By: Jonathan Goad

Hopefully you had a great Thanksgiving with family, friends, food, and football – four of the five best “F” words in the English language. We all know what the fifth is…fireworks!

We saw some fireworks in Week 12 starting with three games on Thanksgiving day.

Chicago Bears    23

Detroit Lions      16

Da Bears continued their dominance in the NFC North. They’ve got a multigame lead on the Vikings and are in the driver seat in the division. This one didn’t come easy, however. Chase Daniel started for the injured Mitch Trubisky. Daniel played solid football completing 27 of 37 passes for 230 yards and two scores. One of those was a crucial fourth quarter score. The critical blow came on a pick six by Chicago’s defense.

Washington Redskins    23

Dallas Cowboys                31

The Redskins did their best without starting QB Alex Smith, but Colt McCoy couldn’t lead his team to a big win over Dallas. Ezekiel Elliott continued running all over defenses, and Amari Cooper continued proving he was worth a first round pick. With Smith’s season ending injury, Dallas will look to take control of the division.

Atlanta Falcons                 17

New Orleans Saints        31

The most exciting matchup of the holiday kind of disappointed. Drew Brees did throw four TD passes, but only had 171 yards. Those scores also went to guys we’ve never heard of. The Falcons completely abandoned the running game after getting behind early. Atlanta only had 26 rushing yards on the evening. Matt Ryan ended up with 377 passing yards and two scores, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Saints improved to 10-1 on the season.

Photo credit to SB Nation

Oakland Raiders               17

Baltimore Ravens            34

The Raiders are back to their losing ways. We’re relieved because with their win last week, we totally thought Jon Gruden was going to screw up this whole tanking thing. Meanwhile, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens gained ground on the division leading Steelers.

Jacksonville Jaguars        21

Buffalo Bills                        24

Goodness gracious! The Jaguars are back to being terrible. They lost their seventh straight, and this one has to hurt. Losing to the Bills isn’t something many teams do, but somehow the Jags pulled it off. Leonard Fournette did all he could do, including fighting Shaq Lawson, but the Bills pulled it off. No, they’re not hugging it out.

Photo credit to USA Today FTW

Seattle Seahawks            30

Carolina Panthers            27

The Seahawks always seem to find themselves this time of year. They certainly have once again and are right back in the Wild Card hunt. The Panthers, on the other hand, are trending the wrong way and have lost three straight. Christian McCaffrey did his part though, with 237 total yards on 28 touches. He also scored twice.

Cleveland Browns           35

Cincinnati Bengals           20

Baker Mayfield and Nick Chubb led the Browns to their second straight win. You read that correctly. The Browns whooped up on their Division rivals. The Bengals clearly have some issues after losing three games in a row. Hue Jackson can’t catch a break. He did get a game ball though…

Photo credit to Pulse.ng

New England Patriots    27

New York Jets                   13

Gronk finally returned to the field and chipped in on the win with a touchdown. Sony Michel also helped out with 133 rushing yards and a score. Tom Brady was Tom Brady. The Jets were the Jets.

New York Giants              22

Philadelphia Eagles        25

The Giants lost again by single digits. They’ve had several of those games this season. The Eagles picked up a much needed win and remain just one game behind Dallas and Washington in the NFC East. Don’t count out the defending champs just yet.

San Francisco 49ers         9

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27

Neither of these teams are anything special. That should tell you how bad the Niners are. Jameis Winston had a nice game, but most of that was probably due to the poor competition. Take this victory with a grain of salt, Tampa Bay.

Arizona Cardinals            10

Los Angeles Chargers     45

The Cardinals got out to a 10-0 lead but didn’t score again. I guess they thought they had it wrapped up after one quarter. Obviously not because the Chargers dominated the remainder of the game scoring 45 unanswered points. Philip Rivers threw more TDs than incomplete passes (28/29, 259 yards, 3 TDs). Not too shabby.

Miami Dolphins               24

Indianapolis Colts            27

Andrew Luck continues to pick apart defenses. Although, he did throw two picks, but that didn’t end up hurting him in the end as the Colts were able to win their fifth straight. Houston better not slip up or the Colts could have a shot at the division.

Pittsburgh Steelers         17

Denver Broncos                24

The Steelers’ kickers, Chris Boswell, threw a TD pass to offensive lineman, Alejandro Villanueava, so that’s fun. What’s not fun is losing to an inferior team, which is exactly what Pittsburgh did. Give credit to the Broncos, though. They kept their playoff hopes alive with this big victory.

Green Bay Packers          17

Minnesota Vikings          24

For whatever reason, the Packers cannot win on the road. They’re now 0-6 away from Lambeau Field. They might have sank their playoff hopes with this loss. Mike McCarthy’s seat has to be the hottest it’s ever been.

Tennessee Titans             17

Houston Texans               34

 The Titans got out to an early lead but it didn’t last long. The Texans came right back and scored 27 straight points, and the Titans couldn’t overcome that deficit. The Texans maintain their lead in the AFC South. 

Lessons learned in Week 12:

1. We’re all thankful for football, mainly to get us away from those awkward political discussions around the dinner table.
2. The Browns might be better than we thought. They have four wins! Crazy right?
3. Green Bay is in trouble.
4. Oakland is back to their tanking ways.
5. The Rams and Chiefs got a well-deserved bye week.