Remember when defenses were ahead of offenses? Setting aside games involving Bill Belichick or the Jets, that's not the case right now. Of the 24 teams who have played in Week 13, nearly half (11) scored 24-plus points. Hopefully your teams were on the right side of most of those games.
Chargers at Patriots: So New England's best offensive player got hurt early on in this one, and that absence (Rhamondre Stevenson, in case anyone is wondering) factored heavily into New England getting shut out. I think some blame can also be laid at Bill Belichick's feet, with a couple of curious choices, including passing up makeable field goals -- for other kickers, anyway -- in favor of attempted fourth downs where Bailey Zappe got sacked. On Zappe, well, he is not better than Mac Jones. Probably all that need be said. Chargers offense didn't do much, disappointingly, but we knew New England can play good defense, and they weren't exactly pushing the Chargers to do more on offense.
Lions at Saints: High-scoring, good numbers from both offenses, most starters paying off? Check check check. Lions jumped out to a huge lead with Montgomery-LaPorta-St. Brown all scoring. Saints battled back with Kamara-Olave-Taysom all paying off. Detroit defense, has some issues these days. Derek Carr knocked out late, which seems to be a regular occurrence. Lions made enough plays on offense and got enough stops on defense. Detroit games, nice for fantasy purposes these days. Juwan Johnson didn't catch any of his 3 targets, there's your big negative. Sam LaPorta with a monster game.
Cardinals at Steelers: In the writeups Ian highlighted James Conner's return to face not only his former team but where he grew up and played his college ball, and that worked out nicely for those who bought into the storyline. He was the big story in this one, along with Kenny Pickett leaving early due to injury, a couple of weather delays, and Arizona generally dominating, including defensively. You got some garbage numbers from Steelers receivers, but the best options in this one were Conner and Trey McBride. Steelers running backs not so much, but it's a committee in an offense that lost its quarterback and trailed throughout, so there you go. Steelers on shaky ground for a playoff spot at this point.
Falcons at Jets: Jets backup quarterbacks doing a good job of making Zach Wilson look good in this one. Tim Boyle was pretty brutal, ultimately replaced by Trevor Siemian, offense still failed to score any touchdowns. Wilson at quarterback next week? We'll see. It probably doesn't matter. Jets defense also played well, so much so that those who started Brian Robinson and other key Falcons got very little. Drake London absorbed a big hit on an end zone chance before the half and maybe that factored into him catching only one pass on the day, although it was a tough matchup for passing and Desmond Ridder isn't very good. All of Breece Hall's production came in the passing game (6 catches), as usual. Humorous safety recorded by the Jets defense with Ridder handing the ball to Robinson about 6 yards deep in his own end zone, yeah that's not gonna work.
Colts at Titans: Lots of fun moments in this game (including some nutty special teams moments) with Will Levis and Gardner Minshew duking it out. Levis...does some strange things, with a couple of sidearm throws in there, also one of the hustle plays of the year where he threw a pick and then ran forward to either force or at least recover a fumble from the intercepting player. Derrick Henry scored 2 TDs but left due to injury. Colts kept coming back, with Michael Pittman having a monster game, finally winning in overtime. Zack Moss did not have the huge game many expected, but plenty of near misses and stops near the goal line; usage was fine, and I think he'll be very good over the next month. Game only went to overtime because the Titans got their punter hurt on a block, so they had to use Ryan Tannehill as holder for a botched extra point. Colts 7-5 and in mix for what might be an ugly AFC playoff field.
Dolphins at Commanders: DeVon Achane is back, I referred to him in advice as a risk-reward play, congrats to those who took the risk. Tyreek and Tua made the Washington secondary look silly, they're not the first and won't be the last. Mostert fine, Waddle a little disappointing, Tyreek didn't leave much for others and Waddle also dropped a decent gainer. Sam Howell about the only Washington player to pay off by running in a couple of scores, but the passing was bad, and Terry McLaurin completely shut out. Bad day at the office for Washington, Brian Robinson also left with an injury.
Broncos at Texans: Entertaining game, which Houston led for most of but the Broncos refused to go away. Box score will show 3 Russell Wilson interceptions, and it was not his best day. But one was a pretty spectacular leaping interception by Derek Stingley, on a ball intended for Courtland Sutton that was thisclose to being a long touchdown, and the last was an endzone force in the final seconds that probably should have been thrown away but Will Anderson and Houston's defense were getting a lot of pressure and he didn't get enough on it. Close game that could have gone either way, and either of these teams will be pretty interesting in the playoffs, would be nice if both could get there I think. Fantasy: Dameon Pierce getting more work and more production than Devin Singletary. Nico Collins having a monster day. Tank Dell leaving due to injury on a tush push type play. Sutton with another impressive touchdown grab.
Panthers at Bucs: This was not one of the higher-scoring games, predictably, but most of the key guys paid off -- White, Hubbard, Evans. The exception is Adam Thielen, who I believe has now proven to be benchable; Jonathan Mingo and even DJ Chark were better yesterday. Bucs didn't exactly win pretty, but they did enough to win against a Panthers offense that obviously wasn't going to fix everything just by axing its coach. Cool Mike Evans touchdown in this one, weird that it was initially ruled short. Seems like the NFL tells officials to err on the side of caution with calling touchdowns, when in fact it should go the other way, since all scoring plays are reviewed. Call all close plays touchdowns, let the replay booth sort it out!
Browns at Rams: Later this week I'll try to put together an item about what the Browns defense has allowed in road games versus what they've allowed at home. It's weird; all the fields are the same size, right? Cleveland has been shutting opponents down at home but getting lit up on the road, and it happened again here. Highlight for me was a long Puka Nacua touchdown, clinching a playoff. If I were the type to buy jerseys of guys who won me some money, Nacua or LaPorta would top the list this year. Peeking at the Rams remaining schedule, 9-8 seems likely, which might be a playoff team. Joe Flacco had a pretty decent game until heaving up a head-scratching interception late that ended Cleveland's chances. Amari Cooper left due to injury.
49ers at Eagles: Early on the Eagles defense was dominating this game, making some big hits and taking an early lead. I thought the angle today would be that Philadelphia, motivated by all the talk about San Francisco having the better defense, plus being a home underdog, would prove the doubters wrong. No, it looks like San Francisco is better right now. They were yesterday, certainly, doing pretty much whatever they wanted. Game was closer than the final score -- it was 21-13 late in the third quarter -- but San Francisco served notice that the NFC battle for the No. 1 seed isn't over. Eagles need to win in Dallas next week too, not a given. Most skill guys people were starting paid off in this game.
Kansas City at Packers: Jordan Love making me look bad in this one. Kansas City defense had played so well all year, but looked pretty hapless for a lot of this one. So too did Kansas City's offensive line, getting Patrick Mahomes sacked on a lot of red-zone plays, leading to field goals (and a loss). Hard to figure, but it's clear that the Packers are legit playoff contenders and KC won't be cruising into another Super Bowl without playing better. Nice game for Index favorite Isiah Pacheco, overcoming getting pretzeled on one tackle, and hopefully not facing additional consequences for throwing a punch and getting ejected late in this one.
Monday, Monday: Jaguars host the Bengals tonight, and it couldn't possibly be as bad as last week's Vikings-Bears game. Should be a good day for the Jaguars offense, and the Bengals passing game (if Jake Browning can hold up his end of the bargain, which granted is not certain). Jaguars should win, but maybe some average Bengals numbers in defeat. Maybe. Jaguars 27, Bengals 20.