Week 12 NFL Indepth Recap
Philadelphia Eagles 14 Detroit Lions 45
All you need to know in this game is that Megatron lives and Matt Stafford figured that out. Detroit destroyed Philly on Thanksgiving Day, and the Eagles are reeling after back to back weeks giving up 45.
The Eagles team has likely given up on the season so even pride won’t be a factor the rest of the way. Look for more blowouts against Chip Kelly‘s flawed system and players.
Eye-popping stat: 5 TDs and 0 picks for Matt Stafford.
Fantasy carnage: Stafford and CJ combined for 61 standard fantasy points and were a great play on DraftKings.
Carolina Panthers 33 Dallas Cowboys 14
Cam could have stayed Clark Kent in this Turkey Day beat down. The Panther defense did all the damage necessary to get a win in Texas.
Tony Romo got knocked out of the game with a broken collarbone but not before throwing three INTs in the first half. Two were returned for scores. He came back early for this?
Carolina CB Josh Norman erased Dez Bryant and crushed him after the game saying Dallas should take Dez back to customer service for a full refund of that $70 mil.
Dallas’ season is over, and Carolina remains perfect.
Eye-popping stat: 2 pick sixes for Romo in one-half.
Fantasy carnage: Carolina D.
Chicago Bears 17 Green Bay Packers 13
It wasn’t the prettiest NFL game you’ll ever see, but that’s the type game Chicago can steal. Jay Cutler and his crew handed Green Bay a tough loss in some nasty weather on the holiday game.
Aaron Rodgers had a shot to go ahead at the end, yet failed on fourth and goal from the eight-yard line with just seconds to go.
Green Bay falls back to second in their division with Minnesota’s win in Atlanta.
Eye-popping stat: Just 4.7 yards per completion for Rodgers.
Fantasy carnage: Should have sought other games.
Minnesota Vikings 20 Atlanta Falcons 10
Minnesota Vikings 20 Atlanta Falcons 10St. Louis Rams 7 Cincinnati Bengals 31
Nick Foles is a great slump buster. The Rams offense has nothing but Todd Gurley and teams only have to focus on him to get wins over the hot-headed Jeff Fisher coached club.
Cincinnati snapped a two-game losing skid as they scored at will on St. Louis. AJ Green had his way with the Rams secondary on his way to a two score game.
Gurley has gone four games in a row without eclipsing the 100-yard mark, and Jeff Fisher even had to defend his team’s effort afterward. That’ll happen when you drop four straight, my man. What success has Fisher had in his four years with the franchise anyway?
Eye-popping stat: Nick Foles: 3 INTs, No touchdowns.
Fantasy carnage: Dalton with AJ and the Bengals defense scored well also.
New Orleans Saints 6 Houston Texans 24
Brian Hoyer doesn’t need to be the best QB in the NFL when his defense plays like they did on Sunday. Not hard on the “D” either when the opponent is New Orleans.
It turns out the Saints offense is about as dependable as the defense.
JJ Watt had two sacks and is on pace for 20 once again in 2015. The Texans defense has allowed just 35 points in the last four games. Their schedule sets up nicely the rest of the way, and they could be in the playoffs as long as they don’t fall apart completely.
The Saints need a total overhaul and Houston is peaking at the right time when other teams are going the wrong way.
Eye-popping stat: 167 rushing yards to just 50. Advantage Houston.
Fantasy carnage: Houston’s defense put up decent fantasy points.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12 Indianapolis Colts 25
What’s it gonna take for folks to believe Hasselbeck is the better option at QB for Indy right now? They guy is doing more with what he has than Luck did when healthy this year. The key may be Hasselbeck taking what the defense gives him which allows him to avoid big hits with a quicker release than Luck. That could stop injuries like a lacerated kidney!
Tampa only had to worry about the Colts‘ passing game yet still had no answer for the 40-year-old led offense. Tampa looked to be on the rise, but this loss shows they aren’t ready to be consistent yet. Winston is showing flashes but is still a rookie that needs more games under his belt.
