Week 13 Game Notes

Seahawks over Eagles

• Vince Young was terrible with 4 picks, and Marshawn Lynch was at his best with 148 yards on the ground along with 2 rushing touchdowns.
• I don’t know what kind of effort the Seahawks are going to give week-to-week, but they’re definitely a better team than I thought they were coming into the season.

Titans over Bills

• It comes back to what I said last week: any time Chris Johnson has a good game, the Titans are going to win.
• Johnson finished with 153 yards on the ground against the 24th-ranked rushing defense.

Chiefs over Bears

• Well that was quick, Kyle Orton.

Texans over Falcons

• TJ Yates has some game.  I don’t think I’m going out on a limb at all to say the Texans are better off with Yates than they would be with Matt Leinart.
• Matt Ryan threw a couple early interceptions, and the Falcons couldn’t catch up.

Dolphins over Raiders

• This 4-1 run the Dolphins find themselves on—the one loss coming by just a single point—has taken Tony Sparano off the hot seat.  Despite the horrid 0-7 start, I expect he will still be the Dolphins’ head coach next year.

Broncos over Vikings

• The story in most of Denver's wins has been if you look past Tim Tebow, it's really the defense that's getting things done.
• That wasn't the case here as the Broncos gave up 32 points to an offense down its best player, but Tebow still came back to lead the late win.
• A Christian Ponder interception was the real dagger though coming in a then-tied game and giving the Broncos the ball already in field goal range.

Patriots over Colts

• Tom Brady moved into a tie with Warren Moon for sixth on the all-time touchdown pass list with 291.
• Brady also passed Johnny Unitas, who had 290.
• Both of Brady’s touchdown throws went to Rob Gronkowski, who also got a rushing touchdown when it was deemed another Brady pass went backwards, and Gronkowski tied the record for most touchdown catches in a season by a tight end with 13.

Steelers over Bengals

• The Bengals of this year remind me a lot of the Buccaneers of a year ago.  The Bucs rode an easy schedule to a promising 10-6 record where they beat all the teams they should have but only won once against a team with a +.500 record (a meaningless Week 17 game where the Saints pulled their starters).
• The only team with a winning record Cincinnati beat so far was Tennessee Week 9.

Panthers over Buccaneers

• After Cam Newton ran for 3 touchdowns against Tampa Bay, he broke the record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback.  He has 13 on the year.
• Those thirteen rushing touchdowns also happen to lead all NFL players this year.

Jets over Redskins

• New York made a lot of mistakes again but still got the win.  That type of game will not get it done versus top competition.

Ravens over Browns

• Ray Rice ran for a career-best 204 yards, and the Ravens mopped up the AFC North bottom-feeding Browns.

Cardinals over Cowboys

• The NFC East went 0-4 this week.

Packers over Giants

• This game raised my heart rate, but the Packers’ march to perfection continues.

49ers over Rams

• The Rams stink + the 49ers don’t = 26-0 shutout.

Saints over Lions

• After starting the year 5-0 and getting everyone in a tizzy how they were finally relevant, the Lions immaturity has shown through, and they’ve gone just 2-5.
• We saw it Week 1.  If anyone is going to challenge the Packers for NFC supremacy, it’s going to be the Saints.  They’re the only team that can go score for score versus Aaron Rodgers and his band of merry men.

Chargers over Jaguars

• Just what the doctor ordered: a matchup with Jacksonville to end San Diego’s six-game slide.
• The Chargers have the best point differential in the AFC West.  I don’t necessarily expect it to happen, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they got hot in December—like they always do—and won the division.

--from @jeuneski