NFL Week 13 Takeaways

Absolute In Cinema Delivered By The NFL As Week 13 Nearly Concludes On A Sunday Slate Of Games That Despite An Evening Run Replete With One-Sided Affairs Ending a Long and Thrilling Thanksgiving Weekend For The NFL The Full Week 13 Deliver A lot Complex Trails Of Story Lines To Follow Into Winter Months . Neither The Steelers nor the Ravens Picked Up A Win In Week 13, Leaving The AFC North Interestingly, Log Jammed By two 6-6 Teams. The Panthers Continue Their Endless Shape from A Bad Team, To An Explosive Run Team, To A Bryce Young Dropback Offense, and Now A Formidable pass Defense. Matthew Stafford Hit Davante Adams For Two Line Touchdowns, But Stafford’s Three Turnovers, Two Picks, and One Sack-Fumble Prove The Difference As Bryce Young Delivered Another Winning Drive, And The Panthers Stay In The NFC South. Stafford set the record for most consecutive touchdown passes without throwing an interception (28). Early In The Game, When He Connected with Davante Adams For An Early Rams Score, the Rout Appeared to start. The Bears Emerge As The Number One Seed In The NFC and The Loss To The Panthers Creates An Interesting Dilemma Because The Bears Now have The Edge In Terms Of Conference Win Percentage Over The On Sunday Night The Broncos Survive A Vintage Performance from Marcus Mariota, Oregon Duck Vintage Not NFL Vintage, As Bo Nix Throws For 321 Passing Yards, Ovrrcoming his Own Inconsistencies In The Process, And The Broncos Shake Off A Slow Start To Escape An Upset 27-26 In Overtime Maintaining Denver’s Lead In The AFC.

Colts Vs Texans

The Colts Started The Season By Far and Away The Best Team In The AFC, Simply Dominating, winning games By More Than two Scores At One Point (14.8 points per game), and This Team Started To Garner Comparisons To ‘07 Patriots. For The First Time This Season, the 8-3 Colts face Adversity coming In Off a Week 12 Collapse Against The Chiefs. The Colts Face The Most Dangerous Pass Defense and Possibly The Most Dangerous Defense In Football In The hottest new Team In The Division, the Houston Texans. Cj stroud, in his Return, Played One Of The Best Games Of The Season, even without A Touchdown. A Few Gaffs, Including An Interception and A Penalty. Stroud finished 22/35 276 Passing Yards, 38 drop-backs, 75.4 Passer Rating. He Still Held The Ball Long 2.91 seconds, But He Offset That By Making Plays downfield. Stroud Finished With a 12.7 Average Depth Of Target And A 10.7 Completed Air Yards Per completion. He had Six Completions Over 10 Air Yards, Just One Behind The Line Of Scrimmage, Reminding A lot Of Skeptics In A Big Game Why He Won Rookie Of The Year, and led his Team To Two Playoff Appearances In His First Two seasons. As The Texans Pull Off A Massive 20-16 Upset Over The Colts. Houston's Defense Lived Up To The Hype, Holding The Colts -0.123 EPA Per Play, The Colts and Jonathan Taylor and The Run Game went to 86 Yards, -0.30 EPA Per Run Play, 85 Yards for Taylor, Who Still Broke Off 4 explosive Run Plays On 21 Carries. The Weight To carry The Colts Offense Fell On Daniel Jones And He Hit A Few Incredible Highlight Throws In The Back Of The End Zone To ALEC Pierce, another Deep shot along The Boundary To Josh Downs and Jones Finsihed 14/27 on 28 Dropbacks For 198 Passing Yards 100.5 Passer Rating, A Positive +0.14 EPA Per Play But -9.6 Completion Percentage Over Expected (-9.6) Solid numbers But At A Certain Point Shane Steichen Needed To Win Or Lose On His Quarterback. The Colts receivers Dropped Passes, 3, But The Indy offense couldn’t Get Their Weapons Involved, including Michael Pittman Jr, Who Finished With Just 12 Receiving Yards. Tight End Tyler Warren With 22 Receiving Yards, Alec Pierce led the Team In Receiving With 77 receiving yards, One Touchdown, 4 Catches On 5 Targets. I Thought The Colts Moved Prematurely, pushing Adonai Mitchell to the Jets, And Maybe They Needed His Second Gear Ability Against the Texans, not Exactly Perfect At Defending Deep Passes. The Texans' Defense Registered 15 Pressures and one Sack Of Daniel Jones. The Indy team's control over the division is now at risk due to the Texans' victory. The Colts Remain The Only Team In The Division With Earnest Championship Hopes, But The Texans' Defense Could Make Things Interesting For Any Opponent Caught In Their Throes In The First Round.

