It’s time to go over all the great NFL action on our Week 12 recap! 3 games took place this past Thanksgiving: Minnesota at Detroit, Pittsburgh at Indianapolis and Washington at Dallas. Keep reading to find out my take on all 3 of those games as well as my recap of all other games that took place in the NFL this past week.
Editor’s Note: Check out our NFL Week 13 Picks by Matt Ross and the Week 13 Betting Preview DS Williamson
NFL Betting – Regular Season Week 12 Recap
Minnesota Vikings 13, Detroit Lions 16
The Vikings took no momentum into their Thanksgiving Day game versus Detroit on Nov. 24. Minnesota had beaten the Arizona Cardinals less than a week before their game versus Detroit. But the Lions proved that they could beat a team with their defense by holding the Vikings, who had scored 30 against Arizona, to only 13 points. The win gave Detroit sole possession of first place in the NFC North.
Pittsburgh Steelers 28, Indianapolis Colts 7
Not much was expected out of Indianapolis after word came down that QB Andrew Luck wasn’t going to play. Colts’ back-up QB Scott Tolzien wasn’t that bad early. Then, the Indy defense allowed Big Ben to connect with Antonio Brown on 3 straight long TD scores before half.
The Colts played catch-up throughout the entire second half, which is why Tolzien ended up throwing 2 picks. Pittsburgh played well. They weren’t nearly as impressive as they should have been, though, considering Luck didn’t play.
Washington Redskins 26, Dallas Cowboys 31
Cowboys’ QB Dak Prescott is unstoppable. Actually, the entire Dallas Cowboys team is unstoppable. Washington battled Dallas almost as well as any team in the NFL has this season on Turkey Day.
The Redskins got a terrific game out of QB Kirk Cousins who passed for 449 yards and threw 3 TDs. Cousins almost willed Washington to an upset win. Both of these teams should be feared come playoff time. Washington is easily one of the Top 5 best teams in the NFC while Dallas is the overall best team in the NFC.
Jacksonville Jaguars 21, Buffalo Bills 28
Jacksonville almost pulled off the upset over Buffalo. The Jags were up 7 to 6 at halftime. What the heck happened? Nothing surprising. Jacksonville ended up blowing a halftime lead, like they almost always do, Buffalo realized that they were playing the Jacksonville Jaguars. Buffalo rushed for 153 total yards while dual-threat QB Tyrod Taylor ran the Bills’ offense to perfection again.
Tennessee Titans 27, Chicago Bears 21
Tennessee is only a half a game behind Houston in the AFC South Division. The Titans do love to fool around on defense. But on offense, they’re as solid as it gets. QB Marcus Mariota threw for 226 yards. He once again tossed more than 1 TD pass. Marcus threw 2 TD passes.
What Titan fans had to love was how rookie running back Derrick Henry rushed for 60 yards and a TD. With Henry playing so well, the Titans could save DeMarco Murray for the playoffs. I’m thinking positively here. The Titans should be thinking positively as well.
Arizona Cardinals 19, Atlanta Falcons 38
Man, I was wrong about this game, right? I thought that Arizona, because they’re so classy, or at least I thought that they were so classy, would step it up versus Atlanta in Week 12. Not only did the Cardinals not step it up, they got beat nasty-like in a 19-point loss. Arizona’s biggest problem is, well, it’s hard to say. Their wide receiver drops passes. Carson Palmer hangs on to the ball too long. The defense is just plain bad.
Forget all that. The Cardinals are toast. I want to go out on a limb and make a crazy prediction about the Atlanta Falcons. I think that Atlanta loses 3 of their next 4 games to Kansas City, Carolina and New Orleans. The second part of my prediction is that the Saints win the NFC South.
Cincinnati Bengals 14, Baltimore Ravens 19
As I expected, Cincinnati has thrown in the towel. The Bengals have given up on the season. The old Bengals would have found a way to beat Baltimore 21 to 19, not lose 14 to 19. Sure, A.J. Green was on the bench due to an injury. But last year’s Bengals’ team would have found a way to win. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it’s time to make a head coaching change in Cincinnati.
