Week 13 in the NFL: Games Coming Down to Historical Performances

On Week 13 of the NFL teams are still battling it out for a playoff spot with no clear sign of who will take home the 14 spots in the 2024 playoffs. With five weeks left in the season, the race couldn’t be any tighter.

Here are some statical highlights:

• Close competition: Eight of the 11 games from week 13 had a one score difference of score in the final quarter. That is 72.7 percent of the games this past week. This trend is not only a week 13 occurrence. 71 percent of games this season in the fourth quarter have come down to one score in the fourth quarter.

• Here come the Colts: The Indianapolis Colts continue their hot streak after they defeated the Tennessee Titans, 31-28 in overtime. That makes fourth straight wins for the Colts who are now 7-5. They find themselves one game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars for first place in the AFC South. First year head coach Shane Steichen has his team performing above expectations.

• 49ers beat down the Eagles: The San Francisco 49ers offenses show up big in Philadelphia. Led by second-year quarterback Brock Purdy the Niners won the NFC championship rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles 42-19. Purdy passed for 314 yards, fourth touchdowns, no interceptions with a passer rating of 148.8. Pro Bowl running back Christian McCaffrey had 133 total yards from scrimmage with one touchdown. Deebo Samuel came to play scoring three touchdowns with 138 yards from scrimmage. The 49ers stood on business and now are the premier team in the NFC. Purdy’s name has entered the MVP chat as this was his fourth game with at least four touchdown passes and any passer rating over 140. Tying Tom Brady in 2007 and Aaron Rodgers in 2011 for the most in a single season. This is also his fifth time achieving this accomplishment, which is the most for a player in his first two seasons Christian McCaffrey also joins NFL history with 50 touchdown carries and 27 touchdown receptions. Joining Marshall Faulk and Lenny Moore as the only NFL players in NFL history with at least 50 rushing touchdowns and 25 scoring receptions.

• History in the Making: The Miami Dolphins’ historical offense continues to dazzle after they defeated the Washington commanders 45-15. The offense is getting it done through the air and the ground. The team has 25 pass touchdowns and 22 rush touchdowns this season. They are the third team since 1970 with at least 25 touchdown passes and 22 touchdown runs in the first 12 games. Tyreek Hill also makes a case for the MVP award. His 1481 receiving yards in 12 weeks is the most receiving yards by a player in a teams for 12 games of the season in the Super Bowl era. 2,000 yards are insight for Hill.

• Evans reaches record as expected: Mike Evans is the model for consistency in the NFL. After catching seven receptions for 162 yards with a touchdown in Sunday’s victory against the Carolina Panthers, Evans reached the 1,000-yard mark for the 10th straight season. Evans’s season total is 1,012. Evans joins, NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice as the only player in NFL history with at least 1000 receiving yards in 10 consecutive seasons. He is also the first player in NFL history with that least 60 receptions in each of his first 10 seasons.

• Stroud for OROTY: The NFL favorite to win offensive rookie of the year CJ Stroud put up another great performance in the Houston Texan’s win over the Denver Broncos. Stroud now has 3540 passing yards this season and passed Justin Herbert for the third most passing yards by a player in his first 12 career games. Only Patrick Mahomes and Andrew Luck had more.

• Detroits new offensive threat: Tight end Sam LaPorta recorded nine receptions for 140 yards in a touchdown, helping the Detroit Lions defeat the New Orleans Saints, 33-28. LaPorta is the fourth rookie tight end in NFL history with at least nine receptions, 140 receiving yards, and one scoring reception in a game. The last time this happened for a rookie tight end was Pete Mitchell on November 19, 1995, who was with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

• Vets came to play: Despite losing on Sunday, the Tennessee Titans had huge performances from the veteran offensive stars. Derrick Henry rushed for 102 yards with two touchdowns and wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins had five catches for 75 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. This was Henry’s 18th career game with at least 100 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Henry also has 86 career rushing touchdowns tying himself with Eric Dickerson and Adrian Peterson. Hopkins became the fourth youngest player in NFL history to reach 12,000 career rushing yards at the age of 31 years and 180 days old. He also became the fifth fastest player to reach 900 career receptions in NFL history.

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