Thrilling Week 12 NFL slate sees first team eliminated from the playoffs

The GIST: The NFL is already in the holiday spirit, gifting us a thrilling Week 12 slate — secret handshakes, quarterback (QB) shake and bakes, and sibling rivalries included. Every game matters with the postseason looming…let’s discuss.

💥 AFC juggernauts keep playoff hopes alive: QB Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Indianapolis Colts 23–20 in overtime (OT) yesterday. It’s the first time KC’s won a one-score game this season, a far cry from last year, when they were a perfect 10-0 in games decided by seven points or fewer.

• And that wasn’t the only perennial powerhouse making amends for early-season faults: Running back (RB) Derrick Henry’s Baltimore Ravens beat the NY Jets 23–10 yesterday, their fifth straight win after a 1-5 start.

❌ NY Giants first team eliminated from postseason contention: As if officially missing the playoffs wasn’t enough, yesterday’s 34–27 OT loss to the RB Jahmyr Gibbs–led Detroit Lions was also the NFL-record fifth game this season in which Big Blue held a double-digit lead and still lost. Insult, meet injury.

• Speaking of blown leads in the NFC East, the division-best Philadelphia Eagles saw their 21-point edge over the Dallas Cowboys slip away as the Birds’ archnemesis scored 24 unanswered points in a 24–21 comeback win.

💙 New England Patriots win ninth straight game: Yesterday’s 26–20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals made the Pats the first team to reach 10 wins on the season and put them atop the AFC for the first time since 2018. But with a whopping 10 of 16 AFC teams sitting above .500, the battle for the conference crown is far from over.

🤯 Nine of 16 NFC teams sport winning records: And all that parity means some usual postseason contenders could find themselves on the outside looking in. Looking to crash the party? The Chicago Bears, who have won eight of their last nine — including yesterday’s 31–28 W over the Pittsburgh Steelers — and currently sit atop the competitive NFC North.