The 49ers were the biggest winners of Week 13 after leaving Philadelphia with a lopsided victory.
But San Francisco’s win also benefited the Cowboys in multiple ways, as it opened the door for them to steal the NFC East and possibly the No. 1 seed.
With 13 weeks gone by, four teams in each conference are in the mix for the top seeds, which could lead to several exciting games in the final month of the regular season. Then again, anything is better than what the Patriots and Chargers displayed during a snoozer that ended with six total points (yes, even the Falcons’ 13–8 win against the Jets).
The Falcons, Cowboys and 49ers are among this week’s group of winners. We did not forget about the Patriots and Jets for the losers section.
Winners
49ers
Those who discredit the 49ers’ win against the Eagles because of the rest advantage they had didn’t watch closely how San Francisco dominated in Philadelphia.
The 49ers had a poor first quarter, but the defense stepped up with two stops to keep the deficit to 6–0 before the offense woke up and exploited the Eagles’ defensive weaknesses. San Francisco had six consecutive drives that ended with touchdowns. Having 10 days of rest definitely helped, but what the 49ers did to the Eagle goes beyond a scheduling advantage.
Philadelphia’s problems at linebacker and in the secondary likely won’t go away in the postseason—unless newcomer Shaquille Leonard turns back the clock. The 49ers are a mismatch nightmare for an Eagles defense that has disappointed this season. Now San Francisco knows it can win in Philadelphia and play from behind.
The 49ers have also had a shaky secondary this season, but the unit played well in Philadelphia, despite the pass rush struggling to create a consistent push against Philadelphia’s stout offensive line.
Obviously, the outcome could be different if these two teams meet again in January, but the 49ers (9–3) now own the tiebreaker over the Eagles (10–2) and could potentially steal the No. 1 seed from their hated rivals.
Roger Steinman/AP
Cowboys
Dak Prescott has played like an MVP candidate, despite many people refusing to acknowledge how good he’s been since the Week 5 loss to the 49ers.
Prescott, with the help of stud wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, bailed out the defense during a rare off day to defeat the Seahawks, 41–35, on Thursday. Now Prescott can turn his doubters into believers by defeating the Eagles at home this week to tie them in the NFC East standings.
Prescott might be playing the best football of his career during his first season with Mike McCarthy calling the plays. This “Texas Coast” offense has been unstoppable for most of the season, but the Cowboys (9–3) are going to need the defense to bounce back after the poor performance against the Seahawks.
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Falcons
Yes, the NFC South has been an endless pit of bad football. But we’ve got to give credit to the Falcons for returning to .500 and winning back-to-back games to take control of the subpar division.
Atlanta has the same record as the Vikings and Packers, currently the Nos. 6 and 7 seeds in the NFC. Perhaps the South winner doesn’t deserve to host a playoff game, but the Falcons have done their part to be considered a respectable playoff team, with a productive defense led by safety Jessie Bates III.
Also, the Atlanta offense has displayed some improvements when it comes to the rushing attack. Coach Arthur Smith keeps saying he wants rookie running back Bijan Robinson to be fresh down the stretch. It’s time for the Falcons to increase his workload and allow the 2023 No. 8 pick to carry them to the NFC South title. The Falcons’ final five regular-season games are against the Buccaneers, Panthers, Colts, Bears and Saints.
Texans
The Texans (7–5) received a devastating blow with the season-ending injury to rookie wide receiver Tank Dell, who was carted off during the win against the Broncos.
Rookie sensation C.J. Stroud struggled to push the ball downfield without Dell during a sluggish second half against the Broncos. But Stroud has excelled at getting various playmakers involved, and should be fine with a cast that includes Nico Collins, Noah Brown, Robert Woods and Dalton Schultz, who missed last week with a hamstring injury.
On the bright side, the Texans should be excited about the future of the defense after career games from edge rusher Will Anderson Jr., the 2023 No. 3 pick, and cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., the ’22 No. 3 pick. Stingley had two interceptions against Russell Wilson, the latter of which was an acrobatic catch that made the rounds on social media. Anderson recorded two sacks and five total tackles in the victory.
Packers
The Packers (6–6) are back in the playoff picture after a signature win against the Chiefs. More important, they received more proof that Jordan Love can be the long-term franchise quarterback.