Seahawks Vs Vikings

The Seahawks Made The 100 Million Dollar Pledge On Sam Darnold, and The Risk On The 28-year-old former 3rd Overall Pick from 2018 Has Proven More Than The Value Of The Contract Through Twelve Weeks. Even After His Run As The Vikings Starter, winning 14 Games And Making The playoffs, Darnold hadn't proven enough as a Full Body Of Work to qualify as Anything More Than A Risk. He Flamed Out In New York With The Jets Who Drafted Him, and With The Panthers in The Post Cam Newton Era, and A lot Of His Success In Minnesota The Media Attributed To Coach Kevin O’Connell and The Talent Already Assembled With The Vikings, You Know, All-Pro Justin Jefferson. Could Darnold Continue To Succeed In Seattle Without A Proven Offensive Coach and with The Seahawks' Top DK Metcalf Receiver Traded? Winning The “Bigger” Games On The Seattle Schedule Will Prove The Difference in Darnold's Going Forward. The game against Minnesota may not impact rankings, but for Darnold's redemption narrative, it is significant. The Vikings Defense Force: The Worst Game Of The Season Of Sam Darnold, Even Worse Than The Rams Game, Without An Interception Thrown. Darnold Finished 15/26, 133 Passing Yards, 71.5 Passer Rating, 1.3 Air Per Completion(Darnold Leads The League With 8.3 Per Completion Entering Week 13). The Seahawks Defense Dominate max Brosmer And The Vikings Offense, Holding Minnesota to 164 Net Yards on Offense, -0.736 EPA Per Play, 3.3 Yards Per Play, sacking Brosmer Four Times and Holding the Vikings Scoreless. The First Team Scores Less This Season. The Seahawks Take Off With An Ugly-ish 26-0 Win. Usually, Seahawks Receiver Jaxson Smith-Njigba Gets His Yards, But The Vikings Held Him In Check 23 On 2 Receptions, Three Targets. Justin Jefferson just Four Yards Receiving as the Vikings' Season Ends In The Lowest Of Fashions. The Vikings Head Towards a Top Ten Pick And Face An Interesting Dilemma At Quarterback. Do They Draft Another Guy Signaling A Reasonable But Premature End To The JJ McCarthy Era? MCCarthy Has Not Only Struggled On The Field But also Struggled To stay On The Field, Similar To Sam Darnold Early In His Career, But Does That Suggest Shuffling Him Off To The Recycling Bin? DRAFT Picks selected 10th overall pick don’t get traded or benched just a few starts into their careers. However, Josh Rosen, who was the 10th overall pick in 2018—same draft as Sam Darnold—was traded by the Arizona Cardinals just one season after being drafted. He notably struggled during his time with the team, which ultimately contributed to the Cardinals securing the number one pick and selecting Kyler Murray. The Seahawks Won Ugly, but I’m Worried About the Offense's Ability To Get Going Without The Deep Ball As Their Top Weapon. Darnold Held The Ball At Times, Inviting Pressure In This Game. He Took Four Sacks On The Day. Seattle Got Contribution From The Run Game 125 Rushing Yards, 3.9 Yards Per Attempt Behind Running Backs Kenneth Walker, 56 Rushing Yard On 13 Carries, and Zach Charbonnet, 52 Rushing Yards on 14 Carries.

