As we enter Week 12 of this NFL season, teams are finally starting to even out. Teams like the Dolphins, Packers, and 49ers are all within the 500 market in terms of wins versus losses. Teams like the Bears, Panthers, Giants and Patriots were supposed to be running off with their respective divisions and fast tracking their way all the way to the Super Bowl. New England Patriots The match-up of the Week 12 will be the Bears at the New England Patriots. Prior to their game last week against the Packers at Green Bay, the Patriots and their head coach Bill Belichick endured more scrutiny from football experts than they have received the previous three years. DE Richard Seymour spoke out after the loss to the NY Jets two weeks ago. Seymour simple stated that the Patriots had been outplayed and out-coached by the Jets. Everyone seems to make a big deal about the statement? reading more into it than there really was. What fans fail to understand is when you lose a game in the NFL, its not just the players who have lost, it?s the coaches too. We have been quick to credit Bill Belichick as being a football genius when the Patriots were winning Super Bowls, but now Belichick is supposed to be immune to the criticism his team is receiving after dropping two straight for the first time in three years. As a former player I can tell you, coaches and teammates love it when they say we lost the game. That means Seymour took just as much responsibility for the lost to the Jets as Belicheck did. I can bet that if anyone took the time to ask Belichick the same question asked of Seymour he would have responded the same way. Never the less the talk about the Patriot demise was pre-mature. To prove that everything was fine with his team, Tom Brady lead the Pats to a 35-0 victory in Green Bay last week. In that game Brady returned to the four wide set that produced so much success during the Pats 4 game-winning streak earlier this season. I would like to see rookie Laurence Maroney get some additional carries against the Bears this week. While Maroney and starter Cory Dillon are both averaging 4.2 yards per game, Maroney provides the Pats a home threat that can go the distance every time he touches the ball. Watching Dillon break away on a run against the Jets was down right painful. Dillon is a prime example of what happens to running backs when they get old. The desire is there but the burst is not. I like the Dillon but would like to see the Pats restrict his carriers to short yardage and goal line situations. Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears will be making their third consecutive trip to the East Coast as they take on the Patriots. The Bears knocked off both New York football teams the past two weeks and are currently tied for the NFL?s best record. The Bears are (9-1) and so are the Indianapolis Colts. While the Chicago defense has played at a very high level all season and have saved the Bears from a couple of embarrassing defeats. Their offense has been inconsistent all year long. All the early season talk about QB Rex Grossman being the Bears QB of the future was pre-mature. Grossman is the type of quarterback that can pass you in and out of a game. In the loss to the Miami Dolphins, Grossman threw three picks, and against a week Arizona Cardinal secondary a month ago, he threw 6 interceptions. After watching Grossman struggle through another lackluster half two weeks ago against the Giants, Bears Head Coach Lovie Smith finally decided not to depend on Grossman?s ability to make throws downfield. Grossman struggles with pressure in his face, and with defenses blitzing him from everywhere, and the five-step drop he was taking he was unable to deliver the ball to his play-making receivers. Smith has not incorporated shorter three step drops for Grossman. The plan is to have Grossman gain confidence early in games by calling more running plays to RB Thomas Jones, and establishing a short passing game that allows Grossman to put a couple of completion in his pocket early to boost his confidence for the rest of the game. With Grossman in rhythm the Bears are a different type of football team, and one that I would consider to be a favorite for the Super Bowl. All Grossman has to due the rest of this season and playoffs is not turn the ball over. The Bears defense is #1 in the NFL. If Grossman eliminates his turnovers and forces opposing offenses to make long drives to score on the Bear defense, the Bears will be doing the Super Bowl shuffle at the beginning of February. To help Grossman stay true to the plan, Smith has put the ball in the hands of Jones, who carried the ball 28 times for 121 yards in last weeks 10-0 win against the Jets. Jones is not the break away back that Smith was hoping he would have in the backfield this season, but he is solid and can wear a defense down. His back up Cedric Benson is still waiting for his opportunity to show his skills. Benson?s situation reminds me of what Larry Johnson went threw in Kansas City. Like Benson, Johnson