Eight most shocking developments in NFL Week 12

Every week we see something that just boggles the mind.

From crazy stats to mind-numbing decision-making, there are shocking events and developments in the NFL every week. From history-setting performances to some extremely questionable coaching decisions, Week 12 had a little bit of everything.

With that in mind, we bring you the eight most shocking developments from the action.

Derek Carr channeling his inner Brett Favre to lead Oakland to victory

In this day and age, ironman quarterbacks rarely exist in the NFL.

Outside of guys like Philip Rivers, very few NFL quarterbacks are willing to play through the inevitable myriad of injuries to stay in the game and lead their team to a win.

Be it minor or major, if a quarterback is hurt, he’s usually willing to either pull himself out of the current game or sit the next one.

Enter Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.

Following a gruesome looking throwing hand injury in which he severely injured his right pinky, Carr left to the locker room for one drive before returning to lead his team to victory.

It is safe to say Carr was in considerable pain.

And while the validity of his “screaming in pain” has been contested, Carr himself has said the pain was “some of the most I had felt in my life”

Regardless, Carr disappeared for a singular drive before returning to the sidelines, glove on his throwing hand. Before you knew it, he was throwing bullets to Michael Crabtree in an attempt to warm up and test his finger.

With the Raiders floundering, having lost all semblance of momentum, Carr channeled his inner Brett Favre. After an ill-advised interception, he led the Oakland Raiders on a comeback drive that will stick with Raider fans for eternity.

With reports surfacing that Carr had dislocated his finger in two separate places, his gutty performance and willingness to fight through pain has ingrained him in the hearts and minds of the Raider faithful the world over.

Seahawks’ abysmal offensive output

With Marshawn Lynch retired, David Okung a Bronco and C.J. Prosise out with an injured shoulder, the Seattle Seahawks have been losing key members of their offense left and right.

Starting left tackle George Fant had never played as an offensive lineman before signing with the Seahawks as a rookie out of Western Kentucky. The offensive line is in complete shambles, as the front office decided to prioritize athleticism over actual ability. Tom Cable has the coaching job of his life at this point.

As a result, Russell Wilson was running for his life Sunday against a top-tier defensive front, getting sacked six times and throwing two interceptions.

At one point, Russell Wilson had ONE yard passing after being adjusted for sacks.

That’s amazing. Even more so when you consider the fact that the Seahawks have a very good quarterback in Wilson, an elite tight end in Jimmy Graham and a top wide receiver in Doug Baldwin. Yet they still couldn’t come close to scoring a touchdown.

Quite frankly, wholesale changes need to be made in that offensive meeting room this offseason, both in regards to coaching and personnel.

With the rest of the NFC West on the downslope, however, and featuring a streaky yet suffocating defense, the Seahawks can easily make a playoff push with a few tweaks to a potentially top-tier offense.

Tyreek Hill propels the Kansas City Chiefs to victory

Tyreek Hill was a little-known speedster from the University of North Alabama before this season. A prospect known more for his sudden fall from grace in college due to a domestic violence charge than he was for his abilities as a football player.

Fast forward a few months after the Kansas City Chiefs drafted him in the fifth round and Hill has arguably become the most potent weapon on an offense starving for explosiveness with an aging Jamaal Charles on injured reserve.

Following a dazzling free-kick return Sunday night, Hill both ran for a touchdown as well as caught the game-tying touchdown to send the Chiefs into overtime with a chance to win. Not only did Hill come in clutch on multiple occasions, he also evoked whispers of comparisons to an NFL legend, and for obvious reasons

Hill has been the most reliable cog on the offense with Jeremy Maclin injured. Add in some extremely underwhelming performances by Alex Smith and you could easily argue that He is the team MVP as of now.

