NFL - Week Twelve Review

Let the Norv Turner and/or Andy Reid watch begin as two proverbial Super Bowl contenders both lost again and dropped to 4-7 and 99 percent assurance of missing the NFL Playoffs.
The San Diego Chargers, losers of six in a row, lost at home to Denver in overtime, 16-13 and in all likelihood will miss the playoffs for the second straight season.

Along with the under achieving Chargers are the Philadelphia Eagles, who were blasted at home by the New England Patriots, 38-20 as Tom Brady (pictured right) lit the Philly defense up for over 300 yards passing and three touchdowns.
Norv Turner has been questioned time and time again for being too conservative with the offense given all the weapons the Chargers possess. Meanwhile, the wheels have come off for the Eagles and Head Coach Andy Reid has to be held accountable.
Both of these teams are hands down the biggest disappointments in the NFL in the 2011 season.
The NFC East is now a race between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants while the Eagles share last place with the Washington Redskins.
Dallas (7-4) beat Miami on Thanksgiving Day, 20-19 as kicker Dan Bailey hit the game winning field goal as time expired.
Meanwhile, while the Eagles were being plucked by the Patriots, the Redskins rallied for a 23-17 road win at Seattle as QB Rex Grossman overcame two interceptions by throwing for two touchdowns and 314 yards.
The Patriots maintained a solid two-game lead in the AFC East over the New York Jets as a result of their win.
The Jets struggled but did manage to beat the visiting Buffalo Bills with a late scoring pass from QB Mark Sanchez (180 pass yards with four TD passes) to Santonio Holmes. Buffalo QB Ryan Fitzpatrick had three touchdown passes in the loss.
The Houston Texans held on for a 20-13 win at Jacksonville despite losing their second quarterback in as many games as Matt Leinart joined original starter Matt Schaub on the injury list with a broken collar bone.
Tennessee (6-5) kept pace with Houston in the AFC South with a 23-17 come from behind home win over Tampa Bay. Titans' running back Chris Johnson had his best game of the season, rushing for 190 yards on 23 carries.
The Indianapolis Colts remained winless as they lost at home to the Carolina Panthers, 27-19 as Panthers' running back DeAngelo Williams ran for two scores and the defense intercepted two passes to pace the winning effort.
The Atlanta Falcons (7-4) won for the fifth time in six games, beating the visiting Minnesota Vikings, 24-14 behind solid defense that limited the Vikings to 226 yards in offense and three TD passes from QB Matt Ryan.
The Cincinnati Bengals (7-4) overcame a ten-point halftime deficit to defeat the visiting Cleveland Browns, 23-20 as kicker Mike Nugent hit a game-winning 26-yard field goal in the final minute.
Arizona beat the St. Louis Rams, 23-20 on a Jay Feely  22-yard field goal late in the game. In the win, Cardinals' rookie return man Patrick Peterson took a punt back 80 yards for a touchdown, his fourth punt return for a touchdown this season.

Oakland kicker Sebastian Janikowski was 6-for-6 in field goals in Sunday's win.

The Oakland Raiders (7-4) rode the leg of Sebastian Janikowski, the Heftyinfo NFL co-Player of the Week, who made all six field goal attempts in the Raiders' 25-20 win over the visiting Chicago Bears.
The Bears' five-game winning streak was halted as quarterback Caleb Hanie, filling in for the injured Jay Cutler, was intercepted three times in the loss.
The Green Bay Packers remained perfect for the season with a 27-15 win over the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day as QB Aaron Rodgers threw for 307 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The loss for Detroit, which saw defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh get ejected for kicking a Packers' offensive lineman,  left them at 7-4 and in a heated race with several teams for a wild card playoff spot with five games to play.
The night cap on Thanksgiving saw the Baltimore Ravens get a huge win over the San Francisco 49ers, 16-6 in what was being dubbed the "Harbaugh Bowl."

Jim (left) and John Harbaugh chat after the game.

John Harbaugh (Ravens' Head Coach) and brother Jim (49ers Head Coach) became the first brother tandem to face each other in an NFL game as the head coach of their teams.
The win kept the Ravens (8-3)  in first place in the AFC North while the 49ers (9-2) saw their eight-game winning streak go by the wayside.
The Sunday Night Football game was a defensive struggle as well with the Pittsburgh Steelers (8-3) leaning on their defense in a 13-9 win at Kansas City.
The Steeler defense forced four turnovers, including three interceptions, in the win and QB Ben Roethlisberger threw a scoring pass for the only touchdown of the game.
The New Orleans Saints destroyed the visiting New York Giants, 49-24 on Monday Night Football behind a huge game from the Heftyinfo NFL co-Player of the Week Drew Brees, who led the way in the rout.
 Brees finished the game with 363 yards passing and accounted for five scores for the Saints with four touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown as well.
The offensive explosion in this game featured the Saints gaining 577 total yardage in offense, including 205 rushing yards. The Giants finished the game with 465 yards in offense.