NFL 2009 Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning QB, Indianapolis Colts

As the NFL enters Week 12, two teams -- the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints -- can clinch their divisions. Since 1990, only three teams -- 1997 San Francisco, 2004 Philadelphia and 2007 New England -- have clinched their divisions by their 11th game of the season.

Indianapolis clinches the AFC South division title with a win plus a Jaguars loss.

New Orleans clinches the NFC South division title with a win or tie plus an Atlanta Falcons loss.

The Colts and Saints are both 10-0 and form just the third pair in NFL history to start a season 10-0, joining the 1934 Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears and the 1990 New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers. In Week 12, the Colts will travel to Houston to face the Texans and the Saints will host the New England Patriots on Monday night.

NFL 2009 Week 12 action kicks off on Thursday with a Thanksgiving Day tripleheader.

"I remember watching Thanksgiving games as a kid," says Indianapolis quarterback PEYTON MANNING. "Even in high school and college, and now in the NFL, you practice, you come home and you watch Thanksgiving football."

Thanksgiving Day NFL Tripleheader

GREEN BAY PACKERS at DETROIT LIONS (FOX, 12:30 PM ET)

These two NFC North rivals meet on Thanksgiving for the 19th time. The Lions, who will host their 70th Thanksgiving Day Classic, have an 11-6-1 record on the holiday against the Packers. Green Bay is coming off a 30-24 win over San Francisco, led by QB AARON RODGERS' 344 yards passing and two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, the Lions pulled off a stunning comeback victory over Cleveland as QB MATTHEW STAFFORD passed for 422 yards -- the most ever by a rookie -- and five touchdowns -- tied for the most in NFL history by a rookie (RAY BUIVID, 1937, Chicago Bears).

OAKLAND RAIDERS at DALLAS COWBOYS (CBS, 4:15 PM ET)

The Cowboys host their first Thanksgiving Day game at the new Cowboys Stadium when the team welcomes the Oakland Raiders to town.

Dallas, who defeated the Washington Redskins last week, has a remarkable 26-14-1 record on Thanksgiving day, while QB TONY ROMO has a perfect 3-0 mark on Thanksgiving.

The Raiders make their sixth Thanksgiving Day appearance and first since 1970 when the Raiders played at Detroit. Last week, the Oakland Raiders scored 10 points in the final 33 seconds to upset the Cincinnati Bengals. It is only the second time in club history that the Raiders scored two times in the final minute of the fourth quarter for a comeback victory (November 17, 1968 vs. NY Jets, the "Heidi Game").

NEW YORK GIANTS at DENVER BRONCOS (NFLN, 8:20 PM ET)

The Denver Broncos host a Thanksgiving Day game for the first time since 1963 when the Broncos face the Giants in a primetime battle between two 6-4 clubs.

The Giants are playing in their first Thanksgiving Day game since 1992 and 15th overall. The Giants first Thanksgiving Day game was a 17-0 win over the Brooklyn Lions in 1926.

The New York Giants come off a 34-31 overtime win over Atlanta, led by QB ELI MANNING's career-high 384 passing yards. The Broncos, playing their 11th Thanksgiving Day game, look to rebound from a 32-3 loss to San Diego.

Other Key NFL 2009 Week 12 Games:

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (10-0) at HOUSTON TEXANS (5-5)

The Colts, who have won 19 consecutive regular-season games -- the second-longest streak in NFL history -- are closing in on a playoff berth for the eighth season in a row.

Indianapolis needed a fourth-quarter comeback to defeat Baltimore 17-15 last week and became the first club in NFL history to win four consecutive games after trailing during the fourth quarter in each of them.

"Winning close games, you've got to have great leadership in the locker room," says Colts linebacker GARY BRACKETT, who had a key fourth-quarter interception. "You've got to have guys with great fortitude. Don't give up, never quit and that's the mentality of this football team. Until that final whistle blows, we're never out of it."

The Texans know that they're not out of it either. Despite a three-point loss to Tennessee on Monday night, Houston is in the mix for a playoff berth with a 5-5 record.

"We just need to win," says Texans wide receiver ANDRE JOHNSON, who ranks third in the NFL with 878 receiving yards. "If we win the rest of our games, we get in."

The Indianapolis Colts are the first team in NFL history to win four consecutive games in a season by a total margin of 10 or fewer points. The Colts defeated San Francisco by four points in Week 8, Houston by three points in Week 9, New England by one point in Week 10 and Baltimore by two points in Week 11. The previous record was set by the 1986 New York Giants, who won four consecutive games by a total margin of 11 points en route to a Super Bowl XXI victory.

