In this series of articles, I will highlight the best NFL games of the week and the local team, the Patriots. In week 12, we saw some of the craziest game endings and quite a few upsets. Here are the highlights.
Cowboys vs Commanders
The underdog Cowboys were able to come away with a win in this game’s wild ending.
The Cowboys came away with the most important one in a game full of special teams blunders. With this divisional matchup against Washington, the Cowboys broke their five-game losing streak.
The game began with a blocked field goal, a missed field goal, and a fumble for Dallas’ first three drives. The next three drives were all punts, but despite all this, the half ended 3-3. Both teams got a touchdown in the third quarter, Cooper Rush finding Jalen Tolbert in the endzone to take the lead after Washington missed the extra point.
With eleven minutes left in the fourth quarter, chaos began to ensue.
Dallas earned a 10-point swing in three minutes after a successful field goal attempt, a fumble, and another touchdown off the turnover.
Jayden Daniels then led the Commanders down the field to cut the lead to three.
On the kickoff, KaVontae Turpin decided to take the game into his own hands. He returned the kickoff 99 yards to take a ten-point lead with less than three minutes left in the game. The Cowboys then had to punt on their next drive and give the ball back to Washington.
On the first play of the drive, Terry McLaurin caught a pass from Daniels and took it to the endzone without getting touched by a defender. At this point, everyone was gearing up for overtime as the Commanders just needed an extra point to tie it. But the special teams issue carried over and Austin Seibert missed what would’ve been the game-tying kick.
Desperate for the ball back, Washington tried an onside kick, but that got returned for a touchdown and the game was essentially over.
The Cowboys will face another divisional opponent, the New York Giants, on Thanksgiving.
The Commanders have now lost three straight games after starting 7-2.
Washington started with a field goal and then had a missed field goal and two punts. An interception stopped the next drive, and the half ended soon after in a tie.
Mistakes in the third quarter allowed Dallas to take the lead. Down three towards the end of the game, the Commanders had momentum. Until Turpin scored in less than 10 seconds on his kickoff return touchdown. In another complete flip of momentum, Washinton scored on the next play but missed the extra point.
In a last-ditch effort, Daniels threw a Hail Mary pass, but it never made it to the endzone. In the last six minutes of this game, 35 points were scored between both teams, but Dallas came out on top.
Dolphins vs Patriots
The Dolphins dominated the Patriots with a 34-15 win on Sunday.
Tua Tagovailoa contributed 317 yards, and four touchdown passes to Jaylen Waddle, Jonnu Smith, and De’Von Achane twice. Both teams started with a punt and then Tua led a touchdown drive to take the lead in the second quarter.
Miami continued to dominate through the second quarter, scoring two more touchdowns and a field goal while shutting down the New England offense. The half ended 24-0. The Dolphins offense seemed to be finding their groove very easily against the Patriots.
After the three opening drives of the half ended in punts, Miami forced a turnover from a strip sack on Drake Maye. Two plays later, Jaylen Waddle found the endzone to extend the lead to 31-0. Despite being down 31 points, the Patriots fought back to score two touchdowns.
However, the points that Miami had already scored proved to be too much for New England to overcome.
The Dolphins sealed the win with a Tyrel Dodson interception and a field goal on the ensuing drive. Since Tua has returned, the Dolphins have been creating momentum and are now in the hunt for a wild card spot after starting 2-6.
Miami has a short week coming up with a Thanksgiving game against the Packers.
Tua Tagovailoa throws a pass in the dominant win over the Patriots. Photo Courtesy: miamidolphins.com
All of the Patriots’ momentum was lost in this game. They fell into a deficit that was too large to overcome, and a few promising offensive drives got derailed by pre-snap penalties.
In the only drive of the first half that showed some promise, Joey Slye missed a 45-yard field goal. After this, New England went three and out three straight times, while Miami scored three straight touchdowns. This put the Patriots in a 24-point hole against a Miami team that was catching fire at the right time.
Another good drive ended when Maye lost the ball on a sack.
