NFL Game Recaps: Week 13, 2024

NFL Game Recaps of previous weeks and seasons can be found via links at the bottom of the page.

Lions 23, Bears 20

This result was unbelievable because the Lions looked like they were going to blow the Bears out of the water. They completely dominated the opening half. They moved the chains with ease, scoring on four separate drives. They weren’t as efficient in the red zone as usual, however, so they settled for three field goals. They also had a turnover inside the Chicago 5-yard line when Jahmyr Gibbs saw the ball pop out of his hands. Still, this was a lopsided affair in which Chicago didn’t take a single snap in the red zone until there was a minute remaining in the third quarter.

The Lions led 16-0 at halftime. The score could have easily been 23-0, or even 27-0, but they still had full control. Somehow, they scored just seven points in the second half. They saw Sam LaPorta drop a deep pass along the sideline and Jameson Williams ruin a drive with a taunting penalty. Meanwhile, the Bears started to claw back, slowly but surely. Caleb Williams, who spent the entire first half throwing incompletions and taking sacks, suddenly began connecting with Keenan Allen and D.J. Moore. Before long, this was a 23-20 game.

Detroit managed to pin Chicago down to its 1-yard line, but Williams got out of the bad situation with more completions to his top two receivers. The Bears moved into field goal range when the audience was able to watch one of the most befuddling sequences in NFL history. Williams took a sack on second down, but Chicago still had one timeout remaining. Instead of using it, or hurrying a play, the Bears opted to take their time getting back to the line of scrimmage, where Williams spent extra seconds signaling a play to his teammates. Williams snapped the ball with seven seconds remaining and took a deep shot. The pass took all seven seconds, and time expired. The Bears lost the game with one timeout in their back pocket while in field goal range.

The Lions didn’t cover, somehow, but still won their first Thanksgiving game in the Jared Goff era. Their second-half malaise was a bit troubling and reminded me a bit of their collapse versus San Francisco last January.

The Bears are now 4-8, but could be 8-4 if it weren’t for a quartet of late-game disasters. They’re going to be a great team next year once they find a head coach who knows how many timeouts each team receives in each half.

Cowboys 27, Giants 20

There were 47 points scored in this game, but this was not a pretty offensive performance by any stretch of the imagination. Fourteen of Dallas’ 27 points came on defense, while seven of New York’s points came in garbage time. The Giants committed 12 penalties, with most of the infractions occurring whenever there was a hint of any positive momentum. There was a ridiculous stretch just prior to halftime. Following the 2-minute warning, the Cowboys punted, and then the Giants punted, and then the Cowboys punted, and then the Giants failed to cross midfield despite securing three first downs.

The “fun” started when the Giants were up 7-6. Drew Lock attempted a screen pass, but the ball was tipped and picked by DeMarvion Overshown, who ran back the other way for six. Dallas’ other seven defensive points occurred when they were ahead 13-10. Lock was strip-sacked to begin the third quarter. The Cowboys moved to the red zone, but Cooper Rush fumbled into the end zone to presumably give the ball back to New York. However, replay review showed that Rush’s knee was down, giving Dallas another chance. Rush capitalized with a touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks to give the Cowboys an insurmountable two-touchdown lead.

The Giants, extremely limited with Lock and their own incompetence, couldn’t mount any sort of comeback. They finally got on the board with a few minutes remaining, but it was too little, too late.

The Cowboys have somehow won two in a row, but with a game coming up against the Bengals, their winning streak will surely end at two.

The Giants accomplished their mission of losing intentionally. With Trevor Lawrence returning, New York has a great chance of landing the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Check out my 2025 NFL Mock Draft for more.

Packers 30, Dolphins 17

Tua Tagovailoa told the media that he wanted to change narratives in this game. The narratives are that the Dolphins can’t beat good teams or win in the cold. Despite what Tagovailoa declared, everything has remained the same for Miami, as the team once again found a way to lose against a superior opponent in frigid weather.

