In the NFC, it’s the Lions, the Eagles and everybody else

Here are five things to know as Week 12 of the NFL season approaches, including the leagues top five teams.

The Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles are the NFCs best teams at this point.

So that means they inevitably will meet in late January with a trip to the Super Bowl at stake, right? Maybe.

Plenty can change between now and the NFC championship game scheduled for Jan.

26.

Just look at last seasons Eagles, who began 10-1 and then started a slide in December that included a 1-5 finish to the regular season and an opening-round loss in the playoffs.

The Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers or Washington Commanders still could stand in the way of a Lions-Eagles postseason clash.

The San Francisco 49ers, with tailback Christian McCaffrey back in the lineup, perhaps could return to last seasons level.

But for now, the Lions and Eagles clearly are the NFCs most complete and talented teams.

The Lions are 9-1 and on an eight-game winning streak after Sundays dominant 52-6 triumph at home over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Theres no reason to believe that they wont be 11-1 and on a 10-game winning streak after playing the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday and hosting the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving.

As the Lions seek their first Super Bowl appearance, they are well positioned to secure the NFCs lone first-round bye and home-field advantage through the conference title game.

Quarterback Jared Goffs MVP chances were dented by his five-interception performance Nov.

10 against the Houston Texans.

But the Lions ability to win that game speaks to how superb they are and to how this just may be their year.

Goff has playmakers all around him on offense.

He operates behind a superb offensive line.

Coach Dan Campbell is unafraid.

His coordinators, Ben Johnson on offense and Aaron Glenn on defense, are top-notch.

The Lions addressed their major need at the trade deadline by adding a pass rusher, ZaDarius Smith, to replace the injured Aidan Hutchinson .

Which NFC team could keep the Lions from playing in New Orleans in February? The Eagles have the best chance because of their talent and versatility.

They are on a six-game winning streak that has upped their record to 8-2.

They are winning mostly because of a running game built around tailback Saquon Barkley, the non-quarterback most deserving of being in the MVP conversation, and an improving defense that includes terrific rookie cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean.

Saquon Barkley: 3/$37.5M Zach Baun: 1/$1.6M Quinyon Mitchell: 22nd pick Cooper DeJean: 40th pick Is Howie Roseman on the way to his 3rd Executive of the Year award? pic.twitter.com/EfCP2VfsEm Weve shown great athletic ability on defense, Coach Nick Sirianni said after the Eagles 26-18 victory Thursday night over the Commanders.

Again, it takes relentless effort.

But you need good athletes out there doing it.

So credit to [General Manager Howie Roseman] and his staff, with the guys that are on this field.

Barkley has become the centerpiece of the offense after leaving the New York Giants to sign a three-year, $37.75 million contract with the Eagles.

But if opposing defenses devote too many resources to stopping the run, the Eagles have Jalen Hurts at quarterback and A.J.

Brown and DeVonta Smith at wide receiver.

Still, they probably cannot be fully trusted, not with last seasons unraveling still so fresh in the memory bank.

The Eagles also have an issue with the kicking misadventures of Jake Elliott.

He missed two field goal attempts and an extra point try against the Commanders.

He has missed five of his 19 field goal tries on the season and has not connected on an attempt of 50 yards or longer.

In a league of increasingly phenomenal long-range kicking, Elliotts problems could put the Eagles at a meaningful disadvantage.

Even so, Sirianni expressed support for his embattled kicker both on the sideline during the Commanders game and afterward.

We have so much faith in him, Sirianni said.

Thats what you do.

...

You can really build connections through tough times.

So obviously he was going through a tough time.

But this team believes so much in Jake Elliott because of his track record and who he is.

...

I just wanted to let him know that we all believe in him and cant wait for him to get his opportunity to go out and do it again.

The upcoming coaching firing-and-hiring cycle promises to be busy, as most of them are.

Two coaches already have been fired Robert Saleh by the New York Jets and Dennis Allen by the New Orleans Saints .

Others, from the Jacksonville Jaguars Doug Pederson to the Dallas Cowboys Mike McCarthy to the Chicago Bears Matt Eberflus, are under intense scrutiny.

Few in and around the league would be surprised if the number of head-coaching hires this offseason equals or even surpasses the eight made last offseason.

That could put two highly successful coaches who were passed over last offseason, Bill Belichick and Mike Vrabel, in demand.

I would not be surprised at all to see both of them get jobs this time around, said one agent who represents coaches but does not represent Belichick or Vrabel.

Belichick is out of the league and working in broadcasting after parting in January with the New England Patriots following 24 seasons and six Super Bowl titles.

He interviewed twice last offseason with the Atlanta Falcons before they hired Raheem Morris and spoke with the Commanders before they hired Dan Quinn.

Michael Irvin telling Jerry Jones to hire Deion Sanders pic.twitter.com/fIMrrYIBpv He turns 73 in April.

There always will be questions about how much power he would seek in roster construction.

But he would make sense for a team with championship aspirations and a franchise quarterback in place.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has expressed his admiration for Belichick, and his team has Dak Prescott.

Perhaps Jaguars owner Shad Khan would want to see what Belichick could accomplish with Trevor Lawrence.

