NFL standings after Week 12: Winners and losers in the AFC and NFC divisions

NFL Week 12 kicked off with an upset by the Cleveland Browns over the Pittsburgh Steelers in a snow-filled AFC North matchup on Thursday. Sunday looked like it would be an uneventful early window, but ended up having some thrillers as the Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Commanders in dramatic fashion and the Tennessee Titans had an upset of their own, defeating AFC South rival Houston Texans. The Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears in overtime, and somehow it took a last-second field goal from Spencer Shrader for the Kansas City Chiefs to beat the now 3-8 Carolina Panthers. And the week ended with John Harbaugh’s Baltimore Ravens defeating his brother Jim’s Los Angeles Chargers in the “Har-Bowl” on Monday Night Football.

And that’s just a summary of some of this week’s action-packed NFL games. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest winners and losers of NFL Week 12.

NFL Week 12: Winners and Losers

Winner: Saquon Barkley

The last time a running back won the NFL MVP award was in 2012, but Eagles RB Saquon Barkley is shaping up to potentially be the next one to do so in 2024. Barkley has had a killer season with Philly after the Giants let him go in free agency and his performance against the Rams on Sunday lodged him into the MVP conversation. In their 37-20 win over the Rams, Barkley ran for 255 yards, the most in franchise history and that included a pair of 70-plus-yard touchdowns. And that’s coming just a few weeks after he impressed with a freaking backwards hurdle to dodge a defender. He now leads the league in rushing by over 200 yards. It is in large part thanks to him that the Eagles are now atop the NFC East and just one game behind the 10-1 Lions in the NFC standings.

Winner: Miami offense with Tua back

The Dolphins’ offense has improved immensely since Tua Tagovailoa’s Week 8 return. After their 34-15 win over the Patriots on Sunday, suddenly, they are still alive at 5-6, on a three-game winning streak. In that game, Tagovailoa put up 317 yards and four touchdown passes. Though their playoff chances are still at around 15%, they are actually just a game and a half behind the Broncos for the final spot in the AFC playing field. Before Tagovailoa’s return, most people had written off their chances at all, wondering if putting him back in was even worth the risk in a throwaway season. But since he’s been back, he’s averaging 255.4 passing yards per game and has thrown for 11 touchdowns and only one interception.

Winner: Mike MacDonald

In a battle for first place in the NFC West, the Seahawks shut down the Cardinals offense, holding quarterback Kyler Murray to just two rushes for 9 yards (and no touchdowns) and running back James Conner to just seven carries for eight yards, racking up five sacks and adding a 69-yard pick-six to the mix. The Arizona offense had previously averaged more than 100 yards per game before Seattle allowed them just 49 total rushing yards. Quarterback Geno Smith and the rest of the Seattle offense had their fair share of issues, but Mike MacDonald’s defense deserves a lot of the credit for turning things around in the last few weeks. It was his decision to trade and drop two linebackers to bring on Ernest Jones IV and rookie Tyrice Knight, contributing to their success against the run. The Seahawks are now heading into Week 13 as leaders of the division.

Losers: Austin Seibert

Commanders kicker Austin Seibert probably suffered his worst game ever - not necessarily statistically, but definitely mentally. Coming into the game against the Cowboys on Sunday, Seibert was perfect on extra points and 25 of 27 on field goal attempts, both misses coming on field goals from 50+ yards. He made two mistakes early on that didn’t seem like they’d be too costly - a missed field goal from 51 yards (no surprise there), and a missed extra point with Washington still in the lead 9-3 in the third quarter. But the last few minutes of the game had to have been painful for Seibert. Late in the 4th quarter, his kickoff was returned 99 yards for a touchdown by KaVontae Turpin to put Dallas in the lead. With 33 seconds left, Jayden Daniels miraculously hit Terry McLaurin for an 86-yard touchdown run. Seibert’s extra point would have tied the game and likely sent it into overtime, likely giving the Commanders the advantage to win it. Instead, he missed his second extra point of the season, giving Dallas the ball back. And what did Dallas do? Juanyeh Thomas recovered Seibert’s second onside kick…and ran it 46 yards for another touchdown. The 34-26 loss to the Cowboys doomed the Commanders to a 7-5 record and a third straight loss.

Loser: The Texans

Houston suffered a shocking and sloppy loss to the lowly Titans on Sunday and although it won’t set them too far back in the AFC South, it kept them from moving up in the seeding. Something is up with quarterback C.J. Stroud. In his rookie season, he threw just five interceptions all season. Through 11 games this season, he’s already thrown nine. That plus poor play calling and a defense that allowed Tennessee to put up 32 points on them has put Houston on a downward spiral. It’s only thanks to the fact that the Jaguars and Titans in the AFC South are fighting for the first pick in the draft next year that the Texans aren’t currently worried about their playoff positioning. But making a deep run after the fact isn’t looking too promising at this point.

Loser: The Niners’ postseason hopes

Speaking of lost playoff hopes, the 49ers’ chances of making the postseason now sit at just 5% after a 35-10 loss to the Packers on Sunday. Of course, they were without several key starters, including quarterback Brock Purdy, pass rusher Nick Bosa, and left tackle Trent Williams, so we can’t fault them too much for that particular game. But it was their second straight loss and it brought them to below .500. With just six games left in the season, the Niners’ Wild Card hopes are slipping. The saving grace is that the NFC West is still an extremely tight race, with the Cardinals having surrendered first place to the Seahawks on Sunday and the Niners being just a game back from them. However, they have a tough schedule coming up the Bills next week, then ending the season with the Dolphins, Lions, and Cardinals.

NFL standings after Week 12

AFC East

AFC West

AFC North

AFC South

NFC East

NFC West

NFC North

NFC South

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