Bad injury shocks NFL: Packers beat up 49ers, Giants disastrous

In Week 12 of the NFL there is finally some luck for a franchise that is falling apart, almost a sensation for the Chiefs and – unfortunately – a nasty injury. While the Detroit Lions secured a victory as usual, there was a surprisingly bitter defeat in the top game of the night.

Eighteen collective NFL titles. A rivalry that has its own Wikipedia entry. San Francisco 49ers against the Green Bay Packers – this is a prestigious duel. Evil tongues would say that the 49ers (now five wins and six defeats) didn’t have much more to offer than prestige. In the end there is a 38:10 defeat for the guests from San Francisco. With three turnovers, the 49ers deprive themselves of any chance of winning.

On the other hand, the Packers (8-3) put in an almost flawless performance. Quarterback Jordan Love doesn’t throw an interception, the team doesn’t fumble, kicker Brandon McManus only has to get on the field for a field goal and convert. The outstanding man in green, however, is running back Josh Jacobs. The number eight carries the ball three times through the last, tough yards before the end zone for a touchdown.

The game could have personal consequences for the 49ers. The sorely missed quarterback Brock Purdy won’t be able to return for another two weeks at the earliest. Backup Brandon Allen had a touchdown along with an interception and two fumbles. Clearly not enough for the 49ers’ ambitious goals. To bridge the time until Purdy returns, the team could use a new quarterback. Rumors are already circulating about Daniel Jones, who was recently released by the Giants.

Panthers – Chiefs: Nothing is easy anymore

The Carolina Panthers (3-8) – as we were surprised to see before the game – are in form. Two consecutive wins and an off weekend precede the meeting with the Kansas City Chiefs (10-1). Will the reigning Super Bowl champions thrash the hosts in Carolina? Not at all. Will the Chiefs still win in the end? But yes.

And yet: it is work. As in almost every Chiefs game this season, they have to stretch incredibly hard, the Panthers never give up. The defense in particular is extremely strong, managing five sacks against Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, while Kansas City only knocks the opposing playmaker down once. Travis Kelce remains pale once again. His replacement Noah Gray, on the other hand, collected the next two touchdowns after a strong game against the Bills last weekend, and DeAndre Hopkins was also there once again. With a strong run, Mahomes decides the game himself. He brings his team into field goal range with two seconds left in the game – when the clock runs out it’s 30:27.

Bad injury overshadows the game

The game was overshadowed by a nasty injury to Panthers player Ja’Tavion Sanders, who was hanging upside down in the air after a tackle and landed right on his neck. The game was stopped for minutes and there was silence in the stadium. He is driven out of the stadium and then taken straight to the hospital, from which he is fortunately released later that evening.

The Panthers can draw a lot of courage from the game – and perhaps cause another stir before the playoffs. In their very tight NFC South, the currently left-behind team still plays against the Falcons (six wins) and even twice against the Buccaneers (five wins). It was another day at the office for the Chiefs. Somehow won. As (almost) always before.

Colts – Lions: The more important series holds

The NFL’s longest winning streak remains. The Detroit Lions (10-1) also won their ninth game in a row. The home crowd cannot have any real hope that the Indianapolis Colts (5-7) can trip up the guests from Detroit. With the Colts taking a 3-0 lead, the game only goes one way. However, with a safe 24:6 success, another series cannot be continued. Amon-Ra St. Brown remains without a touchdown for the first time since the third game day.

There isn’t much for the Lions receivers to catch anyway, at least in the end zone. All three Lions touchdowns are scored: two by Jahmyr Gibbs, one by David Montgomery. While the Colts still have weak teams like the Titans, the Giants and the Jaguars ahead of them until the playoffs, the Lions have two top games waiting for them. First it goes on December 6th. against the Packers, then follows on December 15th. the duel with the Bills. If the winning streak still stands after that, the NFC has its Superbowl favorite.

