Here’s a sentence that received’t sit effectively with most soccer followers: The Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens may need given us a Super Bowl preview on Sunday.
Sure, that may very well be thought-about a scorching take, however it wouldn’t be a shock if the Eagles advance to the massive recreation in New Orleans after they uncovered a couple of flaws for the Ravens throughout a signature victory in Baltimore. Philadelphia has the protection and MVP candidate Saquon Barkley to go toe-to-toe with the Detroit Lions in a possible postseason showdown.
But Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and the remainder of the Ravens could be headed for a brief postseason run in the event that they don’t get extra contributions from kicker Justin Tucker (think about saying that earlier than the season). Baltimore additionally has an up-and-down protection and a skinny group of move catchers to deal with within the ultimate weeks of the common season.
How about one other scorching take? The Carolina Panthers may need discovered their franchise quarterback in Bryce Young, who went from being benched to delivering clutch performances. Young was spectacular, however the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prevailed in additional time to place extra stress on the Atlanta Falcons within the NFC South.
Many Falcons followers need to see rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. after Kirk Cousins threw 4 interceptions in opposition to the Los Angeles Chargers to present Atlanta three consecutive losses. Falcons coach Raheem Morris ought to take heed to his disgruntled followers as a result of his offense desperately wants a spark with 5 video games left within the common season.
If Morris wants extra causes to make the daring transfer, he ought to take a look at what the Washington Commanders and Denver Broncos have achieved this season with rookies Jayden Daniels and Box Nix, respectively. Morris may even take a look at what Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin did by pulling Justin Fields in favor of Russell Wilson, who has improved the offense and helped choose up a powerful victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
Here’s what we discovered concerning the NFL throughout Week 13.
Enough with the narrative of the Eagles benefiting from a simple schedule. Enough with the narrative that coach Nick Sirianni goes to discover a approach to screw this up.
The Eagles (10–2) have earned extra respect and proved themselves as professional Super Bowl contenders after punching the Ravens (8–5) within the mouth and never permitting Jackson and his explosive offense to ascertain a rhythm through the 24–19 assertion victory.
The Eagles’ move rushers put loads of stress on Jackson and the gifted secondary uncovered his lack of weapons within the passing recreation. Jackson solely averaged 6.6 yards per try and didn’t have a lot assist, particularly after broad receiver Rashod Bateman was dominated out with a knee damage. The Ravens’ sluggish offensive efficiency was harking back to their 18–16 loss in opposition to the Steelers in Week 11.
But Sunday’s recreation wasn’t shut (don’t let the ultimate rating idiot you) as a result of the Eagles’ offense took benefit of the protection shutting down Jackson and his passing recreation. Jalen Hurts (11-of-19 for 118 yards, one landing) had an environment friendly efficiency and leaned on Barkley, who may get extra MVP chatter after outperforming Henry. Barkley completed with 107 speeding yards and a momentum-changing 25-yard landing run within the fourth quarter to present the Eagles a 21–12 benefit.
Henry (82 speeding yards, 29 receiving yards) was additionally terrific on Sunday, however his effort was extra of a one-man present. The Ravens are going to want to present broad receiver Diontae Johnson extra snaps so as to add depth on offense—Johnson has one catch for six yards since being traded from Carolina to Baltimore in October. And possibly it has gotten to the purpose the place Baltimore will host kicker tryouts this week after Tucker missed two field-goal makes an attempt and an additional level. Tucker is now 19-for-27 on area targets this season.
The Ravens want sturdy offensive performances to beat their flaws in opposition to one of the best groups within the league. The identical can’t be stated for the Eagles, who’ve a whole group and a robust shot of advancing to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years.
It’s time the Falcons bench Kirk Cousins after a brutal four-interception recreation through the 17–13 loss in opposition to the Chargers.
Morris most likely received’t do it, particularly as a result of Cousins has a possible revenge recreation subsequent week in Minnesota. But the 36-year-old Cousins once more confirmed on Sunday he doesn’t have the mobility to flee stress, and due to that, his aggressive play fashion has led to extra killer errors than traditional.
Cousins, who has 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions this season, had a head-scratching pick-six late within the third quarter to present Los Angeles a 17–10 lead. Two drives later, he threw an egregiously ill-advised lob in the long run zone that was intercepted and ruined a surefire likelihood at factors. He additionally ended the group’s comeback hopes with a choose to security Derwin James with underneath a minute to play within the fourth. Now Cousins has to face the Vikings’ aggressive protection, which compelled Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray into two interceptions on Sunday.
Also, the Vikings are very acquainted with Cousins, giving Morris another excuse to start out rookie Michael Penix Jr. to probably spark the Falcons (6–6) and maintain off the Buccaneers within the NFC South race. But if Morris doesn’t need to play Penix subsequent week, he ought to strongly take into account it in Week 15, when the Falcons face the Las Vegas Raiders earlier than ending the common season with the New York Giants, Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers—4 groups with subpar defenses.
With Cousins, the Falcons have had some highs, however the offense has been inconsistent all through the season and there have been extra lows than highs prior to now month. Atlanta has been held to 17 factors or fewer in three consecutive video games.
Morris can present the soccer public why Atlanta surprisingly drafted Penix within the first spherical by letting the Washington product show himself through the ultimate 5 video games of the common season.
The Buccaneers overcame a clutch efficiency from Young to defeat the Panthers in a 26–23 additional time thriller.
Tampa Bay was on the verge of passing up a golden alternative to achieve floor within the NFC South standings after Young discovered Adam Thielen in the long run zone for a 23–20 benefit with 30 seconds left in regulation. But Baker Mayfield, who briefly left the sport with an ankle damage, managed to arrange a game-tying area objective to take the sport into additional time. From there, Mayfield leaned on Mike Evans and working backs Bucky Irving and Rachaad White to march upfield earlier than Chase McLaughlin’s 30-yard game-winning kick.
