Week 12 Picks for Every NFL Game

I'm getting a little pre-Thanksgiving senioritis about this blog; hence the picks will be brief and filled with even less sound reasoning than usual. But since you asked, here are my Week 12 picks for every NFL game:

Top Shelf Games: Talent-rich, highly competitive and aged in oak barrels... spiritually speaking

Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks (-6.5) - What an epic NFC West tumble in the Hawks' Nest - I think I'll make it the Lady Blitz Game of the Week.  The Cardinals have no problem being the underdog for another week, but sooner or later, I think they'll stumble with so many injuries.  Seattle might be that place.

Detroit Lions at New England Patriots (-7) - I can't wait to see how the mighty Detroit defense fares in Foxboro against Gronk and friends.  It should be a good chess match of an early game, but the Lions' offense hasn't proven it can hold serve in several weeks.

Miami Dolphins at Denver Broncos (-7) - And finally, our only other game this week between two teams with winning records.  Woo.  The Broncos should be wary since the Dolphins have a defense that's every bit as good as the Rams were last week, but I reckon the Denver Peytons will rebound.

Well Drink Games: They may surprise you from time to time without all the high expectations

Cleveland Browns at Atlanta Falcons (-3) - The Browns should win this, right? They've matched up well against teams with a mediocre-to-bad defense and the Falcons have one of those.

Green Bay Packers (-9.5) at Minnesota Vikings - In all likelihood, this won't be an interesting game for very long, but hopefully the Vikings' pass rush and growing stable of second-tier running backs will make things a little more ground-y and pound-y than the Packers would like for a couple quarters.  Before Aaron Rodgers destroys all.

Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans (-2) - Despite Andy Dalton's impressive rebound in New Orleans last week, he's never had a good time in Houston, at least in January.  With A.J. Green and Giovanni Bernard returning, I'll take a chance on the Bengals this time around.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Chicago Bears (-5.5) - The only reason this game isn't in the House Punch is because Lovie Smith is returning to Chicago with the weird possibility of keeping the 2 - 8 Bucs alive in the playoff hunt.  It'd be sweet if he could exact revenge on the Bears for dumping him after a 10-win season, but Tampa's still a pretty shady team, just sayin'.

St. Louis Rams at San Diego Chargers (-4.5) - Protect Philip Rivers' ribs, for the love of the contusion gods!  Given the Chargers' recent woes on the offensive line, there's a legitimate chance the Rams can win this one.  But now that San Diego's got Ryan Mathews back to take some pressure off of Rivers, I'm thinking the Chargers start turning it around and playing the slow, physical style they prefer.

Dallas Cowboys (-3.5) at New York Giants - Although "Bad Eli" has been somewhat of a rarity this season, Good Eli has yet to make an appearance.  And judging by the Giants' total inability to stop Marshawn Lynch a couple weeks back in Seattle, DeMarco Murray will be more than enough for Dallas to control this game.

Baltimore Ravens at New Orleans Saints (-3.5) - Generally speaking, the Saints are unimpeachable in prime time in the Superdome.  But seeing as how this season is going, I guess I'll go ahead and jinx them again.  They deserve it.

House Punch Games: Most likely to be lop-sided, sloppy and/or otherwise painful to digest

Kansas City Chiefs (-7) at Oakland Raiders - Poor Oakland.  Poor, poor Oakland.

Tennessee Titans at Philadelphia Eagles (-11) -  You know, Zach Mettenberger might not be all that bad for the Titans.  I think they've got a little more of a shot than the spread would suggest, especially seeing Mark Sanchez return to his old befuddling ways in Green Bay last week.  But it's the Titans.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts (-14) - This game will still probably get higher ratings than the last five World Series combined.  Chew on that for a minute.

New York Jets at Buffalo Bills (-4.5) - The weather conditions couldn't be more perfect for some ugly smashmouth football from these rivals. Expect the Bills to play bully to the Jets' stagnant offense during yet another blizzard.

Washington Redskinks at San Francisco 49ers (-9) - New idea for a reality show: Jim Harbaugh and RG3 doing joint press conferences. It'd be virtually as appealing as the Kardashians and they did okay.



So How's My Pickin'?
Last Week's Record: 9 -5
Season Record: 104 - 58 - 1