NFL Week 12

The NFL breaks their season up into 16 games played by each team over 17 weeks. The schedule itself is broken up like this. -each team plays home and away against its divisional opponents (6 games) -each team plays all four teams in another division within the same conference on a rotating three year cycle. (4 games) -each team plays four teams from a division in the other conference on a four year rotating cycle. (4 games) -each team plays two intraconference games based on the previous season's results. For example, the first place team of one division plays the first place team of another division in the same conference, the second place team plays the second place team, etc....(2 games) http://football.about.com/cs/football101/a/bl_schedproced.htm

This week is special in the NFL schedule as it has three Thursday games on U.S. Thanksgiving Day. This year the holiday and the NFL offer up the New England Patriots and the Detroit Lions, the Super Bowl champs New Orleans Saints going against the Dallas Cowboys, and the Cincinatti Bengals versus the New York Jets. In all of the Thanksgiving Day matches, there are five 2009 play-off teams involved. On top of the Thanksgiving Day festivities, week 12 offers some other special things. Week 12 of the NFL season has no byes in it. http://www.footballlocks.com/nfl_bye_weeks.shtml Week 12 also offers the NFL's flexible scheduling policy, which means certain times of games may be moved so the NFL can show any up and comers or surprise teams that may arise. http://www.nfl.com/schedules/tv/flexible After the Thangsgiving Day games, there is still an intriguing mix of games. The Sunday night game between the San Diego Chargers and the Indianapolis Colts will be watched closely. The Green Bay Packers and the Atlanta Falcons will also garner some attention, as will the Monday Night Football game between a couple of NFC West rivals, the San Fransisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals.

Week 12's Thanksgiving Day matchups played out the way they were supposed to, with the lowly Detroit Lions and the struggling Oakland Raiders losing their matchups. The Denver Broncos surprised the New York Giants in the Mile High City, though, spanking them, 26-6. The rest of the weekend saw many intense divisional battles, such as the Indianapolis Colts and the Houston Texans (see video), the Baltimore Ravens taking a 20-17 OT win over their rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Philadelphia Eagels sneaking away with a tight 27-24 win over the Washington Redskins. The highly aniticipated match between the New England Patriots and the New Orleans Saints ended with a Saints win, showing the rest of the NFL that they were a force to be reckoned with.

The week began with another installment of Thursday Night Football as the Cincinnati Bengals fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27 to 10. FOX Sports had the doubleheader this week, and it featured a classic match-up between the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys. Another game with possible intrigue featured the Minnesota Vikings visiting the Jacksonville Jaguars. The scheduled game for Sunday Night Football had the San Diego Chargers hosting the Indianapolis Colts. The week wrapped up on Monday Night Football as the Green Bay Packers took on the New Orleans Saints.