why the Vikings should've lost a game. But here's the thing, they didn't. They got another win over a gritty Jets team after Kirk Cousins got off to a 1-8 start passing. In the past, it was a game they'd find a way to lose. They now find themselves at 10-2 overall with a track record of winning close games. Kevin O'Donnell has this team doing the little things each week to get the job done and needs to be commended for such. Justin Jefferson is a god also, dude's absolutely unguardable. 

Commanders 20- Giants 20

Huge playoff implications on the line for whoever won this NFC east matchup; needless to say they ended in a draw. Both teams played relatively well too, so the tie was poetic to some extent.

Taylor Heinicke didn't do anything to lose his job, going 27-41 for 275 and two touchdowns. His style of play has really meshed with Terry McLaurin, who's been excellent these last few weeks. Rookies Jahan Dotson and Brian Robinson produced as well, totaling 54 and 111 yards each, respectively. The defensive line is still good, and only going to get better once Chase Young returns. Tough out for anyone come January.

The Giants got back to utilizing Daniel Jones' dual threat ability, which had been working in their early season run. The signal caller had twelve carries for 71 yards to complement his 200 yards passing on the day. Saquon Barkley added a workman's like 63 on the ground, and Darius Slayton led the way with 90 receiving yards.

This offense is not explosive, which is going to really limit their ceiling. They were able to overcome their one turnover on the day, but any more then that's essentially a death sentence. Their defense is young and plays hard, overachieving to some extent. At least one of these teams will make the postseason, likely the winner of their rematch in two weeks.

Eagles 35- Titans 10

Statement win for Philadelphia. Many pundits thought that Derrick Henry and the Titans would be able to control the clock and turn this into a slugfest. It was anything but.

Jalen Hurts has to be atop the MVP discussion after this performance. The dude went 29-39 for 380 yards and three scores, finding AJ Brown for two of them (called that shit). In a game where the Titans predictably limited the run game, the Eagles quarterback was magnificent from the pocket. Getting Jordan Davis back helped a ton too in their own run defense, holding King Henry to 2.7 YPC.

Ryan Tannehill was actually Tennessee's leading rusher-- not indicative of a successful day for the team whatsoever. The Titans' QB actually looked decent early on before Treylon Burks got knocked out of the game on a remarkable touchdown catch. It seems like he'll be good to go for next week, but his absence really reduced how dynamic this offense could be. Terrible loss for Mike Vrabel's squad, but they've still got the AFC south firmly on lock.

Ravens 10- Broncos 9

This game sucked on paper, then Lamar Jackson got injured on a sack in the first quarter. It seems to be a sprained knee, which'll sideline #8 for a few weeks here. Tyler Huntley szn... 

Huntley was accurate but not effective against an elite Denver defense, ultimately leading a touchdown drive to secure the victory late. Given the weak core of weapons Baltimore boasts, expecting anything more would've been stupid. This is going to be a bad offense to watch until Lamar returns.

Their defense delivered though, severely limiting Russell Wilson through the air. Outside of two long plays to Greg Dulcich and Jerry Jeudy, everything Wilson threw was underneath. Courtland Sutton got 0'ferred. Horrible game, I sat through it all. No need to retraumatize myself blogging further about it.

Browns 27- Texans 14

Deshaun Watson was back in Houston to a sea of boos and completely laid an egg in the stadium he used to call home. After a 700 day layoff, the maligned QB completed just 55% of his passes for 131 yards and an interception. The offense did not score; with all 27 points coming off of special teams/ defensive touchdowns and two Cade York field goals. Rust was expected, but this was a very bad showing for Deshaun.

Fortunately for Cleveland, they were playing the Texans. Houston surprisingly led 5-0 late into the second quarter before Donovan Peoples-Jones ran a punt back 76 yards to the house. It would be the last time they were ahead on the day. Dameon Pierce ran well for the first time in a few weeks against a weak Browns' front seven, encouraging to Houston fans and fantasy owners alike. Kyle Allen sucks though. This team is primed and ready to pick #1 next April.

Seahawks 27- Rams 23

Much closer game in Los Angeles then anticipated! John Wolford was inefficient but rallied the Rams to a late fourth quarter lead after Cam Akers found pay dirt for the second time on the afternoon. The defense failed them from there, allowing Geno Smith to drive 75 yards for the game winning DK Metcalf score. The Lions rejoiced, possessing the Rams #1 pick in the upcoming draft, one that's looking higher and higher with each passing week.

Geno was great again, passing for 367 yards and three touchdowns as he continues his push for at least a Pro Bowl nod. What a story his resurgence has been. Kenneth Walker went down early with an ankle injury, which forced the Seattle QB to shoulder much of the load to get them the win. He was up to the challenge and the Seahawks are back on track in the NFC playoff picture. Phenomenal coaching effort by Pete Carroll; it has to be him or Kevin O'Donnell as the Coach of the Year at this point.