The Dolphins made it easy for the Packers. They got a stop on the opening drive, but muffed a punt, which set up a “No Cookie” Jordan Love touchdown pass to Jayden Reed. On the ensuing Miami drive, Jonnu Smith ruined the possession with an unnecessary roughness penalty. Miami had to punt the ball away despite approaching midfield. The Packers turned the next possession into another touchdown, as they rammed the ball down Miami’s throat with Josh Jacobs to go up 14-0. A bit later, a holding penalty by the Dolphins disrupted a drive. Following another punt, Love hit Jayden Reed to extend the lead to 21-3.

Miami failed to regroup after halftime. On the opening drive of the third quarter, the Dolphins shot themselves in the foot with a false start, which the Packers turned into a field goal. The Dolphins finally got going with a touchdown and another possession that reached the Miami 1-yard line, but De’Von Achane was stuffed shy of the end zone before Tagovailoa took a sack on fourth down. The Packers once again turned this into a scoring opportunity to effectively end the game.

This loss hurts Miami’s playoff chances. Even if the Dolphins make the postseason, however, they have shown no evidence that they can beat any of the teams come January, especially if they have to play an outdoor game in the north.

The Packers will try to keep the momentum going next week in Detroit, which will be a revenge game after the Lions crushed them earlier in the season.

Chiefs 19, Raiders 17

The Chiefs were favored by nearly two touchdowns and were getting sharp action going their way prior to kickoff. It looked like they would be off to the races when they scored a touchdown on a Patrick Mahomes pass to Justin Watson and then kicked a pair of field goals to begin the second half. They were up 16-3, and the Raiders didn’t have anything going on with their backup quarterback, Aidan O’Connell.

The Raiders didn’t get the memo that they were supposed to get blown out, however. O’Connell began peppering Brock Bowers with targets. Bowers had minimal production in the opening half, but ended up with 10 catches for 140 yards and a touchdown. O’Connell’s 33-yard touchdown to Bowers drew the margin to within six. The Chiefs failed to strike back because of some drops, so the Raiders took over and then scored once again when O’Connell launched a 58-yard bomb in Tre Tucker’s direction.

Suddenly, Las Vegas was in front, 17-16. The Chiefs continued to shoot themselves in the foot with mistakes. Most prominently, the Chiefs saw drops from Travis Kelce, DeAndre Hopkins, and Xavier Worthy. They were at least able to put themselves in a position to kick a field goal, and because of an errant 58-yard kick from Daniel Carson, Kansas City had possession with slightly more than two minutes remaining. Following runs of five and three yards, the Chiefs had a third-and-2. Any first down would have concluded the game, so it was staggering to see Mahomes attempt a helpless deep shot to Worthy that fell incomplete. It was so puzzling that the Chiefs didn’t run the ball on third down, and then perhaps fourth down as well.

Thanks to Kansas City’s shockingly horrible decision-making, the Raiders had one more chance to prevail. O’Connell brilliantly moved the ball into field goal range via passes to Bowers and Jakobi Meyers, but rookie center Jackson Powers-Johnson snapped the ball before O’Connell was ready on third down. The Chiefs recovered the loose ball, ending the game.

It’s staggering how the Chiefs continue to prevail despite never winning by margin. They do not resemble any sort of Super Bowl contender, but this was the sentiment last year when they lost at home to the Raiders on Christmas.

You have to feel for the Raiders, who played their hearts out and still lost. However, this was for the best because the loss allowed the Raiders to preserve their draft positioning.

Redskins 42, Titans 19

The Redskins sleepwalked through their loss to the Cowboys, so they needed to rebound off their third-consecutive defeat. They did just that, making a statement in this blowout victory over the hapless Titans.

