NFL Week 13 scores: Sunday schedule, news, live updates, stats, highlights as Lions shock Vikings, Washington stays hot (2024)

It feels like the playoffs have come early in Week 13.

Today's highlights: the Lions are winners for the first time in 364 days, Kyler Murray was comfortable in his return, the Steelers' stop on a 2-point conversion led to a big win over the Ravens and the Chargers halted the Bengals in a matchup of playoff hopefuls.

This all-day live blog follows the action and The Athletic's coverage from Sunday's games. Thinking about subscribing? New subscribers can get 33 percent off a subscription to coverage of all sports at The Athletic. Want a free subscription to The Athletic? Sign up for BetMGM, bet $10 and win $200 in free bets plus a free three-month subscription (or renewal).

Later on, check out The Athletic's Sunday Night Football live blog featuring another massive game between the Broncos and Chiefs.

Week 13

All times ET

Dec. 2

Dallas 27, New Orleans 17 | Recap | BOX SCORE

Dec. 5

Tampa Bay 30, Atlanta 17 | BOX SCORE

Arizona 33, Chicago 22 | BOX SCORE

L.A. Chargers 41, Cincinnati 22 | BOX SCORE

Detroit 29, Minnesota 27 | BOX SCORE

Miami 20, N.Y. Giants 9 | BOX SCORE

Philadelphia 33, N.Y. Jets 18 | BOX SCORE

Indianapolis 31, Houston 0 | BOX SCORE

Washington 17, Las Vegas 15 | BOX SCORE

L.A. Rams 37, Jacksonville 7 | BOX SCORE

Pittsburgh 20, Baltimore 19 | BOX SCORE

Seattle 30, San Francisco 23 | BOX SCORE

Kansas City 22, Denver 9 | BOX SCORE

Dec. 6

New England at Buffalo, 8:15 p.m.

TV: ESPN | Odds | BOX SCORE

BYE: Browns, Packers, Titans, Panthers

STANDINGS

(Photo: Kirby Lee / USA Today)

Washington Football Team tight end Logan Thomas is feared to have suffered a significant knee injury in Sunday's 17-15 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, sources tell The Athletic. Thomas left the game midway through the fourth quarter, and the team is waiting for MRI results.

Thomas had three receptions for 48 yards and a seven-yard touchdown in the first quarter as Washington won its fourth game in a row to reach 6-6, which puts the WFT in the No. 6 spot in the NFC playoff race.

(Photo: Kirby Lee / USA Today)

Mike Zimmer’s hands were on his knees and his back was hunched. He looked like the outside linebacker he used to be, the son of a coach who grew up in a football-mad house, as he stared from the Vikings’ 25-yard line. No one was around him.

In his most revealing moments, he’d admit what seems obvious: that his fate (and that of so many others) rides on these final few Vikings games. He knew how important those 11 yards were that separated the hapless Lions from their first win of the season. He knew how much rode on that final play.

That’s why when Jared Goff threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown and the Lions celebrated a victory for the first time in 364 days, Zimmer threw his headset even if no one was around to pick it up. He didn’t wait for a review to confirm that the Lions had, indeed, beaten the Vikings 29-27. He didn’t need to watch the replay to see that Cameron Dantzler played 11 yards off the wide receiver and left him plenty of room to turn and make the walk-off catch.

Zimmer just wanted to get the hell out of here.

Read more below:

Those wondering whether the Bucs might seek more of a run-pass balance in their offense down the stretch to take it easy on Tom Brady need to look no further than the opening drive Sunday against the Falcons.

The 44-year-old quarterback came out with a 15-yard pass to Leonard Fournette, then two passes to Chris Godwin. Then Fournette, then Godwin, then Fournette, then two to Mike Evans, then two more to Godwin, then a 3-yard touchdown to Fournette.

Brady threw the ball on 13 straight plays to open the game, completing 11 of them. And while it wasn’t always pretty, Brady finished with 51 pass attempts, good for 368 yards and four touchdowns, in leading the Bucs to a 30-17 win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“The protection was incredible,” said Brady, who wasn’t sacked the entire game for the sixth time in 12 games this season. “The offensive line has been great all season, and we have thrown the ball more than anybody and given up the least amount of sacks. I think everyone has a lot of trust in our protection. They did a great job for the running game. Our best football is ahead of us and we’re in a decent position, 9-3, going home for the biggest game of our year against the Bills.”

Read more below:

(Photo: Dale Zanine / USA Today)

The Lions had been working on that specific play, for that very situation, since training camp. As of a few weeks ago, it was designed to go to rookie Amon-Ra St. Brown.

He, Kalif Raymond and T.J. Hockenson all aligned to Jared Goff’s left Sunday, the Lions trailing by four and with four seconds on the clock. Hockenson, from the hash mark, sat down his route at the goal line and was swarmed by three Minnesota defenders; Raymond ran through to the back of the end zone, where two more Vikings met him.

