Best And Worst Of NFL Week Twelve

Ah thanksgiving weekend football is always fun. One of those games on that day were quite fun, but the other two not so much. Then on Sunday, things got a little bit better. We had a few more entertaining games, but, much like thanksgiving night, there were a few stinkers thrown in as well. New England and Philly came up huge again, while the two New York clubs laid an egg. Julio Jones was fantastic in more ways then one, while Devonta Freeman has seemed to dropped a dud. We are starting to get divisional races to tighten up and some teams are dropping like flies. With all that being said, here's some of the best and worst from week twelve.

Best:
Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia just kept on rolling right along, dominating the Bears to the tune of a 31-3 victory. They dominated the Bears in every facet of the game, and it was just plain fun to watch. Carson Wentz is showing he could be a possible MVP candidate, throwing for three touchdowns, giving him a total of 28 for the season. Heading into the final month of the regular season, Philly is averaging nearly 32 points per game and is holding teams to just 17.5 points per game. That’s how you win a lot of games.

Worst:
New York Giants
Things just keep going from bad to worse, having fallen to the Redskins 20-10 on Thanksgiving night. Eli had one of his worse games of his career, just 13-of-27 passes for 113 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. The team’s only touchdown of the game came on a pick-six by Janoris Jenkins. Big Blue’s offense managed a grand total of seven first downs and 170 yards, going 2-for-14 on third downs in the game. Ben McAdoo has lost his team, there's no doubt about it. Things have gone totally ugly for the Giants, which is almost sad for a guy who's had a great a career as Eli has.

Best:
Julio Jones, Wide Receiver Atlanta Falcons
There's no doubt that Julio Jones is a fantastic wide receiver. Atlanta rolled over Tampa, with a 34-20 win over the Bucs, who have one of the worst passing defenses in the game. Well Jones took full advantage of it, hauling in twelve passes (two of which for a touchdowns) for a league best 253 yards. He had only hauled in one touchdown pass all year long, and doubled that quite nicely on Sunday. The second one was flat out beautiful, juking his defender out of his shoes before finishing with a superhuman effort to reach the front pylon before falling out of bounds. That is a man who was feeling it on Sunday. Welcome back Julio!

Worst:
Marlon Mack, Running Back Indianapolis Colts
Indy had a golden chance to try and right the ship against Tennessee on Sunday. Marcus Mariota threw two interceptions in the first half, and the Colts used those turnovers to score 10 points. They had a 16-6 lead in the third quarter. Then it all started to fall apart. Marlon Mack is one of the biggest culprates for why the Titans walked away with a 20-16 victory. Jacoby Brissett tossed a pitch to Mack with a couple minutes left in the third, but Mack couldn’t handle it and it lead to a big turnover. Brissett was charged with the lost fumble, but it’s clear the blame lies on Mack for failing to hold the ball. From that moment on, Tennessee claimed momentum and rattled off 14 unanswered points to walk away with the victory. I feel bad for this kid because of the way things have gone down for the Colts this year, and this is just another notch in that belt of bad luck.

Best:
Dion Lewis, Running Back New England Patriots
When you think of the New England Patriots offense, Tom Brady, Brandon Cooks and Rob Gronkowski are usually the first ones that pop into your mind. Now you can add another weapon to that list in running back Dion Lewis. New England started the year almost with a back by committee concept, but that was quickly snuffed out when Lewis started to emerge as the guy in the run game for the Pats. Lewis was a big factor in the Patriots 35-17 win over the Dolphins on Sunday, picking up 112 yards on the ground on just 15 carries. This new dynamic gave the Pats balance and unpredictability as the Dolphins pass rush started to get home. With a threat on the ground now this Patriots team is even more dangerous than normal, which is already saying something. This is why the Pats are threats every single year.

Worst:
Blake Bortles, Quarterback Jacksonville Jaguars
If Jacksonville wants to stay around in the playoff hunt in the AFC, Blake Bortles is going to have to play better then what happened on Sunday. Arizona walked away with a 27-24 win over Jacksonville, and some of the blame has to fall on Bortles. With the game tied at 24 late in the fourth quarter, Bortles had the ball in Arizona territory. A field goal would have won the game. Instead, Bortles threw a bad interception to Tyrann Mathieu, right at the defensive back. Arizona would later go on to kick the winning field goal, but the pick was a costly one for the Jags. Bortles finished going 19 of 33 for a lousy 160 yards, with no touchdowns and that poorly thrown pick. He’s the biggest reason it’s hard to get behind the Jags as a legitimate contender in the AFC next January.

Best:
Robbie Anderson, Wide Receiver New York Jets
It sucks that this kid plays on a Jets team that has been riddle with bad luck (and some bad calls this season). The Jets fell to Carolina 35-27 at home after a bad overturn on a replay by the refs, but Robbie Anderson wasn't at fault in this football game. Anderson had nine catches for 146 yards and a pair of touchdowns. he now has touchdown catches in five straight games.He has picked up 714 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on the year and has been the biggest threat in the receiving game for the Jets this year. One of the few bright spots he really has been a joy to watch this season.

Worst:
Denver Broncos Quarterbacks
This has been a problem in the mile high city ever since Peyton Manning decided to call it a career. Denver fell 21-14 to the Raiders and there seems to be no answer under center. Not only did they lose their seventh game in a row to fall to 3-8 on the season, they couldn’t get through it with recently promoted starter Paxton Lynch. At the time Lynch got hurt, Oakland had a 21-0 lead, and Lynch had only managed 41 yards and one interception on 9-of-14 attempts in the game. It didn’t help Lynch’s cause that Trevor Siemian came right into the game and threw two touchdown passes in the 21-14 loss. Now the Broncos are right back where they started, with Siemian. Denver really can't seem to get this thing figured out right now and its costing them bigtime.

Best:
Alvin Kamara, Running Back New Orleans Saints
With the way the Saints had been playing, I thought they might run the table the rest of the way. But that didn't happen, falling 26-20 to the Rams on Sunday. Alvin Kamara did everything he possibly could to keep that streak alive for New Orleans. He turned nothing swing passes into first downs, and a zone run into a 74-yard touchdown. He finished with 188 yards on just 11 touches and took two trips to the endzone. Kareem Hunt and Leonard Fournette seemingly running out of steam as far as rookie of the year is concerned. Kamara is just starting to pick his game up at the right time. Kamara is taking over games and making defenders look like pee wee players. He has a legit shot to run away with the award, with the way he's been playing as of late.

Worst:
Broncos-Raiders Fight
This has got to be one of the more boneheaded things that has happened all week. All of this started with Aqib Talib ripping off Michael Crabtree's chain off his neck during week seventeen of last season. This boiled over into the game on Sunday. Within a few minutes of kickoff, Crabtree and Talib got into a brawl that got them both ejected. They rolled on the ground, they threw punches, they threw helmets. It turned into an ugly scene and it all started over something as stupid as grabbing a chain. This was just tough to watch. Don't get me wrong, I love watching athletes play with passion, but not this kind of passion over something as stupid as grabbing a chain. Crabtree and Talib both got a two game suspension over over, which won't hurt both teams a lot because both teams will miss the playoffs. Still this was a bit of a black eye on the game.