Asked & Answered, Week 13: You’re not imagining things, the NFL is more competitive than ever

Every week in the NFL season brings a host of new questions … and answers some old ones, too. Let’s run down what we learned in Week 13 … and what we’ll be wondering about in Week 14 and beyond.

ANSWERED: Yes, games are closer than ever

There’s a pretty good bell curve of teams’ records in the NFL — you’ve got two teams at 11-1, and three at 2-10, with the remaining 28 scattered across every win total in between. That’s all normal and standard. But the actual games themselves are closer than ever before. Twelve of 15 games played so far in Week 13 have been decided by seven or fewer points which, according to NFL research, is tied for the most in a single week in NFL history. Moreover, three separate teams — Minnesota, Indianapolis and Tampa Bay — all won their games in the final minute of the fourth quarter or in overtime.

Pretty tight, right? Not only that, there have been 106 games this season with a winning margin of seven or fewer points, and 92 won by six or fewer points, both the most of their respective totals through Week 13 in the history of the NFL. In addition, there have been 113 games decided by eight or fewer points, ranking second only to the 2022 season (114 games).

Put another way: You probably already know that the NFL’s parity is demonstrated by the fact that half of the playoff teams turn over every year. Now it’s obvious just how thin the margins are between success and failure in this league.

ASKED: How far can the Eagles go?

After Philadelphia stiff-armed a Ravens team that’s been discussed as a Super Bowl contender, it’s worth asking just how good this Eagles team might be. Saquon Barkley is the workhorse here — dude just casually threw down another 100+-yard rushing game Sunday — but every element of the Eagles’ attack is working right now.

Philadelphia is 10-2, riding a seven-game winning streak. Still ahead on Philadelphia’s schedule: the Panthers next week, the Steelers following that, and then three divisional games to close out the season. Thirteen wins aren’t out of the realm of possibility, and while that might not be enough to earn the NFC’s No. 1 seed, that total should be enough to claim a division title. And from there, who knows? The Eagles are lurking and chewing up the ground game right now, a dangerous kind of team to face in January.

ANSWERED: Fine, we believe in you now, Sam Darnold

Look, we’ve all been guilty of expecting the worst out of Sam Darnold. Comes with the territory when you’re talking about someone who still has the stink of Jet on him. (More on that in a minute.) But it might be time to concede that Darnold really isn’t going to detonate … at least, not until he gets the Vikings into the postseason. Minnesota is 10-2, and only Detroit’s spectacular run (more on that in a minute, too) is keeping the Vikings from a home playoff game and a potential first-round bye.

Sunday against Arizona, Darnold and the Vikings trailed 19-6 late into the third quarter and ended up winning 23-22, the very definition of a gutsy comeback. Darnold continues to rank among the league leaders in all the good passing categories, and he’s no longer being talked about as the stopgap solution and liability-in-waiting. Like some Minnesota quarterbacks of yore — ’sup, Kirk Cousins — he’ll need to prove himself in the postseason, but the fact that he’ll even get the chance to do so ranks as one of the great NFL career revivals of the 21st century.

ASKED: Are the Lions officially in Super Bowl-or-bust territory?

We have a sliding scale of expectation for our NFL teams. Any time the Jaguars or Titans get through a season — hell, a month — without lighting themselves on fire, it counts as a success. But if the Chiefs were bounced in the first round of the playoffs? Massive underachievement, massive failure across the board.

Accordingly, it’s now our duty to report that the Detroit Lions — yes, the team that put the L in “losing” — have graduated from the “just lucky to be in the mix” ranks and are now firmly in the “Super Bowl or nothing” camp. At 11-1, and absolutely beating the hell out of their opponents, the Lions have shed every shred of their previous chump identity. They’re in that perfect sweet spot right now, where we still find them charming as they’re finding a way to beat everyone they face. (Hell, they got a Chicago Bears coach fired in-season for the first time in franchise history.) This will become annoying in 2025, but this year, we can still root for ’em to succeed. If they don’t, though … well, as strange as it sounds to say about a Detroit team, a playoff run that ends short of the Super Bowl would be a disappointment.

You’ve got no one to blame but yourself for this one, Detroit. Yes, we’re as surprised as you are.

It must just burn the hell out of Jets fans to see Darnold and Geno Smith succeeding elsewhere, while at the same time seeing MVPs turn to absolute dog mess the moment that they don the green helmet of shame. On Sunday, Smith returned to MetLife Stadium, the same hellhole where he toiled for the first four years of his down-and-up career. The Jets had him and Seattle down by two touchdowns, only to see the Seahawks wriggle loose and win 26-21.

The Jets have lost eight of their past nine games, and with Buffalo, the Rams and Miami twice remaining on the slate, New York is looking at a catastrophic season. And even then, the Jets wouldn’t be as bad as their stadium-mates, who are on a seven-game losing streak of their own. There’s very little to be joyful about at MetLife these days — a combined 5-19 record — and very little hope for the immediate future, too. But hey, at least pitchers and catchers report in about two months.

ASKED: Was Anthony Richardson the answer all along in Indianapolis?

We’re big all-in gamblers here, mainly because it’s not our job on the line if a coaching call goes sideways. So when a head coach pushes all his chips to the middle the way Indianapolis’ Shane Steichen did on Sunday, we’re behind him all the way. Steichen’s Colts scored with just 12 seconds remaining to cut the road deficit against New England to 1 … and then Steichen gave the ball to Anthony Richardson to ice the game with a 2-point conversion:

That right there is faith in your young quarterback, and stones the size of Cybertrucks. (Worth noting: In this exact same scenario last week at home, Washington’s Dan Quinn opted to go for the extra point … and lost the game when the kick went wide.)

The Colts are 2-1, with a loss to Detroit, since Steichen re-installed Richardson as his starting quarterback. It’s a long way to go to the playoffs, and a short time to get there, but if Richardson can get the reps he so desperately needs, this season could end up being a step forward after all … and that sure didn’t seem to be the case for Indianapolis a few weeks ago.