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.