The NFL is slowly entering the home stretch. The Texans around prodigy CJ Stroud make a dramatic mistake, Philadelphia and Buffalo offer an extension thriller – and the Kansas City Chiefs defeat a frightening curse. Meanwhile, rapper Ludacris rappels down from the stadium ceiling.
Thanksgiving is over and the NFL is slowly entering the home stretch of the regular season. The Texans around prodigy CJ Stroud and the Patriots make a dramatic mistake, Philadelphia and the Bills offer an overtime thriller – and the Kansas City Chiefs defeat a frightening curse. Then there is rapper Ludacris, who rappels down from the stadium ceiling. Week 12 in a quick check.
Not another masterpiece from Stroud
At the beginning of the month, kicker Matt Ammendola was transferred from his couch to the Houston Texans team. Previously, the clubless 26-year-old was no longer able to assert himself with any NFL team. He has had four attempts over 50 yards in his career so far (one this evening), but he didn’t convert a single field goal.
Now there are 58 yards 34 seconds before the end of the game – Ammendola runs in, the kick looks perfect, flies nice and high and in the middle. But just before the goal posts he drops sharply and the Texans’ faces contort. And indeed: millimeters are missing. The ball hits the crossbar and from there does not roll between the posts, but back into the field. Jacksonville wins 24:21, Houston and quarterback CJ Stroud are served.
In dramatic fashion, Stroud’s next heroics are stolen from him after his stunning final moves to victory in recent games. The rookie led his team back on track against the Jacksonville Jaguars spectacularly (304 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions) and almost equalized on the last drive. But only almost.
Stroud has thrown for 3,266 yards in 11 games this season, just under 300 per game. With six games left for his Texans, the 22-year-old is on his way to breaking Andrew Luck’s rookie record for passing yards (4,374), set in 2012. The duel between two high-flyers of the season does not go to the super rookie (who has already won more games with the Texans than the team collected in the previous three seasons), but to Trevor Lawrence, who is playing even stronger than expected with his Jaguars this year . With this success, his team (8-3) retains first place in the AFC South and can slowly start planning for the playoffs.
Chiefs free themselves from the curse
The Las Vegas Raiders get off to a flying start and surprise the reigning champions: at the beginning of the second quarter, the underdog is already leading 14-0. But it’s not for nothing that Kansas City has the best quarterback in the NFL, Patrick Mahomes leads his team back and after some Chiefs magic just before halftime they actually manage to equalize. The Chiefs throw three backward passes before Mahomes finds his best teammate, Travis Kelce, near the end zone with a long pass. Shortly afterwards, Justin Watson’s catch made it 14:14.
In the move that opened the third quarter, the Chiefs finally managed to do something that they had not managed to do in the previous three games (!) after the break: they scored points. Isiah Pacheco runs for the lead, a relief from the weird curse of the second half. Once broken, the witchcraft no longer plays a role, Mahomes dominates as usual and the Chiefs win 31-17.
Eagles win comeback thriller
What a game! In a crazy thriller with overtime in the constant rain, the Buffalo Bills and Josh Allen first prove what they can do. Not only the quarterback’s 46th and 47th touchdowns (second place in this category in NFL history), but also his spectacular throws put the weakening Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles in the shade in the first half.
Shortly before the break things get wild. First the Eagles block a field goal attempt. They then want to quickly score points themselves, but fumble the ball, so it’s the Bills’ turn again. With just twelve seconds left on the clock, Allen throws a perfect rocket between three defenders for a touchdown. Things didn’t go well for the Bills in the second half, kicker Tyler Bass missed a second field goal. But Hurts turns up the heat and the Eagles close in on 14:17 after his touchdown throw.
It continues wildly: Allen runs to 21:14, but the Eagles get back to within three points a little later. In the immediately following drive, the Bills quarterback throws an interception, Hurts takes over and the playmaker lets the fans in Philadelphia go crazy: Olamide Zaccheaus spectacularly snatches his deep pass out of the air for a 28:24 lead. Of course, the Bills respond and lead again by three points with just under two minutes left in the game. But the Eagles equalized with a field goal with 20 seconds left. Ugh.
