NFL Week 12: Practicing gratitude

The Bills and Eagles delivered in the spotlight again.

Last week, Tom Brady lamented the “mediocrity” he witnesses in the NFL these days. Although I disagree with his premise, some of the points he made were fair, specifically about player development. But other former NFL players were less forgiving than I was and pointed out how Brady’s perspective could be skewed. 

Like Barry Sanders, I still think the overall product on the field is good, despite the high number of QB injuries that have occurred in recent years. 

For that reason, and because Thanksgiving was just a few days ago, I’d like to share what I was thankful for this week in the NFL.

The Bills and Eagles know how to put on a show

Before the season started, Bills vs. Eagles was one of the most anticipated matchups of the year. It might have lost a little bit of luster when Buffalo fell to 5-5 a couple of weeks ago, but the more dominant version of the Bills — the one we expected to see all season — emerged again last week in a rout over the Jets. 

Speaking of the Jets, they were the first, and thus far only, opponent to take down the 2023 Eagles. For the second year in a row, Philadelphia has a 10-1 record heading into December. But whereas last year’s Eagles usually led games wire to wire, this year’s Eagles have found themselves trailing in the second half lately. In fact, they’ve been behind at halftime for four straight weeks — and went on to win every single time, tying an NFL record in the process.

Before this stretch, Philly had to stage a second-half rally only one other time this season, when the Eagles topped the Commanders in overtime in Week 4. 

As for the Bills, they share one notable commonality with last year’s team: They do not get blown out. Through the first 12 weeks of the 2022 season, Buffalo boasted the NFL’s highest point differential, at +110. This year, that number is similar (+101), though the franchise’s record is not. The Bills were 8-3 a year ago with three game-winning drives, but they are just 6-6 now and have managed one comeback all year, which came in Week 6 against the lowly Giants. And even then, they merely squeaked it out. Their one overtime contest was a loss to the Jets in the opening week, which more or less set the tone for the way their season would unfold. Buffalo is now 2-6 in games decided by one score.

The Bills’ latest heartbreak happened when they were leading by 10 points at halftime and again late in the third quarter in rainy Philadelphia. Josh Allen was in the middle of one of his best performances of 2023 when he scrambled, in the bulldozing way that only Josh Allen can, for a 16-yard touchdown to put his team up 24-14 right before the start of the fourth quarter.

Jalen Hurts, who had thrown for just 33 yards and had a 7.0 passer rating at halftime, countered with his second consecutive touchdown drive to get the Eagles back to within three. Allen’s lone turnover of the afternoon followed, an interception that set up Hurts’ third touchdown pass — an incredible throw on the run by Hurts and an equally incredible catch by Olamide Zaccheaus — and put Philly back on top.  

Allen wasn’t done, however. With seven minutes remaining, he engineered a 10-play, 74-yard drive that concluded with a dart to Gabe Davis in the end zone. The Bills ate up more than five minutes of clock on their way to taking a 31-28 lead. 

Despite two Jason Kelce false starts and an almost sack/fumble that replay overturned to an incomplete pass, Hurts got the Eagles into field goal range — barely. Even in the elements, Jake Elliott nailed a 59-yard field goal try to send the game to overtime. 

Unlike a certain playoff game from a few years ago, the Bills won the coin toss … and Brandon Graham was right, it didn’t matter. That’s because miscommunication between Allen and Davis on a pass, which should have been a walk-off touchdown, led Buffalo to settle for a field goal. The Eagles got a chance to respond, and nine plays later, Hurts was racing to the end zone for the win. 

It was another MVP-type performance from Hurts, who accounted for five touchdowns on the day. He now has eight consecutive wins when the Eagles have trailed by double digits and has also beaten 14 straight teams above .500. 

Allen hasn’t been so lucky. He fell to 0-6 in overtime games in his career, but I don’t put most of the blame on Allen for that record. Instead, it belongs to head coach Sean McDermott, who continues to make poor game management decisions and not enough defensive adjustments. If the Bills miss out on the playoffs — the NY Times currently projects they have a 15 percent chance of returning to the postseason — I wouldn’t be surprised if the front office decided to move on from him in the offseason. 

Teams knowing when to, and when not to, make a coaching change

A couple of weeks ago, Sean McDermott fired Buffalo OC Ken Dorsey, a move that seemed strange at the time because the offense was the least of the team’s worries. McDermott justified the decision by saying they needed more energy and more consistency on offense.

