Around the NFL: Week 12

Week 12 is nearly over pending the game between the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans tonight(which is certainly better then last week's MNF game). Before I recap some notable games, I need to say that injuries have been increasing as the season gets later and it only has me worried that some might catch up to the Cardinals. There had to be at least 10 players that were lost yesterday from season ending mcl/acl injuries. I hope the Cardinals stay strong(which they easily did last year) and can be one of the healthier teams in the playoffs. It was a wild week beginning with the Thursday night game.

Thursday Night Game

Miami 24, Carolina 17: The game started with the Panthers running the ball dominantly as they always do, but finished with Ronnie Brown Ricky Williams stealing the show. He took over for Brown for the first time and showed that he could still play like his old self. The win for the Dolphins still keeps their playoff hopes alive while the loss for the Panthers essentially seals their fate.

Games of relevancy:

Green Bay 30, San Francisco 24: If this game showed anything about the 49ers, it showed that their defense isn't perfect. Aaron Rodgers had his way with the secondary while Greg Jennings received 126 yards. Ryan Grant also added 129 rushing yards as the Packers dropped 30 points on our division rival. The 49ers tried to make a game out of it by adding 14 4th quarter points, but the defense couldn't stop Rodgers and the Pack in route to their 6th loss of the season.

Vikings 35, Seattle 9: Well.. if things were bad for the Seahawks now, they got much worse after Sunday. The Seahawks couldn't score much on the Vikings and couldn't make a stop as well. Their "stud" running back Forsett only had 9 yards after his career game against the Cardnals a week before. The Vikings had their way on offense, with Brett Favre throwing touchdowns to each of his top receivers(Berrian, Harvin, Shancoe, and Rice), and Adrian Peterson running for 82 yards. The Seahawks season is done if it wasn't already.

NY Giants 34, Atlanta 31: The importance of this game was mainly due to playoff seeding. One of these teams is likely to make the playoffs and seeing how they're both in the NFC, the Cardinals could face one of them. The Giants climbed out to a 31 lead riding their offense. The Falcons battled back with Matt Ryan throwing a touchdown to Tony Gonzalez with minutes left in the game. The Giants prevailed in overtime and stopped their losing streak at 4.

Upset of the week: Raiders top Bengals 20-17

The upset of the week goes to the Raiders, who stopped the Bengals who were previously 4-0 on the road. The Bengals offense had trouble scoring on the day and in the winding minutes the Raiders scored twice to win the game. Andre Caldwell deserves the blame for taking the kick off and fumbling the ball. Had he held on, the Bengals would have won.

Most exciting game of the week: Lions beat Browns 38-37

Yeah I said it. Even the highlights were exciting to watch. The Browns and Lions both easily had the best offensive performances they've had in the last two years. Matthew Stafford threw 5 touchdowns(rookie record), while Brady Quinn finally had the game Browns fans have been hoping he'd have. The game ended with a pass interference call by a Browns defender in the end zone. The Lions were given the ball at the 1 yard line with no time remaining as Stafford found another rookie - tight end Brandon Pettigrew in the end zone.

Other scores:

Kansas City 27, Pittsburgh 24
Dallas 7, Washington 6
New Orleans 38, Tampa Bay 7
Jacksonville 18, Buffalo 15
Indianapolis 17, Baltimore 15
New England 31, NY Jets 14
San Diego 32, Denver 3
Philadelphia 24, Chicago 20

Tonight's game: Tennessee at Houston

The game has no real affect on the Cardinals but should be interesting none the less. Both teams are exciting to watch and the Titans have suddenly become a challenger with Vince Young at quarterback. The Cardinals do however, play the Titans next week. Would a win for the Titans be good for the Cardinals as the Titans could become overly confident next week? Or would a loss for the Titans bring them back to reality and not play as intense against the Cardinals?