Top 10 storylines for NFL Week 13

Week 13 of the NFL season offers us a tremendous amount of stories that could help dictate how the season comes to a conclusion heading into December.

The Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders remain two of the most-surprising teams in the NFL. More than that, they have to be considered two of the best teams in the league through 12 weeks. Both are set to take on desperate squads that are looking to remain relevant in the playoff race.

Desperation might be too quiet of a word to use for a San Francisco 49ers squad that’s lost 10 consecutive games. Though, enigmatic quarterback Colin Kaepernick continues to prove naysayers wrong with what might be the best stretch of play of his career. The Kaepernick watch continues Sunday against a bad Chicago Bears team.

Meanwhile, a wide-open MVP race continues to take hold with two unsuspecting candidates playing central roles. How will this week’s action impact that aspect of the season?

These are among the top-10 storylines for NFL Week 13.

1. Raiders look to continue winning ways against desperate Bills team

This is one of those matchups we didn’t think was going to be so big this late in the season when the schedule itself came out. After all, here are the two teams with the longest playoff droughts in the NFL. Buffalo has not earned a trip to the postseason since the Bill Clinton Adminstration (1999). Meanwhile, the Raiders haven’t played meaningful January football since the 2002 season.

Oakland heads into this game having won five consecutive games and maintaining the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC. It hasn’t been a dominating performance from this surprising team. Instead, it’s been all about Derek Carr’s MVP caliber performance and his five fourth quarter comebacks this season.

The Raiders need to continue winning on a consistent basis if they are going to hold off the New England Patriots for the top seed in the AFC. More than that, they are just one game ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.

With those two teams set to meet in Kansas City next week and considering the Chiefs have already defeated the Raiders in Oakland, there might be some concern that Jack Del Rio’s squad will overlook Buffalo. That would be a major mistake.

The Bills have won two consecutive games themselves and are just one game out of the final wild card spot in the AFC. Needless to say, this is an absolutely huge game for Rex Ryan’s squad. A loss here, and the Bills can pretty much put an end to their playoff aspirations.

As New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees stated recently, the most desperate team on a given day usually comes out on top. Whether that’s the Raiders looking to maintain their status atop the AFC or the Bills attempting to remain viable is the biggest unknown here.

2. The week contenders are separated from pretenders

Last week saw the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers and Philadelphia Eagles lose what were considered must-win games for their playoff hopes. While not necessarily eliminated from playoff contention, these three teams are now facing uphill battles to become relevant once again.

The first Sunday of December action puts some other teams in this less-than-stellar situation.

We mentioned Buffalo as a team in desperation mode before. It’s currently one game behind the Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos for the final wild card spot in the AFC. Still three games behind New England in the division, this is the likeliest route Buffalo can take to make the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

Unfortunately, Week 13 provides Denver with a relatively easy game against a two-win Jacksonville Jaguars squad. At this point, it wouldn’t be too much of a reach to conclude Buffalo needs a win here to remain viable in the wild card race. After all, a loss could very well see the Bills fall two games back with four remaining.

Staying in the AFC, the Indianapolis Colts should welcome Andrew Luck back under center after he missed last week’s game with a concussion. It will come against a three-win New York Jets team on the road on Monday Night Football. At that point, Indy will know whether a win will pull it even with the Houston Texans in the AFC South.

On the same note, the Colts could also be put in a position where a loss will push them to two games behind Houston in the division and further behind the Tennessee Titans for second place.

We didn’t go as far to conclude that last week’s outing against the Detroit Lions was a must win for the suddenly fledgling Minnesota Vikings. Now that Mike Zimmer’s squad dropped its second game of the season to Detroit, we’re pretty comfortable calling Thursday’s game against the red-hot Dallas Cowboys a must win.

Minnesota currently sits a half game behind the Washington Redskins for the final wild card spot in the NFC. And while it is just one game behind Detroit in the division, that number might as well be two games with the Lions having swept Minnesota.

Equally as frustrating for the Vikings, they lose out on the tiebreaker with the Redskins for a wild card spot after losing to Kirk Cousins and Co. earlier this season. Needless to say, Minnesota must end the Cowboys’ 10-game winning streak if it wants to be considered a legit playoff threat heading into the final four weeks of the season.