In overtime, Allen, who has never won in overtime in his career, has the victory in his hands for the Bills, but the quarterback and his pass receiver fail to throw due to simple communication. Buffalo leads with a field goal, but Philadelphia counters with precise passes and runs – and then Jalen Hurts sets the outstanding final point: a body deception, once ducked, once blocked and the quarterback runs himself to the 37:34 victory. For the fourth game in a row, the Eagles are behind at halftime and still win.
No Burrow, no Bengals win
In the important duel between the AFC North rivals, almost everything is at stake for the Cincinnati Bengals: If the Super Bowl participants from the season before last want to somehow make it into the playoffs, they have to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers. After the shock of quarterback superstar Joe Burrow (out for the season with a wrist injury), replacement Jake Browning has to show that the Bengals can move into the knockout rounds with him.
And although Browning doesn’t have a bad game (227 yards, one touchdown, one interception), his Bengals lose in a defensive battle 10:16. Above all, Pittsburgh’s resurgent running game against Cincinnati’s 31st-ranked run defense hurts Burrow, who is watching from the bench. The Steelers ran 154 yards (99 of them including a touchdown from Najee Harris), only 25 for the Bengals. Also: For the first time in 57 games, Pittsburgh has over 400 yards of offense, ending the NFL’s longest drought in this category.
Fumbles and interceptions make for a diffuse game, but Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase manages an incredible highlight at the start of the second half: While he’s still holding his mouthguard in his hands, he catches a pass from Browning. Wow. But after a crucial interception by backup quarterback Browning, the Steelers take a 10-7 lead in the third quarter and the Bengals can’t get close in the end and will soon have to put an end to the season as last in the AFC North if things continue like this.
Patriots’ woes increase against Giants
How much more bitter can the New England Patriots’ season be? With three seconds on the clock, retired superstar Tom Brady’s former team can equalize with a field goal against the New York Giants (coach Bill Belichick could have also gone for the win). But from just 35 yards, kicker Chad Ryland puts the ball past the left. Additionally, the Patriots’ concerns about the quarterback position continue after Mac Jones started the first 10 games but was dropped after an interception near the end zone in the 10-6 loss to Indianapolis in Frankfurt Bank had to. This time, both Jones (two interceptions, no touchdown) and his replacement Bailey Zappe (one interception, no touchdown) were allowed to play without success.
The tough 10-7 win for the Giants (4-8) shows that the glory days of the rivalry between the Patriots (2-9) and the team from the Big Apple are long gone. In 2008 and 2012, the teams faced each other in the Super Bowl, and for the first time since 1999, neither Brady nor Eli Manning was at quarterback on either side.
Broncos win fifth game in a row
The Denver Broncos and Russell Wilson win the fifth game in a row (6-5), dominate against an otherwise strong Cleveland Browns defense and now have legitimate chances of making the playoffs again, which no one would have thought possible weeks ago. The 29:12 victory was achieved primarily because of a better running game.
Ludacris raps Atlanta to victory
In a wild game, Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder made up for two interceptions by throwing a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to give the Atlanta Falcons a 24-15 victory over the New Orleans Saints. Highlight at halftime: Rapper Ludacris, who comes from Atlanta, rappels down from the stadium roof and performs a few songs.
Colts hope, Buccaneers tremble
Things went terribly for the Buccaneers on the first drive: quarterback Baker Mayfield was injured, but can at least return later. But it doesn’t help because Jonathan Taylor runs two touchdowns and the Colts’ defense forces a late turnover. Indianapolis beats Tampa Bay 27:20. Indy (6-5) wins for the third time in a row and can continue to hope for the playoffs, the two-time defending NFC South champion from Florida (4-7) has to slowly tremble after four wasted away games in a row.
Stafford with four touchdowns
The Los Angeles Rams overrun the Arizona Cardinals in a 37:14 victory. Quarterback Matthew Stafford stands out with a season-high performance (four touchdown passes), and his offense delivers a strong 457 yards compared to 292 for the Cardinals. The Rams (5-6) continue their recent dominance in the NFC West against Arizona: the Cardinals have won all nine of their games since 2014.
Panthers can’t find an answer for Derrick Henry
Derrick Henry is unstoppable, runs for two touchdowns and helps the Tennessee Titans to a 17:10 win against the Carolina Panthers. Carolina (1-10) remains the worst team in the NFL, suffered its fourth defeat in a row and has lost all six games of the season on the road.