NFL Week 12 game previews: Browns QB Shedeur Sanders to make his first career start

Cleveland Browns QB Shedeur Sanders throws a pass against Baltimore Ravens in Week 11 of 2025 NFL season
Cleveland Browns QB Shedeur Sanders throws a pass against Baltimore Ravens in Week 11 of 2025 NFL seasonJason Miller/Getty Images

Week 12 of the 2025 NFL season will host three divisional matchups, including an NFC East showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys!

Teams on a bye this week: Denver Broncos (9-2), Miami Dolphins (4-7), Los Angeles Chargers (7-4), Washington Commanders (3-8).

Let's not waste any more time and get into the previews!

And be sure to check out who our experts picked this week.

SteelersBears

The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off their sixth win of the season as they're barely holding on to their lead in the AFC North.

However, predictions for this game could sway heavily in favour of the Chicago Bears if Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers won't be active for the game as he deals with a lingering wrist injury.

Chicago has won seven of their last eight games and currently sit atop the NFC North with a 7-3 record. 

Should they win on Sunday, it'll be the first time they started a season 8-3 since 2018 - they finished that year 12-4, won the North, and got bounced in the Wild Card round of the playoffs under former head coach Matt Nagy. 

PatriotsBengals

It'll be Joe Flacco yet again for the Bengals as the team is forced to wait another week for star QB Joe Burrow to make his return from a turf toe injury that was supposedly going to sideline him throughout December. 

Cinci is currently riding a three-game skid as they're going up against a Patriots team that has won eight straight games and currently possesses the best record in the NFL at 9-2. 

Should the Pats win, it'll be the seventh time in the team's history they've reached 10-2 in a season - two times in which they went on to win the Super Bowl and the last one being in 2019, when they lost in the Wild Card to the Tennessee Titans.

GiantsLions

If trends serve the Lions right, they should win this game against the Giants. In the past six games, Detroit has alternated one win and one loss. Now, coming off a loss to the Eagles, they're due for a win, right?

New York has lost five straight, failing to score more than 20 points in three of those games. Their only two wins this season were at home as they currently carry the worst NFL road record at 0-6. 

VikingsPackers

The Packers haven't won at home since October 12th, when they barely scraped by the Bengals with a newly signed Flacco who hadn't been with the team for a full week. 

They've lost their previous two home games and were outscored by an ugly 26-20.

Minnesota's star centre Ryan Kelly was activated off the IR this week and is all set to play. They're going to need him raring to go against a Packers defence that ranks No. 6 overall. 

Green Bay has held all of their opponents to under 20 points when playing at home, while Minnesota will be playing in just their fourth road game of the season.

SeahawksTitans

Seattle's No. 9 defence will be going up against the league's worst offence that has scored more than 20 points in just one game all season long.

Tennessee holds the league's worst record at 1-9 and possess the worst point differential (-130). 

Seattle is coming off their first road loss of the season - to the 8-2 Los Angeles Rams by a score of 21-19. 

ColtsChiefs

In what most consider the game of the week, Indy's No. 1 ranked offence will be heading to Kansas City as they look to pick up their ninth win of the season. 

Both of Indy's losses this season have come on the road and up each with a scoer of 27-20. Meanwhile, the Chiefs haven't lost at home since Week 2 against the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Kansas City will have to handle a Colts team coming off their bye week as they've now lost back-to-back games, both by six points or less, as they look to prevent going 5-7 heading into next week. 

JetsRavens

The Jets will be sending out former Baltimore Ravens quarterback Tyrod Taylor for the start. Surprisingly enough, the Jets' only two wins this season have come against AFC North teams (Bengals and Browns). And they only lost to the Steelers by two points in Week 1. 

It's a different time, though. And they'll be facing a Ravens team that has now won four straight games, holding opponents to under 20 points in each of those games.

During that stretch, the Ravens have forced at least one turnover in each of the four games and a total of eight. In their previous six games? They only forced three turnovers.

