- Copyright 2024 © CollegeFootballPoll.com
- About CFP / Contact
- Legal Statements
Pondering that immortal room in Canton filled with bronzed busts, John Madden said that when the lights go out, they all talk to each other.
What would those busts say about this season so far?
Well, for starters, they might point out that only four teams have never played in a Super Bowl. And each of those teams – Cleveland (7-3), Detroit (8-2), Houston (6-4) and Jacksonville (7-3) – enter this week either in first or second place in their divisions. For the first time since the Texans entered the league in 2002, all four teams have at least six wins entering Week 12. Both the Browns (who last won a division in 1989) and Lions (1993) are fighting for their first division titles in three decades, and each completed a thrilling comeback to win in the final seconds last week. And if the season ended today, all four of those teams would be in the same NFL playoff bracket for the first time.
Hope is always abundant in the National Football League. It’s as plentiful as the highway miles Madden put on his bus traversing the country while preparing to call games for ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC.
In partnership with the networks, the NFL is honoring and commemorating Madden’s legacy with the second annual John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration. The day combines all the aspects of life Madden loved, including family, football, food, tradition and fun. Madden’s contributions to football will be celebrated, both on the field and in the broadcast booth, with tributes interspersed throughout each game on Thanksgiving Day. Each telecast will begin with a Madden hallmark and each network will select a player of the game; the NFL Foundation will then donate $10,000 to a youth or high-school football program in those players’ names because the developmental levels of the game were important to Madden.
On the field, each of the six Thanksgiving teams will wear jersey patches with the Madden silhouette. The NFL will also feature that silhouette on the coin at each coin toss (heads), while the reverse side of the coin (tails) will be a six-legged turducken. What’s more, commemorative John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration stencils will show prominently at Ford Field, AT&T Stadium and Lumen Field.
Additional broadcast partners Westwood One and SiriusXM NFL Radio will air Madden and Thanksgiving-related programming throughout the week leading up to Thanksgiving Day.
Known simply as Coach by all fortunate to work with him, Madden once said, “There's no place that I would rather be today on Thanksgiving than right here, right now, at a football game."
And football is forever thankful for Coach.
After food, family and football (and this year, Black Friday Football), one of the more intriguing games on the Week 12 schedule is Jacksonville (7-3) at Houston (6-4) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS). Jacksonville needs a win to hold onto first place in the AFC South and avenge a home loss to the Texans in Week 3. Houston, meanwhile, needs a win to own at least a share of first place in the division for the first time this late in a season since the end of the 2019 campaign. While the road team has won the last four games in the series, Houston has actually won 10 of the last 11 meetings. The Texans’ only loss to the Jaguars in that stretch came last year at NRG Stadium.
The Jaguars are 3-1 in the AFC South, tied with the Los Angeles Rams (also 3-1) for the NFL’s second-best division record (minimum three games) behind Philadelphia (3-0). Jacksonville also leads the NFL with 20 takeaways this season.
The Texans have won three straight games, their longest streak since they won nine in a row in 2018.
Since the 1983 NFL Draft, 209 rookie quarterbacks have started either a regular-season or playoff game. And of those 209, only 15 have won four-or-more regular-season starts and started playoff games in their rookie seasons. Could the Texans’ C.J. Stroud be the 16th?
Elsewhere in the AFC South, the Indianapolis Colts (5-5) host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-6) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS). Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman has seven games this season with eight-or-more receptions. The only other player in team history to do that is Pro Football Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison, who did it twice (12 games in 2002, seven in 2001).
The number of games this season – 115 of 164 (70.1 percent) – that have been within one score in the fourth quarter. Only 2022 (126) and 2016 (123) had more entering Week 12.
Also this season, 90 games have been decided by one score or less (eight points). Only 2016 (96) and 2022 (95) had more entering Week 12.
This year, 85 games have been decided by seven points or less, third in league annals entering Week 12 (90 in 2016, 86 in 2022).
Plus, 70 games have been decided by six points or less, third-most through the first 11 weeks in NFL history. Only 2022 (72) and 2016 (71) had more entering Week 12.
Two of the NFL’s top three teams in turnover differential square off when Pittsburgh (6-4) visits Cincinnati (5-5) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS). The Steelers are plus-11, first in the NFL, while the Bengals are plus-10, tied for second with San Francisco (also plus-10).
The Denver Broncos (5-5) are tied with Philadelphia for the NFL’s longest active winning streak – four games, Denver’s longest in seven years – as the Broncos prepare for the league’s stingiest defense, the Cleveland Browns (7-3), on Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High (4:05 p.m. ET, FOX).
Sunday’s game is an important head-to-head matchup that could figure significantly in the AFC playoff picture next month. Cleveland also has one of the AFC’s best conference records, 5-2.
The Browns are allowing an NFL-low 243.3 yards per game, on pace for the best mark in the league since the 2008 Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers allowed just 237.2 yards per contest.
Cleveland’s performance against the pass (143.3 yards per game) is even more impressive. The last team to allow less than 143.3 passing yards per game over a full season was the 1982 Miami Dolphins (114.1), whose Killer Bees led them to a Super Bowl berth.
Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett leads the NFL with 13 sacks, including two last week. Garrett is the third NFL player with at least 12 sacks in five of his first seven career seasons since 1982, when the individual sack became an official statistic, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Reggie White (six seasons) and Leslie O'Neal (five).
The two teams played three AFC Championship Games over a four-year period from 1986-89.
Turnovers are always important in a football game, whether Pop Warner or NFL. But when Baltimore (8-3) takes the AFC’s best record to the West Coast to meet the Los Angeles Chargers (4-6) on Sunday Night Football (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC), turnovers will be even more critical. That’s because both teams have a knack for converting turnovers into points. The Ravens have scored 61 points off takeaways, tied for third in the league, while the Chargers have 52 points off takeaways, fifth in the NFL.
Led by defensive tackle Justin Madubuike (9.5 sacks), the Ravens lead the NFL with 44 sacks. Last week, Baltimore posted its fifth game with five-or-more sacks, also most in the league. Madubuike has at least a share of a sack in eight consecutive games.
Baltimore running back Gus Edwards, who ranks second in the NFL with 10 rushing touchdowns, is just the sixth player in Ravens history to reach double figures in that category and needs four to match the single-season franchise record set by Jamal Lewis (14) in 2003.
Last week, Ravens wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. posted a season-best 116 receiving yards, his most in a game since Week 2 of 2019, when he had 161 for the Browns. What’s more, wide receiver Zay Flowers (53) broke the team’s single-season rookie receptions record held by Torrey Smith (50 in 2011).
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has 113 career touchdown passes and surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning (111) for the third-most by a player in his first four seasons in NFL history. Only Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino (142) and Patrick Mahomes (114) have more.
His favorite target, wide receiver Keenan Allen, has 18 career games with at least 10 receptions and 100 receiving yards, tied with Davante Adams (18 games) and Julio Jones (18) for the third-most such games in NFL history. Only Andre Johnson (21 Games) and Antonio Brown (20) have more.
Saints running back Alvin Kamara has caught 50 of his 56 targets for 305 yards in seven games this season. Among running backs, his 50 receptions lead the NFL while his 305 receiving yards ranks fifth. And among players who have been targeted a minimum of 50 times this season, Kamara has a league-high 89.3-percent catch rate.
This week, Kamara and New Orleans (5-5) travel to Atlanta (4-6) for a critical NFC South contest at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FOX). The teams will meet twice over the season’s final seven weeks.
Including the postseason, Miami wide receiver Tyreek Hill has 10 games with 10-plus receptions, at least 140 receiving yards and a touchdown catch. Only two other players in NFL history have done that: Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice and Andre Johnson, who each also have 10 such games. Hill can take sole possession of first on that list when Miami (7-3) meets the New York Jets (4-6) at MetLife Stadium in the NFL’s first Black Friday Football game (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video).
Hill also has 1,222 receiving yards this season, becoming the first player in 62 years and the fifth ever with 1,200 in his team's first 10 games of a season, joining Pro Football Hall of Famers Elroy “Crazy Legs" Hirsch (1,268 in 1951), Raymond Berry (1,264 In 1960) and Don Hutson (1,204 in 1942) as well as Charlie Hennigan (1,245 in 1961).
Miami’s offense ranks first in the NFL with 291.0 passing yards per game. The Jets’ defense, meanwhile, ranks fifth in the league, having allowed just 178.7 passing yards per contest.
This week marks the 78th all-time regular-season game played on a Friday.
Buffalo and Philadelphia clash at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS), the first game in a challenging stretch for each club. After a road trip to face the team with the league’s best record, the Eagles, Buffalo gets a Week 13 bye followed by another road game at Kansas City (7-3) and a home contest against Dallas (7-3). Meanwhile, if the Eagles can survive the Bills this week, Philadelphia’s next two games are against San Francisco (7-3) at home and Dallas (7-3) on the road.
Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott launched his NFL career in Philadelphia, where he helped the Eagles to the playoffs in eight of his 10 years (2001-10) with the team.
Philadelphia (4-0 at Lincoln Financial Field) is one of three NFL teams undefeated at home, joining Miami (5-0) and Dallas (4-0). The Eagles have won seven straight home games, including the postseason, and nine of their last 10, dating to Week 12 last season. Tennessee (3-1) is 3-0 in home games within the U.S., having lost a designated home contest in London. Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts and Buffalo’s Josh Allen lead NFL quarterbacks this season with nine and seven rushing touchdowns, respectively. Over a longer stretch, since the beginning of 2020, Hurts (35 rushing touchdowns) and Allen (28) also lead the position in that category.
The Eagles are the first NFL team to begin consecutive seasons 9-1 or better since the 2005-06 Indianapolis Colts. Since Buffalo acquired him in an Oct. 31 trade, cornerback Rasul Douglas has four takeaways (two interceptions and two fumble recoveries), in addition to four passes defensed, in three games. Buffalo leads the all-time series, 8-6, even though Philadelphia has won four of the last five, including beating the Bills, 31-13, on Oct. 27, 2019, in Buffalo.
About Maxwell Football Club
The Maxwell Football Club has honored excellence at all levels of football since 1935 and the Club's outreach programs provide educational opportunities for student-athletes and coaches. With members in over 40 states the Maxwell Football Club is one of the largest football organizations in America. Become a member by visiting maxwellfootballclub.org.
NOTE: CollegeFootballPoll.com's Dave Congrove is member of the Maxwell Football Club.