was drafted pretty high for the Chiefs, but had to sit and watch Priest Holmes for almost three years before getting his chance to start. When he finally got his opportunity he showed why the Chiefs selected him so high. Look for Jones and Benson to compliment each other as the Bears attempt to secure home field advantage for the playoffs. Wide Receiver Mark Bradley score the only touchdown for the Bears against the Jets. He turned a 10-yard stop route into a 57-yard touchdown. Bradley is in his second year, but missed most of last year with a knee injury. His play-making ability will be a critical part of the Bears playoff run. San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers are my mid-season pick for most improved team. They have been competitive against every team so far this year and are sitting at (5-5) and very much alive in the playoff race. They knocked off the Seattle Seahawks last week 20-14, using a pounding rushing attack led by RB Frank Gore who rushed for 212 yards. Gore reminds me of the Giants Tiki Barber, except he is more powerful than Barber. The negative thing Gore shares with Barber is the inability to hold on to the football. Barber was burden earlier in his career with the Giants with fumble after fumble. He was able to make an adjustment to the way he carries the ball and as a result rarely puts the ball on the ground. Gore should take note and study the way Barber is able to still be explosive but also protect the ball by holding it high on the side. The 49ers have all the ingredients to be a very good team. They have an outstanding running back in Gore, and an up and coming QB in Alex Smith. Smith connected for 163 yards and one touchdown against the Seahawks last week. His favorite target, Arnaz Battle, is popping up on sports center on a regular basis these days. The 49ers are riding their first three game winning streak into St.Louis this week to face a Ram team that was shutout by the Carolina Panthers last week. The three game winning streak is San Francisco?s first since 2002. While the 49ers offensive has been solid, its defense has played exceptionally well. They held Seahawks running back and last years NFL leading rusher Shaun Alexander to only 37 yards on 17 carriers. This team is only one game in back of division leading the Seahawks, and could end up in the Playoffs this year, arrive ahead of schedule. Oakland Raiders Things are looking up for the Silver and Black. The Raiders went to KC last week and almost knocked the Chiefs out of Arrowhead. Had it not been for a late interception in the end zone with 26 seconds to play, the Raiders could very well be sitting with three wins right now. But this is the Raiders. QB Aaron Brooks returned to the Raider lineup and played a solid game against the Chiefs, with the exception of his ill-advised attempt to force the ball to Randy Moss at the end of the game, resulting in an interception. With Brooks under center the Raiders seemed to play with a lot more confidence on offense. They did lose running back Lamont Jordan for the season after he injured his knee against the Chiefs. The Raiders played most of the game without Jordan and their starting left tackle Robert Gallery. The Raiders rank dead last in the NFL in offensive production, so I can just imagine how awful they will be without these two starters. The one bright spot for the Raiders this season has got to be their defense. They have played well all year and have limited teams from scoring a lot of points on them, however the Raiders offense is barely producing one touchdown per game. This is way too much pressure for any defense, and by being on the field so much as a result of its offenses three and out series, the defense may be getting worn down the last part of this season. Too bad they are not facing the Cardinals this week. Instead they have to play the best team in the league in the San Diego Chargers. Charger RB LaDainnian Tomlinson has a long history of torching the Raiders, by ground and by air. The Raiders have no one on defense to match up with the Chargers LT and tight-end Antonio Gates. So expect the Chargers to put up points. If the Raiders hope to win they will need to find a way to score some points. Wide receiver Randy Moss continues to drop passes at an alarming rate. What Moss fails to realize is he is a captain and a captain is supposed to lead by example. If he is dropping balls and not making plays how can he expect his teammates to do better? Moss needs to shut up and play football these days. Overall the Raiders are a mess, look for the Chargers to blow them out at home. My picks for Week 12 (winners in bold) Miami at Detroit Tampa Bay at Dallas Denver at Kansas City Arizona at Minnesota Carolina at Washington Chicago at New England Cincinnati at Cleveland Houston at N.Y. Jets Jacksonville at Buffalo New Orleans at Atlanta N.Y. Giants at Tennessee Philadelphia at Indianapolis Pittsburgh at Baltimore San Francisco at St. Louis Oakland at San Diego Green Bay at Seattle Notre Dame at USC