This is Thanksgiving week, and the Cowboys-Jets game provided national viewers a battle of field position, and in one of the best special teams plays you'll see, down by a point in the 4th quarter, Jets kicker Jim Turner faked his way into a pooch punt that rolled and stopped exactly in front of the goal line. That set up Gerry Philbin to take Don Meredith down in the end zone for the go-ahead safety. Then, with the immediate possession, New York could milk the clock and add on a Turner field goal to secure a 18-14 victory over Dallas. On offense, it's worth highlighting Don Maynard continuing to be a veteran lifesaver, hauling in 12 catches for 144 yards today.
The primetime Thanksgiving game pitted the Oilers against the Falcons, and the country learned who Morris Stroud is today. Here you see the behemoth tight end pinning the football to his shoulder for his 2nd of 3 receiving TDs, all in the first half. This is his second 3-TD game of the season and he is at 10 TD overall, impressive for a rookie tight end. The Oilers keep up for a while but Atlanta pulls away in the 3rd quarter and the Falcons defeat Houston 31-23. While Stroud dominated on offense, Tommy Nobis continues to build his DPOY campaign with 13 total tackles, 2 for a loss.
Moving on to Sunday's slate, the biggest headline is this 65-yard touchdown catch by Art Powell over Chiefs cornerback Emmitt Thomas. This simultaneously set two records: Powell's 100th career receiving TD moved him past HOFer Don Hutson for the all-time receiving TD mark, and he also crossed Raymond Berry's receiving yard mark (Powell will now be chasing Lionel Taylor who got past Berry first.)
The milestone would be hollow if Oakland didn't escape Kansas City with the win, and they needed overtime to figure that out but Daryle Lamonica secured it with a TD pass to Billy Masters, and so the final score was Raiders 29, Chiefs 23 (OT). In addition to Powell, the Raiders offense was propelled by Larry Brown's 150+ yards from scrimmage and a score. Kansas City's defense did their best to keep this game in hand, with 2 interceptions by the aforementioned Emmitt Thomas, and 3 sacks by Aaron Brown.
On the very first play from scrimmage, Seattle's Larry Garron spins past Willie West and shakes off Pete Jaquess en route to a 77-yard touchdown run. And that sets the tone for a trackmeet at the Kingdome, which the Seahawks survive 52-42. Garron finishes the day with over 200 yards from scrimmage and 2 TDs. It's shocking that this happened at all, given Dolphins starting QB Dick Wood got knocked out of the game early, but George Wilson Jr. was raring to go, throwing 5 TD passes in the loss.
Other Week 12 Results
Green Bay Packers 37, Detroit Lions 34. This was the early Thanksgiving game and it delivered in its own right, with some big hits and a late comeback attempt by the home team that fell just short. Bart Starr threw for over 300 yards in spite of being knocked around all day, and Bill Munson threw 3 TD passes for Detroit.
Orlando Jaguars 30, Buffalo Bills 23. Pete Beathard throws it all around the yard for 356 yards against the visiting Bills defense. They do manage to mostly lock up usual Jags sparkplug Floyd Little, but he performs where it counts, converting a key 3rd down in the waning minutes to prevent Buffalo from having a chance at a game-tying drive. Lineman Rex Mirich had a sack and an interception for Orlando's defensive effort.
San Francisco 49ers 42, New Orleans Saints 35. San Francisco exploded for a 28-point 1st quarter and never relinquished the lead despite a late New Orleans surge. Tight end Jim Cox got a lot of use in the red zone, with 3 TDs on just 21 yards. And as always, Ken Willard dominates most defenses like today, where he finishes with 172 rushing yards and 2 TDs.
Minnesota Vikings 38, New York Giants 21. The Purple People Eaters are happy to give old friend Fran Tarkenton some medicine, as they combine to sack him 5 times. Ben Wilcox is in for an injured Ernie Koy at punter and he gets blocked by Minnesota's usual kickoff returner Billy Thompson. New York's Calvin Hill still has a 100-yard day despite the loss.
Tennessee Titans 24, Cleveland Browns 14. The Browns are on a bad slide, losing their 3rd straight and getting upset by the visiting Titans. Tennessee rookie Joe Taylor has a fine day at cornerback with a forced fumble and an interception.
Denver Broncos 14, Chicago Bears 10. The lake effect was strong in Chicago as a thick fog covered the field for most of this game. Denver did not score until the 2nd half but they barely got enough to win. Lonnie Wright led the Broncos with 7 tackles, forced a fumble and intercepted a pass.
St. Louis Cardinals 13, Birmingham Ravens 10. Al Woodall was having an awful game, 2/11 with 2 picks, before being injured, and Max Choboian came in to turn it around for St. Louis. The constant was Johnny Roland, who toted the rock 30 times for 153 yards.
Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Baltimore Colts 16. The Steelers turn it on in the 4th quarter with 17 unanswered points. Colts rookie Fred Dryer gets another 2 sacks and reaches double digits in his first NFL season.
Cincinnati Bengals 27, San Diego Chargers 22. Jim Beirne has been hot and cold this season, but the southern California air gets him warmed up as he goes for 156 receiving yards and a TD in the Bengals victory.
Washington Redskins 20, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16. It's an ugly win, but Washington remains at the top of the conference. Sonny Jurgensen only completes 8 passes, but it helps when half of them go to Charley Taylor who can rack up the YAC.
Los Angeles Rams 26, Las Vegas Panthers 23.
Philadelphia Eagles 17, New England Patriots 14.
