One pass short
| Week 13 results | ||||
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| 119-74 9-4 |
124-69 10-3 |
116-77 6-7 |
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| Thursday, November 30, 2023 | ||||
| Seattle @ Dallas | Dallas | Dallas | Dallas | |
| Sunday, December 3, 2023 | ||||
| L.A. Chargers @ New England | L.A. Chargers | L.A. Chargers | L.A. Chargers | |
| Detroit @ New Orleans | Detroit | Detroit | Detroit | |
| Atlanta @ N.Y. Jets | Atlanta | Atlanta | Atlanta | |
| Arizona @ Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | |
| Carolina @ Tampa Bay | Tampa Bay | Tampa Bay | Tampa Bay | |
| Indianapolis @ Tennessee | Indianapolis | Indianapolis | Tennessee | |
| Miami @ Washington | Miami | Miami | Miami | |
| Denver @ Houston | Denver | Houston | Denver | |
| Cleveland @ L.A. Rams | L.A. Rams | L.A. Rams | Cleveland | |
| San Francisco @ Philadelphia | San Francisco | San Francisco | Philadelphia | |
| Kansas City @ Green Bay | Kansas City | Kansas City | Kansas City | |
| Monday, December 4, 2023 | ||||
| Cincinnati @ Jacksonville | Jacksonville | Jacksonville | Jacksonville | |
| Byes: Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago, Las Vegas, Minnesota, N.Y. Giants | ||||
| © 2023 Gehlke Bros. Football | ||||
It is said that football is a game of inches — inches and seconds, with perhaps a wee bit of luck thrown in. Some days you have it and some you don’t. When you’re in the midst of a winning streak, as the Junior Bro finds himself lately, it might seem that all the lucky breaks go your way. And when you’re mired in a losing streak, the depths of which remain to be seen… well, it often feels like you’ll never win again.
Week 13 was like that. It all rested on one game Sunday morning between the Broncos and Texans — two teams with identical records in the playoff hunt that just a few weeks ago both appeared to be going nowhere. That was before Denver put together a 5-game win streak, its longest in eight years, and Houston found its rhythm behind rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud.
The home Texans brought their A-game Sunday, jumping out to a 13-0 lead before the Broncos kicked a field goal to get on the board late in the second quarter. It appeared to be a lopsided game in the making, but somehow the Broncos stayed in it as veteran QB Russell Wilson overcame earlier mistakes and methodically brought his team up the field to make it a 22-17 game after taking the ball into the end zone himself early in the fourth quarter. Suddenly the Houston defense looked vulnerable, and when the Texans failed to score on a late drive and gave the ball back to Wilson and company, the Broncos ground down the clock while marching to a 1st and goal at the 8 yard line with 23 seconds to play.
But the Broncos could get no further. Following an incomplete pass to Adam Trautman at the back of the end zone, Wilson set up for one more potential game-winning strike, this time sailing a pass over the head of Courtland Sutton. The third time was not a charm for the Broncos. A confused play found Wilson chased out of the pocket and he sailed an awkward pass toward Lucas Krull at the left side of the end zone where it was… caught! — but not by Krull. Texans Safety Jimmie Ward deftly reached in front of Krull and picked off the pass to seal the 22-17 win for Houston, and another heartbreaking loss for the Senior Bro.
With the win, Sean expanded his lead in the Surfy Standings to 5 games with just five weeks remaining. His 10-3 record paced the field in a bye-shortened week that saw eight teams win on the road. Glenn took second place at 9-4, but moved up a spot in the overall standings by virtue of a forgettable weekend for King Chaos; Ben’s 6-7 record dropped him to 8 games off the pace. We all correctly picked Dallas, the L.A. Chargers, Detroit, Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Miami as winners. No one correctly predicted wins by Arizona, Green Bay or Cincinnati.