Adam Vinatieri’s four field goals were a big factor as well.
Eye-popping stat: Matt Hasselbeck is 4-0 as the starter for Indy.
Fantasy carnage: TY Hilton stacked with the old QB was a good play.
San Diego Chargers 31 Jacksonville Jaguars 25
Philip Rivers somehow managed four touchdowns with a taped together receiving corp. The Chargers QB also protected the ball, avoiding costly picks against the Jags.
Jacksonville’s biggest problem is they can’t stop anyone. They can score some serious points but find themselves behind way too often.
Blake Bortles had an up and down game while Julius Thomas finally had a breakout performance as a Jag with 100 yards receiving.
Eye-popping stat: 10 – Number of receivers who caught passes from Blake Bortles.
Fantasy carnage: Rivers was huge.
Buffalo Bills 22 Kansas City Chiefs 30
Kansas City got the best of Buffalo with a brilliant game from Jeremy Maclin who racked 160 yards on nine catches. The Chiefs lost linebacker Justin Houston during the game but don’t know the severity of the knee sprain as of this post.
Rex Ryan got questioned about his challenges, but the one concerning a catch was a good one. Any catch can be overturned with the flimsy NFL catch rule.
KC is playing better without Jamaal Charles somehow, and they are on a five-game roll. Spencer Ware had another solid game with 114 running the ball.
Eye-popping stat: Sammy Watkins with 158 receiving yards, most of which came in the first half.
Fantasy carnage: Alex Smith and Jeremy Maclin stacked were money.
Miami Dolphins 20 New York Jets 38
Ryan Fitzpatrick’s four touchdowns should squash the calls for Geno Smith‘s return. Wait, there were calls for Smith to actually play quarterback?
The Jets completed the two-game sweep of the warm weather Dolphins that are once again irrelevant in the cold weather months. Somehow Ryan Tannehill has amazing looking stat lines in these losses. He is king of garbage time play apparently.
The Jets got back on track even without Darrelle Revis in the mix who was out with a concussion. The NY offense seemed to reign in the deep passes a bit to make the most of Fitz’s abilities. The Jets defense had little trouble with Miami once it was apparent the Phins weren’t interested in running the ball, ending up with just 12 yards on the ground.
Bill Lazor was fired after the game for the poor offensive output this year.
Eye-popping stat: 12 yards rushing for Miami.
Fantasy carnage: Fitz and Brandon Marshall on DraftKings should have earned some users real cash.
Oakland Raiders 24 Tennessee Titans 21
Here comes Oakland back as their valley and peak season rolls on. They got two-win Tennessee after Derek Carr led his Raiders on a winning drive with under four minutes left to get the victory on a rain-soaked day.
As soon as Marcus Mariota has some weapons around him he will get more wins just like Carr is doing this year.
Seth Roberts had a monster game with Amari Cooper playing well too. Both wideouts had similar stats, but it was Roberts providing two scores.
Oakland needs to string together about three wins in a row to gain confidence on a weekly basis. They can score with anyone. They just need to get used to winning.
Eye-popping stat: 128 rushing yards between both clubs.
Fantasy carnage: Carr hitched to Seth Roberts on Draftkings or standard play.
New York Giants 14 Washington Redskins 20
If you’re in the NFC East, you have a chance at winning the division. Even the Cowboys are not out of the playoff hunt technically. Washington handed NY a disappointing loss that put the Skins in the driver’s seat for now in their weak-ass division.
Washington jumped to a 20 point lead and sat on it most of the game as the Giants tried to mount a comeback. Too bad NY doesn’t get points for how many highlights Odell Beckham shows up on.
Kirk Cousins can be called streaky or unreliable, but when he is on his game, he is as dangerous as an escaped Tiger on the streets of DC.
Eye-popping stat: 51 passes for Eli Manning, three were intercepted.
