Week 12 Picks

Carolina looks to continue its winning ways as 

it has opened the 10-0 and won its past 13 regular season games

(via huffingtonpost.com)

Philadelphia @ Detroit (-3) - The Lions are currently on a two game winning streak and expect to have a healthy Calvin Johnson.  The Eagles will start Mark Sanchez who has thrown twice as many interceptions as touchdowns (4 to 2) this season.

Carolina (+1) @ Dallas- The Panthers are vulnerable for a loss given that the Cowboys have Tony back  Romo.  Still, the Panthers appeared to be clicking on all cylinders last week in a blowout win against Washington and Romo was far far from perfect as he threw two interceptions last week against the Dolphins.  

Chicago @ Green Bay (-8.5)-  Green Bay appears to be back on track after a blowout win against the Vikings and look to maintain its division lead by taking care of business against the Bears, who got blown out by the Packers at home earlier this season.

New Orleans @ Houston (-3) - The Texans have won 3 of their past 4 games.  While New Orleans is coming off a bye, their defense is ranked last in the league and fired their defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.  

Minnesota @ Atlanta (-1) - Atlanta has lost its past 3 straight games and 4 of its last 5 games.  The Vikings 5 game winning streak just ended against the Green Bay Packers.  Matt Ryan is the superior quarterback to Terry Bridgewater who could struggle on the road against Atlanta's crowd noise.

Tampa Bay @ Indianapolis (-3 ) - Tampa Bay played great against Philadelphia and comes off their 2nd straight win.  They became the first road team in NFL history to throw for five touchdowns and run for 200 yards in the same game according to bucaneers.com.  Andrew Luck is uncertain about his return date, although Matt Hasselbeck is 3-0 as the teams starting quarterback.

St. Louis @ Cincinnati (-8.5) - Rams' wide receiver Stedman Bailey was shot in the head in the Miami area this past weekend.  

#Rams WR Stedman Bailey is out of surgery after several hours of extensive work. He'll be in the ICU for 3-5 days and doctors are hopeful.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 25, 2015

The Bengals appear to be playing much better football and generally have a habit of exploting poor quarterback play. Things could get even shakier for the Rams as they ignored the concussion suffered by quarterback Case Keenum.

NY Giants @ Washington (+2.5) - Look for this game to be a high scoring affair which is a toss up.  Washington is 4-1 at home while the Giants are 2-3 on the road.  The Giants ended up losing another game in tragic fashion to the Patriots.  Washington will need to establish its running game, limit mental mistakes such as interceptions and penalties to come out with a win in this one.  

Oakland (-2) @ Tennessee - Both teams come into this game with losing streaks, the Raiders have lost their past three while the Titans have lost their past two and and 8 of their past 9.  All of the Raiders wins have come against below .500 teams like the Titans.  It will be key for Amari Cooper to limit dropped passes which caused him to be upset in a loss against the Lions. 

Buffalo @ Kansas City (-6.5) - Kansas City has won its past 4 games as it defense has held its opponents to 13 points or less in its past 4 games.  Tyrod Taylor's injured his shoulder in a loss to the Patriots which could limit his productivity.

Miami @ New York Jets (-3.5) - Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins offense did not look great against Dallas last week.  While Tannehill's ball placement is pretty good, he has struggled with pocket awareness and staring down his receivers.  The Jets in the meantime look to end their 2 game losing streak against the Dolphins, who they beat by double digits on the road earlier this season.  

San Diego (+4) @ Jacksonville - While the Chargers have lost its past 6 games, the Chargers lost 5 of the six game by a single score. The Jaguars have won 3 of their past 4 games.  Look for the Chargers to come out motivated after getting manhandled by the Chiefs.

Arizona (-10.5) @ San Francisco - Tickets for the 49ers are currently selling less than parking passes.  Look for the Cardinals to exploit San Francisco's weak quarterback play as Colin Kaepernick is out for the season.

Pittsburgh @ Seattle (-4) - While Marshawn Lynch had sports hernia surgery, Thomas Rawls  has filled in as an adequate replacement as he carried the ball for 30 times for 209 yards against the 49ers last week.  The Steelers come into the game winning their past 2 games but could struggle because of Seattle's 12th man.

New England @ Denver (+3) - Brock Osweiler makes his second consecutive start and appears to be an upgrade over Peyton Manning.  The Patriots are having trouble fielding a decent receiving corp due to injuries to Edelman and Amendola and could struggle to create offense on the road against the Bronco's defense.

Baltimore @ Cleveland (-3) - Josh McCown and the Browns managed to beat the Ravens earlier this season on the road and now the Ravens will be without Joe Flacco for the remainder of the season.

Last week: 10-3-1
Total: 80-57-6