16 stats that tell you everything that happened in NFL Week 12

Thanksgiving is over, but who cares? We’re all thankful for the sequel to the greatest feud in the NFL: Aqib Talib vs. Michael Crabtree.

That beef — the duo’s second fight over a chain, and one that got them both ejected and suspended for two games — is really all you need to know about this week, if you want the CliffsNotes version. It was dumb drama that’s still so. damn. fun. What could better describe the NFL?

But there was actually a lot more happening than that this week, now that the byes are over and 16-game slates are back. Let’s take a look at the numbers.

Julio Jones finally had a Julio Jones game Sunday with 253 receiving yards. It was the most receiving yards in a game since — Julio Jones:

Jones also had three career 250-yard games now, when no one else even has two.

He also now has over 8,600 receiving yards in 90 games. Only Lance Alworth, Calvin Johnson, and Randy Moss had hit 8,600 through their 100th game. It seems safe to say that Mr. Jones is pretty good at this football thing.

Antonio Brown and his incredible catch helped the Steelers fend off the Packers’ best efforts at an upset bid Sunday night. But his entire body of work was just as impressive:

10 receptions, 10 first downs. Having 10 receptions in a game is impressive enough, but Brown kept the chains moving — and that was exactly what Pittsburgh needed against Brett Hundley, who had a career game of 17-of-26 passing with 245 yards and three touchdowns.

The Eagles’ 31-3 win over the Bears wasn’t a huge surprise. The fact that the Bears couldn’t get it together for a single first down in the entire first half was a bit of a shock.

It was worse than that, though:

The Bears at least finished with eight first downs, but most concerning for them was their run game, which has averaged 120.4 yards per game all season. They finished with just 6 (SIX!) net yards in the loss to the Eagles.

Sure, the Bears are bad, but it’s almost impossible to get through 30 minutes of play without a single first down. This is the first time it’s happened in the NFL since 2012, when the Chiefs couldn’t move the sticks once in the first half against the Raiders.

The Browns should be used to it by now. Cleveland has officially been eliminated from the playoffs for the 15th consecutive season.

This isn’t the only dubious honor the Browns locked up with Sunday’s 30-16 loss to the Bengals. The Browns became the first team to start 0-11 in back-to-back seasons in 40 years. That hasn’t been done since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pulled it off in 1976 and 1977.

But the Browns may still lock up another unfortunate distinction this season. They’re just five losses away from matching the 2008 Lions’ 0-16 record.

Misery loves company, and the Browns have some, at least. The 49ers and Giants were both eliminated from postseason contention on Sunday.

Jimmy Graham set a Seahawks tight end record by hauling in his 16th receiving touchdown with the franchise. That’s pretty good when you consider he’s only played in 38 games with Seattle.

Of course, he’s still got miles and miles to go before catching up to the greatest tight end of his generation:

Rob Gronkowski caught touchdown passes 74 and 75 in a 35-17 win over the Dolphins, claiming his own piece of history in the process. Only two players in the Super Bowl era have gotten to 75 receiving touchdowns faster than Gronk, and it’s some elite company: Jerry Rice and Randy Moss.

The Eagles have the league’s top scoring offense this season. They’re an NFL-best 10-1. Prince Harry Carson Wentz is leading all quarterbacks with 28 passing touchdowns.

Yet, somehow none of their pass catchers cracked 100 yards in a game until Week 12 — and then, just barely. Tight end Zach Ertz, Wentz’s favorite target this season, caught a season-high 10 passes for 103 yards in a 31-3 rout over the Bears.

So how did it take so long for the Eagles to reach this milestone?

Blame their “sharing is caring” offense. Seven players have at least 100 receiving yards this year; eight have caught at least one touchdown pass. Most games, they have such a big lead in the second half, they don’t have to throw that much anyway (even though Ertz’s final catch, that got him over the 100-yard hump, came with six minutes left, with Nick Foles as quarterback).

But does it matter that no one had hit 100 yards receiving now? Naaaah. They’re still a blast to watch.

Cam Newton scored a rushing touchdown Sunday, but he didn’t do much through the air to beat the New York Jets:

You have to admire Newton here. He could have been more efficient and led the Panthers to a huge win against the Jets. Instead, he did just enough to get them to 8-3 with a 35-27 win.

The Panthers are now tied with the Saints for first place in the NFC South at 8-3, with the Falcons looming at 7-4.

