FOOTBALL FRIDAY: Week 12 - Thoughts, Picks, and Other Stuff

Ahhhh yes.  This is one of my favorite weeks of the year!  Not only because I love the Thanksgiving holiday, but there's also non-stop football over the course of the weekend.  What's better than that?  Nothing.  But there's one thing that comes close, and that's the picks!  So let's get to 'em.













Thanksgiving: 2-1
Against the Spread: 2-1

For the Season:
Straight Up: 16-9
Against the Spread: 10-12-2

Buffalo Bills (5-5) vs. (-91/2) New York Jets (5-5)

This is a pivotal AFC East matchup.  At different points throughout the year, both teams had an opportunity to wrestle the division away from New England and failed to take advantage of it.  Now they square off with wild-card playoff implications on the line.  Although the loser of this game won't be totally out of the picture, they will lose the ability to fully control their own destiny.  I like New York at home.  They are the veteran team, and the Jets have proven themselves to be a good late season squad.  They should Win, but Buffalo will beat the spread.

Cleveland Browns (4-6) vs. (-7) Cincinnati Bengals (6-4)

The battle for Ohio, round 2, may not be very compelling this week.  The Bengals really have a good young team, while the Browns appear to be playing for next year already.  This is still a division matchup, so I expect Cleveland to show some fight.  But I don't expect them to go into Cincinnati and pull out a Win.  I like the Bengals to take care of business in this one.  They'll pull away late and cover the spread.

Arizona Cardinals (3-7) vs (-3) St. Louis Rams (2-8)

It's interesting that realignment puts these two teams in the same division.  For generations, St. Louis was a Cardinals town (baseball & football), while the Rams were a west coast team.  How ironic it is that they not only switch places, but become division rivals to boot!  Anyhow, I believe the Rams' season quickly got away from them because of a murderer's row schedule in the first half of the season, but I also think they have an up-and-coming team.  Clearly, they won't go anywhere this year, but neither is Arizona.  As far as the ballgame is concerned, I'm going with St. Louis (the new St. Louis).  My money's on the Rams to surprise some people in the 2nd half of the season.

Chicago Bears (7-3) vs. (-3) Oakland Raiders (6-4)

I think this one will be loads of fun!  Clearly, it would've been a better matchup had the Bears not lost their quarterback, but I expect Chicago to show up in Oakland swinging.  The Raiders still have a share of first place in their division, so they need to hold serve at home.  As a spectator, this should make for an interesting, hard-hitting, competitive contest.  I like the Raiders to prevail.  Maybe it would be a different story if Chicago was at full strength, but the Silver and Black is back.  This week is their chance to prove it versus a quality opponent.  Oakland covers.

This week should be fun guys.  Enjoy the games!