Our Week 13 Thoughts, Reactions and Recap

29 Nov, 2022

Our Week 13 Thoughts, Reactions and Recap

Carolina Reminds Denver How Awful They Are

The season from hell continues for the Denver Broncos. After an ugly loss to the lowly Carolina Panthers, they sit at 3-8 just waiting for the season to end. The only reason this team isn’t last in everyone’s power rankings is because of how strong their defense has been. Now that defense might be ready to pack it in too. It took 12 weeks, but the Broncos defense has finally turned on Russell Wilson in a big way. Mike Purcell, a defensive tackle for Denver, was seen yelling at Wilson as he came off the field. I am honestly surprised we made it this far into the season before a video like this emerged. Guys can only play so hard before they realize it’s a hopeless cause.

Raiders and Chargers Sneak Away with Wins

Josh Jacobs was an absolute monster on Sunday. He capped it all off with a game ending, 86 yard touchdown run in overtime. The Raiders have won 2 games in a row now, but it is probably a little too late. With games still left against KC, SF, NE and LAC and already with 7 losses, they’re season is most likely finished. It is still fun to see what this offense can do though when hot. 

Brandon Staley made a very gutsy call to go for two after the Chargers’ late touchdown and it paid off in a big way. Los Angeles ended up beating Arizona 25-24 in a wire-to-wire thriller. Austin Ekeler was held in check, but Justin Herbert made up for it. He completed 74.5% of his passes on 47 attempts for 274 yards and 3 touchdowns. Arizona finally got to see Hopkins and Brown on the field at the same time and they combined for 133 yards and 1 touchdown. Arizona moves to 4-8 on the year with the loss. Like Denver, they’re also performing drastically below preseason expectations. Especially after giving their young quarterback and head coach massive extensions in the offseason.

Philadelphia Ran All Over Green Bay

If you told me before this game it was going to be a shootout, I would’ve called you a liar. Especially if you threw in the fact the Eagles ran for over 300 yards. Hurts became the first player to throw and run for 125 yards in a single half. If opponents let the Eagles run the ball well, they might as well forfeit. Running is Philadelphia’s bread and butter and they seemingly do it as well or better than every team in the league. 

Aaron Rodgers was injured during this game allowing Jordan Love to come in in relief. Love threw a great pass to Christian Watson who took it 63 yards to the house. The question everyone should be asking is Aaron Rodgers be done for the year? He is already battling a reported brutal thumb injury. Now he has to deal with a rib injury suffered Sunday night. Would it be the worst thing in the world for the Packers to finally see what they have in Love? 

Lawrence Stuns Baltimore

Trevor Lawrence orchestrated a perfect 2 minute drill to comeback and beat the Ravens in Jacksonville. When will defensive coaches learn to keep playing defense instead of going to prevent D in the final minutes of close games? The Ravens were handing the Jaguars chunk play after chunk play. It is almost like defensive coordinators are thinking “As long as they don’t get a touchdown in one play, we’re safe”. So instead of that, they choose to give up 10-15 yards at a time, allowing their opponent to carve them up. The Rams did it against Tampa Bay, Minnesota did it against Buffalo and now Baltimore did it against Jacksonville. Those are just the examples off the top of my head. I didn’t even have to dig to find those so you know it is happening more than it should. Justin Tucker almost bailed them out, but even he couldn’t make a 67-yard field goal outside.

Taylor Heinicke Has the Commanders at 7-5

What a turnaround Heinicke has been for the Commanders. The entire team look and play better when he’s behind center as opposed to Carson Wentz. I won’t go as far as to say Washington has found their quarterback, but as long as Heinicke is starting, they can at least be relevant. As it sits now, Washington owns the 7th seed in the playoff standings. They still play the Giants twice and the Browns once. In just those three games, they have a good shot at pushing their record to 9-8 or 10-7. If they made it to double digit wins, it would be the first time that’s been achieved in Washington since RG3 won Offensive Rookie of the Year.

The Buccaneers Give Away Another Game

Tom Brady and the Buccaneers lost in overtime to Nick Chubb and the Cleveland Browns. Unsurprisingly, Tampa Bay is 5-6 but still own sole possession of first place in the NFC South. They’re going to limp into the playoffs and who knows what will happen after that with Tom Brady at the helm. He’s only the luckiest quarterback in NFL history when it comes to the playoffs. Would anyone be shocked if he found a way to make it back to another Super Bowl?

For Cleveland, Jacoby Brisset won his last game as the Browns starter. Watson is already on the roster and all reports are saying he is set to play next week. For a backup in a much tougher conference, 4-7 isn’t too shabby. If the defense could have played up to their full potential, or at least close to what people assumed they would be in the preseason, we could be looking at a 5-6 or 6-5 team, so I can’t put it all on Brisset. He will have a backup job in the NFL for as long as he wants one.

Other Notes:

  • Kansas City and San Francisco toyed with their opponents all game. No one thought the Saints or Rams ever had a chance. It was a mail in week for the 49ers and Chiefs. They handled their business and now move on to Week 13.
  • Miami scored 30 points in the first half and 0 in the season. Their team total was 30.5, so the over turned out to be a horrible beat. Houston tried to make it a game, but the Dolphins had already taken Tua out, so the partial comeback isn’t impressive. Another loss puts Houston one step closer to the 1st overall pick. 
  • Mike White shines again as he got the start in place of a disheveled Zach Wilson. If history repeats itself, he’ll have one more great game before coming back down to earth. Anyone who thinks either White or Wilson should be the quarterback for New York next year needs to get their head examined.