The NFL playoffs are starting to come into view. For the next two-plus months, we’ll probably be talking about the same 16 or so teams.
So, it was nice to highlight the other half of the league in NFL Week 12. No matter how bad their seasons, even the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys deserve some love from time to time.
We give them their flowers — plus revisit another absurd game by Saquon Barkley — in PFN’s Week 12 NFL Awards.
NFL Offensive Player of the Week
Saquon Barkley | Philadelphia Eagles
The MVP race has a new candidate. Barkley is having the type of season that should make people reassess their priors about running backs.
He’s having a historic season in Philadelphia, and Week 12 was a historic game.
Barkley, in the Eagles’ win over the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, set the franchise’s single-game record for rushing yards, going for 255 yards — the ninth-most in league history — on 26 carries.
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Reply that you love Saquon Barkley.@saquon | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/0h0Whzyn49— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 25, 2024
Barkley, the league’s rushing leader entering Week 13 (1,392), had the second-most yards over expectation in NFL history (150), per NFL’s Next Gen Stats.
“He’s the best in the league. He’s the best at what he does,” Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said postgame. “He’s a bad man.”
Honorable mentions: Tua Tagovailoa, Jordan Addison, Josh Jacobs
NFL Defensive Player of the Week
Myles Garrett | Cleveland Browns
The best defensive performance in Week 12 was the first defensive performance of Week 12. Don’t let the passage of time erase what Myles Garrett did in the Browns’ stunning upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers last Thursday.
Garrett was ridiculous in the snow, finishing with three sacks and eight pressures on 30 pass-rush snaps — an absurd 26.7% pressure rate. Garrett also posted three tackles for loss.
It’s the kind of performance that should get him renewed consideration for a second straight Defensive Player of the Year award. The Browns’ record works against him, of course.
But Garrett has had every bit the season that front-runner T.J. Watt has had.
Honorable mentions: Danielle Hunter, Leonard Williams, Coby Bryant
NFL Special Teams Player of the Week
KaVontae Turpin | Dallas Cowboys
Want to see poetry in motion? Watch KaVontae Turpin’s 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown late in the Dallas Cowboys’ Week 12 34-26 upset of the Washington Commanders.
The return almost ended in catastrophe before it even began. Turpin let the ball go through his legs and nearly into the end zone. The Commanders surely wished he simply fell on it.
Instead, Turpin picked it up and started right before doing a 360-degree spin away from Washington’s coverage team that slingshot him through an opening down the left sideline.
Tuprin’s speed did the rest. He reached a top speed of 21.35 mph on the return, per Next Gen Stats, giving him three of the 20 fastest plays for a ball carrier in the NFL this season. Turpin finished the day with 179 kickoff return yards.
Honorable mentions: Will Lutz, Blake Gillikin, Nick Folk
NFL Rookie of the Week
Chop Robinson | Miami Dolphins
Drake Maye is the latest quarterback to, in the words of Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, get “Chopped Up!”
After a quiet yet still solid start to his NFL career, Chop Robinson has taken his game to another level.
Robinson had 25 pressures and 3.5 sacks in the month of November, including 10 (most in the league in Week 12) and 1.5 in the Dolphins’ 34-15 beatdown of the Patriots.
Robinson’s 38.5% pressure rate in that game was the most in the league among defenders with 25 or more pass-rush snaps in Week 12.
Honorable mentions: Bo Nix, Bucky Irving, Caleb Williams
NFL Play of the Week
KaVontae Turpin’s 99-Yard TD Return | Dallas Cowboys
We’ve covered this ground already, so instead of rehashing it again, simply enjoy the video.
99 YARDS TO THE 🏡@KaVontaeTurpin was gone!!
📺: #DALvsWAS on FOX
📲: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/LvklCbYJ1e pic.twitter.com/4ckMWDEDPL— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) November 24, 2024
Honorable mentions: DPI can’t stop Rashod Bateman, Coby Bryant’s pick-six, late house call by Scary Terry
NFL Coach of the Week
Kevin Stefanski | Cleveland Browns
Most of the ink spilled about Kevin Stefanski in 2024 has been about his job security.
And certainly, he and Andrew Berry will at some point have to answer for the Deshaun Watson debacle — even if Sports Illustrated reports that both are likely to keep their jobs after this season.
But what Stefanski did on national TV Thursday night deserves praise.
No one gave the Browns a chance against the Steelers. But a reclamation project at quarterback (Jameis Winston) and a running back with a twice-reconstructed left knee (Nick Chubb) did enough to shock the world.
Honorable mentions: Brian Callahan, Mike McCarthy, John Harbaugh
NFL Goat of the Week
Larry Izzo | Washington Commanders
There have been five kickoffs returned for touchdowns since the NFL switched to the new “dynamic” format.
The Commanders surrendered two of those five in the last three minutes of their Week 12 loss to the Cowboys.
Turpin’s remarkable return was the start of Washington special teams coordinator Larry Izzo’s nightmare.
After the Commanders pulled within a point with 21 seconds left, Izzo dialed up the least effective onsides kick of the year — a dribbler that Juanyeh Thomas was able to snatch in stride and return 43 yards for another score.
Washington’s special teams EPA for the game? A garish -5.56.
Honorable mentions: Corliss Waitman, Shaq Mason
NFL Unsung Hero of the Week
Cam Jurgens | Philadelphia Eagles
Jason Kelce is still overshadowing the Eagles’ offensive line in retirement.
While Kelce has become officially overexposed, the guy who replaced him as Philadelphia’s center — Cam Jurgens — is just quietly going about his business.
Jurgens allowed zero sacks or pressures in 26 pass-blocking snaps and helped set the tone for a run game that churned out a ridiculous 314 yards on 45 carries (7.0 yards per).
The Eagles collectively had the league’s third-best OFF+ rating (81.1), and that wouldn’t have been possible without Jurgens leading the way.
Honorable mentions: Zach Sieler, Quay Walker, Ryan Stonehouse