Week 12

Season is over half done and playoff races are heating up.  Some teams we thought might be contenders are slumping, some we knew were are forging ahead, some we thought we pretenders are making huge pushes.
To be fair, the first touchdown the Giants scored Sunday night against the Cowboys was absolutely amazing.  Chris Collinsworth, of the NBC Sports, said that was easily in his top two spectacular catches of all-time.  But I was really impressed with how Dallas clawed their way out of the cellar in that game and came back to win.  That's what championship teams do, win the close ones, and sometimes doing so after being behind.  I was down on Dallas at the first of the season, I was wrong.  They are good and a team to be reckoned with this season, they combat the Eagles on their annual Thanksgiving Day game at 330p.  This should be interesting.  These two teams play each other twice over the next three weeks.  Could be a playoffs or bust type situation.
Green Bay continues to show-off their power.  Not necessarily with the same force against Minnesota as they have in previous weeks, but they are in control of what happens to them.  Unfortunately for the Packers, the Lions are really good this year.  This is another playoff race we will want to keep our eyes on.
As for the Lions, they got in the way of the Patriots and were steam-rolled.  They are still a good team, just that New England is better.
Oh, the lowly NFC South.  The leading team in that division is Atlanta, and they're 3-games below .500.  This is pitiful.  New Orleans looked flat against Baltimore Monday night, they had no motivation it seemed.  Makes me wonder how much longer Sean Payton will be walking the sidelines of the Mercedes Superdome.
Arizona was handed only their 2nd loss Sunday when they went to Seattle, who, I think I'm safe to say, played the best they've played all year.  Seahawks defense was swarming, never allowing the Cardinals to get into a rhythm.  San Francisco escaped with a close win against Washington, that game should never been as close as it was.  The team that calls the capital it's home has not got a whole lot of talent, the 49ers do.
Over in the AFC, the Patriots are demolishing everyone they play.  Buffalo and the Jets had to go to Detroit on Monday to play their game, which Buffalo easily won.  Miami is playing really well right now, nearly sneaking a win in Denver.
Here is an interesting tidbit, the AFC North has all teams at either 7-3-1 (Cincinnati) or 7-4 (Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland).  The Bengals have the best divisional record at 2-1, and every one of those teams are riding winning streaks.
Denver plays Kansas City Sunday night.  Should be a really good game, I always like watching Peyton Manning play ball.  Oh, we can't get away without stating that the Raiders finally won a game.  Last Thursday night, they defeated the Chiefs in Oakland.

Week 11

Adrian Peterson is out for the rest of the season, per the NFL, for disciplining his child.  Was it excessive to use the small part of a stick?  I'm not going to debate that as this could be a hot issue, I will so, though, that I had a switch used on me and I turned out fine.  The Vikings season is pretty much done anyway, despite a pretty impressive win over Washington a few weeks ago, and fighting with the Bears this past week, in a loss.
I saw a report recently that asked if the New England Patriots are the best team in the NFL right now.  Don't we always wonder this at this point in the year?  Especially recently the Pats have struggled a little early (and by struggled I mean they either lose a game they should have won, or won a game by not as much as we thought they should) and then dominate to finish the season.  Tom Brady is playing some of his best ball right, with their balanced run/pass attack.  In the AFC, I'm not sure they can be beat...at least not in the regular season.
With Denver's upset loss to St. Louis and Kansas City's thumping of Seattle, put the Chiefs into a statistical tie (same record) with the Broncos.  Denver holds the edge with an earlier defeat of KC, but this is shaping up to be one of the best rivalries this season has to offer.  Manning was shocked by a ferocious Rams defense and that's exactly what the Chiefs needed to see to stop Peyton and his brood in order to have a chance to win their division.
Dallas and Philadelphia are sitting at the top of the NFC East and they've not even played each other yet this season.  In fact, they are scheduled to meet for the first time on the Thanksgiving game in Dallas.  With Nick Foles out the 'Boys are going to look to rattle Mark Sanchez.  Remember the last time the Eagles signal-caller started a Thanksgiving game?  The hapless Jets faced the Patriots, Sanchez ran into his own offensive lineman and fumbled the ball, leading to a ton of "butt" jokes, eventually leading to New York going with rookie Geno Smith.
Green Bay looks unstoppable, but they still have to contend with those pesky Lions.  This will no doubt be a fun division to watch, at least between Green Bay and Detroit, as the season progresses.
In a sign of pure mediocrity, the NFC South leader is 4-6.  I enjoy parity but can't stand a "losing" team making the playoffs, especially when a team with a better record is eliminated.
Finally, how 'bout those Cardinals?  Facing the top defensive team in the league, the Lions, Arizona's sensational backup quarterback showed everyone that possibly, just possibly, it's time for a home-team to actually host the Super Bowl.  The two powerhouses from last year, San Francisco and Super Bowl champion Seattle are, at best, floundering.  In fact, if the playoffs started today, neither of those teams, representatives of the NFC for the last two Championship games, would even be in the post-season.  The 4-6 Falcons, however, would be (see previous paragraph).

Week 10

Romo goes out with a broken back and the Cowboys get embarrassed at home by the Cardinals.  The very next week the Cardinals lose quarterback Palmer to a torn ACL, while Romo played in London and played very well, leading his team to a victory over the Jaguars.
It's been a busy couple of weeks.  With family I got to enjoy the Cowboys loss to Arizona in Arlington.  That started off really exciting with a pick-six on the Cardinals' first drive of the game, only to see the team sputter with no offense the rest of the way.
Seemed to me this past weekend (November 6-10) there were more blowouts than I've seen in the NFL a long time.  The Browns shredded the Bengals on Thursday night ball, Dallas tore apart Jacksonville, Seahawks over the Giants, Cardinals over the Rams, Broncos over the Raiders...and let's not forget Green Bay's scrimmage against the Bears.  What were the Packers on Sunday night?  Give some to the Bears, please.
No major trades coming up, haven't even heard any rumors, but things are about to get exciting with the playoffs looming.
Keep in mind, too, that Carson Palmer hasn't been behind center the entire season for Arizona, his backup has played admirably in helping the Cardinals get to the 8-1 record where they sit now.  If the season were to end today, Arizona would have homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs...which leads to another interesting tidbit.  A team has never played a home game for the Super Bowl.  The closest the NFL got was in the 80's when San Francisco hosted Miami in Palo Alto, CA, at Stanford Stadium.
As far as coaching changes, I think Rex Ryan might have bought himself some time with the Jets' win over Pittsburgh on Sunday, but he's on a thin string.  I'd be surprised to see Tom Coughlin walking the sidelines for the Giants next year, too.
Suppose the Patriots, who are likely the best team right now in the NFL, win the Super Bowl this year.  Would that not be the ideal way for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick to end their run in New England, or even the NFL?  Elway went out that way and now everyone remembers him as a Super Bowl quarterback, as opposed to a player who tried to hang on too long and ended up struggling the last few years.