"CHARLOTTE -- The beautiful thing about Week 13 is that you can do the bulk of your overreacting before the weekend. Three games on Thursday. One more on Friday. All won by underdogs, with major impact on the standings and the playoff races. First-place teams wobbling, upstarts ... uh ... upstarting? Plenty of overreaction fodder on the plate before Sunday even got here."
"We will have five weeks left in the 2025 NFL regular season after Monday night's game, and some of the races that didn't look like they were going to be races have tightened up. Some teams we take for granted as playoff teams are going to have to fight their way in. Fact is, some of the stuff we thought were overreactions a month or so ago are turning out not to be."
"Yeah, this is the good time of year, when the weather starts to get colder and every turnover feels like it can swing a team's entire season. As we try to figure out which overreactions might hold up and which ones are mirages, they carry a little more weight this time of year because, again ... we're at the point where they might not be overreactions."
Week 13 produced several early-week upsets, with three Thursday games and a Friday contest won by underdogs that materially affected standings and playoff positioning. First-place teams showed vulnerability while rising teams gained momentum, tightening several division and wild-card races. With five weeks left in the 2025 regular season, teams previously assumed to be safe for the playoffs now face tougher paths and must compete to secure berths. Some earlier perceived overreactions are proving legitimate. Colder weather and turnovers heighten the impact of individual plays, increasing the significance of late-season results.
Read at ESPN.com
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