Torture
| Week 12 results | ||||
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| 109-66-2 12-4 |
111-64-2 13-3 |
106-69-2 9-7 |
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| Thursday, November 24, 2016 | ||||
| Minnesota @ Detroit | Detroit | Detroit | Minnesota | |
| Washington @ Dallas | Dallas | Dallas | Dallas | |
| Pittsburgh @ Indianapolis | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | Indianapolis | |
| Sunday, November 27, 2016 | ||||
| Tennessee @ Chicago | Tennessee | Tennessee | Chicago | |
| Jacksonville @ Buffalo | Buffalo | Buffalo | Jacksonville | |
| Cincinnati @ Baltimore | Baltimore | Baltimore | Baltimore | |
| Arizona @ Atlanta | Atlanta | Atlanta | Atlanta | |
| N.Y. Giants @ Cleveland | New York Giants | New York Giants | New York Giants | |
| Los Angeles @ New Orleans | New Orleans | New Orleans | New Orleans | |
| San Francisco @ Miami | Miami | Miami | Miami | |
| San Diego @ Houston | Houston | Houston | Houston | |
| Seattle @ Tampa Bay | Seattle | Seattle | Seattle | |
| Carolina @ Oakland | Oakland | Oakland | Oakland | |
| New England @ N.Y. Jets | New England | New England | New England | |
| Kansas City @ Denver | Denver | Kansas City | Denver | |
| Monday, November 28, 2016 | ||||
| Green Bay @ Philadelphia | Philadelphia | Philadelphia | Green Bay | |
| © 2016 Gehlke Bros. Football | ||||
In what has become a familiar theme in this season of football games that go down to the wire, Week 12 featured just one split and it was a doozy. It seems only fitting that on Thanksgiving weekend — our first full 16-game menu in two months — one Bro was doing the "giving" and the other said "thanks."
After running the table on the Thanksgiving Day games, the Gehlke Bros were both poised for a solid week. Glenn and Sean were in complete agreement on everything except the Sunday nighter, which was flexed to that slot because of its playoff implications. Kansas City, coming off a narrow upset loss last week, had to travel to Denver, which was seeing action for the first time since its bye week. Both teams entered the contest at 7-3 in the AFC West, and needed a win to keep pace with the 9-2 Raiders, who won a thriller earlier in the day. It also meant the difference between an all-out tie in the Surfy standings or a 2-game lead for the Junior Bro, so the stage was set for... torture.
That is the only word that describes what the Chiefs and Broncos did to their fans for nearly four hours on Sunday night — a game that was scoreless well into the second quarter before Kansas City came up with a safety and then ran back the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown. The Chiefs led 9-3 at the half and the defense seemed well in control of things. Then the Broncos came to life in the second half, trading the lead with the Chiefs until scoring back-to-back touchdowns that gave them an 8-point lead late in the fourth quarter.
But the Chiefs refused to lose, and Alex Smith drove them to a controversial touchdown and then picked up the 2-point conversion to send the game to overtime. More torture. Denver got first possession and could manage only a field goal. Kansas City answered. Denver got the ball back and could only march to midfield where, with about a minute to play, instead of punting they attempted a 62-yard field goal that was well off its mark. The Chiefs had a short field to work with and made the most of it when Cairo Santos hit a 34-yard game-winning kick as time expired.
End result: Chiefs defeat Broncos, 30-27; third tie of season averted; Junior Bro finds himself with his largest lead of the season at 2 games.
The split helped Sean to a week-leading 13-3 record, while Glenn's bittersweet 12-4 performance was good enough for second. Ben found little to be thankful for in his 9-7 finish, although the Packers did come to his rescue on Monday night. With a lot of obvious choices, we were collectively correct in picking Dallas, Baltimore, Atlanta, the New York Giants, New Orleans, Miami, Oakland and New England. We only missed San Diego and Tampa Bay.
