Week 12 predictions
Thanksgiving week has never been so good… or important!
Thursday 5:30pm
Green Bay Packers 34-30 Detroit Lions
This is undoubtedly the Pack’s biggest test of the season, and trust me, there will be points. After throwing five touchdowns in his last game, Matt Stafford will be looking forward to facing Green Bay’s porous secondary. But when Dom Capers’ men have to step up, they often do, as do Aaron Rodgers and the offense, so I think this is a difficult step, but a step none the less towards the 19-0.
Thursday 9:15pm
Miami Dolphins 23-27 Dallas Cowboys
Miami look like they could beat anyone right now, they have won their last three games by at least 20 points. But Dallas are playing much better on defense and Tony Romo seems to have clicked with his receiving corps. This will be much tighter than it could have been a few weeks ago, but the outcome should be the same, Dallas win at home.
Friday 1:20am
San Francisco 49’ers 16-20 Baltimore Ravens
The Niners are steamrolling everyone they come up against, but Baltimore are not a team to be rolled over. They stop the run and make it very difficult to pass with a good pass rush. San Francisco stop the run, but their secondary is still questionable and at times, vulnerable. Despite their impressive performances, I just have a feeling that the Ravens will use Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin a lot more than usual, possibly to a 80:20 pass:run ratio, and this aerial assault will prove too much for San Francisco.
Sunday 6:00pm
Minnesota Vikings 13-38 Atlanta Falcons
I really like Atlanta as a football team, they have weapons on offense and a defense that is steadily improving. They will air it out against the Vikings, and look for Roddy White to finally have a huge day. No Adrian Peterson = No chance for Minnesota.
Cleveland Browns 9-20 Cincinnati Bengals
Two teams who, surprisingly, have two of the best defenses in the league. So obviously don’t expect a shootout. But the Bengals have two of the AFC’s best in their division, so they want and need this more. Andy Dalton was impressive when he had to chase down the Ravens last week, but he’ll just manage the game this week, effectively nevertheless.
Carolina Panthers 31-16 Indianapolis Colts
Put Cam Newton in your fantasy teams everyone, it will be a good day. Indianapolis are terrible, no hope from anywhere, apart from Peyton Manning promising he will be back. Carolina’s defense may be poor, but it will hardly be challenged.
Houston Texans 24-10 Jacksonville Jaguars
Without Matt Schaub, Matt Leinart gets the chance to throw to the returning Andre Johnson, but it will be the running game that will dominate this one. Jacksonville’s defence is not bad at all, but their offense (minus MJD) is. Houston’s defense is similarly impressive, but they have weapons all over the place on offense and should be able to win this one with ease.
Buffalo Bills 10-17 New York Jets
The Bills have been terrible recently, but the Jets offense isn’t exactly first rate. The Jets D is still a Rex Ryan creation however, and on its day can stop anyone, so you have to stick with the home team, especially now Fred Jackson has been ruled out.
Arizona Cardinals 27-23 St Louis Rams
Both teams are having poor seasons, the Cardinals can’t improve while injuries disrupt their team, and the Rams have stalled after looking great in their defeat of the Saints. The key factor in this one could be the Rams’ inability to stop the run. If Beanie Wells is fit and ready to go for the Cards, it could be a huge day for him. Equally it could be a big day for Brandon Lloyd, as the Arizona pass defense is almost non-existent… but I’ll stick with the team that has the better run defense.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-23 Tennessee Titans
You never know what you are going to get with these two sides, one week, Tampa Bay get hammered by 30 points, the next, they look like they have a chance of turning over Green Bay. Tennessee’s problems at wide receiver are slowly being sorted out with backups stepping up, but until they can find a way of getting CJ2K firing, they will be inconsistent. This could be a good week for Chris Johnson however, as Tampa’s run defense is very poor, so I’ll go for the home team with a resurgent running back.
Sunday 9:05pm
Chicago Bears 27-17 Oakland Raiders
This one is very interesting, Cutler out, McFadden out and both teams well and truly in the playoff race. The two X factors in this matchup will be the Oakland run defense and the Chicago pass defense. Whichever one improves best could shape the outcome of this game. And with two first string wideouts missing for Carson Palmer, I’m betting Chicago will edge out a spirited Raiders team, with Matt Forte given an increaded workload with Caleb Hanie at QB
Washington Redskins 13-17 Seattle Seahawks
I’ve been fairly impressed with what Pete Carroll has been doing at Qwest field, especially on defense. They have also found a groove on the offensive side of the ball as well, Marshawn Lynch is running hard and Sidney Rice is a true #1 franchise WR. The Skins just won’t win with Rex Grossman at QB; it’s pretty much as simple as that.
Sunday 9:15pm
New England Patriots 23-20 Philadelphia Eagles
The Pats hammered the reeling Chiefs in the second half last Tuesday morning, and that was without Wes Welker getting involved. However, the Eagles defense looked light years better against the Giants, and limited them to just 10 points. This could be a lower scoring affair than many might expect, but I have to go with the Pats because they will take advantage of Philadelphia’s poor linebacking corps with Gronkowski and Hernandez, the best TE combo in the league.
Denver Broncos 20-27 San Diego Chargers
Someone has to stop Tebow. He cannot continue to win games despite throwing like a junior school QB. I admit, he’s got some hell of a fire in him that seems to drag his team along to win games, but someone will work him out sooner or later, and I think it starts at the Qualcomm. Philip Rivers and Vincent Jackson seem to have come to an understanding that they need to use each other more for the Chargers to win games, but Rivers needs to stop throwing it to opposition players first. He is, for me, slipping into the 2nd Tier of QB’s, among the likes of Stafford, Ryan and Flacco, dangerous yet inconsistent unlike the Brady’s, Rodgers’ and Brees’ of this world.
Monday 1:20am
Pittsburgh Steelers 30-6 Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City are falling apart now, no QB, no RB and a crumbling defense. They need to pick up the recently released Kyle Orton if they are to stand any chance of being satisfied with their season. This should be a walk in the park for the Steelers, Tyler Palko could be in for a painful day against the rejuvenated Pittsburgh D. And if the Chiefs’ coverage is like it was for Rob Gronkowski’s first TD on Tuesday morning, Mike Wallace could have a career best day.
Tuesday 1:30am
New York Giants 30-33 New Orleans Saints
What a great game for Monday Night Football. Two good teams with two good QB’s and offenses. There will be no better opportunity for the Giants to get their running game going than against the Saints, and if they manage to do so, they will cause Drew Brees a headache. However, the passing power of New Orleans’ offense can overwhelm many sides, and their spirit in their last game’s OT victory over Atlanta shouldn’t be overlooked. So I’ll take the Saints at home, even though the Giants will make it interesting in a bit of an aerial shootout.