Fantasy carnage: Cousins, a great guy to take each week as an outlier in DFS tourneys.
Arizona Cardinals 19 San Francisco 49ers 14
Arizona can win beautiful shootouts, and they proved they can win ugly with this win over San Francisco. The Niners defense still has some pride despite all the retirements and defections. They held a potent offense to just two touchdowns.
Carson Palmer put the game away with a 14 play drive that ate up 85 yards and nearly eight minutes.
Arizona suffered some injuries in this game that could hurt them in the coming weeks. Both Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington left the game hurt. The Cards run by committee, but the committee is getting beat up as a whole.
Arizona’s Honey Badger Tyrann Mathieu won’t win the defensive player of the year because of JJ Watt, but damn this kid can play.
Eye-popping stat: 13 penalties on San Fran
Fantasy carnage: Palmer was decent.
Pittsburgh Steelers 30 Seattle Seahawks 39
Russell Wilson is known for ripping the hearts out of opponents. He usually does it with a mix of runs and some late game deep balls. Against Pittsburgh Wilson was all about the passing game, amassing five touchdowns in the air. Three went to Doug Baldwin and two to Jermaine Kearse.
Thomas Rawls had another nice game but did fall short of the 100-yard mark.
This back and forth game may have been swayed by a few calls against the Steelers in the end. Nonetheless, Seattle did what they needed to to put themselves right in the playoff mix.
The Hawks did lose Jimmy Graham for the year with a patellar tendon injury. He may not have been what he was in New Orleans, but he was still a good tight end, just not a superstar in the Seattle system.
Big Ben ended up with a concussion and could miss next week’s game versus the Colts on SNF.
Eye-popping stat: Wilson’s 5 TDs.
Fantasy carnage: Wilson with 34 standard league points.
New England Patriots 24 Denver Broncos 30
It wasn’t the matchup that the networks salivate over, as Peyton Manning was out and Brock Osweiler was in. I doubt the result would have been the same had Manning been the starter, though.
Osweiler looked sharp and gave his Broncos the best chance to win. He wasn’t Tom Brady, but he didn’t put Denver in bad spots either.
New England had the game in control with a 21-7 lead in the snow. That lead slipped away as the Patriots had a muffed punt that helped Denver climb back into the game. Tom Brady set up the FG to tie the game as usual, and we headed to overtime.
The Pats failed to move the ball on their OT possession. Denver made them pay when CJ Anderson took it to the house on a walk off touchdown from 48 yards out. Game over, Patriots’ record now imperfect.
Eye-popping stat: 179 yards on the ground for Denver.
Fantasy carnage: CJ Anderson went off, and the OT touchdown was the cherry on top.
Baltimore Ravens 33 Cleveland Browns 27
I just think bad things happen to my Falcons. Cleveland should patent all the ways they find to lose games. It’s truly amazing.
This game featured some no names in starting roles for Baltimore, and the main reason to tune into this contest was to gamble or watch your fantasy team. That said, the game was pretty damn entertaining.
Josh McCown went out after a big hit and with Johnny Manziel reduced to third string, Cleveland puts in Austin Davis at QB. He goes out and throws a touchdown, going 7/10 for 77 yards.
Matt Schaub ended up throwing for two scores and two picks on the Baltimore side of the field.
With the game tied Cleveland was looking to set up the go ahead FG. Davis was moving the offense down the field but burning a lot of time and inexplicably didn’t use a timeout. He even slide down in bounds after a scramble. The Browns’ Travis Coons came on the field to attempt a 51-yard field goal, and Baltimore managed to not only block it, but Will Hill proceeded to run the thing back 64 yards for the touchdown. Game over, Ravens win by six.
The last minute of offense by Cleveland let Baltimore have a chance to win. The Browns could have moved closer for their kicker had they managed the clock properly.
Eye-popping stat: 64-yard return with zeroes on the clock.
Fantasy carnage: Kamar Aiken was decent for a desperation MNF draft pick.