Welcome to December which means that it’s the last month of the regular season before the playoffs start. There are teams fighting for their playoff lives, seeding and winning their respective divisions. In that, there were some spectacular performances by individuals that we have heard before. Here is my top five from this past week.
Tadi Abedje’s Top NFL Week 13 Performances
Patrick Mahomes II (Quarterback) – Kansas City Chiefs
Week Thirteen Stats: 23/38 passing, 295 yards, four touchdowns
With all that’s going on with the Chiefs regarding the Kareem Hunt situation, Patrick Mahomes did his job as usual. Against an awful Raiders defense, the Kansas City quarterback would have another game of four touchdown passes, which makes it seven on the season. Two of his TD strikes went to Travis Kelce, who had a monstrous day with 168 yards receiving. Mahomes is up to 41 touchdown throws which he’s on pace to break Peyton Manning’s single-season record of 55 in 2013. Additionally, with Hunt out of the mix, he would lead the team in rushing yards with 52. This guy continues to prove that he’s setting the league on fire.
Russell Wilson (Quarterback) – Seattle Seahawks
Week Thirteen Stats: 11/17 passing, 185 yards, four touchdowns
Going up against his former teammate Richard Sherman and the old rival 49ers, Russell Wilson put on a show. He would have four touchdown passes despite throwing under 200 yards. One of his touchdowns came in the second quarter when he threw a 52-yard bomb to Tyler Lockett. Jaron Brown caught two TD’s and Doug Baldwin had one from Wilson. Since last year, the Seahawks quarterback his thrown the most touchdowns in the league with 63. He is helped by a running game like back in their heyday with three guys each having a 100-yard rushing game. Seattle is in the driver’s seat for one of the Wild Card spots and they’ll definitely be in if they win out.
Phillip Lindsay (Running Back) – Denver Broncos
Week Thirteen Stats: 19 carries for 157 yards and two touchdowns
Phillip Lindsay went undrafted in the 2018 Draft and elected to sign with his hometown Broncos. He was originally supposed to be the change-of-pace back behind third-round pick Royce Freeman. But he’s continued to outperform Freeman and was named the team’s number one running back. On Sunday, Lindsay showed why he’s the man as he ran for a career-high 157 yards. He scored the first touchdown of the game from six yards out and would have a 65-yard touchdown run on the left sideline gashing through the Bengals cupcake defense. Currently, Lindsay has 937 yards rushing (fourth in the NFL) on the season making it head-scratching how nobody drafted him.
Todd Gurley (Running Back) – Los Angeles Rams
Week Thirteen Stats: 23 carries for 132 yards and two touchdowns
The NFL’s leading rusher had another 100-yard performance in the office. He had two touchdowns on the ground which makes it 15 on the year. What’s impressive was that he had a 36 yard run with a huge opening and could’ve scored but he wanted to run some more clock instead of helping his fantasy owners. Gurley would get into the end zone two plays later but he showed his unselfishness to put the game away. It was a great way to bounce back after a 55 rushing yard effort versus the Chiefs. His performance helped the Rams clinch their second straight NFC West title.
Keenan Allen (Wide Receiver) – Los Angeles Chargers
Week Thirteen Stats: 14 receptions, 148 yards, one touchdown
On their first Sunday Night game since 2014, Keenan Allen had 14 catches on 19 targets as his Chargers won in Pittsburgh. Late in the third quarter, his quarterback Philip Rivers threw a pass in the end zone. Joe Haden had an interception but he collided with Sean Davis as the ball got deflected in the air and Allen caught it for the score. Late in the game when LA was driving for a game-winning field goal, he would catch a pass running an out route on third-and-four and went 12 yards to get the first down in-bounds. They would make the field goal despite the Steelers being called for three offsides during the kick.
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