New white shirts as final stretch begins

The best part about the football season and, really, the NFL, is that the fall season flies by.

The worst part about the football season, etc.? Same answer.

There are only five weeks left remaining in the NFL season and nothing has really been settled, particularly at the top of the NFL food chain.

In the AFC, the Chiefs are good, maybe very good, but they are not great. Same with the Bills, which took over the No. 1 spot, though they looked pretty darn good last Thursday night.

The Dolphins came back to earth, finally. The Titans are what I thought they were ... slightly above average. and the L.A. Chargers, the real threat for the Patriots and the No. 7 playoff spot, can’t win a big game.

The Bengals are officially intriguing and scary. Joe Burrow has a little “Tom Brady” thing going on, but a little more cocky.

In the NFC, the Eagles are very good. Period. I’ve been late to their parade, but the Eagles are getting it done. For now.

I’m not a big believer in the Vikings just yet. They intrigue me because of their young wideout star, Justin Jefferson, with a good group of vets around him, including QB Kirk Cousins. They and the Cowboys are the only threat to the Eagles.

As I’ve noted before, this could be the year one of those 10-7/9-8 teams make some noise in January. The Ravens and Redskins come to mind. Tough teams. Not afraid.

As for Week 13, it was another solid week picking games for me, getting 10 out of 14 correct (10-3-1) with only 27 entries out of 411 picking 11 or more winners.

Each week a maximum of 10 T-shirts are awarded. The first tiebreaker was the amount of points the Chiefs scored (24). All of the winners were within three points. The second tiebreaker, amount of correct selections, was also used as there were a few entries with 12 winners.

Week 13 winners

Richard Bradley of Lawrence

Chip DiPietro of North Reading

Fred Andersen of North Andover

Patti Goudreault of Auburn, N.H.

Bob Parker of Salem, N.H.

Sandi Seglin of Methuen

Lee LaPorte of Methuen

Jim Warden of Montpelier, Vt.

Stephanie Subocz of Hampden, Me.

Frank DiResta of Londonderry, N.H.

Charlie Matatall of East Hampstead, N.H.