WINNERS
Jalen Hurts
After a stellar win against the Bills in Week 12, Jalen Hurts has lower odds to win MVP than anyone has had at any point this season. It was a tough first half for Hurts and the offence, but boy, did they come alive in the second. After completing just four passes and rushing for one touchdown in the first 30 minutes, Hurts threw for three scores in the second half before ending the game on a 12-yard run in overtime. The battle between the Bills and Eagles was easily one of the best games of the season so far, and Hurts deserves all the praise for helping Philly come out of it with a win. The Birds are now 10-1 and have a two-game lead in the race for first place in the NFC.
DaRon Bland
For an NFL-record fifth time this year, Daron Bland took an interception back to the crib on Thursday against Washington. Bland hasn’t gone three games in a row without a touchdown yet this season and has visited the endzone more than many standout offensive players including Davante Adams, D.K. Metcalf, and teammate Tony Pollard. With touchdowns in back-to-back games, he’ll look to get his third straight this Thursday against the Seahawks. Bland also leads the league in interceptions and now has the fourth lowest odds to win the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year Award. What a year it’s been for the Cowboys’ corner.
Kyren Williams
No one player was better in Week 12 than Kyren Williams. After missing four games with an ankle injury, Williams returned for Sunday’s game against the Cardinals and was absolutely dominant. On the ground, the Rams’ RB carried the ball 16 times for 143 yards, averaging just under nine yards per carry. In the passing game, he made an even bigger impact, catching six passes for 61 yards and two scores. With back-to-back wins getting this team back to 5-6 and in the hunt for the last spots in the NFC playoffs, Williams will most likely be a massive part of Sean McVay’s offence down the stretch.
LOSERS
Josh Dobbs
The Josh Dobbs experiment was fun, but it came to a crashing halt on Monday night for the Vikings as they lost 12-10 at home against Chicago. It wasn’t all Dobbs’ fault, but his four interceptions were easily the biggest contributor to what was an offensive disaster for Minnesota in a game they really needed to have. Now, his spot as the starter is reportedly in jeopardy. Although many would say that they should give him another shot, Minnesota does need to win games right now and cannot afford another performance like Monday’s. Thankfully, they’ll have the Week 13 bye to figure things out.
Diontae Johnson
Pittsburgh has had their fair share of problematic WRs in the Mike Tomlin era, and there’s a chance that they have two more on the roster right now. Earlier in the season, George Pickens was visibly frustrated on the bench right after the offence scored and later posted a cryptic Instagram story saying, “free me.” In Week 12, it was Diontae Johnson’s turn to add to the drama. After dropping a touchdown that arguably should have been challenged and reversed, Johnson gave a total lack of effort in the following play that resulted in a Steelers’ fumble. Despite the ball bouncing right in front of him, Johnson made no effort to scoop the ball up and simply walked back to where the huddle would have been.
He said that he didn’t see the ball, but the play was a terrible look for Pittsburgh’s top wideout. The video quickly circulated around the internet, where both fans and analysts ripped into him for his lack of effort.
Frank Reich
It’s a lot easier to fire a coach than it is to fire a team, and Frank Reich found that out after Carolina’s Week 12 loss to the Titans. Just eleven games into his tenure, the Panthers’ head coach was fired alongside QB coach Josh McCown and RB coach Duce Staley. Bryce Young’s rookie season has not gone well at all in Carolina this year, and with the worst record in the league but no pick in the first round of next year’s draft, things are looking dire. On top of that, there have also been rumors going around about David Tepper’s influence on the team’s decision to go with Young instead of C.J. Stroud. Clearly, all is not well in Carolina and firing Frank Reich will likely not do much to stop the bleeding.
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