Week 12 in the NFL featured some tremendous NFC match-ups as well as a brawl in Houston. Here are my highlights of week 12!
(9-2) Atlanta Falcons 20
(7-4) Green Bay Packers 17
Thanks to a catch that wasn’t correctly reversed (or even challenged), the Falcons have risen to the top of the NFC. Matt Ryan is ridiculously accurate and benefited from Michael Turner’s 110 yards on the ground. They look on pace for a first-round bye and home field advantage, which would be huge for this team. And now the Packers have lost as many games as I thought they would all season. Snap.
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(8-3) Pittsburgh Steelers 19
(2-9) Buffalo Bills 16
This should have been a loss for the Steelers… if only Stevie Johnson didn’t find a way to drop an easy touchdown in overtime. But that’s why they’re the Bills. Instead, Pittsburgh keeps pace with the Ravens, setting up a division showdown next week on Sunday night. They haven’t been overly impressive since Big Ben’s return, but they’re quietly staying in the AFC hunt.
(7-4) New York Giants 24
(6-5) Jacksonville Jaguars 20
The Jaguars are legitimately the most two-faced team in the league. This week it permeated the game as they held the Giants to nine points in three quarters, only to give up 15 in the final period. Way to drop the ball. For the Giants, Eli Manning came on late, playing as well as he had all season. If Eli doesn’t commit turnovers, the Giants can beat anyone.
(5-6) Houston Texans 20
(5-6) Tennessee Titans 0
I don’t care about the game. What I do care about is the wicked awesome fight in the fourth quarter between professional annoyance Cortland Finnegan (the NFL’s Ron Artest) and Andre Johnson. Johnson simply wailed on Finnegan with three solid punches. They only got fined $25,000 each however, a weaker penalty than I would have liked. While I can appreciate their tenacity, I don’t believe the NFL wants street fights erupting on the field.
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(7-4) Kansas City Chiefs 42
(5-6) Seattle Seahawks 24
Dwayne Bowe is officially a beast. (This year anyway.) With 13 TD’s in his last seven games, Bowe has dramatically increased the production of Matt Cassel and an offense that had struggled early this year. As inconsistent as the Seahawks are, winning at Qwest Field is not an easy task. Winning big is even more impressive. The Chargers are coming, but the Chiefs aren’t giving ground yet.
(6-5) San Diego Chargers 36
(6-5) Indianapolis Colts 14
What is it about the San Diego Chargers that Peyton Manning can’t decipher? Manning has played some of his worst games (and there are few of those) against San Diego, and last night continued the trend. Norv Turner’s Chargers keep chugging along, slowly crawling out of the hole as they do every season. Philip Rivers may be more impressive this year than in years past, but I’m not buying them as anything great. I see this all the time.
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