With week 12 emerging in the NFL, some issues have arisen from week 11. Many injuries, controversies and questions emerge with various teams. Within these many dilemmas between each team, five NFL teams pose long-term questions after week 11.
The Kansas City Chiefs have been struggling throughout the season to perform as well as they have in the past. The Chiefs have lost two games straight and are slated to play the 8-2 Indianapolis Colts in week 12. The Chiefs lost to the Chargers and Broncos, which are the top two teams in the division, but won against the Raiders, resulting in them having only won two out of three division games so far. For the past three years, the Chiefs have been in the Super Bowl and were seen as one of the top teams entering the 2025-2026 season. Currently, the Chiefs are in the hunt and are not slotted in the playoffs as of week 11. The team is third in their AFC West division with a record of 5-5, and all of their five losses have been one-possession score losses. This leaves the posing question of: what can the Kansas City Chiefs do to try and become the team they used to be? The Chiefs are playing average football, which is how most teams are performing, but for the Chiefs, that is not what they are accustomed to. There are many different obstacles within their offense and defense. On the offensive side, players are not getting open, and nobody is stepping up to make these plays happen. On the defensive side, they are having trouble stopping the other team from throwing it down the field and penalties have been given. The team overall needs to find its consistency and stand out, which they are lacking this year.
Week 11 for the Pittsburgh Steelers was not the brightest week for them in terms of injuries. Their starting quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, is now possibly ruled out with a small fracture in his left, non-throwing wrist. Rodgers is a new addition and has added a veteran to this offense position. With Rodgers possibly out with an injury, this now makes the franchise wonder: what are the Pittsburgh Steelers going to do with their quarterback situation against the 7-3 Chicago Bears in week 12? If Rodgers is going to be out in that game, they have the choice to put in their second-string quarterback, Mason Rudolph. This is Rudolph’s seventh year in the NFL, and he has had an average completion rate of 64.1%. Rudolph poses as a safe option for the Steelers’ offense for the time it takes for Rodgers to recover.
Kyle Shanahan’s San Francisco 49ers team has gone through injury after injury on both the defense and the offensive side of the ball. One of the many injuries that occurred was to the starting quarterback, Brock Purdy, with a toe injury. Back-up quarterback Mac Jones has filled in for Purdy, leading the team to many victories and being 5-3 as a starter. The top story circling before week 11 was: who is going to be the starting quarterback for this offense now that Purdy is healed? The team went with Purdy to begin in week 11. Purdy went 19/26 and had 200 yards with three touchdowns, coming out with the win of 41-22 against the Arizona Cardinals. Purdy renewed his contract this season for five years and $265 million with the 49ers. Jones, on the other hand, has a two-year deal worth $7 million. Because Jones led the team to many wins while Purdy was injured, Jones may have an opportunity to be traded next season to a team that could need a starting quarterback. As of week 12, Purdy is going to continue to be the starting quarterback unless Shanahan says otherwise.
The Arizona Cardinals had a rough week 11 game against the San Francisco 49ers. They not only lost the game in the end result of 41-22, 49ers, but the defense also had 17 penalties for 130 yards during this game. The Cardinals are currently 3-7 and last in the NFC West division. The questions starting to emerge in Arizona are: can the Cardinals become disciplined and avoid causing their team multiple penalties? The main issue within this team that is possibly causing many of the penalties is the injuries. The injuries now lead the Cardinals to have to rely on many second-string players. All the team can do is help guide these second-string players to reduce the number of penalties within each of their positions.
The New York Jets have been struggling to win games and have had some poor quarterback play within the past few years. The team going into week 12 is last in the AFC East division with a record of 2-8. Currently, the team’s starting quarterback is Justin Fields, who is 128/204 with 1,259 yards and only seven touchdowns within the past nine games that he has started in. The posing question within this team is: should the Jets bench Justin Fields? The team needs to evaluate which quarterback is going to fit their offense the best between Fields and Tyrod Taylor. Fields has not been performing as well as the Jets had hoped when they picked him up this year. Trying out Taylor would not be a stretch because Fields is not producing the numbers that the team needs to win games.
With those five teams having to make decisions for their franchises, this outlines the various decisions that many teams have to face to keep their team in the playoff picture. Can these teams make the most beneficial moves for each of their teams? We will have to see what week 12 brings to these NFL teams.
