NFL Week 12 Recap: Winter Is Coming

Among the many things I love about Thanksgiving is this: it serves as the precursor to the home stretch of the NFL season. With Week 12 in the books, we are now two-thirds through the season. Yet already, a nuclear winter is starting to hit some teams who fancy themselves as playoff or even championship contenders. Let's start with the most glaring downward trend, the Los Angeles Rams.

The Rams and the Green Bay Packers engaged in a clash of the titans in Week 12; a rematch of the previous season's Divisional Playoff, which was won by the Packers. Many names have changed since then; Matthew Stafford's the QB, and they acquired big names in Von Miller and Odell Beckham, Jr. during the season. But their latest visit to Lambeau saw them defeated and continuing their downward spiral. The Packers won, 36-28, but it was a game that saw Stafford throw a Pick Six for the third straight game. The Rams have lost three straight games following a 7-1 start, and the strange thing is that this skid has come since acquiring Miller and OBJ.

The Packers' victory keeps them in pace with the Arizona Cardinals (who were on a bye) for the #1 seed in the NFC, and it is a good way to enter their own bye. For the Rams, they find themselves two games behind a Cardinals team who handed the team their first loss of the season, and with the San Francisco 49ers' win over the Minnesota Vikings, the Rams now find themselves one game ahead of a Niners team that was left for dead.

The Thanksgiving triad of games saw the Chicago Bears barely survive the winless Detroit Lions, the Las Vegas Raiders eked out an overtime win over the Dallas Cowboys, and the Buffalo Bills blasted the New Orleans Saints. Regarding the Cowboys, this is another devastating home loss, and it has made some forget that this team is leading the NFC East. It was a game filled with penalties from both teams, but it also saw the usual incompetence from Mike McCarthy. Speaking of McCarthy, the news broke that he tested positive for COVID-19, and it was also announced that defensive coordinator Dan Quinn will take over head coaching duties for their next game against the Saints. Quinn, as many remember, was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 2015-2020.

Should Big Ben hang it up? Some have said that for some time. Ben Roethlisberger is part of that core trio of QB that also include Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers, but despite being in-between the QBs in age, Big Ben is the most, well, rickety. Age and injuries have hampered his abilities, and it continues to show with each start. As for the Steelers as a whole, this team is in immense trouble. The nuclear winter is coming hard for the Steelers after their 41-10 blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals; marking the first time the team has been swept by the Bengals since 2009. The only thing that kept the Steelers from entering the month of December as a last place team is the fact that the Cleveland Browns fell flat against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football--in spite of Lamar Jackson throwing four interceptions. Speaking of the Ravens, that's who the Steelers play next--the first of two meetings this season.

On a positive note, the New England Patriots continue to roll, winning their sixth straight game by as score of 36-13 over the Tennessee Titans, and holding on to first place in the AFC East. Positivity also hit the Denver Broncos--a huge divisional win over the Los Angeles Chargers has put them in the thick of the playoff race. Elsewhere, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers survived a shootout with the Indianapolis Colts, winning 38-31 thanks to Leonard Fournette's four touchdowns, pleasing many who have him in fantasy (I am among the lucky ones). The Bucs improve to 8-3; a half game behind the Packers, but a full game ahead of the Cowboys (two games counting the head-to-head).

As for the aforementioned nuclear winter, I think it has blanketed the Seattle Seahawks. I myself thought that the team would be back on track once Russell Wilson (who celebrated his 33rd birthday) returned, but that hasn't been the case. The losses keep coming, and it now includes a 17-15 loss to the Washington Football Team on Monday Night Football. The Seahawks are now 3-8, with only the winless Lions having a worse record in the entire NFC. From the looks of it, Seattle's season is all but done, though strangely, they are two games out of a playoff spot. Even so, they have to win out just to have a winning record. It does not look good for the Seahawks.

Six weeks remain in this NFL season, and the month of December will see playoff spots clinched, and seasons come to an early end. Week 13 will kick off with the aforementioned Thursday Night Football contest between the Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints, while Sunday Night Football will feature the Kansas City Chiefs coming off their bye and hosting the Denver Broncos. Monday Night Football will feature the first of two meetings between the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills, with the latter hosting this matchup.

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