Cowboys – Commanders: You can’t always be unlucky

To say things aren’t going well for the Dallas Cowboys (4-7) right now would be a gross understatement. In early November, part of Dak Prescott’s thigh muscle separated from the bone. The end of the season is the result. This means that Dallas has to finish the season without the quarterback, who received a record contract in the summer. There are discussions about a window in the arena. The term may be misleading. One side of the AT&T Stadium is largely occupied by a gigantic glass wall, which – as is usual for glass walls – is transparent. Players complain that the sun is blinding. Then, last weekend, roof panels came loose from the stadium’s ceiling, and shortly afterwards there was a bitter defeat against the neighbors from Houston.

But even a blind chicken sometimes finds a grain. And so the Dallas Cowboys surprisingly win a bizarre game against the Washington Commanders (7-5) 34:26. The Commanders award two points after touchdown, i.e. the extra points for a field goal after a touchdown success. One of the two should actually lead to a tie with twenty-one seconds left. But against all expectations, Commanders kicker Austin Seibert fails – again. On the other hand, the special teams shine: the Cowboys score two kickoff return touchdowns. The bottom line is a form of crisis management that has little chance of success in the long term. They won’t care at all in Dallas for now.

Texans – Titans: Not a game for tactics lovers

When soccer games are manageably eventful, commentators often speak of a game for tactics fans. Luckily, the Tennessee Titans (3-8) and the Houston Texans (7-5) had no desire for that at all. On the contrary, every hobby coach will have groaned in pain countless times. After just fifteen seconds, the Texans celebrate their first touchdown. Later in the game, another Texans touchdown is called back because two players are moving at the same time shortly before the play (only one is allowed). “You wonder how something like this can happen,” say the US commentators and could also mean the entire game. Because it is spectacularly unconfident, a festival of errors. The referees distribute seventeen flags during the game. The Texans were penalized eleven times alone, losing a painful 81 yards for their fouls and other rule violations.

Things get really historic on the defensive. Titans quarterback Will Levis was sacked eight times in the first half. There were no more sacks in the second half of the game, but it still remained the season high for the Texans. Danielle Hunter alone takes Levis off his feet three times. The Titans defense also contributed four sacks to a game in which the impression, especially in the second half, was that the offenses no longer wanted the ball.

Everything that can happen, happens

Symbolically, shortly before the end of the third quarter, Texans quarterback CJ Stroud threw his second interception of the game. It’s 23:17 for the Titans, the stop is important to give their own offense the opportunity to finally have a two-score game. What is Will Levis doing? With the first touch of the ball, follow up with your own bad pass, which is then immediately brought into the end zone. And suddenly Houston leads 24:23, one play after its own interception.

Everything that can go wrong in a football game will go wrong. To top it all off, Texans playmaker CJ Stroud, who was outstanding last season, is sacked in his own end zone – a so-called safety. That gives the opponent two points and leads to a 32:27 victory for the Titans in a game that actually didn’t deserve a winner, but was still extremely entertaining.

Giants – Buccaneers: Uff.

The New York Giants (2-9) don’t matter at all at the moment. Exactly ten years ago, Odell Beckham Jr. made perhaps the best catch in NFL history in a Giants jersey. The giants are currently incredibly far away from this level of excellence. The quarterback position is the main topic of conversation before the game. Daniel Jones was released before the game and was succeeded by Tommy DeVito. He led his offense against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6) to an incredible 0 points after three quarters.

It’s a debacle. At that point, the Buccaneers offense had scored 30 points and quarterback Baker Mayfield paraded the arena with Tommy DeVito’s typical celebration of his own touchdown. Devin Singletary, who ran a total of three yards, averted the scoreless defeat with New York’s first and own touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter. And that was it for the good news.

Patriots – Dolphins: When 15 points don’t make a difference

Speaking of touchdowns, if nothing else matters. In Miami it was 31-0 at the end of the third quarter. Because the 2024 Dolphins (5-6) look like the 2023 Dolphins again and are already winning their third game in a row. Last year, the team was considered a candidate for the Super Bowl for a long time due to its explosive offense. Some fans of the New England Patriots (3-9) still know the feeling, even though the era of success was a while ago.

There is little hope that she will return any time soon. Because, well, Miami was up 31-0 at the end of the third quarter. The guests from New England even scored 15 points in the final period of the game, but of course that doesn’t change the result. In the AFC East, the Patriots are now in fourth place behind the Jets, while the Dolphins remain in second place. The Bills (9-1) already look uncatchable in first place.