3. Who is the NFL MVP?

This is a question that’s probably going to linger until the eve of the Super Bowl when NFL awards are announced. More so than in previous seasons, it really is up in the air. This is what makes the final month of the regular year so interesting.

Our money was previously on Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. And in reality, he hasn’t done much to change this perception. Following last week’s fourth quarter comeback, Carr has five to his name this season. He’s also leading the league’s second-best team while putting up 22 touchdowns compared to five interceptions.

With all five of the Raiders’ games left on the schedule coming against playoff contenders, Carr surely has the ability to add to his resume here. Should Oakland somehow finish as the top seed in the AFC, it would be hard to deny Carr’s credentials.

Though, there’s another youngster in the other conference that is definitely making a play for this most prestigious award. He goes by Zeke and he’s doing something we haven’t seen from a rookie running back since Adrian Peterson.

By now we all know that Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott is on pace to come close to Eric Dickerson’s single-season rookie rushing record. In fact, Elliot has put up an absurd 1,199 rushing yards in 11 games this season. He’s also on pace for 2,185 total yards and 18 touchdowns. These would be great numbers in a vacuum.

But what makes Elliott’s rookie season so darn impressive is the fact that he’s doing this while playing a central role on a Cowboys team that’s won 10 consecutive games and boasts the best record in the NFL. Not only this, Elliott is performing at this level while touching the ball nearly 40 percent of the time on an offense that’s scored the third-most points in the NFL.

If Carr and Elliott are the two favorites right now, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has to be the wildcard. Sure he missed the first four games of the season to suspension. That will force some to avoid voting for him as MVP altogether. But what Brady has done in the seven games he’s suited up is nothing short of amazing.

The future Hall of Fame quarterback is completing 68.4 percent of his passes for 2,201 yards and 18 touchdowns compared to just one interception. This dude enters Week 13 with a 116.7 quarterback rating. Just think about that for a second.

There will likely be others enter the conversation as the regular season draws to a close. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan surely deserves some consideration, as does Elliott’s teammate in Dallas, Dak Prescott. Though, what we see from the three mentioned above over the final five weeks should dictate the outcome of this wide-open race.

4. Pivotal game in Atlanta

Both the Kansas City Chiefs and Atlanta Falcons aren’t just jockeying for a playoff spot. They’re looking to grab home-field advantage and a division title moving forward in the regular season. The two solid teams will do battle Sunday at the Georgia Dome in one of the best games on the Week 13 slate.

At 7-4 on the season, Atlanta holds a one-game lead over the surprising Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South. It is just a half game behind the Seattle Seahawks for the No. 2 spot in the entire conference. Needless to say, this is a huge game for the Falcons.

The interesting thing here is that Atlanta boasts just a 3-2 record at home on the season. Compare that to a 4-2 record on the road, and there’s definitely something strange taking place.

With three of their final five games at home, it’s incumbent on the Falcons to take advantage of that home-field advantage.

On the other end of the spectrum, Kansas City is coming off a thrilling overtime win against the defending champion Denver Broncos on the road this past Sunday night.

It’s a game that saw rookie Tyreek Hill score a touchdown through the air, on the ground and on special teams.

Hill has added another dimension to a Chiefs’ offense that needed a shot in the arm due to the injuries both Jamaal Charles and Jeremy Maclin have suffered through this season.

In order for Kansas City to maintain its status as the top wild card team and remain just one game behind the Oakland Raiders in the AFC West, it will need to have success on offense here. After all, the Chiefs are taking on a Falcons squad that’s scored the most points in the NFL through 12 weeks.

This is where an under-the-radar matchup comes into play. Free agent signing Mitchell Schwartz and former No. 1 overall pick Eric Fisher have performed extremely well in protection of Alex Smith this season. Set to take on Vic Beasley and Co., it’s going to be important for this to continue. If not, the Chiefs will have a hard time keeping up with a high-scoring Falcons offense.

