NFL Week 12 Predictions

November 21, 2006, 7:40 PM | 8 Comments

After another sub-par week last week (7-9 to bring my running total up to 94-66), I’m really hoping that there are less surprises in the coming weeks of the NFL season. This year has been marked by upsets week after week and good teams failing to beat the teams they should be destroying.

I don’t know what it is about this season specifically, but it seems like there are a lot more surprising outcomes than there were last year. Am I alone in this thinking? If the last 2 weeks are any indication though, there are several divisions that looked like one team had the championship on lock that are wide open now.

Take for example the NFC East which was looking like the Giants had it wrapped up 2 short weeks ago but have lost 2 in a row and are now tied with Dallas at 6-4. The Giants hold a slight edge over the Cowboys only because of their head-to-head win and if things keep going the way they have been, Dallas could overtake the Giants this Sunday. With the Eagles all but finished due to the loss of Donovan McNabb for the season and Tony Romo playing like an old veteran, Dallas has a real chance of grabbing that division crown that a few weeks ago looked so unachievable.

Everyone knew the NFC West would be competitive, but no one thought that the team competing with Seattle would be the 49ers. The AFC West has now moved into the category of tightest division with 3 teams in the hunt for the division championship. San Diego at 8-2 has the edge, but don’t count out the 7-3 Broncos, or even the 6-4 Chiefs. As it happens, the Broncos are playing the Chiefs in Kansas City on Sunday for what will probably be the deciding factor for the Chiefs’ division championship aspirations.

Monday Night Wrap-Up:

As bad as the New York Giants played last night, Eli Manning played even worse. I have no idea what’s going on with the Giants, but there’s definitely something wrong with that team. If they want to keep Dallas from taking the NFC East, they’ll need to turn it around now.

Hopefully Jacksonville’s receivers will figure out how to hold onto the football soon, because even though last night was better, there were still a lot of dropped passes that kept the Jags from routing the Giants.

Last night’s game wasn’t much fun to watch really, so that’s all I have to say about that. Actually, one more thing - the officiating was terrible.

Week 12 Game of the Week: Bears at Patriots.

Besides the home loss to the Indianapolis Colts, this may be the toughest test the Patriots will face until the playoffs roll around. The Patriots 2-3 home record is terrible when you consider how dominant the Pats have been in recent years at Gillette Stadium. They’re going to need to right the ship soon and what better team to prove that you’ve still got it against than the Bears! If the Patriots offense can have success against that stingy Bears D, New England should win this game.

Here are my picks for week 12!

Away	Home	Comments	Pick	Result
Dolphins (5-6)	Lions (2-9)	The Dolphins have been good over the past few weeks. I expect the “Fire Millen” chants to start again soon in Detroit.
Buccaneers (3-8)	Cowboys (7-4)	It must be hard for Drew Bledsoe to watch Tony Romo have so much success with the same group of guys he couldn’t get the ball to.
Broncos (7-4)	Chiefs (7-4)	Runner up for game of the week! This one will be tight but I think the Broncos still have a slight edge. I’m excited to see how the NFL network will handle their first live game.
Cardinals (2-9)	Vikings (5-6)	Congratulations to Matt Lienart on finally getting his first win. I don’t know why I keep picking them, but the Vikings have to win this game to restore some sense of pride.
Panthers (6-5)	Redskins (4-7)	Suddenly the Panthers are leading the NFC south and I don’t expect them to let go without a tough fight.
Bengals (6-5)	Browns (3-8)	Round 2 of the Battle of Ohio. Cleveland has improved since their first meeting, but over the past 2 weeks, the Bengals offense has been on fire.
Texans (3-8)	Jets (6-5)	After getting shut out by the Bears last week, I think the Jets will come out strong in this one grab another victory.
Jaguars (6-5)	Bills (5-6)	I’m still not a believer in J.P. Losman but if he can beat the Jaguars on Sunday he might win over a few more of his critics. That said, the Jaguars dominated the Giants offense on Monday and should be able to give Losman fits.
Saints (7-4)	Falcons (5-6)	The Saints have to stop their skid now or else Atlanta may be the next team that passes them in the race for the NFC South. Tough day for Drew Brees last week (he passed for over 500 yards and still lost).
Steelers (4-7)	Ravens (9-2)	Baltimore should be able to put a close to the Steelers playoff chances with a win on Sunday.
49ers (5-6)	Rams (5-6)	This match-up doesn’t look really good for the Rams because their run defense is still terrible and the 49ers have the NFL’s 2nd leading rusher in Frank Gore. Still, the Rams are pretty much in ‘must win’ territory from here on out.
Raiders (2-9)	Chargers (9-2)	If another good team like the Chargers ends up losing to the Raiders… I’ll quite honestly be mad.
Bears (9-2)	Patriots (8-3)	This is a huge game for the Patriots where they can show everyone that their stomping of Green Bay last week wasn’t just because it was against the Packers. This could be a very low-scoring game.
Giants (6-5)	Titans (4-7)	Even though the Titans have been playing better lately, if the Giants can’t win this game, they can probably kiss their division championship dreams goodbye.
Eagles (5-6)	Colts (10-1)	The Eagles without Donovan McNabb this year are like the Steelers were last year without Ben Roethlisberger.
Packers (4-7)	Seahawks (7-4)	It’s a really good thing that Brett Favre is OK. Hopefully they can score at least 1 touchdown this week because last week was just embarrassing.

Hopefully things will start going back to normal in the NFL where teams start playing the way they should be. Check back after the games for updates and more thoughts on week 12. Also, here are this week’s ESPN Expert Picks.

Update: Well, I finally had a good week of picks again going 12-4. Why did the Packers have to tease us by competing so well with the Seahawks in the first 3 quarters only to fall asleep in the fourth? I wonder if the outcome would’ve been any different had the official not called that ridiculous roughing the passer penalty in the 4^th. Anyways, my record is up to 106-70 now and I’m hoping I can continue this week’s success next week. Check back tomorrow for my week 13 picks.

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