Week 12 brought another slate of NFL games that included some entertaining duels and some surprising upsets across the league.
After 12 weeks, the AFC East still has just one team at the top of the division – the Miami Dolphins at 8-3.
Mike McDaniel’s team, coming off of a defeat of the Las Vegas Raiders, had a quick turnaround to prepare for the New York Jets on Friday. However, they dominated New York with their stifling defense and impressive running game. While they did suffer some losses to injury, they secured their win handily and stayed amongst the best teams in the conference.
The Jets started Tim Boyle over Zach Wilson in Week 12, hoping that a quarterback change would fix things. That wasn’t the case, as Boyle threw multiple interceptions. The battered offensive line continued to struggle, and their talented defense can only do so much to keep them in games. The loss dropped them to 4-7 in third place.
Ahead of them are the Buffalo Bills, who took on the Philadelphia Eagles, who had just one loss entering Sunday. While the Bills showed some promise, Philadelphia tied the game with a 59-yard field goal to force overtime. Then, after allowing Buffalo to kick a field goal in the extra period, the Eagles drove down the field and scored on a Jalen Hurts rushing touchdown, dropping Sean McDermott’s team to a 6-6 record and 2.5 games back of Miami.
The New England Patriots met with the New York Giants on Sunday for a matchup between two of the worst teams in the league. Bill Belichick shrouded his quarterback plans with secrecy but ultimately started Mac Jones. Jones was sat after two interceptions, and backup Bailey Zappe didn’t look much better. Still, they were able to set themselves up with a 35-yard field goal attempt by 2023 fourth-round pick Chad Ryland to force overtime. However, the rookie pulled the kick wide left and dropped New England to 2-9 and half a game back of the second pick in the 2024 draft.
Week 13 AFC East matchups:
- Miami Dolphins (8-3) vs. Washington Commanders (4-8)
- New York Jets (4-7) vs. Atlanta Falcons (5-6)
- New England Patriots (2-9) vs. Los Angeles Chargers (4-7)
- BYE WEEK: Buffalo Bills (6-6)
