2024 Week 13: Browns 32, Broncos 41

This wasn’t at all what I expected from this game. The NFL should thank Jameis Winston for saving their product this season. This has been a relatively boring season and anything BIG that draws in ratings has been negative (Deshaun… Tyreek’s arrest), until Winston that is. The last two weeks Jameis and Jeudy have fully taken over the league and are probably the most entertaining product in the US in that span.

Denver’s defense got smoked but this was actually a good thing for them… the Broncos as a whole are a very young team, especially on the defensive side of the ball… and have rolled until this point. A nice learning moment for this unit.

Denver improves to (8-5) and is likely one win away from locking up a wildcard spot. They have a two-game lead over Indy, the first team ‘out’ right now. 

The Browns (3-9) are (2-3) with Winston at the helm and would likely be competing with Denver for a playoff spot had he started all year. Jameis has kept Cleveland close in four out of five games.

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QB Report:
- Bo Nix (18/35 for 294 yards, 1 TD/2 INT) has been on fire and is the #6 QB in PPG since Week 8. This was a weird game for Denver, they didn’t play ‘their’ offense but rather played more like the Cleveland offense… slinging the ball and hoping it lands, thus the uncharacteristic comp % and turnovers.

As I’m writing this you know what this game reminded me of… that Giants vs. Saints game in 2015 where NO (coached by Sean Payton) moved away from the short/accurate passing game and had Drew Brees duel Eli Manning on their way to a 52-49 victory.

- Jameis Winston (34/58 for 497 yards, 4 TD/3 INT) is the #5 QB in PPG since Week 8. All of these old QBs having late-career resurgences is a fun phenomenon… Geno, Flacco, Darnold, Baker, and now Winston. This was the most Jameis Winston game ever: 4 TDs, 3 picks, 2 of them returned for TDs.

RB Report:

- The Denver backfield is just one example of Sean Payton’s genius… he’s always been a running back by committee (RBBC) guy going back to his early days in New Orleans. Most coaches will try and force one RB to be a workhorse but Payton is smarter than that and doesn’t put too much wear and tear on any one Back. It’s frustrating from a fantasy perspective because who are you supposed to play and when? Javonte Williams (4-1-0; 1 catch for 3 yards) is the best pass blocker so he’ll get receptions, Audric Estime (3-12-0) is a big bruising back but less agile than the average RB, and Jaleel McLaughlin (14-84-0; 1 catch) is the shifty satellite RB who can make defenders miss better than other two guys. None of them are elite, but they are all good++ at something.

- Jerome Ford (9-41-0; 1 catch for 21 yards) was the hot hand for Cleveland and got more work just like McLaughlin. I have no idea if this will keep up going forward… but the real issue for both of these teams is poor interior blocking that stifles the run game before it really has a chance to get going.

WR/TE Report:
- I have no idea what happened to Devaughn Vele (1-16-0/4) this week. This was the least amount of snaps he’s played in weeks (47%) but that was still good for second-most among WRs behind Courtland Sutton (6-102-0/9). Vele is a great WR and looked fine in this game so I don’t think it’s going to bury him… but in redraft, you can move over to something with some more legs under it. In Dynasty we continue to hold, the vision is there.

- As Jameis lights up opposing defenses, so do the Cleveland receivers. Jerry Jeudy (9-235-1/13) is now top-5 in yards this year, he’s the #2 PPR WR since Week 8 behind Ja’Marr Chase. I’m not sure what kind of Bayou sorcery Jameis hexed Jerry Jeudy with the last two games but he went from being a terrible WR for 4.5 years to looking like a faster Larry Fitzgerald (is it the dreads?).

- This was a statement game for Jeudy… dismissed by the Broncos this offseason, he called them out all week and then had the best WR revenge game in NFL history against one of the best lockdown CBs in the league. Amazing. 

D/ST Report:
- We knew it was coming… but this is the week to bail on the Denver defense. If you need to they could have a nice matchup against Indy in Week 15, but I don’t want anything to do with them against LAC or CIN for key playoff/title matchups in Week 16/17. More than likely there’s something on waivers that will work… whoever is playing NYG, JAX, or NE down the stretch is the defense to pursue SOONER rather than later.

- Denver star Nik Bonitto (1 tackle, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 2 PD, INT, TD) should be in the DPOY consideration after this game, he has had 1 sack in 10 of his last 11 games

image source: (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)