5 Super Bowl pretenders after Week 12 of 2021 NFL season
The holiday season is one fueled by dreams, and the NFL's is no different: as the calendar flips to December, almost every one of the league's 32 teams is either in a playoff spot and the Super Bowl hopes that come with it or within striking distance of them.
Alas, however, like every kid who wanted a PlayStation and ended up with tube socks, disappointment is part of the process, especially in the last week of November.
Which NFL teams have had to put their Super Bowl dreams on hold after Week 12?
Cleveland Browns
Only the star-crossed Browns could allow 16 points or less five times over a six-game stretch and post a 3-3 mark in that full span. Only the Browns, perhaps, could force an NFL MVP candidate like Lamar Jackson into four aerial mistakes and still come up empty. But that's the situation the Browns find themselves in as they try to create consecutive NFL playoff berths for the first time since the late 80s.
#CLEvsBAL #Ravens 16 #Browns 10 Final https://t.co/EVjmGL2BD7
Sitting at 6-6, and right behind a logjam for the final AFC wild card spot, the Browns might have a friend in the NFL's schedule-making department. They're about to enjoy a rare December bye week and have an instant opportunity for redemption against the same Baltimore Ravens that beat them on Sunday night. It'll mean nothing, however, if their offense doesn't wake up.
The endeavor became a little more difficult on Tuesday: lead blocker Jack Conklin is out for the season after suffering a torn patella tendon in his first half of action after returning from an elbow injury that required a trip to injured reserve.
Dallas Cowboys
It was anything but a happy holiday for the Cowboys, who dropped their third consecutive Thanksgiving contest in heartbreaking fashion. A classic marred by penalties ended with Dallas on the wrong end of a 36-33 overtime shootout against the Las Vegas Raiders. Though the Cowboys (7-4) have picked the "right" games to lose — each of their last three losses have come against AFC competition — November was a concerning stretch for America's Team.
RAIDERS WIN! RAIDERS WIN!
📺: #LVvsDAL on CBS
📱: NFL app https://t.co/eBC9rcrcQA
They've dropped three of their last four games and let up a season-worst 509 yards to the Raiders. After forcing 14 turnovers over their first six games, they've taken away only five over the most recent five.
An NFC East title also isn't as assured as it once was: both Philadelphia and Washington are only two games behind the Cowboys in the win column with three matchups remaining against the two rivals.
Los Angeles Chargers
On paper, the Chargers (6-5) should be an offensive juggernaut more than capable of keeping pace in the AFC West. Yet, they've been a roller-coaster since a 4-1 start, having gone 2-4 since and unable to string together consecutive wins since their bye back in Week 7. Last Sunday provided a chance to keep pace with the idle Chiefs and put a fellow divisional chaser in dire straits, but they fell by a 28-13 final to the Denver Broncos. A pair of Justin Herbert interceptions, both landing in the arms of Patrick Surtain II in enemy territory, sealed LA's fate.
Patrick Surtain II 🏠📞
https://t.co/6MsqeK0KmO
Tiebreakers currently bestow the final AFC playoff spot to the Chargers ahead of their divisional brethren from Denver and Las Vegas. Half of their remaining games, one against each foe, serve as an AFC West civil war.