5. The AFC South dynamic

This division has been a bastion for weak teams inching into the playoffs simply because they have beat up on weaker competition within the division itself. Last season saw the Houston Texans earn the division title with a 9-7 record before being routed by the Kansas City Chiefs by the score of 30-0 in the wild card round.

The hope here is that history won’t repeat itself. Unfortunately, only one team, the aforementioned Texans, boast a winning record in the division heading into Week 13. Even then, Houston has been marginally better than average for most of the year.

It’s currently riding a two-game losing streak and boasts a quarterback in Brock Osweiler who has thrown more interceptions (13) than touchdowns (12) on the year. To make matters seem even more bleak for Bill O’Brien and Co., Osweiler has thrown one touchdown compared to four interceptions during this losing streak.

With the Texans set to travel to Lambeau to take on a desperate Green Bay Packers squad, there’s a decent chance they will lose a third consecutive game by the time Sunday concludes.

If that’s the case, Indianapolis has a prime opportunity to regain a share of first place following last week’s blowout loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Andrew Luck is set to return, and the Colts will be squaring off with a three-win New York Jets team. You can do the math there.

All the while, the hard-charging Tennessee Titans and super-soph Marcus Mariota will be sitting at home with their eyes glazed on what happens in the division.

Tennessee has won five of eight games heading into its bye with Mariota himself accounting for 23 touchdowns and just three picks during that span. There’s definitely a good chance Tennessee will be in a three-way tie for first when Week 14 comes calling.

6. The Colin Kaepernick watch continues

There’s a whole lot of moving parts here. Just a couple short months ago, most figured the San Francisco 49ers would be in a market for a quarterback near the top of the 2017 NFL Draft. They were trotting out a travesty of a signal caller in Blaine Gabbert while watching the enigmatic Kaepernick collect dust on the sideline.

Now, with five games remaining in the season, the one-win 49ers are playing out the string. They’ve lost a franchise-worst 10 consecutive games and are merely battling for positioning atop the draft. Though, there’s definitely one storyline we have to keep up on as the season draws to a conclusion.

Simply put, Kaepernick is playing the best football we have seen from him since he took over for Alex Smith as San Francisco’s starter back in 2012. It might not be translating to victories on the football field, but we must take note of what Kaepernick has done in his first six starts under first-year head coach Chip Kelly.

The much-maligned signal caller is averaging 302.2 total yards per game and has put up 11 total touchdowns compared to three interceptions. These are elite-level numbers right here.

The interesting dynamic here is that Kaepernick restructured his contract earlier in the season. This gave San Francisco the ability to move on from him following the 2016 campaign without having to take a dead money hit. It also enables Kaepernick to opt out of his contract and become a free agent.

Should the former Super Bowl quarterback continue to play at this high level, there will surely be suitors for him on the open market. It just remains to be seen how his national anthem protest and asking price might impact what will be a nice market for viable quarterbacks.

Sunday’s game against the hapless Chicago Bears could do a couple things in helping determine how this plays out. Chicago has won one more game than San Francisco, meaning a 49ers win here would push the Bears to the No. 2 overall pick behind Cleveland. Couple that with another stellar performance from Kaepernick, and the writing could definitely be on the wall for a return to San Francisco in 2017. That was unimaginable just a few short months ago.

7. Drew Brees’ historic performance

We shouldn’t be surprised this future Hall of Fame quarterback is putting up another stellar statistical season. After all, Brees has posted at least 4,800 passing yards and 32-plus touchdowns in each of the past five years. It is, however, surprising to see him improve at the age of 37.

Through the first 12 weeks of the season, Brees leads all NFL quarterbacks in completions (326), attempts (456), completion percentage (71.5), passing yards (3,587) and touchdowns (30). This is the NFL’s equivalent of the grand slam while being as rare as the Triple Crown. No quarterback has accomplished this feat since John Brodie all the way back in 1965. That’s just an amazing thing to look at.

While it hasn’t translated to a winning record on the football field, Brees has his Saints in playoff contention heading into Week 13’s matchup against the Detroit Lions.

Considering Detroit’s defense has yielded the highest completion percentage (74.0) and passer rating (106.4) in the NFL, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Brees pad his numbers here. If so, a win could be in the cards for the Saints at home against the NFC North leaders.

