The pressure to not just win, but win Super Bowls in the NFL is immense. A perfect example of that took place Monday morning when the Ravens fired Cam Cameron as their offensive coordinator and replaced him with current quarterbacks coach and former Colts head coach Jim Caldwell. While it seems like an odd move by a 9-4 team this late in the season, John Harbaugh has watched his team lose two straight games after pulling off a miracle win in San Diego. He has also watched his team win games where they have scored a total of nine, 13 and 16 points respectively under Cameron’s guidance. On the Ravens official Twitter feed Harbaugh had this to say about the move:

Harbaugh: “It’s not about fair or unfair, right or wrong. My responsibility is to the whole team and what’s best for them right now.”

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 10, 2012

Maybe this move will lead to more work for Ray Rice and more balance in the Ravens’ attack.

Time now to take a look back at what happened in week 14.

Star of the week

There were many worthy candidates this week but nobody had a more star-studded performance than Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. In the Panthers’ 30-20 win over the Falcons, Newton passed for 287 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. But what earned him the weekly honours was this spectacular <a class="link" href="http://www.nfl.com/videos/auto/0ap2000000107821/WK-14-Can-t-Miss-Play-Scrambling-Newton
“>72-yard touchdown run.

In total Newton ran the ball nine times for 116 yards and one touchdown. According to the NFL (@RLiuNFL), Newton is the first player in the history of the league to have over 250 passing yards, over 100 rushing yards, a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown all in the same game.

Rookie of the week

Rookie running back David Wilson won this award after an incredible performance in the Giants’ win over the Saints. Wilson returned four kickoffs for 227 yards and one touchdown and also ran the ball 13 times for 100 yards and two touchdowns. It was Wilson’s <a class="link" href="http://www.nfl.com/videos/auto/0ap2000000108514/David-Wilson-52-yard-touchdown-run
“> second rushing touchdown that clinched the weekly award.

Stiff(s) of the week

The entire Arizona Cardinals organization wins this award after getting beat 58-0 by the Seahawks. Richard Sherman’s <a class="link" href="http://www.nfl.com/videos/auto/0ap2000000108182/Sherman-pick-six
“>pick-six was one of many embarrassing moments for Ken Whisenhunt and the Cardinals.

Cardinals quarterbacks John Skelton and Ryan Lindley completed only one pass for two yards to No. 1 threat Larry Fitzgerald during the entire game.

MVP Watch

Everyone in Mall of America Field knew exactly what the Vikings were going to do the first time they had the ball. I am quite certain every member of the Bears defence knew it as well. Not that it mattered, because Vikings running back Adrian Peterson took the opening handoff on the very first play of the game for 51 yards.

In the end Peterson torched the Bears for 154 yards and two touchdowns in the Vikings’ 21-14 win. After 13 games Peterson leads the NFL by a wide margin with 1,600 yards and has a legitimate shot at a 2,000-yard season. What makes those number all the more amazing is that every team that plays the Vikings schemes their defence around stopping Peterson. Coach Leslie Frazier tried to explain why the Vikings are able to run the ball so well when every team that faces them is trying to do everything in their power to stop Peterson.

“Our offensive line really bought into the fact that we’re going to run the football and we need you to sustain your blocks. Because we know if we’re able to do that just a little bit longer than normal we have a back (Peterson) who can crease a defence.”

As great as Peterson has played this season there are plenty of other worthy candidates for the MVP award in 2012.

Tom Brady: Heading into Monday night’s game, Brady has 3,537 yards, 25 touchdowns and only four interceptions.
Peyton Manning: Manning could very well win both the MVP and the Comeback Player of the Year Award. He has thrown for 3,812 yards with 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Aaron Rodgers: Even with a ton of injuries throughout their lineup, Rodgers has single handedly kept the Packers in contention. He has thrown for 3,297 yards with 29 touchdowns and eight interceptions. In Sunday night’s win over the Lions I was particularly fond of Rodgers’ <a class="link" href="http://www.nfl.com/videos/auto/0ap2000000108593/WK-14-Can-t-Miss-Play-Rodgers-roars-past-Lions
“>27-yard touchdown run and “title belt” celebration that followed.
The NFL should really look at giving out an award to the league’s best receiver because what Calvin Johnson is doing this year is really special. Because of the Lions’ disappointing season I don’t see ‘Megatron’ winning the award, which is a shame because his remarkable season deserves to be recognized. Colts rookie quarterback Andrew Luck will receive some votes and fellow rookie Robert Griffin III will get some votes as well if he can lead the Redskins to the post-season.

Defensive player of the week
Rookie linebacker Luke Kuechly wins the award this week after his 16-tackle performance in the Panthers’ win over the Falcons. Kuechly now leads the entire NFL with 130 tackles on the season.

The Steve Largent award

Wow, there were some incredible catches on Sunday. The Eagles’ Jason Avant received a lot of votes for his one-handed grab in their win over the Bucs. That was good, but I felt <a class="link" href="http://www.nfl.com/videos/auto/0ap2000000107799/Britt-grabs-a-one-handed-46-yard-catch
“> Kenny Britt’s one-handed catch in the Titans’ loss to the Colts was even better.

The playoff watch

Don’t look now but the 6-7 Jets are still very much alive in the playoff race. After beating the Jaguars for their second straight win Rex Ryan gave a classic post game speech. Just watch the expression on the face of the elderly lady in the background <a class="link" href="http://www.newyorkjets.com/photos-and-videos/videos/Rexs-Week-14-Postgame-Locker-Room-Speech/21c60d3e-2ce6-4348-afa1-9983b080beae
“> as Ryan drops an F bomb .

If the season ended today the Wild Card matchups would look like this:

AFC: Steelers at Patriots and Colts at Ravens.
NFC: Bears at Packers and Seahawks at Giants.

The Bengals and Jets still have a shot at the post-season in the AFC. In the NFC, the Cowboys, Redskins, Vikings and Rams are still mathematically alive in the playoff race.

The outcome of next week’s game between the Steelers and the Cowboys in Dallas will have huge playoff implications for teams in both conferences.

If the Packers beat the Bears next week they will clinch the NFC North.

The Monday Night game

It doesn’t get much better than the Texans and Patriots in New England on a Monday night. The 9-4 Patriots are riding a six-game winning streak where they’ve scored a total of 242 points, or just over 40 points per game. The Patriots have scored more points in their past six games than six teams have scored over the course of the entire season.

Meanwhile, J.J. Watt and the 11-1 Texans have allowed the fewest points in the AFC and are trying to move one step closer to locking up home-field advantage throughout the post-season.

More than that, this is the kind of game the Texans need to win to prove to everyone they can indeed win it all. Gary Kubiak and Matt Schaub make for a nice coach/quarterback combo but they’re not Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.

Running back Arian Foster is one of Houston’s key players on offence, but Patriots running back Stevan Ridley isn’t that far off in terms of production. Foster has run for 1,102 yards and 13 touchdowns this season; Ridley has run for 1,010 yards and nine touchdowns with 58 fewer carries than his Texans counterpart.

With rain in the forecast at Gillette Stadium, it promises to be a real slobberknocker of a game.