Baltimore is favourited by 13.5 points this week - which is the widest spread among any of the games this week.

BrownsRaiders

In a battle of 2-8 teams, the Browns are still bringing the No. 2 defence in the entire league as they forced three turnovers against the Ravens, despite their loss.

Funny enough, both teams offences rank right next to each other at the bottom of the league - Browns at 31st and Raiders at 30th. 

It'll be rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders' first NFL start after Dillon Gabriel remains inactive with a concussion that he sustained during last week's game against the Ravens. 

Sanders went 4-for-16 passing for 47 yards and one interception. Things aren't much better on the other side. Raiders QB Geno Smith is tied for the league-lead with 13 interceptions, while running back Ashton Jeanty was held to just seven yards on six carries last week.

The game's 36.5 over-under is the lowest of any game this week. In fact, it's the only over-under that's below 40.0. 

JaguarsCardinals 

Despite the loss, Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett saw his jersey enter the Hall of Fame this past week after he set the record for most completions (47) in a single game. 

After starting the year 2-0, Arizona has lost seven of their last eight games, giving up the ninth-most points (256) this season. 

Jacksonville will look to keep their playoff hopes intact as they aim for their seventh win of the season. They've won of their last three, with their loss coming against the No. 1 ranked defence of the Texans in which they still put up 29 points. 

Tickets for this game are going for an astoundingly cheap $14. 

EaglesCowboys

In what would consider the game of the week outside of the Colts-Chiefs matchup, it's a rematch of between the two teams who kicked off the 2025 season with a 24-20 Eagles win. 

Despite their 4-5-1 record, Dallas still boasts the No. 4 offence in the entire league and have svcored the third-most points (296). 

In their 10 games, the Eagles have scored 20 or more points in only half of them. They're coming off big back-to-back wins over the Packers and Lions, holding both to a combined 16 total points, all while scoring just 26 themselves. 

Dallas will be playing in just their fourth home game of the season - going 2-1-1 in those games, making them the only team in the NFL with a winning record at home with just two wins.

FalconsSaints

In this NFC South rivalry, the Falcons will be seeing veteran Kirk Cousins at QB as starter Michael Penix Jr. remains out for the season after sustaining an ACL injury. 

Should the Saints win, they will move up in the division for the first time all season and the Falcons will fall to 0-4 against NFC South opponents. 

New Orleans is coming off a nice road upset over their NFC South rival Carolina Panthers, beating them 17-7 as rookie QB Tyler Shough earned his first career win, followed by a bye week.

Atlanta, who has now lost five straight, haven't won a game since Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills when they had the No. 1 defence - now ranked 16th.

BuccaneersRams

A big time matchup as both the Bucs and Rams look to hold the top spot in each of their respective divisions. 

Tampa has lost three of their last four (Bills, Patriots, Lions) with their one win coming against the 2-8 Saints. However, their 32 points in last week's loss to the Bills were the most they've scored in a loss this season.

They've now scored at least 23 points in the past three games. However, they'll be going up against one of the hottest teams in football that boast the No. 8 offence led by MVP-favourite QB Matthew Stafford. 

Stafford has now thrown 22 touchdowns and zero interceptions in the past seven games as the team has gone 6-1 throughout that stretch.

Panthers49ers

Carolina QB Bryce Young is coming off the best game of his young career after putting up 448 passing yards and three passing touchdowns in their overtime win over the Falcons. 

The Panthers are 5-1 in Young's last six starts, beating each opponent by seven points or less in each of the wins. 

Since starting the year 3-0, San Francisco has been alternating one win and one loss each week for the past eight games. If that track records keeps up, then they're set to lose this game against the Panthers. 

They're 2-1 against the other NFC South opponents this season, with Carolina being their final one. They're coming off a 41-22 win over the Cardinals despite being outgained a whopping 488 to 281. 

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