NFL Week 12 live updates, scores, takeaways, stats, highlights, playoff picture, injuries and more (2024)

The NFL playoff picture continues to take shape in Week 12. This all-day live blog follows The Athletic's coverage from Sunday's early-window and afternoon games.

Some of today’s highlights: Leonard Fournette's four touchdowns were enough for the Bucs to leave Indy with a win, the Bengals have their first regular-season sweep of the Steelers since 2009, Cam Newton was benched and the Pats are winners of six straight. Also, the Packers beat the Rams in an NFC showdown.

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Be sure to also tune into The Athletic's Sunday Night Football live blog when the Browns take on the Ravens.

Week 12

All times ET

Nov. 25

Chicago 16, Detroit 14 | BOX SCORE | Recap

Las Vegas 36, Dallas 33 (OT) | BOX SCORE | Recap

Buffalo 31, New Orleans 6 | BOX SCORE | Recap

Nov. 28

Cincinnati 41, Pittsburgh 10 | BOX SCORE

Tampa Bay 38, Indianapolis 31 | BOX SCORE

Miami 33, Carolina 10 | BOX SCORE

New England 36, Tennessee 13 | BOX SCORE

N.Y. Giants 13, Philadelphia 7 | BOX SCORE

Atlanta 21, Jacksonville 14 | BOX SCORE

N.Y. Jets 21, Houston 14 | BOX SCORE

Denver 28, L.A. Chargers 13 | BOX SCORE

Green Bay 36, L.A. Rams 28 | BOX SCORE

San Francisco 34, Minnesota 26 | BOX SCORE

Cleveland at Baltimore, 8:20 p.m.

TV: NBC | Odds | BOX SCORE

Nov. 29

Seattle at Washington, 8:15 p.m.

TV: ESPN | Odds | BOX SCORE

BYE: Chiefs, Cardinals

STANDINGS

(Photo: Jeff Hanisch / USA Today)

The Patriots beat up on the Titans, the Packers toppled the Rams, and the Bucs escaped Indianapolis with a win.

What do all the Week 12 results mean for the NFL playoff picture? Let’s run team by team through the standings, which are current before the result of Sunday night’s game between the Browns and Ravens.

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(Photo: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)

All of the attention was focused on the New York Giants offense in the days leading up to Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles. But the Giants defense stole the show in a 13-7 win over their NFC East rivals.

The offense looked no more inspiring with Freddie Kitchens calling plays in place of fired coordinator Jason Garrett. But defensive coordinator Patrick Graham appeared to regain his touch after an ugly showing in the Giants’ 30-10 loss to the Buccaneers last Monday that was mostly overlooked due to the focus on the offensive shakeup.

The Eagles had scored the second-most points in the league during a four-game stretch leading into Sunday’s matchup. But they were stymied by a defense that forced four turnovers.

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There were no fireworks. Not really. No magic. If you expected a storybook reinsertion to the starting lineup for young Zach Wilson, you’ll rest your head on your pillow tonight yearning for more.

The Jets’ rookie quarterback did return from a sprained PCL. He played every snap in the Jets’ 21-14 victory over the lowly Texans on Sunday. But the notion that he would instantly turn around his first season in the NFL because he spent the last month watching Mike White, Josh Johnson and Joe Flacco effectively run the offense with which he struggled so mightily? Well, that was misplaced optimism.

(Photo: Troy Taormina / USA Today)

There was 3:29 left in the game, the Colts and Buccaneers tied at 31 at Lucas Oil Stadium, Tom Brady and his offense taking possession at the 25-yard line, and it was over. Of course it was over. Not just because the Bucs are the defending Super Bowl champions or because their run-stopping defense had turned the Colts into a one-dimensional, pass-happy team or any of that. It was over because of …

Tom. Freaking. Brady.

The GOAT didn’t do anything particularly heroic on that game-winning final drive to make it 38-31 and put a sizeable dent in the Colts’ post-season hopes. Fact is, running back Leonard Fournette, who had four touchdowns, did most of the heavy lifting. The whole game, Brady was downright human, completing 25-of-34 passes for 226 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

But this guy, this man who defies all the odds and actuarial tables, has made a living crushing the Colts’ souls.

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With the score tied and less than three minutes remaining, the Bucs faced a first-and-15 at their own 31-yard line, at risk of giving the ball back to the Colts for the chance to escape with a last-second win.

Then Leonard Fournette took over.

The Bucs running back got the ball on four of Tampa Bay’s final six plays, each moving his team closer to victory. He rushed for 11 yards on the first, and after a short pass for a first down, he got the ball again, catching a 13-yard pass from Tom Brady for a first down at the Bucs’ 39-yard line. He followed with an 8-yard run to put them in range for a winning field goal, then, a play later, he broke tackles on a run to his left and scooted for a 28-yard touchdown, his fourth score of the day and the deciding margin in Tampa Bay’s 38-31 win over the Colts.

