# NFL Week 13 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** football-nfl\ **Created:** [November 25, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123 "2025-11-25T15:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/41 "2025-12-01T13:58:13Z")
‘“GET OFF ME” he says to Tracy Porter!’ What a fun play to rewatch. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/42 "2025-12-01T14:24:34Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > The Steelers may be struggling, but it’s not Aaron’s fault. Just ask him Steelers are going to need to inject some bleach for this locker room cancer. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/43 "2025-12-01T16:51:19Z")
Also, the Raiders continue to play like hot garbage. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen so many missed tackles. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/44 "2025-12-01T18:23:55Z")
The Vikings have released wide receiver Adam Thielen, at his request, in order to allow him to potentially sign on with another team for the rest of this season. Thielen is a Minnesota native, had been a two-time Pro Bowler for the Vikings, and is among the team’s all-time leading receivers. The Vikings had previously released Thielen in 2023, and he’d played the past two seasons for the Panthers; Carolina traded him back to Minnesota during the pre-season, as Thielen had decided that this would be his last season, and wanted to return to his hometown team. However, Thielen’s playing time had been increasingly limited, and he only has six receptions so far. > **[Thielen cut, seeks bigger role in last NFL season](https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47167185/vikings-waive-thielen-let-wr-find-bigger-role-last-season)** > > The Vikings have waived Adam Thielen at the veteran wide receiver's request, the team announced Monday. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/45 "2025-12-01T22:44:21Z")
How about this INSANE backwards one-handed catch from Puka Nacua? I don’t believe I’ve seen anything like it before. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/LtUVamifHc0/maxresdefault.jpg "Puka Nacua INSANE One Handend Snag") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtUVamifHc0) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/46 "2025-12-01T23:25:14Z")
I shopped at the Trader Joe’s at Gillette around 4PM today, people were already trudging to the stadium entrances, all bundled up. More Maye than Brady jerseys by some margin, interestingly. I don’t think I could sit that long in a cold stadium, anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2025, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/47 "2025-12-01T23:29:50Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > How about this INSANE backwards one-handed catch from Puka Nacua? I’m a Seahawks fan, the Rams are their biggest rival this year and I should hate them, but damn if I’m in awe of Puka all the time. That catch looked like he had glue on his glove. He’s also ridiculous as a rusher; that guy could just play RB and still be massively successful. Having him on your team is like putting in a cheat code for a football video game. (Though I did enjoy watching Seattle force a fumble from him earlier this year, which apparently is the first time he has ever lost a fumble in his career. How the 🤬 is that possible for a player that has touched the ball so many times? He apparently fumbled once as a rookie but recovered his own fumble. So he fumbled twice, only lost the fumble once.) ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/48 "2025-12-02T00:17:44Z")
can you tell me, with the K-balls, after the punt/kickoff return, do they swap the K-balls for regular ones? thanks, I always wondered ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/49 "2025-12-02T00:20:19Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > can you tell me, with the K-balls, after the punt/kickoff return, do they swap the K-balls for regular ones? Yes. K-balls are only used for kicking/punting plays. They get replaced with a “regular” ball after a kick return, as the next play would be a “normal” play from scrimmage. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/50 "2025-12-02T00:55:55Z")
thanks, guess I wasn’t paying that close of attention ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/51 "2025-12-02T01:00:51Z")
If you look closely, the K-balls are bright orange while the regular balls are much darker brown. The regular balls go through mudding, where they’re rubbed with a fine silt to remove the factory finish & make them less slick and easier to hold. Up until this year the K-balls were bright orange because they were brand new for each game. The year the K-balls still look pretty orange - presumably the teams don’t mud them, because if you’re team is kicking a ball that means the other team will be handling it, so you want the balls to still be slick & harder to hold onto. ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/52 "2025-12-02T04:22:18Z")
Patriots win their 10th straight and go to 11-2 - against a Giants teams that is now 2-11. After a bye week, they face a team with a winning record (the Bills). In just 3 of 13 games this year did they play a team that currently owns a winning record. (To be fair, they won all 3.) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/53 "2025-12-02T13:16:46Z")
The Pats looked a bit more physical on defense last night. I don’t think any of it was malicious but hits to the head were a bit worrying. I hope Gunner Olszewski is OK. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/54 "2025-12-02T13:40:25Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I don’t think any of it was malicious but hits to the head were a bit worrying. Perhaps the NFL needs a review process for targeting, like the one in college football. > ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/55 "2025-12-02T13:49:17Z")
> Worse part is Elliss was smiling ear to ear while the Giants player was laying on the ground with an obvious head injury. Yeah, that was not a good look. Celebrating the fumble in the moment was fine. Once it’s clear that Olszewski was seriously hurt it’s time to stop celebrating. Read the room. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/56 "2025-12-02T14:06:47Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Once it’s clear that Olszewski was seriously hurt it’s time to stop celebrating. Seriously. It didn’t look intentional to me as Olszewski was kind of tackled into the hit, but it was clearly a major helmet to helmet hit. Why wasn’t it a personal foul penalty? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/57 "2025-12-02T14:21:09Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > Why wasn’t it a personal foul penalty? For a variety of reasons, but mainly because Olszewski was the ball carrier and not defenseless, Elliss didn’t lower his head, and Olszewski was spun into Elliss by the initial hit from Mapu. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/58 "2025-12-02T14:21:53Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > Why wasn’t it a personal foul penalty? Because that’s not a personal foul. > **[Use of the Helmet | NFL Football Operations](https://operations.nfl.com/the-rules/nfl-video-rulebook/use-of-the-helmet/)** You have to either lower your helmet to hit am opponent with it or make forcible contact with an opponent’s helmet. It explicitly allows what happened in that play. > These provisions do not prohibit incidental contact by the mask or the helmet in the course of a conventional tackle or block on an opponent. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/59 "2025-12-02T14:59:31Z")
[Week 14 thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-14/1025327) ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2025, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123/60 "2025-12-02T15:00:48Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > You have to either lower your helmet to hit am opponent with it or make forcible contact with an opponent’s helmet. You wouldn’t call that hit “forcible contact”? Dude’s mouth guard went flying into Connecticut. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-week-13/1025123.md?page=4)