FOURTH QUARTER COMEBACKS: Close contests remain a staple of the 2015 season as eight teams won after trailing in the fourth quarter in Week 13. The last time there was more than eight such fourth-quarter comeback wins in one week was in Week 3 of 2011 (10).
The teams to win after trailing in the fourth quarter in Week 13:
| WINNING TEAM | OPPONENT | FINAL SCORE | FOURTH QUARTER DEFICIT OVERCOME |
| Carolina | New Orleans | 41-38 | 4 (31-27, 38-34) |
| Dallas | Washington | 19-16 | 3 (9-6) |
| Green Bay | Detroit | 27-23 | 9 (23-14) |
| Kansas City | Oakland | 34-20 | 6 (20-14) |
| New York Jets | New York Giants | 23-20 (OT) | 10 (20-10) |
| San Francisco | Chicago | 26-20 (OT) | 7 (20-13) |
| Tampa Bay | Atlanta | 23-19 | 3 (19-16) |
| Tennessee | Jacksonville | 42-39 | 4 (32-28) |
Teams have won after trailing in the fourth quarter 58 times this season, the third-most through Week 13 in NFL history.
The most wins after trailing in the fourth quarter through Week 13:
| YEAR | MOST WINS AFTER TRAILING IN FOURTH QUARTER THROUGH WEEK 13 |
| 1989 | 60 |
| 2012 | 59 |
| 2015 | 58 |
| 2011 | 54 |
| 2009 | 51 |
| 2013 | 51 |
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KEEPING IT CLOSE: Through Week 13, there have been 100 games decided by seven points or fewer, the most through the first 13 weeks of a season in NFL history.
The most games decided by seven points or fewer through Week 13:
| MOST GAMES DECIDED BY SEVEN POINTS OR FEWER | |
| SEASON | THROUGH WEEK 13 |
| 2015 | 100 |
| 2012 | 97 |
| 2013 | 96 |
| 2011 | 96 |
| 2003 | 96 |
– NFL –
SCORING HIGHS: NFL teams have combined for 8,864 points in 2015, the second-most points through 13 weeks in NFL history. The previous high was 8,929 points in 2013.
That record total equates to 46.2 points per game. If the current average stays at this pace, it would also rank as the second-highest of any season since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger (2013, 46.8 points per game).
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FAST STARTERS: The CAROLINA PANTHERS defeated New Orleans 41-38 to improve to 12-0 for the first time in franchise history. The Panthers clinched the NFC South division title and are the first team to qualify for the postseason.
Entering 2015, eight teams started a season 12-0 during the Super Bowl era. Of those eight clubs, all eight made the playoffs, six advanced to the Super Bowl and four of those teams won the Super Bowl.
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MONDAY NIGHT MATCHUPS: The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Washington Redskins 19-16 on Monday Night Football. It marked the seventh consecutive week that the Monday Night Football game was decided by eight or fewer points, tying the longest single-season streak in the history of the program (October 7-November 18, 1974).
The seven consecutive Monday Night Football matchups in 2015 decided by eight or fewer points:
| DATE | WEEK | WINNING TEAM | OPPONENT | FINAL SCORE |
| October 26, 2015 | 7 | Arizona Cardinals | Baltimore Ravens | 26-18 |
| November 2, 2015 | 8 | Carolina Panthers | Indianapolis Colts | 29-26 (OT) |
| November 9, 2015 | 9 | Chicago Bears | San Diego Chargers | 22-19 |
| November 16, 2015 | 10 | Houston Texans | Cincinnati Bengals | 10-6 |
| November 23, 2015 | 11 | New England Patriots | Buffalo Bills | 20-13 |
| November 30, 2015 | 12 | Baltimore Ravens | Cleveland Browns | 33-27 |
| December 7, 2015 | 13 | Dallas Cowboys | Washington Redskins | 19-16 |
The seven consecutive Monday Night Football matchups in 1974 decided by eight or fewer points:
| DATE | WEEK | WINNING TEAM | OPPONENT | FINAL SCORE |
| October 7, 1974 | 4 | Miami Dolphins | New York Jets | 21-17 |
| October 14, 1974 | 5 | Detroit Lions | San Francisco 49ers | 17-13 |
| October 21, 1974 | 6 | Chicago Bears | Green Bay Packers | 10-9 |
| October 28, 1974 | 7 | Pittsburgh Steelers | Atlanta Falcons | 24-17 |
| November 4, 1974 | 8 | Los Angeles Rams | San Francisco 49ers | 15-13 |
| November 11, 1974 | 9 | Minnesota Vikings | St. Louis Cardinals | 28-24 |
| November 18, 1974 | 10 | Kansas City Chiefs | Denver Broncos | 42-34 |
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QB MILESTONES: Below is a sampling of the quarterback milestones that were reached in Week 13:
- New England quarterback TOM BRADY passed for 312 yards and three touchdowns against Philadelphia. Brady, who now has 423 career touchdown passes, surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer DAN MARINO (420) for the third-most touchdown passes in NFL history. Only PEYTON MANNING (539) and BRETT FAVRE (508) have thrown more touchdown passes.
