The Washington Commanders had the mini-bye after Week 11’s Thursday Night Football loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, which, at least for the time being, ceded control of the NFC East to the Eagles. The Commanders will get the chance to take out any lingering frustrations from that loss on the Dallas Cowboys, who are limping into their Week 12 trip to Washington having lost five straight games. Their home woes are well documented, but the 3-7 Cowboys are actually 3-2 on the road and were at least competitive in road losses to the 49ers and Falcons which can’t be said for any of their home games this season.
Also in the early Sunday window, the 9-1 Lions (at Colts) and 9-1 Chiefs (at Panthers) are favored to both make it to 10 wins this week. The last time two teams had reached double-digit wins this early was in 2019, when New England and San Francisco were both 10-1 after Week 12. The 49ers wound up in the Super Bowl that season, losing to the Chiefs, while the Patriots stumbled a bit down the stretch in Tom Brady’s final season with the club and lost in the wild-card round.
(Byes: Bengals, Bills, Falcons, Jaguars, Jets, Saints)