The NFL season is coming down the home stretch. With only a Monday Night Football game and four weeks to play, the playoffs are no longer in a distant place. Still, so much can and will change between now and New Year’s Eve for all the contenders. This week, we saw a bevy of teams unexpectedly lose while others took control and put themselves in prime position for a postseason run.
Here are five things we learned from Week 13:
1. The Philadelphia Eagles will win the NFC East
Philadelphia entered Thanksgiving tied atop the NFC East with the Dallas Cowboys at 8-3. It stood to reason that the two teams would split their matchups, with each winning at home. Instead, Philadelphia pummeled Dallas, winning 33-10 at AT&T Stadium and crushed the hopes of America’s Team.
The Eagles have a favorable schedule ahead with their two remaining road dates against the Giants and Redskins. Even if Philadelphia loses to Dallas at home but wins the other divisional contests, it will hold the tiebreaker over the Cowboys. Philadelphia would do well for itself to beat the Seahawks at home this week, almost guaranteeing a division crown.
2. The Pittsburgh Steelers are impossible to gauge
Pittsburgh has beaten the Ravens and Colts, while losing to the Saints (at home), Jets and Buccaneers. The Steelers were 7-4 coming into Sunday and looked primed to reach 8-4 with a home game against the New Orleans. Instead, the defense played miserably, Ben Roethlisberger was erratic and the team fell to 7-5.
Pittsburgh has a very hard schedule left with two games against the Bengals, along with the Falcons and Chiefs looming. The Week 16 game versus Kansas City might be a de facto playoff game, although a loss this week at Cincinnati and a trip to the Georgia Dome could spell doom for the Steelers before then.
3. Drew Stanton is killing the Arizona Cardinals
Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians proclaimed that Stanton is good enough to lead Arizona to a Super Bowl when Carson Palmer tore his ACL. Fast forward two games, and two losses, and I doubt Arians would have the same confidence.
Stanton has been brutal against the Seahawks and Falcons. The offense has combined for one touchdown in those contests and has generally been unable to sustain drives. All of a sudden, Arizona is 9-3 and with games remaining against the Seahawks, 49ers, Chiefs and Rams, it is not ridiculous to say the Cardinals will miss the playoffs.
4. The San Diego Chargers are still alive … for now
San Diego pulled off a thrilling 34-33 win over the Ravens on Sunday at Baltimore, climbing to second place in the AFC West with an 8-4 mark. The Chargers are currently the No. 5 seed in the crowded AFC and only a game behind the Denver Broncos for the division lead.
However, San Diego has the toughest remaining schedule in football. The Chargers come home the next two weeks for the Patriots and Broncos before heading on the road to play the 49ers and Chiefs. San Diego will likely need to win at least one of the next three games and beat Kansas City at Arrowhead in Week 17.
5. The Cleveland Browns are cooked
Head coach Mike Pettine finally did it. The first-year man replaced Brian Hoyer with Johnny Manziel during Cleveland’s 26-10 to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, leading to the Manziel era getting underway. Pettine has not announced a starter for Sunday, but there is no way Hoyer will be starting after getting yanked.
At least now the Browns have some clarity. Cleveland will allow Hoyer to walk after this year and ride with Manziel, hoping Johnny Football is worth the first-round pick it spent on him. At 7-5, the Browns won’t get to 10 wins with contests against the Bengals, Ravens and Colts remaining, especially with Manziel at the helm.