St. Brown, split out near the sideline, turned around just inside the end zone and — when he did — the pass from Goff was waiting for him. Ballgame.

And then came a celebration that those on the field will remember for a long time. Lions coach Dan Campbell leaped into the air, pumped his fist, then met Goff in an embrace, while St. Brown’s teammates mobbed him over by the stands. Penei Sewell ripped off his helmet and just started screaming. Charles Harris tried to get down near the St. Brown swarm but couldn’t make it through what he dubbed a “tornado” of Lions.

“Guys were high-fiving, hitting each other,” Harris said. “I was getting hit, so I stayed there. You can (tell), I lost my voice. Just elated, really elated about the win.”

The Lions have one of those, finally — a 29-27, last-second stunner.

Read more below:

(Photo: David Reginek / USA Today)

David Culley has been willing to backtrack and admit mistakes during his first season as Texans head coach, but until Sunday he had never wavered on his plan at quarterback. Just this week, Culley said rookie quarterback Davis Mills would only see the field again “if something happens to Tyrod (Taylor).”

That something was the Texans’ 31-0 loss to the Colts, the fourth time this season Culley’s team failed to score more than five points.

After the Texans’ opening possession of the second half, Taylor entered the medical tent with what appeared to be a left wrist injury. Culley said it impacted the right-handed Taylor’s grip and possibly his throwing ability, but according to a team spokesman, the Texans’ medical staff deemed Taylor was healthy enough to play. Culley opted to insert rookie quarterback Davis Mills anyway.

Regardless of whether that decision was based more on Taylor’s health or performance, the Texans now face an uncertain situation at quarterback. After the game, Culley moved off his previous stance that Taylor was the unquestioned starter when healthy.

“When you don’t score any points, you evaluate everything,” Culley said.

Read more below:

With Baltimore's 20-19 loss to the Steelers, the New England Patriots are the AFC's top seed. The Pats have a huge AFC East matchup against the Bills on Monday.

Following the Pats in the AFC playoff picture as of the Sunday Night Football kickoff time is the No. 2 Titans, No. 3 Ravens, No. 4 Chiefs, No. 5 Bills, No. 6 Chargers and No. 7 Bengals. The Chargers' win over the Bengals today could come in handy later.

In the AFC hunt: The Broncos and Steelers at 6-5, the 7-6 Colts, 6-6 Raiders and Browns and 6-7 Dolphins.

In the NFC, Washington -- up to the 6th seed -- stays hot. The No. 7 49ers and No. 8 Eagles follow behind. The top five seeds in the NFC are as follows: the No. 1 Cardinals, No. 2 Packers, No. 3 Buccaneers, No. 4 Cowboys and No. 5 Rams.

In the NFC hunt is a quartet of 5-7 teams: the Vikings, Panthers, Falcons and Saints.

(Photo: David Butler II / USA Today)

The Ravens got the touchdown they needed but narrowly missed the 2-point conversion they needed to win in regulation.

And guess who the top seed in the AFC is now? The Patriots.

Kicker Brian Johnson nailed a 48-yard field goal with 37 seconds left in the game to help the Washington Football Team extend its winning streak to four games Sunday by defeating the Las Vegas Raiders 17-15 at Allegiant Stadium.

The win pushed WFT (6-6) into the No. 7 spot in the NFC playoff race. Meanwhile, the Raiders (6-6) have lost four of their last five games. Las Vegas has only scored 16 points or less in those four losses.

The Raiders took a 15-14 lead on a Daniel Carlson 37-yard boot with 2:22 remaining in the fourth quarter, Las Vegas’ first lead of the game. But Johnson, WFT’s fourth kicker of the season, drilled a game-winner in his debut with the team.

In a city that falls easily for backup quarterbacks, what happened to the Eagles on Sunday will only stoke excitement — and perhaps controversy. Gardner Minshew started in place of an injured Jalen Hurts and led the Eagles to a 33-18 win over the New York Jets. He completed 20 of 25 passes (an 80 percent completion rate) — the best completion percentage of the season for the Eagles — and did not turn the ball over on an afternoon when the Eagles scored points on seven consecutive drives.

The victory against one of the worst teams in the NFL gave the Eagles a 6-7 record entering their bye week and keeps them in contention for the wild card.

The Eagles are committed to Hurts as their starting quarterback. But given that Minshew’s performance happened on the same field that Hurts had his worst game of the season one week ago, Sunday’s game will at least trigger discourse about the starting job among the fan base during the next two weeks.

Here’s what happened:

(Photo: Brad Penner / USA Today)

It’s crazy how quickly the brightest, shiniest object can lose its luster.

We were reminded of that Sunday afternoon when Matt Rhule fired offensive coordinator Joe Brady not long after the 1 p.m. ET games had started during the Panthers’ lone off-weekend of the season.

The next bright, shiny object to go will be Rhule if he can’t replicate the third-year success he had at Temple and Baylor, the latter of which just won a Big 12 championship under Rhule’s successor.

Read more below:

(Photo: Bob Donnan / USA Today)