2023-24 NFL (Week 13)

Games I watched (some of):

Seahawks 35-41 Cowboys

The Seahawks show up some nights and look good (as they did in this game) and just as often, they mail it in and look weak. Not sure what inspired them on this night but they hung tight with the Cowboys until the 4th quarter, then the Cowboys made plays and the Seahawks couldn't keep pace. I thought the Cowboys would smoosh them, but this is probably exactly the kind of gut-check match the Cowboys need. The Cowboys are playing better right as the Eagles are starting to falter, could be just the time for the Cowboys to make their move. 

Chiefs 19-27 Packers

The Packers played well, looked confident and made the plays needed down the stretch. Meanwhile, the Chiefs increasingly look like Mahomes and a bunch of guys. The Packers (like the Cowboys) are cresting at the right time and it may well be enough to sneak them into the post-season. Are they ready to win? Well, probably not, but you never know. As for the Chiefs, I keep thinking all the AFC teams are fraudulent, which may well put the Chiefs back in the Super Bowl but I don't have much confidence in any of those teams. 

The rest of the slate

Colts 31-28 Titans

This looks like the fun game of the week. The Colts are the wild variance team, they've has nice moments and they've had moments where they looked utterly incompetent but if they can develop some consistency, this division can still be had. The Titans are slipping down the drain, but the rookie QB is looking okay.

Chargers 6-0 Patriots

Third straight week the Pats have given up less than 10 points AND lost. Yeah, that Patriots offense is been declared illegal or something. The Chargers struggled to move, won anyway. 

Lions 33-28 Saints

Lions went up 21-0 instantly and then kinda did nothing for the next 55 minutes. Saints lost QB Derek Carr, so its the Jameis Winston show for the rest of the season (not necessarily a bad thing for the Saints). The Lions needed a W and they got it, but it could've been more convincing. 

Falcons 13-8 Jets

Yeah, that looks about right: kinda good Falcons offense against a good Jets defense.

Cards 24-10 Steelers

Not a shocker--I'm telling you, man, the Steelers are terrible! Terrible! And now they're going to have Mitch Trubisky at QB for a while, stick a fork in them. As for the Cards, well, now that QB Kyler Murray is back, they look kinda half-dangerous, which is way better than they looked all season.

Dolphins 45-15 Commanders

Yeah, that's about right.

Broncos 17-22 Texans

The Broncos hot streak is snapped, the Texans back to their winning ways--can they make a run if the Jags are without Lawrence for an extended period?

Panthers 18-21 Bucs

The Bucs tried to give it away but the Panthers wouldn't take it. 

Browns 19-36 Rams

When the Rams show up, they're actually pretty good. Also kinda true of the Browns, who had their moments with new QB Joe Flacco. Non-conference games are always weird, not sure what to make of this.

Niners 42-19 Eagles

The Niners seemed to do anything they wanted on offense, the Eagles were powerless to stop them. If the Niners stay healthy, they are the best team in the league. Otherwise, I'm sticking with the Eagles, who manage to sneak wins out of nowhere (unless they get pummeled). 

Bengals 34-31 (OT) Jags

Trevor Lawrence went down with a gnarly looking ankle injury (think it may be not as bad as it looked, but, man it looked bad!), and that gave the Bengals the opening they needed to take control, send the game to OT and then to outlast the Jags. Good W for the Bengals, still don't believe in them without Burrow, but they did get a nice win without him; tough L for the Jags, hopefully Lawrence will be back soon.