The latest
NFL Week 12 grades: Cowboys earn high mark for shocking win over Commanders, Giants get an ‘F’ after ugly loss | CBS Sports
C – Chiefs
Yes, the Chiefs won this game, but it felt like they were sleep-walking through most of it, especially on defense. Going into Week 11, the Chiefs hadn’t give up more than 25 points all year, but after Carolina’s offensive showing, they’ve now done it in two straight weeks. The good news for the Chiefs is that Patrick Mahomes was there to save the day and that’s exactly what he did. Not only did he throw for 269 yards and three touchdowns, but he also had a key 33-yard scramble to set up Spencer Shrader’s game-winning field goal. The Chiefs didn’t play well, but they still won, which seems to be the story of their season so far.
Andy Reid becomes third coach with 19 or more 10-win seasons | NBC Sports
The Chiefs moved to 10-1 with a 30-27 win over the Panthers. Per the NFL, the victory gave coach Andy Reid his 19th season with 10 or more wins.
He trails Bill Belichick and Hall of Famer Don Shula, who have 20 seasons with 10 or more wins.
Reid also has won 10 or more games for 10 straight seasons. That’s second only to Belichick, who did it an uncanny 17 times, from 2003 to 2019.
As long as he stays with the Chiefs — and as long as Patrick Mahomes is there — Reid will keep winning 10 or more games, year after year. And if Reid stays long enough, he’ll eventually pass Belichick and then Shula for the all-time wins record.
NFL Week 12 Recap: Immediate fantasy football takeaways from Sunday’s games | PFF
Chiefs settle into heavy receiver rotation: Travis Kelce was the only Chiefs wide receiver or tight end who played more than 65% of the team’s offensive snaps.
For 2022 and most of 2023, the Chiefs rotated several receivers, making it hard to trust anyone, outside of Kelce, from a fantasy football standpoint. This was the second game of the year where Kansas City had both DeAndre Hopkins and JuJu Smith-Schuster. The Chiefs are only rotating four wide receivers this year unlike the five or six they rotated at times in recent seasons, but both Kelce and Noah Gray are playing more this year compared to last year.
Hopkins recorded the most receptions of the group but also ran the fewest routes. He had the one great game in a Chiefs uniform, but it will be hard to trust him going forward when the Chiefs are running more pass plays without Hopkins on the field.
Andy Reid gave passionate speech after Chiefs’ close win vs. Panthers | Chiefs Wire
After the game, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid had the full attention of his team in the locker room and gave a passionate speech that reminded Kansas City’s players that every win matters.
Though it took a remarkable effort by Patrick Mahomes to get the Chiefs in range to score the last-second field goal, the group effort by Kansas City’s players made the difference against Carolina.
The Chiefs shared a video of Reid’s comments in a post to Twitter on Sunday evening:
Biggest Winners, Losers From 2024 NFL Week 12 | The 33rd Team
Winner: Bryce Young, QB, Carolina Panthers
It’s certainly been a rough start for Bryce Young during his first two years in the NFL.
He’s been on arguably the worst team in the league and was benched coming out of Week 2 in favor of Andy Dalton. It felt like we were trending toward Young being one of the NFL’s biggest busts ever, but his play in the last few weeks has been encouraging.
He saved his best performance of his career for Week 12 when the Panthers hosted the 9-1 Kansas City Chiefs. Against one of the league’s top defenses, Young shredded them through the air and scored 27 points.
He led the Panthers on a touchdown drive at the end of regulation, and Carolina converted the 2-point conversion to tie the game up and take the Chiefs to overtime. Take a look at his passing chart against the Chiefs in Week 12 via the NFL’s Next Gen Stats:
Patrick Mahomes: Bryce Young ‘Played His Tail Off’ in Chiefs Win vs. Panthers | Bleacher Report
“I thought he played his tail off, man. He throws a really good football,” Mahomes said, via Sports Illustrated’s Ryan Phillips.
After a 1-7 start to the season, the Panthers have won two of their last three games, including a loss on Sunday to the Chiefs by a walk-off field goal.