ARIZONA CARDINALS (7-3) at TENNESSEE TITANS (4-6)

Two streaking teams will meet on Sunday afternoon in Tennessee. The NFC West-leading Cardinals, winners of three in a row, are a perfect 5-0 on the road for the first time since 1948. The Titans, who began the season 0-6, have strung together four consecutive wins to climb back into the AFC playoff hunt.

"Everybody on the team is playing good football," says quarterback VINCE YOUNG, who is 4-0 since taking over as the starter this year. "Everyone is taking care of their assignments and executing the plays."

Titans running back CHRIS JOHNSON rushed for 151 yards in the team's 20-17 win on Monday night at Houston. Johnson has now rushed for at least 125 yards while averaging 5.0 yards per carry in five consecutive games, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer JIM BROWN (1958) as the only players to accomplish the feat.

Arizona gained 444 yards of total offense in last week's 21-13 victory at St. Louis. The Cardinals have amassed at least 400 yards of offense in three consecutive games, the first time the club has accomplished that since 1969. In the win against the Rams, running back TIM HIGHTOWER rushed for a career-high 110 yards and averaged 7.9 yards per carry.

"We've been trying to improve on this running game and build on it each week," says Hightower. "We've been going back and forth between me and BEANIE (WELLS) trying to get some balance to this offense. It's been in the making."

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (7-3) at NEW ORLEANS SAINTS (10-0) (MNF)

"I don't think there's any better team in football than the New Orleans Saints," says Patriots head coach BILL BELICHICK. "They have no weaknesses that I can see."

The Saints are 10-0, the best start in franchise history, and will host the 7-3 Patriots on Monday night in front of a rocking Superdome crowd.

"We know it's a good team that we're playing this week," says New Orleans head coach SEAN PAYTON. "New England has been a successful franchise and is one of those organizations that has found the right formula. When you play a team like this, you observe from afar the things that they are able to do and how that relates to winning games."

The two teams are led by their quarterbacks.

DREW BREES of the Saints ranks second in the NFL with a 105.8 passer rating and TOM BRADY of the Patriots is fifth at 100.4. Brees leads the league with 22 touchdown passes and Brady is tied for fourth with 20.

"Both of these quarterbacks are accurate," says Payton. "They're good decision-makers and can decide quickly where they want to go with the ball based on the looks they're getting. Those are certainly traits you see with both of them."

Brees knows that it will take a strong effort against New England to extend the Saints' longest winning streak in team history.

"It's going to take our best game to beat the Patriots," says Brees. "We know the type of team they are. We know the type of team they've been for the last decade. They're a dynasty. Obviously, that's one of the organizations we try to emulate. We're trying to be a contender year-in and year-out and we've got to take advantage of these opportunities."

 

NFL 2009 Week 11 Highlights

 

The INDIANAPOLIS COLTS and NEW ORLEANS SAINTS both won today to improve to 10-0 this season. It marks the third time in NFL history that the league has had two 10-0 teams. There were two 10-0 teams in 1934 (Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions) and 1990 (New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers).

The Colts have won 19 consecutive regular-season games, the second-longest streak in NFL history (New England, 21). The Saints have won 10 consecutive games for the first time in franchise history.

 

Minnesota quarterback BRETT FAVRE tossed four touchdowns in the Vikings' 35-9 win over Seattle.

Favre has thrown for at least four touchdowns 22 times in his career and passed Pro Football Hall of Famer DAN MARINO (21) for the most such games in NFL history.

Favre completed a career-high 88.0 percent of his passes (22 of 25), the second time this season (85.2 percent, Week 2 vs. Detroit) he has posted a completion percentage of at least 85.0. Entering 2009, he had zero such games.

 

Detroit rookie quarterback MATTHEW STAFFORD set career-highs with 422 passing yards and five touchdowns in the Lions' 38-37 win against Cleveland.

Stafford's 422 passing yards are the most by a rookie in a single game in NFL history, besting the mark set by Arizona's MATT LEINART (405 yards; November 26, 2006).

Stafford is the second rookie quarterback in NFL history to throw five touchdown passes in a game, joining RAY BUIVID of the Chicago Bears who had five TD passes on December 5, 1937.

At 21 years, 288 days old, Stafford is the youngest player in NFL history to pass for five touchdowns in a game. Buivid accomplished the feat at 22 years, 112 days old.

