NFL - Week Twelve Review

There was some excitement around the NFL this weekend as well as some more surprises as the season starts to head toward the home stretch as December approaches.

The Thanksgiving Day games saw Tom Brady (pictured right) the Heftyinfo NFL Player of the Week, lead the New England Patriots to a 45-24 win against the Detroit Lions by throwing four touchdown passes. Brady had a perfect passer rating for the game as New England kept pace with the New York Jets in the AFC East.
The Jets throttled the hapless Cincinnati Bengals, 26-10 in the Meadowlands to improve to 9-2 and a first place tie with the New England Patriots.
The game of the day was in Dallas where the Cowboys rallied from 17-0 down to take a lead against the New Orleans Saints. But a strip of the football from Dallas wide receiver Roy Williams gave the Saints a new life in the closing minutes and Drew Brees and company took advantage for the 30-27 victory to improve to 8-3 for the season.

The Atlanta Falcons (9-2) won their fifth straight game by topping the visiting Green Bay Packers, 20-17 as Matt Bryant drilled a 47 yard field goal with nine seconds left in regulation. Aaron Rodgers hit Jordy Nelson with a touchdown pass just a minute earlier to tie the game.

Houston shut out the fading Tennessee Titans, 20-0 as Texans' QB Matt Schaub threw two TD passes. The game featured a fight between Cortland Finnegan (Tennessee) and Houston All-Pro wide receiver Andre Johnson. Each player received a slap on the wrist from the NFL with a $25,000 fine for the ugly incident.

The Buffalo Bills gave the Pittsburgh Steelers all they could handle before Pittsburgh eventually prevailed in OT, 19-16 as Shaun Suisham made a 41-yard field goal to provide the win.

Minnesota got back in the win column with a 17-13 yawner over the Washington Redskins in D.C.

Cleveland beat Carolina 24-23 as Panthers' kicker John Kasay missed a field goal that hit the left upright at the buzzer. Peyton Hillis had a huge game for the Browns (4-7), rushing for 131 yards and scoring three touchdowns.

The Chicago Bears continued to surprise the opposition by knocking off Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles, 31-26 in Soldier Field as the defense sacked Vick (333 yards passing and two TD) four times. Meanwhile, Bears' QB Jay Cutler threw four TD strikes and running back Matt Forte' gained 117 yards on the ground. The Bears' victory, coupled with Green Bay's loss in Atlanta, put the Bears (8-3) all alone in first place in the NFC North.

The New York Giants held off the Jacksonville Jaguars, 24-20 as Eli Manning threw two TD passes in the fourth quarter to propel the Giants into a first place tie with Philadelphia in the NFC East. Jacksonville slipped to 6-5 and is in a log jam race in the AFC South.

Kansas City (7-4) beat down host Seattle, 42-24 as wide receiver Dwayne Bowe hauled in three scores. Chiefs' QB Matt Cassel had four touchdown passes and Jamaal Charles rushed for 173 yards and scored a touchdown to pace the win.

St. Louis traveled to Denver and handed the host Broncos a 36-33 setback as quarterback Sam Bradford had three TD passes for the Rams (5-6), which put them in a first place tie with Seattle in the NFC West. Denver QB Kyle Orton threw three TD passes in the loss.

Baltimore outlasted Tampa Bay, 17-10 behind solid defense and a pair of touchdown passes from Joe Flacco.

Miami pounded Oakland, 33-17 to go to 6-5 as Dolphins' quarterback Chad Henne returned to the starting lineup and threw two TD passes. Dolphins' running back Ricky Williams sealed the game in the fourth quarter with a 45-yard touchdown run. The highlight for the Raiders (5-6) was Jacoby Ford taking the opening kickoff back 101 yards for a touchdown.

In the Sunday Night Football matchup, the San Diego Chargers (6-5) crushed the host Indianapolis Colts, 36-14. The Chargers' defense, the top defense in the NFL, intercepted Peyton Manning four times and took two of them back for scores.
The Chargers won their fourth straight game while the Colts (6-5) dropped back into a first place tie in the AFC South with Jacksonville.

The Monday Night Football game featured the San Francisco 49ers beating host Arizona, 27-6 as the defense limited the Cardinals to 203 total yards. San Francisco running back Brian Westbrook came in for injured Frank Gore and rushed for 136 yards and a touchdown. Gore was lost for the rest of the season with a hip injury.