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Bryan M. Bennett

At times, Week 13 made it fair to wonder what year it was. Russell Wilson was lighting up an opposing secondary. Geno Smith was chucking the ball around MetLife Stadium. The biggest showdown of the week <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/12/01/justin-tucker-ravens-eagles/" target=_blank>was between a pair of superstar running backs</a>. Here is what to know:

1. The Bills are built for playoff weather now

In the first week of November, Buffalo left tackle Dion Dawkins reflected on the eighth Bills team he has been part of. The defining trait of this version, he believed, was its pervasive happiness.

“This is a different team,” Dawkins said then. “Everybody is just happy all of the time. No complaints. Honestly, it’s because the sun is shining. When it’s sunny outside, everybody is happy. I haven’t seen that dark cloud that just lays over Buffalo just yet. But we’ll see. We’ll see how it goes when December 1st comes, when it’s real cloudy and mucky and they got to scrape ice off their windows.”

Dec. 1 arrived with a wicked storm cloud, and the Bills discovered the muck suits them just fine. In a majestic snowstorm, the host Bills annihilated the once-dominant San Francisco 49ers, 35-10, in a victory that clinched the AFC East title and showed what makes these Bills different from their predecessors.

For years a finesse offense, the Bills finally have a team designed to play in the nasty weather that occurs so often in their city. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady has emphasized the running game more than Ken Dorsey, the man he replaced last season. The Bills’ personnel reshuffling included the addition of multiple large, strong skill players — wideout Mack Hollins and rookie running back Ray Davis each scored a touchdown Sunday.

They still <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/11/16/josh-allen-buffalo-bills-chiefs/" target=_blank>revolve around Josh Allen</a>, who added a defining moment to his MVP résumé. Allen executed a hook and lateral with Amari Cooper that resembled a basketball give-and-go: He fired a quick pass to Cooper in the left flat, sprinted toward him, caught a lateral and dived into the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown. Allen became the fourth player in the NFL history to be credited with a passing touchdown and a receiving touchdown on the same play. For good measure, he added an eight-yard touchdown run that made it 35-10 and brought “M-V-P!” chants.

The 49ers, meanwhile, experienced another gut punch in a season of misfortune. Just as running back Christian McCaffrey began looking like his typical, explosive self, he suffered a knee injury and exited the game in the second quarter. The 49ers fell to 5-7 and saw their precarious playoff hopes flutter further away, like so many flakes of snow.

Russell Wilson threw a pick-six to Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first possession, which a few hours later stood as an odd way to begin one of the best days of his exceptional career.

Wilson rebounded from Pittsburgh’s snowy loss in Cleveland — and that interception — by throwing for 414 yards in a 44-38 victory that effectively eliminated the Bengals from playoff contention and maintained the Steelers’ place atop the AFC North. Wilson had exceeded that total only once in his 13-year career, in October 2017.

There were few signs such an explosion was coming. Even in his Seattle prime, Wilson rarely punched up massive statistical totals. With the Steelers, he had been piloting a ball-control offense, relying on his running game and short passes while making a few key throws per game.

Check out our <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/interactive/2024/nfl-playoff-odds-standings-predictions-2024-25/" target=_blank>updating season forecasts for every NFL team</a> — including playoff and Super Bowl odds, power ratings and projected win totals.

NFL Predictions

Against the Bengals’ dismal pass defense, though, Wilson was an explosive-play machine. He passed for 257 yards by halftime, the highest first-half total of his career. George Pickens caught a 36-yard moonball down the right sideline. Wilson fired a running, sidearm dart to Pat Freiermuth for a 25-yard touchdown. A remarkable eight Steelers receivers caught at least one pass that gained at least 20 yards.

Wilson won’t have another game like Sunday’s anytime soon. The Steelers probably wouldn’t even want him to. For one day, at 36, Wilson turned back the clock and threw the ball as well as he ever has.

Nick Wass

3. The Ravens have a Justin Tucker problem

The Eagles’ 24-19 statement victory over the Ravens in Baltimore included the dominance of Jalen Carter in the middle of the NFL’s best defense, the brilliance of Saquon Barkley and, for much of the afternoon, the Ravens’ defense rounding into form. The most lasting development may be the continued deterioration of Ravens kicker Justin Tucker.

The Ravens were forced to go for a fourth and eight on their side of the field with 6:18 left because they trailed 21-12 after Tucker had left seven points on the field with three misses. He doinked an extra point off the left upright, pulled a 47-yard field goal wide left and pushed a 53-yarder wide right.

Tucker’s struggles have persisted all season. He entered Sunday having made 17 of 23 field goals, a 73.9 percent success rate that ranked 28th in the NFL. Tucker, the best long-range kicker in league history, has made just 4 of 9 field goals from 50 yards or beyond. After a cosmetic late touchdown, Tucker’s extra point barely sneaked inside the right upright.