Washington got off to a quick start when Brian Robinson Jr., returning from an injury he suffered early last week, blasted past the defense for a 40-yard score. Following another touchdown, Tony Pollard lost his first fumble of the season, which set up Washington on a short field. Jayden Daniels capitalized with a touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin. The Titans fumbled the very next kickoff return. Following more mistakes – defensive holding, roughing the passer – Daniels once again hit McLaurin for a score, giving Washington an insurmountable 28-0 lead. The Titans scored some touchdowns in garbage time, but Washington was never threatened.

The Redskins did well to rebound from their three losses, including their embarrassing defeat versus Dallas. The important thing is that Daniels looked completely healthy, as his rib injury seems to be a thing of the past.

The Titans posted some garbage stats. Condolences if you went against Nick Westbrook-Ikhine in fantasy like I did.

Chargers 17, Falcons 13

Offensive fireworks were expected in this game with the total of 47 being the highest in the 1 p.m. window of Week 13. Yet, we saw the exact opposite in this game, with both defenses dominating in surprising fashion.

The first instance of the defenses being most prominent occurred following yet another Younghoe Koo missed field goal. The Chargers took over, but the Falcons forced a fumble on a backup running back, setting up a Bijan Robinson touchdown to give Atlanta a 7-0 lead. The Chargers answered with a field goal, but the Falcons were still up when Kirk Cousins threw a careless interception into triple coverage to set up a field goal.

This pick was the first of four Cousins threw in this game. His worst interception was a telegraphed pass on fourth down that was taken back for six. This gave the Chargers a 17-10 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. The Falcons trimmed the lead to four and then had a chance to take the lead when the Chargers failed on a foolish fake punt, but Cousins made another reckless pass into the end zone that was intercepted. Cousins’ fourth pick was in desperation mode on the final drive.

The Falcons are still in first place, but their lead has almost vanished. They’re now tied with the Buccaneers at 6-6, though they still have the tie-breaker due to the season sweep. Cousins has been anemic lately, though he’ll have a chance to turn things around against his former team, the Vikings, next week.

The Chargers won, but this offensive performance was troubling. Justin Herbert took way too many sacks (5) considering how weak Atlanta’s pass rush usually is.

Steelers 44, Bengals 38

There were 48 points scored in this game – in the opening half alone. This contest was not a complete shootout as the 27-21 halftime score would indicate, however. Both defenses had an impact in that early result.

It all started on the initial score of the game, which was a pick-six. Russell Wilson threw it, but the Steelers had legitimate reason to be upset because George Pickens was thrown to the ground on the attempt. Pittsburgh was able to get on the board after that when Wilson found Pickens for a touchdown, but Cincinnati answered back after that when Chase Brown was shot out of a cannon for a 40-yard gain to fall down at the 1-yard line. He scored on the next snap. The two teams exchanged touchdowns after that, but when the Bengals went up 21-14, that was the last time they had the lead. Pittsburgh’s defense came up big when T.J. Watt strip-sacked Joe Burrow to set up a field goal to give Pittsburgh its first lead of the game.

The Steelers completely dominated this game in the second half. Wilson caught fire and was unstoppable on passes to Pickens, Pat Freiermuth, and Jaylen Warren. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh’s defense intercepted Burrow and then returned a lost fumble on another strip-sack for a touchdown to really blow open this game. The Steelers led 44-31 before Cincinnati scored a garbage-time touchdown.

No one should be surprised that Pittsburgh won this game. Mike Tomlin is great as an underdog, and he usually rebounds off a loss. He did well to bounce back from the Thursday loss to the Browns.

The Bengals continue to lose despite being expected to rebound. Their defense is too horrendous to allow Burrow and company to win against good teams.

Colts 25, Patriots 24

The Colts prevailed at the very end, but they had no business winning this game. The Patriots held the lead for a chunk of the second half, and they outgained Indianapolis by a wide margin. The Patriots had 442 net yards and averaged 6.5 yards per play compared to the Colts, who had 253 yards and 4.4 yards per play.

