Tom Henigan
It was Thanksgiving in America last week and to celebrate the NFL gave fans three games on Thursday, and another on Friday just to spoil us. Impact’s Tom Henigan has all the updates on what went down in week 13 of the 2024 NFL season.
The first game of the week saw the Detroit Lions host their annual Thanksgiving game against a Chicago Bears team who entered the game at 4-7. The Lions, who went into the week at 10-1, led by 16 points in the second half and looked like they would win comfortably yet again. But rookie quarterback Caleb Willams led a fightback for Chicago and got the ball one more time, down 23-20, with over three and a half minutes left.
When the Bears ended up at the Lions’ 25-yard-line with over 40 seconds left and a timeout remaining, a long-range field goal attempt seemed to be the worst-case scenario for Chicago. Even after a penalty to move them back to the 35-yard line, the Bears still had a big chance to pull off the upset. Then, disaster struck. It started with the Lions sacking Williams, and the visitors never recovered. The number one overall pick went down with 36 seconds left, and a timeout, which can stop the clock. Somehow, though, a quick play was not run, and a timeout was not called, meaning a deep throw to Rome Odunze, which fell incomplete, was the final play of the game. This was some of the worst clock management you will ever see in the NFL, and it cost Matt Eberflus, Chicago’s head coach, his job.
The second game on Thanksgiving was the New York Giants going up against the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys kept their slim playoff hopes alive, winning 27-20 which moves them to 5-7 on the season, whilst the Giants are now 2-10 and might end up having the number one overall pick in the 2025 draft.
To finish off Turkey Day, the Green Bay Packers continued their hunt to move out of third in the NFC North, with a 30-17 win against the Miami Dolphins. The Packers are now 9-3 but still have the Lions and Vikings above them in a division which is looking like one of the best of all time. This loss for the Dolphins means that they are now 5-7, with a wildcard spot looking very unlikely. Tua Tagovailoa’s team continue to struggle in cold conditions, a problem they have had under third-year head coach, Mike McDaniel.
The last team to beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium was the Raiders
Moving onto Friday, the Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Las Vegas Raiders. Even though this was a 2-9 team facing a 10-1 team, this game had the potential to be close given that the Chiefs have not dominated many games this year and also because the last team to beat the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium was the Raiders, on Christmas Day in 2023. The game did in fact prove to be close. The Chiefs came away winners, 19-17, despite a great drive from Aidan O’Connell and his team in the last minute. It looked as if the second-year quarterback was going to set up a field-goal attempt which would get him his second win in Mahomes’ stadium in as many attempts. But with 15 seconds left, rookie centre Jackson Powers-Johnson snapped the ball early, causing it to bounce off the Raiders quarterback, and the ball was recovered by the Chiefs to end the game. An illegal shift penalty meant that the play was live, and the recovery stood, meaning the Chiefs are now 11-1. Kansas City also broke a record as this was their 14th straight win in one-possession games, now the longest streak in NFL history. That win keeps Mahomes’ team in the AFC one seed for at least another week and secures the Chiefs a playoff spot for the tenth straight season.
That takes us to the Sunday games, where just two games had teams winning by more than one score.
The Washington Commanders got their first win since November 3rd, with it being one of the two non-one-score wins of the day. Jayden Daniels threw three touchdowns as his team moved to 8-5 with a 42-19 victory over the Tennessee Titans who are now 3-9.
The Indianapolis Colts defeated the New England Patriots 25-24. The Patriots missed a game-winning field goal attempt, but kicker Joey Slye can be forgiven as if he made the kick, it would have been an NFL record 68-yard successful attempt. It may be unlikely, but the Colts are keeping themselves alive in the playoff hunt, moving to 6-7 with this win. Drake Maye and the Patriots, however, are now 3-10.
The Houston Texans got a much-needed win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, but it wasn’t easy. The Texans came away winners by 23-20 in a game where a loss would have left them at 7-6 with the Colts right behind them in the division. But a win is a win and at 8-5, along with the tiebreaker over the Colts having defeated them twice, C. J. Stroud and his team should go on to secure a second straight AFC South title. The big story from this game was Jacksonville’s quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, leaving the game after a big hit from Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair as Lawrence was sliding down to the ground. Some are saying it was a dirty hit; others say it was unfortunate and unintentional. Either way, Lawrence has been placed in concussion protocol and his status for the rest of the season is unknown.
The Los Angeles Chargers beat the Atlanta Falcons 17-13 after Kirk Cousins threw four interceptions, including a pick-six. That is the third straight loss for Atlanta, who are now 6-6 and at risk of losing first place in the NFC South in the coming weeks. This was a bounce-back win for the Chargers who now seem to be battling between the fifth, sixth and seventh seed with their place in the playoffs seemingly, but not officially, secured.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers tied the Falcons’ record of 6-6 after they beat the Carolina Panthers in overtime, 26-23. It took a last-minute field-goal drive to send the game to overtime and then a Chubba Hubbard fumble in overtime to help get Baker Mayfield and his team the win. Tampa Bay won’t care how they won as long as they got it done and they did. The Buccaneers are still second in the NFC South as the Falcons beat them in both of their matchups, but this division looks like it will go down to the wire.