San Diego Chargers 21, Houston Texans 13
This is why I’m so bullish on Tennessee to win the AFC South Division. Houston’s defense isn’t spectacular enough to make up for their issues on offense. The Texans only scored 13 points versus a San Diego defense that allowed some bad teams to score a lot of points against it earlier in the season.
I feel bad for the Chargers. At 5-6, San Diego has almost no shot of making it to the AFC Playoffs. If the Chargers played in the NFC, they’d be right in the thick of it for a playoff spot.
New York Giants 27, Cleveland Browns 13
The Giants beat Cleveland. But they were expected to beat Cleveland. How impressed was I by the Giants’ win? Not that impressed at all. QB Eli Manning only passed for 194 yards. Sure, he threw 3 TD passes, 2 to Odell Beckham Jr., but he didn’t exactly tear it up.
More importantly, Cleveland QB Josh McCown threw for 322 yards and a TD. The Giants could be in trouble since they’ve got a tough schedule from here on out.
Los Angeles Rams 21, New Orleans Saints 49
The Saints’ performance over the Rams was the most impressive in this Week 12 recap. Although New Orleans’ defense gave up 21 points, 3 TD passes to rookie QB Jared Goff, it also forced Goff into an interception. It also forced Goff into a fumble. The Saints’ offense was spectacular. It truly came together in Week 12 when racking up 334 passing yards and 209 rushing yards. The other teams in the NFC had better hope that the Saints don’t win out and make the playoffs.
San Francisco 49’ers 24, Miami Dolphins 31
Did Miami’s defense allow San Francisco’s offense to play much better than it has in recent weeks? Yes, it did. But a lot of the credit goes to San Francisco QB Colin Kaepernick who’s just a better quarterback than Blaine Gabbert. The big takeaway from this game is that Miami has now won 6 games in a row. The Dolphins are a legit playoff contender in the AFC.
Carolina Panthers 32, Oakland Raiders 35
This was more of a case of the Panthers losing the game than it was of Oakland winning the game. Carolina had 129 rushing yards to the Raiders 55. The Panthers held a 25 to 24 lead going into the fourth quarter. There’s no reason why they should have lost the game. But, loss they did. Carolina’s season is over. Oakland’s continues although I believe that a lot of football analysts are out of their minds if they really feel that the Raiders can win the AFC.
Seattle Seahawks 5, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14
Seattle is a problem child. That’s the best way to describe the Seahawks who appeared to be one of the top 2 best teams in the NFC after beating Buffalo, New England and Philadelphia all in a row. Only problem children are sweet and awesome for 3 straight weeks before turning into lackadaisical, apathetic, kids in the fourth week. That’s exactly what Seattle did when having 3 turnovers versus Tampa Bay in a stunning loss.
Seattle is still 3 games ahead of Arizona in one of the worst divisions in football, the NFC West. But the Seahawks played with no urgency at all versus Tampa Bay in the loss. TB kept pace with New Orleans and Atlanta in the NFC South, a division that could still be up for grabs.
New England Patriots 22, New York Jets 17
The Patriots were expected to do a lot more than beat the Jets by only 5 points. Considering that Tom Brady was hobbling throughout the entire game, just winning is a big deal. The Jets are a bad team and New England isn’t. That’s what happened in this game.
Kansas City Chiefs 30, Denver Broncos 24
The Broncos’ defense failed to account for rookie WR Tyreke Hill who scored a TD on a run back, via a pass, and via a rush this past Sunday night. Hill is the first NFL payer to do that since Gayle Sayers in 1967. That’s huge.
Denver’s offense looked good, well, QB Trevor Siemian looked good, but the defense, surprisingly, did nothing for the Broncos. Denver must win out in order to have any shot at the AFC West since KC and the Raiders are hot.
Green Bay 27, Philadelphia 13
I have to admit, I’m impressed with how the Green Bay Packers beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night. Green Bay ended the losing streak by playing tough defense. The Eagles had only 211 yards passing and 81 yards rushing. If Green Bay can play this well on defense the rest of the way, they’ll make thing interesting in the NFC North.