New England ended up losing because of constant red zone miscues. Rhamondre Stevenson scored an early touchdown to put his team ahead, but a hold negated the score. This was the first of many holding calls that negated scores and ruined drives. The Patriots ended up being called for seven penalties, compared to two by Indianapolis. Making matters worse, Joey Slye missed a 25-yard field goal just prior to halftime. New England was otherwise able to move the chains effectively via the run with Stevenson, Antonio Gibson, and Drake Maye. Meanwhile, the defense came up big with two interceptions. One came on a tip, while the second occurred when Anthony Richardson telegraphed a throw to Alec Pierce.

Richardson had a chance to redeem himself at the end. Down 24-17, Richardson was able to draw an interference flag on an intermediate throw and then hit Pierce with a touchdown on fourth down to conclude a 19-play drive. Shane Steichen had no desire to go to overtime, as he opted to keep his offense on the field following the score. Richardson ran into the end zone for the two-point conversion to give Indianapolis a 25-24 victory.

With the Bengals and Dolphins losing, the Colts appear to have the best shot at potentially overtaking the Broncos for the No. 7 seed. Richardson will need to play better moving forward; despite his final drive, he completed only half of his passes, and barely threw for 100 yards.

The Patriots had a great result. They showed some promise for the future and still lost to preserve their draft positioning.

Vikings 23, Cardinals 22

The Vikings and Cardinals exchanged field goals early in the game, but Arizona was able to open up a 19-6 lead in the third quarter with Kyler Murray throwing strikes to Trey McBride before hitting Marvin Harrison Jr. for a touchdown. With the Vikings struggling to run the ball the entire afternoon – which includes an Aaron Jones lost fumble – it didn’t seem as though they had much of a chance to come back from their 13-point deficit.

Sam Darnold, however, put together a nice drive to respond to the Harrison Jr. touchdown. He found Johnny Mundt for a touchdown and then retained possession when Murray threw a careless interception after doing an odd 360 pirouette. The Vikings tacked on a field goal to draw to within 19-16. Murray was able to redeem himself with a great third-and-12 conversion to McBride, but the draw stalled with another field goal.

Down six, the Vikings had one more chance to prevail. Things looked bleak when Darnold was stuck in a fourth down, but he moved the chains on a throw to Justin Jefferson. He then fired a touchdown pass to Jones to take the lead. The Cardinals still had time, but they were in a tough spot when Jonathan Greenard sacked Murray to force a third-and-long. Two plays later, the game ended when Murray was picked on an underthrown pass.

The Vikings are now 10-2, and they’re 5-1 ever since Christian Darrisaw suffered an injury. This was the best team Minnesota has played since that injury, but there are tougher opponents on the horizon.

The Cardinals have dropped to 6-6, but they composed themselves well in a tough spot. They have a huge game against Seattle next week.

Seahawks 26, Jets 21

Special teams are seldom the focus of these recaps, but this game was mostly decided by special teams. Neither the offense nor the defense were nearly as impactful as what transpired on a quartet of kick returns in the opening half.

Down 6-0, the Seahawks were set to receive a kickoff, but they lost a fumble to set up a short field for New York. The Jets quickly turned that into a touchdown to go up 14-0. Laviska Shenault then muffed the ensuing kickoff. He recovered, but put the Seahawks into a poor field position. Seattle actually scored on the drive, but then had to kick off, per NFL rules. The kickoff was returned for a touchdown to give the Jets a 21-7 lead. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Shenault fumbled the ensuing kickoff to give the Jets another short field.

New York, however, didn’t capitalize on that final fumble. Aaron Rodgers missed an open Garrett Wilson for a touchdown and then threw a reckless pass in the red zone that was picked and taken back for six by Leonard Williams. There was a special-teams fiasco associated with this, naturally, as the extra point was blocked, but the Seahawks trimmed the margin to eight.

