Week 12--The Heat is On

Like Glenn Frye said, the heat is on. (Yes, you should click the hyperlink and listen to it while reading.....go ahead.....I'll wait.....) In Week 12, we further separate the men from the boys in the NFL. Let's get to it....

San Francisco 49ers (7-2-1) at New Orleans Saints (5-5), 4:25 p.m. on FOX  

1.  Alex Smith (Utah) definitely had a woe-is-me Wednesday this week when head coach and Ken-doll look-alike Jon Harbaugh informed him that he was giving the start to ink man, Colin Kaepernick (Nevada-Reno).  

2.  There is talk of trading Smith, the number one overall pick in 2004, to the New York Jets, seeing as how the two pretty boys just can't get it done in Gotham. Smith is currently in a 3-year, $24-million deal with SF.

3.  The Saints D STILL can't stop anyone, so we don't look for them to do it today against San Francisco, who rose to 3rd in the NFL power rankings after thumping Chicago last Monday night.

Atlanta Falcons (9-1) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-4), 
1:00 p.m. on FOX

1.  It's hard to start strong and STAY strong in the NFL. The Falcons ARE winning, but 6 of their last 9 wins have come by 7 points or less.  

2.  QB Matt Ryan (Boston College) just threw 5 INTs in a narrow win over Arizona last week. Confidence shaker? We'll see.

3.  Tampa is rolling, coming in to this week's NFC South matchup with a record of 5-1 in their last 6 games. 

Green Bay Packers (7-3) at New York Giants (6-4), 8:20 p.m., NBC

1.  After cruising through the first half of the season with a 93.4 passer rating, Eli Manning has fallen to a paltry 62.9 for the last four games. Some blame his O-line, but it's hard to say. When the QB is hot, you win.  When he's not....

2.  TE Martellus Bennett (Texas A&M) has been a key pickup for the Giants this season. Keep your eye on number 85.

3. With the Pack still missing Thor-ish Clay Matthews on defense, a win will be a tall order on the road today in New York.   
   

In other news:

• Officials to decide soon as to whether or not they will rescind the punitive rule of NOT reviewing a scoring play if a head coach errantly throws the red challenge flag, as Lions coach Jim Schwarz did on Thursday against Houston. Decision could go into effect for the playoffs.
• In spite of Palmer having over 3,000 yards passing, the Raiders have given up the most points in the NFL so far this season.
• Lions defenseman N. Suh just doesn't get it.  With a decision coming down from on high Monday, he could be facing a three game suspension.  His latest insult?  Kicking Texans QB Matt Schaub in the business on THIS play last week.  Geez.