McDermott might be wrong often, but as it turns out, he wasn’t in this case. In the last two weeks, the offense has looked more like the juggernaut we expected it to be all year. Against two good defenses, the Bills averaged 449 yards and 33 points and dominated the time of possession.

Sometimes, teams simply need new blood and fresh ideas to get out of a rut. We saw that with the Steelers on Sunday. A week after firing OC Matt Canada, the Pittsburgh offense “erupted” — well as much as the Steelers can. They still beat the Joe Burrow-less Bengals by a perfectly AFC North score of 16-10. 

Yet for the first time all season, the Steelers outgained their opponent. They finished with 421 yards, their highest output in five years (when Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown were still around) and their first 400+ yard game since 2020.

While this offense won’t ever instill fear in the opposing defense, it was much-needed improvement for a team that’s right in the thick of the playoff race. Mike Tomlin probably waited longer to get rid of Canada than many fans wanted, but I don’t think he waited before it was too late. (The same can’t be said for Ron Rivera, who took entirely too long to dump DC Jack Del Rio and will probably lose his job by year’s end too.)

On the other hand, the NFL season is long and it’s important to know when to be patient. Broncos diehards were clamoring for DC Vance Joseph to be fired after their historic loss to the Dolphins, but Sean Payton stuck by him. Since then, Denver’s defense, and the team itself, has enjoyed quite the turnaround. 

Currently, the Broncos are riding an NFL-high five-game winning streak. In that time, the defense has forced 16 turnovers and allowed only eight touchdowns (two fewer than the Dolphins scored against them in one afternoon). Joseph, who has been in the NFL coaching ranks for almost two decades, has the respect of his players and figured out how to get through to them in a positive way two months ago.

As of today, the Broncos are just outside the playoff picture at 6-5 and have a chance to grab a wild card bid if they can keep the momentum going. That could be difficult, with the Texans, Chargers, and Lions on deck, but the Denver defense has risen to the challenge repeatedly since their nadir earlier this year. 

The playoff races are amping up

The rematch between the Texans and Jaguars was billed as the battle for the AFC South title. Even though it’s only Week 12, that will likely prove to be correct. The game mostly lived up to the hype and was a vast improvement over the Jaguars-Titans clash late last season that decided the division. 

Trevor Lawrence and C.J. Stroud were both sharp on Sunday. Lawrence threw for a season-high 364 yards, completed four passes longer than 20 yards, and converted 13 first downs with his arm. Stroud finished with 300+ passing yards for the sixth time, ran for a career-high (and team-high) 47 yards, and accounted for three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing). The Jags led most of the way, but Stroud was able to get the Texans in position to potentially tie things up near the end of regulation. 

The eventual outcome came down to two factors: Stroud was under pressure most of the game while Lawrence was not, and the Texans’ recently signed kicker couldn’t get the job done. The Jags sacked Stroud four times, including twice on the final drive. Lawrence had a clean pocket and was only hit twice (and sacked zero times). Then Houston’s Matt Ammendola, who had already missed a 50-yard try in the first half, attempted a 58-yarder to force overtime. The ball hit the crossbar, and Jacksonville left Texas with a dramatic win and a two-game lead in the AFC South. 

Still, the future is bright for the entire division, with promising young quarterbacks at the helm for each team. That means the competition for the Jaguars will get tougher in the coming years, something that Lawrence was hilariously not thrilled about. For now, however, the division continues to run through Duval.

The Texans and Colts continue to hang around in the wild card race, though. In fact, the 6-5 Colts hold the No. 7 seed as of right now and have the easiest remaining schedule in the league. They’re one of six teams in the packed AFC with five or six wins after this week. The Texans and Broncos, who face off next week, are right behind them with identical 6-5 records. That game will have playoff implications, and so too could the Week 18 showdown between Houston and Indy. 

The NFC wild card race isn’t as compelling at the moment, but a couple of teams — specifically the Rams and Packers — who looked like dog feces not so long ago are suddenly on the very edge of contention. At this point, your guess is as good as mine as to who will end up securing those final bids. But it should be an exciting finish to the season in both conferences. Until then, we can play around with the ESPN playoff machine and dream of all the possibilities.