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Judge Richard Berman: It’s not crazy to wager that the Patriots would’ve gone 0-4 without Brady had the MVP-frontrunner’s suspension been upheld. But now, thanks in large part to Judge Berman, New England is on pace for its 13th AFC East title in the last 15 years.
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Dabbing: The Panthers are 10-0, and while most football fans will tell you it’s because of Cam Newton’s MVP-calibre play and stellar defence, part of it’s due to the “controversial” dance that’s galvanized the team.
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Bengals owner Mike Brown: Much was made of the bumpy breakup between the Bengals and Carson Palmer leading up to Sunday night’s showdown between Arizona and Cincinnati. That got me to thinking: Where would the Cards be without their MVP-candidate QB? So this Thanksgiving, the entire organization is thankful Cincy tossed him aside.
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The most underrated signing of the off-season: Without a team on Sept. 5, James Jones is the Packers’ leading receiver two-and-half months later. A quiet signing at the time, Green Bay wouldn’t be atop the NFC North without the 31-year-old pass-catcher, who is on pace for one of the best seasons of his career.
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The understudy: Four seasons in Peyton Manning’s shadow appears to have paid dividends for Brock Osweiler, who looked solid in his first career start against the Bears. The Broncos should remain a Super Bowl contender with No. 17 under centre, although Sunday night’s clash with Tom Brady and the Patriots will give us a better look at exactly where the Osweiler-led Broncos really are.
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Some games away from prime time: I know, I know. Maybe the only more played-out storyline is Andy Dalton’s struggles in the playoffs, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire. The Bengals come off three straight games under the lights with a 1-2 record, and get back to regularly scheduled programming, during which Cincinnati’s a perfect 8-0. But they’re not completely out of the woods yet—the Bengals have back-to-back night games against the 49ers and Broncos in Weeks 15 and 16.
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Really, really, really good defence: If the Chiefs continue their current pace, they’ll become the first team since the 1970 Bengals to start a season 1-5 and make the post-season. And it’s all thanks to spectacular defence. Sure, the team is averaging more than 32 points per game on this four-game win streak and the offence hasn’t turned the ball over since Oct. 18, but the defence is stifling. That unit is allowing just 12 point a game over its last six, and has held three straight teams to fewer than 276 yards.
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A healthy Big Ben: As they displayed in a Week 10 trouncing of the Browns, the Steelers are at their best when Mr. Roethlisberger is at his. Now coming off a bye week, Pittsburgh’s long-time pivot is likely as close to 100 percent as he’s been since Week 3—and that could mean bad things for the rest of the AFC. As much as the loss of Le’Veon Bell stings, it’s Roethlisberger the Steelers have missed most.
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Peterson’s decision to stay in Minnesota: Nobody is talking about it, but No. 28 should be in the MVP conversation. The Vikings are one of the tougher teams in the NFC and the offence relies entirely on the workhorse in the backfield. Peterson is on pace for just over 1,600 yards rushing—his third best season as a pro.
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Rookies: For the first time in a long time, the Seahawks offence was fun to watch on Sunday, and it’s all thanks to a pair of rookies. Tyler Lockett and Thomas Rawls accounted for all four of Seattle’s TDs to get the defending NFC champs back to .500.
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The Sandman: At least a handful of teams were looking for QBs last off-season, but all of them seriously slept on Tyrod Taylor. Their loss was the Bills’ gain as Taylor has been excellent when healthy, putting up 11 TDs to four INTs, to go along with a 100.0 WB rating.
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Grizzly veterans: Okay, so the signings of Andre Johnson and Trent Cole haven’t worked out too hot, but Frank Gore has been his regular grind-it-out self, while Matt Hasselbeck has outplayed Andrew Luck by a significant margin and remains undefeated this season. With the Texans hot on Indy’s tail, the old guys are going to have to keep it up.
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A horrible division: In any other of the NFC’s divisions, the Giants would be at least two games back of first place. Not in the NFC Least. Thanks to an up-and-down Washington team, a dysfunctional Eagles squad, and the too-little-too-late Cowboys, 5-5 New York is in control of its own destiny in a shockingly disappointing NFC East.
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A hot start: If it wasn’t for a 5-0 start to the season, the Falcons would be on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. Atlanta has been downright awful over their last five games, the team’s only win coming in a three-point margin over the Titans. And more bad news for Falcons fans: It only gets tougher from here. Atlanta faces the Vikings, Buccaneers and Panthers (twice) over the next six weeks in the battle to get back to the post-season.
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The Beard: Ryan Fitzpatrick doesn’t get enough credit. Admittedly, the journeyman quarterback has struggled over the last two games (46-percent completion percentage, four turnovers), but you can’t deny the man is getting the most out of his receivers. Both Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker are on pace for 1,000-yard seasons, and each has gotten into the end zone seven times. It’s more than likely Fitzpatrick won’t be back in New York next season, but there’s no question the Jets have been better off with The Beard at the helm.
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The one-man receiving corps (otherwise known as DeAndre Hopkins): I argued a few weeks back that Hopkins is the NFL’s best wide receiver, and nothing has happened between then and now to change my mind. The guy has almost single-handedly kept the Texans alive in the AFC South title race (to be fair, the defence has been stellar), accounting for 39 percent of Houston’s total receiving yards and 45 percent of the team’s total receiving TDs.