Falcons Vs Jets

The Jets Upset The Falcons In A Pretty Good Game For Two Teams Jockeying For Position In The Top Ten Pick Race. The Falcons don’t Own Their Pick This Season, and The Win For The Jets pushes their Position Backwards, but New York Got A Brilliant Game From Wide Receiver Adonai Mitchell, Whom They Acquired From The Colts Along with another Round Pick for cornerback Sauce Gardner. Mitchell Caught The First Touchdown Of His Career on A 52 Yard Pass—Mitchell infamously dropped His First Chance At A Touchdown Earlier This Season In A Colts Loss to the Rams, A Play That directly resulted in Reduced Playing Time and subsequent Trading—a Part Of a career Day, Eight Catches(Proving He Can Catch) for 101 Receiving Yards. The Jets Scored The First Touchdown Of The Game In The Second Quarter After the Falcons ' Yard Line, And A Quick Yard Rush By Running Back Breece Hall for A 7-0 Jets Lead, And The Falcons Tied The Matchup Before The Half, 7-7. This Game Swung Wildly In The Second Half. The Two Special Teams Missed a Field Goal, but Atlanta always Looked Like They Had The Game In Control. Kirk Cousins Played His Best Game Since Taking Over As The Starter in Atalanta For Micheal Penix, 21/33 63% Completion Percentage, 234 Passing Yards, One Touchdown, No Picks, just Two Passes Completed Over Ten Air yards, so He Didn’t exactly feel in All The Gaps, with a 94.7 Passer Rating. When Bijan Robinson Goes Nuclear, Whose Passing For The Falcons Or Where There Passing Robinson 196 Yards On 27 Touches, 66 Yards After The Catch. Frequently Converted Kirk Cousins’s Short Passes into Positive Plays. Robinson Averaged 6.2 Yards Per Carry, Nine First Down Runs To Lead The Falcons To 402 Yards Of Offense and +0.098 EPA Per Play. The Jets Offense and The Rushing Attack Struggled Much Of The Afternoon, Breece Got Stuff Multiple Times, and The Team Finished With -0.10 Run EPA, With A 45.5 Rush Success Rate. The Jets also face A lot Of Bad Field Position Early In The First Half, But The Special Teams Generated A Big Kick Return For 83 Yards, The Muff Punt recovery, and the game-winning field Goal. On A day when the Jets' Offense Produced A Few Highlight Plays, the As Special Teams helped deliver The Win. I don’t Suppose The Win Will Change Much For The Future Of Head Coach Aaron Glen, Who Pretty Much Needs A Hell Of A Finish That Would Ruin The Draft Odds But Make The Conversation Around His Job Status an Interesting One. Tyrod Taylor 19/33 For 172 Passing Yards, One Touchdown, 81.9 Passer Rating, and Took Two Sacks. Tyrod has looked better Consistently Running A Drop back Offense.

On the Falcons' Side, The Win wouldn’t have saved Raheem MORRIS, who Looks Destined To Return To His Role As A Defensive Coordinator as the Falcons Move Closer To Failing To secure A Winning Season For The Second Straight Season Under Morris.

Rams Vs Panthers

The Rams and the Panthers made A Contest Of A Game that many Others Thought I would finish squarely in Los Angeles’s Favor. The Carolina defense Stayed Hot As Far As Forcing Interceptions go, Picking Off Matthew Stafford Twice, and A Sack Fumble. Stafford, the MVP front-runner, Had Two Picks All Season. The Rams Defense That Shut Down Sam Darnold and The Seahawks Offense Offense Took a Two Peice From Bryce Youmg Who Just Reverted To A pumpkin Last week Against The Niners but He Return TO His Second Half Of The Season Electric Form Passing For Two Touchdowns On Forth Conversions And The Panthers Pull Off The Upset Of Maybe The Season Keeping The Panthers In Striking Range Of The Playoffs. Los Angeles generates Four Red zone Scores, One Catch Of The Year Candidate From Puka Nacua, and loses 31-28. Bryce Young 15/20(75%) for 206 Passing Yards, Three Touchdowns, 147.1 Passer rating, 0.63 EPA Per Play, Just Two Sacks. All Three Of Young’s Touchdown passes came On Pass Plays Of 30 yards Or Better, Two Deep Passes downfield, 21 EPA On Yards After Catch. Receiver Jalen Cooker had Four Catches For 74 Receiving Yards, and Running Back Chubba Hubbard had 20 Touches For 124 Yards From Scrimmage. The Panthers Finished With 40 Rushing Attempts, something Head Coach and Play Caller Dave Canales Vowed To Adjust After a pass-heavy game Plan Against The Niners. The Rams Also Produced A Balanced Attack. Their Run Game Showed Up with 81 Yards and A Touchdown On The Ground For Blake Corum and 72 Yards and A Rushing Touchdown For Kyren Williams on 13 Carries and a 76.2% Success Rate on The Ground For The Rams. Matthew Stafford Played His Second game Of The Year. His touch and accuracy fluctuated significantly, and he forced many unnecessary passes into tight windows, relying too much on his receiver's talent to make plays against the Panthers' defense. As a result, the MVP candidate struggled, completing 18 out of 28 passes for 243 yards, resulting in a 64.3% completion rate and an 85.9 passer rating. The Rams had a decent performance, completing around 60% of their plays and gaining an average of 7.4 yards each time they had the ball. However, the Rams struggled with turnovers, which really hurt their offense and resulted in a negative impact on their overall performance. The Panthers Continue To Mystify Football’s Greatest Intellectuals With Their Amorphous Ability to Function As A Pass Offense One Week But Not The Other, A Run first Team Before Struggling To Run, and Now A defensively oriented team that forces turnovers, With Two Of Their Best Secondary Players Missing In Jaycee Horn and Trevon Moehrig.