It was all Seahawks in the second half. Special teams stopped being a factor, so the Jets couldn’t produce any points. Rodgers was under heavy pressure from Williams, while Breece Hall lost a fumble at midfield. The Jets spent the entire second half sabotaging themselves with penalties, as they committed 10 infractions following halftime alone. Meanwhile, the Seahawks scored enough points to take the lead at the end even though they had a mishap where Geno Smith took a horrible sack on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Seattle bounced back, and Zach Charbonnet converted on a touchdown to win at the end.

If it wasn’t already apparent, the Jets are done. It’s staggering that they’re 3-9 with all their talent, but they truly are the worst-coached team in the NFL.

The Seahawks continue to play above expectations. Unlike the Jets coaches, the Seahawks are getting the most out of their players. They need to clean up their special teams, however.

Texans 23, Jaguars 20
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: Shout out to Joe Mixon, who eclipsed 100 rushing yards on the final real play of the game. We had Mixon at 100+ rushing yards at +200 on our NFL Picks page, and he got there at the very end.

The Texans needed a slump buster, so the road trip to Jacksonville was well-timed. Houston put up a big lead and then held on with a late comeback attempt by the Jaguars. Improving to 8-5, the Texans maintain control of the AFC South, and Jacksonville held their positioning to land the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Jacksonville welcomed Trevor Lawrence back to the field after missing action with an AC joint injury, but Lawrence didn’t make it to halftime before a dirty hit by Azeez Al-Shaair knocked him out of the game. At this point, Jacksonville should consider shutting down Lawrence, as there is nothing to play for with the Jaguars at 2-10 on the season.

The first quarter saw both teams get work in for their punters as promising drives fizzled. Midway through the first half, C.J. Stroud connected with Nico Collins on a 30-yard completion, producing a field goal for Houston. Texans cornerback Derek Stingley dropped an interception on the first drive, but the second time was not so lucky for Lawrence as Stingley picked off an underthrown deep ball. Stingley returned the interception 32 yards to midfield, but the Jaguars defense stepped up again to force a field goal. On the ensuing Jacksonville possession, Lawrence took off on a run, and while sliding, he took a brutal, dirty hit from Al-Shaair. Lawrence was carted off the field, and Al-Shaair and others were ejected for fighting after the play.

Early in the third quarter, Brian Thomas got open on a short cross and exploded down the sideline for a 56-yard gain. Backup quarterback Mac Jones missed an open receiver in the end zone, and that caused the Jaguars to settle for tying the game at six. Houston quickly took the lead back with a completion to Collins and some gains from Joe Mixon, including a 7-yard touchdown run. The Texans added a field goal to go up 16-6 entering the fourth quarter, and shortly into the final period, Jacksonville had busted coverage, leaving Dalton Schultz wide open for a 22-yard touchdown. Midway through the fourth quarter, a Houston defensive back fell down, leaving Parker Washington wide open for a 22-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion failed, and the Texans maintained a 23-12 lead. Jones later tossed a short touchdown to Thomas with a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 23-20. Houston got a few first downs to run out the clock and clinch the win.

Rams 21, Saints 14
By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

EDITOR’S NOTE: I’m glad we got this pick right, but what happened to Cooper Kupp? Three catches for 17 yards in the best matchup possible?

The Rams improved to 6-6 to stay in the NFC West divisional race with a road win in New Orleans. The Saints fell to 4-8, but a win over Los Angeles could have put New Orleans back in the NFC South race, given the struggles of Atlanta and Tampa Bay. While the Saints shortened the game, they didn’t have the talent to limit the Rams long enough.

The Saints took the opening drive into Los Angeles territory, and Ben Grupe drilled a 54-yard field goal. The rest of the first half was a punt fest, and New Orleans ate up the clock with a ground offense that drained the clock as much as possible to keep the Rams offense on the sideline. The result was the first time a Sean McVay Rams team was held pointless in the first half. New Orleans added a late field goal, to be up 6-0 entering the third quarter.