Russell Wilson had one of the best passing days of his career
The Pittsburgh Steelers also responded well after a week 12 loss. They beat their division foe, the Cincinnati Bengals, 44-38. This was the first game the Steelers have put up 40+ points since they beat the Carolina Panthers 52-21 in November 2018. Russell Wilson had one of the best passing days of his career, statistically, throwing for 414 yards and three touchdowns. That win moves the Steelers to 9-3 and keeps them on top of the AFC North, and as the number three seed in the AFC. Cincinnati’s playoff hopes now look dead and buried as they fell to 4-8 with this loss. Joe Burrow threw three touchdowns but also had three turnovers with two fumbles and an interception. Burrow is first in passing yards and passing touchdowns this season and has only thrown five interceptions to go with the 30 touchdowns he has. Unfortunately for the former number one pick, the Bengals’ defense has wasted the best season of his career, with him putting up MVP numbers just to lose 8 out of the 12 games so far this season.
Elsewhere in the AFC North on Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens dropped to 8-5 as the Philadelphia Eagles made it eight wins in a row to improve to 10-2 on the season. The win for the Eagles means they remain hot on the heels of the Lions for the number one seed in the NFC. Saquon Barkley came alive in the fourth quarter, keeping himself in the MVP race. Lamar Jackson looks like he is now third in that race and his team looks increasingly unlikely to win their division. The race for the AFC North title is not over as the Ravens and Steelers still play each other again this season but Baltimore can’t afford to make too many more mistakes.
The NFC West race continues to excite as the Seattle Seahawks beat the New York Jets 26-21 to remain in first place and leave the Jets at 3-9 and third place in the AFC East. Leonard Williams had a game changing pick-six, going 92 yards to the endzone at a time when his team was 21-7 down. The Minnesota Vikings helped Seattle out as Sam Darnold threw two touchdowns in a 23-22 win over the Arizona Cardinals, which moves Minnesota to 10-2, still just one game behind the Lions, with the two set to face off in the final week of the season. The Seahawks are now 7-5 and the Cardinals are 6-6. The Los Angeles Rams are also still alive in that division as they held the New Orleans Saints off to walk away winners by a score of 21-14. This was the Saints’ first loss under interim head coach, Darren Rizzi, and likely ends hopes of a late division charge in the NFC South. The Rams are well within the race for their division but have a tough game against the Bills in week 14. The Cardinals and Seahawks play for the second time next week in a game with massive playoff implications.
The Bills became the first team to win their division
Speaking of the Bills, they did the rest of the NFC West a favour, beating the San Francisco 49ers 35-10 to maybe end the playoff hopes of last season’s Super Bowl loser. It was a game played in arctic conditions, with the field covered in snow, and the Bills dominated on their home turf. Josh Allen seems to be established at the top of the MVP race as he scored four touchdowns, two passing, one rushing, and one receiving. That might sound incorrect, but that is the official stat line. On his receiving touchdown, Allen found Amari Cooper who, as he was being tackled, tossed the ball back to Allen who ran and dived for a touchdown on a play where he was credited with a passing and receiving touchdown. That means Allen had zero catches for seven yards and a touchdown. The Bills became the first team to win their division, clinching their fifth straight AFC East title. That guarantees them a home game in the playoffs, but their eyes will be on the number one seed.
Week 13 finished with a crazy game between the Denver Broncos and the Cleveland Browns. Bo Nix threw a 93-yard touchdown to Marvin Mims Jr. which gave the Broncos a 28-17 lead. That was after his defense had already scored a touchdown thanks to a pick-six from Nick Bonitto. Later in the game, with Denver leading 34-32, the Browns had a chance to win the game, possessing the ball with under three minutes left. But then Jameis Winston threw his second pick-six of the game, this time to Ja’Quan McMillian, who practically sealed the game. Winston threw his third interception of the game on the next drive, this time in the endzone with 44 seconds left, to kill any hope of a late comeback as the game then ended 41-32. The Browns quarterback had one of the craziest stat lines you will ever see, throwing for 497 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions, with two pick-sixes. The win puts the Broncos at 8-5 and leaves the Browns at 3-9.
Josh Allen is now the clear leader in the MVP race
The AFC playoff race seems to have all seven teams locked in, but the seeding could still move around significantly between now and the end of the regular season. In the NFC, a lot could still change. The Lions are the number one seed right now but not only have the Eagles right behind them. They also have the Vikings and the Packers chasing, meaning Detroit could still drop to the number five or six seed. Josh Allen is now the clear leader in the MVP race but Saquon Barkley is still on record-setting pace and a late surge from Lamar Jackson could throw the two-time winner back into the mix.
Week 14 will kick off with a massive game between the Lions and the Packers where a win for Green Bay would stir up the pot massively. That will start off what should be another great week in the NFL as we enter December and crunch time in the regular season.
Tom Henigan
Featured image courtesy of Paolo Aldrighetti via Unsplash. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @chicagobears via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of @buffalobills via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
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