Tampa Bay Vs Arizona

The Cardinals' drop-back Offense has Produced Some Staggering Numbers In Recent Weeks with Jacoby Brissett, Who Set The NFL Record For Completions 47 Against The Niners, and Brissett Leads The NFL in Passing Yards Per Game In His Six Starts, another To Add To the List of Completely Unforeseen occurrences Of The 2025 Season. Receiver Michael Wilson Has Stepped Up In A Big Way with 32 Catches and 303 Receiving Yards Over The Past Two Games In the Absence Of Receiver Marvin Harrison, Who Returns Week 13 Against The Bucs. Tight End Trey McBride Ranks Third in Dominator Rating 32.92% In The NFL, A stat that Measures A receiver’s “total production impact” Based On Yardage and touchdown contributions To The Offense. The Cardinals have shown potential against a few teams but have failed to secure any convincing upsets outside of their victory over the Cowboys. However, Jonathan Gannon’s team has developed a clear offensive form, tone, and identity. The Tampa Bay Bucs Lost Their Tone and Rhythm around Week Eight Of This Season. The Cardinals' Top Targets Struggle With Generating Consistent Separation. Averaging Less Than 2 Yards Of Separation Because The Play Big Body Still Of Football By Going Over The Top Of Smaller Corners, But Through The Middle Separation Matters. With a Jamel Dean Draped On Micheal Wilson On The Cardinals' First Drive That Lands Arizona In The Tampa Red Zone, Brissett Tries To Force A Ball Into Traffic, and The Ball Bounces Up and Lands Into The Hands Of Bucs Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. Both Offenses Struggled To Convert Long Productive Drives Into Points. The Bucs' Chris Godwin dropped a touchdown on Tampa’s First Red Zone Drive, Forcing The Bucs To Settle For an Early Field Goal Lead. In The Second Quarter, Wide Receiver Tez Johnson Picked Up A Pass Interference Call That Erased A 15 Yard Rachaad White catch-and-run Run Into the Cardinals' five. The Bucs Would Convert From A 3rd and 13 Into A 4th And Two And Another Drive Inside The Five. The Bucs converted on a 3rd and Goal, After Another Penalty erased A Touchdown, But The Offense Scored A two-yard touchdown to Tristan Wirfs, the All-Pro offensive line player who reported eligible. Bucs Running Back Bucky Irving, in his long-awaited return To Football, Had A Touchdown Erased In The First Half. He scored His First Touchdown Of The Season on a 13 Yard Run In The Arizona Red Zone That Put The Bucs up 17-3. The Cardinals' Offense Authored Their Own Response with a 6 Play Drive, Five Passing Attempts for Brissett for 63 Of The Cardinals' 72 Yards, And A 15 Yard Touchdown to their running Back Zonavan Bam Knight. The Cardinals Would Strike Again On The Next Possession After a Bucs Punt, this Time 9 Plays, 73 Yards Ending With a 15 Yard Completion To Trey McBride as The Cardinals Score The Final 14 Points Of The Game. Arizona’s Upset Bid Would Fall Short On Downs As Tampa Escapes The Jaws Of A Tough Passing Offense 20-17. Jacoby Brissett Continues His Tear 29/40 72.5 Completion Percentage, For 301 Passing, Two Touchdowns, One Interception, and 100.1 Passer Rating, 17 Passing First Downs, +0.13 EPA Per Pass Play, Eight Explosive Pass plays, 158 Air Yards, Two Sacks, and 22 Pressures. The Cardinals' Offense generated 376 Yards Of Offense, 6.2 Yards Per Play, but -0.038 Average EPA per play, 34.2 Yards Per Drive. The Cardinals' Offense Outplayed The Bucs, But The lack of Scoring and Red Zone Touchdowns helped drop the Cardinals From Flying Away With The Win. The Bucs Offense Didn’t Get Back On Track Exactly Baker Mayfield, 19/29, 201 Passing Yards 97.1 Passer Rating 74.6% Yards After Catch One Touchdown. Chris Godwin Had Some Moments That Made Him Look Like He Might Return To His Elite Form, 78 Receiving Yards On Three Catches on Five Targets. The Bucs Generated 280 Yards Of Offense, +0.028 EPA Per Play, Not Exactly The Elite Numbers I Hope For Coming Down The End Of The Season. The Bucs defense gave up 5.0 Yards Per Carry, 4.5 After Contact To The Cardinals, but -0.42 EPA Per Run Play.