NFL Week 12 Picks: Express Edition III

NFL Week 12 Picks: Express Edition III
M.D. Wright
11.20.08

I've been making out better the past three or four weeks, as I've FINALLY figured some of these teams. THEY ARE WHO I THOUGHT THEY WERE!!!

There's a game tonight, hence the "Express Edition".

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Heinz Field
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
*THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL -- NFL Network*

The line on this game is CIN (+9). It ought to be higher than that. The Bengals are missing half their starting lineup on both sides of the ball. This will be ugly.

Call:
Cincinnati 9
Pittsburgh 27
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Houston Texans vs. Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns Stadium
Cleveland, Ohio

I have given up on the Texans and Brady Quinn is at least doing some of the things that "D.A." couldn't/wasn't.

Call:
Houston 17
Cleveland 23
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San Francisco 49ers vs. Dallas Cowboys
Texas Stadium
Irving, Texas

This is my upset special of the week. The Cowboys may have won last week, but they are by no means dominant. Mike Singletary has the Niners playing with fire and they're looking much better of late. Especially defensively. The Cowboys should continue running the ball if they expect to keep the leg up on the rest of the teams vying for the last Wild Card spot. This will be close, and I think the Niners are going to pull off an "upset".

Call:
San Francisco 27
Dallas 23
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Detroit Lions
Ford Field
Detroit, Michigan

LMAO.

Call:
Tampa Bay 20
Detroit -4 (To match the wind chill up there hah).
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New York Football Jets vs. Tennessee Titans
LP Field
Nashville, Tennessee
*GAME OF THE WEEK*

The Jets are relevant again! The Titans have been begging for a loss of late. They do not evoke visions of the 1998 Denver Broncos and Minnesota Vikings, nor the 2007 Vikings in being 10-0. I keep telling people Collins is going to commit backbreaking turnovers when the Titans can least afford it. It's going to happen this week. I'm taking the Jets and a push on the over/under.

Call:
NY Jets 24
Tennessee 17
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Buffalo Bills vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas City, Missouri

The Bills better watch out here. They are fading fast; virtually done with regards to playoff contention. The Chiefs are at home and playing decent football of late. Chiefs win.

Call:
Buffalo 20
Kansas City 30
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Chicago Bears vs. St. Louis Rams
Edward Jones Dome
St. Louis, Missouri

The Bears have a favorable sked to finish the season; in order to bolster their NFC North title hopes. They must take care of business here and get their defense back on track. They are too predictable defensively and their offense isn't built to come back when they get behind. I believe they will be an absolutely woeful Rams team.

Call:
Chicago 31
St. Louis 13
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New England Patriots vs. Miami Dolphins
Dolphin Stadium
Miami, Florida

The Patriots are not impressing me. They may not be done yet, but they don't have the athletes to contain the Wildcat Offense. The Dolphins had them flummoxed earlier in the season and they will do it again Sunday. The Patriots can only manage so many injuries before they are unable to keep up with the Jets, Fins and the rest of the AFC Least.

Call:
New England 16
Miami 22 (Don't they always have weird scores in their games?)
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Minnesota Vikings vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Stadium
Jacksonville, Florida

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Peterson rushes for 174 yards... Gus Frerotte continues to suck royally.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Call:
Minnesota 13
Jacksonville 20
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Philadelphia Eagles vs. Baltimore Ravens
M&T Bank Stadium
Baltimore, Maryland

The Iggles are smarting. Not only due to injuries (which they've mostly recovered from) but also from their last two ugly games (losses to the Giants and a tie to the Bengals... good lord).

The Ravens are going to take out their anger from their loss last week on the Iggles and it won't be pretty.

Call:
Philadelphia 17
Baltimore 31
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Oakland Raiders vs. Denver Broncos
Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium
Denver, Colorado

The Raiders stink. Plain and simple. The Broncos might keep them in it, though -- with their defense; which is a sieve right now. Cutler will definitely light up the Raiders' defense and no one on the Broncos can stop the Raiders' running game. Should be fun.

Call:
Oakland 23
Denver 27
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Carolina Panthers vs. Atlanta Falcons
The Georgia Dome
Atlanta, Georgia

The Panthers are the least impressive 8-2 team I have possibly ever seen. Their quarterback sucks. It's time for them to plan on moving on to another coach. They SHOULD win this game, but if John Abraham & Co. can get to Jake Delhomme, all bets are off.

Call:
Carolina 26
Atlanta 24
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New York Football Giants vs. Arizona Cardinals
University of Phoenix Stadium
Glendale, Arizona

Listen, the Giants are great at what they do. No one player is above the team and therefore, they are better as a sum of the parts than an individual on his own. The Cards have been leaning more and more toward Pass-First the past few weeks. The contention going into this game is "Can the Giants cover Fitzgerald, Boldin AND Breaston?" (remember, this was the question going into the NFC Championship Game vs. Green Bay in January...) The real question is the battle of the lines. The Giants' defensive line vs. the Cardinals' offensive line. If the Giants are able to get to and hit Kurt Warner, he's going to throw interceptions and fumble the ball. On the flipside of that, if they can't he's going to shred the Giants. The former will happen, though.

On offense, the Giants' offensive line has solid as a rock and can run the ball against anyone. Also, Manning can make all the throws when he NEEDS to. The Cards haven't proven that they can stop the run nor the pass consistently. Given that I believe the Giants' defense will get to Warner a few times, that will be the difference in the game.

Call:
NY Giants 38
Arizona 23
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Washington Redskins vs. Seattle Seahawks
Qwest Field
Seattle, Washington

If the Seahawks weren't so banged up... because the 'skins are REELING.

Call:
Washington 23
Seattle 10
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Indianapolis Colts vs. San Diego Chargers
Qualcomm Stadium
San Diego, California
*SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL*

This is a MUST win for the Chargers. A loss here likely spells the end of their playoff hopes. They do have a game left against Denver that could eliminate their tiebreaker disadvantage, but the rest of their sked does not bode well, either. Tomlinson is not healthy and Gates is not 100%. Rivers must cut down on his mistakes. Bob Sanders' status will determine how well Rivers does against the Colt defense. The Colts are actually very stout against the pass, so this might be tough.

The Colts seem to be rounding into form... finally. I don't know that the Chargers have what it takes to beat the Colts right now. (Breaks out John Madden voice) "Yeah, and and and... when you don't have what it takes to winnnnnnn... then you're probably not going to beat Peyton Manning, because Peyton Manning just has "it". And whatever "it" isssssssss... Philip Rivers and the Chargers do not have "it" right now."

Call:
Indianapolis 30
San Diego 24
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Green Bay Packers vs. New Orleans Saints
The Louisiana Superdome
New Orleans, Louisiana
*MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL*

The Saints are done. It's Drew Brees playing 3 on 11 against a very opportunistic defense. Sure, he gets 375 yards passing, but he's been throwing BACKBREAKING interceptions of late. Given that they cannot run the ball to save their lives nor stop it, the Saints are definitively DONE. The end.

Call:
Green Bay 31
New Orleans 20
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More this weekend.