Week Twelve in the NFL

November 24, 2007 | By Chris White | Discuss

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Had another dud of a
week, with my Monday Night ineptitude costing me a
shot for a breakeven week. This week, to be totally
honest, I’m going to flip the coin for the Monday
Nighter. I’ll let a more intelligent divinity decide
the winner, and merely add the commentary as to why.

Quick side note too on the local flavor of the week.
The Eagles are an amazing 22-23 point underdog to the
mighty New England Patriots. Being a loser Jets fan,
I’ve never much liked the Patriots. Under the
Belichick regime, I respected what they’ve
accomplished, how they’ve played the game, and its
hard not to root for the squeaky clean Tom Brady. No
more. I’m sick of Belichick’s arrogance and even more
so his sideline monk outfits. I think this team is
going to pay dearly for running up the score on their
opponents. Most likely not this season or maybe the
next, but someday they’ll pay.

I for one would like to see the payments begin this
weekend. A free shout-out in the

Green Bay (- 3½) at Detroit: The Lions looked pretty
inept last week vs. the Giants, and have now lost two
straight. Green Bay has won the past three in this
NFC North divisional battle, and of course is rolling
this season. I think the Packer defense will make
life difficult for Kitna and the Lions ground game.
Always tough to say that anyone will completely
contain Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson, but I like
the Packers chances as much as anyone’s…
Packers 31 - Lions 21.
Final: Packers roll 37 – 26, pretty much what we all
expected.

Jets at Dallas (-14): Not a whole lot of hope for NY
to win back to back games, but they have been in every
game this season, even those when Pennington was
starting. I like what Clemons can bring to the Jets
offense, and it seems like Eric Mangini is going to
finish up a forgettable 2007 with guns a blazing…
Cowboys 30 - Jets 24.
Final: Cowboys crush Jets 34-3, who had no answer for
Dallas’ front seven.

Indianapolis (-11½) at Atlanta: Something is clearly
wrong with the Colts. They miss Marvin Harrison
dearly, and he is doubtful on Thanksgiving again. The
offense is about 10 points a game off of what they’ve
averaged over the season, in the last three games. Do
I think they win the ballgame? Of course. Can they
cover against a team with nothing to lose? Not so
sure…
Colts 24 - Falcons 20.
Final: Colts offense gets back on track, and makes
easy work of listless Falcons 31-13.

Here are the rest of the week twelve match ups.

Sunday
Denver at Chicago (-2): The Broncos are playing their
best football of the year, with back-to-back quality
wins at KC and Tennessee. The Bears on the other hand
have never really gotten on track this season. Look
for more of the same quality of play with Denver, as
they look to hold on to 1st place in the horrid AFC
West…
Broncos 24 - Bears 17.

Tennessee (-1) at Cincinnati: Tennessee gave up a
couple of big plays vs. the Broncos, and could never
recoup on Monday night. Even at their worst though, I
think they handle the Bengals, who have lost the magic
and are biding their time until the off-season. Its
times like these players with idle time get in
trouble. Over/Under on arrests the remainder of the
year is at 3 ½…
Titans 26 - Bengals 20.

Buffalo at Jacksonville (-7½): The Jags are right in
the thick of things, and rebounded well off the Colts
beating to win two straight. The offense got a spark
last week with David Garrard returning. Buffalo isn’t
the world’s best road squad, and I think they will
have a tough time scoring in Florida, without their
best player Marshon Lynch doubtful…
Jaguars 23 - Bills 10.

Oakland at Kansas City (-6): Two teams that don’t
like each other not even a little bit. The Chiefs
have won nine straight vs. Oakland. I think they’ll
get the job done at home Sunday, but am having trouble
with the nearly touchdown spread. Gimmie the Raiders.
They are still trying hard for their first year
coach, and have more offensive weapons then the boys
in red to keep it close…
Chiefs 19 - Raiders 17.

Houston at Cleveland (-4): Couple of 2007 surprise
stories meeting up in the Rust City. When was the
last time the Browns played meaningful football past
Thanksgiving? I like their chances again this week,
off the bizarre overtime win in Baltimore last week.
Matt Schaub gives the Texans a nice chance to win, but
Derek Anderson’s offense is firing on all cylinders…
Browns 33 - Texans 27.

Seattle (-3) at St. Louis: The Rams were winless when
they left St. Louis on their two game road trip, and
return with a pair of victories. Even though the
Seahawks aren’t the best team to back on the road,
I’ll lay the line and take them here. While the Rams
seemed to have righted the ship offensively, it wasn’t
all that long ago they were spanked in Seattle, for
the 5th consecutive loss…
Seahawks 29 - Rams 24.

Minnesota at Giants (-7½): The Vikings are a very
difficult team to figure out. They beat a crappy
Raiders team last week, in a game that went down to
the final play. The previous week they get shut out
in Green Bay, just after creaming the Chargers. I
think the Giants will hold that offense to under two
TD’s. Can they muster up the twenty or so needed to
cover? I think the Droughns/Ward combo will give them
enough firepower…
Giants 27 - Vikings 13.

New Orleans (-2½) at Carolina: Both teams suck,
neither even as good as their 4-6 records. Which unit
sucks the most? The Panthers offense offends…
Saints 20 - Panthers 17 (OT).

Washington at Tampa Bay (-3½): Jeff Garcia has been
steady and efficient this season, throwing 11 TD’s to
just 3 picks. Both teams in the thick of things in
the NFC, which makes it an even more intriguing pick.
I like the Bucs to win a tight one in the Big
Sombrero, but not quite enough to cover line…
Buccaneers 24 - Redskins 23.

San Francisco at Arizona (-10½): I’ve always wanted
to say stuff that doesn’t matter in one of these
columns. For my debut, I’ll say two things… Even
though I like the new NHL shootout format to determine
the winner, I hate college football’s version of OT.
I say this as I watch Arkansas knock off #1 LSU
154-152…
Cardinals 30 - 49ers 12.

Baltimore at San Diego (-9½): The Underachiever Bowl…

Chargers 22 - Ravens 10.

Philadelphia at New England (-22): I like the Eagles
chances better with Feeley then with McNabb, in some
weird kind of logic. I just think McNabb is a lousy
passer, and the rest of the offense may feel the need
to step up their games with Donovan out. Last match
up between the two was the 24-21 Super Bowl in 2005.
I’ll take the points here, why wouldn’t I…
Patriots 31 - Eagles 17.

Monday Night
Miami at Pittsburgh (-16): Heads-Pittsburgh. I don’t
think the Dolphins will break double digits…
Steelers 23 - Dolphins 3.

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