Best & Worst Of NFL Week Twelve

We've gotten through the first twelve weeks of the National Football League season, and the playoff picture is really starting to take shape. There's teams that are still on the outside looking to get in, like the Steelers, Broncos, Bucs, Vikings and Saints, just to name a few. There's teams that, at this point, are pretty much a lock for the playoffs, like Dallas, Seattle, New England and Oakland. You have a team like the Rams, who aren't going anywhere, but they got hope in the form of Jared Goff, who threw his first three touchdowns of the season (and his career). That's one of the pluses from this week. Then you look at the other end of the scale and a guy like Brock Osweiler, who is still underperforming and threw the game away against San Diego. Tom Brady got himself in the record book with his 200th career win (combined regular season and playoffs), we saw players score their first career scores, while others still found different ways to score. A lot went down on the field in week twelve. So here's a look back at some of the best and worst from the week that was.

Best:
Tyreek Hill, Wide Receiver Kansas City Chiefs
When you get your name put into the record books, and you manage to do it in an overtime win no less, then you know you had yourself a good day. That's what happened to Tyreek Hill of Kansas City, in their 30-27 overtime win over the Denver Broncos. Hill becomes the first player since Gale Sayers in 1965 to score on a run, a pass and a kick return in the same game. Hill accounted for all the offensive touchdowns for the Chiefs in this football game, which was a game that the Chiefs really needed to win to stay in the playoff hunt in the AFC. He scored by returning a kick for 86 yards, rushing for a three-yard score and receiving a three-yard touchdown pass. He may not have had the fantastic numbers as say Emmanuel Sanders (who had 7 catches for 162 yards to lead all receivers this week), but Hill was a huge reason why Kansas City came away with the win.

Worst:
Brock Osweiler, Quarterback Houston Texans
For all the money Brock got to play quarterback in Houston, he really hasn't been living up to his end of the bargain yet. Now you look at what Houston had against San Diego this week, it was a game that they could and probably should, have won. But thanks to Brock Osweiler laying an egg, San Diego walked away with a 21-13 win. Osweiler finished the day going 22 of 37 for 246 yards. That looks like an OK stat line right? Keep reading the line, as the threw three interceptions, including the final one which came on the final play of the game on a Hail Mary attempt. But his first two were inexcusable. One was on a late throw, while the other one was an overthrow. This was the ninth time this season that Osweiler threw at least one interception and was his third multi-interception game. Houston has been able to win a few games this year in spite of Brock under center, but if they want to go deep in the playoffs, he needs to start playing a lot better

Best:
Drew Brees, Quarterback New Orleans Saints
Brees is out to prove to the entire football watching world that he's still got plenty left in the tank to compete at this level. He went up against a very tough LA Rams defense and lit them up like a cheap cigar. Brees finished the day going 28 of 36 for 310 yards and FOUR touchdowns. FOUR! It was good enough to lead the Saints to a 49-21 win over the Rams. There's times where the Saints look out of it, but in every win that the Saints have this year, ones that have managed to be able to keep them in this playoff race, Brees is the direct reason why New Orleans is still very much in this hunt. He may not be getting any mention for MVP in the NFL, but Drew Brees still has plenty left in the tank and is just as important to the Saints offense as any other passer in the entire league.

Worst:
Russell Wilson, Quarterback Seattle Seahawks
When you hear the name Russell Wilson, you think of one of the steady quarterbacks in all of professional football. This past week however, wasn't one of his better days. He was largely kept in check by Tampa’s defense as he completed just 51.5 percent of his passes for a meager 151 yards with no touchdowns, while throwing two interceptions and taking six sacks. His final line was 17 of 33 for 151 yards. It was a disastrous performance as the Seahawks managed to score just five points on the afternoon. The line was no help to Wilson what so ever, as it seemed he was left out to dry on a lot of his dropbacks. Oh and Wilson was hit a total 11 times during the game along with those sacks, so he was really left out to dry. Bad day all around for the Seattle offense. At least Seattle can take maybe a little comfort in knowing that the rest of the division lost on Sunday as well.

Best:
Jason Pierre-Paul, Defensive End New York Giants
It might now be safe to say that he's back, or as close to as fully back as possible for a guy in his situation. Jason Pierre-Paul had himself a solid day against the Browns on Sunday. He was a big reason why the Giants walked away with a 27-13 win over Cleveland. JPP's final stat line was pretty good I'd say. He finished with three sacks, two QB hits, five tackles, two assists, oh and that little forced fumble recovery that he ran back for a 43 yard touchdown to seal the victory. JPP stepped up big and because of that, the Browns are still winless on the season and could remain like that the rest of the way.

