NFL: Week 12 Recap





8 straight losses and no end in sight. The Bengals played poorly once again on Thanksgiving, which is no big surprise, and at this rate will not win another game this season.

The Bengals will get a visit from the defending Super Bowl champions, New Orleans Saints, next week and looks like it will most likely result in another loss. At least you won't be able to watch them lose, because I will be very surprised if the game sells out. Who knows when the city of Cincinnati will see the Bengals play a home game on television again. Best case scenario, a year.

Enough about he Bengals, as their season is over. The Bengals have officially been eliminated from playoff contention and we only have to watch them play five more times this year. Thank God. Anyway, now for the Week 12 edition of "Holy Crap" and "C'mon Man."

"Holy Crap"
NE-QB Tom Brady: 21-27, 341 yds, 4 TD; QB Rating 158.3. A perfect game for Brady, literally.

NE-WRs Deion Branch and Wes Welker: Branch, 3 rec, 113 yds, 2 TD; Welker 8 rec, 90 yds, 2 TD. Patriots may be the best team in football.

CLE-RB Peyton Hillis: 26 car, 131 yds, 3 TD; 6 rec, 63 yds. Hillis continues to put up huge numbers for the Browns, who beat the Panthers to improve to 4-7.

ATL-QB Matt Ryan: 24-28, 197 yds, TD; QB Rating 107.9. Not the most impressive numbers, but Matt Ryan is now 19-1 in his career as a starting quarterback at home. Ryan is possibly leading the best team in football, in the Atlanta Falcons.

GB-QB Aaron Rodgers: 25-34, 309 yds, TD; QB Rating 111.0; 12 car, 51 yds, TD. A great effort from Rodgers, but it wasn't enough as Rodgers and the Packers fell to the Falcons.

HOU-RB Arian Foster: 30 car, 143 yds; 9 rec, 75 yds

PIT-RB Rashard Mendenhall: 36 car, 151 yds, TD. The Steelers got very lucky, once again, and were fortunate to beat the Bills.

KC-QB Matt Cassel: 22-32, 233 yds, 4 TD; QB Rating 129.3

KC-WR Dwayne Bowe: 13 rec, 170 yds, 3 TD

KC-RB Jamaal Charles: 22 car, 173 yds, TD. Big day for the Kansas City offense, 42 points scored, 503 yards of offense in a 42-24 win over Seattle.

CHI-QB Jay Cutler: 14-21, 247 yds, 4 TD; QB Rating 146.2. Cutler and the Bears defense out dueled Michael Vick and the Eagles, to improve to 8-3.

OAK-WR Jacoby Ford: 4 rec, 108 yds, TD; 101 yd KO return for a TD

STL-QB Sam Bradford: 22-37, 308 yds, 3 TD; QB Rating 113.3. Bradford just about has Rookie of the Year locked up and the Rams still have a shot to make the playoffs at 5-6. Laughable, but true.

DEN-QB Kyle Orton: 24-41, 347 yds, 3 TD; QB Rating 110.5. Despite Denver's struggles, Orton is having a great season.

SF-RB Brian Westbrook: 23 car, 136 yds, TD. Remember Westbrook? He came into the game with only 5 carries all season, but when Frank Gore left with a hip injury, Westbrook led the way and helped the 49ers beat the Cardinals.

"C'mon Man"
CIN-QB Carson Palmer: 17-38, 135 yds, TD, 2 INT; QB Rating 41.0. One of those picks occurred in the end zone and Carson was later tackled in the end zone for a safety. Terrible.

Where has happened to Carson Palmer?

DAL-WR Roy Williams: 5 rec, 83 yds, but his biggest play was a costly fumble. Williams had a catch and run that would have won the game for Dallas by just running out the clock. But Williams was stripped of the ball, one of 7 fumbles on the day for Dallas, by Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins. Jenkins recovered the ball and the Saints ended up driving for the go-ahead score and the win, sending Dallas home with a loss on Thanksgiving. C'mon Dallas and Roy Williams, hold on to the ball.

TEN-CB Cortland Finnegan and HOU-WR Andre Johnson: An NFL games turned into a heavyweight fight Sunday in Houston, as Tennessee cornerback Cortland Finnegan and Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson got into it. Helmets were torn off, punches were thrown and both players were ejected from the game for fighting. "C'mon Man." Both received a $25K fine from the league, but neither were suspended. The fight was the only highlight for Tennessee, as the Titans played terrible and were shutout 20-0. Read more and watch the video here: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5860086

BUF-WR Stevie Johnson: 7 rec, 68 yds; but 5 drops including the game winning touchdown pass in overtime. Maybe the big game last week against the Bengals went to his head, but still "C'mon Man." The Bills had so many chances to win the game, but lost once again, 19-16 in overtime to the Steelers. Here's a picture of the drop: http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/photos?gameId=301128002&photoId=986670.

IND-QB Peyton Manning and the Colts: I hate to do it, but the factor of the matter is the Colts are not a very good football team. Whether its the so called "Super Bowl Hangover," or the fact that they have been plagued with injuries, the Colts are 6-5 and their run of 12 win seasons has come to an end at 7 years. Still quite an accomplishment, but not what people are use to seeing from the Indianapolis Colts. Peyton Manning (31-48, 285 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT; QB Rating 59.8) looked human Sunday night against the San Diego Chargers and both of his interceptions were returned for touchdowns. The Colts only gained 24 yards on the ground and their inability to run the football and stop the run, may cost them the playoffs. They rank 30th in both categories and watching the Colts this year proves, that even if you have one of the greatest quarterbacks in the NFL, you still have to be able to run the ball and be able to stop the run. Hopefully, the Colts get healthy and make the playoffs, because the playoffs are not the same without them.

Arizona Cardinals: Watching them on Monday Night Football was pathetic. QB Derek Anderson (16-35, 196 yds, INT; QB Rating 51.6) played less than perfect football and the Cardinals only had 203 yards of total offense, including only 13 yards rushing. Anderson was seen laughing on the sideline late in the game with guard Deuce Lutui, but he went on a tirade in his postgame press conference when asked about it. The Cardinals play Monday was laughable, as they are now 3-8 and will probably be drafting a quarterback with their top ten pick in the draft come April.

Next weekend has some of the best matchups of the season with Steelers vs. Ravens on Sunday night and Jets vs. Patriots on Monday. These games will not disappoint and it should be yet another great weekend of football.

RIP Leslie Nielsen 

The great actor and comedian Lesile Nielsen died Sunday at the age of 84 and on YouTube their is a great Monday Night Football promo with Nielsen and it just so happens it was for a Bengals game. It's 2004 and it was the Bengals first MNF game in 12 years and the promo with Nielsen is a good one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTHsNVXXlus. RIP Lesile Nielsen, you will certainly be missed. As for the Bengals, who knows when they will be back on Monday Night Football.

Leslie Nielsen 1926-2010