With Week 12 in the 2012 NFL season in the books let us look back and go over some things I learned from Week 12:

1. The NFL finally scheduled some great Thanksgiving games this year!

For years I have always felt like the NFL hasn’t given us those “must-see games” fans want to see showcased on the Thanksgiving holiday. I believe that all changed this season and that was even before a game was actually played. Houston vs. Detroit, Washington vs. Dallas and New England vs. New York were all games fans wanted to see on any given Sunday and we were given that on Thanksgiving this year. The games themselves were great (unless you’re a Jets fan) and lived up to the hype, great job NFL!

2. Washington is becoming a serious NFC East threat

Sure the NFC East is the Giants to lose right now but the Washington Redskins are giving one heck of a shot to at least make the division competitive and close. The Week 13 Monday Night matchup between the Giants and Redskins will be a real intriguing game because the Redskins season is on the line. If Washington wants to be that serious NFC East threat that I believe they are becoming they need to win this upcoming Week 13 matchup. Things could be getting interesting as the Redskins continue to shock everyone this season.

3. The New York Jets are awful

What more else can you say about this team? They played a horrible game, particularly the 2^nd quarter beat down and they don’t look like a team that cares anymore. “Heads are clearly going to roll” at the end of the season and if they don’t then it will be an injustice to their fans. It was one of the worst Thanksgiving performances in sometime and I felt like it summed up this 2012 Jets season in the game against New England.

4. Atlanta gets that “battle tested win” they needed by beating Tampa Bay in Week 12

I have been pretty critical of the Atlanta Falcons and their lack of “battle tested wins” this season in these blogs or on The Bower Show. Well we can put that to rest now as Atlanta got a very big win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 12. The Bucs are a great team and really pushed this Falcons squad to their limit on Sunday. Atlanta prevailed and now looks like that formable #1 seed in the NFC that they believe to be.

5. Cincinnati is quietly becoming an AFC playoff team once again

One of the best stories in the NFL that no one is talking about is the 2012 Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals are currently 6-5, have won 3 straight games and are also slowly creeping back into playoff contention for back-to-back seasons. The Wildcard playoff spots in the AFC are up for anyone’s taking heading into Week 13 and I like the Bengals chances of getting back into January Football this season.

6. Until further notice Colin Kaepernick needs to start for the 49ers

I can’t believe I am saying this but Colin Kaepernick gives the San Francisco 49ers the best chance to win on any given Sunday from the QB position. If you don’t believe me consider this little stat from Kaepernick’s short starting QB career: he has beaten the Chicago Bears AND New Orleans Saints this season. That’s not two teams that have 2 wins and are bottom feeders in their division; they have been top NFC mainstays for the last couple of years!

Unless Kaepernick gets hurt I don’t believe there should be any other reason for Harbaugh not to start him at QB for the rest of the year. Reason why is because you cannot play “Quarterback carousel” on a weekly basis when your team is in 1st place and arguably the best team in the NFL. It boggles my mind that it’s going on with the Niners coming out of Week 12, I have never seen this before with the top team in the league and that’s why Harbaugh needs to put this to an end NOW.

7. All the Giants needed was a bye week break

Giants’ fans are breathing easier after Week 12 as the defending Super Bowl Champions beat down the Green Bay Packers in primetime. Going into the Sunday Night game there was concern that the Giants were playing “flat” and may not be as dominant as they were to start the season. Well now that the bye week is past them and they got a much needed “break,” it clearly shows this was just a tired team and the dominating defending champions we saw to start the season are back.

All teams in the NFC take note…the Giants are back.

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