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It wasn’t long ago that we wondered if we had seen the last of Matthew Stafford with the Los Angeles Rams. At the start of the offseason, amid reports of the Stafford camp exploring the trade market and contract talks stalling, the team and their veteran QB appeared to be at a crossroads. Then, during training camp, with the contract standoff long settled, Stafford’s ongoing back problems had the Rams’ season in jeopardy before it even started.
But once the campaign got underway, the road ahead has looked fairly easy for Stafford and the Rams most weeks. That was certainly the case Sunday night in LA as the home team dominated every aspect of its 34-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to remain alone atop the NFC.
While their sharp defense shut down Tampa Bay’s drives early and often, LA’s offense completely shut down the Warriors, starting with 21 unanswered points before finishing the first half with four TDs and a field goal. It was a pretty impressive offensive display, but for the Rams, it’s just the same — and that’s what makes Stafford’s MVP campaign so strong. He’s doing it nearly every week at the helm of the league’s most lethal offense.
Even before kickoff on Sunday, the 37-year-old led the league in touchdown passes. He added three more Sunday night to bring his season total to 30 and counting, and also kept his impressive pick-less streak alive (not since Week 3 has Stafford thrown an INT). He’s turned back the clock, and so is his new favorite red zone weapon.
The team’s off-season signing of Davante Adams turned out to be one of the best in the NFL, with Adams enjoying a bounce-back campaign, too, to the tune of a league-best 12 touchdown catches this season. Two of them were arrested on Sunday night.
Stafford & Co. The spotlight will only get brighter, and the MVP chatter should also get louder with each week. The team in Hollywood looks more than ready for it all.
Here’s a roundup of our other takeaways from the busy Sunday slate in Week 12.
The Buccaneers’ bad night gets worse with Mayfield’s injury
LA has great memories for Baker Mayfield, who credits his brief stint with the Rams in 2022 with rekindling his love for the game. But Sunday’s return to the couch was one he will surely forget. The game felt lost at the end of the first quarter, and things got worse in the third when Mayfield exited with a left shoulder injury. He was seen on the sidelines in a hoodie with his arm in one leg — a troubling sight for the QB, and for Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes as well.
The Buccaneers have now lost three straight games, and what was once a healthy lead atop the NFC South is now in jeopardy thanks to their recent struggles and a possible surge by the 6-5 Carolina Panthers, who now have a chance to take over the top spot if they can overcome San Francisco on Monday night.
With a key win over the Colts, the Chiefs look poised to chase a playoff spot
While math and game statistics tell us that Sunday’s opening window matchup against the Indianapolis Colts isn’t Literally A must-win for the Kansas City Chiefs, it certainly felt like one. After a loss to the Broncos last week officially saw the nine-time defending AFC West Champs division crown handed to Denver, the Chiefs’ season-ending hopes moved to one of three wild-card berths. And considering the wild-card race also includes three clubs that Kansas City has already lost to this season — Buffalo, Jacksonville, and the Chargers are all currently ahead of the Chiefs in the race — it won’t be an easy road to the playoffs.
But on Sunday, finding themselves on the wrong end of an 11-point deficit to go against the powerhouse Colts, the Chiefs reminded us all that even when they’re down, never count them out.
After the Colts controlled the first 45 minutes of the match, the offense hit a snag when Patrick Mahomes took over in the final frame. He led the offense on an 11-play, 56-yard drive that included a playoff Mahomes signature.TM Dash deep into Indy territory to set up a short TD run for Kareem Hunt, then got the Chiefs within three points with a two-point conversion pass to Rushie Rice. It wasn’t all pretty — they were forced to punt on their next possession — but Mahomes’ late heroics, which saw him rack up more than 200 yards in the half, reignited KC’s hopes and the signature position he played in overtime to set up an easy walk-off field goal was all too familiar to everyone else in the AFC.
This one’s 23-20 result also carries plenty of playoff implications for the Colts, who still sit comfortably atop the AFC South but have fallen sharply in AFC competition. The New England Patriots, whose victory over Cincinnati on Sunday marked their ninth straight victory, controlled the pace while the Broncos were hot on their tail.
The Ravens jumped into the top spot in the AFC North. Can they stay?
A team suddenly No In the wild-card race following Sunday’s action? Baltimore Ravens. After being left for dead at 1-5 before Halloween, Baltimore will hit the field on Thanksgiving night as the team to beat in the AFC North thanks to five straight wins.