For most teams, a struggling kicker presents an annoying problem with a straightforward solution: Cut him and find a replacement among the many candidates who, if given a chance, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/12/09/nfl-kickers/" target=_blank>might become one of the most accurate ever</a>. The current depth and quality of kickers, including those on the periphery of the league, mean never having to trot out a lousy one.

The Ravens are not most teams because Tucker is not most kickers. Tucker may be the greatest kicker in NFL history, even if this season has cost him that title from a statistical standpoint. He was automatic from almost anywhere inside midfield for more than a decade. He was the rare kicker who gave his team swagger.

The equity Tucker has built demands the Ravens give him time to solve his problems. They also can’t allow that equity to undermine their realistic Super Bowl aspirations. To this point, Coach John Harbaugh has been steadfast that the Ravens are not considering a kicking change, reiterating his stance Sunday night that it “wouldn’t be wise.” He will have to ponder it now, whether the kicker in question is a legend or not.

Peter Joneleit

4. Azeez Al-Shaair deserves any punishment coming to him

If the NFL wanted to suspend Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair for the rest of the season after <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/12/01/trevor-lawrence-concussion-azeez-al-shaair/" target=_blank>his vicious cheap shot on Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence</a>, the league would be justified. Al-Shaair was immediately ejected in the second quarter of the Texans’ 23-20 win after he drilled Lawrence in the head as the quarterback slid at the end of a scramble.

Al-Shaair was about five yards from Lawrence as Lawrence began to slide. Al-Shaair had time to pull up. Instead, he launched into Lawrence’s helmet with the full force of his shoulder and forearm. Lawrence lay prone on the field, his arms involuntarily bent in the “fencing position” associated with brain injury.

Jaguars players pummeled Al-Shaair and started a brawl. Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones was also ejected, and multiple players were flagged. The fault belonged fully to Al-Shaair. The hit violated not only the rules but the covenant between players who engage in a dangerous sport that can leave their bodies broken long after they stop playing. “It’s everything you’re not supposed to do,” Fox analyst Daryl Johnston said over the replay.

Al-Shaair, a key part of Houston Coach DeMeco Ryans’s defenses since his days as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator, is a violent player who straddles the edge between aggressive and dirty — and sometimes crosses it. Earlier this season, Al-Shaair <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjZcgzJjx3I" target=_blank>punched a Bears player</a> on the sideline after his questionable hit on Caleb Williams ignited a scuffle. Al-Shaair was fined for the punch and probably would have been ejected then, too, had officials not missed it. His career has not granted the benefit of any doubts when it comes to injurious hits.

For Lawrence, the hit provided the scariest moment of a rotten season that had already been spoiled by a shoulder injury and general dysfunction in Jacksonville. Lawrence was quickly ruled out of the game with a concussion, but he was sitting upright as he rode off the field on a cart. With the Jaguars spiraling, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Lawrence sits out the remainder of his first season since he signed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/06/13/trevor-lawrence-contract-deal-jaguars/" target=_blank>a five-year, $275 million contract</a>.

Luke Hales

The Minnesota Vikings have not been a dominant team for the past two months, but they are still 10-2 because they continue to outperform expectations in close games under Coach Kevin O’Connell. The Vikings squeezed out another victory — and stayed on the heels of the Detroit Lions — with a two-minute drill touchdown to beat the Arizona Cardinals, 23-22, in Minneapolis.

The Vikings have played 47 games under O’Connell, one playoff game included, and 34 have been decided by one score. Those are coin flips for most NFL teams. The Vikings have gone 24-10, including 7-1 this season.

The Vikings trailed Arizona for nearly the entire game, and they didn’t lead until Sam Darnold hit Aaron Jones for a five-yard touchdown with 1:13 left. On fourth and five just before the two-minute warning, Darnold found Justin Jefferson for 12 yards. Coordinator Brian Flores’s defense forced the Cardinals to kick four field goals after reaching the red zone.

Time and again, the Vikings are prepared to make crucial plays and execute at their highest level when they most need to. The number of close games they play may indicate they are not one of the NFL’s elite teams. But their record in them is a reflection of the infrastructure O’Connell (with Flores’s assistance) has built.

6. Kirk Cousins has to be better than that

The Atlanta Falcons signed Kirk Cousins to a $180 million contract to provide a baseline of competence and a high floor. In a pivotal home game, Cousins’s inexplicably sloppy performance cost the Falcons in a 17-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers that left them barely clinging to the NFC South lead at 6-6.

The Chargers intercepted Cousins four times. Cousins was blameless for the final pick, a throw he attempted to desperately thread down the middle on fourth down with seconds remaining. But the first three interceptions, including a bizarre floater into a defensive backs meeting in the back of the end zone, put the Falcons in that position.

