Trending 📉 📈 after NFL Week 13 when the Vikings and Eagles roll
News

Trending 📉 📈 after NFL Week 13 when the Vikings and Eagles roll

Posted on by Amelia Pressman

This article comes from Scoop City, The Athletic’s daily NFL newsletter. Sign up here to receive it straight to your inbox.

Three hard questions we’ll never see answered: Does the universe ever really end, why did consciousness arise, and what’s the catch with the NFL?

That was one of the many footballs Adam Thielen caught yesterday (eight official catches for 99 yards and a TD), but the replay officials deemed it incomplete. More on the Panthers below, plus:

  • The Eagles lead the Week 13 advancers/delegates
  • Dianna on the job at Bears HC
  • Josh Allen and Joe Burrow
  • Tonight: Browns-Broncos

📈 Trending 📉

With just five weeks left of the regular season, here’s how 12 teams and players are trending:

📈 Eagles (10-2). Undefeated since September. Yesterday’s 24:19 victory was the franchise’s eighth consecutive victory this season and its first ever against the Ravens in Baltimore (8:5). Vic Fangio’s elite defense kept Lamar Jackson at bay, 198-pound rookie Cooper DeJean somehow flattened Derrick Henry, and MVP candidate Saquon Barkley now leads Henry with 234 yards of offense.

🎧 Listen to The Athletic Football Show podcast, which begins with an explanation of why the Eagles’ win was the most impressive of the season.

📈 Vikings (10-2). With 1:13 left, a touchdown catch by Aaron Jones gave the Vikings a 23-22 lead, their first win of the game and the final score. It was redemption for Jones, who had two fumbles and kept the Cardinals (6-6) winless in Minnesota since 1977. Sam Darnold’s strong fourth quarter (7 of 12 for 115 yards and a TD) bodes well for the Vikings’ playoff prospects. More on the full NFL playoff picture here.

📈 Colts (6-7) are playing. 22-year-old QB Anthony Richardson wasn’t perfect against the Patriots (12-24 for 109 yards, two TDs, two INTs) (3-10), but led another game-winning touchdown drive. Shane Steichen then bravely called for a two-pointer, going for the win, and Richardson’s second try sealed the win.

📈 Drake Maye continued to impress for New England, completing 24 of 30 for 238 yards, a TD and an INT (which wasn’t his fault). After Richardson’s loss, the rookie QB almost countered with a 12-second comeback, although Joey Slye narrowly missed a 68-yard field goal as time expired.

📈 Bryce Young. His Panthers lost an overtime game 26-23 to the Buccaneers (6-6), but as Baker Mayfield put it, Young “played his balls off.” The second-year QB fell to 4-19 as a starter , but again showed improvement with 186 passing yards in the first half and 298 total, the second most of his career. As for that Thielen catch:

📈 Steelers (9-3). We knew they could play defense, but yesterday’s 44-38 win at Cincinnati (4-8) – which included a season-high 414 yards and three touchdowns from Russell Wilson – means they’re now average since Wilson’s win Passing for 389.7 yards and 28.6 points ranked second and sixth, respectively, in that seven-week span.

📈 Jayden Daniels and the Commanders (8-5) ended their three-game losing streak in dominant fashion, winning 42-19 against the Titans (3-9). The solution? A return to the running game, particularly for Daniels (six carries, season-high 45 rushing yards), as Washington moved to 8-0 when their quarterback had over 30 rushing yards.

📈 Leonard Williams. Not only has Seattle (7-5) won three straight, but their star DT is playing at an all-time level. In his last two games, the 30-year-old has 4.5 sacks, six QB hurries, a blocked PAT and the longest pick-six by a defensive lineman in NFL history (92 yards), according to ESPN Research. Yesterday, his crucial third-down sack helped the Seahawks to a 26-21 win over one of his former New York teams, the Jets (3-9). Maybe the 300-pounder can also clean up Seattle’s special teams mess (three kickoff fumbles yesterday).

📉 Christian McCaffrey’s season. Snow games are fun…until you lose your starting running back, as Kyle Shanahan found out early last night in Buffalo (10-2). It was later confirmed that McCaffrey suffered a PCL (knee) injury, which was ruled out as the 49ers (5-7) playoff odds fell to 10 percent following the 35-10 loss. Full playoff odds can be found here.

