NFL: MVP race, surprise teams the story of week 13

John Laforest
Staff Writer

After a Sunday in the NFL’s 13th week the season is heating up in the award and division races heading into December.

In December of the NFL football season is where the playoff contender separates themselves from the mediocre teams. Heading into the playoff season there are always the team’s that seem to get hot at the right time. The teams that maybe had a slow start that emerge and establish themselves as threat.

The Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks are arguably the two hottest teams in the NFL. A three-game winning streak, along with some favorable outcomes elsewhere, was all it took to lift the Seahawks into the wild-card race. Two losses in three weeks by the Vikings were a huge help, and the Seahawks will have a chance to put more distance between the teams in Week 14 when they face off in all important matchup. FPI loves the Seahawks’ chances to pull it off, giving them a 91.4 percent chance of making the playoffs.

The Dallas Cowboys have won four games in a row themselves after knocking off the hottest team in the league Thursday. The New Orlean Saints had the longest win streak in the league prior to the matchup against the Cowboys. The Cowboys overcame a line at +7.5. Their Thursday night upset of the Saints was a major swing game in the NFC East. ESPN’s FPI now gives the Cowboys a 76.9 percent chance of winning the division. This team had a very slow start to the season starting at 3-5.

Drew Brees and Patrick Mahomes are involved in a very tight MVP race that appears to be one for the ages. After the Kansas City Chiefs win Sunday Mahomes now has 41 TD to 10 int on the season and is projected to finish with 55 TD on the season.

Drew Brees is no pushover having a career year at 39 approaching 40. He has 30 TD to just 3 int on the season. Brees completed 18 of 28 passes for 127 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the Saints’ 13-10 loss to the Cowboys on Thursday. He also rushed once for two yards and fumbled once but recovered.

The 2018 NFL race will most likely be a tossup. Young vs old. Veteran vs first year starting QB. There is no loser in the race with both players and their respective teams virtually guaranteed a playoff spot, which I’m sure is the first goal for these electric quarterbacks.

Four weeks and Four games remain for each team as the exciting times of January football closes in for the players, the organizations they play for as well as the fans.

Feature photo courtesy of the Associated Press.