NFL Week 12 grades: Patriots get 'D-' for embarrassing loss to Giants, Jaguars earn 'A-' for topping Texans

Welcome to the Week 12 grades!

It took 23 years as Patriots coach, but it appears that Bill Belichick has finally hit rock bottom in the NFL . The "Patriot Way" is now the "Wrong Way." The Patriots suffered one of the most embarrassing losses of Week 12 in a 10-7 setback to the Giants .

If you're wondering how bad things got, here's a small taste:

They became the first NFL team in 30 years to lose back-to-back games despite surrendering 10 or fewer points in each game.

Belichick has now lost two straight games when his team allowed 10 or fewer points. Before this season, Belichick had only lost two such games in 28 seasons as a head coach.

NFL teams are 49-2 this season when allowing 10 or fewer points, which breaks down like this: The Patriots are 1-2 while the rest of the league is 48-0.

Like we said, it's been ugly.

With that in mind, let's get to the grades for Week 12, starting with the Patriots' loss (If you want to see the grades for the Thanksgiving games and Black Friday game, be sure to).

N.Y. Giants 10-7 over New England

atriots Bill Belichick played mind games all week about who his starting QB would be, and as it turns out, it didn't matter, because they were both bad. Mac Jones started the game, but he was benched at halftime after throwing two interceptions. Bailey Zappe played the second half and although he did lead a TD drive, he threw a back-breaking interception in the fourth quarter. This entire loss was an indictment on Belichick. Not only did his quarterbacks struggle, but his hand-picked rookie kicker missed a 35-yard field goal that would have sent the game to OT. After a loss like this, it's starting to feel more and more like the Patriots will be moving on from Belichick after this season.
C+ Giants The Patriots offense has been horrible this year and the Giants took advantage of that on Sunday. The Giants were able to come away with a win thanks to a defense that came away with three interceptions. Bobby Okereke made one of the biggest plays of the game with a 55-yard interception return in the second quarter that set up a Tommy DeVito TD pass. The Giants also got a field goal following a Xavier McKinney interception in the second half. Although the offense struggled, it did show some flashes at times, especially when DeVito threw the ball to Jalin Hyatt , who caught five passes for 109 yards. The Giants have somehow now won two straight games, which should have this team feeling good heading into their Week 13 bye.

Patriots-Giants grades by John Breech (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter .)

Atlanta 24-15 over New Orleans

aints If the Saints could have done anything in the red zone, they probably would have won this game, but they completely fell apart every time they drove inside Atlanta's 20 on Sunday. The Saints made five trips into the red zone and they came away with zero touchdowns. Two of those trips ended with a turnover, including a brutal 92-yard pick-six thrown by Derek Carr . The Saints' other problem in this game is that their defense got steamrolled for 228 yards on the ground. This was an ugly overall performance by a team that had extra time to prepare for the Falcons because they were coming off a bye. alcons The Falcons finally decided it was time to get the football to their best playmakers - and surprise, surprise - that strategy actually paid off. Bijan Robinson totaled 123 yards and two touchdowns on 19 touches. The Falcons running back caught a 26-yard TD in the fourth quarter that essentially iced the game. Drake London also got involved on offense with five catches for 91 yards. The Falcons offense piled up nearly 400 yards despite an underwhelming performance from Desmond Ridder , who threw two picks. Defensively, the Jessie Bates signing continues to look like one of the best moves of the offseason. Not only did the Falcons safety record a 92-yard pick-six, but he also forced a key fumble in the second half. The Falcons suddenly look like the team to beat in the NFC South.

Saints-Falcons grades by John Breech (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter .)