Love is no longer turning the ball over and using his arm strength to his advantage, but the Packers’ three-game winning streak has also put the spotlight on their promising group of skill players. They’re also surging on defense, a unit that’s being led by edge rusher Rashan Gary, who has nine sacks this season.
It got ugly for the Packers after losing five of six games earlier this season, but now they’re in contention for a wild-card spot and could be in the mix for years to come with a talented, young roster.
Losers
Patriots
It’s that time of year when losing is actually winning because of draft positioning. Currently, the Patriots (2–10) have the No. 2 pick in the 2024 draft, an ideal spot for the franchise because that would put them in position to draft either Caleb Williams or Drake Maye.
But we can’t let the Patriots off the hook for their dismal offensive showings in recent weeks. Whether it’s Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe starting at quarterback, New England’s offense continues to fail the defense, which contained the Chargers during Sunday’s ugly 6–0 loss.
David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports
It was the third consecutive game in which the Patriots held the opponent to 10 points or fewer and lost—the first team to do that since the 1938 Chicago Cardinals, according to the Associated Press. The Patriots lost 10–6 to the Colts in Week 10 and fell 10–7 to the Giants after a bye week.
It’s been a dreadful season in New England, but hey, at least the draft pick is on track to being in the top two.
Seahawks
The Seahawks showed plenty of fight and finally turned a corner offensively, but it wasn’t enough for them to defeat the Cowboys and stop their losing skid.
With a three-game losing streak, the star-studded Seahawks are in danger of missing the postseason, especially with the late surges from the Rams and Packers. To make matters worse, Seattle plays on the road against the 49ers this week and hosts the Eagles the following week.
A five-game losing streak might doom the Seahawks, and it’s not a guarantee they beat the pesky Titans, Steelers and Cardinals to close out the regular season. At 6–6, Seattle is tied with Minnesota, Los Angeles and Green Bay, but it currently sits in ninth place because of tiebreakers and has the toughest remaining schedule among the four teams battling for the final two wild-card spots in the NFC.
There’s hope for the Seahawks, though, because of how dominant DK Metcalf was on Thursday Night Football against the Cowboys. Perhaps Seattle can upset San Francisco or Philadelphia in the coming weeks.
Eagles
There’s no shame in losing to the 49ers after pulling out come-from-behind victories against the Chiefs and Bills.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, they don’t have much wiggle room for letdown games because of the tight races for the NFC’s No. 1 seed and the NFC East title. Philadelphia still sits atop the standings, but the loss to San Francisco opened the door for Dallas to steal the division and the top seed in the postseason. The Cowboys have won 14 consecutive games at home and now get to host the Eagles for a Week 14 showdown.
It’s been a grueling stretch for Philadelphia, which won’t let up until Week 16 because they travel to Seattle after playing the Cowboys. These next two weeks could decide whether the Eagles host the NFC playoffs or start on the road for a wild-card game.
Steelers
I probably shouldn’t do this, not when Mike Tomlin is the head coach, but it’s time to put a fork in the Steelers as a playoff team.
Quarterback Kenny Pickett recently had ankle surgery for an injury he sustained in the upset loss to the Cardinals last week. With Pickett, the Steelers have been one of the worst offensive units in the league. But now with Mitchell Trubisky as Pickett’s replacement, Pittsburgh’s offense could be as bad as the Jets and Patriots.
With Trubisky, the Steelers only managed a garbage-time touchdown late in the game against Arizona’s poor defense. The Steelers (7–5) currently own the No. 5 seed in the AFC, but they have the same record as the Browns, Colts and Texans, and the Broncos and Bills are only one game behind.
Perhaps Trubisky turns out to be a spark for the offense, but that’s hard to envision given his track record and upcoming road games against the Colts, Seahawks and Ravens. Pittsburgh, however, will get to host New England this week and Cincinnati in Week 16.
Jets
Aaron Rodgers likely won’t be coming back to save the Jets, who dropped to 4–8 after another atrocious offensive showing during the 13–8 loss to the Falcons.
As a reminder, the Jets hitched their season on quarterbacks Zach Wilson, Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian after Rodgers sustained an Achilles injury in the season opener, and now they’re learning the hard way that those quarterbacks shouldn’t start NFL games.
The Jets didn’t trade for Joshua Dobbs and declined to sign either Carson Wentz or Joe Flacco, who played well for the Browns during the loss to the Rams. Plain and simple, the franchise responded poorly after the loss of Rodgers way back in Week 1, and it cost them the 2023 season.
