Welcome to another installment of my weekly NFL Column. My goal is to watch everything so that you don’t have to. I will present to you the best games to watch back; the craziest moments; the best individual performances and the season-long stat leaders and records. I will also be previewing the upcoming gameweek, too.
If that sounds like something you’re interested in, check in each week.
Not everybody in the UK has the ability to watch almost 20 hours of live NFL every week, but I’ll make sure you don’t miss anything you’d wish you didn’t. Without further delay…
This is what happened This Week in the NFL.
Game of the Week
If you can only watch one full game in its entirety, watch this one:
Las Vegas Raiders @ Seattle Seahawks
You have to watch this one, for real.
Seriously… Last chance.
Wow. What a game of football.
As a Raiders fan, I was already beyond the point of expecting literally anything from this season. We were a the point where last week, when they beat the Broncos, I didn’t know if it was a good thing. This week, however, they were able to reignite that fire that Raiders football is capable of burning inside me.
Las Vegas Raiders 40 – 34 Seattle Seahawks
This game was absolutely insane, but I’m going to very strongly recommend you watch it for yourself and then I can keep most of my breakdown to just worshipping the ground that Josh Jacobs walks on. Before this season began, Vegas’ new front office decided not to pick up the fifth and final year of #28’s rookie deal. This clearly lit a fire under the 24-year-old halfback and he has been absolutely brilliant this year so far. This week he went absolutely NUCLEAR. I am going to write all of these stats out again shortly in the standout performance, but I want to repeat them because they deserve to be read twice.
Josh Jacobs rushed the ball 33 times and turned those carries into 229 yards (a career-high by literally 74 yards). He also, simultaneously, pulled in 6 receptions on 7 targets, for a further 74 receiving yards. Oh, then there were the two touchdowns. What a performance.
Outside of hyping up Jacobs, there isn’t much more to say. There was a viral play where Derek Carr threw an interception and a player from the sideline came and helped block on the return. There was also a crazy one-handed catch by Davante Adams, too. Outside of that, this was a back and forth game of chaotic, wild football – featuring 3 Interceptions, 9 TD’s and 74 points.
And it got resolved in Overtime, by an epic 86-yard rush… I don’t need to tell you who by.
Other games to watch back
Green Bay Packers @ Philadelphia Eagles
Baltimore Ravens @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Upset of the Week
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17 – 23 Cleveland Browns
We are all aware of what next week is for the Cleveland Browns. It is well known that their plans are clearly to have their season get a boost from Week 13. On the other side of this matchup, the Buccaneers are one of many teams this season who are trying to fix things one week at a time, waiting for their season to suddenly gain momentum.
With that in mind, it was pretty wild to see Cleveland show up a week early with this upset. The Browns took the GOAT and co. to overtime and won 23-17. Nick Chubb and Amari Cooper were the two best performers. Chubb had 116 rushing yards and a TD, and Cooper added 94 receiving yards. Brissett’s final game as the starter saw him throw for 210 yards with a touchdown and an interception – but all he’ll care about is the win. The Buccaneers might be in trouble if they can’t grab a win or two soon, as they are currently reliant on winning their division for a playoff seed.
Winners and Losers
Winners
Buffalo Bills (8-3)
Dallas Cowboys (8-3)
Minnesota Vikings (9-2)
Las Vegas Raiders (4-7)
Cleveland Browns (4-7)
Cincinnati Bengals (7-4)
Miami Dolphins (8-3)
New York Jets (7-4)
Washington Commanders (7-5)
Carolina Panthers (4-8)
Jacksonville Jaguars (4-7)
Los Angeles Chargers (6-5)
Kansas City Chiefs (9-2)
San Francisco 49ers
Philadelphia Eagles (10-1)
Pittsburgh Steelers (4-7)
Losers
Detroit Lions (4-7)
New York Giants (7-4)
New England Patriots (6-5)
Seattle Seahawks (6-5)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6)
Tennessee Titans (7-4)
Houston Texans (1-9-1)
Chicago Bears (3-9)
Atlanta Falcons (5-7)
Denver Broncos (3-8)
Baltimore Ravens (7-4)
Arizona Cardinals (4-8)
Los Angeles Rams (3-8)
New Orleans Saints (4-8)
Green Bay Packers (4-8)
Indianapolis Colts (4-7-1)
Standout Individual Performers
Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders
33 carries for 229 rushing yards and 2 TD’s including a walkoff 86-yard game winner, plus 6 receptions on 7 targets for 74 receiving yards. 303 scrimmage yards.
