Week 12 Game Notes

Packers over Lions

• The Lions’ eighth-straight loss on the fourth Thursday of November, this time to my beloved Green Bay Packers, ensured I would have a happy Thanksgiving.
• It was a slow start for Green Bay on both sides of the ball, but the game really turned once Ndamukong Suh went and got himself ejected.

Cowboys over Dolphins

• We’ve seen both the good Tony Romo and the bad Tony Romo this season.
• November, though, belongs to the good Tony Romo.  Romo improved his November record as a starter to 19-2 all-time with this latest win.
• Look for bad Tony Romo to reappear in December and January, where Romo is an all-time 9-12.

Ravens over 49ers

• A cross-country road loss to a Super Bowl contender takes nothing away from the fact that the 49ers remain among the NFL’s elite.

Falcons over Vikings

• I had a blast watching this game and watching Matt Ryan control every player on both sides of the line of scrimmage with his on-field play calls.
• The Vikings without Adrian Peterson?  Scary.
• Honest question to the readers: How many more games do the Vikings win this season?

Bengals over Browns

• Andy Dalton led another fourth quarter game-winning drive.  This kid’s the real deal.

Texans over Jaguars

• TJ Yates anyone?
• By virtue of their big lead, it’s easy to see Houston winning the division, but with their quarterback situation it’s not easy to see them making any real noise in the postseason.

Panthers over Colts

• The quest to 0-16 continues.

Jets over Bills

• Regardless of whether it did or didn't directly cost his team a win, I loved the Stevie Johnson touchdown celebration.
• The NFL works really hard to smother individualism—as can be expected when the players wear helmets and face masks that obscure their faces—so anytime someone does something to differentiate himself that doesn’t hurt the game (the Suh stomp, for example), I’m all for it.

Cardinals over Rams

• Patrick Peterson loves the Rams.
• Peterson returned his fourth punt for a touchdown—one of which was the walk-off overtime 99-yarder versus St. Louis Week 9—which ties the NFL record for most in a season.
• Peterson was the only one though where all of returns were 80 yards or longer.

Titans over Buccaneers

• They’ve been scraping by without him all season, so when Chris Johnson finally does have a big game, it surely means that Tennessee will get the win.

Raiders over Bears

• Caleb Hanie didn’t start out hot—those 3 interceptions piled up quickly—but he made the game closer than it could have been.

Redskins over Seahawks

• Rex Grossman has a little bit of a roll going with this week’s win and forcing the Cowboys into overtime the week previous.

Patriots over Eagles

• Ding dong, the dream is dead.

Broncos over Chargers

• Watching the last five minutes and overtime, it appeared neither of these teams really wanted to win, but as is custom, the Chargers wanted it a little bit less.
• San Diego loses their sixth in a row.  When are they going to win again?

Steelers over Chiefs

• This game was a little closer than it probably should have been, but all that matters is that Pittsburgh came in and didn’t have a letdown in the tight AFC North race.

Saints over Giants

• New York’s greatest strength is their pass rush, and in this game, Drew Brees’ ultra-quick release completely neutralized the Giants’ rushers.
• Without getting pressure on the quarterback, the rest of the Giant defense is nothing to write home about.
• Brees threw for over 350 yards in a game for the twenty-seventh time.  That ties Dan Marino’s NFL record.

--from @jeuneski