An extended weekend of NFL action brought about plenty of drama and highlights on the field, including another snow game in Buffalo as the Bills stomped the 49ers.
However the highlight of that game without a doubt was Josh Allen finding a way to get a passing and receiving touchdown on the same play.
We also saw the first group of teams sealing their playoff status with the Bills becoming the earliest team to clinch a division since the 2009 Indianapolis Colts.
Kansas City continued to have ridiculously good luck as the Raiders cluelessly fumbled away the game while simultaneously eliminating themselves from the playoff race and handing the Chiefs a playoff berth.
It was also the end of the road for the New York Giants and New England Patriots whose respective defeats saw them mathematically eliminated from playoff contention as well.
There was a lot going on over the last few days so read on for our five big takeaways from Week 13 in the NFL.
1 – Matt Eberflus Had To Go
Some felt like Matt Eberflus was lucky to be back coaching the Chicago Bears in 2024 and after a horror last six weeks, he will not get to finish out the current season.
Whatever credibility he had left with his players was lost with the shocking way the Bears lost in Detroit on Friday morning.
This is the situation they found themselves in with 46 seconds to play.
From here, the worst case scenario was a field goal attempt to send the game to overtime… for most teams.
On the next three plays they had an incomplete pass, a penalty that moved them back 10 yards and a sack that pushed them back a further six yards and out of field goal range.
The clock was running so someone needed to show some initiative and make the right decision, what unfolded instead was pure chaos.
How exactly it took 30 or so seconds to get a play in during a supposed hurry up situation, with nothing ready to go to save a few seconds is coaching malpractice.
Based on the comments after the game, the players have a pretty good idea about who should have taken charge when things were spiralling and the fingers were being pointed squarely at their head coach.
Whether it is fair or not, the Bears decided that the situation had become so bad, they made their first mid-season coaching change in their over 100 year history.
Whoever does replace him though, will have to find a way to turn around the fortunes of a team that has been through some rough moments this season.
2- Miami Is Still A Soft Team
Since hiring Mike McDaniel, the Miami Dolphins have been like the Zenvo ST1 when it got reviewed on Top Gear, it looks amazing, has some fluro colours to it and towards the end it always breaks down and catches fire.
The car, like the Dolphins also struggled in cold and inclement weather, with their record a big talking point in the lead up to their game in Green Bay.
Needless to say, the team was pretty eager to show they could win when the conditions were not perfect.
In defence of Tua, he actually had a pretty good game, going 37/46 for 365 yards and two touchdowns, but a lot of that came on the back of a horrific start from the visitors that saw them trailing 27-3 before they could find the end zone.
The rest of the team had their issues and only one team looked like they were having a good time out there.
It was not the one in white, aqua and orange and until they can win a big game in the cold, those narratives will stay well and truly alive.
3 – Tampa Bay Is Going To Win The NFC South
Ever since signing Kirk Cousins, the Atlanta Falcons were the popular pick for the NFC South division title
Following a 6-3 first half of the season, it looked that would play out as expected but over the last three weeks, the Falcons are in freefall.
This week they hosted a good LA Chargers team that was coming off a bruising Monday Night Football game on short rest, missing their best running back and dealing with a cross-country flight.
Not that Atlanta was able to capitalise on that, instead losing their third straight contest.
There are plenty of areas that the Falcons need to address on their team, but their sputtering offence really has some things to sort out.
Especially after a four interception day from Kirk Cousins including this to seal the game for LA.
Tampa Bay is lurking in the rear-view mirror and is potentially one week away from taking sole possession of the division lead.
Courtesy of their win in Carolina they have matched the Falcons 6-6 record but sit behind them on head-to-head tiebreaker, which will remain in favour of the Falcons through to January.
Not to mention, there were a few concerning signs with the Bucs performance, but based on how they are both trending, the teams are heading in opposite directions.
For starters, Mike Evans is healthy and he adds a whole other dimension to this Bucs offence, especially in the red zone.
Rookie Bucky Irving is starting to look like a proper lead back as well and he carried a big load all afternoon, especially once it got to overtime and the Panthers defence was exhausted.
4 – Baltimore Has A Tucker Problem
It is very rare for kickers to make it through 10+ years with the same team, with the yips getting the better of everyone at some point in time.
While it is not the most physically demanding position, the pressure of only being needed for half a dozen plays per game and being expected to execute every single time makes mental strength incredibly important.
Take Stephen Gostkowski, he was probably the second last “ever-present” guy during his time from 2006 to 2019 with the Patriots, where he briefly held the title of Most Accurate Kicker in the NFL.
The guy who is the last ever-present Mr Reliable at kicker is Justin Tucker on the Ravens and something is off with him this season.
It was never more evident than in the massive Week 13 game between the Ravens and Eagles, where his misses played a big role in Baltimore’s loss.
His reliability made the kicking game an after thought for John Harbaugh for over a decade, but now he really has to ask the big question.
If the guy is injured, does he need a spell on IR before the playoffs because time is running out for him to rest up and be ready for January.
Perhaps it is just something in his technique that might need to be addressed by coaching or working through it.
For the time being his coach is sticking by his guy, but the voice in the back of his head saying he needs to consider his options is getting louder and louder.
Because if they have to go into Kansas City or Buffalo and knock them off in bad weather, you need a guy you can trust to do his job when the offence stumbles.
5 – No Festive Fun In Some Games
The festive goodwill over the holiday weekend in America did not extend to the football field with some heated contests across the NFL and college games.
Things almost spilled over at the end of a closer than expected game between the Buccaneers and Panthers.
They didn’t need that long to start pushing and shoving in Washington between the Commanders and the Titans.
But the biggest blowup was the justified reaction of the Jaguars players after Azeez Al-Shaair went with a major cheap shot on Trevor Lawrence.
Unsurprisingly the Texans linebacker was ejected for the hit that knocked Lawrence out of the game, but not before his teammates (and the fans in the stands) went for their own bit of retribution.
Not that he seemed to think he did anything wrong as he was getting shielded by teammates as the Jaguars bench came out onto the field ready to return the favour.
The broadcast crew on the US Fox network went in quite hard on Al-Shaair as did the halftime show.
Even the Texans coaching staff offered lukewarm support for a guy whose discipline has been an issue all season.
In case you were wondering, the Jags and Texans won’t meet again until next season.