NFL Week 12 Recap: It's Not Easy Being Green (and Gold)

Week 12's Sunday Night Football showcase between the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles was one of the most entertaining games I had ever seen. Though the Packers got off to a bad start by falling down 13-0 quicker than a hiccup, the team bounced back and actually took the lead, on the road, against a team who lost only one game. Just before halftime, the game was tied at 20, but a late Eagles touchdown made it 27-20 after two quarters. Unfortunately, the Packers didn't get back in to the game, but they made it close at the tail end. The Eagles went on to win, 40-33, improving them to 10-1, while the Packers fell to 4-8 and are on life support.

The main story, as always, with the Packers was at quarterback. As usual, Aaron Rodgers gave his all to keep the Packers in the game, but finally, the all gave out. Along with a nagging thumb injury, Rodgers suffered an injury in his ribs during the fourth quarter, and that led to Jordan Love entering in relief. It was Love who tossed the Packers' latest touchdown to the red hot Christian Watson, along with 113 yards. Now let me explain something. As a Packers fan, I'm happy that we have Jordan Love. I'm just not happy with how it happened. With a need for many different positions at the time (especially another receiver and some defense), we draft the one position we didn't need. Even worse, this was done behind Rodgers' back.

This wasn't like how Rodgers was drafted. Rodgers was drafted because Brett Favre was doing the whole "I'm retiring"/"No I'm not" dance for too long, so we had to prepare. Rodgers never uttered the word, "retirement," yet we did this. Despite this, I'm happy we have Love. He hasn't had a lot of time under center, only making his one start during Rodgers' COVID battle, but he shows some promise. There is talk that Rodgers could actually start next week, but with those bad ribs, and Green Bay's playoff chances being the size of an atom, that man should not be out there. Besides, it's Chicago. I think it's safe to start Love next week.

Sunday in Seattle was "The Josh Jacobs Show." The Las Vegas Raiders went on the road to face off against the Seattle Seahawks, and it was quite the back-and-forth, high-scoring affair. The absolute shootout at the OK Corral ended with the game tied at 34 at regulation, and the Raiders won the toss. They got to field goal range, but Daniel Carlson missed a 56-yard field goal, giving Seattle prime field position just outside midfield, while OT was now sudden death. Stunningly, the Seahawks went three and out and had to punt, and even more stunningly, Jacobs ended the game with an 86-yard touchdown run, capping off yet another stellar performance. Once again, let's go to the fantasy numbers.

Fantasy scoring for running backs is simple: 1 point per 10 rushing yards, and touchdowns are six points each. Receiving rules also apply; PPR (usually a full point), 1 point per 10 receiving yards, and touchdowns remain the same. Jacobs ran for 229 yards (22.9 points) and two touchdowns (12 points), and also caught six passes (6 points) for 74 yards (7.4 yards), for a grand total of 48.3 points. I am so happy that I have Jacobs on fantasy; he saved me in one matchup, because I also had Rodgers on that team. Jacobs' game allowed Rodgers to not do so much for me to win said matchup.

Week 12 kicked off on Thanksgiving, and I truly hope that the holiday was prosperous for all of you. The first game saw the Buffalo Bills play their second straight game in Detroit, this time against the city's actual home team, with the Bills winning a nail-biter, 28-25. The Minnesota Vikings defeated the New England Patriots, 33-26, to increase their stranglehold on the NFC North, but the true main event of Thanksgiving was the NFC East battle between the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants. The Cowboys won 28-20, with Dalton Schultz leading the way with two touchdowns, while Ezekiel Elliott had a score of his own. That's not the most newsworthy moment.

The ratings were released a day later, and it was announced that 42 million people watched Giants/Cowboys, making it the most watched NFL regular season game in league history. The game surpassed the Monday Night Football clash between the same Giants and the San Francisco 49ers, a game that saw the Niners win 7-3, yet 41.6 million people watched on Monday night, December 3, 1990. It still remains the most watched Monday game in NFL history.

This past week saw not one, but two games end with clutch game winning two point conversions. The Jacksonville Jaguars pulled it off, after Trevor Lawrence led a clutch drive that ended with a touchdown to pull the Jags within one, 27-26. However, coach Doug Pederson decided to go all or nothing, and I was shocked by this. I always heard for years that it was somewhat customary for the road team to go for the win in this situation, but the Jags (with the thought that their season's most likely over) decided to go all in, and it was successful. The Jags led 28-27 over the Baltimore Ravens, and Justin Tucker's attempt at a game winning 67-yard field goal fell just short, and I mean just short.

The Los Angeles Chargers saw this and decided, "Hey, that sounds good." They found themselves down seven against the Arizona Cardinals, and just like the Jags, they scored a clutch touchdown. Also like the Jags, they decided to go for the throat, and it was successful. The Bolts won 25-24, and remain alive in the playoff race.

The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 26-10, but the losing team is definitely the story. The Rams are screwed. This season has been quite the disaster for the Rams; a shaky start saw them at 3-3, but still with a shot at the division. However, this loss to KC is the Rams' fifth in a row, and they are now one loss away from becoming the first defending champions to finish with a losing record since the 2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not only are they in last place in the NFC West, only the Chicago Bears are holding up the Rams in the entire conference, as they dropped to 3-9 after their loss to the New York Jets.

Monday Night Football featured the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts battle each other, which meant that interim head coach Jeff Saturday was back on the network he worked at as a studio analyst before he was hired by the Colts just weeks prior. Saturday was looking to win his second game in three weeks, but it didn't go too well. The Steelers dominated the Colts at first, but Indy did manage to take the lead, not even letting a Jonathan Taylor lost fumble stop them. However, Pittsburgh managed to get back in it with a Benny Snell touchdown followed by a two-pointer, and their 24-17 lead ended up being maintained. For both teams, playoffs seem to be out of the picture. They are too far behind in their respective divisions, and too many other teams are ahead of them. Even so, this was a nice statement win for the Steelers, though it seems like Mike Tomlin is on his way to his first losing record in his stellar coaching career.

And that's that. We are two-thirds through the NFL season, which will enter the month of December. We should receive the first clinching scenarios next week, as it does look like the Vikings could wrap up the NFC North as soon as Week 13, which starts on with the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots in an AFC East battle on Thursday Night Football. The Dallas Cowboys will host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night Football, and on Monday Night Football, it's an NFC South battle between the New Orleans Saints and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Check out my story about the state of the NFC South!