Week 13 Reactions: Mr. 1,000

The Panthers improved to 12-0 by beating the Saints 41-38 in New Orleans thanks to a Cam Newton touchdown pass to Jerricho Cotchery with 1:05 left in the fourth quarter. They are the ninth team in NFL history to start 12-0, with six of the previous eight reaching the Super Bowl and four winning it. After the game, Twitter was filled with comments about how Cam Newton has all but wrapped up the Most Valuable Player Award, especially after Tom Brady was unable to beat the Eagles at home.

Newton has thrown for five touchdowns in two of the last three games and the Panthers need just one win or a Vikings loss to clinch home-field advantage for the playoffs. Newton took a beating during Sunday's game (he underwent, and passed, a concussion test afterward) and if the Panthers lock it up next Sunday at home against the Falcons (losers in six of their last seven after starting 5-0), you have to wonder if coach Ron Rivera would consider sitting Newton in Weeks 15 (at Giants) and 16 (at Falcons), which just happen to be two of the most important weeks in season-long fantasy football. Actually, what may be even worse is starting Newton and then pulling him, as fantasy owners would have to start him as well, only to see him play two quarters.

And speaking of Jerricho Cotchery (never thought I'd ever write that), he was the last Jets receiver to reach 1,000 receiving yards in a season until Brandon Marshall hit the mark Sunday against the Giants. Cotchery caught 82 passes on 127 targets for 1,130 yards and two touchdowns back in the 2007 season and no Jet -- not even all-time greats like Laveranues Coles, Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes, Jeremy Kerley, Justin McCareins, Brad Smith, Chansi Stuckey, Plaxico Burress or Stephen Hill -- could reach that level. Marshall now has 83 catches on 130 targets for 1,062 yards and 10 touchdowns in 11 games. The Jets have had 23 1,000-yard receivers in franchise history but only four since Keyshawn Johnson in 1999, his last year with the team (full disclosure: I own two Keyshawn Johnson Jets jerseys).

Marshall has seven 100-yard games and at least one touchdown in five stright, while Eric Decker reached the 100-yard mark Sunday for the first time this season. Decker is now up to 801 yards, and with four games to go, he is on pace to easily reach 1,000 yards. It would be the first time that two Jets have reached that many yards in the same year since Johnson (1,131 yards and 10 TDs) and Wayne Chrebet (1,083 and eight TDs) did it in 1998. Oh, and Decker and Marshall have already matched their 18 touchdown receptions. Up next are the Titans, who allowed five passing touchdowns to Blake Bortles on Sunday.

Speaking of Bortles, he and Marcus Mariota were the two quarterbacks of the most entertaining game of the weekend (no, really!), a 42-39 victory for the Titans that ended their 11-game home losing streak. As mentioned, Bortles threw for five touchdowns (three to Allen Robinson, one to Julius Thomas and one Rashad Greene), while Mariota tossed three (Dorial Green-Beckham, Delanie Walker and Craig Stevens) and ran for an 87-yard score, the longest quarterback rushing attempt since Colin Kaepernick had a 90-yarder back in 2014.

And before we leave that game, it's worth noting that Julius Thomas has now scored in three straight games and will next face a Colts defense that allowed at least one tight end touchdown in Weeks 6, 7, 8, 9 and 12 (they were off in Week 10). If you're a regular reader of NFL Reactions, you knew this already.

What to Make of Sammy Watkins

On the surface, Bills wideout Sammy Watkins has had two very good games in a row, catching six passes on 10 targets for 158 yards and two touchdowns in Week 13 against the Chiefs and then three catches on four targets for 109 yards and a touchdown Sunday against the Texans. However, he's done nearly all his damage in the first half of each game, as he failed to catch a pass in the latter two quarters against the Chiefs, while he was officially targeted just once in the second half of Sunday's game (he caught a 21-yard pass that was negated because of a holding penalty). Are opponents adjusting that much at halftime or is quarterback Tyrod Taylor using Watkins early in order to open up other options later on?

Taylor has been excellent the past two weeks, scoring seven touchdowns (one rushing) while turning the ball over just once. The Bills are still very much in the playoff picture after Sunday's win over the Texans, and they've got another fantasy-friendly game in Week 14 against the Eagles. Just imagine what Watkins could do if they kept him involved for all four quarters.

They Were Who We Thought They Were

As mentioned above, the Eagles beat the Patriots in what might have been the most surprising result of the weekend. The Patriots were 9.5-point favorites and a unanimous choice in RotoWire's Staff Picks this week, but they trailed 35-14 after Jordan Matthews' 10-yard touchdown catch with just over 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Everyone knew the Patriots would rally, but the Eagles miraculously held on for the win.

With Dion Lewis (knee), Rob Gronkowski (knee) and Julian Edelman (foot) all out, most eyes turned to Scott Chandler and Danny Amendola to pick up the slack. NumerousDFSarticles included those two as solid value plays this weekend, as they had reduced salaries for being who they are, and there they were catching two of Tom Brady's three touchdown passes. Chandler was 26.7 percent owned in DraftKings' Millionaire Maker, while Amendola was 15.2 percent, though the biggest output came from running back James White, who caught 10 passes on 13 targets for 115 yards and a touchdown. We knew who the Gronkowski and Edelman replacements were and it's quite clear who is replacing Lewis. Some will argue that White was always going to be that guy, but there was very little before Sunday that proved it.

Changes to the Record Book

The Jets beat the Giants on Sunday but Odell Beckham just continued to rewrite the record book, as he now has the most catches in the first two years of a career in NFL history with 169. Given the Giants' inability to find a capable No. 2 wideout, there's no reason to think Beckham will slow down anytime soon.

Larry Fitzgerald caught eight passes on 11 targets for 55 yards, giving him exactly 1,000 receptions in his career, tying him with Hines Ward for 10th all-time. He now trails all-time leader Jerry Rice by 549.

And back to Brandon Marshall for one final note: he became the first player in NFL history to have at least one 1,000-yard season with four teams (Broncos, Dolphins, Bears, Jets). There are reasons why he's played for four different teams but there's no denying his impact on the field.