Each week NFL Nation team reporters award a game ball to a player, coach or unit. Here are the game balls for Week 13:
Ryan Fitzpatrick. The usually well-protected quarterback was under heavy pressure throughout the game, but he never lost his poise. Fitzpatrick completed 36 of 50 passes for 390 yards and two touchdowns. -- Rich Cimini
Robert Ayers. He had a big game at right defensive end, switching with Jason Pierre-Paul. Ayers finished with five tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, three QB hits and one pass defended. -- Dan Graziano
CARDINALS 27, RAMS 3 | ANALYSIS
David Johnson. He filled in for Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington, rushing 22 times for 99 yards. He also caught two passes for 21 yards and a touchdown. -- Josh Weinfuss
Johnny Hekker. For the fifth straight week (and loss), there weren't a lot of choices on the Rams, but Hekker is deserving as he continues to put together a Pro Bowl-caliber season. Hekker finished with an average of 54.5 yards on eight attempts. He dropped five of those punts inside Arizona's 20. -- Nick Wagoner
BUCCANEERS 23, FALCONS 19 | ANALYSIS
Shayne Graham. He had four field goals for the Falcons as they struggled to score in the red zone once again. Graham has been an emergency fill-in for injured Matt Bryant the past two weeks. One of his field goals on Sunday included a 52-yarder. -- Vaughn McClure
Jameis Winston. The rookie quarterback led his third fourth-quarter/overtime comeback with a 12-play, 80-yard drive to keep Tampa Bay's playoff hopes alive. His 20-yard run on third-and-19 during the decisive drive in the fourth, followed by his 6-yard touchdown pass to Mike Evans, erased any bad throws he made earlier against Atlanta. -- Rick Brown
BENGALS 37, BROWNS 3 | ANALYSIS
A.J. Green. He eclipsed 1,000 yards on the season, his fifth straight 1,000-yard season to start his career. Randy Moss (six straight) is the only other player to start his career with five straight 1,000-yard seasons. -- Coley Harvey
Darius Jennings. He came off the practice squad Saturday and caught five passes for 35 yards while playing far more than expected thanks to four WRs being inactive and Travis Benjamin and Marlon Moore getting hurt. Jennings now has more receptions this season than Dwayne Bowe. -- Pat McManamon
BILLS 30, TEXANS 21 | ANALYSIS
Chris Polk. He had 61 yards on 12 carries and scored a touchdown. Polk has been in the Texans’ rotation, but Sunday was one of his more productive days. He helped the Texans offense move as well as it did in the first half against the Bills. -- Tania Ganguli
Sammy Watkins. Another week, another monster performance from Watkins, who had 109 of the Bills’ 142 receiving yards in the game and came down with every deep pass Tyrod Taylor threw his way, including a 53-yarder. Watkins stole the show from his former Clemson teammate, DeAndre Hopkins, who had a quiet afternoon until his fourth-quarter touchdown. -- Mike Rodak
SEAHAWKS 38, VIKINGS 7 | ANALYSIS
Russell Wilson. He stayed hot, completing 21 of 27 passes for 274 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran nine times for 51 yards and a score. There’s no debate anymore. Wilson is playing the best football of his career. In the last three games, he’s completed 76.7 percent of his passes, averaged 10.2 yards per attempt and accounted for 12 touchdowns with no interceptions. With Wilson playing like this, the Seahawks look like one of the hottest teams in the NFC. -- Sheil Kapadia
Cordarrelle Patterson. He had his second kick return touchdown of the season, and the fourth of his career, going 101 yards in the fourth quarter to give the Vikings their only touchdown of the day. Though with the Vikings down 35-0, he high-stepped the last 30 yards, held the ball aloft and jumped into the stands. -- Ben Goessling
DOLPHINS 15, RAVENS 13 | ANALYSIS
Buck Allen. He had 170 of the Ravens' 375 yards (45.3 percent). He also had a highlight-reel 41-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the third quarter. -- Jamison Hensley
Olivier Vernon. The defensive end had arguably his best game of the season with six tackles, 2.5 sacks, two tackles for loss and four quarterback hits on Ravens quarterback Matt Schaub. Vernon now has at least one sack in his past three games and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season. -- James Walker
TITANS 42, JAGUARS 39 | ANALYSIS
