In this series of articles, I will highlight the best NFL games of the week and the local team, the Patriots. In week 13, two AFC teams clinched playoff spots and three were eliminated, tightening the race to the postseason. Here are the highlights.
Eagles vs Ravens
The Eagles prove they are the real deal with a strong win over the Ravens.
Philadelphia has won eight straight games and is sitting at 10-2 after a statement win over Baltimore. The Eagles started with four straight punts before they could get the offense moving. Luckily, the defense stepped up big to hold the Ravens to just nine points in that stretch.
Midway through the second quarter, the Eagles capitalized on an efficient drive with a Dallas Goedert touchdown. On the next drive, Philly made it to the one-yard line and Jalen Hurts ran it in for the touchdown.
The offense started the second half cold once again with two punts, but Justin Tucker missed two field goals for the Ravens, so neither team put points on the board.
In the fourth quarter, up 14-12, Saquon Barkley showed why he is being talked about in MVP conversations. He pulled off a 25-yard touchdown run to go up by two scores. Jake Elliott then hit a field goal to put the game away.
The Ravens started hot with a 9-0 lead in the first quarter, but their offense stalled and had to settle for three punts. Baltimore started the second half with two drives ending in missed field goals. The Eagles had a total of three yards in the third quarter, but the Ravens couldn’t take advantage of that.
Down 12 with less than two minutes to go, Lamar Jackson put together a drive that was capped off by an Isaiah Likely touchdown catch. On a last-ditch effort, Baltimore attempted an onside kick, but Philly jumped on the ball and got the win.
Lions vs Bears
Lions win their tenth straight game and pull out a win on Thanksgiving to break their eight-year curse.
This game was the 20th meeting between these two teams on Thanksgiving and the Lions survived a bizarre ending. Detroit scored on four of the five first-half drives but had to settle for three field goals. On these scoring drives, the offense looked dominant, converting on multiple third downs, and carving up the Bears' defense. Jamyr Gibbs and David Montgomery combined for 144 rushing yards in the first half.
With a strong defensive effort, the Lions held a 16-0 lead going into halftime.
After the Bears scored, Sam LaPorta found the endzone on Detroit’s first offensive possession to keep the lead up to 16 points. Chicago scored again and the Lions tried to extend their lead with a field goal, but Jake Bates had his first miss of the season.
Caleb Williams threw a third touchdown late in the fourth quarter to cut the Lions lead to three. On the Bears’ final drive, they ran out of time and the game ended 23-20, The Lions won. Detroit will face Green Bay at home next for a prime-time matchup on Thursday Night Football.
The Bears got off to a very slow start in this game, punting three times and turning the ball over on downs twice in the first half. They had 53 total yards of offense and two first downs, the first one not coming until there were less than two minutes left in the half.
Chicago came out of the half with two passing touchdowns to Keenan Allen on their first two drives. After a failed two-point conversion attempt, they were still down by two scores. On the next possession, the Bears failed to move the ball at all and had to punt.
The Lions had a chance to put the game away but missed a field goal that would’ve put them up by 13. The Bears took advantage of this and put together a strong drive that resulted in a 31-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Moore.
The defense held Detroit to a three-and-out on their next possession, giving Caleb Williams three and a half minutes to orchestrate a game-winning or tying drive. On this final drive, Chicago converted on multiple fourth downs to stay alive.
The Bears got to the Lions’ 25-yard line and just needed to kick a field goal to go into overtime against the NFC’s top team. A penalty pushed them back ten yards and Williams was sacked on the next play with the clock running. With 30 seconds left, Head Coach Matt Eberflus neglected to call his last timeout to stop the clock. Due to this blunder, the clock hit zero as Williams threw the ball out of reach from his receiver.
Eberflus was fired after this ugly loss. Thomas Brown will be the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
Chiefs vs Raiders
The Chiefs continue their trend of winning very close games in a wild finish over the Raiders.
Kansas City was the first team to clinch a playoff berth this season with a 19-17 win over Las Vegas on Black Friday. They began the game with a 66-yard drive that ended in a field goal.
Their next two drives ended in punts. After that, Justin Watson found the endzone for the Chiefs’ only touchdown of the game. They relied on kicker, Matthew Wright, to hit four field goals over the course of the game.
Wright is their third kicker in the last month after Harrison Butker and Spencer Shrader both suffered injuries.
In the third quarter, Wright hit two more field goals to put the Chiefs on top 16-3. However, the Raiders fought back with a pair of 2-play touchdown drives to take the lead by one point.
In another lead change, Kansas City hit a field goal to go up 19-17. The Chiefs could not put the game away on the last two drives, so they gave Aidan O’Connell and the Raiders one chance to win the game.
The game ended with a botched snap that was recovered by Nick Bolton, giving possession back to the Chiefs who then kneeled the clock out.
The Raiders began the game with a punt but put together a few big plays to set up for a field goal. Daniel Carlson was unable to hit a 56-yard field goal, which put the Chiefs in decent field position to score a touchdown.
In the second half, Carlson missed another field goal. But, on their next drive, Ameer Abdullah took the kickoff 69 yards to advance to the Chiefs’ 26-yard line. After a penalty, O’Connell hit rookie tight end, Brock Bowers, for a 33-yard touchdown reception. A minute and a half later, Tre Tucker outran multiple Chiefs defenders for a 58-yard touchdown catch.
Carlson missed his third field goal on the day and this one would have given the Raiders a late lead. After forcing a punt, the Raiders had the ball with two minutes to go. O’Connell was a perfect 5-5 for 55 yards, putting them in position for a field goal. But disaster struck soon after. The ball was snapped before O’Connell was ready and it hit him off the chest. The Chiefs recovered and the game was over.
Colts vs Patriots
The Colts beat the Patriots in the final seconds of the game to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Indianapolis came out and scored on their first offensive drive, Jonathan Taylor tight-roping his way to the endzone. On the next drive, Anthony Richardson threw the ball into traffic and the Patriots turned that pass into a tip-drill interception. Richardson took the ball in himself next to score their second touchdown of the half.
On the opening possession of the half, the Colts got to the seven-yard line before their drive stalled and they had to kick a field goal, giving them a one-point lead.
New England took a seven-point lead later in the half but couldn’t score again. That left Richardson to lead a game-winning drive that ended with an Alec Pierce receiving touchdown and a gutsy two-point conversion attempt that won them the game.
With this win, the Colts are right on the outside of a playoff spot.
The theme for the Patriots in the first half was getting down to the red zone and then not being able to cash in for six points. Their first three possessions ended in field goals after promising drives down the field. Holding penalties once again killed the momentum of the Patriots' offense. New England finally found the endzone on a pass to tight end, Austin Hooper, toward the end of the first half.
Despite the slow start, the Patriots took a 16-14 lead into halftime.
On a long, 13-play drive, the endzone woes continued when Hunter Henry tipped the ball into Julian Blackmon’s hands, somehow keeping the ball from hitting the ground.
Luckily for New England, Indianapolis didn’t get any points off the interception. The next drive for the Patriots ended in an Antonio Gibson rushing touchdown with Kayshon Boutte bullying his way into the end zone for a successful two-point conversion. This gave the Patriots a seven-point lead with eight minutes to go.
Christian Gonzalez picked off Anthony Richardson on the next drive, but the Patriots went three and out and had to punt the ball back to the Colts, giving them the chance to score the game-winning touchdown and two-point conversion.
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