Sky Sports' Neil Reynolds has the final word on Week 12 in the NFL, picking out his five big takeaways, coach of the week and more; Jalen Hurts gets the nod for Player of the Week after guiding the Philadelphia Eagles to a dramatic overtime win against the Buffalo Bills
Tuesday 28 November 2023 16:27, UK
It's time to look back on Week 12 in the NFL and I have to say it was one of my most fun weeks covering the sport. There was drama on the field, lots of fun with good friends off it, so let's get into it!
I have to start with the performance of Jalen Hurts in the 37-31 overtime win against the Buffalo Bills. The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback has ice in his veins, I don't know how you cannot be impressed by him.
Time and time again he does this for his team. He had four completions and a passer rating of seven in the first half, and he didn't blink. He drives them down the field time and time again in the second half, accounts for five touchdowns, finishes it off in overtime himself and in that cauldron of an atmosphere and in the rain he manages to get the job done and remain calm the whole time.
He is the pulse of that team. They win the big moments, when they need a play, Jalen Hurts delivers. And that is why these Eagles are almost impossible to slay. Look at Jake Elliott, a perfect example of that as he kicked a 59-yard field goal through the mud and the rain to send it to overtime. They all believe and it's because of Jalen Hurts.
This NFC playoff race is going to be fierce. The Eagles have a genuine Super Bowl contender in their own division in the Dallas Cowboys. I thought Dallas were outstanding on Thanksgiving, I don't think Dak Prescott has played better in his career than he has for the past month or so.
He threw four touchdown passes and no interceptions, his rating was 142.1, the perfect rating is 158.3 but it's hard to know how Dak could have been any better.
His supporting cast is good for Dallas now, they are a complete team. Six different players scored touchdowns, five of them on offense and DaRon Bland has his history-making moment with his fifth pick-six of the season on defense. Dallas have now won 13 home games in a row. If they can get a home game or two in the playoffs then they can go on a serious run and maybe get to the Super Bowl for the first time since that 1995 season.
And the reason the NFC playoff race is so fierce is because I haven't even got to the San Francisco 49ers yet.
San Francisco beat Seattle 31-13 on the road on Thanksgiving Day, and since their three-game losing streak they have won 34-3, 27-14 and now by 18 on the road.
Christian McCaffrey was big on Thursday night, Deebo Samuel stepped up, the defense sacked Geno Smith six times and didn't allow an offensive touchdown.
They are right in the mix, and where do they go next? To Philadelphia for a Week 13 showdown with the Eagles. That is going to be sensational and not use the obvious Rocky Balboa and Philadelphia pun, but that is going to be a huge heavyweight clash.
I don't know about you guys out there but I can settle down and watch Trevor Lawrence against CJ Stroud for the next 12 years or so. These two young quarterbacks lived up to their billing on Sunday.
Jacksonville beat the Houston Texans 24-21 in a game that ended with the finest of margins at Matt Amendola's 58-yard field goal hit the crossbar and was no good.
Both quarterbacks had their moments, they were excellent. Trevor Lawrence threw for 364 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score to say 'don't you forget about me!'. CJ Stroud has been the talk of the NFL town, and rightly so. He threw for another 300 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday and is now the first rookie quarterback to throw for 300 yards in four straight games.
But it's Lawrence and the Jags who move to 8-3 and keep top spot in the AFC South. This could be the next Tom Brady vs Peyton Manning, that's certainly what we're hoping. I love watching these two quarterbacks and look forward to seeing them in the coming years.
Other teams will get more attention following Week 12, but I find it incredible that the Pittsburgh Steelers are 7-4 and firmly in the AFC playoff race.
If you look at what's happened to them recently, we've seen them fire offensive coordinator Matt Canada, we've seen on-field petulance and lack of interest from both wide receivers George Pickens and Diontae Johnson and even last week they scored only one offensive touchdown during a 16-10 over the Joe Burrow-less Cincinnati Bengals.
But they are alive and they are in the mix. And that comes down to Mike Tomlin, the standard, the high-flaw that is there in terms of where the Steelers are.
Their involvement in this AFC playoff race is one of the more stunning developments this season.
I'm going to go with Jalen Hurts. The numbers aren't sensational, but his second-half performance was and it keeps the Eagles on track for home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs. Two-hundred passing yards, three touchdowns and also breaking Buffalo's heart on the ground with 65 yards and two touchdowns including the game-winner. Jalen Hurts continues to deliver and lead from the front. He is one of the brightest stars in the NFL.
I'm going with Jevon Holland's interception return for a touchdown for the Miami Dolphins. He goes coast-to-coast, 99 yards at the end of the first half. I've never seen this in all of my years covering the NFL. A Hail Mary for the New York Jets is picked off at the one-yard line and he knows he has got action, because all the fast guys are in the end zone, so he only has the big men to beat and quarterback Tim Boyle.
One other player was in position to make a tackle on that play and it was Breece Hall the running back, the last of the fast guys, and Christian Wilkins races downfield, buries him into the ground and Holland takes it to the house. He literally broke the spirit of the Jets on Black Friday with that one play.
The Packers had a big win against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, I thought they called a really good game, especially early on on the offensive side of the ball. They are suddenly alive in the NFC playoff race so I think Matt LaFleur has played a big part in their progression and in the growth of Jordan Love, who threw for 268 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
On my radar is the form of Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions offense. Six turnovers in the past two weeks and it's been a bit of a struggle for the Detroit quarterback. He had to dig deep to get that victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 11 but was a major part of the problem on Thanksgiving in a hugely disappointing loss against the Packers.
The numbers were misleading, as Goff went over 300 yards and had two touchdowns with no interceptions, but when it spirals out of control, as it did against Baltimore earlier this year, he doesn't look like he has the answers. We have seen that a couple of times now.
The Lions are a good team and making progress but they are not there yet and their quarterback has a couple of questions to answer over the next month or so.