Allen Robinson. He had his best game against Tennessee, catching 10 passes for 153 yards and three touchdowns. That gives him a franchise-record 11 touchdown catches and also tied him with Jimmy Smith for the most touchdowns in one game. Robinson also became the first Jaguars player to surpass 1,000 yards receiving since Smith in 2005. -- Michael DiRocco
Marcus Mariota. He did well with his arm and his legs, guiding the Titans to a win that ended an 11-game home losing skid. He completed 20 of 29 passes for 268 yards and ran nine times for 112 yards, including an 87-yard TD. -- Paul Kuharsky
Jimmie Ward. The defensive back’s 29-yard pick-six tied the score at 6-6 when the Niners had just 5 yards of total offense. It was his first career interception and marked the first time the Niners scored a TD in the first quarter this season. -- Paul Gutierrez
Matt Forte. He was the only guy playing well on offense for almost the entire game. Forte rushed for 84 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown and caught five passes for 39 yards. -- Jeff Dickerson
BRONCOS 17, CHARGERS 3 | ANALYSIS
Danny Trevathan. He intercepted Philip Rivers and returned the pick 25 yards for a score to help the Broncos to their 10th victory of the season. It was the fourth interception the Broncos have returned for a score this season. -- Jeff Legwold
Jason Verrett. The second-year pro out of TCU corralled his second interception of the season on a fade route thrown by Brock Osweiler intended for Emmanuel Sanders, saving a touchdown. Verrett finished with four combined tackles and a pass breakup. -- Eric Williams
CHIEFS 34, RAIDERS 20 | ANALYSIS
Jeremy Maclin. He scored two touchdowns and carried the Chiefs' offense when little else was working. Maclin finished with nine catches for 95 yards. -- Adam Teicher
Charles Woodson. The future Hall of Fame safety continued his terrific season. He had two fumble recoveries, one in which he stripped Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce and returned it to set up a go-ahead touchdown late in the second half. -- Bill Williamson
PANTHERS 41, SAINTS 38 | ANALYSIS
Cam Newton. He had five touchdown passes for the second time this season and would have had a couple more had Ted Ginn Jr. not dropped two running free in the Saints' secondary. Newton finished 28-of-41 for 331 yards. -- David Newton
Stephone Anthony. The rookie linebacker forced a fumble and returned it for a score, the Saints’ first defensive touchdown return since 2012. He also returned a blocked an extra point for a 2-point conversion. Anthony tried to give the defense a spark it badly needed, but his big plays weren’t enough. -- Mike Triplett
EAGLES 35, PATRIOTS 28 | ANALYSIS
Malcolm Jenkins. He intercepted Tom Brady and returned the ball 99 yards for a touchdown. Two plays earlier, Jenkins dropped Patriots running back James White for a 4-yard loss, forcing Brady to throw the ball. Last week, Jenkins said on a radio show that the Eagles weren’t held accountable by their coaches. The coaches won’t mind showing this film to the whole team. -- Phil Sheridan
James White. He was a bright spot on a day when the Patriots didn’t have many. White finished with 10 catches on 13 targets for 115 yards and a touchdown. -- Mike Reiss
STEELERS 45, COLTS 10 | ANALYSIS
AFC South. The Colts got embarrassed by 35 points, have a .500 record and are tied for first place with Houston. It’s a good thing they play in the AFC South. Of course, the NFC East wouldn’t be a bad place for Colts, either. -- Mike Wells
Ben Roethlisberger. He played a vintage game, throwing for nearly 300 yards before barely breaking a third-quarter sweat. His four touchdowns, zero interceptions and 364 yards passing on 24 completions were exactly what the Steelers needed for their playoff push. -- Jeremy Fowler
COWBOYS 19, REDSKINS 16 | ANALYSIS
Sean Lee. He was everywhere Monday night. He had a sack. He had double-digit tackles for the fifth time this season. Lee had 17 tackles in the Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day loss to Carolina but he was more impactful against Washington. His sack in the second quarter was the second of the season and the second of his career. His most crucial stop was on a third-down rocket screen to Jamison Crowder to force a field goal attempt. -- Todd Archer
Mason Foster. The reserve linebacker, a former four-year starter in Tampa Bay, made his first start of the season and played well. He forced one turnover with a strip, recovered another fumble and had a key pressure late in regulation. -- John Keim