THREE HUNDRED AND THREE. Josh Jacobs is a bad, bad man. I already told you about how this guy went nuts yesterday but we’re going back at it again.
33 rushes for 229 yards and 2 TD’s.
6 receptions for 74 yards.
Jacobs’ 303 total scrimmage yards is the 8th most in the history of the NFL regular season and the 5th most in this century. This performance was truly legendary. It wasn’t just the numbers, either. Some of these individual plays were nasty. His first touchdown came when he bounced a run back the other way off the back of a mean stiff arm at the second level. Then, there was his game-winning walkoff TD. An epic 86-yard breakaway run right up the middle as the cherry on top.
One of the best Raiders performances in history, and inarguably the best skill position performance of 2022, so far.
Mike White, New York Jets
79% completion rate, 315 passing yards and 3 TD’s. 149.3 passer rating.
No, I didn’t expect to see this in this column either, and I’m the one who wrote it. Mike White of the New York Jets was the best quarterback of Week 12. A man who was making just his fourth-ever NFL start, he put in a great performance. He completed 22 of his 28 passing attempts (79%) and put up 315 yards and 3 TD’s. You may be surprised to be reminded that this isn’t actually his career-high in yards after going ballistic last year for 405, but he had no interceptions this time. Another great game from a QB who can surprise you.
Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
78% completion rate, 321 passing yards and 3 TD’s.
A player now who is the exact opposite of a surprise, Trevor Lawrence – who was labelled as one of the best prospects ever. This performance is the type of display that earned him that label. He played brilliantly against a formidable Ravens defense and put together a professional performance, including an incredibly impressive and confident game-winning drive. This was the best game of his career, putting up 321 passing yards and 3 TD’s with a 78% completion rate. The final drive was the best part, without a doubt. 75 yards in 10 plays – all in Lawrence’s hands – and then not only the touchdown, but a ballsy 2-point conversion. If this type of game is what we can expect to see from Trevor Lawrence, the labels he earned at Clemson are accurate.
Zay Jones, Jacksonville Jaguars
11 receptions on 14 targets for 145 receiving yards and the game-winning 2-pt conversion.
I can wax lyrical about Trevor Lawrence for hours, but shoutout to his unlikely WR1 in the game. Zay Jones has never really found himself a home, but this performance might earn him more reps in this Jags offense. He was targeted a team-high 14 times and caught 11 of them for 145 receiving yards, a new career-high. This performance was punctuated with 37 yards on the final drive and the game-winning 2-pt conversion when they chose to live or die on a single play.
Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
9 receptions on 11 targets for 139 receiving yards and a TD.
Finally a player we expect to see in this column each week! Seriously, though, it was a wild week of unusual players going crazy, but JJetta still did his thing. One of the biggest young names in the game, Justin Jefferson struck again against the Patriots in their Thanksgiving Thursday Night Football matchup. He was targeted 11 times and caught 9 of them for 139 receiving yards, as well as a single TD. While the Vikings are right atop the NFC, with real Super Bowl aspirations, this man is the one who will take them to the promiseland if they can get there.
Miles Sanders, Philadelphia Eagles
21 carries for 143 rushing yards and 2 TD’s.
