Studs and Duds Week 12: Randy Moss, Meet Matt Cassel

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around with his finger in the air while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Here's Week 12 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory.

Studs

Matt Cassel and Randy Moss, New England (8 connections, 125 yards, 3 TDs) -- This team is starting to look a lot like 2007 if you ask me. Cassel has become comfortable, and is riding the huge wave named confidence to victory after dominating victory. Moss put out 100 percent on his routes, caught some beautiful passes from No. 16, who had himself a pretty decent game. Cassel has thrown for 815 yards and six touchdowns, and ran for one, in the last two weeks. I know Varsity Blues is a movie but if Gisele ends up leaving Tom Brady for the USC product I wouldn't be the least surprised. "Hey Tom ... I don't want, your life."

Michael Turner, RB Atlanta (24 carries, 117 yards, 4 TDs) -- Boy did my fantasy ears (eyes?) perk up when this guy's stats kept rolling across my screen. One touchdown in the first quarter makes a man happy. Three touchdowns in the fourth can damn near make him fall out of his seat. Turner now has the most end zone visits (13) of anyone in the league and is the third-leading rusher behind just Clinton Portis and Adrian Peterson. Not bad for a guy playing backup just a year ago.

Matt Forte, RB Chicago (20 carries, 132 yards, 2 TDs) -- I can guarantee you this: the Offensive Rookie of the Year is going to be named "Matt." The one in Chicago had a field day, running all over a Rams defense that looked more like a sponge than a group of top tier athletes. Forte busted through the middle on one run for a hefty 47 yards, helping pad his stats and move to fifth in the league in rushing, tops among first-years. Forte will get his shot next week to show who is the best in the NFC North as the Bears travel to Minnesota to meet up with Peterson and the boys.

Tony Romo, QB Dallas (23-for-39, 341 yards, 3 TDs) -- Is there really anything negative you can say about Romo at this point? The guy is back from injury and takes the Cowboys from crappy to contenders in just five jersey numbers. Basically in "must win" mode the rest of the season, Romo and company torched the 49ers' secondary all day, with added love to a little-known man named Terrell Owens. When Tony wasn't paying for homeless men to see Role Models he was hooking up with Owens, once for 75 yards and a score. When Romo is smiling and Owens is smiling, this team is as scary as they look on paper.

Duds

Donovan McNabb, QB (maybe) Philadelphia (8-for-18, 59 yards, 2 INTs, 15.3 QBR) -- When talking of ugly performances by a quarterback, this was Medusa meets Sarah Jessica Parker. A week after admitting to the media that he didn't know NFL games could end in a tie, McNabb's team went with the alternative -- get beat so bad there is no question the outcome. Rookie Joe Flacco upstaged Donovan like a 10-year veteran and, it got so bad that he was benched in the second half for Kevin Kolb. The best part of it all, is when asked after the game if he should have been benched, McNabb answered "No." Read that stat line above once more in you even think of questioning Andy Reid's decision.

Trent Green, QB St. Louis (16-for-30, 219 yards, 4 sacks, 4 INTs) -- Marc Bulger started the day behind center for the Rams but, after just five plays and a concussion, Green came in to clean up the mess. Unfortunately for St. Louis, Green's idea of cleaning up involves dirt and horse manure. He got picked four times on 30 pass attempts and would have been Dud of the Week if not for "What is Overtime." St. Louis is now 2-9 and haven't found the win column since the middle of October. What is up next for this group? Hosting a scrappy Dolphins team and having to fly to Arizona to play Kurt Warner and the boys.

Ralph Brown, CB Arizona (no hands on the "hands unit") -- So, when performing an onside kick, coaches have picked what is called the "hands unit" to try and recover the ball, which is basically the guys with the best hands on the team. Well, everyone except Brown. Down eight points with 4:02 to go, the Cardinals decided to try an onside kick in hopes of recovering the ball and scoring to tie the game. Neil Rackers kick it straight into the ground, the ball popped up to perfection and was heading right at Brown with nobody around. What did Ralph do? Instead of moving up two yards and just catching the ball in the air, Brown let it bounce, and still whiffed it. Brown said after the game, "I felt somebody coming up on me on the right. When it came to my hand, I kind of looked away and it bounced off my hands." I'd be happy to wager that the next time Arizona attempts an onside kick, Brown is watching ... from the sidelines.

Daunte Culpepper, QB Detroit (8-for-20, 121 yards, 4 sacks, 2 INTs) -- The Lions proved yesterday that no matter the initial score, losing is possible from any margin. Up 17-0 with a touchdown under his belt, Culpepper went into misfire mode, throwing duck after duck to his receivers and eventually being sat for Drew Stanton. His performance wasn't nearly as bad as the arm rolling celebration that he brought back out after his first touchdown. Do you think he practiced that during retirement? He probably did more than trying to throw the ball in front of your receivers.

Near Studly -- Kevin Walter, Trent Edwards, Eli Manning, Ronde Barber, Ed Reed, Harry Douglas, Joe Flacco and Terrell Owens.

Near Dudly -- Brian Westbrook, Frank Gore, St. Louis rushing attack, Fred Taylor, Jay Cutler, Kurt Warner and Brady Quinn.