Week 12 in the NFL started off with a divisional game between the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night. Going into the game Kansas were looking for a win that would put them on top of the AFC West as opposed to Oakland who were looking for their first win of the season.
Not only had Oakland not won going into this game but Kansas had also not conceded a rushing touchdown all season. In today’s NFL to go into week 12 having not conceded a rushing touchdown is a massive accomplishment and one that definitely should not be overlooked when the season is all in the history books!
Now given the record of the two teams and the above stat the stage was truly set for Oakland’s young rookie running back Latavius Murray who in recent weeks has been seeing more of the workload in their backfield instead of Darren McFadden and Maurice Jones Drew.
The game itself started as you would expect any divisional game to start with both sides trading possessions like they were Pokémon cards until with just over six minutes to go in the first quarter Murray took the ball into the endzone from 11 yards out.
Oakland’s defence then held strong against the Kansas offense and gave their offense the ball back just into the second quarter. The next play for Oakland then went for 90 yards and a touchdown as Latavius burst through the Kansas defence again leaving nothing but a trail of dust in his wake.
By halftime it was not looking good for Kansas as they trailed Oakland 14 – 3 and had been struggling on offense for the entire half. We skip forward now towards the end of the game when Kansas had clawed their way back into the game and had taken a 20 – 17 lead with just over half of the fourth quarter still to play.
The teams again exchanged drives until with just under two minutes left on the clock Derek Carr found James Jones in the endzone for the go ahead touchdown for Oakland. Unbelievable Oakland got their first win of the season and you can see all of the highlights from the game by clicking on the picture below:
In other news this week the Buffalo vs New York Jets game has been moved to Monday night following some crazy weather in Buffalo. Now I know at this time of year the weather in Buffalo gets very cold but nobody was expecting to see nearly seven feet of snow in the space of 48 hours. Even Ralph Wilson Stadium was left empty after being covered with snow. You can see from the selection of pictures below just how bad the snow was.
With that said my thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the bad weather in upper New York whether in Buffalo or the surrounding areas.
Despite the result on Thursday night, week 12 basically saw the cream rise to the top so to speak as the big teams came away with yet another victory. For example the steam train that is the New England Patriots hosted the number one ranked defence of Detroit but even they could not stop the high powered Patriots offense which was boosted this week with the pickup of free agent running back LaGarrette Blount who was release by the Steelers on Tuesday.
It wasn’t just New England who were dismantling teams this week, you also had the high flying Philadelphia Eagles taking out the Tennessee Titans. From the opening kick-off which Philadelphia returned 107 yards for a touchdown courtesy of Josh Huff, you just knew it was going to be a long night for the Titans. You can see the highlight of this kickoff return and the rest of the game by clicking on the picture below:
Finally I want to finish this part of the blog with one last game between two teams pushing for the playoffs and that is the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons. Both teams are looking towards the post season but are playing in very polar divisions. The AFC North has all teams with a winning record where as the NFC South has all teams with a loosing record.
Not only was this a great game between two good teams but it also answered and interesting question and that is ‘can you win a game after throwing three interceptions and no touchdowns?’.
Atlanta would draw first blood thanks to an 11 yard touchdown reception from Julio Jones before Cleveland would then strike back with a touchdown of their own along with two field goals. Atlanta got another score just before the half making it 14 - 13 to Atlanta at halftime.
Again just like the first half it was punch and counter punch in the second half with Cleveland again taking the advantage in the third quarter with 10 points before Atlanta came back in fourth quarter. Atlanta then thought they had won the game with a field goal with just 44 seconds left on the clock but as you know in the NFL 44 seconds is more than enough time for anyone to get down the field especially when you only need a field goal yourself to take the lead.
Wouldn't you know it, as time expired Cleveland managed to kick the game winning field goal from 37 yards after some great plays by the Cleveland receivers to get them in that position. You can see all of the highlights from this game by clicking on the picture below:
We now take a look at all of the scores from week 12:
Kansas City 20 vs 24 Oakland
Cleveland 26 vs 24 Atlanta
Tampa Bay 13 vs 21 Chicago
Cincinnati 22 vs 13 Houston
Jacksonville 3 vs 23 Indianapolis
Green Bay 24 vs 21 Minnesota
Detroit 9 vs 34 New England
Tennessee 24 vs 43 Philadelphia
St Louis 24 vs 27 San Diego
Arizona 3 vs 19 Seattle
Miami 36 vs 39 Denver
Washington 13 vs 17 San Francisco
Dallas 31 vs 28 New York Giants
To be played Monday 24th November 2014:
New York Jets vs Buffalo
Baltimore vs New Orleans
Kansas City 20 vs 24 Oakland
Cleveland 26 vs 24 Atlanta
Tampa Bay 13 vs 21 Chicago
Cincinnati 22 vs 13 Houston
Jacksonville 3 vs 23 Indianapolis
Green Bay 24 vs 21 Minnesota
Detroit 9 vs 34 New England
Tennessee 24 vs 43 Philadelphia
St Louis 24 vs 27 San Diego
Arizona 3 vs 19 Seattle
Miami 36 vs 39 Denver
Washington 13 vs 17 San Francisco
Dallas 31 vs 28 New York Giants
To be played Monday 24th November 2014:
New York Jets vs Buffalo
Baltimore vs New Orleans
Now before I leave you this week I thought I should share all of the division standings so you can see for yourself just how close the playoff race is this year and what teams are in contention for the post season:
AFC North Cincinnati 7 - 3 - 1 Pittsburgh 7 - 4 Cleveland 7 - 4 Baltimore 6 - 4 AFC East New England 9 - 2 Miami 6 - 5 Buffalo 5 - 5 New York Jets 2 - 8 AFC South Indianapolis 7 - 4 Houston 5 - 6 Tennessee 2 - 9 Jacksonville 1 - 10 AFC West Denver 8 - 3 Kansas City 7 - 4 San Diego 7 - 4 Oakland 1 - 10 | NFC North Green Bay 8 - 3 Detroit 7 - 4 Chicago 5 - 6 Minnesota 4 - 7 NFC East Philadelphia 8 - 3 Dallas 8 - 3 New York Giants 3 - 8 Washington 3 - 8 NFC South New Orleans 4 - 6 Atlanta 4 - 7 Carolina 3 - 7 - 1 Tampa Bay 2 - 9 NFC West Arizona 9 - 2 Seattle 7 - 4 San Francisco 7 - 4 St Louis 4 - 7 |
Well that wraps it up from me for another week but please check out our podcast ‘Spitball’ which will be available later in the week, until next time football fans stay safe, take care and ‘Thanks for Stopping By’.