Steelers show they can win with offense, and what else we’re learning in Week 13

FOX Sports’ NFL experts provide the biggest takeaways from every Sunday game in Week 13 and what they mean for each team going forward.

Texans: We talk so much about the Texans’ offensive woes in the second half of games, but what about the defensive side of the ball? DeMeco Ryans’ unit is just as much at fault for the team’s season-long late duds. It happened again on Sunday. The Mac Jones-led Jaguars, who combined for 13 points the past two games, scored 14 points in the final few minutes of the fourth quarter, creating a nail-biting finish. Breakdowns by Houston’s defense piled up — just like against Tennessee last week, when the Texans allowed a 70-yard catch and run touchdown in the fourth quarter of their surprising loss, and against Detroit in Week 10, when Houston gave up 19 unanswered points in the second half. With a quarterback like C.J. Stroud and a running back like Joe Mixon, Houston can close any game. But scraping by is not a sustainable recipe for success against playoff-caliber teams in January. 

Jaguars: Is this the last we’ve seen of Trevor Lawrence this season? It has to be at least under consideration. He was quickly ruled out Sunday with a concussion after taking a late, vicious hit from Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, leading to the QB being carted to the locker room. And Lawrence had entered the game less than 100 percent, with a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder that forced him to miss the previous two games. Jacksonville has five games left in a season that’s going nowhere, Doug Pederson’s tenure as Jaguars coach is very likely over after the season — if not sooner — and the franchise is less than six months removed from its five-year, $275 million investment in Lawrence. So it makes sense to keep the QB on the shelf for the rest of the year, even if he’s healthy enough to finish 2024, and get him prepped for a resurgent 2025. — Ben Arthur 

Cardinals: It looked for much of the game like the kind of validating win that would elevate Arizona to a legitimate playoff team, but a late-game collapse puts the Cardinals back in the middle of the logjam atop the NFC West. Just as Arizona lost, the Seahawks rallied for a late touchdown to beat the Jets. That division is tight enough that one game could prove the difference between hosting a playoff game and missing the playoffs entirely. Going 1-for-6 in the red zone is something you can’t do against a playoff-caliber team, and it’s why Arizona lost and isn’t leading the West anymore. That makes next week’s home game against Seattle close to a must-win for the Cardinals. 

Vikings: Down 19-6 in the second half, Minnesota rallied to pull off a tough win behind their red-zone defense and Sam Darnold. Arizona outgained the Vikings in yardage big-time, but Brian Flores’ defense was strong in the red zone. Minnesota keeps the pressure on Detroit, and there’s a fine line between the fifth seed in the NFC as a wild card and the conference’s top seed and home-field advantage in the playoffs. It was a rare comeback win for Darnold, who had been 0-23 in his NFL career when trailing by 13 points or more. Unlikely wins like this — Minnesota won despite no Vikings player rushing for more than 22 yards — could be huge in January when the Lions and Vikings close the regular season against each other. — Greg Auman

Seahawks: In his time with the Jets and Giants, Leonard Williams was known as a good player who never had the impact expected from a first-round pick and big-money player. But the veteran defensive tackle sure showed what he is capable of in his return to the Meadowlands on Sunday. Williams had two sacks and a 92-yard interception return for a touchdown. One of his sacks even came on the Jets’ final drive, essentially sealing the game. He and the defense made up for a horrific day by Seattle’s special teams — three fumbled kickoffs (two lost), a blocked extra point and giving up a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. It wasn’t a great homecoming for former Jets quarterback Geno Smith either, but his defense gave him just enough room to go win the game. 

Jets: Continuing a trend that dates back to when Robert Saleh was still their head coach, the Jets are an undisciplined mess. They committed 12 penalties for 83 yards in their loss to Seattle. Incredibly, 10 of those penalties came in the second half. And even more incredibly, five of them came on Seattle’s game-winning touchdown drive — including one on the celebration. That certainly doesn’t reflect well on interim coach Jeff Ulbrich, whom Aaron Rodgers wants to become the full-time coach. Under Ulbrich, the Jets had been giving a generally strong defensive effort, but they’re not even close to good enough to overcome the barrage of penalties they committed on Sunday. New York nearly had the Seahawks stopped on their last drive — they were down to fourth-and-6 on their own 33. But back-to-back penalties — 12 men on the field and then pass interference on fourth-and-1 — kept Seattle’s hopes alive. The Jets have no such hope. — Ralph Vacchiano

Seahawks’ Leonard Williams on his dominant performance in win over Jets

Chargers: After giving up a season-high 30 points last week against the Ravens, the Chargers returned to their stingy ways defensively in a road win over the Falcons, holding Atlanta to just 13 points. The Bolts accomplished that feat by putting steady pressure on quarterback Kirk Cousins, who entered Sunday’s contest with eight interceptions against pressure. Cousins threw another four against the Bolts, including two by cornerback Tarheeb Still, who returned one for a score. The takeaways were L.A.’s first in four games, keeping them in the middle of the postseason conversation in the AFC heading into the final five weeks of the regular season. 