- New Orleans quarterback DREW BREES passed for 282 yards and three touchdowns against Carolina. Brees has 110 career touchdown passes in the month of December, tying Pro Football Hall of Famer DAN MARINO (110) for the third-most touchdown passes during the month in NFL history.
- Cincinnati quarterback ANDY DALTON passed for 220 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a career-best 146.8 passer rating in the Bengals’ 37-3 win at Cleveland. Dalton, who has 3,191 passing yards this season, joined PEYTON MANNING as the only players in NFL history with at least 3,000 passing yards in each of their first five NFL seasons.
- New York Giants quarterback ELI MANNING passed for 297 yards against the New York Jets. Manning, who now has 43,073 career passing yards, surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer DAN FOUTS (43,040) for No. 11 on the all-time passing yards list.
- Tennessee rookie quarterback MARCUS MARIOTA passed for 268 yards with three touchdowns for a 118.2 passer rating and added 112 rushing yards with one touchdown in the Titans’ 42-39 win against Jacksonville. Mariota is the only player in NFL history to pass for at least 250 yards with three touchdowns and rush for more than 100 yards in the same game.
Mariota has four games this season with at least three touchdown passes, tying PEYTON MANNING (1998) for the most ever by an NFL rookie.
- San Diego quarterback PHILIP RIVERS passed for 202 yards against Denver. In 12 seasons, Rivers has 40,368 passing yards and surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer JOHNNY UNITAS (40,239) for No. 16 on the all-time passing yards list.
- Kansas City quarterback ALEX SMITH completed 16 of 22 passes (72.7 percent) for 162 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 123.7 passer rating in the Chiefs’ 34-20 win at Oakland. Smith now has an active streak of 305 consecutive pass attempts without an interception, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer BART STARR (294) for the third-longest streak of consecutive pass attempts without an interception in NFL history.
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WR MILESTONES: Below is a sampling of the wide receiver milestones that were reached in Week 13:
- Giants wide receiver ODELL BECKHAM JR. had six catches for 149 yards and a touchdown against the New York Jets. Beckham has 169 career receptions and passed MARQUES COLSTON (168) for the most by a player in his first two seasons in NFL history. Beckham has eight career games with at least 140 receiving yards, the most ever by any player in his first two NFL seasons.
- Arizona wide receiver LARRY FITZGERALD had eight catches in the Cardinals’ 27-3 win at St. Louis, giving him 1,000 for his career. Fitzgerald became the youngest player all-time to reach the milestone (32 years, 97 days on Sunday).
Fitzgerald is tied with HINES WARD (1,000) for 11th on the all-time receptions list.
- Cincinnati wide receiver A.J. GREEN had five receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown in the Bengals’ 37-3 victory over Cleveland. Green now has 1,037 receiving yards this season, his fifth consecutive season with at least 1,000, joining RANDY MOSS (six) as the only players in NFL history with at least five 1,000-yard receiving seasons to begin a career.
- Atlanta wide receiver JULIO JONES had eight receptions for 93 yards against Tampa Bay. Jones, who leads the league with 102 catches, is the second player in NFL history with at least 100 receptions by his team’s 12th game (MARVIN HARRISON, 109 receptions through 12 games in 2002).
- New York Jets wide receiver BRANDON MARSHALL had 12 catches for 131 yards and one touchdown in the Jets’ 23-20 overtime win against the New York Giants. Marshall, who leads the Jets with 1,062 receiving yards this season, is the first player in NFL history with a 1,000-yard receiving season with four different teams (Denver, Miami, Chicago and the Jets).
– NFL –
CATCHING ON: Dallas tight end JASON WITTEN had five receptions for 45 yards in the Cowboys’ 19-16 victory over Washington on Monday Night Football. Witten now has 1,003 career receptions and joined TONY GONZALEZ (1,325) as the only tight ends in NFL history to have 1,000 career catches.
The tight ends with the most receptions in NFL history:
| PLAYER | TEAM(S) | RECEPTIONS |
| Tony Gonzalez | Atlanta, Kansas City | 1,325 |
| Jason Witten* | Dallas | 1,003 |
| Antonio Gates* | San Diego | 827 |
| Shannon Sharpe | Baltimore, Denver | 815 |
| Ozzie Newsome | Cleveland | 662 |
| *Active | ||
Witten (33 years, 215 days old on Monday) also became the youngest tight end in NFL history to reach 1,000 career receptions.
The youngest players to reach 1,000 career receptions in NFL history:
| PLAYER | AGE AT TIME OF 1000TH RECEPTION | CAREER RECEPTIONS |
| Larry Fitzgerald* | 32 years, 97 days | 1,000 |
| Andre Johnson* | 33 years, 163 days | 1,040 |
| Jason Witten* | 33 years, 215 days | 1,003 |
| Jerry Rice | 34 years, 21 days | 1,594 |
| Marvin Harrison | 34 years, 107 days | 1,102 |
| Tony Gonzalez | 34 years, 197 days | 1,325 |
| Reggie Wayne | 34 years, 331 days | 1,070 |
| *Active |
