The twelfth week of the 2025 National Football League season is now in the books. Here are the four teams that won games that were not expected to win.
Houston Texans
The Texans were a 5.5 point underdog on Thursday night in prime time last week, and came away with a 23-19 win over the Buffalo Bills. With the win, the Texans improved to a record of six wins and five losses, and the Bills dropped to a record of seven wins and four losses.
What we saw in Week 12 was exceptional defense by the Texans. The Texans defensive line got to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen with complete regularity. Allen was sacked eight times. The Bills are struggling big time with certain aspects of their overall game. In recent weeks, their defensive line has been awful as they have allowed huge rushing performances against the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On Sunday, it was the Bills offensive line which was horrendous.
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were a surprise 2.5 point underdog against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. The reason for the surprise was their records. The Falcons entered the game with the better record than the Saints. At the time of kickoff, Atlanta was 3-7 and New Orleans was 2-8. Like the Texans, the Falcons had exceptional defense in their victory. Atlanta limited New Orleans to 79 rushing yards in the 24-10 win. It was a strong game for Falcons running back Bijan Robinson of Tucson, Arizona, who had 107 total yards (70 rushing yards and 37 receiving yards).
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys entered their game against the Philadelphia Eagles as a three point underdog, but came away with a 24-21 comeback win. Dallas was once down 21-0 in the contest, and then scored 24 unanswered points. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott of Sulphur, Louisiana and Cowboys wide receiver George Pickens of Sulphur, Louisiana were exceptional. Prescott completed 23 of 36 passes for 354 passing yards, with two touchdowns and one interception. Pickens, meanwhile had nine catches for 146 receiving yards and another major score. Dallas won the game on a 42 yard field goal by Brandon Aubrey of St. Louis, Missouri.
Cleveland Browns
Like the Texans and Falcons, the Browns won with great defense on Sunday. They sacked Raiders quarterback Geno Smith 10 times en route to a 24-10 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. It was only Cleveland’s third win of the entire season. The Raiders were a 3.5 point favourite.
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