To open the third quarter, Los Angeles went down the field, and Kyren Williams put the Rams in front with a short rushing touchdown. Shortly later, Matthew Stafford hit a 46-yard completion to Demarcus Robinson to set up a first-and-goal. To finish the drive, Stafford threw a short strike to Robinson for a touchdown to put the Rams up 14-6 at the start of the fourth quarter.

The Saints quickly answered with Derek Carr lofting in a perfect 29-yard touchdown to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Dante Pettis made a phenomenal catch for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 14. Los Angeles responded with a drive, moving down the field and scoring on short a wide receiver screen to Puka Nacua. Late in the fourth quarter, the Saints moved down the field and got inside the Rams 15. However, the Los Angeles defense came through with three stops of Alvin Kamara and a Jared Verse strip of Derek Carr on fourth down to clinch the win for Los Angeles.

Buccaneers 26, Panthers 23

The Buccaneers were near-touchdown favorites against the Panthers, but Carolina didn’t get the memo because it led for a big chunk of this game. Tampa Bay went up 7-0 early, but the Panthers fought back with Bryce Young constantly moving the chains without the help of a running game. The Buccaneers couldn’t produce any sort of pressure on Young, who made some terrific throws to give his team a 13-10 lead at halftime, thanks to Baker Mayfield throwing an interception just prior to intermission.

The Panthers extended their lead to 16-10, while things looked bleak for the Buccaneers when Mayfield got hurt on a third-down sack. He missed a snap and then reentered the game, but perhaps he should have stayed out longer because he tossed another pick on a throw behind his receiver. Tampa Bay, however, was able to re-take the lead with some terrific Bucky Irving runs. The Buccaneers went up 20-16, but a bad kickoff gave the Panthers the ball at the 40-yard line. Chuba Hubbard lunged for a first down, and then Young threw what appeared to be the decisive touchdown to Adam Thielen.

Down 23-20, Mayfield shook off the prior injury to move into field goal range, thanks to a heroic scramble. The field goal was good, and the game went to overtime. Tampa Bay had a chance to win the game on a kick, but the attempt was missed. The Buccaneers, however, were able to get the ball back because of a lost fumble by Chuba Hubbard in field goal range, and they moved closer on an explosive 38-yard run by Rachaad White. This time, Chase McLaughlin was good, giving Tampa Bay the win.

The Buccaneers have rallied all the way back to 6-6. They’ll have a chance to walk away from Week 14 with a winning record because they’ll be taking on the Raiders.

Though the Panthers lost, they have to feel encouraged by how well Young has played the past two weeks. With a great draft choice, the Panthers might be able to obtain the best defensive player in the class. Check out the 2025 NFL Mock Draft for more.

Eagles 24, Ravens 19

This game did not look like it would go Philadelphia’s way to start. The Ravens kicked an early field goal and then scored a touchdown when Lamar Jackson threw the ball up for grabs to Mark Andrews in the end zone. The extra point was botched, but Baltimore still looked good with a 9-0 lead in the opening quarter, as the Eagles couldn’t muster anything offensively.

Things changed in the second quarter, as Jalen Hurts got into a rhythm. He delivered strikes to A.J. Brown and Dallas Goedert, with the latter hauling in the initial Philadelphia touchdown. Hurts then scored on a patented Tush Push to go up 14-9. The Ravens inched closer with a field goal prior to halftime, but could have gone up had Tucker not missed another kick. Still, things did not go as well for Jackson as it did in the first quarter, as Philadelphia’s defense was able to swarm him and shut down Derrick Henry.

While Henry was hindered for most of the game, the opposite was true for Saquon Barkley. The Eagles didn’t run all that well with Barkley to start, but they continued to feed the ball to him in the second half. He finally cracked through the tough Baltimore defense with big gains. He perhaps cemented his MVP status with an impressive touchdown run to give the Eagles a 24-12 lead, as Tucker missed another field goal to hurt Baltimore’s chances. The Ravens scored one more touchdown, but that occurred in the final seconds of garbage time.

