NFL Week 13, with a plethora of key matchups, promised an opportunity to sort out the crowded playoff races. With the season entering the home stretch, however, the waters simply were muddied by surprising results. Injuries and officiating played factors in some of the outcomes, with ripple effects expected moving forward.
The San Francisco 49ers went to Lincoln Financial Field in a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship. The Niners shredded the Philadelphia Eagles, scoring touchdowns on six consecutive drives in a 42-19 rout. The Eagles still have the NFL’s best record at 10-2. But San Francisco can stake a legitimate claim as the best team in the league.
In the top-heavy NFC only four of the 16 teams boast records better than .500. The NFC teeters dangerously close to the line between parity and parody at this point.
And then there’s the New England Patriots, doing their level best to take offensive football back to the leather-helmet era.
With that being said, you can expect five specific overreactions after the week.
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5. Bringing back memories of the New England Patsies of old
The New England Patriots made the wrong kind of franchise history on Sunday. Their 6-0 loss at home to the Los Angeles Chargers marked the first time the Patriots were shut out twice in a season in their own stadium. The Patsies were also blanked by the New Orleans Saints 34-0 back in Week 5.
New England’s losing streak stands at five games, during which they’ve scored 47 points — including 13 in the last three losses. Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe evoke memories of a past Patriots quarterback named Tom … but it’s Tommy Hodson rather than Tom Brady.
As for the defense? It may be preparing legal papers against the offense for a criminal lack of support. The Pats are the first team since the 1938 Chicago Cardinals to lose three consecutive games when allowing 10 points or fewer.
The quarterbacks have combined for 14 interceptions and 10 touchdown passes. While a nice nod to the passing statistics of the Vince Lombardi era, that level of ineptitude is not exactly a formula for winning a Vince Lombardi Trophy.
And here’s the kicker. At 2-10, New England isn’t even winning the race for the No. 1 overall pick. The Carolina Panthers, at 1-11, own the lead there.
The Patriots enjoyed unprecedented success over the beginning of the 21st century. That simply means the fall is that much steeper.
4. Trevor Lawrence’s injury upsets the balance of power in the AFC South
The Jacksonville Jaguars entered NFL Week 13 with a two-game lead in the AFC South. With a Monday night game against a Cincinnati Bengals squad down to backup Jake Browning at quarterback, the outlook was rosy.
But in the NFL, any team can beat any other team on any given day. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence went down with an ankle injury late in the game and the Jags lost 34-31 in overtime. With the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts each winning on Sunday, that two-game divisional lead shrinks to just one.
Backup C.J. Beathard was solid in relief, completing 9-of-10 passes for 63 yards and directing the drive for the game-tying field goal that forced OT. In 12 career starts with the San Francisco 49ers his team won just twice. Before Monday night he threw 17 passes for the better part of three years in Jacksonville.
Quarterback play means everything in the NFL. If Lawrence’s injury sidelines him for a significant period, Jacksonville is fortunate not to have to face either of its direct competitors the rest of the way. The Jaguars swept the Colts and split with the Texans.
3. NFL officiating at a crisis point
The video from the final drive of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 27-19 loss to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday night needs to be archived. Why? For future use as a “what not to do” video for football officials.
The drive featured two horrific decisions by the crew working the game, one with a flag thrown and the other a near fatal case of whistle swallowing. Patrick Mahomes scrambled out of the pocket and was hit hard by Packers safety Jonathan Owens, who was flagged for unnecessary roughness for a late hit out of bounds. But in their rush to protect quarterbacks — particularly the name-brand QBs — the officials missed one minor detail. Mahomes was still inbounds and fighting for extra yardage. Whoops.
The makeup call came later. Rookie defensive back Carrington Valentine, in a play reminiscent of the pre-1978 rules for pass defense, mauled Chiefs receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling. There was face guarding, a forearm to the neck and a nifty climbing maneuver up Valdes-Scantling’s shoulder pads — all before the ball arrived on the scene.
Officiating continues to be a problem for the NFL and sequences such as these, especially in prime time games does nothing to help the league’s image of officials directly affecting outcomes.
2. The Houston Texans won’t go away
The Houston Texans improved to 7-5 on Sunday with a 22-17 victory over the surging Denver Broncos, who had won five games in a row. Nico Collins had a career game with nine catches for 191 yards and a touchdown and Jimmie Ward sealed the win with an end zone interception with nine seconds remaining.
Houston has won four of its last five games but is the odd team out in the four-way tie for the three AFC wild card spots. The Pittsburgh Steelers own the first tiebreaker, the Cleveland Browns have a head-to-head win over the Indianapolis Colts and the Colts have a victory over the Texans.
The seven wins this season match the Texans total from the last two seasons as DeMeco Ryans is putting together a Coach of the Year-worthy rookie campaign as a head coach. He is Houston’s fifth coach since the start of the 2020 season. But unlike Bill O’Brien, Romeo Crennel, David Culley and Lovie Smith, Ryans will likely around for a bit.
1. Making the case for the San Francisco 49ers
The Philadelphia Eagles danced on the high wire for as long as they could before the San Francisco 49ers came into Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday and yanked it out from underneath them.
Philadelphia won four straight games in come-from-behind fashion. Its luck ran out against the fired up 49ers, who avenged their loss in the NFC Championship in January with a 42-19 demolition of the Eagles.
Deebo Samuel caught two touchdown passes and had a 12-yard touchdown run. Brock Purdy also made a statement. With his repaired ACL on display, the last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft completed 19-of-27 passes for 314 yards and four touchdowns.
San Francisco improved to 9-3, still a game behind the Eagles, who fell to 10-2. But the 49er offense hits difference with a healthy Samuel — all three of their losses came with him injured — and Christian McCaffrey makes for a phenomenal second weapon. McCaffrey has a league-high 261 touches and 17 combined rushing and receiving touchdowns, amassing 1,461 yards from scrimmage.
Defensively, San Francisco is second in points allowed and fifth in total defense, with 15 interceptions and 12 touchdown passes allowed. The 49ers have the best defense against the run, are winning the field position game and have the second-best scoring differential in the NFL.
They’re also three games up in the NFC West with five games to play and the Eagles still have to go to Dallas. The road to the Super Bowl in the NFC could very well end up running through Levi’s Stadium.