The Jaguars’ defense has earned the moniker “Sacksonville” this season, but they’ve also done their fair share of scoring:

Sunday was proof that the Jaguars might otherwise be terrible without their defense. Without Campbell’s touchdown, they would have lost to the Cardinals 27-17.

Robby Anderson has been absolutely balling for the Jets the past five games. There’s not another receiver in the NFL who can claim this right now:

They haven’t been easy catches, either. Anderson came down with this beauty, while two Panthers defensive backs were draped over him.

This season, Anderson has totaled 714 yards on 41 receptions for seven touchdowns. Only DeAndre Hopkins, Jimmy Graham, Antonio Brown, and Marvin Jones have caught more TDs.

And he’s doing this with Josh McCown as his quarterback. Anderson’s got our Pro Bowl vote.

Marcus Mariota put all the trust in this throw, and his receiver, when he slipped this pass to Delanie Walker, who had four Colts defenders around him:

If the throw were any shorter or longer, Walker might not be coming down with that one. Instead, Mariota dropped it in with perfection.

On Sunday, the New Orleans Saints lost for only the third time this season, the first time since Week 2. Besides the usual round of game plan adjustments, Sean Payton might want to check the TV listings. The Saints are undefeated when their games are broadcast on FOX. All three losses have come with the game shown on another network (ESPN had their season opener, CBS had their Week 2 and Week 12 games).

The good news for the Saints is three of their last five games are currently scheduled to be shown on FOX. Their Thursday night tilt against the Falcons in Week 14 is on NBC in conjunction with the NFL Network and Amazon Prime. In Week 15, CBS has their game against the Jets.

(h/t Reddit NFL)

The Chiefs are slumping hard right now, especially on offense. What was once a 5-0 team averaging 32.8 points per game has now lost five of six games. They scored a total of three touchdowns in the month of November (in fairness, one of those weeks was a bye).

This Sunday, they hosted a similarly struggling Bills team, losers of three straight. Here’s how many yards Buffalo had given up in those three games:

Week 9 vs. Jets: 331
Week 10 vs. Saints: 482
Week 11 vs. Chargers: 429

One team had to break out of its funk, and it was the Bills, who let the Chiefs gain only 236 total yards. That’s the fewest yards the Buffalo defense has allowed since 2011, when they gave up just 213 yards to ... the Chiefs.

Jared Goff has rewarded the Rams’ faith in him throughout 2017, developing from confused rookie into the backbone of an 8-3 team that currently leads the NFC West. He had confirmed his status as a rising star with three straight prolific performances, but his interception-free streak ended Sunday at 138 pass attempts before P.J. Williams ruined his previously clean sheet.

A slight underthrow allowed Williams to end the Rams’ possession, but it wasn’t a fatal blow for LA. The Rams still managed to ruin the Saints’s eight-game winning streak with a 26-20 win.

With nine wins in 2017 — and a handful more on the way — the Patriots clinched their 17th straight winning season. That pushed New England past the 1970-85 Cowboys and 1983-98 49ers for the NFL’s longest winning streak since 1970.

Tom Brady also set a record of his own. Sunday’s victory gave him the most single season wins for a starting quarterback aged 40 or older in league history. Beating the Dolphins separated him from Brett Favre, who won 12 games with Minnesota in 2009 — only eight of which came after he celebrated his 40th birthday, however.

With one (plus) minute of play against Seattle, Jimmy Garoppolo staked his claim as the 49ers’ most successful quarterback against the Seahawks since 2014.

Garoppolo’s first appearance for San Francisco came in garbage time in relief of an injured C.J. Beathard. While his first game with the Niners was brief, it was successful. He completed both of his passes for 18 yards and a touchdown to give Bay Area fans a glimmer of hope in an otherwise regrettable season.

It wasn’t a pretty night of football Monday if you like to watch good offense. Tom Savage threw two interceptions and a fumble, and Joe Flacco “led” the Ravens to victory with a grand total of 141 passing yards.

The best passer of the day was Ravens punter Sam Koch, who completed a beautiful fake punt pass that traveled about 30 yards in the air. He finished with a 118.8 passer rating — easily the top mark of the game:

Baltimore is in the playoff race, but Flacco is going to need to out-pass the team’s punter in future games if the Ravens hope to do any damage in January.