49ers 33- Dolphins 17

Harder to say if this was a big statement win for San Francisco or a big red flag alert for Miami. Jimmy Garoppolo went out early with a season-ending broken foot, leaving the Niners to roll with Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy under center. 

The Dolphins could not take advantage, allowing the rookie to throw for 210 yards and two touchdowns. Jordan Mason did a great job in Elijah Mitchell's bulldozer role in the backfield, softening up the defense on eight carries at 6.4 yards per tote. Christian McCaffery, Deebo and Brandon Aiyuk were all heavily involved in the passing game too, combining for 19 receptions. It was a promising showing for an offense missing some key pieces.

Miami only attempted eight rushes, completely abandoning the run game. Their offense was one-dimensional and predictable, resulting in Nick Bosa teeing off on Tua. The younger Bosa brother had three sacks and four QB hits as he terrorized Miami's quarterback all afternoon. Tagovailoa was able to find Trent Sherfield and Tyreek Hill for long scores, but was largely ineffective outside of that. If you take away those, his stat line was a much more pedestrian 16/31 for 175 yards and two interceptions. Problems starting to surface in South Beach?

Bengals 27- Chiefs 24

Cincinnati's beaten Kansas City three times in 2022: Patrick Mahomes kryptonite. This game lacked the explosiveness many were hoping for but still was a hard fought back and forth. Both teams alternated scores until the fourth quarter when Cincy kicked a field goal, forced a Travis Kelce fumble, and then scored the go ahead touchdown. It was a classic, late season win under Zac Taylor and Joe Burrow.

Shiesty played a clean game under center, connecting seven times with Ja'Marr Chase to pace the offense. It was clear to everyone watching that he missed his WR1. Samaje Perine was heavily involved again, clearing the century mark on the ground and adding six receptions for 49 yards. He's been an unexpected bright spot in Joe Mixon's absence. Bengals keeping pace with Baltimore in the AFC North.

The Chiefs' lack of playmakers at receiver was apparent. Travis Kelce was shut out in the first half, Marques Valdes-Scantling had multiple drops and Juju couldn't consistently separate. Mahomes was the one who suffered from this on a day that Isiah Pacheco and Jerrick McKinnon were productive in the run game. This Kansas City team won't be an easy out for any team this season, but they've got a few kinks to iron out before the postseason. 

Raiders 27- Chargers 20

Another let down of a game that we expected fireworks from. After digging a 10-0 hole for themselves, Derek Carr and the Raiders finally figured out that if you pepper Davante Adams, good things will happen. He completely took over, finishing the day with eight catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Josh Jacobs also racked up 144 rushing yards, his third straight game over 100. 

At some point, you have to wonder if Brandon Staley's the guy out in Los Angeles. Despite being depleted by injuries, there's still plenty of firepower on both sides of the ball, yet they underperform for long periods of the game every week. Justin Herbert can make some of the most exciting plays in the game, but he seems to struggle managing games. Is that on Herbert? The offensive line? Or maybe the coach's play calling not being adjusted to new personnel. 

Regardless, the uber-talented Chargers are 6-6 and will probably need help to get into the playoffs. Feels like any other year for the franchise. Meanwhile, the Raiders have won three straight games to improve to 5-7. With games against the Rams, Steelers and Patriots ahead, it's very in the realm of possibility for them to leap frog LA for a wild card spot. Stay tuned for a fun few weeks ahead.

Cowboys 54- Colts 19

Dallas led Indy 21-19 going into the fourth quarter. Then all hell broke loose...The Cowboys scored a touchdown at the beginning of the quarter, then returned a Colts' fumble for another two plays later. Turnover, touchdown, repeat. Five times-- 33 unanswered points for big D in the final frame, obliterating Indianapolis. Jeff Saturday even had them kneel out the game, a sad sight to see.

Dak Prescott had three touchdowns, Tony Pollard punched in two of his own and one for ol' Zeke too. When Dallas' defense is clicking, this team is a true contender. Can Dak do his part in the big game? The Colts are thoroughly disappointing.

Bucs 17- Saints 16

The story line of this game will be Tom Brady's two touchdowns in the final three minutes to win the game. The reality of the game was the Bucs had three points through 57 minutes. They're a bad team, and the Saints just happen to be worse. Andy Dalton's robbing the franchise, Alvin Kamara's wasted away for much of the year. Chris Olave has been a bright spot, but with no first round pick next year and a number of holes, we have a number of questions about the future of this team. The NFC South as a whole is gross right now.

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@Choppinglines

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