The Buccaneers (6–6) at the moment are tied with the reeling Falcons, who management the tiebreaker as a result of they swept the season sequence over Tampa Bay. But the larger story from this recreation was how effectively Young performed. The 2023 No. 1 choose displayed arm expertise and loads of poise all through the wild recreation that solely added to his midseason turnaround.
Young completed 26-of-46 for 298 yards, one landing and no interceptions, and has performed confidently since getting back from his benching. Just final month, many pundits wrote tales concerning the Panthers needing to commerce Young and try one other rebuild in Carolina. But these feisty Panthers have already laid the groundwork for a possible resurgent season in 2025.
Young made some dazzling throws and will have a stout speeding tandem with Chuba Hubbard and rookie Jonathan Brooks, who flashed a couple of instances in opposition to the Buccaneers.
The NFC South will come all the way down to the Falcons and Buccaneers, however the Panthers may very well be a harmful group subsequent season with Young working the present for coach Dave Canales.
The Arizona Cardinals went the secure route one too many instances after settling for a area objective that allowed the Minnesota Vikings to erase a double-digit deficit and steal the 23–22 victory.
Every time the Cardinals discovered themselves in third-and-long in Vikings territory, it was both a run play or a fast, secure throw earlier than a Chad Ryland area objective. It was a sensible recreation plan to construct a lead in opposition to Brian Flores’s aggressive protection, with the affected person strategy paying off after Murray linked with Marvin Harrison Jr. for a 19–6 benefit with 4:37 left within the third quarter.
But then the conservative recreation plan became poor situational consciousness from coach Jonathan Gannon, who handed on a fourth-and-goal from Minnesota’s 4-yard line to take the three factors and hold it a six-point recreation with 3:23 left in regulation. Gannon taking part in to not lose additionally erased the Cardinals’ sturdy defensive efficiency after Sam Darnold linked with Aaron Jones for the game-winning landing to cap an eight-play, 70-yard drive with 1:13 left in regulation. The Vikings misplaced the yardage battle 406–273, however discovered a approach to enhance to 10–2 on the season.
Murray (31-of-45 for 260 yards, one landing, two interceptions) had sufficient time and all three timeouts to provide a game-winning area objective, however the Arizona offense isn’t constructed to attain shortly and has struggled with producing explosive performs all season. Perhaps it’s time to query whether or not Murray is a professional franchise quarterback as a result of this Drew Petzing offensive scheme treats Murray, the 2019 No. 1 choose, as if he’s a younger signal-caller who’s higher off taking the secure performs.
Or possibly it’s the teaching employees that has hindered Murray by not permitting him to make performs away from the pocket by both pushing the ball vertically or transferring the chains together with his athleticism. The Cardinals’ teaching employees deserves credit score for getting one of many worst rosters within the NFL final season in place to compete for a playoff spot in 2024, however this group has hit a wall the previous two weeks and it could be as a result of they refuse to take away the guard rails on the gifted offense. Murray averaging 5.8 yards per try, like he did Sunday, received’t win many video games.
The Cardinals (6–6) have now misplaced two straight and sit one recreation behind the group they misplaced to final week, the Seattle Seahawks (7–5), within the NFC West standings. The Seahawks escaped Sunday with a wild 26–21 highway victory in opposition to the New York Jets. The Rams even have a 6–6 document after beating the New Orleans Saints, 21–14.
The Cincinnati Bengals wasted one other stellar Joe Burrow efficiency by permitting Russell Wilson to choose them aside en path to a 44–38 victory for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Bengals (4–8) haven’t been mathematically eradicated from playoff rivalry, however it’s time for the group to set its sights towards 2025. They can try this by benching a couple of defensive veterans to see what they’ve within the youthful gamers. And it won’t be a shock if the Bengals fireplace defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, whose unit continues to worsen on a weekly foundation and hasn’t been good in a couple of seasons. But the Cincinnati entrance workplace has achieved Anarumo no favors by failing to hit on draft picks for the defensive facet.
It’s going to be important for the Bengals to search out defensive distinction makers within the draft transferring ahead, particularly if the group manages to lock down star broad receiver Ja’Marr Chase with a contract extension. If they don’t, the Bengals may lose extra high-scoring affairs in 2025.
As for the Steelers (9–3), they’re all concerning the first month in 2025. Yes, they’re nonetheless in a battle with the Ravens for the AFC North, however what they displayed offensively on Sunday once more proved why Mike Tomlin’s group is able to making an extended postseason run.
On an off day for Pittsburgh’s protection, Wilson stepped up by carving up the Bengals’ poor secondary, one thing he didn’t do the prior two weeks in opposition to the Ravens and Cleveland Browns. After dismissing an early pick-six, Wilson completed 29-of-38 for 414 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. (Wilson was the primary Steelers quarterback to throw for 400 yards in a recreation since Ben Roethlisberger in 2018.)
Wilson acquired contributions from broad receiver George Pickens (three catches, 74 yards, one landing), tight finish Pat Freiermuth (six catches, 68 yards, one landing) and working again Najee Harris (129 yards from scrimmage, one landing). If the Steelers’ offense does extra of this on a weekly foundation and the protection shortly returns to its dominant methods, Tomlin’s squad might be a tricky out through the postseason.
Many anticipated Tomlin’s prolonged streak of consecutive seasons with a successful document to finish in 2024 as a result of the offense didn’t look interesting on paper. But Tomlin took an opportunity on Wilson and the streak lives on for an 18th consecutive season.
