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| The NFL is a cruel business. |
| Mike McCarthy - a Super Bowl-winning coach - was fired after a dismal loss at home by the Packers to the lowly Cardinals. That development capped a week filled with controversy, as Jarrett Bell explains. |
| Thankfully, the action on the field in Week 13 was compelling. |
| The Chargers pulled off a remarkable comeback from 16 points down in Pittsburgh in the Sunday night game. The Chargers are among four teams vying for home-field advantage in the AFC. The Chiefs, Patriots and Texans also won Sunday, and will spend the season's final month attempting to secure that coveted top playoff seed. |
| In the NFC, the Cowboys did the Rams a solid with Thursday night's win over the Saints, and LA now is the leader for home-field in the NFC. The Rams also became the first NFL team to secure its postseason berth. |
| Before we dive into the moments you can't miss from Sunday's action, here's the updated NFL playoff picture through Sunday's action, the winners and losers from Week 13 and 32 other things we learned. |
Quick hits: Must-see NFL moments |
| - #TB1K: Tom Brady hit another major career milestone Sunday, reaching 1,000 career rushing yards. Here are 12 amazing stats about the historic achievement. |
| - 'He called me a b----': The Bills' Jerry Hughes got into a confrontation with an official, and video circulated of the player arguing with the ref as he walked to the locker room. |
| - Twitter erupts over news of Packers firing McCarthy: Just hours after suffering an embarrassing home loss to the lowly Cardinals, Mike McCarthy was fired by the Packers after nearly 13 seasons with the team. Here's how Twitter responded to the bombshell development. |
| - Bears force OT on gutsiest call of season: Matt Nagy does not call plays like a rookie head coach. With his Bears trailing the Giants and needing a touchdown on the final play of regulation, Nagy decided it would be a good time to for Tarik Cohen to attempt his first pass of the season. |
| - Throwback TD for Bears: The Bears got down to the one-yard line against the Giants and decided to do something awesome on fourth and goal. They threw it all the way back to the days of William "The Refrigerator" Perry and handed the ball off Akiem Hicks, a 322-pound defensive tackle, who powered his way into the end zone. |
| - Beckham is Giants' best QB: For the second time this season, Odell Beckham threw a touchdown pass. This time it was a 49-yard bomb to a wide open Russell Shepard. The Giants have two TD passes this season that have traveled over 45 yards in the air. Both have been thrown by Beckham. |
 | | Odell Beckham Jr. throws a touchdown pass to Russell Shepard against the Bears. | | Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY Sports | |
| - Ravens troll Georgia with fake punt: The Georgia Bulldogs lost Saturday's SEC title game thanks in part to an atrocious fake-punt attempt on 4th and 11. On Sunday in the same building, the Ravens showed the state of Georgia how fake punts are really done. |
| - What was Thielen's celebration all about? Vikings receiver Adam Thielen scored a big touchdown against the Patriots, but his celebration left many confused. |
| - Belichick and Thielen have words: Adam Thielen had a fiery exchange with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. When the Patriots' Patrick Chung went down with an injury - seemingly giving the Patriots more time to decide if they wanted to challenge - Thielen shouted his disapproval at the Patriots sideline. Belichick didn't back down. |
| - Seahawks mimic famous play: The Seahawks have had arguably the best TD celebrations in the league this season. But they took it to a whole new level Sunday when they channeled their inner Richard Sherman. |
| - Does Gurley hate his fantasy owners? For the second time this season, Rams running back Todd Gurley pulled up short on what would have been an easy touchdown late in a game. It's the smart play, but not one that will leave his fantasy football owners happy. |
| TOP SHOTS: Best pics from Week 13 | Cheerleaders | Celebrations | Fans |
Key storylines from Week 13 |
| - NFL playoff picture: With a month left in the regular season, each conference's field of six is slowly coming into focus. Take a look at how things stack up, if the season ended today. |
| - Rams first to clinch playoff berth: It wasn't their most impressive victory of the season (certainly nowhere near as compelling as their Week 11 MNF victory over the Chiefs), but Sunday's win over the Lions made the Rams the NFC West champs and the first team to clinch a postseason spot. |
| - Packers move on from McCarthy: Mike McCarthy's 13-year reign as head coach of the Packers ended Sunday. The rebuild starts now in Green Bay, where success might not come as quickly as many expect. |
