NFL Week 12 Blitz Read: Teams are streaking in opposite directions

Ron Clements

NFL Week 12 Blitz Read: Teams are streaking in opposite directions image

Frank Ricard would like how the 2017 NFL season is going. Everybody's streaking, just not all in the same direction.

The Eagles (10-1) rolled to their ninth straight victory with a 31-3 rout of the Bears. The Patriots (9-2) tied the Vikings (9-2) with their seventh straight win after a 35-17 dispatching of the Dolphins. The Steelers (9-2) kept pace with the Patriots in the AFC playoff hunt with a 31-28 win over the Packers that was Pittsburgh's sixth straight win.

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While the Saints (8-3) saw their eight-game win streak snapped with a 26-20 loss to the Rams (8-3), the Panthers (8-3) pulled even with the Saints in the NFC South by winning their fourth straight, a 35-27 win over the Jets. The Falcons (7-4) are right behind them in the division as their 34-20 win over the Buccaneers (4-7) was their third straight. 

While those are the hottest teams in the NFL, the AFC West has a pair of teams heading in the opposite direction.

The Chiefs (6-5) still lead the division, but have dropped five of their last six and three straight after Sunday's 16-10 home loss to the Bills (6-5). The Broncos (4-7) have now lost seven in a row after the Raiders (5-6) held on for a 21-14 victory at the Oakland Coliseum. Miami's loss in New England was the fifth straight loss for the Dolphins. 

Even though the Broncos, Chiefs and Dolphins are struggling, at least they have a few wins. The Browns (0-11) haven't won at all this season — their losing streak hit 12 games dating back to last year following Sunday's 30-16 loss to the Bengals. The Browns were officially eliminated from playoff contention this week, along with the 49ers (1-11) and Giants (2-9). 

Injury report

Patriots special teams ace Nate Ebner suffered a knee injury after picking up 39 yards on a fake punt on the opening series of New England's 35-17 win over the Dolphins. 

Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer left Sunday's 30-16 loss to the Bengals in the first half to be evaluated for a concussion, but did return. 

Dolphins running back Damien Williams was carted to the locker room in the third quarter of the loss to New England with a left arm injury.

The Buccaneers lost several players in their loss to the Falcons. Running back Doug Martin suffered a concussion; center Ali Marpet went down with a knee injury; cornerback Josh Robinson had a hamstring injury and safety T.J. Ward suffered a concussion.

Raiders receiver Amari Cooper left in the second quarter of Sunday's 21-14 win over the Broncos with a concussion and did not return. 

Rams linebacker Connor Barwin was ruled out of Sunday's 26-20 win over the Saints in the third quarter with an arm injury.

The 49ers lost starting left tackle Joe Staley early in the fourth quarter of their 24-13 loss to the Seahawks with a left knee injury. 

Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch was emotional on the sideline after being ruled out in the second half against the Raiders with an injured ankle. 

By the numbers

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski caught five passes for 82 yards and two touchdowns against the Dolphins. It was the 16th multi-touchdown game of Gronkowski's career, passing Randy Moss for most in franchise history. 

Falcons receiver Julio Jones caught 12 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-20 win over the Buccaneers. It was the third career game with at least 250 receiving yards for Jones and no other player in NFL history has more than one such game. 

Highlights

The Patriots ran a fake punt on fourth-and-9 from their own 26-yard line on the opening series of Sunday's game against the Dolphins and they got it to set the tone in a 35-17 victory. It was New England's first fake punt since 2004. 

Atlanta's first touchdown in Sunday's 34-20 win over the Buccaneers came on a 51-yard pass from wide Mohamed Sanu to wide receiver Julio Jones. 

Jets quarterback Josh McCown had the backyard play improvisation, pointed for Robby Anderson to go long and it resulted in a 54-yard touchdown in a 3527 loss to the Panthers. 

Luke Kuechly's fumble return for a touchdown helped the Panthers seal the win over the Jets.

The Saints lost to the Rams, but rookie running back Alvin Kamara was a human highlight reel and a pretty good hurdler. 

Cordarrelle Patterson's 55-yard catch-and-run helped the Raiders seal a 21-14 win over the Broncos. 

Cardinals kicker Phil Dawson is in his 19th NFL season and booted a career-best 57-yard field goal to beat the Jaguars on Sunday. 

After C.J. Beathard left Sunday's loss to the Seahawks late with a bruised leg, Jimmy Garoppolo made his 49ers debut. The former Patriots quarterback threw two passes for 18 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown pass to Louis Murphy on the final play of the game. 

Antonio Brown helped setup the Steelers for a game-winning field goal with an incredible sideline grab with 17 seconds remaining. 

Quotables

Gronkowski on his "race horse" celebration after a 5-yard touchdown by Brandin Cooks: "That was not planned or anything. We got yelled at. We’re not allowed to talk about celebrations. That’s what we got told. But, I kind of want to talk about it, but I kind of don’t because I’ll get in trouble, so I don’t know what to do. So, it just happened on the spot. It wasn’t planned. We’ll just keep it there."

Chiefs coach Andy Reid on whether he's considering a quarterback change: "That's not where I am right now."

Week 12 NFL scores

Thursday's games

Vikings 30, Lions 23
Chargers 28, Cowboys 6
Redskins 20, Giants 10

Sunday's games

Falcons 34, Buccaneers 20
Bengals 30, Browns 16
Titans 20, Colts 16
Bills 16, Chiefs 10
Patriots 35, Dolphins 17
Panthers 35, Jets 27
Eagles 31, Bears 3
Seahawks 24, 49ers 13
Rams 26, Saints 20
Cardinals 27, Jaguars 24
Raiders 21, Broncos 14
Steelers 31, Packers 28

Monday's game

Texans at Ravens, 8:30 p.m. ET

Ron Clements