Best & Worst Of NFL Week Thirteen

We've hit the home stretch, as week thirteen has come and gone in the NFL. We're down to the last month of games and still a lot has to be decided. After a few lopsided games on Thanksgiving, Sunday gave us some tighter affairs. Six of the games on Sunday had been decided by one score or less. And then we got the Dolphins, Redskins and Bengals, who going into action this week had a combined four wins. They all won on Sunday. We also had a possible Super Bowl preview on Sunday with the Ravens and 49ers going at it, With Baltimore coming out on top. Oh and the Texans toppled New England, which also could have huge implications as well. With all that being said, here's some of the best and worst from the week that was in the NFL.

Best:
Baltimore Ravens
This one had a lot of hype coming into it, and for good reason. it could be a potential Super Bowl preview with the way the two teams were playing heading into Sunday's action. Baltimore came away with a huge 20-17 win over the 49ers, putting both teams now at 10-2. This was a big statement game for the Ravens and for Lamar Jackson, who had another solid game himself. He had 16 carries for 101 rush yards. This going along with the 14 of 15 for 105 passing yards and a touchdown. Jackson is playing like a man possessed and is carrying the Baltimore offense. And lets not forget about the Ravens defense, which caused a couple of turnovers and kept the 49ers pass attack in check for the most part. Could this be a possbile preview of the final game of the year? We shall find out in about two months time, and if its anything like this one, it will be a hell of a game.

Worst:
New York Jets
This team had gotten on a bit of a roll, winning three straight games heading into this weeks matchup with the previously winless Bengals. But that seems to be a thign with the Jets. play good against decent teams, then fail to show up against teams you should be able to handle. The fact that in this season the Jets have now lost not once, but TWICE to previously winless teams, says a lot. The Bengals picked up their first win of the year, beating the Jets 22-6 on Sunday. Top call this game humiliating would be a very big understatement. There's no run game, no help for Sam Darnold by the line to protect him. nothing worked right at all. Couple this with the fact that the Jets had already lost earlier this year to the winless (at the time) Dolphins and it adds up to an embarrassment that is going to be hard to shake off.

Best:
DeVante Parker, Wide Receiver, Miami Dolphins
It's possible that the win over the Jets earlier this year maybe the kick in the teeth that the Dolphins needed to get going. They've improved their record to 3-9 following Sunday's 37-31 win over the Eagles. Big reason for that was the play of DeVante Parker, who was in a pretty good groove on Sunday afternoon. He had the second most receiving yards on Sunday. Parker finished with 7 catches for 159 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Oh yeah, Parker is currently on pace to surpass his career highs in receptions, yards and touchdowns. If, somehow Miami can figure this thing out and can add a long-term quarterback and some other weapons, Parker could be on the rise heading into 2020. He keeps putting up performances like this, then you got a bright star shining down in Miami.

Worst:
Adam Vinatieri, Kicker Indianapolis Colts
The old saying goes that time is undefeated. The Colts veteran kicker is finding that out the hard way. Adam Vinatieri is 46 years old and has been a kicker in the NFL since 1996. You kind of knew that this was, at some point, going to catch up to him. It's now starting to appear that it finally has. Not only has this year been a rough one for Vinatieri, it got worse with how things unfolded in the Colts 31-17 loss to the Titans on Sunday. Tennessee easily blocked a fourth quarter field goal attempt and ran it back for a touchdown to take a 24-17 lead. They then added another touchdown to improve to seal the victory. Tennessee now sits at 7-5, while the Colts to 6-6. The AFC wild card race is tightening up and the Colts took a huge hit with the loss. There was a stretch where it looked like the Colts could make a strong push for, at the very worst, the top wild card spot. Now it looks like they might come close to missing altogether

Best:
Derrius Guice, Running Back Washington Redskins
Guice had been splitting time with Adrian Petterson in the Redskins backfield most of the year, but after the performance he put out on display on Sunday, that splitting time thing might not be around in DC much longer. Washington actually got itself a win, beating Carolina 39-21, with the running game carrying the redskins offense. Guice had himself a day, rushing for 129 yards and two touchdowns. And all of this coming on just ten carries, one of which went for 60 yards.Lets not mix things up here, Adrian Peterson had a solid day in his own right, finishing with 99 yards on 13 carries, but at some point Guice has to take over this starting job. If there was any inmdication of this, Sunday's win should be that

Worst:
Tom Brady, Quarterback New England Patriots
Having trust issues with your offense is bad. Having it happen heading into the final month of the season is making things worse. Seems like that's starting to happen in New England right now. New England fell 28-22 to Houston and it wasn't good for Brady. While yes, Brady did amass 326 passing yards and three touchdowns, it was pretty much for nothing. Sure, two of those scores came on lengthy drives, but by that point, theywere in garbage time. Brady has a disconnect with his receivers and it looks like he’s still missing the security of a dependable target like retired tight end Rob Gronkowski. Julian Edelman remains as Brady’s most trusted target, but for him to improve and for the Patriots to shake this offensive inefficiency, other receivers have to step up. Oh and to make this worse, New England slipped away from their hold on the top seed in the AFC, as Baltimore grabbed it with their win. And the Bills are breathing right down New England's neck.

Best:
New Orleans Saints
Being the first team to clinch a playoff spot has got to be a great feeling. Don't believe me, ask the New Orleans Saints. They did so by beating up on division rival Atlanta, to the tune of a 26-18 victory This turns out to be huge because not only does it lock up a NFC South title for the 3rd year in a row, but it allows the team to focus itself on the top seed in the NFC and home field throughout the playoffs. They still have a bad taste in their mouth from last year, and hopefully this can be a step in the right direction to get that taste removed from it's mouth.

Worst:
Jacksonville Jaguars
It's been a bit of a rough go of it in Jacksonville lately. They fell to Tampa on Sunday 28-11, dropping their record to 4-8 on the year. They had spent all this money in the offseason on quarterbacks and they haven't lived up to expectation. To be fair, Nick Foles did get hurt for a part of the year, which lead to Gardner Minshew seeing playing time, but even when Foles was healthy, he hasn't really produced. Look at what happened against the Bucs on Sunday. Jacksonville fell behind 25-0 with Nick Foles throwing an interception and losing two fumbles before being benched in the third quarter. That's not good for this team to try and even remoly save face on this season.