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          George Pickens, C.J. Stroud, Jameson Williams are Next Gen stars

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          Dopp: Adonai Mitchell not fantasy start-worthy moving forward (1:13)

          Daniel Dopp explains why Adonai Mitchell's Week 13 fantasy breakout for the Jets isn't enough to warrant a starting spot in Week 14 and beyond. (1:13)

          • DJ Bien-AimeDec 2, 2025, 06:26 AM ET
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              DJ Bien-Aime covers the Houston Texans for ESPN. He joined ESPN in July of 2022 after covering the New York Jets for the New York Daily News. He's a former athlete who finished his college career at Louisville. You can catch DJ on ESPN Radio on his show "Talkin' Texans."
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          Across the NFL, players were feasting on big plays during Thanksgiving week, but the fastest time from a ball carrier in Week 13 came Sunday from a player who made headlines earlier this season for fumbling the ball out the back of the end zone without being touched.

          But this time, New York Jets wideout Adonai Mitchell made sure to secure his first career touchdown on a 52-yard pass from quarterback Tyrod Taylor while reaching 20.97 mph in the process.

          Mitchell, who was moved by the Indianapolis Colts after the miscue in the Sauce Gardner trade, had career highs in yards (102) and receptions (eight) to help the Jets upset the Atlanta Falcons, 27-24.

          There was a bigger upset in Carolina, where the Carolina Panthers intercepted MVP candidate Matthew Stafford twice -- after he set a record for the most touchdown passes (28) without an interception -- en route to a 31-28 victory.

          Panthers cornerback Michael Jackson had the second-fastest time of the week -- 20.88 mph -- on a 48-yard pick-six.

          Each week, we will highlight top performances as defined by NFL Next Gen Stats, which tracks players' speed through sensors in their uniforms and on the field.

          We'll also feature some of the top games of the week. Here is a look back at four games from Week 13 through the Next Gen lens.

          Dallas Cowboys 31, Kansas City Chiefs 28

          Dallas Cowboys wideout George Pickens finished with seven catches for 112 yards and a touchdown -- with most of his yards coming on slants. Pickens' four catches for 73 yards were the most yards by a receiver on slant routes this season.

          Pickens outdueled Jaylen Watson, who pressed him on seven targets and watched Pickens make five catches for 85 yards. Watson also committed a pass interference penalty that resulted in a first down.

          Cowboys wideout CeeDee Lamb caught seven of his nine targets for 112 yards and a touchdown. Four of his five targets came against All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie for 44 yards and a touchdown. Lamb additionally drew three pass interference penalties for 50 yards in matchups with McDuffie.

          Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes finished the day with four touchdowns and did most of his damage throwing to the slot. He completed 23 of his 34 passes for 261 yards with four touchdowns to receivers aligned in the slot, the most by any quarterback in a game since Week 4, 2020.

          The Chiefs couldn't get pressure with rushing only four. It forced them to blitz quarterback Dak Prescott on 48% of his dropbacks, the highest blitz rate he has faced this season. But the Chiefs defensive backs weren't able to guard Lamb or Pickens well enough on those plays. Against the blitz, Prescott completed 15 of his 19 attempts for 190 yards with an interception, the fourth-most passing yards versus blitzes in his career.

          Houston Texans 20, Indianapolis Colts 16

          Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud was blitzed on 31.6% of his dropbacks but shredded it as he went 9-of-11 for 134 with a passer rating of 117.4. Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo would play Cover 0, Cover 1 and Cover 2 behind the blitz, but since the Texans' offensive line picked up consistently, Stroud found massive voids in coverage. Stroud and wideout Nico Collins connected in the second quarter for a 15-yard gain against a Cover 0 blitz.

          There was another completion to wideout Jayden Higgins for 19 yards versus the blitz when Anarumo had a Cover 2 coverage behind it. But because of the Texans offensive line, Stroud could scan the field and look left then right and find Higgins.

          On the flip side, Colts quarterback Daniel Jones struggled against the blitz going 2-of-11 for 14 yards. But the biggest difference was the Colts didn't pick up as well. Houston had multiple plays when they blitzed in the area between both guards and center and freely came into the backfield. Jones saw four unblocked pressures in Week 13, tied for the third-most in the league.

          Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. did not allow a reception on his only target across 28 coverage snaps against the Colts. This marked Stingley's fifth game this season allowing fewer than 10 yards in coverage. Stingley matched up against Colts wide receivers Michael Pittman Jr. nine times and Alec Pierce eight in the contest, with his lone target coming on the Colts' final drive in the fourth quarter.

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          Why Rich Eisen is impressed by the Bears

          Rich Eisen offers his outlook on the Bears after they defeated the Steelers and Eagles in back-to-back weeks.

          Chicago Bears 24, Philadelphia Eagles 15

          The Bears offense rushed for 268 yards on designed runs, their most in a game this season. Both Bears running backs had a high rush over expected percentage, as 44% of D'Andre Swift's runs were over the expected and 59.1 of Kyle Monangai's runs were.

          Coming into Week 13, the Eagles allowed the third-most rushing yards with light boxes (867) and the Bears took advantage of it. Monangai and Swift combined for 179 yards. Most of the damage came out of 11 personnel to force those light boxes as Monangai saw light boxes out of 11 on 81% of his rushes while Swift saw it on 75%.

          Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts targeted vertical routes five times, completing four of these attempts for 97 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown pass to wideout A.J. Brown in the third quarter. Hurts finished the day 19-of-34 for 230 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The Bears blitzed Hurts on 47.1% of his dropbacks, against which he completed just 6 of 16 passes (37.5%) for 60 yards and an interception.

          Green Bay Packers 31, Detroit Lions 24

          Lions wideout Jameson Williams caught seven receptions on 10 targets for a career-high 144 yards and a touchdown. Most of that came after receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown went down with an ankle injury in the first quarter. Williams posted a 34.5% target rate, the highest of his career in any game when he ran at least five routes.

          Gibbs struggled against the Packers' interior defensive line, recording just 10 yards on eight carries -- averaging 1.3 yards per carry on rushes between the tackles. The Packers stuffed Gibbs seven-times (career high), leading to a 35% stuff rate, Green Bay's highest against any running back with at least 10 carries this season.

          The Lions went 0 for 2 on fourth downs. Over the last three weeks, the Lions are 0 of 7 on fourth down conversions, including five failed attempts against the Eagles in Week 11. The Lions have lost -46.8% in net win probability across those seven unsuccessful attempts. On the season, the Lions have converted 52% of their fourth down attempts, the lowest mark under Dan Campbell since his first season as head coach (51.2% in 2021).

          Packers quarterback Jordan Love made a living out of throwing the ball after 2.5 seconds, as 73% of his dropbacks came then -- where he went 12-of-22 for 210 yards with two touchdowns for a passer rating of 117.6.