NFL Payoff: Week 13

Dude…

We are coming down to the final 5 weeks before the playoffs and the race for the #1 seed couldn’t be more competitive. There isn’t a team that is the clear favorite to win it all in February. Teams are also fighting for a spot in the playoffs as well. It’s all coming down to who is going to play better. The Dudes have your latest reactions over week 13. Trust me, it’s worth a read.

Seahawks vs. Cowboys (How6rd)

Cowboys: So this Dak guy is pretty special huh?- The Cowboys had a week stretch of games that was well known by most of the football fandom and they needed to make a statement against a Seahawks team in the playoff race in order to have any true respect. On this past Thursday night Dallas’ defense got completely exposed from what many thought they were capable of with a man in Defensive Player of the Year conversations Daron Bland getting absolutely sizzled in the first half and allowing 35 points at home throughout the game. What was far from exposed and instead proven to be talented was the Cowboys offense and specifically quarterback Dak Prescott. The other dudes may or may not like what I have to say (or just don’t want to admit it), but Dak has 100% deserved to be in talks of winning the MVP this season as he has had 20 touchdowns and only two interceptions in his last SIX games including three of those in this last matchup. Now CMC and Tyreek Hill are proven to be stars in their own right for that award with how incredible they’ve been this year individually, but the award is most certainly going to a QB knowing the NFL and if you have to give it to one with how the others at the position have played this season Dak Prescott should be the front runner easily as it stands.

Seahawks: Offense finally explodes again, but defense can’t get off the field- This was the best game Geno Smith has had in a long time and the rest of the offense had some nice stats to take home such as DK Metcalf’s monster day. Even with all of the points they put up for their fourth 30+ point game of the season, Seattle’s defense committed constant penalties and only held the Cowboys to one scoreless drive all game outside of when it was time to take a knee. Even with Dak’s stellar performance, it was still a game where they shot themselves in the foot a lot as the Seahawks' defensive unit alone committed 10 penalties for 130 yards, which is more total yards than the Patriots get in full games more often than not. Although neither team punted on the night Dallas kept scoring points while the Seahawks turned the ball over on downs on their last three offensive drives which two of them were turned into scoring drives for the Cowboys. In the end after a game with rare remarkable QB play from both teams it was the Cowboys who won the sprint to the finish line and conquered a defensive squad that’s going to need to wake up if they want any chance at making a true run at the playoffs with a tough couple of weeks ahead.

Chiefs vs. Packers(PC)

Chiefs Takeaway: Bolton is dearly missed- On Sunday Night Football at Lambeau Field, the Chiefs were supposed to come out victorious. However, as the game progressed it seemed like any other Chiefs game. The receivers struggled to get open, the defense giving up a few touchdowns, and all the time in the world for Patrick Mahomes to do his thing. This time was out of the norm. Patrick looked slow and didn’t seem to be in control of the game like he usually does. Travis Kelce was non-existent even with Taylor Swift in attendance. The biggest factor in the loss was the defense. It has been a top 5 defense when healthy. Nick Bolton has been out for a while, and Drue Tranquill got injured early in the 1st quarter. Now, the guy running the defense and play calling is down to its 3rd string. Then , Bryan Cook went down which really impacted the Chiefs secondary. This loss the Chiefs took right on the chin. All hope isn’t lost yet for the #1 seed, but if they can’t get guys healthy, it may not come to fruition.

Packers Takeaway: Green Bay reloads at QB- The Pack never seem to miss on a QB. They’ve had a legend in Brett Farve running the helm, then, a young man named Aaron Rodgers took over. Now, the name of Jordan Love continues to put him name on the map. As his first year of being the starter, the QB has had some ups and downs. He started off hot, fell off the map, then regained the hot start. He beat the Lions on Thanksgiving and now has beaten the reigning Super Bowl Champions, outplaying the MVP. The defense stood its ground against this high powered Chiefs offense, but the real story was how good Love looked. It’s a cruel world where the Chicago Bears have been looking for a QB and the Packers continue to be successful. I believe Love will continue to grow to stardom and sneak this Packers team into the playoffs.

