There were some absolute nail-biting encounters in Week 12. Out of the 14 games played on the night, two of them went into overtime. 

The league’s top-ranked defense, the San Francisco 49ers shut down the New Orleans Saints offense, posting 13 points pasts the Saints and receiving zero points. 

10 games this week were decided by single digits, the closest of them being one point. Both the Los Angeles Chargers vs Arizona Cardinals and Jacksonville Jaguars vs Baltimore Ravens were decided by the same number of points.

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Let’s look at the top defenses from Week 12:

1) Miami Dolphins 

Cornerback Xavien Howard and his team restricted the Houston Texans to 15 points. They recorded 5 sacks and two interceptions along with one defensive Td and a fumble recovered. 

2) San Francisco 49ers

The New Orleans Saints were unable to score a single point against the 49ers. The 49ers had two fumble recoveries along with a sack in Week 12. This is the second time this season that the Saints were scoreless in a -game, the first being against Las Vegas Raiders in Week 8.

3) Kansas City Chiefs

Three sacks and two interceptions were recorded by the Chiefs as they faced the Los Angeles Rams this week. They only conceded 10 points on the night as compared to the 27 the week prior.

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4) Carolina Panthers

The Panthers did not let QB Russell Wilson score points as they held the team from Colorado to just 10 points. They also recorded two fumble recoveries and three sacks against Wilson and his offense. 

5) Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings had a great comeback game against the New England Patriots on Thanksgiving Day. They were able to score 30 more points from last week’s total dismal offensive performance vs the Dallas Cowboys. They also restricted the Pats to below 30 points. During this time, they also recorded three sacks against Bill Belichick and his offense.