NFL Week 12 Takeaways: Eagles’ walk-off win gives Bills plenty to ponder entering bye week

The weather was ugly but the football was beautiful in Philadelphia on Sunday — and not just because the Eagles were donning their throwback Kelly Greens against the Buffalo Bills.

The Eagles, who just last Monday topped the AFC-leading Kansas City Chiefs, got the last word on Sunday with a walk-off overtime win that told us everything we need to know about both teams.

The Bills once again couldn’t close the deal despite a late-game lead and heroic play from quarterback Josh Allen, while Philadelphia once again found a way to win — this time, thanks to a remarkable (and super rainy) 59-yard Jake Elliott field goal to force overtime and a Jalen Hurts rushing touchdown to win the game once there.

The inconsistent Bills are now 6-6 upon losing three of their last four games, unable to register wins in consecutive weeks since starting the season 3-1, and find themselves in must-win mode from here on out if they’re to make the playoffs in a crowded AFC. The bright spot? A long-awaited Week 13 bye that will give this exhausted-looking squad a much-needed rest and opportunity to regroup, and plenty to think about before heading into the final stretch of their schedule. And that leaves us all with two weeks to ask: Which Bills team will show up against the Chiefs in Week 14?

Has Mac Jones played his final game as Patriots starter?

We’ve asked this question several times throughout this disastrous season in New England, including recently after the Patriots’ six-point outing against Indianapolis in Germany. And in the aftermath of Sunday’s demoralizing 10-7 loss to the New York Giants — a game that saw Jones pulled for the fourth time this year — we should have our answer.

(But, of course, we don’t.)

Sunday’s ugly matchup between the league’s two lowest scoring teams was even worse than expected, Jones once again making an early exit after throwing an inexcusable interception and backup Bailey Zappe not faring any better in relief.

The only good thing about this game was that it didn’t go to overtime — though, not for lack of trying on the Patriots’ part. Chad Ryland’s 35-yard field goal attempt, which would’ve tied the matchup with seconds to go, just barely missed the uprights. The 2-9 Patriots now sit second-last in the league and are lined up to pick second overall in the quarterback-heavy 2024 draft. There’s no question they’ll be taking one of them… but will it be Bill Belichick making the call? It should be another interesting week of big takes and swirling speculation around the legendary coach’s future on New England’s sideline.

Jaguars-Texans is a finally division rivalry worth watching

For 20 years, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans have been rivals by division association only, these AFC South neighbours’ twice-annual meetings lacking the kind of high-stakes playoff implications and emotion that fuels the game’s best rivalries.  

If Sunday’s matchup is any indication, that’s all about to change. Sunday brought the second act of this season series, Jacksonville looking for redemption after being upset by Houston in Week 3 — back when we still called a Texans win an upset, unaware yet of just how good C.J. Stroud’s offence would be. This one went down to the final digits on the clock, ending in dramatic fashion with a single doink off the crossbar on Texans kicker Matt Ammendola’s gutsy 58-yard attempt to tie the game.

Quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence and C.J. Stroud each threw for more than 300 yards, Lawrence posting one touchdown and one interception and Stroud throwing two scores and running another one in. And the stakes? They were high, with Houston eying the top spot in the division had they managed to come away with the win.

With both teams emerging from rebuilds with young franchise QBs and some great weapons around them… we’ve suddenly got a pair of division foes that should blossom into a really fun rivalry for years to come.

Denver Broncos. So hot right now.

The team that opened the season 0-3 and allowed 70 points in a single game in September is now undefeated in November and holding the league’s longest active win streak at five straight victories.

Yup, it’s the Denver Broncos — the league’s hottest team right now. Just as everyone predicted. The Broncos’ 29-12 win over the Cleveland Browns saw a heavy run influence — something we’ve seen quite a bit during this stretch of success with quarterback Russell Wilson making some of his biggest plays on his feet.

Denver, now 6-5 and sitting in the traffic jam that is the cluster of AFC teams knocking on the post-season door, will be a fascinating team to watch down the stretch. They have a relatively easy strength of schedule ahead of them, with just two of their opponents (Texans in Week 13 and Lions Week 15) boasting winning records.

Steelers show signs of life on offence days after Matt Canada firing

You wouldn’t know it by the score, but Pittsburgh’s offence looks like it finally woke up Sunday against Cincinnati, their 16-10 victory over the Joe Burrow-less Bengals showing some offensive numbers not seen in The Steel City in quite some time.

Fifty-eight games, to be exact.

The Steelers went into Sunday’s divisional matchup — their first outing since the firing of underperforming offensive coordinator Matt Canada — having posted 58 straight games totalling fewer than 400 yards on offence. (Forty-four of those games came during Canada’s tenure.)

Sunday’s total? A skid-snapping 421 yards of total offence, their highest total since Week 16 of 2018, featuring 268 passing yards by Kenny Pickett after four consecutive sub-160 yard games and an average of 6.2 yards per play in the win.

It was also their first time outgaining their opponent this season — if you needed a reminder about just how strong Pittsburgh’s defence has been, you need not look further than this fact and their 7-4 record.

Reid makes coaching history as Chiefs rally to victory over Raiders

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid made some pretty incredible history with Sunday’s victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. The win, which brought Kansas City to 8-3 on the year to maintain its spot atop the AFC, was the 125th regular season victory of Reid’s Chiefs tenure, officially making him the winningest coach in franchise history.

That’s a record he also holds in Philadelphia from his long and successful tenure as Eagles head coach, which makes Reid the only person in NFL history to be the all-time winningest coach for two different franchises.

It wasn’t a flawless performance from the Chiefs — they found themselves down 14-0 in the second quarter — but the win did see Kansas City snap a skid of three-straight games in which they were shut out in the second half. Patrick Mahomes & Co. registered 17 second-half points while their defence did the shutting out, blanking Las Vegas in the fourth quarter and holding them to just a field goal in the second half overall.

And of course, it wouldn’t be a signature Reid victory without some crafty play-calling:

Clearly, there’s just something about that Vegas trip for the Chiefs, who just last year dazzled (and confounded) everyone with their ring-around-the-rosie play against the Raiders. Never a dull moment in the Reid-Mahomes era, right?