The Bears have Caleb Williams.

What if the Las Vegas Raiders dont retain Antonio Pierce? They dont have their quarterback situation settled, but Tom Brady now is a Raiders part owner and perhaps could renew his partnership with Belichick.

Vrabel, the former NFL coach of the year for the Tennessee Titans, is serving as a consultant for the Cleveland Browns.

He interviewed with the Falcons, Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Chargers last offseason.

At 49, hes still young.

Vrabel has been mentioned as a candidate for the Browns if they dismiss Kevin Stefanski.

He also has a connection to Brady, his former Patriots teammate.

There also will be plenty of speculation about Deion Sanders as the hiring cycle nears.

The Hall of Fame cornerback has Colorado in contention for a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff and has one of his sons, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, in the mix to be a top selection in the NFL draft, along with Buffaloes wide receiver and cornerback Travis Hunter.

Former Cowboys great Michael Irvin said during the Netflix broadcast Friday night of the Mike Tyson vs.

Jake Paul fight that hed lobby Jones to hire Sanders.

But Sanders has said he is happy at Colorado and has been publicly dismissive of the notion of jumping to the NFL.

Analytics have transformed game-management decisions, particularly on fourth-down attempts and two-point conversion tries and mostly for the better.

Such plays add intrigue and excitement, and fans generally love to see coaches being aggressive and taking a play-to-win approach.

But has it gone a bit too far? Leaving the offense on the field for a fourth-down attempt now has become the default tactic for many, and coaches face scrutiny when they decide to punt or kick a field goal rather than try for a first down.

A failed fourth down can be easily explained and often accepted with a playing to win response.

Some games, however, can be won with prudence, field position or even field goals.

Take Quinns decision to leave his offense on the field for a fourth-and-two attempt from the Philadelphia 26-yard line in the fourth quarter of Thursday nights game in Philadelphia.

The Commanders trailed 12-10.

The Eagles mostly had sputtered on offense.

Elliott had missed two field goal tries.

Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels had not been the same dynamic player that he was earlier in the season.

In those circumstances, kicking the field goal, having the lead with eight minutes to play and forcing the Eagles and perhaps Elliott to produce while trailing might have been a pretty effective play-to-win approach.

---> WAS (10) @ PHI (12) <--- WAS has 4th & 2 at the PHI 26, Q4 08:01 Recommendation (MEDIUM): Field goal attempt (+2.1 WP) Actual play: J.Daniels right end pushed ob at PHI 26 for no gain (Z.Baun).

pic.twitter.com/jknWgEUNmD Instead, the Commanders were stopped on a fourth-down run by Daniels.

The Eagles drove to a touchdown, intercepted a pass by Daniels and scored a second touchdown 20 seconds after the previous one.

Game over.

Danielss situation merits watching closely.

Has his play fallen off in recent weeks because hes not right physically after suffering a rib injury last month? Is it because of typical rookie-year ups and downs? Is it because the Commanders were facing the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Eagles? Its not clear.

But the Commanders need him to resume his rookie exploits.

The NFL increasingly has embraced putting its games on streaming platforms .

That will continue on Christmas when Netflix carries the Chiefs-Steelers and Ravens-Texans games.

Netflix said Saturday that 60 million households worldwide watched its broadcast of the Tyson-Paul fight.

The audience peaked at 65 million concurrent streams, according to Netflix.

Thats a big number even by the NFLs lofty viewership standards.

League leaders have said they are particularly excited about Netflixs global reach as they attempt to broaden the NFLs international appeal.

Netflix had a plan...until they got punched in the face.

#Tyson If Netflix broadcasted NFL games (Part 2) https://t.co/VC6T87lC1b pic.twitter.com/zRxXCQkMXP The problem is that social media was flooded Friday with complaints about buffering issues with the Netflix stream.

The NFL must hope those issues dont resurface during the broadcasts of the Christmas games.

The league and Netflix announced Sunday that Beyonce will perform at halftime of the Ravens-Texans game in Houston, promising to further bolster viewership.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow leads the NFL in completions, passing yards and touchdown passes.

Bengals wideout JaMarr Chase leads the league in receiving yards and touchdown catches.

Cincinnati pass rusher Trey Hendrickson leads the NFL in sacks.

Yet the Bengals are 4-7, two games out of the seventh and final playoff spot in the AFC.

...

Hurts remained in Thursday nights game against the Commanders after being evaluated for a possible concussion and being cleared, according to the Eagles.

He said during his postgame news conference that he did not feel any effects from appearing to hit his head on the turf.

Hurts also said that night.

I guess I beat the protocol.

Asked how that happened, Hurts said, I beat the protocol.

NFL medical leaders have spoken in recent years about the cultural change that has taken place within the sport in terms of players attitudes toward head injuries, with players more often self-reporting symptoms or reporting the symptoms of a teammate.

Hurtss comments were a reminder, however, that not all players recognize that the concussion protocol, formulated by the league and the NFL Players Association, is designed to protect their health.

Jalen Hurts on his concussion test before the half after the Eagles QB took multiple hits I guess I beat the protocol.

https://t.co/Kl9O8WEBNO pic.twitter.com/AswGizaDf8.

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