Week 12 of the 2025 NFL season is officially here. The Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans kick it off in what should be a thrilling matchup on Thursday night, and as always, there are a ton of other intriguing matchups throughout the weekend as well.

From Shedeur Sanders’ first start to a potential disaster for the Kansas City Chiefs, here are the top storylines for Week 12.

How will Dallas’ new-look defense look against real competition?

The 3-5-1 Dallas Cowboys made moves at the NFL trade deadline, adding both Logan Wilson and Quinnen Williams to help bolster one of the worst defenses in the NFL. Since they made those additions, Dallas has played just one game against the Raiders, and they won pretty handily. Their defense looked pretty solid, giving up 16 points, seven of which came in garbage time. But how will their defense look against real competition?

I know the Eagles’ offense has struggled this year, and right now they may be playing their worst football of the season, but this is still a massive test for Dallas’ defense. No matter how bad Philly is playing, all it takes is one week for them to get right. They have an elite offensive line, a mobile quarterback, two star receivers and one of the best running backs in all of football. All it takes is one good drive for them to get going.

So, how will Dallas fare against their NFC East rivals? It all starts up front. Dallas doesn’t have a great pass rush, but the addition of Williams immediately changed that. On Monday night, Williams lived in Vegas’ backfield, racking up seven pressures, three QB hits and 1.5 sacks. He also helped Dallas completely stifle Vegas’ rushing attack, holding them to 27 yards on 12 carries.

I don’t expect them to be as efficient against this Eagles offensive line, but I expect them to be better than they’ve been all season. Williams will have to carry the brunt of the load, but they’ll still be relying on him to put some pressure on Jalen Hurts and help slow down Saquon Barkley.

It will also be interesting to see how Logan Wilson fares against Dallas Goedert. The Cowboys desperately needed a linebacker who could cover, and Wilson stepped in and played 29 coverage snaps, where he allowed just 16 yards in his first game with the team. Can he replicate that performance on Sunday? Or can Goedert consistently beat him?

This new-look Dallas defense isn’t going to be a top-10 unit, but it will be intriguing to see how they play against an offense as talented as Philly’s.

Can the Chiefs avoid disaster?

The Chiefs are sitting at 5-5 through their first 10 games and are currently a game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars, who hold the tiebreaker over them, so they are essentially two games out of the playoffs. Add on the fact that with Denver’s win last week, the Broncos now have a four-game lead over Kansas City in the AFC West, and things are looking very grim for the Chiefs. Now the Chiefs have to host one of the best teams in the NFL, the Indianapolis Colts.

I don’t think I really need to say it, but a loss here would be catastrophic for the Chiefs. They’d fall to 5-6, and considering their biggest rival for a Wild Card spot, the Jaguars, are playing a 3-7 Arizona team, they could easily find themselves two games back (really three with the tiebreaker) from the 7-seed.

Our staff predictions piece hasn’t come out yet, but I’ll give you a bit of a spoiler: I have Kansas City winning this game. I think they have a good enough defense to slow down Jonathan Taylor and force Daniel Jones to beat them with his arm. The last time a team did that, the Colts lost. It’s pretty much impossible to completely neutralize Taylor, but holding him to 75 yards and a touchdown is very much in the realm of possibility this week.

If they can slow Taylor down, they’ll force Jones to win a duel with Patrick Mahomes. That’s just not going to happen, especially in Arrowhead with Kansas City’s season on the line. He is going to win that matchup 99 times out of 100, so I think the Chiefs can avoid disaster and keep within striking distance of the playoffs. But if they can’t, they have basically no room for error the rest of the season.

What will Shedeur Sanders look like with a full week of practice?

Shedeur Sanders was BAD in his NFL debut. He completed four of his 16 passes for 47 yards and threw an interception while being sacked twice. He wasn’t helped by his receivers or offensive line, but still, that is a horrible debut for someone as hyped as him.

Social media has been split between Shedeur lovers and haters. His fans are screaming from the rooftops that Kevin Stefanski sabotaged him in practice and didn’t give him reps, and that’s why he struggled. The haters are saying that’s how it is for every backup quarterback; he just sucks.

I don’t buy into the whole he’s being sabotaged thing. Stefanski is coaching for his job this year. There’s absolutely no reason he would sabotage Sanders, knowing that there’s a good chance he’ll need him at some point this year. Also, what he struggled with on Sunday is something he struggled with his entire career at Colorado. He just holds onto the ball too long and lets pressure get to him. His average time to throw on Sunday was 3.31 seconds. The only quarterback with a longer time to throw this season is Caleb Williams.

Do I think he’ll improve with a whole week of practice as QB1? Yes, it will certainly help him. However, I don’t think one week of first team reps can coach a career’s worth of experience holding onto the football too long out of him. He has the luxury of playing Las Vegas this week, but I still don’t think he’s going to be great.

Can Buffalo avoid another trap game?

The Bills fell victim to a trap game a couple of weeks ago when the Miami Dolphins dominated them. Now, after a big win over Tampa Bay last week, they need to make sure they don’t fall victim to another one.