Cousins’s second interception, thrown in the third quarter, was taken back 61 yards for a touchdown by rookie cornerback Tarheeb Still and turned a 10-9 lead into a 17-10 deficit. Later in the fourth quarter, Cousins attempted to chuck a pass while in the grip of two pass rushers, resulting in a fumble that an offensive lineman recovered.

The Falcons’ defense held Justin Herbert without a touchdown. Given the massive salary and draft resources devoted to their offense, Atlanta needs to win at home when that happens. It couldn’t Sunday, and Cousins needs to answer for it.

Jacob Kupferman

7. The reclamation of Bryce Young has (possibly) begun

In mid-September, less than 20 games into his career, 2023 No. 1 draft pick Bryce Young seemed like a lost cause. By all appearances, he lacked the baseline physical stature and strength to play quarterback in the NFL. He oozed dejection with each step he took and every pass he threw. When the Carolina Panthers <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/09/15/is-bryce-young-getting-benched/" target="_blank">benched him</a> two weeks into the season, it felt more like mercy than punishment.

All of a sudden, having reclaimed his starting position only after Andy Dalton was injured in a car crash, Young seems as if he may have a future in Carolina. Young continued his resurgence in Carolina’s 26-23 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Young led the Panthers to a go-ahead touchdown with 30 seconds left in regulation, and he drove them into game-winning field goal position in overtime before running back Chuba Hubbard fumbled.

Young passed for 298 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions, which is becoming a typical game for him. In five games since he began starting again, Young has completed 60.4 percent of his passes and averaged 6.4 yards per attempt. The Panthers won two of those games and should have won Sunday.

He’s playing with the confidence and joy that defined him at Alabama before it disappeared in the NFL. He has been darting inside and outside of the pocket and throwing accurately on the turn. Early Sunday, he turned a broken third and five into a 10-yard touchdown scramble. The 3-9 Panthers are going nowhere this season, but in Young they suddenly have hope that they didn’t squander a No. 1 pick they traded up for.

The New England Patriots remain a rebuilding franchise with a shaky head coach and a hazy vision of future success after the Indianapolis Colts beat them, 25-24, when Joey Slye’s 68-yard — 68! — field goal attempt fell a couple of yards short. But Drake Maye continues to prove himself as a viable franchise quarterback, which means they have the most valuable asset a rebuilding team can acquire.

Anthony Richardson led the Colts on a game-winning touchdown drive, but Maye was the best quarterback on the field. He completed 24 of 30 passes for 238 yards and added another 59 yards on five rushes. Maye, 22, is younger than rookie of the year contenders Jayden Daniels (who turns 24 this month) and Bo Nix (who’s already 24).

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Maye’s excellent rookie season includes a fascinating — and telling — statistical achievement. The single-season record for yards per carry is 8.4, <a href="https://www.profootballhof.com/blogs/2011/03/blogs-for-petes-sake-football-and-feathers/" target=_blank>held by</a> Michael Vick of the 2006 Atlanta Falcons and wingback Beattie Feathers of the 1934 Chicago Bears. In his first nine NFL games, Maye has rushed 38 times for 345 yards, an average of 9.1. Presuming Maye gets the requisite carries to qualify, he could break the record.

Maye racks up yardage with long strides, which he showcased Sunday on a 41-yard scramble. It may be an obscure feat. But if you can break a record held by Michael Vick and a wingback, you have done something.

The late-afternoon showdown between Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry placed an emphasis on free agent running backs and how much good teams can benefit by acquiring one. While Barkley and Henry have been trading places as the favorite to be named offensive player of the year, Josh Jacobs has had a similar impact on the Green Bay Packers as Barkley and Henry have had on their contending teams.

Jacobs rushed for only 43 yards in Green Bay’s Thanksgiving night victory over the Miami Dolphins, but he scored a touchdown and caught four passes for 74 yards. Jacobs ranks third in the NFL in rushing yards (behind only Barkley and Henry) while carrying the ball 18.4 times per game, fifth in the league. Jacobs has provided the Packers a physicality they lacked — he was a primary reason the Dolphins were credited with missing 20 tackles Thursday night.

The Packers are built for playoff football with Jacobs. General Manager Brian Gutekunst made a difficult choice when he let Aaron Jones leave in free agency and signed Jacobs for more money, but Jacobs is a better fit for how Coach Matt LaFleur wants to pound opposing defenses.

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the final score of the Eagles' victory over the Ravens. The Eagles won, 24-19.

APSE Finalist, beat writing, 2017

Member of Pulitzer Prize team for breaking news, 2007

Syracuse University, attended 

Adam Kilgore covers national sports for The Washington Post. Previously, he served as The Post's Washington Nationals beat writer from 2010 to 2014.

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Bills dominate in snow in NFL Week 13; Russell Wilson cooks the Bengals

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What to know from NFL Week 13: The Bills are happy to let it snow

Russell Wilson cooks, the Vikings work more magic, Drake Maye has wheels, and Azeez Al-Shaair deserves to take a seat for his hit on Trevor Lawrence.