NFL Week 12 Recap: Overtime, Comebacks, and an Elimination

One thing I've learned years ago is that there is always something extra special about that last week before Thanksgiving. In the NFL, Thanksgiving marks the beginning of playoff talks becoming the most serious, but that last week before the holiday seems to bring out the wildest moments. This season's Week 12 was no exception.

Fox's promoted Game of the Week was a battle between NFC East foes: the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys. Philly was off to a strong start; two TDs in the first quarter (one of them a Jalen Hurts rushing score), and an eventual 21-0 lead for the defending champs. It looked like it was all over, even after the Cowboys found the end zone before halftime.

Then the second half happened. What followed was the Eagles offense suddenly low on batteries, and the Cowboys managed to take the ball away on two occasions. Dallas cut their 14-point halftime deficit in half, and then they managed to tie it up. Now we had a game! However, after Dallas picked up a key takeaway, they somehow couldn't get in despite being in goal-to-go range. Philly's last possession fell flat, resulting in Dallas getting to FG range, and Brandon Aubrey did the rest.

The Cowboys came back from a 21-0 deficit to win 24-21, and I think it's about time that the Cowboys get taken seriously. For all of their blunders (on and off the field), they are at .500 (5-5-1) after 11 games, and they picked up a key win over the defending champs. On an emotional note, I do think they did this for Marshawn Kneeland; this was their first home game since Kneeland's passing, and they truly showed out when they needed it. As for the Eagles, this is damning. The sentiment is that the Eagles have escaped serious criticism because they're still in first place, but the NFC East is absolutely shot. Dallas is barely hanging on, and the Commanders are pretty much done because of their massive amount of injuries.

As for the Giants:

I can't imagine being eliminated before Thanksgiving, but that sad fate befell the New York Football Giants on Sunday. The Giants had a double digit lead in their game in Detroit, but they officially became "lose and out" once the Seattle Seahawks won their game in Nashville over the Tennessee Titans. Even so, it looked like they would live past the last round of leftovers until that lead evaporated and they were behind in OT. When the fourth down play was stopped, that ended their season. For the second straight season, the Giants became the first team to be eliminated. Though at least last year, they were eliminated during the Thanksgiving holiday. One elimination down, 17 more to go.

Can we please, please, please stop pretending that the Indianapolis Colts are actually legit?! I wanted to write a full story about how fake the Colts are, but I decided I did not want to waste 600 words on an irrelevant team. "But look at their record," they keep saying. And I keep saying,"Who have they really beaten?" Pretty much all eight of their wins are against bad teams and also-rans. They have not beaten a real team all year. And yes, it's still eight wins despite the fact that Indy had the sputtering Chiefs by the short ones, and fucked it up and lost in OT. Indy's not winning the division this year. You know who is? The Jaguars, who won in OT over the Cardinals. Indy has yet to play them this year. In fact, they've also yet to play the Texans at this point, too.

Speaking of the Texans, Week 12 kicked off with the Texans beating the Bills thanks to the usual incompetence from Josh Allen--throwing three interceptions. Josh is picking a bad time to pull his usual disappearing act, because the Patriots won yet again in Cincinnati, defeating a Bengals team who was shorthanded because Ja'Marr Chase got suspended for that week. The Patriots became the first team to get to 10 wins this year. Good God, they're back. It's different, it's more genuine, but they're back.

You know who else is back? The Ravens. They have not lost since Lamar Jackson returned to the fray, with that winning streak continuing against the Jets. Yes, the Jets are bird droppings poorly disguised as an NFL team, but a win is a win, and that's five in a row. It's enough to move the Ravens into first place via tiebreaker over the struggling Pittsburgh Steelers, holy moley. Regarding the late window, the rest of it was games that didn't really matter; the Browns blasting the Raiders, and the Falcons winning over the Saints--two games between teams who will be drafting within the top 10 in April. Well, three of the teams anyway.

It seems like no one is really talking about the Rams this year, and I don't know why. Look what they've done. Look what they did on SNF. All they did was flatten the Buccaneers. No biggie. And as a result, the Rams moved up to #1 in the NFC at 9-2, WOW! Monday Night Football featured another NFC South vs NFC West battle, with the Carolina Panthers and the San Francisco 49ers going at it. I still remember when those two teams were in the NFC West together. This was a golden opportunity for the Panthers, as they--two years after a two-win season--actually had the chance to move into first place in the NFC South, but despite intercepting Brock Purdy three times (which comes with facing Purdy), the Panthers could not get it done. A 20-9 victory for the Niners, and SF's playoff pulse is a strong one. As for the Panthers, they still have a great shot at something, and again, considering how 2023 went for them, that's big.

And that's that. We are two-thirds through the season. Now it gets interesting. That's the playoff picture entering the final six weeks of the season. I expect a lot to change from Thanksgiving until that final whistle sounds on the first Sunday of 2026. More about this in great detail in another story. Yep, it's that time again. The weekly looks into the playoff picture from Week 13 until Week 18 are coming up, but that's down the line.

Week 13 starts with a big helping of Thanksgiving and Black Friday football! First off, the Green Bay Packers head to Detroit to face the Lions. Next, the Dallas Cowboys host the Kansas City Chiefs, and finally, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Baltimore Ravens face off in an AFC North clash. On Black Friday, the Philadelphia Eagles host the Chicago Bears in a pivotal battle thanks to recent changes in the standings. On Sunday Night Football, the Washington Commanders will host the Denver Broncos, and on Monday Night Football, the New England Patriots and the New York Giants will ring in the vital month of December.

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Have a happy Thanksgiving, and check out my NFC North recap below!