If Hill can keep his nose out of trouble off the field, we could easily be seeing the birth of a potential NFL legend in Kansas City

Taylor Gabriel goes ham against Arizona

While Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Tylor Gabriel didn’t post mind-numbing stats, a la Julio Jones and his 300-yard receiving day against Carolina, the little-known receiver (whom the Cleveland Browns deemed unworthy of a roster spot) definitely opened eyes on Sunday.

With five touches for 102 yards and two touchdowns, the diminutive second-year player out of Abilene Christian burst out in a major way.

From slicing through the Cardinals defense in a dazzling way on the aforementioned screen touchdown pass, to taking a handoff for a 27-yard gain, Gabriel showed off the speed and agility that made him a star at Abilene Christian.

While no one is expecting the second coming of Steve Smith, the fact that Cleveland deemed him unworthy of a roster spot is baffling. Gabriel looks to continue making an impact for a red-hot Falcons team looking to make a deep playoff run.

Bears wide receivers had historic butterfingers

Let’s get this out of the way from the jump: Despite a shaky start, Matt Barkley played a very good game.

As Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun Times put it in his article following the game, Matt Barkley won; his team didn’t.

Just take a look at this little “fun fact” from the game against the Tennessee Titans.

To put it in even better (or is it worse?) context, Adam Hoge of WGN Radio discovered this nugget, via Pro Football Focus.

Yes, Matt Barkley gave the Bears multiple chances to win.

Barkley essentially won the game.

His receivers, on the other hand, gave it away in stupendous fashion.

The Bears are a floundering team with question marks at just about every position on the roster. One can easily expect John Fox to be fired this offseason, and it’s tough to see a scenario where wide receiver coach Curtis Johnson is retained as well.

Ron Rivera and his questionable decision-making

With two failed two-point conversion attempts against the Oakland Raiders, Ron Rivera has come under fire for his questionable decision-making in a tough 35-32 loss on the road to a red-hot Oakland Raiders squad.

In what seemed a bit of a panic move following a blocked PAT attempt, Rivera chose to go for two instead of taking the guaranteed points and giving his offense the chance to win the game.

Well, he isn’t called Riverboat Ron for nothing.

When teams begin to chase points in the NFL, bad things begin to happen. While Rivera would have been hailed as a genius had the two-point conversions worked, history is written by the victors.

With the Panthers at a disappointing 4-7, Rivera’s seat is getting warm despite coming off an appearance in Super Bowl 50. How he guides this team to the finish line will be key.

Jets taking the Patriots down to the wire

In arguably the best game of his career, Ryan Fitzpatrick had the New England Patriots on the ropes and was one drive away from downing the perennial Super Bowl contenders at home.

That came to an end when Chris Long managed a sack-fumble on Fitzpatrick’s potential game-winning drive in the fourth quarter.

Putting forth one of their best efforts of the 2016 season, Todd Bowles’ squad was five points away from downing Tom Brady in what could have been a signature win for the second-year head coach in what has been a depressing season for the Gang Green faithful.

With a large portion of the fan base calling for a quarterback change as Fitzpatrick continued a subpar season, the Jets signal-caller responded in a fantastic way, throwing for 269 yards and two touchdowns en route to an 115.2 quarterback rating on the night.

Despite this, the aura of the New England Patriots was too much to overcome, and the Jets fell in heartbreaking fashion at home 22-17.

Saints’ offensive explosion against LA

In what some may consider a “revenge game” for New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, he welcomed the Los Angeles Rams and former New Orleans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams into the Superdome.

Many remember Gregg Williams for his role in the “Bountygate” scandal that rocked the Saints organization a few years back. A scandal which led to Saints head coach Sean Payton being suspended from the league for an entire year.

Following a 49-21 blowout win that saw the Saints rack up an impressive 555 yards of offense, it’s safe to say Payton had some semblance of revenge on his former assistant.

From dialing up a double-pass for a touchdown while up 20 points (watch here) to averaging a fantastic 7.8 yards per offensive play, Payton engineered up an offensive onslaught to leave his mark on a talented and well-coached Rams defense.