Worst:
Phillip Gaines, Cornerback Kansas City Chiefs
Talk about a rough night. In a battle of two of the top defenses in all of football, Gaines was picked on by Trevor Siemian and company Sunday night. Sure Kansas City got the win, but Phillip Gaines wasn't a reason why. In fact, he was lit up like a Christmas Tree. His stat line isn't good. He was thrown to eight times, and receivers caught six passes for 209 yards and a pair of touchdowns. YIKES! He looked lost at times during the game, not having a clue where the football was being thrown. Maybe it was just a bad night. I think its safe to say that, even though some people may not have heard of him before this game, they may not forget his name for a while now because of it. Sorry kid.

Best:
David Johnson, Running Back Arizona Cardinals
Talk about a solid running back, David Johnson has been all that and then some for the Cardinals. On Sunday, Arizona did come up short against Atlanta, falling 38-19 to the Falcons and not really helping themselves out for a playoff push in the NFC. But Johnson had himself a day. He accumulated 160 all-purpose yards and one touchdown. Johnson managed to pull that off on 13 carries for 58 yards and 8 catches for 103 yards.  It was part of a history making effort for Johnson, as he has now recorded 11-straight games of gaining more than 100 yards from scrimmage. Johnson is only the second player to accomplish such a feat, joining Edgerrin James who did it twice, once in 2000 and again in 2005. Sadly, it wasn't enough to help Arizona get the win over the highest scoring team in the league, but still it's a good week when you get your name put into the NFL record books. 

Worst:
Chicago Bears Wide Receivers
On paper, it looked as if the Bears might have had a chance to pick up their 3rd win of the season. It looked like a very winable game. But it wasn't the case as the Titans walked away with a 27-21 win over Chicago. A big reason why the Bears came up short was, flat out, their wide receivers. In total, Chicago dropped ten passes, including two touchdowns on the game’s final offensive possession. Receiver Deonte Thompson had the ball right in his hands on the final offensive play of the game for Chicago, but couldn't hang onto it. At that point, the Bears were down by six, and the play should have given the Bears a chance to win. The drops weren’t the only reason Chicago lost. Matt Barkley threw two interceptions. But at the end of the day, Chicago failed to execute on the most basic things in a football game and it cost them a win. Seems to be that's the way things kinda have gone for the Bears this year isn't it.

Best:
Justin Tucker, Kicker Baltimore Ravens
Lets face it, the game between Baltimore and Cincinnati on Sunday was a sloppy one to watch. Both quarterbacks, Andy Dalton and Joe Flacco weren't playing very well. It all really came down to the trusty leg of Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, to help Baltimore secure a 19-13 win over their division rival. Tucker had been perfect on the year so far, and he stayed that way against the Bengals. Tucker was a perfect four for four on field goal attempts and a converted extra-point attempt. Three of his four made field goals were over 50 yards, making him the second kicker in NFL history to accomplish such a feat in one half. Tucker was so crucial to this game that he had a hand in 13 of the 19 points the Ravens scored on Sunday, which was a breath of fresh air after seeing the kickers have an awful week last week.

Worst:
Gary Kubiak, Head Coach Denver Broncos
Can somebody please help me figure this one out. Alex Smith had been quiet most of the day then all of a sudden comes alive and leads the Chiefs to force overtime against division rival Denver. We go to overtime, and Denver QB Trevor Siemian drove Denver into Kansas City territory late in the overtime period but could not quite move his team into normal scoring range. On 4th-and-10 at the Kansas City 44-yard line, Gary Kubiak got gutsy and called for kicker Brandon McManus to attempt a game-winning 62-yard field goal. Not surprisingly, McManus missed, pulling it wide left as he attempted to drive it hard. Um, why are you going for a 62 yard field goal? Wouldn't it make more sense to punt the ball, pin Kansas City deep and let your defense do its thing, which had been working quite well all night? Clearly Kubiak didn't think that way. Kansas City took the ensuing great field position, drove down the field and Cairo Santos made the 34-yard field goal to win the game for Kansas City, 30-27.  Denver has now lost two of its last three games and finds itself sitting outside the playoff picture.