Week 12 Picks

We've soared into week 12. The final quarter of the 2015 NFL season is only a week away. Amazing. Thanks to the Thanksgiving games we have trimmed down schedule today. Although with the end of byes I guess that there's really not much change to the number of games on this Sunday. Here it is.

Minnesota Vikings @ Atlanta Falcons
Pick: Vikings
Big surprise here. The Vikings have a chance to regain the NFC North lead. They also have a chance to win their fourth straight game away from home. That alone is a huge change from recent Vikings teams where road woes were the norm.

St. Louis Rams @ Cincinnati Bengals
Pick: Bengals
A few weeks ago the Rams were feeling pretty good about themselves. A lot has changed since then.
The Bengals are looking to rebound from a tough loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

New Orleans Saints @ Houston Texans
Pick: Saints
The big question here is what will the Saints defense look like without Rob Ryan on the sideline. The guess here is much better. They couldn't get worse. The Texans have been playing well. This game looks like a Texans win but I'm going with the Saints.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Indianapolis Colts
Pick: Colts
The Buccaneers looked great in a thrashing of the Eagles last week. The Colts struggled in a win over the Falcons last week. For some reason, it's the struggling home team for me.

San Diego Chargers @ Jacksonville Jaguars
Pick: Jaguars
Injuries have robbed Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers of nearly all of his weapons. The Jaguars still have a shot in the shoddy AFC South.

Buffalo Bills @ Kansas City Chiefs
Pick: Chiefs
The Chiefs have been playing terrific. The Bills played well in a loss to the New England Patriots. The home team is the pick.

Oakland Raiders @ Tennessee Titans
Pick: Raiders
The Raiders have dropped a bit in the eyes of many after a couple of losses. They still have enough weapons to handle the Titans.

New York Giants @ Washington Redskins
Pick: Giants
The NFC East is a crapshoot. When NFC East teams face their division foes it's even more of a crapshoot.

Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets
Pick: Jets
These two teams were in pretty good shape five weeks ago. They are a combined 3-7 over those five weeks. The home team gets the nod.

Arizona Cardinals @ San Francisco 49ers
Pick: Cardinals
The Cardinals are favored by 10. That's optimistic.

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Seattle Seahawks
Pick: Steelers
This could be the game of the day. Or the next one.

New England Patriots @ Denver Broncos
Pick: Broncos
The nightcap. The Patriots are bound to lose a game with so many playmakers sidelined. Why not this one?

Baltimore Ravens @ Cleveland Browns
Pick: Browns
The Monday Night affair. This game always bothers me. The old Browns vs. the new Browns. None of it feels right. Cleveland deserves to have the Browns but this new Browns team has never felt like the Browns to me. The Ravens have. The Ravens are technically the expansion team but it's this current Browns team that started from scratch. I hope that the people of Cleveland feel different about their team. As for the game, the Ravens have simply lost too many players.

There it is.