They might have lost a game now, but don’t let them slip under the radar because of one L. This team is still showing up week in week out ready to take this thing into the postseason. The MVP of their epic 40-33 win against the Packers was Miles Sanders. The 25-year-old halfback carried the ball 21 times, which I appreciate – I always found it annoying that he was forced into a comittee early in his career. Sanders is worthy of more touches, and this week he proved it. His 21 carries turned into 143 rushing yards and scored twice.
Garrett Wilson, New York Jets
5 receptions on 8 targets for 95 receiving yards and 2 TD’s.
In Mike White’s unexpected performance it is easy to skim over the brilliant game from Jets rookie wide receiver Garrett Wilson. The Ohio State graduate had another great performance – his fourth game in just 11 outings with 90+ yards receiving. Wilson was targeted 8 times and caught 5 of them. His 95 yards were paired with two 2 TD’s, doubling his total on the season. This New York Jets team is one of the biggest surprises of this season, launching themselves into playoff-relevance.
Kene Nwangwu, Minnesota Vikings
5 return attempts for 166 return yards, including a 97-yard kick return.
One more name you weren’t expecting this week, Kene Nwangwu is the kick returner for the Minnesota Vikings and this week he deserves a shoutout. The second-year special teamer returned 5 kicks and put up 166 yards total, including an epic 97-yard return TD with their first possession of the second-half.
Quandre Diggs, Seattle Seahawks
6 combined tackles and 2 INT’s for 39 return yards.
The Las Vegas Raiders may have won against the Seahawks this weekend, but individually, Quandre Diggs balled out. He was able to make 6 combined tackles, including 2 solo tackles and he also intercepted Derek Carr twice. Unfortunately, this wasn’t quite enough to get the win, but as an individual, Diggs did everything he could.
Brian Burns, Carolina Panthers
2.0 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 pass defended.
Someone whose team won now, and partly because of the efforts of this man, Brian Burns. The Panthers edge rusher had a great game this week, putting the pressure on Russell Wilson in a performance so bad that it caused his own defense to start yelling at him. Burns sacked Wilson twice, including a strip sack which they recovered. He even added a pass defended to the stat-line, which is always a nice bonus for a defensive lineman.
Stat Leaders Through Week 12
Passing Yards – Patrick Mahomes KC, 3585
Passing TD’s – Patrick Mahomes KC, 29
Rushing Yards – Josh Jacobs LVR, 1159
Rushing TD’s – Jamaal Williams DET, 13
Receiving Yards – Tyreek Hill MIA, 1233
Receiving TD’s – Travis Kelce KC, 12
Total TD’s – Jamaal Williams DET, 13
Tackles (combined) – Jordyn Brooks SEA, 122
Sacks – Matt Judon NE, 13.0
Interceptions – C.J. Gardner-Johnson PHI, 6
Week 13 Preview – What to watch
Teams on Bye
Arizona Cardinals
Carolina Panthers
Week 13 Best Games
Kansas City Chiefs @ Cincinnati Bengals, 9:25pm
Los Angeles Chargers @ Las Vegas Raiders, 9:25pm
Buffalo Bills @ New England Patriots, TNF
Bonus (purely for the storyline): Cleveland Browns @ Houston Texans, 6pm
Tyler’s Bold Week 13 Prediction
Come on then…
The Houston Texans will beat Deshaun Watson and the Browns.
Week 13 Storylines
Deshaun Watson’s first game back… And it’s on the road in Houston. Browns @ Texans, 6pm
2021’s AFC Championship Rematch! Chiefs @ Bengals, 9:25pm
The oldest rivalry there is – with a chance for Chicago to tie their records. Packers @ Bears, 6pm
Two seven-win NFC East sides jostling for seeding down the stretch, Commanders @ Giants, 6pm
Baltimore look to bounce back by beating up on a struggling offense. Broncos @ Ravens, 6pm
This rivalry delivers some instant classics, will it strike again? Chargers @ Raiders, 9:25pm
Two teams with their eyes firmly beyond December, Dolphins @ 49ers, 9:05pm
Can Tom Brady will his team to stay atop the NFC South? Saints @ Buccaneers, MNF
