NFL scores and more, Week 12: What happened Sunday

By Ryan Van Bibber for SB Nation.

In Week 6, we could still confidently talk about the Patriots and Vikings as the best teams in the NFL. Nobody could keep up. The Vikings were 5-0 with a suffocating defense and offense that was finding a way in spite of its limitations. The Patriots went 3-1 without Tom Brady, only losing once when they had to start their third-string quarterback. Brady’s revenge tour didn’t get underway until Week 5, but it didn’t look like anyone was going to stop them.

And here we are in Week 12. The Vikings have won one game since then. They’re fighting to hold onto their playoff hopes that once seemed assured. The Patriots are still on top of the AFC, sitting in the No. 1 seed of the playoff order, but the Raiders, THE RAIDERS, have the exact same 9-2 record.

It’s impossible to judge the NFL landscape in August, when we’re all making preseason predictions. It’s not any easier in the middle of October. Hell, if you just looked at how things went this week and only this week, we might be talking about a Buccaneers-Raiders Super Bowl.

The Raiders to the Super Bowl isn’t so far fetched. And the Patriots have plenty of life left after narrowly pulling out a fourth-quarter comeback against the Jets.

Oh, and then there was that DOINK!

Let’s try to digest Sunday.

The Denver Doink!

That’s pretty much how the Broncos won the Super Bowl last year, with a loaded defense, strength and depth at every position. The Chiefs are following a similar pattern this year. Both teams are all defense, until they’re not. Both offenses managed to put points on the board exactly when they needed it.

The Broncos scored twice in the last half of the fourth quarter to put the Chiefs on the ropes. Somehow, some way, Alex Smith and the Chiefs scored a last-second touchdown and two-point conversion to tie it up and send the game to overtime.

It was a pretty wild sequence!

But it was nothing compared to what happened in overtime. The always conservative TV analysts thought Gary Kubiak should have punted instead of attempting a 62-yard field goal from the Chiefs’ 44-yard line.

Unfortunately, 62-yard kicks are hard to make, even in Denver.

The Chiefs were in prime position to get the win and save us from the third tie of the season, something that hasn’t happened since 1974. It looked liked Cairo Santos’ 34-yard attempt was going to bounce out after hitting the left upright. It didn’t. It bounced in, and the Chiefs won 30-27, giving themselves the fifth seed, for now, in the AFC and pushing the Broncos to seventh.

Playoff picture

If the playoffs started this week, there would be seven teams in that didn’t make it last year.

Is Derek Carr the MVP?

The Raiders quarterback has a damn good case for it. He’s now got 3,115 yards, 22 touchdowns and five interceptions. None of those lead the league, but that’s not really the point.

This week’s win was his fifth fourth-quarter comeback, and when you factor that into the Raiders’ 9-2 record (the same record as the Patriots), it’s about as good a case as any to make him the MVP.

But wait! There’s more.

Carr led the Raiders’ fourth-quarter comeback against the Panthers with a jacked up pinky. Just look at that thing!

He’ll be fine, but that hurts. He was screaming in pain on the sideline. You would be too. But you’re not an NFL MVP candidate. Derek Carr is.

The Raiders defense came up big to preserve the win, thanks to Khalil Mack who sacked Cam Newton and forced a fumble on fourth down. Carr told Mack to “end the game” just before that drive.

Jared Goff was good for two quarters

Making only his second start of the season, Jared Goff’s first half against the Saints had everyone wondering why the Rams kept him on the bench for the first nine weeks of the year.

Goff threw his first NFL touchdown pass, then another and another. He finished the first half of the game with a decidedly un-Keenum-esque 126.5 QB rating. Goff was 12-for-20 with 167 yards, three touchdowns and no interception. He did fumble on a sack in the second quarter that the Saints used to get their first lead on the Rams. But overall, Goff had a very good half.

The last two quarters were a different story. I’m not sure what exactly Jeff Fisher’s game plan was in the second half, or that he even had one. As the Saints started to bury them on their way to a 49-21 win, the Rams reverted to their usual “7 and 9 bullshit.” Goff had just 47 passing yards in the second half.

The Saints welcomed Gregg Williams back to New Orleans

The Rams were a disaster in general, even by the mediocre standards set by their head coach. They rolled over and the Saints out-muscled them, something Sean Payton took a lot of pride in doing. This was Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ first visit to the Crescent City since Bountygate got everyone suspended in 2012.

Payton ran up the score and even threw in a trick play, a wide receiver option, for a touchdown in the fourth quarter … when they were already leading 42-21.

It was amazing. And don’t think for a minute Payton and his players didn’t know EXACTLY what they were doing. They made it very clear that they did.

Justin Tucker is the MVP of kickers

Kickers weren’t as bad this week. But after last week’s 12 missed extra points, an NFL record, there was nowhere to go but up.

Tucker booted a 57-yard field goal that nobody thought he would make. The Bengals even declined a holding penalty because they thought there was no way. Tucker even had to beg his coach to give the kick a try. With that he became only the third player ever with three field goals of 50 yards or more in one game.

To top it all off, Tucker opened his post-game presser with AN UPDOG JOKE!

We may never see a kicker win the MVP award again, but there’s no doubt that Tucker is far and away the Ravens’ team MVP this season.

The Seahawks and Patriots are still good, but not perfect

We’ve just kind of assumed the Patriots would cruise to the best record in the AFC. They’ll probably still finish that way (though the Raiders aren’t making it easy), but we’ve now seen a team with serious weaknesses.

The offense sputtered once Gronk left with a back injury and Martellus Bennett‘s ankle was clearly bothering him. Without those two, it was death by short passes.

Seattle looked like a juggernaut over their last three games, scoring a combined 87 points, including a road win over the Patriots. Russell Wilson was in MVP form and we all forgot about how horrid their offensive line had been up until November.

Well, the terrible o-line was back this week, and the Buccaneers took full advantage, sacking Wilson six times and clawing out a 14-5 win.

More than anything, I think these two games are a clear reminder that good teams have bad days. Also, neither one of them is perfect, which means the playoffs should be that much more interesting.

These teams have life!

Buccaneers — The aforementioned Bucs are kind of good now. They’re one game out of first in the NFC South and currently sitting one game out of a Wildcard spot.

Saints — If New Orleans had any semblance of a defense, they’d be one of the best teams in the NFC.

Ravens — Baltimore is the streakiest team in the league. Their season has gone like this: win three, lose four, win two, lose one and then back in the win column this week. They’re not especially good, but are in great shape for a de facto division win.

Titans — Tennessee has been alternating wins and losses since Week 6. It was their week to win, and they did, thanks to Marcus Mariota’s incredible red zone work. He’s thrown multiple touchdown passes in eight consecutive games, the second longest such streak in history, behind only Dan Marino who did it for 10 games. With Houston’s loss on Sunday to the Chargers, the Titans are in the thick of the AFC South race.

Dolphins — Miami hasn’t lost since they lost to the Titans back in Week 5. Their win over the 49ers this week was six in a row. It’s going to be hard for an AFC team to smash its way into the Wildcard spots with the AFC West controlling those right now, but the Dolphins have a shot.