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As his second season slipped further into the abyss, Matt Rhule had clung tightly to the fact that the Panthers at least had played well on the road.

So much for that.

The Panthers showed up to Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday looking like they’d been up all night on South Beach. They would have been better: At least Rhule and his team would have had an excuse for the way they played.

The 33-10 loss to the Dolphins was ugly on every level, and frankly, the score could have been worse. With the bye up next, the Panthers (5-7) have two weeks to try to digest this one along with their Thanksgiving tryptophan.

“I wouldn’t say we weren’t ready today. I’d say we got outplayed today. That’s harder for me to say,” Rhule said. “But we got outplayed, we got outcoached. Credit to them.”

Sunday was a less-than-enticing matchup featuring two teams headed in opposite directions.

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(Photo: Jasen Vinlove / USA Today)

Despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary, Atlanta head coach Arthur Smith believed even before Sunday that his team could run the ball.

He sat the Falcons down for a film session last week to show them why.

“He showed us a lot of stuff we were capable of and things we could build off of, it was all about being intentional and making sure guys were on top of their details,” fullback Keith Smith said. “We have left a lot on the bone this season, and that’s what we’re diligent about changing.”

On Sunday, the Falcons (5-6) rewarded their coach’s faith and showed everyone else they do in fact have a ground game. Against a Jacksonville team that doesn’t do a lot of things right but had been good against the run, the Falcons rushed for a season-high 149 yards in a 21-14 win over the Jaguars in TIAA Bank Field.

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The game had been over for more than an hour, and that’s when a very happy, very pleased linebacker Matthew Judon stepped up to the rostrum to talk about the Patriots’ 36-13 victory over the Tennessee Titans Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.

Somebody asked the man if he believed that what had just taken place was a “statement victory,” and let’s stop right here to consider the Bizarro world in which we live, a world in which the 2021 Patriots have gone from 2-4 to 8-4. Now they are being asked about “statement victories.”

“Somebody asked me that a couple of weeks ago,” Judon replied. “The statement is we’ve got to win every game.”

So this is where we are: The Pats didn’t merely play a statement game on Sunday, they apparently played their second such game in three weeks, judging by what people are asking Judon. But this one was different, and for reasons that don’t necessarily have anything to do with the Patriots’ actual performance. For while it’s true that the Pats didn’t play their best football on Sunday, from their inability to stop the Tennessee running game to the troubles they had getting their own ground game out of second gear, we need to stop and take a look at the calendar.

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From injuries to pick-six interceptions, a lot happened in this one. The Broncos prevail 28-13.

The Athletic's Daniel Popper: Denver, LA and Las Vegas all tied at 6-5. KC at 7-4. AFC West is tight. Justin Herbert's two fourth-quarter INTs prove lethal in this one. Offensive inconsistencies remain a major fault for Brandon Staley's team.

There was so much attention on the Giants' offense this week, but it was the defense that carried them to a 13-7 win over the Eagles. The offense looked no better under new play-caller Freddie Kitchens, who replaced fired offensive coordinator Jason Garrett. But the defense forced four turnovers to lead the Giants to the victory.

(Photo: Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)

The No. 9 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft has been a game-changer today. It's his second interception and Denver is looking at a huge home win

There was no miracle for the Eagles this time at the Meadowlands.

Nick Sirianni has a rivalry board in the team facility with great moments from Eagles-Giants games of yore, but the Eagles’ 13-6 loss to the Giants won’t be memorialized. The Eagles lost a winnable game, appearing listless for much of the afternoon and squandering two opportunities to go ahead in the final two minutes.

Jalen Hurts threw three interceptions in the first three quarters, including one at the 1-yard line. Boston Scott fumbled on a potential go-ahead drive in the final two minutes. And Jalen Reagor couldn’t haul in two catchable passes in the final seconds. The Eagles needed somebody to make a play, like DeSean Jackson, Brian Westbrook and Herman Edwards had in the past. But there was no miracle on this day, and the Eagles fell to 5-7.

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Well that sure was fun while it lasted. The NFL expanded its season to 17 games this year, and right now the Steelers and their fans probably wish they had cut it to the old-school NFL of 12 games.

Or just shut it down right now at 5-5-1 after their 41-10 thumping in Cincinnati and Mike Tomlin can extend his streak of not having a losing season to 15. Otherwise, the Steelers could threaten to tie their worst record in 52 seasons.

There’s nothing wrong with the Steelers except they cannot stop the run and they cannot run. Sunday, they also could not stop Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow.

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(Photo: Dylan Buell / Getty Images)