Long considered the NFL’s laughing stock, the Carolina Panthers have turned into giant-killers, ending a six-game streak of arguably the best team in the league.
A huge brawl broke out in the Jaguars’ win over the lowly Titans following a brutal hit on a star quarterback.
Meanwhile, NFL fans have been left shocked after the Texans were awarded a missed extra point, which could have proved extremely costly.
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Read on for the Week 13 NFL Wrap!
RISE OF CAROLINA CONTINUES AS RAMS STUNNED
Entering Week 13, the LA Rams were the hottest team in football.
With a 9-2 record, they were first in the NFC and their quarterback Matthew Stafford in the midst of a historic run of form.
Coming up against the hot-and-cold Panthers, the Rams were expected to win, having been installed as 11-point favourites.
That didn’t deter Carolina though. Not only did they go toe-to-toe with the high-powered Rams offense, they caused one of the biggest upsets of the season.
QB Bryce Young has had a chequered career since being made the No. 1 overall pick in 2023, but this season, he’s certainly shut some doubters up.
With the Panthers trailing 28-24 with seven minutes left in the game, Young dropped a beautiful deep ball into the hands of standout rookie wide reciever Tet McMillan for a 43-yard touchdown.
It gave Carolina the lead, but also plenty of time left for the Rams to counter.
Thankfully for Panthers fans, their defence once again came to the fore when needed and were able to keep the Rams from scoring.
The Panthers defence gave Stafford fits all day.
It looked ominous for them early when the Super Bowl-winning QB broke the NFL record in the first quarter for consecutive TD passes without an interception.
When Stafford linked up with Davante Adams, it was 28 touchdown passes without a pick.
Carolina flipped the script though. They forced three interceptions from the MVP favourite.
The Panthers’ win means there is now an unlikely team atop the NFC standings.
The Chicago Bears’ record of 9-3 is good for first spot, with the Rams now second in the conference.
Like the Panthers, the Bears have been ordinary for the last few seasons, but the hiring of rookie head coach Ben Johnson has sparked a massive turnaround.
TEXANS SURVIVE AFTER LUCKY BREAK
In bizarre scenes, a missed extra point attempt was somehow ruled successful during Houston’s statement 20-16 win over division rivals Indianapolis.
When the Texans jumped to a 19-13 lead after a seven-yard touchdown run from Nico Collins, kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn seemed to miss the subsequent extra point attempt wide left.
Even though the camera angle clearly showed the ball just missing left of the upright, both officials under the post put their arms up to signal a successful extra point.
The call left the commentators bemused after they called it out on the broadcast.
For whatever reason, this play/call cannot be reviewed.
It’s an embarrassing look for the NFL and the call will come under fire by the Colts in the fall out.
While they didn’t lose the game by a point, the four point margin changed their game plan late in the fourth quarter and cost them the chance of attempting a game-tying field goal.
The Colts drove the ball to the Houston 31 yard line inside the final two minutes.
Given they were down by four points, they had to try and score a touchdown which was thwarted by the defence.
Had the score been 19-16 as it should’ve, the Colts would have tried for a field goal to level the game up.
At the moment, these are two teams going in different directions.
While both are well placed with winning records, the Colts have lost their last three games to drop to 8-4.
The Texans meanwhile started the season poorly, but have won four straight games to be 7-5.
BRAWL BREAKS OUT AS LOWLY TITANS SLUMP FURTHER
A hard hit on Jacksonville QB Trevor Lawrence prompted a skirmish, plenty of shoves, a couple of penalty flags, and essentially three extra points for the Jaguars during Sunday’s 25-3 win over the Titans.
In what was supposed to be the final play of the first half, Lawrence did not have enough time in the pocket to unleash a Hail Mary, rolled out to his right and was hit hard by Titans pass rusher Arden Key near the sideline.
With zero seconds on the clock, a fight broke out on the Jaguars’ sideline, where a helmet was ripped off, plenty of players pushed and shoved and Key and Jaguars offensive lineman Anton Harrison became locked up, though the clash did not appear to result in any punches.
Before players could run to their locker rooms, two flags were thrown, both against Key, for roughing the passer and unnecessary roughness.
Given an extra play and an extra 15 yards, the Jaguars asked Cam Little to knock down a field goal that gave Jacksonville an 18-3 lead after two quarters.
The Jaguars were able to cruise to victory in the second half, with Lawrence and the rest of the offense basically shutting up shop after scoring a third quarter touchdown to increase the lead to 25-3.
Their opponents did very little to threaten the Jags all game.
Leading the league in scoreless halves, Tennessee added one more to their season tally after being unable to score a point after half time.
The loss strengthens the Titans’ grip on the No. 1 overall pick for the second year in a row.
At 1-11, the Titans
NFL SCORES — WEEK 13
Friday
Packers 31 def. Lions 24
Cowboys 31 def. Chiefs 28
Bengals 32 def. Ravens 14
Saturday
Bears 24 def. Eagles
Monday
49ers 26 def. Browns 8
Jaguars 25 def. Titans 3
Texans 20 def. Colts 16
Dolphins 21 def. Saints 17
Jets 27 def. Falcons 24
Panthers 31 def. Rams 28
Buccaneers 20 def. Cardinals 17