Jarrid Kosa, Lunch Beers Podcast – NFL Week 13….I hope you’re ready.
The Dallas Cowboys have beaten their second opponent with a winning record. Al Michaels finally got the Thursday Night Football game he deserved. Thursday night kicked off a 3-0 run for primetime games going over the total, the Cowboys are now on a 13-0 run at home with the 41-35 victory of the Seattle Seahawks. Despite D.K. Metcalf cooking the Cowboys defense for 6 catches, 134 yards and 3 touchdowns America’s team was able to hold onto the win thanks to a Geno Smith interception. Tony Pollard was a factor again with 68 rushing yards, 3 catches for 15 yards and a score. Dak continues to spread the love with his receivers as three players on the team had 40+ yards receiving. This loss may put the nail in the coffin for Seattle’s playoff hopes as they move to 6-6 with a brutal schedule coming up. The Cowboys will get the Eagles at home this week in NFC showdown. Cowboys are now as low as +380 to win the division after being 11/1 in week 12.
If you are still alive in survivor after week 13, I commend you. I know this week was not easy, even if you made it through, no one made it easy this week. One of the biggest knockouts were the Pittsburg Steelers. That game was an absolute mess, two weather delays and Kenny Pickett went down with an injury having Steelers backers relying on MVP Mitch to lead the comeback, but it never came. The weather really helped slow down the Cardinals offense from getting into a rhythm and saved one of our plays from last week which was the total under 40.5. James Connor dominated in his return to Pittsburgh carrying the ball 25 times for 105 yards and a touchdown. His dominance was key to winding down the clock, so we will thank him. The Steelers moved to 7-5 and are still in the playoff mix, but that loss was huge for other teams in the AFC hunt.
The Colts came up with a huge victory in overtime against their division rivals in Tennessee. Despite now Jonathan Taylor, Gardner Minshew absolutely ate with 312 yards and 2 touchdowns to secure the win. Michael Pittman JR. was a huge factor in the game reeling in 11 catches for 105 yards and scored the game winning touchdown. With the win the Colts move to 7-5 with a 5-1 road record and are moving themselves into playoff conversation.
The Jets and the Patriots both took L’s in absolute snoozer contests. If you were forced to watch those games because of your local cable provider I am sorry. Who would ever think we would see the hoodie lead Patriots with a 2-10 record, oh the glory. The Jets are now asking Zach Wilson to return as their starter before the try to get Rodgers back out there and Wilson apparently does not want to play. The only Wilson I feel bad for is Garret Wilson as the beginning of his career is rotting away in New York. He only had 3 catches for 50 yards due to the terrible quarterback play. I am not sure why Aaron Rodgers is so adamant on returning to a 4-8 Jet’s team that has zero playoff hope.
The two games in the 1 o’clock window with huge playoff implications were instant classics. The Lions defeated the Saints on the road in a high scoring shoot out 33-28. The Lions got a lot of help from their two headed monster in the backfield to bring home bacon. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery combined for 116 rushing yards and a score. Derek Carr left the game after taking a huge hit in the 4th quarter. Jameis Winston came in going 2/5 for 41 yards, but was not able to provide the W for feasting. The Lions moved to 9-3 and are fighting for a number 1 seed in the NFC and the Saints now move to 5-7, but luckily for them the NFC is awful and they still have a chance to squeak out the division and sneak into the playoffs.
The second classic of the early window went down in Houston where the Texans defense made a goal-line stand to secure a 22-17 victory. Jimmie Ward made a huge interception on the last play of the game to send the Houston faithful home hooting and hollering. Rookie C.J. Stroud needs to be in the MVP conversation after throwing for 274 yards and a touchdown without his best weapon Tank Dell who got injured on a blocking assignment after being questionable to play heading into the game. No idea as to why head coach DeMeco Ryans had him out there to begin with. The Texans now move to 7-5 and are absolutely live to win the AFC South. They are 1-2 in the division having split with the division leading Jaguars and have 2 shots at the deflated Titans and close out with the Colts in week 18. Hard not to pull for a team everyone had written off in the beginning of the season.
Miami has now taken over the 1 seed in the AFC moving to 9-3 with a blow out win over the Commanders. Tyreek Hill continues to make his case for offensive player of the year with another 100+ yard game and 2 scores. The Dolphins defense stifled Sam Howell and the sometimes-explosive Commanders offense holding him to 127 passing yards, 0 touchdown passes, and an interception. The Dolphins will take on the Titans on Monday and will most likely hold on to the top seed until their matchup with Baltimore in week 17 since they posses the superior conference record.