The Bills have to travel to Houston on Thursday night to face one of the stingiest defenses in the NFL. The Texans rank first in points per game allowed (16.3) and total yards allowed (258.1), and third in passing yards allowed (171) and rushing yards allowed (87.1) per game. They have given pretty much everyone they’ve played fits, and Buffalo should be no exception.

I know the Bills’ offense can be very potent when they’re playing well, but this defense is different than anyone else they’ve faced. Every yard is going to be hard to come by and points will be at a premium. Josh Allen and Co. need to make sure they bring their A game on TNF, because if they don’t, this could very easily be their fourth loss of the season.

Can the Eagles or Rams take control of the NFC?

Right now, the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams are in a deadlock. They’re both 8-2 and are 1-2 in the NFC playoff picture. Right now, the Eagles hold the edge in a tiebreaker, but they both have tough matchups this week, so I’ll be interested to see if either of them can seize the opportunity and potentially take a one-game lead in the conference.

The Eagles will play first on Sunday, traveling to Dallas to take on the Cowboys at 4:25 pm ET. I know the Cowboys are 4-5-1 on the season, but they have an elite offense and a defense that looked really good with their new additions on Monday Night Football. Add on the fact that Philly’s offense has been struggling greatly in recent weeks, and this game could end up coming down to the wire.

The Rams will host the Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football in a big NFC showdown. The Bucs aren’t as good as they were to start the season, but they’re still a dangerous team that can beat anyone on any given Sunday. I think the Rams win this game, but it won’t be easy.

If either of these teams drops this week’s game, the other will take firm control over the NFC. They’ll have a one-game lead over the rest of the pack and will control their own destiny. These two games should be very entertaining and will ultimately play a big role in deciding the NFC’s seeding.

Will the Bears get lucky again?

I’ve hit on this topic probably 100 times now, but the Chicago Bears are the luckiest team in the NFL. The Bears blocked a last-second kick to beat a 2-8 Raiders team by one. They only beat a 3-7 Cincinnati team because of a miracle 58-yard touchdown to their tight end in the closing seconds after giving up a two-score lead in the final minutes. They came back to beat the 2-9 Giants, but only after Jaxson Dart was knocked out for the game. Then, last week, they gave up a lead in the closing seconds, but Minnesota’s special teams gave up a big return, putting the Bears in range for a game-winning field goal.

They are the most fraudulent 7-3 team I’ve ever seen, and the worst part is, they’re about to get lucky again this week. Aaron Rodgers broke his wrist last week and either won’t play or will be nowhere near 100 percent in this game. If he were healthy, I’d say Pittsburgh wins by a touchdown, but I don’t trust Mason Rudolph to score more than 14 points.

The Bears are about to get bailed out again, but I still believe the meltdown is coming.

What magic does Joe Flacco have in potentially his last start?

The Cincinnati Bengals traded for Joe Flacco a few weeks ago, and he’s been nothing but pure electricity since suiting up in the orange and black. However, his time in Cincy may be coming to an end soon. Last week, Joe Burrow revealed that he could be ready to suit up as early as Week 13, meaning this could be Flacco’s last game as a starter for the Bengals.

If it is, I think he’s got some magic left in him for one last run. We’ve seen him sling the ball all over the field, and this week should be no exception. The Patriots have a very good defense, and they’re especially good at defending the run. If they can stuff Chase Brown early, Flacco’s going to have to throw the football 30+ times to try and keep up with Drake Maye, and it could turn into a firework show.

In his first few games with the Bengals, Flacco targeted Ja’Marr Chase 19+ times a game. I think we could end up seeing a similar figure this week. He’s never had a receiver like Chase in his career, so he’s going to take full advantage of him in what could be his last game, not only this year, but of his career should he retire this offseason.

I hope we get to see Flacco throw the ball all over the field. He’s had an incredible run in Cincy, so one last hoorah would be much appreciated by the fans.

Is Tyler Shough the future in New Orleans?

As a Saints fan, this game against the Atlanta Falcons is huge. Not just because it’s an NFC South rivalry, but because this game will really show us what Tyler Shough has in him.

In his first start, Shough didn’t look all that great, throwing for 176 yards, one touchdown and one interception in a big loss to the Rams. Granted, that was against a very, very talented defense, and the Saints only had the ball for 16 minutes. In his last game, though, Shough looked really sharp, completing 70.4 percent of his passes for 282 yards and two scores against a pretty solid Carolina defense. It wasn’t just the numbers, though. He made some plays on third down with pressure in his face, and he showed off his arm talent, fitting some throws into extremely tight windows.

So, which version of Shough will we see this weekend? The one that made some mistakes against the Rams, or the one that carved up the Panthers’ secondary? If he plays well, it bodes well for the Saints moving forward. Maybe he can actually become their quarterback of the future. If not, though, people will start second-guessing the Saints’ second-round pick and speculating whether or not they’ll use their first-rounder on a quarterback in 2026.