Biggest Stories and Best Highlights from NFL Week 12

Week 12 of the 2017 NFL season kicked off with a full slate of games on Thanksgiving Day.

But if digesting your holiday meal didn't make you sleepy as the day wore on, the lack of action in the day's matchups almost certainly did.

Though the Detroit Lions battled the Minnesota Vikings to the end of regulation in a 30-23 loss, the Los Angeles Chargers held a glorified practice against the Dallas Cowboys, winning 28-6. The New York Giants didn't fare much better than their NFC East counterparts against Washington on Thursday night, losing 20-10 in a snoozer.

Sunday's early games followed a similar trend, with the Philadelphia Eagles blowing out the Chicago Bears 31-3, the New England Patriots whipping the AFC East rival Miami Dolphins 35-17 and the Cincinnati Bengals taking care of business against the Cleveland Browns, 30-16. Several games came down to the wire, with the Buffalo Bills scoring a 16-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs.

The late afternoon games promised more excitement when the high-scoring New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams locked horns and playoff hopefuls like the Seattle Seahawks and Jacksonville Jaguars looked to keep rolling.

Here's a look at all the notable highlights and storylines for Week 12.

Top Celebrations of the Day

The Eagles were, in a word, electric Sunday—and even more so as their dominant showing came to a close.

Players from the sideline joined in on the fun with a wedding dance we've all tried to execute:

Earlier, Philadelphia went bowling after a touchdown by Alshon Jeffery:

Oh, and don't forget the Gronk spike by Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski:

Heated Rivals Square Off

The Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders don't like each other. That much was apparent Sunday when three players were ejected from the underperforming AFC West rivals after a scuffle broke out in the first quarter.

Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib was ejected for fighting, as was Raiders wideout Michael Crabtree, while Oakland offensive lineman Gabe Jackson was booted for making contact with an official and knocking him over.

Talib and Crabtree have a history, of course, as the former ripped a chain off the latter during a game last year. He did so again Sunday.

Injury Report

In an emotional scene, Miami Dolphins running back Damien Williams was carted off the field with an apparent arm or shoulder injury in the second half of the Dolphins' game against the Patriots, ESPN.com's James Walker reported.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin left the game against the Atlanta Falcons with a concussion and was ruled out, per ESPN.com's Vaughn McClure.

The Dolphins took on the Patriots without quarterback Jay Cutler, who was ruled out with a concussion.

In the late kickoffs, the Raiders lost wideout Amari Cooper to a concussion after he was knocked out. He walked off the field but was ruled out. 

Plays of the Day

Against his old team, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive lineman Calais Campbell scooped up a fumble and rumbled into the end zone to help his team take an early fourth-quarter lead in a showdown against the Arizona Cardinals: 

Luke Kuechly proved he can do it all for the Carolina Panthers in the fourth quarter of their close game against the New York Jets. With Carolina trailing by two points and New York marching, Kuechly scooped up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown:

Bengals wideout A.J. Green contorted his body to drag his toes in bounds on a 13-yard catch in the third quarter of an AFC North clash with the Browns:

A wide receiver doesn't often lead his team in passing yards, but that was the case for Mohamed Sanu in the first half of the Falcons' matchup against the Buccaneers.

Early the second quarter, Sanu took a direct snap and fired the ball 51 yards to Julio Jones in the end zone:

The Saints got a huge boost from rookie running back Alvin Kamara early in their showdown with the Rams:

In the funny department, Raiders linebacker NaVorro Bowman made an interception while flat on his back:

Notable Individual Performances

Jones may have taken a while to get going this season, but Sunday seemed to mark a turning point.

By the end of the Falcons' 34-20 win over the Buccaneers, Jones had caught two touchdown passes and racked up 253 yards. Heading into Week 12, Jones had only one score.

Speaking of Sanu, it's worth noting the Falcons wideout could have had a career as a quarterback. After the sixth passing attempt of his career Sunday, Sanu still had a perfect passer rating of 158.3. He is 6-of-6 for 228 yards and three touchdowns.

Elsewhere for the Falcons, Tevin Coleman controlled the game on the ground with 97 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, good for 5.1 yards per rush, while filling in for the injured Devonta Freeman.

Jones wasn't the only player with multiple end-zone trips. Patriots running back Rex Burkhead appeared to take over goal-line duties, finding paydirt twice (once on a run, once on a reception) against the Dolphins.

Carson Wentz was doing his thing as usual for the Eagles, throwing for 227 yards and three touchdowns.

For the Jets, Robby Anderson exploded with six catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns.

In the late games, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson shined, scoring three total touchdowns in a key 24-13 win over the San Francisco 49ers on the road.

While fending off the eight-win New Orleans Saints, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff threw for 354 yards and two scores in a 26-20 victory.

In an AFC North battle between the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, rookie back Joe Mixon rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown while averaging five yards per carry, the first 100-yard performance of his career after Cincinnati selected him in the second round. 

A Record-Setting Day

Multiple players either matched or set new personal or franchise records during Sunday's action.

Gronkowski broke his tie with Randy Moss for the most games with multiple touchdowns by a Patriot:

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Wentz joined Eagles greats Donovan McNabb and Sonny Jurgensen as the franchise's only players to throw for multiple scores in seven consecutive games.

And according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Wentz is only the third quarterback in history to throw for at least 25 scores with five or fewer interceptions over the first 11 games of a season—the other two being Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.

Chiefs rookie kicker Harrison Butker got in on the fun, too, setting a team record with his 23rd consecutive field goal.

Cowboys in Midst of Shocking Slump

Ron Jenkins/Associated Press

The Cowboys lost their third consecutive game Thursday, and it also marked the third straight game in which they failed to score 10 points.

It's no coincidence the last game running back Ezekiel Elliott played before he began serving his six-game suspension was in Week 9. Without Elliott, the Cowboys are minus an average of 97.8 offensive yards per game, and, apparently, their offensive identity.

Dak Prescott especially has struggled without Elliott's support. In the last three weeks, he's thrown for zero touchdowns and five interceptions and has fumbled the ball three times.

Of course, it hasn't helped that Prescott was without his All-Pro left tackle, Tyron Smith, on his blind side.

Smith returned on Thanksgiving Day against the Chargers, but before that he missed matchups against the Falcons and Eagles.

Prescott has been sacked 12 times since Week 10. According to ESPN.com's Todd Archer, "in the first eight games of the season with Smith, Prescott was not sacked more than two times in a game."

The Cowboys are 5-6 and in danger of falling to third place in the division.

Still to Come

On Sunday night, the 5-5 Green Bay Packers will travel to Pittsburgh to take on the 8-2 Steelers.

The Packers are 1-3 since Rodgers was knocked out of their Week 6 game against the Vikings with a broken collarbone. Meanwhile, the Steelers are the hottest team in the AFC save for the Patriots, having won five consecutive games.

Green Bay is coming off a 23-0 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11, so, needless to say, this clash could prove to be one of Week 12's most lopsided.