Colts vs. Titans (How6rd)

Colts: No Jonathan Taylor…no Anthony Richardson…no problem!: If you were to tell me a team with this much change and confusion within their roster this offseason was bound for the playoffs without Jonathan Taylor or their stud rookie QB I would have tuned you out, but the truth is the Colts are definitely in a position to reach a wild card spot right now. For a team with their backup QB and with no access to their star player mid-season it’s impressive how little it’s affected the Colts and everything they’ve been able to do with a banged-up starting squad. No matter who they played this week, a performance like they had showed that they were very much awake and hungry to make a big splash this year which I think shows a lot of good in new coach Shane Steichen. In my opinion with the expectations this team had in the preseason and many setbacks from injury and STILL having a chance for the AFC South crown let alone the playoffs, I believe Steichen should be above every other coach for Coach of the Year conversation and there is a lot to be excited about if you’re a part of the Colts fanbase.

Titans: Will Levis=special…injuries+coaching=terrible: The Titans finally fired their special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman after having terrible special team performances the last two years, but it’s not even any sort of relief from what happened in this one. The Titans looked electric early on and rookie QB Will Levis continues to shock the NFL fandom and Titans fans themselves with how impressive and dedicated he is to win no matter how the team’s doing. Levis got hit and fumbled the ball landing in the hands of a Colts defender and he SPRINTED to force a fumble himself and get the ball right back…it was as crazy as it looks typed out. Outside of that, the defense continues to look atrocious and Mike Vrabel and offensive coordinator Tim Kelly once again played surrender ball and allowed the Colts to come right back into the game and win in overtime *pretends to be shocked*. The worst part about all of this is all three of the best players got hurt in this one with Derrick Henry, Jeffery Simmons, and the best punter in the league Ryan Stonehouse all getting hurt and all potentially going to miss some time. It just so happens that a team in this bad of a situation is going into next Monday night on primetime to face the red-hot Miami Dolphins in what honestly could be the biggest bloodbath we see all season.

Chargers vs. Patriots (How6rd)

Chargers: They scored two field goals- Yeah. It’s been time for Brandon Staley to go.

Patriots: They didn’t score shit- Yeah. Just yeah.

Lions vs. Saints(PC)

Lions Takeaway: Sam LaPorta breaks through- The Lions have bought into the Dan Cambell system. Jared Goff continues to demonstrate his quality QB play. Amon St. Brown hasn’t had a bad game all season. Jahmyr Gibbs has officially gotten his feet under him and is sharing the workload with David Montgomery. The Lions defense has been elite all season. The Lions have been a contender all year round, but to be taken seriously, they’ve needed some more weapons. Jameson Williams has seemed as healthy as he’s been since his ACL tear last year. He continues to grow into a solid WR2. However, the biggest breakout has to be Sam Laporta. Having a dominating tight end allows for severe mismatches to happen. Look at Kansas City, Travis Kelce changes defenses. Sam Laporta is having flashes of Kelce-esk games. He had 9 receptions, 140 yards, and a touchdown. If Laporta can continue to make strides towards Kelce level, watch out for the Lions come January.

Saints Takeaway: Talent is there, but no cigar- Ok so talking about the NFC South is awful, however, they’re still a part of this league. The Saints continue to be this up and down team. They fell behind early, allowing Detroit to do whatever they wanted. Then, New Orleans seemed to figure it out and ended up tying this game. All in the while, they give up another game winning drive. What can we do to fix this? The world may never know honestly, they’re that team that’s decent but not good enough to make the playoffs. They sit in the middle of the pack, hoping the Falcons mess up more than they do so they can slip into the playoffs.

Falcons vs. Jets

Both team takeaways: Idk anymore: The falcons need that QB and they’re a lock in the NFC south for many years to come. The Jets on the other hand make me want to become their fan for some reason. Reminds me of the Royals. (sorry for the bad take P4) but I would love to have Rodgers back this season.

Cardinals vs. Steelers (How6rd)

Cardinals: Offensive players and play calling were miles better than last week- After getting stomped on by the Rams last week the team really has no expectations for any success the rest of this season and just went out playing for pride against the Steelers. Fortunately, they showed much more than pride and dominated a team that was somewhat comfortably in the playoff race before this week and looked like the outright better team in all aspects. Trey McBride once again showed why he’s one of the better tight ends in the league and truthfully the best tight end 25 or younger with eight catches on the day for 89 yards and a touch touchdown grab with defenders hanging on him to add on to it. As I mentioned before at 3-10 the expectations for playoffs are all but out the window for the Cardinals, but nice showings from three young guys on the offense that look like they’ll be on the team next year along with the defense showing up to make stops is always good especially when it’s against a team like Pittsburgh that has done well outside of bad QB play.