“I think it’s been cool to see him bounce back these last few weeks and play some great football, because I know he has it because I’ve seen it for a long time,” Mahomes said, per Phillips. “He gave us a scare today, man. He played his tail off… He’s been a great player for a long time and won a lot of football games.”
Report: Gardner Minshew broke his collarbone | NBC Sports
NFL Media reports that Minshew broke his collarbone and several other reporters have since confirmed that report. A season-ending move to injured reserve will be next for Minshew.
Aidan O’Connell’s return for the Black Friday game against the Chiefs may also be on tap for the Raiders. O’Connell can be activated this week and multiple reports indicate that he is expected to return to action.
Panthers rookie Ja’Tavion Sanders discharged from hospital after suffering neck injury vs. Chiefs | CBS Sports
The first half of Sunday’s game between the Carolina Panthers and Kansas City Chiefs included a scary moment when Carolina tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders was carted off after suffering a injury. Sanders was taken to a Charlotte hospital for further evaluation after suffering a neck injury. He has since been discharged and has movement, according to Panthers coach David Canales.
Around the NFL
Giants players call team ‘soft,’ question effort after loss | ESPN
Rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers had a similar assessment after a game where he didn’t get a touch in the first half.
“Soft as f—,” he said in frustration.
Veteran offensive lineman Jermaine Eluemunor’s assessment indicated a lack of overall effort.
“I personally don’t think everybody is giving 100 percent,” Eluemunor said.
Standout edge rusher Brian Burns on trailing 30-0 at home off their bye week: “That’s ass.”
Absurd Cowboys-Commanders ending sets a new precedent in NFL special teams weirdness | CBS Sports
So, how on earth did this game become a classic, 34-26 Cowboys victory — in regulation? Well, mostly because the special-teams units went nuts. KaVontae Turpin got things started with a 99-yard kick return touchdown, just after Jayden Daniels had hit Zach Ertz to cut into Dallas’ lead and seemingly give Washington a chance for a comeback victory. In case “99-yard kick return touchdown” doesn’t sound crazy enough, take a look at what actually happened on the play.
Saquon Barkley runs for 255 yards as Philadelphia Eagles win | ESPN
Saquon Barkley ran for touchdowns of 70 and 72 yards in the second half and finished with a team record 255 yards rushing in the streaking Philadelphia Eagles’ seventh consecutive victory, 37-20 over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night.
Barkley racked up the ninth-most yards rushing in a game in NFL history largely thanks to his huge TD runs bookending the second half. He sprinted for a 70-yard score on the opening snap of the third quarter, and added another huge run up the middle with 2:44 to play.
Barkley had 302 total yards while becoming the first NFL player with two 70-yard TD runs in a game since Maurice Jones-Drew in 2009. Barkley leads the league with 1,392 yards rushing, including a league-best seven 100-yard rushing games in his seismic first season with Philadelphia.
While averaging 9.8 yards per carry, Barkley obliterated the franchise record of 217 yards rushing by LeSean McCoy in a 2013 game. He also had the biggest rushing performance ever against the Rams, exceeding DeMarco Murray’s 253 yards for Dallas in 2011.
In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride
3 takeaways from the Chiefs’ 30-27 win over the Panthers
Patrick Mahomes delivers in the clutch… yet again.
It had not been pretty on either side of the ball (and we’ll get to that), but the Chiefs had a 27-16 lead over the Panthers with 2:42 to go in the third quarter. For a moment, it felt like the club had finally found a way to win comfortably against an inferior opponent.
But that wasn’t to be. The Panthers rallied back with two fourth-quarter scores as Kansas City punted the ball away on two straight possessions.
After Carolina converted a game-tying two-point try, it was up to Mahomes to put the team on his back and do it again. On first-and-10 from about midfield with less than a minute remaining, the quarterback glanced down the field and saw the left side open.
After evading a pass rusher, Mahomes sprinted for the first down, then skillfully juked his way around wide receiver Justin Watson’s block for a 33-yard scramble to get the Chiefs into field-goal range.
Undrafted rookie Spencer Shrader — signed less than two weeks ago to replace the injured Harrison Butker — would eventually take care of the rest, preventing the Chiefs from blowing a two-score lead against one of the NFL’s worst-ranked teams.
