Big Natural’s Best of the NFL: Week 12, 2018

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NFL Week 12 2018 is now in the books, so it’s time for your boy “Big Natural” Stoney Keeley to take a look back and sort out the best, or most hilarious, moments from the week that was.

Best of NFL Week 12 2018

Your current stat leaders are:

  • Passing Yards: Matt Ryan (3,683)
  • Passing TDs: Patrick Mahomes (37)
  • Rushing Yards: Ezekiel Elliott (1,074)
  • Rushing TDs: Todd Gurley (13)
  • Receiving Yards: Julio Jones (1,305)
  • Receiving TDs: Antonio Brown, Eric Ebron, Tyreek Hill (11)
  • Sacks: Aaron Donald (14.5)
  • Interceptions: Damontae Kazee (6)

Good Turkey Day games

LOVE Thanksgiving football. I’m not too proud to admit that it’s one of the largest reasons for my enjoyment of the holiday, but it’s even more enjoyable when the games are actually good. Granted, I didn’t watch the Falcons-Saints game because I was stuffed and eventually my family and I decided to venture down to the local Wal-Mart to catch a glimpse of all the madness.

But, man – that Bears-Lions game was awesome. My uncles, cousins, and I were glued to the television for that one. Though we tried to make time to enjoy the company of our fellow family members, we pretty much did the same thing during Cowboys-R-Words. Now, if we can get games like that every year??? That would be awesome. The NFL needs to keep this tradition going by looking into the future and seeing who will be good in November before scheduling next year’s games.

Hope you all had as lovely a Thanksgiving as I did.

The Hue Jackson beef

Don’t get it – don’t get it at all. I mean, I find it hilarious – don’t get me wrong. But, did Baker Mayfield forget the fact that Jackson was fired? Like, they asked him to leave. It’s not like he just stood up in a meeting one day and said, “fuck you guys. I’m going to Cincinnati!” He had the right to work for anyone who would have him, and let’s be real…given his track record over the last two years, he’s lucky that anybody wanted him.

I’m a big Mayfield guy, but he’s way off base here. I definitely don’t understand why that locker room feels like Jackson is a “traitor.” It’s like that scene in Wedding Crashers when Owen Wilson calls Vince Vaughn a hillbilly. You can understand why he’s mad, but damn man, ‘hillbilly’ is not the right word there.

Blake Bortles benched

On to my favorite news of the week, the Jags benched Bortles in favor of Cody Kessler, who I’ve been a big fan of for quite some time now. I love it – it just makes me so happy to see the Jags in such turmoil. But, what a dumb decision to extend Bortles – we called it dumb when it happened, and now that we’re 11 games into the season, it looks even worse. No clue what Doug Marrone is going to do to salvage this situation, but the Jags aren’t anywhere near the team that went to the AFC Championship last season.

AFC Wild Card race

Whew, boy – who do you go with here? I mean, it looks pretty obvious that the Los Angeles Chargers are taking that #5 spot, and I genuinely believe the AFC to be five deep with teams that could realistically make it to the Super Bowl. Been a while since we had this type of parity on that side of the league. But, that #6 spot? Man, it’s anybody’s ball game.

Right now, the Baltimore Ravens are holding it down, but they certainly don’t look like the best team of this bunch. They have the tiebreaker over the Indianapolis Colts based on conference record right now, but the Colts are playing far better football.

Then, you have a host of teams at 5-6 – Miami, Cincinnati, Denver, and Tennessee. The Titans are the odd team out because of all the tiebreaking procedures and losing to practically every team that’s ranked ahead of them right now. But, the Broncos are the real dark horse of this bunch. That’s a good football team that’s played the best of the best in the NFL. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see them sneak up and grab that second wild card.

I said before the season started that Miami and Cincinnati were both being underrated heading into the season. I still believe they’re better than people thought they’d be, but their seasons are starting to slip away. Don’t rule out the Cleveland Browns, either, who are sitting there at 4-6-1. If 9-7 gets you in, then the Jags, Jets, and Raiders are the only teams who are definitively out of this race. Crazy.

Of this hodgepodge of teams, I’d put my money on the Colts snagging that #6 spot.

Here comes the offseason talk

Yep – here we are. Unfortunately, the season has flown by to this point. Now, we’re starting to read articles about draft order, what the 2019 draft class is looking like, which coaches are going to be fired, who’s set to hit free agency, etc. etc.

I’m bringing this up to alert those of you who don’t already realize this so you can take time to enjoy the moment the rest of the season.

Tom Brady: NFL career passing leader

Brady went for 20/31 for 283 yards and two touchdowns against the New York Jets, and so became the all-time leader in passing yards in NFL history. This is your reminder that he is the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL. @ me.

Reuben Foster to Washington

Just a completely tone deaf move that I am not on board with. Personally, I don’t think Foster should be in the NFL right now coming off another domestic abuse arrest. But, leave it to the R-Words, who are champions of ‘tone deaf,’ to sign the guy. They say his talent is worth the risk, but I don’t think he deserves the reward of continuing to play in the NFL. SMDH.

The Panthers are sliding

Ever since I called them a dark horse Super Bowl contender, the Panthers have lost games. Literally, it’s three in a row after losing to the Seahawks over the weekend. Now, they’re on the outside looking in on the playoffs and their defense is struggling. So, here is my sincerest apology to the entire city of Charlotte because I’ve obviously cursed them.

Amari Cooper: NFC Player of the Week

LOL. ‘Member when Jon Gruden traded away all his best players?

Who’s the best?

My quick NFL Power Rankings for the week:

  1. New Orleans Saints
  2. Los Angeles Rams
  3. Kansas City Chiefs
  4. New England Patriots
  5. Chicago Bears
  6. Houston Texans
  7. Pittsburgh Steelers
  8. Los Angeles Chargers
  9. Minnesota Vikings
  10. Indianapolis Colts

My quick NFL Draft order for 2019:

  1. Oakland Raiders
  2. San Francisco 49ers
  3. Arizona Cardinals
  4. New York Jets
  5. Jacksonville Jaguars

Current Super Bowl Prediction: New Orleans vs. Kansas City
Current AFC Championship Prediction: Kansas City vs. New England
Current NFC Championship Prediction: Los Angeles vs. New Orleans
Current NFL MVP Favorite: Patrick Mahomes

Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Alabama Crimson Tide football, the WWE, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley

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