A bright spot for the Patriots was a conversion on 4th and 15 where Maye scrambled and found Austin Hooper for a touchdown. At this point, Miami put in Skylar Thompson at quarterback.
With ten minutes left in the 4th quarter, Christian Gonzalez picked up a fumble and took it 63 yards for another touchdown. The Patriots were showing some fight, but they were still down 31-15 at this point. The Dolphins put Tua back in to finish the game and came away with the 34-15 win.
New England falls to 3-9 and this game added to the problems that they couldn’t fix over just one offseason. They take on the Colts next week at home before their bye week in week 14.
Titans vs Texans
The Titans upset the Texans as Houston continued to stumble.
While the Titans are 3-8 and nowhere near the playoffs at this point in the season, a win is a win, especially against a divisional opponent. Will Levis had 278 passing yards and two touchdowns, Tony Pollard rushed for a touchdown, and Nick Westbrook-Ikhine had a receiving touchdown.
The Texans scored in 18 seconds after a huge kick return from Dameon Pierce. After that, the Titans were able to score two touchdowns and a field goal, while holding the Texans to two punts. The Texans tied the score at 17 after a fumble on a botched handoff from Levis.
On defense, Tennessee’s Jarvis Brownlee picked off C.J. Stroud just before the half and put the Titans in field goal range. Nick Folk hit the 56-yard field goal to give the Titans a three-point lead going into the half.
After an opening drive field goal, the defense got the best of Stroud again and picked him off. In a pivotal moment, Jimmie Ward intercepted Levis and returned the pick for a 65-yard touchdown. This gave Houston a one-point lead.
With a little over nine minutes left in the 4th quarter, Levis hit his tight end Chig Okonkwo for a 70-yard touchdown.
On Houston’s last offensive drive, Stroud was forced into a safety, running out of the back of the endzone.
In a game that should have been an easy win against the struggling Titans, the Texans fall to a division foe.
The Texan struck first with a touchdown to Cade Stover then the offense stalled for two drives. They scored another touchdown in the second quarter, but they were already behind at this point. Stroud got picked off towards the end of the half and the Texans were down by three at halftime.
In the third quarter, a pick-six kept Houston in the game as their offense had a tough time against the Titans' defense. The fourth had a lot of punts until Okonkwo broke off his touchdown. Ka’imi Fairbairn missed the game-tying field goal with five minutes left in the game.
Houston forced a punt and with one last chance, Tennessee made Stroud run out of the endzone for a game-ending safety.
Despite sacking Levis eight times, recovering two fumbles, and a pick-six, Houston still lost. A lot of offensive penalties and mistakes cost the game for the Texans. They stand at 7-5 now, still leading their division with the Jaguars up next.
Ravens vs Chargers
The Ravens and John Harbaugh pick up the win against the Chargers in the Harbaugh Bowl.
Los Angeles pulled ahead early with an opening drive touchdown and a field goal later in the first quarter. On the next drive, Lamar Jackson led a long 70-yard drive that was capped off with a 10-yard touchdown run by Lamar himself. After a Chargers punt, the Ravens scored again after John Harbaugh made the gutsy call to go for it on fourth down on their 16-yard line. The call paid off in the end, giving the lead to Baltimore.
After a field goal from each team, the Ravens scored back-to-back touchdowns to go up 30-16. This put the game out of reach for the Chargers. Next week, the Ravens take on the Eagles where the league’s two best running backs will be facing off.
After the first drive touchdown, the Chargers had trouble finding the endzone again. They were able to score three field goals in between the two touchdowns to keep them in the game, but the other drives consisted of punts.
Los Angeles did end the first half only down one point despite the offensive struggles. Amid some costly drops, the Chargers failed to convert multiple third downs, while the Ravens offense finally caught momentum. Halfway through the fourth, Justice Hill broke off a 51-yard touchdown run, and the Chargers were never able to get back in the game.
The Chargers fall to the number six seed in the AFC playoff race and still have a great chance at making the playoffs.
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