Every NFL Sunday is like a day long movie of pure entertainment and suspense. There's millions of bets placed, fantasy matchups, and real life playoff spots opening up every single week. Week 13 was just another crazy day in this wonderful sport. Lets dive in into some of the biggest takeaways from Sunday's matchups.
The NFC is so bad
The NFC has nine teams with a losing record, for anyone who is wondering that is 56% of the teams in the conference. There is obviously the NFC East with all their teams having losing records, but even the New York Giants on their backup quarterback took down the Seahawks who are one of the top teams in the conference. Russel Wilson and this Seahawks offense have slowed down so much since the beginning of the season and probably aren't going to win the NFC West at this point.
The top teams in NFC are the Saints and the Packers. The Saints have been winning games behind Taysom Hill but the games have been against the Falcons twice and the Broncos who didn't have a quarterback. New Orleans lost to the Raiders and barely beat the Chargers. Besides when they play the Buccaneers they pretty much edge out wins by the skin of their teeth. Green Bay has Aaron Rodgers but have lost to the Colts, barely beat the Jaguars, and don't have a win against a team above .500 other than... the Saints. I say all of this to say that I don't trust either of these teams to compete against the top of the AFC because they haven't proved much this season to convince me otherwise.
At this point of the season the Rams have shown some promise, but they can't be considered legit considering they have lost to the 49ers twice and took L's against both AFC teams they played (Bills and Dolphins). The Buccaneers have not beaten a good team other than the Packers, who as I said earlier i'm not that big on either. Arizona is a hail mary away from having five straight losses, they probably won't even make the playoffs. This Conference has some serious work to do if they plan on winning the Super Bowl this year. The AFC has so many dominant teams while the NFC is sitting with over half the teams with losing records. Don't bet on whoever comes out of the NFC to win the Super Bowl, you will lose.
Cleveland, this is for you!!!
The Browns are absolutely rolling this season and if you aren't happy about it you have no heart. Cleveland scored 38 points in the first half against the Titans. Baker Mayfield threw for FOUR touchdowns in the first half. The defense let up a little in the second half but when you get out to a big lead like Cleveland did you have some room to breath, and they had plenty. If it wasn't for this undefeated run the Steelers are on, the Browns could have a real chance of winning the AFC North.
Cleveland has the top run game in the NFL behind Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt, a good receiving core even with Odell out for the year, and a quarterback with more than enough to prove. They did take some hefty losses to the Steelers and Ravens earlier this season, but they bounced back so well since. They get another shot against the Ravens on Monday night football next week, and will end the season against the Steelers, both games will be in Cleveland.
Head Coach Kevin Stanfanski has done an incredible job with this team and utilizing his weapons and the strength of this team. Ground and pound with a dash of play action has been working all year effectively. The defense lead by Myles Garret has been improving and are great at getting to the quarterback and stopping the run. Cleveland is on pace to make the playoffs for the first time since 2002 and I truly believe not only will they make it there, they're gonna win a wild card game. Get ready folks, the Browns are HERE.
The Jets really don't want to win
I have never seen a team try to lose more than the Jets did on Sunday. Everyone knows by now the Jets all out blitzed and gave Las Vegas the win on a silver platter. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has been fired already since it happened. I don't even blame him for calling it, based on his resume he's done this before. I'm sure based on how the Jets have been playing all year he probably was just trying to keep the tank for Trevor Lawrence.
I had turned the game off, thinking the Jets had finally got a win, and then somehow this happened. Not really that it matters, none of the coaches on this team will be back. Adam Gase still having his job as head coach just proves that management doesn't care. This team is such a joke it literally makes you laugh when you watch them play.
New York has four games left, all against teams with winning records, three of them on the road. They are all but guaranteed to finish this season winless. At this point no one from the organization wants to win anyway, the fans don't want to, and for sure the media doesn't. 2020 has been nothing short of a wild year and the Jets have capitalized tremendously on it.
Chicago finally put up points and still lost
The Bears are so sad to watch at this point, they've lost six straight games after starting out 5-1. Chicago tied their season high in points, they were playing against a team who just fired their head coach, and somehow in the final two minutes of the game Mitchell Trubisky fumbled the ball in his own territory and the Lions scored to win the game.
Trubisky was playing so well during the entire game until that point. He didn't turn the ball over, completed 75% of his passes, and had an effective run game behind him. I mean Matt Nagy called a good game from an offensive standpoint. The Bears defense struggled though, and it's such a shame. All year long they have kept them in games by not giving up points, but Matthew Stafford lit them up and threw for over 400 yards. They've given up the most points all season in the last two weeks. This is so unfortunate for this team.
I just don't understand this team at this point, it seems like some NFL teams are trying to take the spotlight of being the new Atlanta Falcons, just giving games away but doing it later in the season rather than the beginning of it. The NFL is truly incredible.
Carson Wentz is done in Philly
It finally happened, Doug Pederson benched Carson Wentz after another terrible game against the Packers. Jalen Hurts came in and scored immediately. Carson has been struggling all year, he can't hit receivers, he leads the league in interceptions. He had 12 games to figure it out, he's in the worst division in football and couldn't get it done.
Jalen Hurts may not be the total answer long term, but Carson Wentz isn't either. It's sad to see a guy who was playing so well early in his career, and last year was given a lot of credit because of the amount of injuries to his team. The truth is though he just isn't efficient anymore in Philadelphia. He looks lost on the field all the time and takes way too many sacks. It's been since week 4 since he completed over 60% of his passes, I mean the list goes on and on. The good news is he has a giant contract and may be able to be traded to a team who doesn't want to draft a rookie.
Hurts should be able to take advantage of this situation though. He has the ability to make plays on his feet, a fanbase that seems to be excited about him getting an opportunity, and oh yeah he's in the worst division in football with a chance to still make the playoffs.
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