NFL Scores Week 12: AFC, NFC Results, Playoff Standings and Top Fantasy Stars

With so many teams clustered around the .500 mark this late in the season, the playoff picture hardly got any clearer in Week 12.

Indianapolis and Houston are in a dead heat for the AFC South crown, which was the league's worst division up until the last couple of weeks. That unofficial title now belongs to the NFC East, where the 5-6 Washington Redskins now sit atop the division after a win over the rival New York Giants, who are also 5-6 on the year.

The AFC wild-card race is sure to be a chaotic one, with as many as seven teams still in the mix (not counting division leaders who might yet fall off). The NFC is no less hectic.

Here are the Week 12 scores, updated playoff standings and top fantasy players from each game. Fantasy leaders are based on ESPN.com's leaderboard, with precedence given to running backs, tight ends and wide receivers over quarterbacks when point totals are close.

Away	Score	Home	Top Fantasy Star
Philadelphia Eagles	14-45	Detroit Lions	Matthew Stafford (DET): 27-of-38, 337 YDS, 5 TDS; 2 CAR 13 YDS
Carolina Panthers	33-14	Dallas Cowboys	Panthers D/ST: 3 INT, 2 TD, 14 PA, 1 sack
Chicago Bears	17-13	Green Bay Packers	Eddie Lacy (GB): 17 CAR, 105 YDS; 4 REC, 34 YDS, 1 TD
Buffalo Bills	22-30	Kansas City Chiefs	Sammy Watkins (BUF): 6 REC, 158 YDS, 2 TD
St. Louis Rams	7-31	Cincinnati Bengals	A.J. Green (CIN): 6 REC, 61 YDS, 2 TD
New Orleans Saints	6-24	Houston Texans	Ryan Griffin (HOU): 4 REC, 72 YDS, 1 TD
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	12-25	Indianapolis Colts	T.Y. Hilton (IND): 6 REC, 95 YDS, 2 TD
San Diego Chargers	31-25	Jacksonville Jaguars	Philip Rivers (SD): 29-of-43, 300 YDS, 4 TD
Miami Dolphins	20-38	New York Jets	Ryan Fitzpatrick (NYJ): 22-of-37, 277 YDS, 4 TD; 5 CAR, 21 YDS
Minnesota Vikings	20-10	Atlanta Falcons	Adrian Peterson (MIN): 29 CAR, 158 YDS, 2 TD; 2 REC, 29 YDS
New York Giants	14-20	Washington Redskins	Odell Beckham Jr (NYG): 9 REC, 142 YDS, 1 TD
Oakland Raiders	24-21	Tennessee Titans	Seth Roberts (OAK): 6 REC, 113 YDS, 2 TD
Arizona Cardinals	19-13	San Francisco 49ers	Carson Palmer (ARI): 24-of-40, 271 YDS, 1 RUSH TD
Pittsburgh Steelers	30-39	Seattle Seahawks	Doug Baldwin (SEA): 6 REC, 145 YDS, 3 TD
New England Patriots	24-30	Denver Broncos	C.J. Anderson (DEN): 15 CAR, 113 YDS, 2 TD; 4 REC, 40 YDS
Baltimore Ravens	33-27	Cleveland Browns	Travis Benjamin (CLE): 6 REC, 90 YDS, 1 TD; 1 CAR, 10 YDS

Seed	AFC	NFC
1	New England (10-1)	Carolina (11-0)
2	Cincinnati (9-2)	Arizona (9-2)
3	Denver (9-2)	Minnesota (8-3)
4	Indianapolis (6-5)	Washington Redskins (5-6)
5	Houston (6-5)	Green Bay (7-4)
6	Kansas City (6-5)	Seattle (6-5)
In the Hunt	New York Jets (6-5)	Atlanta Falcons (6-5)
In the Hunt	Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5)	Tampa Bay (5-6)
In the Hunt	Oakland (5-6)	New York Giants (5-6)

Top Fantasy Stars from Early-Sunday Slate

Sammy Watkins, WR, Buffalo

Ed Zurga/Associated Press

After picking up just three catches in consecutive weeks, Sammy Watkins went off against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 12, reeling in six catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns in just two quarters of play. Kansas City shut him out in the second half en route to a 30-22 win, but he had already done his fantasy damage.

Sunday marked Watkins' first multi-touchdown game of the year. He certainly made Rex Ryan look smart, as the head coach told WGR 550 prior to the game that he wanted the team to get Watkins more looks, via ESPN.com's Mike Rodak: "He's too good of a playmaker not to get more looks. So we're definitely going to be looking at that. We have a great talent there. We got to try to utilize him possibly a little more than we have, obviously."

Take a look at Watkins' second touchdown of the day, per the NFL: 

Watkins has had a fairly uneven year from a fantasy perspective. While clearly capable of taking over a game, he's dealt with injuries this season and has been held to less than 50 yards receiving in five contests.

So long as Tyrod Taylor is starting and you don't have a team absolutely loaded with stud wide receivers, Watkins is still worth starting at this late stage of the season.

Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota

David Goldman/Associated Press

The league's leading rusher entering this week turned in another superlative performance Sunday, rushing for 158 yards and two touchdowns while adding another 29 receiving yards in a 20-10 Vikings win over the tailspinning Atlanta Falcons. 

Here's a look at Peterson's 99th career touchdown, a 35-yard scamper made possible by some excellent downfield blocking by his linemen and tight end Rhett Ellison, via the NFL: 

ESPN Stats & Info noted his dominance has extended nearly a decade: 

Peterson is quickly chasing down names on the NFL's all-time rushing leaderboard, per ESPN's Darren Rovell:

Peterson has now topped 100 rushing yards in four of his last five games, with the best of those performances a 203-yard effort against Oakland in Week 10. The 30-year-old back hasn't lost a step this season and routinely sees 20-plus carries every week for Minnesota. Teddy Bridgewater has been going through something of a sophomore slump, which has left Peterson to pick up much of the slack on offense. 

Bad weeks are rare with All Day. Even if he's not racking up tons of yards, he's always a threat to score from anywhere on the field. Peterson has hit that dreaded age for running backs, but he is still very much the best at what he does in the NFL.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB, New York Jets

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Ryan Fitzpatrick turned in his finest performance of the season Sunday, leading the New York Jets to a key 38-20 divisional win over the Miami Dolphins. The Lorax look-alike threw for 277 yards and four touchdowns with no turnovers. 

It was a stat line not seen by a Jets quarterback in more than a decade, per SportsCenter: 

The game was also a bounce-back performance for Fitzpatrick, who completed less than 50 percent of his passes and threw two picks in each of the last two weeks. If one had to nitpick, one might ask that Fitzpatrick do more to keep his Harvard-educated mind out of harm's way, per NFL.com's Dan Hanzus:

Brandon Marshall was the main beneficiary of Fitzpatrick's stellar outing, racking up nine catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns. The quarterback also found rookie wideout Devin Smith for a 13-yard touchdown, the first of Smith's career.

With Buffalo's loss to Kansas City, New York now has sole possession of second place in the AFC East and is knocking on the door for a wild-card spot.