While Barkley may have come close to clinching MVP, the Eagles perhaps established themselves as the best team in the NFL. Both the Lions and Chiefs nearly lost to sub-.500 teams this week, while Philadelphia had a double-digit lead at Baltimore.

It’s not often that the Ravens lose to an NFC team, but the Eagles are obviously familiar with scrambling quarterbacks. They did a great job on Jackson for most of the game in this impressive victory.

Bills 35, 49ers 10

This game was over before it even began. There was a massive blizzard in Buffalo the night prior to this contest. There wasn’t much snow expected for this game, but that turned out to be wrong, as the snow and wind were huge factors from start to finish. This obviously was a huge benefit to the cold-weather Bills over the West Coast 49ers.

As if the weather wasn’t bad enough, the 49ers dealt with a couple of major injuries on top of those they already had prior to kickoff. Christian McCaffrey suffered a non-contact injury to his calf at the beginning of the second quarter, so the 49ers lost a big part of their passing game. Soon after, Fred Warner limped off the field. He eventually returned to action, but it was clear that he wasn’t 100 percent, as he had issues chasing around Josh Allen and the Buffalo backs, who constantly picked up big gains in the snow.

The Bills carried a 21-3 lead into halftime. The 49ers had a chance to trim the margin to 11 after the break, thanks to a long kickoff return, but Kyle Juszczyk fumbled at the goal line. Buffalo had better luck in enemy territory after that. Allen threw a pass to Amari Cooper, who made a terrific one-handed catch and then lateraled the ball back to Allen, who scored a “receiving” touchdown. Allen ran into the end zone for a score shortly after that following a Brock Purdy lost fumble.

With the Chiefs struggling to beat bad teams, the Bills appear to be the best team in the AFC right now. It helps that Matt Milano has returned from injury.

San Francisco’s free fall continues. The team needs Trent Williams and Nick Bosa to return before it’s too late.

Broncos 41, Browns 32

No one expected a 41-32 shootout between the Browns and the Broncos, but that’s exactly the sort of game this thriller turned out to be. There were two instances where it was apparent that the Browns would be able to keep pace with Denver throughout the entire evening. The first occurred just prior to halftime when Jameis Winston threw a telegraphed pick-six to Nik “Casa” Bonitto to put the Broncos up 21-10. Rather than sulking into the locker room, Winston responded valiantly with a touchdown drive where he threw several impressive strikes to trim the margin to 21-17.

The other instance occurred right after intermission. Just as ESPN color analyst Troy Aikman was criticizing Bo Nix for not seeing the field well, Nix zipped a 93-yard touchdown to Marvin Mims to go up 28-17. On the very next play, Winston loaded up a deep touchdown bomb to Jerry Jeudy to draw to within 28-25. Jeudy was catching deep passes all night, and whenever he made a big play, he was sure to taunt the Denver crowd, as if he didn’t waste several years dropping countless passes with the Broncos. Jeudy was incredible, and it’s puzzling as to why Patrick Surtain II didn’t shadow him.

The Broncos maintained the lead for most of the second half, but Nix made a mistake by throwing an interception on a deep shot. Winston responded with a great drive to take a 32-31 lead. Denver answered with a lengthy drive, but stalled on fourth-and-short in the red zone. Sean Payton made a curious decision to call a timeout and then attempt a short field goal, which seemed like a losing move. However, Winston failed to respond with another scoring drive, heaving a second pick-six instead to clinch the victory for Denver.

Aside from the two pick-sixes, which is part of the complete Jameis Winston Experience, Winston was incredible in this game. He threw for nearly 500 yards against Denver’s usually excellent defense. The Broncos really missed second-year cornerback Riley Moss, as Winston targeted his replacement on many opportunities. If the Browns are dissatisfied with this mediocre quarterback draft class, they may opt to go with Winston as their starting quarterback next year.

The Broncos will go into their bye at 8-5. They’ve exceeded expectations, but the schedule will be difficult following the idle week.