The Blitz Read: NFL bubble teams bust playoff race wide open in Week 12

Ron Clements

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The Blitz Read: NFL bubble teams bust playoff race wide open in Week 12 image

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were not expected to beat the Seattle Seahawks Sunday. Not only did the Bucs win, they turned in a dominant defensive effort.

Tampa defenders sacked Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson six times and intercepted him twice in a 14-5 victory to keep playoff hopes alive. Offensively, the Buccaneers were led by receiver Mike Evans, who had his way with the Legion of Boom. He finished with eight catches for 104 yards and both of the game's touchdowns. 

Tampa Bay (6-5) remained just a game back of the Atlanta Falcons (7-4) in the NFC South. The Buccaneers are also just half a game back of Washington (6-4-1) for the final wild-card spot in the NFC. The Falcons dealt a blow to Arizona's playoff chances with a 38-19 win over the Cardinals at the Georgia Dome. 

The Seahawks (7-3-1) still have a comfortable lead in the NFC West with every other team in the division also losing. The Cardinals (4-6-1) lost in Atlanta while the Los Angeles Rams (4-7) were clobbered by the New Orleans Saints and the San Francisco 49ers lost their 10th straight with a 31-24 defeat in Miami.

The defending NFC champions appear done after Carolina fell to 4-7 with Sunday's 35-32 loss in Oakland. 

The Saints (5-6) also stayed alive in the NFC playoff hunt with their dominant 49-21 victory at the Superdome. They sit 10th in the NFC, but can gain ground with two games remaining against the Buccaneers and the season finale at Atlanta. Four of New Orleans' final five games are indoors, where Saints quarterback Drew Brees has thrived. 

The Dolphins and Bills helped themselves in the AFC. Miami held off a final charge by the 49ers to move to 7-4 and into a tie with the Denver Broncos for the sixth spot in the AFC. Sunday's 30-27 win over the Broncos pushed the Kansas City Chiefs to within a game of the Raiders (9-2) in the AFC West and securely into the top wild-card slot.

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Buffalo kept its postseason dreams alive thanks to a fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor to Justin Hunter to lift the Bills to a 28-21 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9). The San Diego Chargers (5-6) also stayed in the hunt thanks to their 21-13 win over the struggling Houston Texans (6-5), who still lead the AFC South.

Behind the Dolphins, the AFC is a jumbled mess as the Bills, Texans, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans all have six wins. The Steelers (6-5) beat the Indianapolis Colts (5-6) on Thursday while the Titans (6-6) evened their record with a 27-21 win over the Chicago Bears (2-9) on Sunday. The Ravens stayed tied with the Steelers atop the AFC North with a 19-14 win over the Cincinnati Bengals (3-7-1). 

There is still a lot to be decided over the next five weeks as only the Dallas Cowboys (10-1), New England Patriots (9-2), Raiders and Seahawks appear to be postseason locks. 

The winless Cleveland Browns, who fell to 0-12 with Sunday's 27-13 loss to the New York Giants, and the 49ers (1-10) are the only teams already eliminated from playoff contention. 

Injury report

Jaguars receiver Allen Hurns fought for a 12-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of Jacksonville's 28-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills, but it was a costly score. Hurns grabbed his left hamstring after diving into the end zone and did not return to the game. The touchdown was his only catch of the game.  

Dolphins receiver DeVante Parker suffered a back injury while making a sideline grab late in the third quarter of Miami's 31-24 win over the San Francisco 49ers. Parker was ruled out of bounds on the play, but the Dolphins scored on a 43-yard pass to Kenny Stills on the very next play.

Bears coach John Fox said linebacker Danny Trevathan suffered a serious knee injury. Trevathan will have an MRI Monday, but the fear is Trevathan has a season-ending ACL injury.

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski tried to play Sunday against the New York Jets, less than two weeks after suffering a perforated lung in a loss to the Seattle Seahawks. But Gronkowski left Sunday's game early with what the Patriots said was a back injury. 

A couple of players came back after finger injuries. Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. injured his right thumb, only to return to catch six passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Browns. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr dislocated his right pinkie early in the third quarter, but returned to lead the Raiders to a 35-32 victory over the Panthers. Carr threw for 315 yards on 26-for-38 passing with two touchdowns, an interception and fumble.

