The NFL's Week 12 Unsung Heroes

By Kerry J. Byrne
Cold, Hard Football Facts Unsung Zero

The NFL always provides unsung heroes in all phases of the game. Week 12 of the 2011 season was no exception. This week’s unsung heroes include a pair of a kicking specialists, an unknown special teamer replacing one of the greatest linebackers in history and an explosive rookie punt returner who proved that lightning can indeed strike twice.
 
Unsung Heroes: Denver’s kicking specialists
Tim Tebow-Mania has taken over Denver and threatens to consume much of NFL fandom. After all, the Broncos are now 5-1 in games that Tebow has started this season, thanks to their 16-13 Week 12 win at San Diego.
 
Tebow has been clutch, no doubt. But much of the credit for this win belongs to Denver’s unsung kicking specialists, who helped the Broncos win the battle of field position and fundamentals all day long.
 
Punter Britton Colquitt pinned the Chargers inside their own 10 yard line in three of his nine punts Sunday, while allowing virtually zero return yards all day. In fact, San Diego’s Patrick Crayton totaled just 15 yards on three returns in nine opportunities.
 
Meanwhile, Denver place kicker Matt Prater accounted for the game’s final nine points. His 3 for 3 effort on field goals, including the 37-yard game winner in overtime, stood in sharp contrast to a 2-for-4 day by Chargers kicker Nick Novak.
 
If not for a big day by Colquitt and Prater, Tebow-Mania is probably running a little less wild today.
 
Unsung Hero: Albert McClellan, MLB, Baltimore
Ray Lewis has been the anchor in the middle of the famed Ravens defense since the franchise was born in 1996. But the physical and emotional leader of the team was on the sidelines with a  foot injury for the Harbaugh Bowl – the huge Thanksgiving night clash between NFC power San Francisco and AFC power Baltimore.
 
So in the biggest game of the year, the job of anchoring the middle of the Ravens defense in place of future Hall of Famer Lewis fell upon the shoulders of McClellan, a second-year undrafted free agent out of Marshall University.
 
McClellan spent all of 2010 on the practice squad and became a special teams star here in 2011. He had never played middle linebacker before Thursday night, yet responded with two tackles and two assists on a night when the Baltimore defense dominated (nine sacks) in a 16-6 win over the 9-2 49ers.
 
Unsung Hero: Patrick Peterson, CB/PR, Arizona
They say that lightning doesn’t strike twice. Tell that to the Rams – who have twice been shocked this year by the electric Peterson, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2011 draft who’s quickly proving to be a game changer on special teams.
 
Back in Week 9, Peterson returned a punt 99 yards in overtime to hand the Rams a crushing 19-13 defeat.
 
He returned another punt for a touchdown against the Rams here in Week 12. The score was not as long or as dramatic as his game winner a few weeks ago:  this punt return covered a mere 80 yards and took place in the third quarter instead of overtime. So it won’t generate the same headlines as his earlier scoring romp.
 
But in a game that Arizona won 23-20 on a late field goal, Peterson’s return was critical to the team’s success – again.
 
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