 

A record that hadn't been topped since 1964 was surpassed twice on Sunday.

The Chicago Bears tandem of wide receiver JOHNNY MORRIS (77) and Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end MIKE DITKA (59) combined for 136 catches through the first 10 games of the 1964 season. In 1995, the Detroit Lions wide receiver duo of HERMAN MOORE (73) and BRETT PERRIMAN (63) equaled that total.

During the Indianapolis Colts' 17-15 win against Baltimore, wide receiver REGGIE WAYNE (76 catches through 10 games) and DALLAS CLARK (65) combined for eight catches, establishing a record of 141 combined catches through the first 10 games of the season.

Later on Sunday, the New England Patriots wide receiver combo of WES WELKER (79) and RANDY MOSS (63) combined for 20 catches in a 31-14 win over the New York Jets, giving the pair 142 combined receptions through 10 games to surpass the hours-old record set earlier in the day by Wayne-Clark.

 

Indianapolis quarterback PEYTON MANNING passed for 299 yards against Baltimore.

Manning, who has 3,171 passing yards this year, has now thrown for at least 3,000 yards in 12 consecutive seasons, the most to start a career in NFL history.

 

Three teams successfully defended their undefeated road records yesterday to improve to 5-0 away from home: Arizona (21-13 win at St. Louis), Indianapolis (17-15 win at Baltimore) and New Orleans (38-7 win at Tampa Bay).

With three 5-0 road teams, the 2009 season is now tied for the most ever. There have been three other seasons in which three teams started 5-0 on the road (1983, 2001, 2007). All three of this year's 5-0 road teams are in first place in their respective divisions.

 

Sustaining drives on offense has long been an indicator of NFL success. This year, the top five NFL offenses in yards per drive have a combined record of 40-10 (.800). Four of those five teams currently sit atop their respective divisions -- Indianapolis, New England, New Orleans, and Dallas.

The NFL's two remaining undefeated teams, the Colts (36.9 yards per drive) and Saints (34.7), rank first and third in the category.

The top NFL offenses in average yards per drive in 2009:

1. Indianapolis Colts 36.9

2. New England Patriots 36.2

3. New Orleans Saints 34.7

4. Pittsburgh Steelers 34.2

5. Dallas Cowboys 34.0

 

Buffalo Bills wide receiver TERRELL OWENS posted a season-high 197 receiving yards in the Bills' 18-15 loss at Jacksonville. Owens' 98-yard touchdown reception, the longest in team history, gives him 25 career 50-yard touchdowns from scrimmage (rushing or receiving), tying him with Pro Football Hall of Famer LENNY MOORE for the fourth-most in NFL history.

The players with the most 50-yard touchdowns from scrimmage (rushing or receiving) in NFL history:

1. Jerry Rice 36

2. Randy Moss 27

3. Lance Alworth 27

4. Terrell Owens 25

5. Lenny Moore 25

 

New England wide receiver WES WELKER had 15 catches for 192 yards in the Patriots' 31-14 win over the New York Jets.

Welker has 302 receptions in his first 40 games with the Patriots and is the first player in NFL history to record 300 catches in the first 40 games with a new team. The previous record for the most receptions in a player's first 40 games with a new team was 269 by Denver's LIONEL TAYLOR.

The players with the most receptions in their first 40 games with a new team (rookies and veterans):

WR Wes Welker Patriots 302

WR Lionel Taylor Broncos 269

WR Anquan Boldin Cardinals 259

WR Terance Mathis Falcons 239

RB Marshall Faulk Rams 228

WR Tom Fears Rams 228

 

NFL 2009 Week 11: Close Games, Fantastic Finishes

The games were this close. In an NFL season packed with excitement, Week 11 may have been most the dramatic yet:

The 12 games decided by 8 points or fewer tied the NFL record for the most eight-point games in a single week. The feat has now occurred seven times, most recently in Week 10 of 2006.

There were 20 games decided by 8 points or fewer in the past two weeks. That is the most in a two-week span since Weeks 16-17 in 2006 (20).

The 11 games decided by 7 points or fewer tied for the third-most in a week in NFL history, trailing only Week 15 of 1993 and Week 12 of 2003 (12).

The 8 games decided by 3 points or fewer is the most in one week since Week 6 of 2006.

With two minutes to play in 11 of 16 games, the score was tied OR featured the team trailing with a chance to tie or take the lead.

 

NFL 2009 Week 12 - Saints & Colts Aim to Clinch Division Titles plus Thanksgiving Day Tripleheader