Tennessee 17-10 over Carolina

anthers The Panthers offense has been struggling all season and those struggles continued in Week 12. Carolina only had three drives in the entire game that went for more than 35 yards. As if that's not bad enough, Bryce Young lost a fumble in the first half that set up 15-yard TD drive for the Titans . With the offense not improving following another loss, it's starting to feel like Frank Reich is suddenly on one of the hottest seats in the NFL.C+ Titans The Titans love playing smash-mouth football and that's exactly what they did on Sunday. Defensively, they beat up on Bryce Young. Not only did they sack the Panthers QB four times, but Arden Key also came up with a huge strip-sack in the first half that set up an early TD for the Titans. Offensively, the Titans went back to their bread-and-butter: They gave the ball to Derek Henry. The Titans running back rushed for 76 yards while also scoring multiple touchdowns for the first time this season. A bruising defense combined with a strong rushing attack? That's how Mike Vrabel loves to win games.

Panthers-Titans grades by John Breech (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter .)

Indianapolis 27-20 over Tampa Bay

uccaneers The Buccaneers season is officially spiraling out of control. The Bucs have now lost six of their past seven games and a big reason it's happening is because their offense is struggling. Those struggles continued in Indy on a day where the Colts defense beat up on Baker Mayfield (He was sacked six times). With the offensive line struggling, Mayfield never seemed really comfortable and that might be why he turned the ball over twice, including a lost fumble with under two minutes left that killed any chance of a comeback win. With the offense playing like this, it's hard to see the Bucs staying in the division title race over the final six weeks of the season. olts The Colts have offensive weapons all over the place and they used every single one of those weapons against the Bucs. Jonathan Taylor ran through Tampa's defense on a day where he averaged 6.1 yards per carry (He also had two rushing touchdowns). Michael Pittman also had a big day with 10 catches for 107 yards. Gardner Minshew , who was starting his seventh game of the season for the Colts, seems to look more and more comfortable every week. On the defensive side of the ball, the Colts suffocated Baker Mayfield, sacking him six times while also picking off the Bucs QB. The Colts suddenly feel like a dark horse team to make the playoffs out of the AFC.

Buccaneers-Colts grades by John Breech (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter .)

Pittsburgh 16-10 over Cincinnati

teelers While it came against a team with a backup quarterback, the Steelers deserve a lot of credit for winning a road game against a division foe less than a week after firing their offensive coordinator. Pittsburgh won the game by having a well-balanced offense and a defense that came up with the game's biggest play on Trenton Thompson's third-quarter interception. The pick set up Najee Harris ' game-winning score. With Matt Canada gone, the Steelers topped 400 yards for the first time since Week 2 of the 2020 season.
engals Cincinnati's defense did its best to keep it in the game, but it couldn't overcome an offense that is clearly missing Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins . Zac Taylor, for whatever reason, didn't lean on his running game despite having a backup QB under center in Jake Browning . Joe Mixon had just eight carries and the Bengals had just 11 rushing attempts.

Steelers-Bengals grades by Bryan DeArdo (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter .)

Jacksonville 24-21 over Houston

aguars The Jaguars held onto their top spot in the AFC South on the road in Houston, and have now won nine straight games away from home. That's the longest road win streak in franchise history. Trevor Lawrence had a great outing with 364 passing yards and two total touchdowns, and had four completions that went for at least 42 yards. The defense was inconsistent for some of the afternoon, but came up big when C.J. Stroud tried to engineer a game-tying drive, as Josh Allen got to the quarterback twice and kept Houston just out of field goal range.
exans This was a tough loss for the Texans . With a raucous crowd, it looked like C.J. Stroud and Co. were poised to take first place in the AFC South, but Matt Ammendola's 58-yard field goal attempt that would have tied the game was short by just a few inches. Houston's defense struggled to contain Jacksonville's passing attack, and was the victim of several questionable penalties in the secondary on third downs. There were a couple of coaching questions, too. Houston had to blow through two timeouts before its final drive, and the Texans turned the ball over on downs near midfield in the fourth quarter after electing to pass on a third-and-1 and fourth-and-1, but the Texans were still in the mix at the very end.

Jaguars-Texans grades by Jordan Dajani (Love the grades? Hate the grades? Let him know on Twitter .)