The Ravens’ 23-10 win over the New York Jets wasn’t pretty, nor did it really show what Baltimore’s star-studded offense should be capable of — then again, neither was last week’s win over the Browns — but it he Incredibly clutch, considering the Bears’ loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at the same time, that opened the door for Baltimore.
The shift over the division makes the event ahead of him interesting. Baltimore’s next three games, and four of their remaining six, are divisional matchups, starting Thursday against a Bengals squad that may feature only Joe Burroughs at the helm, while the Steelers, who now find themselves in the wild-card race despite boasting a 6-5 record, take on the Bulls in what is an important matchup for both sides with playoff implications.
Gibbs’ sensational day saves the Lions against the Giants
Lions running back Jahmir Gibbs just powered himself to another game as Detroit edged the Giants 34-27 in overtime. His 264 total yards accounted for more than half of his team’s output, and he scored three of the Lions’ four TDs, including the OT winner. He was absolutely sensational, and the Lions needed every bit of that performance to top the Giants in what was an unexpectedly great showdown.
As incredible as Gibbs was, though…we should probably be talking about giants. Because despite being nowhere near the playoff race this year, and despite injuries to their starting quarterback and running back, New York gave the Lions a run for their money.
And if it weren’t for Gibbs’ explosiveness, which the Giants had no answer for, the G-men likely would have won Ford Field on the strength of a pretty wild performance from Jameis Winston.
Giants offensive coordinator, interim head coach Mike Kafka pulled out all the tricks in his play calling, and backup-turned-starter Winston capped it off with a very Winston-N performance (almost). He dazzled through the air, caught a TD pass himself and showed some pretty impressive juke to run it, but also threw a late-game interception and was brought down in OT to seal New York’s fate.
As exciting as the Giants looked offensively, it was ultimately another disappointing outing with another double-digit comeback for their opponent. The Giants held the lead throughout the game, but couldn’t hold on to it when it mattered most in overtime.
Sanders makes Browns history, but Garrett steals the show
Shadow Sanders wasn’t perfect in his first pro start, but his record certainly is. The 24–10 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders made Sanders the first Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback to win in his NFL debut since 1999.
There was a lot to like about Sanders’ performance, including a spectacular 53-yard pass to Avonia Bonds on a run to put the Browns in early scoring position. Sanders finished the day with 11 completions on 20 attempts for 209 yards, a touchdown — a short pass to Dylan Sampson, who then made a 66-yard dash to the end zone — and an interception.
None of the stats were as impressive as those posted by Cleveland’s defense, though. The unit has been elite all season, posting numbers worthy of a winning record despite the Browns sitting at 3-8.
And no one made a bigger impact Sunday than Myles Garrett, whose three-sack game (as part of the Browns’ collective 10-sack outing) also saw him make history. The league’s hitting leader now has 18 on the season, which is a new franchise record (he also held the old one). And at this rate, we could see him break the NFL’s all-time single-season record (22.5) as well.
What happened in Dallas?
The Philadelphia Eagles sit comfortably atop the NFC East, but after the road they just lost to their biggest rivals in Dallas… how comfortable are Eagles fans feeling right now? It’s not just that they blew a 21-point lead before losing to the Cowboys 24-21 in overtime, it’s also the fact Philly’s offense — one that came out of the gates with a touchdown on each of its first three drives of the game — went ice cold in the second half. That’s a recurring theme for this team, and it’s one that could land them in hot water if it continues.
The Eagles were held scoreless for nearly three full quarters, limited to just seven first downs when they were up 21-0. Once the Cowboys got going on offense, thanks to Dake Prescott’s 354 passing yards — 146 of which went to George Pickens on a monster night for the WR — and a battered Philly secondary, the momentum shift was palpable.
Dallas’ entire defense actually did its part as well. Despite being sacked just once, Jalen Hurts didn’t look comfortable, and came up with a clutch forced fumble against Cowboys tight end Saquon Barkley that might have saved a score.
The Cowboys broke the franchise record for the biggest comeback with 21 unanswered points, three more in OT thanks to Brandon Aubrey’s leg, and perhaps even better, a little drama against their divisional foes.
The simmering dysfunction in Philly is probably an overreaction considering the club is still 8-3, but it’s something to look forward to — especially now that they’ve got plenty of company competing for the NFC’s No. 1 seed.