Joe Flacco made a triumphant return to the NFL in week 13 recalling his roots his solidified a huge loss for the Browns that increased his former team’s lead on the AFC North. Joe Flacco will always be a Raven at heart. I do have to say that he did look pretty impressive coming off the couch against a stout Rams team however. Chucking it for 254 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sadly, for the Browns, Matt Stafford is just way better. He shredded the great Cleveland defense for 279 yards and 3 touchdowns, an extremely impressive showing for Stafford still battling ailments. Kyren Williams is coming back to form after missing some time, he had 21 carries for 88 yards and a score. Puke Nacua, Demarcus Robinson, and Cooper Kupp all got in the endzone. With the loss the Browns move to the 6 seed with Houston, Indy, and Denver breathing down their necks. The Rams currently hold the 8 seed with tie breakers over Seattle, but will have a tough go of it this week heading to Baltimore who is waiting for them at home off the bye.
Tampa Bay kept their playoff hopes alive barley getting by the Panthers 21-18. The highlight of the game was Mike Evan 75 yard touchdown and other than that it was pretty boring. Luckily for the Buccaneers the NFC South is up for grabs, but I don’t think they will beat out the Saints or Falcons and the their record most likely won’t be good enough for the NFC wildcard.
San Francisco finally got their revenge! Thrashing the Eagles and clipping their wings with a convincing 42-19 victory. Brock Purdy has now become the MVP favorite a 3/1 odds and why not. He just destroyed the “best team in football”, with 314 yards and 4 touchdown passes. Christian McCaffery was once again a vital part of the offense with 93 yards on 17 carries and a score. The Eagles soft middle of the field defense was finally completely exploited and the best yard after the catch team did not let up. Deebo Samuel lead the receiving core with 4 catches for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns. The best part of the game was after the game for me, seeing all the Eagles fans complaining on a missed holding call on one Samuel’s touchdowns. Oh, the irony. The 49er’s have to be the best team in the league, no cap. They may even end up with the top seed at the conclusion of week 18. The Eagles now need to fly to Dallas to take on the Cowboys who have not lost at home this season and if Mike McCarthy was watching the game like us he will deploy similar play calling to the 49’ers and they too should be able to claim their revenge on Philly. That is going to be must watch television.
Speaking of must watch television, the Kansas City Chiefs may no longer fall into that category. Their struggles continue, this time it was in the first half where they were only able to muster up 9 points. However, they were able to go over the 2nd half total for the first time all season notching 13 points, but not enough to over come the Pack as they fell 27-19, but the score did take the total over providing excitement on Sunday night as the final game came down to a hail mary for the Chiefs once again. Jordan Love is really coming into his own and starting to bring hope to Packers fans. He threw for 267 yards and 3 touchdowns against a solid Chiefs defense, the Super Bowl champs mind you, so Packer cheese should taste good this week. Their playoff hopes have turned around and they may be able to sneak in if Love can continue to impress. The Packers are hoping for Aaron Jones to return within the next week or so which will be a jolt to the offense. The Pack are currently holding the 7 seed with tie breakers over the Rams. They close out with the Giants, Bucs, Panthers, Vikings, and Bears a very doable schedule.
Who saw a Bengals 34-31 overtime victory coming on Monday night? Don’t tell the college football committee back quarterbacks can win games. Sadly, for the Jaguars and all of us football fans Trevor Lawrence went down with a leg injury and could barley get off the field. The worst part was Jacksonville didn’t cart him off the field. I felt for the guy watching him gimp off the field. The Jags moved to 8-4 and are now praying that Lawrence will be okay. The shootout took primetime games to a perfect 3-0 over the total for the first time all season. Jake Browning’s play was a big part of that, throwing for 354 yards and a touchdown. His game management skills set up Bengals rusher Joe Mixon for two scores and Browning ran a touchdown in himself. The Jaguars defense was absolutely deplorable on Monday night and they certainly did not look like a Super Bowl contender. The Jags have a lot of problems to solve and not a lot of time to figure them out as the season comes to a close.
We will bring the blog to a close recapping our plays from last week, we went 2-1 our loser being the under in the Monday night game, didn’t see that coming. Our Cowboys/Dolphins teaser came through and we held on to the under in the Cardinals/Steelers bout with weather being a huge factor. We are going back to the well with a teaser in week 14. As much as I want to lay the -7 with the Ravens off the bye I can’t do it after watching Matt Stafford tear up a great Browns defense last week. What I will do though, is bring the Ravens down to -1 and parlay them with the Packers at -0.5 on the Wong teaser -120. I think the Ravens get the win at home and I think Jordan Love and the Packers will take care of business on the road at Metlife on Monday night. Good Luck out there!
