Week thirteen has come and gone in the NFL and boy did some make waves this week. The Jets are still winless, and managed to do it in the most Jets way possible. At the other end of the spectrum, the Steelers lost their shot at the perfect season, falling to the Washington Football Team. We saw the New Orleans and Kansas City punched their ticket to the playoffs, while Carson Wentz found his way onto the Eagles bench. Big Blue still has a hold on first place in the NFC East, while Arizona is starting to fall fast out of the playoff race. Lets dive into this week a little more shall we. Here's a look at the best, and worst, from week thirteen in the NFL.
Best: Darren Waller, Tight End Las Vegas Raiders
I know its against the Jets, but how could you not be impressed with this performance. In my mind, anytime somebody has a monster offensive day, they are worthy of putting here. Waller was playing out of his mind in the Raiders31-28 win over the Jets. He couldn't be stopped on this day, finishing with 13 catches, two of which were for touchdowns, and 200 receiving yards. That's an insane number for anybody let alone a tight end. Waller led all receivers in both yards and catches this week, making what the Raiders did all the more impressive. He did most of his damage early on, which opened things up for teammates as the day went on. And speaking of which.
Worst: Gregg Williams, Defensive Coordinator New York Jets
In this case I don't feel too bad for Gregg Williams. The Jets had that game in their 31-28 loss to the Raiders. The running game was effective, but the defense couldn't stop a beach ball. Waller torched them which we just talked about, and then Williams made one of the worst defensive play calls in the history of the NFL. He called for a zero cover blitz sending the house against the Raiders and Henry Ruggs caught Lamar Jackson flat footed and beat him to the outside for a game winning 46 yard TD with five seconds left. How the hell a play call like that was allowed to even happen is mind numbing. Williams was fired after the game. With that kind of call, and with the way the defense has played all year, its not much of a surprise. It also showed the holes that the Jets have in their system.
Best: New York Giants Defense
Winning a game in the NFL is tough. Winning a game against the Seahawks, in Seattle, is even tougher. But that's what the Giants did with their 17-12 win on Sunday. Sure the running game was a big factor for Big Blue, but what really got the Giants over the hump against one of the NFC's best teams, was its defense. Leonard Williams had two and a half sacks, while Blake Martinez and James Bradbery were making plays all over the field. They kept the Seahawks in check the entire day, never really giving Seattle much room to breath or operate. And what makes this win seem sweater is consider where this Giants team started the year. They kicked off with an 0-5 start and had a very real danger of not doing much of anything. Now they sit on top of the East and, even with a losing record, are primed to host a playoff game at MetLife come January.
Worst: Carson Wentz Quarterback Philadelphia Eagles
Its bad enough that the Eagles got spanked 30-16 by the Packers on Sunday. Its made even worse when Wentz, who was a former frontrunner for league MVP was pulled for Jalen Hurts. Wentz was horrible through two and a half quarters. He was just six of fifteen for 79 yards and was sacked four times. When Hurts came in, he threw for over 100 yards with a touchdown and a pick. He was also sacked three times, which shows how bad the Eagles line was. That's another argument in itself. Back to Wentz. He's been so bad this year, it makes things tough to stick with him under center. The Eagles won't, as they have already announced that Hurts will start for Philly on Sunday against New Orleans. Wentz in his best year was 2017 when he missed the rest of the year with a knee injury. He's shown flashes, but this year has totally dive bombed.
Best: Taysom Hill Quarterback New Orleans Saints
Not sure what it is, but the saints always find a way to pull wins out of thin air without Drew Brees. Last year, it was Teddy Bridgewater, this year it's been Taysom Hill. He lead the Saints to a 21-16 win over the Falcons, to help clinch the Saints a playoff spot. Hill went 27 of 37 for 282 yards and a couple of passing touchdowns. Most of that production came in the first half, but it was good enough to help the Saints build up a big enough lead. On third down, Hill was on his game. he went eight of nine for 92 yards on third down in the first half. Pretty impressive when you think about it.
Worst: Chargers Special Teams
There's a lot that went wrong for the Chargers on Sunday. Its bad enough that they got whooped by New England, to the tune of a 45-0 loss. Los Angeles couldn't stop the Pats run attack, they couldn't move the ball at all. The Chargers never saw the Red Zone at all during the game on offense. That's bad enough. But the Special Teams blunders are pretty head scratching, almost comical. The Pats had four punts on the day. One of them, the Chargers had twelve men on the field. Two others, they only had ten men on the field. Chargers kicker Michael Badgley missed a 46 yard kick and had another 58 yard try blocked. It seems that the Chargers special teams couldn't get out of its own way in the blowout loss.
Best: Cleveland Winning Season
trhis has been a long time coming for the Cleveland Browns. This is a team that came back into the NFL in 1999 and in that time, they've made the playoffs only once, and have twice had a winning season. Made the playoffs with a 9-7 record in 2002 (losing to the Steelers) and finished 10-6 in 2007, missing the playoffs by a game. Every other year has been a losing season. Except this year. Following a 41-35 win over the Titans on Sunday, the Browns now sit at 9-3. And with four games left, even if they go winless, will lock in a winning year for only the 3rd time ever. And to make this even better, the Browns are hanging onto a wild card spot and look good (as of this writing) to be a playoff team.
Worst: Matt Nagy, Head Coach Chicago Bears
Getting blasted 23-20 by the Lions was bad enough. But doing so in blowing a double digit lead makes this even worse. And it was blown in the fourth quarter no less. Trabisky got strip sacked late in the game, which set up the go ahead score from Adrian Petterson. Now this doesn't fall on Nagy the fact that Trabisky couldn't hold onto the football. What does fall on Nagy is the fact that the Bears have now lost six straight games and are falling too fast to handle out of a playoff spot. Things are crumbling around Nagy, which after this loss, could see the end of his run as head coach in the Windy City.