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By the numbers

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady notched his 200th career victory Sunday with a 22-17 comeback over the Jets at MetLife Stadium. He joins Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks with 200 career victories. Brady threw for 286 yards and two touchdowns in the win as he became just the fifth quarterback in NFL history with at least 60,000 passing yards. 

MORE: Brady joins legendary company

Rams quarterback Jared Goff threw his first career touchdown pass with a 24-yard pass to Tavon Austin to cap the Rams' opening drive in New Orleans. Goff threw three touchdowns against the New Orleans Saints, but the Rams defense got blasted in a 49-21 loss. 

Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald finished Sunday's 38-19 loss to the Falcons with four catches for 53 yards. He now has 1,096 career receptions to pass Raiders Hall of Famer Tim Brown (1,094) for fifth all-time. Next on the list is Minnesota Vikings Hall of Famer Cris Carter (1,101) and Colts Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison (1,102). Fitzgerald will eventually join them in Canton.

Baltimore's Justin Tucker became the first kicker since the AFL/NFL merger to convert three field goals of at least 50 yards in a half. He added a fourth field goal, a 36-yarder, in the second half of Baltimore's win over the Bengals. Tucker is the only kicker this season to not miss a single field goal or extra point attempt. 

It's a shame Joe Thomas' Hall of Fame career is going wasted in Cleveland. The nine-time Pro Bowl tackle has never missed a game since the Browns selected him with the third overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. The former Wisconsin All-American has played in over 10,000 consecutive snaps, but has never played in a postseason game. 

Highlights

Goff had a perfect touch on the scoring strike to Austin.

Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins caught five passes for 70 yards in Sunday's 21-13 loss to the Chargers, but his first catch was an amazing juggling act.

Fitzgerald still has the best hands in the business, snaring a one-handed grab to set up Arizona's opening score in the loss to the Falcons.

Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul had a big game in New York's 27-13 win over Cleveland. JPP had three sacks with a fumble and a 43-yard return for a touchdown. 

 

The Saints just toyed with the Rams Sunday, putting an exclamation point on the 49-21 win with a 50-yard pass from wideout Willie Snead to running back Tim Hightower.

Brady dropped the ball, but kept his poise and threw a perfect strike to Malcolm Mitchell for a 4-yard touchdown. 

Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack is making a pretty strong case for Defensive Player of the Year. He had six tackles and a game-clinching sack against the Panthers. He also became the first Raiders defensive lineman since 1996 to have a pick-six, with a 6-yard interception return in the second quarter of Oakland's 35-32 victory.

Buccaneers cornerback Alterraun Verner picked off Wilson and then got emotional while thinking about his late father, who died Friday. 

The Chiefs managed 49 yards of total offense in the first half, but Tyreek Hill took advantage of a free kick and went 86 yards for a high-five worthy touchdown that gave Kansas City a 9-3 lead at halftime. Hill became the first player with rushing, receiving and return touchdowns in the same game since Gale Sayers in 1965 as the Chiefs won 30-27 on a last-second field goal in overtime.

Quotables

Brees on Snead's touchdown toss to Hightower: "There's an old adage, let the quarterbacks throw, let the throwers throw and the catchers catch."

Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs on Tucker's performance: "He's gonna love this, but we've got the best kicker in the league."

Thursday's games

Lions 16, Vikings 13
Cowboys 31, Redskins 26
Steelers 28, Colts 7

Sunday's games

Falcons 38, Cardinals 19
Ravens 19, Bengals 14
Bills 28, Jaguars 21
Titans 27, Bears 21
Giants 27, Browns 13
Chargers 21, Texans 13
Dolphins 31, 49ers 24
Saints 49, Rams 21
Buccaneers 14, Seahawks 5
Patriots 22, Jets 17
Raiders 35, Panthers 32
Chiefs 30, Broncos 27 OT

MORE: NFL scoreboard — recap all Week 12 action with highlights, stats

Monday's game

Packers at Eagles, 8:30 p.m. ET

Ron Clements