With Week 11 in the 2012 NFL season in the books let us look back and go over some things I learned from Week 11:

1. Dallas could be a major threat to the Giants for the rest of the season

This is NOT what New York Giants fans wanted with 6 games left to go in the 2012 regular season. Dallas is a game behind in the NFC East and the New York Giants are struggling lately as the Cowboys seem to be getting better at the right time. It appears like the Cowboys are the hottest team in the NFC East and starting to breathe pretty heavy down the Giants necks. I’m calling my shot right now: the NFC East will be decided in Week 17.

2. Andy Reid can’t be the head coach at the end of the season, right!?

I’m sure Eagles fans will disagree with me on this one but it looks like the Eagles have just all but given up on this 2012 campaign. With that said I have changed my tune on Andy Reid’s time in Philadelphia as I just can’t see him finishing out with this team in 2012. The Eagles need to make a change and need to make a change now, getting Andy Reid out of there as the head coach may give this team some sort of spark to build off of in 2013.

3. If Tampa Bay makes the playoffs they could be a major “underdog” threat to every NFC team

As you can tell from these blogs, Tampa Bay has become one of my favorite teams to watch as lately. I really believe if the Bucs can make the playoffs they will give their opponent a TON of trouble because they are a team playing with “house money” as the underdog. Tampa is playing well offensively, they are playing well defensively and Greg Schiano has this team believing in themselves. It’s a scary combination for a young team making a run at a playoff spot late in the season.

4. While they did get the “W”, Houston and Atlanta CANNOT play like they did in Week 11

Most of us wrote off a victory for both Houston and Atlanta in Week 11 and while both teams got the win they didn’t do so in such a “Super Bowl contending” fashion. Houston should have blown out the Jacksonville Jaguars, arguably the worst team in the NFL but were pushed to an overtime battle. Atlanta should have blown out the Arizona Cardinals to get a bounce-back win but they spent most of the day playing catch-up.

If both of these teams want to be looked at as the best teams in their respective conferences then they will need to avoid playing like this at all costs for the rest of the season. When they play like they did in Week 11 we now question if they truly are Super Bowl favorites and that’s not what you want as the season winds down. A win is a win but we now have more questions about the current top teams in both the AFC and NFC.

5. The Week 11 victory over the Rams saved Rex Ryan his job

When we look back at the 2012 New York Jets season we will remember this victory as the game that saved Rex Ryan’s job. Why do I believe this statement to be true? Simply put, the Jets could not walk off their field on Thanksgiving night versus their New England rivals on a losing streak. If this losing streak continued past Thanksgiving there would be questions on whether or not Rex Ryan had completely lost all control of this team for good.

The Jets won in pretty convincing fashion, something that we haven’t been able to say in some time and therefore Rex Ryan will be the head coach for this team heading into next season. While there is still plenty of drama surrounding this team, it’s nice to get a victory to avoid all those “anonymous” questions for at least another week. If the Jets really want to save their season a big victory against the Patriots on Thanksgiving night could be the answer they are looking for.

6. Maybe we should “pump the brakes” a bit on the Indianapolis Colts

It’s nice every once in a while to get on a bandwagon of a team with momentum. It’s nice to overreact a bit in hopes of your dreams coming true for a Sunday afternoon football game. Those dreams and that momentum were quickly put to a halt after the New England Patriots officially welcomed Andrew Luck & the Indianapolis Colts to the NFL.

I really had high hopes for this Patriots/Colts game because there was a ton of possibilities floating through many Football fans minds. For one it was the possible return of a great 2000s AFC rivalry and a possibility for the beginning of a Tom Brady/Andrew Luck, old school vs. new school rivalry. Those were all quickly dashed away as New England “laid the smackdown” on Indianapolis 59-24 and making us all realize that maybe we should stop overreacting on the Indianapolis Colts as a serious AFC threat…this season.

7. It’s official, the New Orleans Saints are looking like the” Drew Brees era Saints” of old

I’ll sound like a broken record here but this Saints team was “left for dead” after starting the season 0-4. They were not supposed to contend in Week 11 and they were not supposed to still be in this thing with just 6 games to go. Well NFL fans, the Saints are still in this thing and it’s getting pretty interesting in the NFC.

How far New Orleans goes from here is anyone’s guess but I’ll tell you this: they are playing like the Saints we have been accustomed to seeing since Drew Brees and Sean Payton took over this team. They are finding ways to score, they are playing “decent” defense and more importantly they are getting the win. I’ll question whether or not this team is “playoff worthy” at the moment simply because I believe Tampa Bay is a better team in the NFC South. But should the Saints get past the Bucs then I just can’t see this team missing the playoffs in 2012, who would’ve thought you’d say that!?

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