8. Giants take winning streak to Pittsburgh

Winners of six consecutive games, the New York Giants have called on future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning to help them prepare for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s an interesting dynamic to look at considering Peyton led his former Denver Broncos squad to a playoff win against Big Ben and the Steelers back in January.

Though, that might mean very little in the grand scheme of things. New York is playing better football than the Steelers. Having won six consecutive, the Giants now boast the second-best record in the NFC. And while the games have not exactly been well-played, winning that many in a row is indicative of a team that’s turning the corner from bottom-rung playoff contender to serious Super Bowl contender.

This isn’t to say it will be an easy test for the Giants heading into Pittsburgh to take on another first-place team. The Steelers may be playing inconsistent football, but they are definitely a different monster at home than on the road. And in reality, that starts with Ben Roethlisberger himself.

Thus far on the season, Pittsburgh is averaing 10 points more at home than on the road. As it relates to the Giants, they boast a surprising 3-2 record away from Jersey on the season.

It really is going to be strength going up against strength in this one. Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul is coming off a historical performance that saw him record three sacks, including this strip of Josh McCown that resulted in a touchdown (watch here).

He’s also set to take on a Steelers offensive line that’s yielded an absurdly low 3.7 percent sack rate over the past two seasons.

With New York looking to remain viable in the NFC East race heading into the final quarter of the season, it might not be about how Eli Manning performs.

Instead, the deciding factor here could entail a surprising Giants defense putting a stop to a high-flying Steelers offensive attack. Should that happen, New York will improve to 9-3 on the season with the Steelers dropping to under .500.

9. Jeff Fisher’s last stand in Los Angeles

The Rams’ brass might be saying all the right things publicly about Fisher’s job status, but it doesn’t take a genius to realize his hold on to the job is tenuous. Following last week’s embarrassing 49-21 loss to the New Orleans Saints, things are coming unhinged in Los Angeles right now.

After starting the season with a 3-1 record, the Rams have lost six of seven and are completely out of the NFC Playoff picture. In fact, the team seems to be regressing at a rapid clip. It was Case Keenum and an anemic passing game that was holding Los Angeles back before. Now, even after rookie Jared Goff threw three touchdowns last week, it appears that other areas of the Rams are regressing.

All said, Brees and the Saints put up 555 yards and seven touchdowns against the Rams’ defense. Remember, this is the same unit that held the Seattle Seahawks, Arizona Cardinals and New York Jets to a combined 22 points earlier in the season.

As much criticism as Fisher has received due to his handling of the quarterback situation, the performance of the Los Angeles’ defense could be the final nail in the coffin of his largely unsuccessful Rams coaching career.

All this while Fisher and his squad head to New England to take on Tom Brady and the Patriots. A second consecutive humiliating defeat might just doom Fisher to pink-slip status.

10. Cowboys to cement their status as NFL’s best team?

When a team wins 10 consecutive games, it might be time for the NFL to take said squad seriously. When that team boasts the league’s best record heading into December, this is magnified even further.

Some might want to discount the Dallas Cowboys as an over-achieving young team that will somehow find a way to hit a brick wall as the season progresses. After all, they are being led by two rookies in Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. Surely, one of them is going to drop off at some point soon. Right?

Well, through the first 12 games of the season, there simply doesn’t seem to be any evidence pointing in this direction. Maintaining his starting job over Tony Romo, Prescott continues to electrify onlookers. He’s now completing 67.9 percent of his passes and has tallied 23 total touchdowns compared to two interceptions on the season. Heck, the rookie fourth-round pick has put up 10 touchdowns and zero picks over the past four games.

Meanwhile, Elliott continues to prove himself as a legitimate MVP contender as a rookie. The former Ohio State standout is now on pace for nearly 2,200 total yards and will likely break Eric Dickerson’s single-season rookie rushing record.

Dallas will bring all this into Minnesota to take on slumping Vikings team. Should the Cowboys continue to win in front of what promises to be a huge nationally televised audience, it will surely be time to anoint Jason Garrett’s squad as the best the NFL has to offer heading into the final quarter of the season.