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Back-to-back victories: Jameis Winston has the Buccaneers on a mini winning streak, something this team hasn’t experienced since a run of three straight from Weeks 10 to 12 of the 2013 season. After nearly a decade of mediocrity, are we finally seeing a Tampa team on the rise? Last week’s thumping of the Eagles—led by five TDs from the No. 1 overall pick—and being “In The Hunt” on most playoff-picture graphics seems to suggest just that
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Tony Romo: I’m not going to beat around the bush with this one—every single Cowboys fan on the planet couldn’t be more thankful this American Thanksgiving for the return of No. 9. And who can blame them? Dallas went from being a contender in the NFC East to one of the worst teams in the entire league with the crack of a bone. Now with Romo back, the Cowboys are back in the win column and hosting the 10-0 Panthers as slight favourites (!) on Thursday.
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Another shot at the AFC East: Despite the ups and downs of another average season in Miami, the Dolphins are still right in the thick of the wild-card race… somehow. But they need to win a division game, something they’ve yet to accomplish in four tries this season. A win over the slumping Jets this weekend could do wonders for the Dolphins. But a loss could end it for good.
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A bright future: Yes, the young Raiders are mired in an ugly three-game slump at the moment, but Oakland fans finally have something to look forward to. Not since the days of Gruden, Gannon and Rice has the franchise been imbued with such hope. Of course, the current team’s defence is mighty suspect, but look at the young weapons on offence: Derek Carr, Amari Cooper and Latavious Murray are all under the age of 25.
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A new defensive coordinator: The Saints have been a complete disaster on defence, especially over their last three games, and it’s a big reason why the team is 4-6 despite having one of the league’s more dangerous offences. With Rob Ryan out and Dennis Allen in, there should be some noticeable changes. Yes, Allen was a part of the Ryan defence that performed so badly, but the two are nothing alike and we should begin to see the New Orleans defence get back to basics. The unit still might struggle, but it’ll be better.
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Clarity at quarterback: Things were likely getting awkward in the Windy City with all the rumours surrounding Jay Cutler’s future with the Bears. If anything has been solved in Chicago this season, it’s the quarterback situation. Cutler has played well enough to be brought back. Finding a more-than-capable QB in the NFL is just too rare an occurrence to let a perfectly good one walk.
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The silence surrounding RG3: For the first time in more than three years, Washington’s biggest issues don’t revolve around its much-maligned, now-backup quarterback. And that’s good for everybody involved. The team can focus on pushing for a division title—something that is, incredibly, still well within reach for Kirk Cousins and Co.—while Griffin can work on rebuilding his football career.
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The imminent return of Sam Bradford: Whether it’s on Thursday or in Week 13, the Eagles will be extremely happy to get Bradford back in the lineup. That probably wasn’t something you’d hear from many fans in Philadelphia two weeks ago, but after a game and a half of Mark Sanchez, Bradford looks like Johnny Unitas. Philly has completely crumbled with No. 7 on the sideline, and any more time without him is only going to make things worse.
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That there’s only six weeks lefts in 2015: There isn’t really much the Ravens have to be thankful for—2015 has been miserable. Entering Week 12, Baltimore has 15 players on injured reserve, including Joe Flacco, Justin Forsett, Terrell Suggs, Steve Smith, Dennis Pitta and Matt Elam—all crucial starters. This season can’t end soon enough for the Ravens.
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A friendly schedule: Like Tampa Bay, Jacksonville is now enjoying its first winning streak since 2013, and are still very much in the race for the AFC South after last week’s win over the Titans (an excruciating game to watch). If the Jags can ride that momentum, some preferable matchups against the woeful Chargers and Tennessee again could see Jacksonville above .500 heading into a big Week 14 matchup against Indy.
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The NFL’s next great running back: This season has been yet another disappointing one for a team that always manages to show potential without actually reaching it. But in Todd Gurley, the Rams have a franchise-altering back, and as long as they build the St. Louis offence around him, this team will improve with No. 30 carrying it on his back.
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The bye week: The Lions got absolutely destroyed (excuse the hyperbole) by the Chiefs in London before their week off. The team took that time to clean out the front office, and now look like a whole different squad. Detroit held Green Bay and Oakland, two of the NFL’s better offences, to just 16 and 13 points, respectively, in a pair of wins since coming off the bye and now get a free-falling Philadelphia team on Thanksgiving.
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Nothing: The 49ers are dealing with a pile of injuries and controversies, the coach is inexperienced (and it shows), and the front office appears to be off the rails. San Francisco is a team in steep decline, and the end of its struggles are nowhere in sight.
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A surprisingly stout defence: While many might point to the play of rookie QB Marcus Mariota as the lone bright spot for the Titans this season, I’ve got to go with the defence. While the points allowed per game isn’t all that impressive (they rank 18th), Tennessee ranks third in passing yards allowed behind only Denver and Seattle, having surrendered more than 240 yards passing just twice in 10 games. The Titans are also tied for third in total sacks with 31—a big reason for the impressive numbers in pass defence.
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Having the best chance at the No. 1 pick: Eleven weeks into the season, and it’s the Browns who have the best shot at next year’s top pick in the draft with a 31.9 percent chance. Unfortunately for Cleveland, the top of the 2016 draft isn’t all that appealing, but when things continue to unravel like they are for this team, you take what you can get.
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Philip Rivers: The Chargers are a disaster, but if not for their star quarterback, the team would be a complete and utter disaster. Now engulfed in a league-high six-game losing streak, the one thing San Diego can boast about is its top-three passing offence and a more-than-solid player to build around in the off-season.
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