| - Hunt 'embarrassed' by video of attack on woman: Speaking publicly for the first time since the Friday release of a video that showed him shoving and kicking a woman in a February incident, former Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt said Sunday he was "embarrassed" and sorry for the incident but still hoped to be forgiven and afforded another chance in the NFL. |
| - Chiefs move on after Hunt's release: The loss of the NFL's fifth-leading rusher proved merely a blip from a football perspective for the Chiefs, who improved their AFC-best record to 10-2 behind Patrick Mahomes' big game. |
Q&A: Get your NFL questions answered! |
| Each week, USA TODAY Sports' NFL experts answer questions from you, the fans of the NFL. |
| Submit your question either through our Facebook group, The Ruling Off the Field, or here (be sure to leave your name!). Then, make sure to check the Friday edition of this newsletter to see if your question got answered! |
Week 13 rundown |
| Chargers 33, Steelers 30: The Chargers pulled off a remarkable rally from 16 points down to beat the Steelers. |
| Seahawks 43, 49ers 16: The NFC West has already been clinched by the Rams, but the Seahawks' playoff hopes are still alive and well after a 10th straight win over the 49ers. |
| Patriots 24, Vikings 10: This seems like something written every season since 2001: Patriots look like they'll own December yet again. |
| Titans 26, Jets 22: Tennessee remains one of a bunch of middling teams just good enough to keep its playoff hopes alive into December, adding at least some cachet to Thursday night's game vs. the Jaguars. |
| Chiefs 40, Raiders 33: With Kareem Hunt gone, it was Patrick Mahomes who picked up the slack. |
| Rams 30, Lions 16: Rams are NFC West champs and the first team to clinch a playoff berth this season. |
| Ravens 26, Falcons 16: As Baltimore improved its AFC playoff chances, Atlanta has a huge football game of another sort to look forward to. |
| Broncos 24, Bengals 10: The Bengals now have lost six of seven games after what was a promising 4-1 start. |
| Dolphins 21, Bills 17: The BIlls lost despite a 135-yard rushing game (yes, rushing!) by quarterback Josh Allen. |
| Buccaneers 24, Panthers 17: A four-game losing streak has put Carolina's playoff hopes in jeopardy. |
| Texans 29, Browns 13: Houston pushed its win streak to nine games, and their remaining schedule would suggest a much longer unbeaten run is doable. |
| Jaguars 6, Colts 0: Jacksonville ended a seven-game losing streak in probably the worst game of the season. |
| Cardinals 20, Packers 17: The loss that cost a Super Bowl-winning coach his job. |
| Giants 30, Bears 27: The Giants are playing spoiler late this season, beating the NFC North-leading Bears in a game that featured a number of trick plays. |
| Cowboys 13, Saints 10 (Thursday): After a signature win over the Saints, the Cowboys appear to be a real threat in the NFC. |
Join the conversation in our NFL Facebook group! |
 | | The Ruling Off the Field - USA TODAY Sports NFL Facebook group logo | | USA TODAY | |
| If you love talking football, we have the perfect spot for you. Join The Ruling Off the Field to engage in friendly debate and conversation with fellow football fans and our NFL insiders. Don't forget to send in questions to our experts . We'll answer them in Friday's 4th & Monday newsletter! |
Eyes on the (fantasy) prize |
| The final regular-season week for fantasy football in many leagues featured what was the most bizarre week this season for players. |
| The fantasy football gods decided to turn logic completely upside down as star players failed to deliver when it mattered most and virtual unknowns vultured touchdown after touchdown. |
| MORE: Fantasy football owners stunned as chaos reigns in Week 13 |
Coming this week |
| Monday: Week 13 concludes when the Philadelphia Eagles host the Washington Redskins in an NFC East showdown with huge playoff implications (8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN). |
| Tuesday: USA TODAY Sports' NFL experts update their power rankings for all 32 NFL teams after Week 13. Don't agree with our rankings? Speak up! Submit your own rankings to tell us where our experts got it wrong with our NFL Fan Power Rankings. |
| Thursday: The Tennessee Titans host the Jacksonville Jaguars (8:20 p.m. ET on FOX, NFL Network and Prime Video) to kick off Week 14. The Jaguars snapped a seven-game losing streak with a win over the Colts in Week 13 . Before Thursday's game, make sure to visit USA TODAY Sports to check out our expert picks for every Week 14 game. |
| Want to keep this conversation going? Head to Facebook, and/or give a Twitter follow to your friendly neighborhood USA TODAY Sports football guy who put together this newsletter, @jimreineking. |
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