What’s Hot and What’s Knott in Football – Week 12

By Rhys Knott

Week 12 of the 2025 NFL season marks the first week of the NFL’s My Cause My Cleats campaign. So that’s hot, but like everything else in this godforsaken age, it’s not without a Knott side. 

Speaking of things that can be both hot and Knott, Trevor Lawrence went maximum Trevor Lawrence in Arizona.  

Elsewhere, Jameis Winston went maximum Jameis, there’s a new Maliek of the Week, and Jahmyr Gibbs is on a mission to save the Lions from bad Jared Goff! 

And Myles Garrett has a rare hat trick!

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What’s Hot in Football – Week 12

Thursday Night Football served up an all-timer! The Texans increased their playoff chances to 48% as the 2025 Bills continued to perplex viewers. Buffalo followed up their 44 points in Week 11 with just 19 in Week 12! 

A dynamic, action-packed first half was followed by one of the slowest, most laboured third quarters in living memory. A plethora of penalties, players getting injured, and a referee being carted off after tweaking an Achilles all combined to keep Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit on their toes. 

The Texans’ red uniforms are most definitely hot, and those shiny red helmets are the piece de resistance.

That’s not all that’s hot about the Texans in Week 12. How about that pass rush? The Bills’ offensive line ranked 11th heading into the game after allowing 28 sacks in 11 games. Houston’s defensive front added eight to that total in short order! An 18-yard sack is very hot! 

The Texans’ recording eight sacks is white hot! Josh Allen had never been sacked more than seven times in a single game. Will Anderson even managed the rare feat of sacking the quarterback whilst lying on the ground after being tackled by a backup offensive lineman is even hotter! 

For the Texans’ offense, Jayden Higgins has a staccato rookie season, but he’s on record breaking pace nonetheless! 

Houston’s all-around display was so hot that they celebrated with some buffalo wings on the field after the game. 

On the subject of wings, DeMeco Ryans’ team are that rarest of birds, a team who look built to play playoff football who may not even make it into the playoffs! They still have two crucial games against the Colts and a tricky game in Kansas City to navigate in the next six weeks! 

On the Bills’ side of the ball , they actually managed to get Josh Palmer to do something exciting (incidentally if anyone finds the Texans’ defensive backs , please return them to NRG Stadium). 

And Ray Davis took off like a Supersonic Rocket Ship into a Waterloo Sunset as he went Running Round Town on this kick return. The Bills’ special teams really got him going.

Jahmyr Gibbs is probably the most hot guy in Week 12. When you can do LT things you’re pretty special!

Elsewhere, Jameis Winston dusted off peak Jameis against the Lions. The 31-year-old threw 36 passes, completed 18 and racked up a league-leading 366 yards! But it’s his receiving touchdown that warrants significantly more attention! He’s been a wide receiver all this time, and nobody realised. 

Trevor Lawrence’s hot hat trick in Week 12 came as he threw three touchdowns on the way to an overtime victory in Arizona. Hot (four wins on the bounce) , Caleb Williams also threw three scoring passes as the Bears sneaked past an Aaron Rodgers-less Steelers. 

Matt Stafford joined the party on Sunday Night Football as he continued his outrageous hot streak. Stafford has now thrown 27 touchdowns since his last interception, that’s Tom Brady numbers! Remember when the Rams were going to trade their QB to the Steelers in February? 

Myles Garrett racked up a hat trick of sacks against a Raiders team that is becoming increasingly painful to watch! Garrett has 14.0 sacks in the last five games! He’s on pace to end the season with a record 28.0 sacks!

Garrett’s Browns teammate Maliek Collins was so good that we’ve had to find the keys to the prize cabinet to award him the prize nobody even knows about, let alone covets. Maliek’s three total tackles and 2.5 sacks make him Week 12’s Maliek of the Week.  

While we’re talking about sacking quarterbacks, T.J. Watt broke his brother J.J.’s sack record in Chicago , and he did it in style. J.J. was in the commentary box to see it too. 

And who doesn’t love a thicc six? 

That’s enough footbally football, on to the more important things like raising awareness for different charities. My Cause My Cleats was born when Brandon Marshall wore green cleats to promote mental health awareness back in 2013! The league responded by fining the wide receiver $10,500! 

Thankfully, we live in more enlightened times 12 years later , and players are allowed to draw attention to serious issues.  

As the Eagles played in Dallas, Eagles’ linebacker Jalyx Hunt’s cleats promoted suicide prevention in the wake of Marshall Kneeland’s loss earlier this month. 

Jackson Slater of the Titans’ cleats promote the Alzheimer’s Association. 

And Josh Jacobs’ cleats highlight suicide prevention whilst honouring his Filipino and Cherokee heritage. “Trippy”, as the man himself says.  

What’s Knott in Football – Week 12

The dark side of My Cause My Cleats is absolutely Knott. While some chose to support causes that back inclusion and helping people, other athletes decided to promote homophobic organisations that mask their bigotry with “Christianity”. 

Harrison Butker (unsurprisingly), Riley Patterson and Ladd McConkey all chose to promote organisations that refuse to accept same sex relationships. 

And J.J. Jansen (he’s the Panthers’ long snapper, no, seriously) decided to promote Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA. 

Not many things are more Knott than the Saints’ black helmets.
They actually look good, but they’re cursed! 

Trevor Lawrence’s second hat trick of the week definitely falls into the Knott category. The 26-year-old added a hat trick of interceptions to his hat trick of touchdowns. The Jags still won, though, as Jacoby Brissett attempted another 49 passes. That’s 150 passes in his last three games! Just fire Jonathan Gannon already. 

The Texans’ defense dominated on Thursday night, their sticky coverage preventing Josh Allen from throwing the ball quickly. Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle tenderised the Bills quarterback as he seemed to forget he had legs and malingered in the backfield until one or the other of them, the Texans’ defensive ends, unloaded on him. At times, it looked like Allen had decided to impersonate Kyler Murray, just bigger and slower. 

Allen only ran the ball four times, that’s his second-lowest number of attempts this season , and the Bills were cruising to a 40-9 win against the Panthers when he ran three times.  

Joe Brady continued to prove his doubters correct with some absolutely wild play calling that did nothing to slow the Texans’ defense down.  Not only did he call 34 passes to 24 runs when the Texans were never more than seven points ahead, but he only gave James Cook 41% of the touches when the running back was averaging 6.5 yards per touch. 

If Josh Allen thought eight sacks is too many, he should be glad he doesn’t play for the Raiders. The Raiders’ pass protection is very much Knott. Geno Smith hit the deck 10 times in Week 12! The former Seahawk has taken 20 sacks in the last three weeks! 

Cam Skattebo might be injured, but he’s still managed to do something very Knott this week!

And he went full Skattebo at the wrestling in MSG. That can’t be good for your leg Cam!

Cade Otton caught four of his seven targets in Los Angeles, and while that isn’t very Knott, whatever the heck this is absolutely is.

Finally, the kickers are at it again! Even Brandon Aubrey missed a field goal this week, that’s so Knott! Six kickers missed either an extra point or a field goal this week. That’s 21% of the kickers who played!

RHYS KNOTT

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes

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