Falcons: Head coach Raheem Morris and his Falcons did not fix their issues during the bye week. And after his team’s third loss in a row — this one a heart-breaker to the Chargers — the Falcons dropped to the .500 mark and are in danger of not reaching the postseason after that seemed like a foregone conclusion a month ago. The Falcons have only themselves to blame. Kirk Cousins threw four interceptions, tying a career high. Playing with a hip injury, kicker Younghoe Koo missed a 35-yard field goal. Drake London dropped a pass late that would have put the Falcons in scoring position on the final drive of the game. Bottom line, Morris and his Falcons are reeling, with the Buccaneers nipping at their heels in the NFC South. — Eric D. Williams

Steelers: This was Russell Wilson’s best game since his Seahawks days: 414 passing yards are his most post-Seattle (second-most in his entire career) and his three touchdown passes match his most in the past three seasons. And for a Pittsburgh team that has largely won despite its offense this season, this was a prolific day. The Steelers piled up 520 yards and 44 points and just outpaced the Bengals for a key division win. Pittsburgh had offensive balance with Najee Harris rushing for 75 yards and a touchdown to help keep Joe Burrow off the field. With Pittsburgh having just a one-game lead on the Ravens, every win counts, especially with a crucial showdown in Baltimore looming in three weeks. 

Bengals: That really should do it for any surviving hopes of Cincinnati pulling off a playoff push in the final month of the season. At 4-8, the Bengals are one of the biggest disappointments of 2024, spoiling a strong season by Joe Burrow. In games in which a QB throws for 300-plus yards, has three-plus touchdown passes and one interception or fewer, Burrow is now 0-5 this year; the rest of the NFL is 8-1 in such games. The Bengals defense did little to stop the Steelers on Sunday, and this is their sixth loss in which they’ve given up 34 points or more, moving past Carolina for the most such games this season. Defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, once seen as a head-coaching candidate when Cincinnati was a Super Bowl team, now has a bottom-five defense. The Bengals are now 0-3 against Baltimore and Pittsburgh. By the time they face the Steelers again in Week 18, it’ll be too late to matter for their season. — Greg Auman

Colts: Anthony Richardson is dangerous: He’s a liability for opposing defenses … and for his own offense. Ultimately, I love to see the Colts finally sticking with him. And on their game-winning drive on Sunday, it was the Richardson show, both on the ground and in the air. With 12 seconds remaining, he threw a TD pass to Alec Pierce and then scored the 2-point conversion on a QB keeper. The Colts will live or die with Richardson for the rest of the season. If they can sneak into the playoffs, it’ll be because they let the second-year QB do a little bit of everything. And that’ll mean more mistakes like the two interceptions he had Sunday. His completion percentage won’t be a thing of beauty, but Indy has to like this scoreline. And the Colts couldn’t have done it without Richardson’s three touchdowns. 

Patriots: There’s a lot going wrong with the Patriots this year. And we’ve talked a lot about Drake Maye looking good despite the messy situation. But New England has a bright spot not named Maye. It’s Christian Gonzalez, the team’s CB1 and 2023 first-round pick. On a team that so badly needs young talent to emerge, Gonzalez has done exactly that. After returning from a shoulder injury that limited his rookie season to four games, Gonzalez has locked down some of the best receivers in the NFL this season. On Sunday, he made a play that could’ve helped the Patriots pull off a win over the Colts with a fourth-quarter interception on Anthony Richardson. The only problem was, Maye and company went three-and-out and the Colts scored the game-winner on the ensuing drive. — Henry McKenna

Titans: Right when you find a reason to be optimistic about the Titans, they find a way to disappoint you. Take Sunday’s game, Tennessee’s first since upsetting the Texans last week. Will Levis had his fourth straight strong performance, but that was merely a subplot as Tennessee couldn’t claw out of a four-score deficit it created for itself early in the second quarter. It was many of the same issues — offensive line penalties, disastrous special teams play — but new ones too, like Tony Pollard’s first lost fumble of the season and horrific run defense. The Titans’ infuriating inconsistency comes down to poor coaching. The team plays hard for first-year head coach Brian Callahan, but his growing pains are present on a weekly basis. 

Commanders: The Commanders have their mojo back, snapping a three-game skid with a 23-point victory, including a 28-0 first-half lead, and tying a season-high 42 points against a good defense. All that shows that Washington is ready to challenge the red-hot Eagles for the NFC East crown — with a run game that can take pressure off rookie QB Jayden Daniels. After failing to reach 100 rushing yards in two of their past three games, the Commanders had 267 (!) on Sunday, marking their season-high by a wide margin. Washington has its bye up next and then a date with the Saints, who are very beatable, before its rematch with the Eagles. Philadelphia is one of the hottest teams in football, but the Washington team that showed up this week can make the NFC East a fight. — Ben Arthur 

The following writers contributed to this story: Ben Arthur (@benyarthur); Greg Auman (@gregauman); Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis); Eric D. Williams (@eric_d_williams); Ralph Vacchiano (@RalphVacchiano); Carmen Vitali (@CarmieV).

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