📉 Chargers (8-4) lead the game. Thanks to a masterful game plan from DC Jesse Minter, Jim Harbaugh’s team earned just its second win against a team with a winning record, defeating the Falcons (6-6) 17-13. But the loss of JK Dobbins (IR, MCL sprain) was obvious, as a team primed to run the ball finished with 56 yards on the ground.

📉 Jaguars (2-10). Franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence suffered a brutal, late hit from Texas linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, who was subsequently sent off. That hit – the likes of which we rarely see these days – could spell the end of Lawrence’s season, especially after Jacksonville fell to 2-10, although Mac Jones came close during 23 minutes of play (20-32 for 235 yards and two touchdowns). ). 20 loss to Houston (8-5). Lawrence later tweeted that he was at least feeling better.

📉 Kirk Cousins. Despite a season-high performance from Atlanta’s defense (five sacks, no offensive touchdowns allowed), Cousins’ four INTs cost the Falcons their third straight game. The 36-year-old hasn’t thrown a touchdown since Nov. 3, but Michael Penix Jr. isn’t expected any time soon.

For more: The athleteEmployees share their takeaways from Week 13.

What Dianna hears: Reasons to be optimistic about the Bears’ opening

The Bears plan to give interim coach Thomas Brown the opportunity to get the full-time job, with the decision ultimately expected to be made by team president Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles. The duo will oversee the search after Matt Eberflus is fired on Friday.

Chicago joins the Jets and Saints in searching for a new head coach following in-season layoffs. I expect the Bears’ opening to draw significant interest thanks to the presence of Caleb Williams as franchise quarterback, a strong core of offensive talent, a projected cap space of over $80 million for 2025, and a new stadium project in the works.

Back to you, Jacob.

Comparison of Allen and Burrow: Proof that it takes more than just a QB

I wanted to highlight the importance of team results in the NFL, which can make or break a quarterback’s play. Let’s start with MVP front-runner Josh Allen.

The Bills superstar and two-time Pro Bowler is having a season that objectively isn’t his best ever. Even after his four-touchdown performance last night, he’s on pace to finish just slightly above or at par with his career averages in almost every statistical category.

But forget all the nerd talk. Last night he scored two touchdowns in one play!!

He also continued to find ways to win for the 10-2 Bills, who are undefeated in Buffalo and winners of seven straight. Despite the snow, their offense was 35-10 and has now scored 30 or more goals in six straight games.

The 28-year-old has been outstanding, as evidenced by his third-place EPA finish, but the credit for the Bills’ success goes beyond their quarterback, with a running game and defense that are both above average.

That’s not the case in Cincinnatiwhere Joe Burrow’s MVP-worthy numbers were overshadowed by a disastrous defense. A quick comparison between Burrows and Allen’s rankings in five critical categories shows better individual performance in Cincy:

player EPA QBR DVOA (Pass) YPG (passport) Total TDs

1

2

6

1

2

3

4

3

16

4

No matter, because even if Burrow caught his own touchdown passes, it wouldn’t hurt his team’s doomed season or his own MVP chances. As Paul Dehner Jr. notes, Cincinnati now holds the NFL record the most losses (four) in a single season when scoring at least 33 points. The rest of the league is 51-1. And unless there’s a revamp, you can’t expect anything better next season.

More information about the MVP race: Mike Sando – an AP Awards voter – argues why Lamar Jackson should win it again.

Tonight: Browns @Broncos

At 8:15 p.m. ET, Jameis Winston and the Browns (3-8) begin their matchup as six-point underdogs against the Broncos (7-5) on ESPN. You can find our full preview here.

Most clicked on Friday: Randy Moss leads the best individual performances in NFL Thanksgiving history.

Speaking of NFL legends, always remember Moss and his family. He was brave enough to say on air that he was “struggling with something internally.” I wish him all the best.

📫 Did you enjoy this read? Sign up here to receive The Athletic’s free daily NFL newsletter in your inbox Checkout The athlete‘s other newsletters.

(Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *