It wasn’t so long ago that we wondered whether we’d seen the last of Matthew Stafford with the Los Angeles Rams. Early in the off-season, amid reports of Stafford’s camp exploring the trade market and contract talks going stale, the team and their veteran QB appeared to be at a crossroads. Then, during training camp, with the contract standoff long settled, Stafford’s ongoing back issues had the Rams’ season in jeopardy before it even began. 

But once the campaign got underway, the path forward has looked downright easy most weeks for Stafford and the Rams. That was certainly the case Sunday night in L.A. as the home team dominated in every facet of its 34-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to stand alone atop the NFC. 

While their sharp defence shut down Tampa Bay’s drives early and often, L.A.’s offence utterly overwhelmed the visitors, starting with 21 unanswered points before closing out the first half with four TDs and a field goal. It was a pretty spectacular offensive showing, but for the Rams, it’s just more of the same — and that’s what makes Stafford’s MVP campaign so strong. He’s doing this nearly every single week at the helm of the league’s most dangerous offence.

Even before kickoff on Sunday, the 37-year-old held the league lead in touchdown passes. He added three more Sunday night to bring his season total to 30 and counting, and also kept his impressive pick-less streak alive, too (not since Week 3 has Stafford thrown an INT). He’s turned back the clock, and so has his new favourite redzone weapon. 

The team’s off-season signing of Davante Adams has proven to be one of the best in the NFL, with Adams enjoying a bounce-back campaign, too, to the tune of a league-best 12 touchdown catches this season. Two of those were caught Sunday night. 

The spotlight for Stafford & Co. will only get brighter, and the MVP chatter should get louder with each week, too. The team in Hollywood looks more than ready for all of it. 

Here’s a collection of our other takeaways from a busy Sunday slate in Week 12.

Buccaneers’ bad night gets worse with injury to Mayfield

L.A. holds great memories for Baker Mayfield, who credits his short stint with the Rams in 2022 with reviving his love for the game. But Sunday’s return to SoFi was one he’d surely rather forget. The game felt lost by the end of the first quarter, and things got much worse in the third when Mayfield exited with a left shoulder injury. He was seen on the sidelines in a hoodie with his arm in a sling — a troubling sight for the QB, and for Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes, too.

The Buccaneers have now lost three straight games, and what was once a healthy lead atop the NFC South is now in jeopardy thanks to their recent struggles and an unlikely surge by the 6-5 Carolina Panthers, who now have a chance to take over the top spot if they can solve San Francisco Monday night. 

With crucial win over Colts, Chiefs look ready to chase down a playoff spot

While math and playoff odds tell us Sunday’s early-window matchup against the Indianapolis Colts wasn’t literally a must-win for the Kansas City Chiefs, it certainly felt like one. After last week’s loss to the Broncos all but officially saw the nine-time defending AFC West champs hand the division crown to Denver, the Chiefs’ dwindling post-season hopes were relegated to one of three wild card berths. And considering the wild card race also includes three clubs to whom Kansas City has already lost this season — Buffalo, Jacksonville, and the Chargers all currently sit ahead of the Chiefs in the race — it’s not going to be an easy path to the playoffs. 

But on Sunday, finding themselves on the wrong end of an 11-point deficit with nine minutes to go against the powerhouse Colts, the Chiefs reminded us all that even when they’re down, they’re never to be counted out. 

After the Colts controlled the first 45 minutes of the matchup, the offence came to a screeching halt while Patrick Mahomes took over in the final frame. He led the offence on an 11-play, 56-yard drive that included a signature Playoff MahomesTM dash deep in Indy territory to set up a short TD run for Kareem Hunt, then got the Chiefs within three points with a two-point conversion pass to Rashee Rice. It wasn’t all pretty — they were forced to punt on their next possession — but Mahomes’ late heroics, which saw him rack up more than 200 yards in the half, brought KC’s hopes back to life and the signature poise with which he played in overtime to set up an easy walk-off field goal was all too familiar for everyone else in the AFC. 

The 23-20 outcome of this one carries plenty of playoff implications for the Colts, too, who still sit comfortably atop the AFC South but have fallen off pace in the AFC’s race for the top seed. The New England Patriots, whose win over Cincinnati on Sunday marked their ninth consecutive victory, control the pace while the Broncos are hot on their tails. 

Ravens jump into top spot in AFC North. Can they stay?

One team suddenly not in the wild card race following Sunday’s action? The Baltimore Ravens. After being left for dead at 1-5 before Halloween, Baltimore will hit the field on Thanksgiving night as the team to beat in the AFC North thanks to five straight wins.

The Ravens’ 23-10 victory over the New York Jets wasn’t pretty, nor was it really a showcase of what Baltimore’s star-studded offence should be capable of doing — then again, neither was last week’s win over the Browns — but it was incredibly clutch, considering the Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss to the Bears at the same time, which opened the door for Baltimore to walk through. 

The shift atop the division makes the stretch run really interesting from here on out. Baltimore’s next three games, and four of their remaining six, are divisional matchups, beginning Thursday against a Bengals squad that might just include Joe Burrow at the helm while the Steelers, who now find themselves in the wild card race despite also boasting a 6-5 record, take on the Bills in what is a crucial matchup brimming with playoff implications for both sides.

Gibbs’ sensational day saves Lions against Giants

Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs just had himself an otherworldly game to power Detroit past the Giants in overtime 34-27. His 264 total yards accounted for more than half of his team’s output, and he scored three of the Lions’ four TDs, including the OT winner. He was absolutely sensational, and the Lions needed every bit of that performance to top the Giants in what was an unexpectedly great showdown. 

As incredible as Gibbs was, though… we should probably talk about the Giants, too. Because despite being nowhere close to the playoff race this year, and despite injuries to their starting quarterback and running back, New York gave the Lions a run for their money.

And had it not been for Gibbs’ explosiveness, to which the Giants had no answer, the G-men likely would’ve left Ford Field with a win on the power of a pretty wild performance by Jameis Winston.

Giants offensive coordinator-turned-interim-head-coach Mike Kafka drew up all the trickery in his playcalling, and backup-turned-starter Winston pulled (almost) all of it off with a very Winston-ian performance. He dazzled through the air, caught a TD pass himself and showed off some pretty impressive jukes to run it in, but also threw a late-game interception and was downed in OT to seal New York’s fate. 

As exciting as the Giants looked offensively, it was ultimately another demoralizing outing featuring another double-digit comeback for their opponent. The Giants held the lead all game, but couldn’t keep it when it mattered most in overtime. 

Sanders makes Browns history, but Garrett steals the show

Shedeur Sanders wasn’t perfect in his first pro start, but his record certainly is. The 24-10 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders makes Sanders the first Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback to win his NFL debut since 1999.

There was plenty to like about Sanders’ performance, which included a stunning 53-yard pass on the run to Isaiah Bond to put the Browns in prime scoring position early. Sanders finished the day with 11 completions on 20 attempts for 209 yards, one touchdown — a short pass to Dylan Sampson, who then made a 66-yard dash to the endzone — and an interception. 

No stats were as impressive as the ones posted by Cleveland’s defence, though. The unit has been elite all season, posting numbers worthy of a winning record despite the Browns sitting stagnant at 3-8.

And no one made a bigger impact on Sunday than Myles Garrett, whose three-sack game (as part of the Browns’ collective 10-sack outing) saw him make history, too. The league’s sack leader now has 18 on the season, which is a new franchise record (he held the old one, too). And at this rate, we could see him smash the NFL’s all-time single-season record (22.5), too.

What just happened in Dallas?

The Philadelphia Eagles are sitting comfortably atop the NFC East, but after the way they just lost to their biggest rivals in Dallas… how comfortable are Eagles fans feeling right now? It’s not just that they fumbled away a 21-point lead before losing 24-21 to the Cowboys in overtime, it’s also the fact Philly’s offence — one that sprinted out of the gates with a touchdown on each of their first three drives of the game — went ice cold in the second half. That’s a recurring theme for this team, and one that could land them in hot water down the stretch if it continues. 

The Eagles were held scoreless for nearly three full quarters, limited to just seven first downs once they were up 21-0. Once the Cowboys got going on offence, thanks to Dak Prescott’s 354 passing yards — 146 of which went to George Pickens on a monster night for the WR — and a banged-up Philly secondary, the momentum shift was palpable. 

Dallas’ porous defence actually did its part, too. Jalen Hurts didn’t look comfortable, despite only being sacked once, and the Cowboys came up with a clutch forced fumble against Saquon Barkley that might’ve saved a score. 

The Cowboys tied the franchise record for largest comeback with their 21 unanswered points to tie things up, plus three more in OT thanks to the leg of Brandon Aubrey, and perhaps better yet, stirred up a little drama against their divisional foes. 

The simmering dysfunction in Philly might be an overreaction considering the club is still 8-3, but it’s something to watch down the stretch — especially now that they’ve got plenty of company in the race for the NFC’s No. 1 seed.