Clutch Time

In Week 13, 12 games in the NFL were decided by 7 points or less, which was tied for the most in a single week in NFL history. This meant that every game came down to the wire. 

To begin, on Thanksgiving, the Chicago Bears played against the Detroit Lions. The game started with the Lions in the lead at halftime, but as soon as the second half kicked off, the Bears came back with a 20-23 deficit with a chance to win on the last drive of the game. Towards the end of the game, Bears Quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked. The Bears had 30 seconds and a timeout, which they elected not to take. Consequently, their only pass was incomplete and they lost the game. This decision came back to haunt the Bears’ coach, who was fired the next day. 

The day after the Bears mishap, the Las Vegas Raiders traveled to Kansas City and played the Chiefs. In a close head-to-head battle, the Raiders lost  17-19 due to a miscommunication with the Quarterback and Center that led to the team losing a fumble on the last play. 

After a wild Thanksgiving and Black Friday, Sunday started  with a close game between the Colts and Patriots. This came  down to a last-second touchdown pass and 2-point conversion from Anthony Richardson to lead the Colts to a win. 

The craziness didn’t end there: the Vikings secured a win against the Cardinals thanks to a Sam Darnold 5-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Jones. 

The undisputed best game of the day was the Buccaneers vs Panthers. Panthers QB Bryce Young led a lead-taking drive to go up 23-20 with 30 seconds left, but even with such a small amount of time, Baker Mayfield advanced  the Buccaneers just in range for Chase McLaughlin to make the game-tying field goal and send it to overtime. In overtime, the Buccaneers started  hot with an opportunity to take the lead, but McLaughlin missed the  game-winner, giving the Panthers a golden opportunity to win. Even with this  opportunity, Panthers Chuba Hubbard fumbled, giving the Bucs the ball back. The game concluded with a  Chase McLaughlin field goal, securing the Bucs’ victory.

Player of The Week

The player of the week was Browns WR Jerry Jeudy, who had a career high in his revenge game against his former team. The former Bronco had a whopping 235 yards on 9 receptions for a touchdown. This set the record for the most yards in a game for a player against his former team.