Steelers: Woof…- Well if you’re a Pittsburgh fan who’s looked around the glaring issues of this team and wanting to see the rest of this talented defensive squad and Mike Tomlin reach the playoffs once again this was 100% what you didn’t want to see at all. Kenny Pickett made some throws but wasn’t lighting up any spark for this team outside of a field goal even before his unfortunate injury which led to a Mitch Trubisky showing that pretty much shows why Pickett’s job currently isn’t in jeopardy. Not only was it once again disappointing on the offensive side, but the defense seemed to progressively lose the aggressiveness they started the game with and realistically let the game get out of reach by the fourth quarter. The defense shouldn’t get too much of the blame in this one meanwhile as the offense didn’t even get into the endzone until four minutes were left in the game. If any playoff chances were in hope it’s looking a bit gloomy as it stands now and they might just need this game coming up in what hopefully is just a checkpoint facing an AWFUL Patriots team.

Dolphins vs. Commanders

Dolphins takeaways: Tyreek is good: It looks like Tyreek is my favorite to win the MVP. The Dolphins currently have the number 1 seed in the AFC and its well deserved, but they have problems playing playoff worthy teams. Fix that and maybe I'll give you a chance.

Commanders takeaways: Eh team: This team has an identity issue right now and it looks like it won't get fixed until next season or the one after that. Sam is serviceable but won't be the starter for a while.

Broncos vs. Texans

Both team takeaways: From the beginning of the season it looked like both of these teams would struggle but now at the end of the road these two teams are pretty competitive and put up a great game for us Tuesday. Glad to see both qb’s succeed this late in the season.

Panthers vs. Buccaneers

Panthers: Stop trying: This may be the worst organization in all sports, they consistently screw up their coaching staff and can't figure out who to hire in return. Its sad and not worth my time:

Bucs takeaways: Confused: Why do I look at this team thinking they will do good but end up sucking anyways. Maybe it's a coaching problem or a personnel problem, although Baker is a gamer he isn’t elite enough to take this team to the promised land.

Browns vs. Rams

Rams takeaways: Comeback? Not to put any pressure on NFC teams but this team looks on fire right now for the way they started the season. Stafford is back in form and the Offense is clicking, along with the defense. The WRs are amazing, as well.

Browns takeaways: A sad reality: Defense can only hold your team for so long, especially a young defense. The Offense has always been a struggle and its sad to see a team that had potential at the beginning of the season fall down like this. Hope they can do better next season.

49ers vs. Eagles(PC)

49ers Takeaway: A new Sheriff is in town- The 49ers beat the absolute piss out of the Eagles. I mean it wasn’t even close. Christian McCaffrey was running all over the field. Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk were receiving touchdown balls from Brock Purdy all night. It was an absolute beatdown of the team that was the clear Super Bowl favorites. There’s a team who has now jumped into that category, and it’s from San Francisco

Eagles Takeaway: Coming back down to Earth- The Eagles were the clear favorite to win the league. They had taken care of San Fran, KC, and anyone else who tried to compete with them. Now, they faced a pissed off 49ers team and felt the wrath of this team. Their offense couldn’t get anything going and their defense looked like a piece of paper trying to stop a semi truck. The Eagles have nothing to worry about, they just needed a classic, old school beat down.

Bengals vs. Jaguars(PC)

Bengals Takeaway: QB room is loaded- The Bengals playoff hopes look gone and forgotten after Joe Burrow was ruled out for the rest of the season. Enter Jake Browning. He wielded and dealed around the field. Hitting Ja’marr Chase for 2 different touchdown passes. Fighting against a team who is fighting for the #1 seed. Jacksonville had it in the bag and Browning took over. McPherson hit the game winning field goal in OT. Like he’s done so many times before. The Bengals looked like their season was over. Browning just shot new life into this team.

Jags Takeaway: GO FIGURE- I don’t know why but it always has seemed like this team had fraudulent capabilities. It was demonstrated on Monday Night Football. Trevor Lawrence looked up and down. The offense, just average. The defense has really been a strong suit with Josh Allen leading the way. However, they couldn’t stop the Bengals passing game and paid the price for it with a MASSIVE L. Even worse, Trevor went down with an ankle injury that will at least cost him a week of action. The Jags continue to be frauds and demonstrate that they don’t have enough to win it all.