Week 12 NFL picks

So here we are, as promised, with my Week 12 NFL picks: Buccaneers@ Falcons: Even without Michael Turner, I still like the Falcons in this one. The Buc's may next year be a very good passing team. Their trouble is that their QB is still learning and they have no ground game to ease the pressure. Not expecting this to be a blowout, but it might be a more comfortable victory than the Falcons have been used to this season. Falcons win. Dolphins@ Bills: Mismatch time, i.e. the Dolphins rushing attack versus the Bills rush defense. I think Ricky Williams is more than the Bills can handle. But then, I often say the same thing about DeAngelo Williams of the Panthers and yet they'll come right back and throw the ball all game (I hate them Panthers). Unfortunately the Dolphins have a habit of doing the same. It was this approach that cost them the game against the Saints and this time it could cost them heavily again, as Bills safety Jarius Byrd leads the league in interceptions. Still, Buffalo has struggled to generate anything close to resembling an effective offense and against the Dolphins, I expect that to continue. Dolphins win. Redskins@ Eagles: Ugh, always a tricky picky. The thing with the Eagles is that one week they come out and toast a team for 400+ yards. Next week they'll come out and struggle to get a first down. Combine this with their suspect redzone offense and you have a recipe for disaster. Combine it with the Redskins highly rated pass defense and things begin to take an apocalyptic turn. But then you know, you just know that the Redskins offense will let you down if you take them. I'm going with the Eagles, but it wouldn't come as a shock if they rack up a ton of yards through the air and yet just a field goal or something stupid like that. Eagles win. Seahawks@ Rams: I flipped a coin and it came out Seahawks. In all seriousness both team are bad, but the Rams are just slightly worse overall. Seahawks win. Panthers@ Jets: Every week the Panthers conspire and scheme and machinate and use any other adjective that describes under handed tactics, in order to ruin my picks. Well this week I've got them in a bind. Every week they do the opposite of what I say. When I say they'll run, they pass. When I say they're just gonna pass all game, they run (I hate the Panthers). Last week they passed it up. That means this week they'll run it all over the Jets. And so this week I'm backing them to run the ball and win the game. That, and I think Mark Sanchez will throw 4 or 5 more picks. Panthers win. Browns@ Bengals: Ha ha, Bengals win. Colts@ Texans: This one is tough to choose. I Know the Colts are undefeated and they've played really well so far, but every week they just seem to scrape past people. As odd as this may sound, I think their offense doesn't do enough to help a great D. Yeah, Peyton Manning, who everyone is calling to be the MVP this season (don't get me started on the MVP award), doesn't produce enough offense. They just can't seem to clock up enough points. And for that reason, I'm putting my head on the block and backing...... the Colts. I just don't think the Texans have enough to overcome the boys from Indy. Colts win. Chiefs@ Chargers: Chargers win. San Diego is flying lately. The Chiefs are sort of ambling along, just starting to find their feet now Larry Johnson is gone. Neither team astounds on defense, but the Chargers have the punch to outscore their opponents in this one. Chargers win. Jaguars@ 49'ers: Oh boy, my boys in San Francisco have a tough test in hand. Both teams can run the ball, both teams can pass it. Trouble is, San Fran practically refuses to run the ball this year. And unfortunately, the better WR Michael Crabtree gets, the less inclined the 49'ers are to run. So, all things considered, I think the Jaguars get this. Jaguars win. Bears@ Vikings: The latest injury updates put Vikings RB Adrian Peterson as being questionable. Even that wont stop the men in purple from prevailing this weekend. The Bears rely on Jay Cutler to win games for them. With Jared Allen tearing off the edge, that doesn't bode well for Chicago. Brett Favre should have no trouble cutting up the Bears secondary and even if Peterson doesn't play, Chester Taylor is an adequate backup. Vikings win. Cardinals@ Titans: Question marks hang over Card's QB Kurt Warner. Even if he plays though, I think the Titans take this. Their ground game has taken things to the next level recently and their pass defense will be salivating at the prospect of a Cardinals team that will likely throw the ball 80% of the time. Titans win. Steelers@ Ravens: Ben Roethlisberger is the latest of a number of important players who may not see much, if any action on Sunday. Still, the Ravens offense that was so highly praised at the start of the season has withered and disappeared of late. The Steelers without 'Big' Ben should still be able to run the ball effectively with a three headed monster of Parker, Moore and Mendenhall. "Should" being the operative word. Whether they will or not is a different matter. I think they will. I hope they will. Steelers win. Patriots@ Saints: Big time test for the Saints. Apparently they're been moaning that some people still don't take them seriously. That might have something to do with the fact that they keep barely scraping past average teams. Several opponents have done themselves out of wins over the Saints through suspicious play calling. The reason I, like many people, still don't rate the Saints is because they've not really been tested by a solid team with excellent coaching staff. Well now the wait is over. And the Saints hit it at a bad time, as CB's Jabari Greer and Tracey Porter are still out (to my knowledge). Expect Welker to have another big day as the Pats try and keep Drew Brees off the field. And with Brees's tendency to look for completions over the middle of the field, expect the well organised Pats to have that scouted and for LB Leigh Bodden to have another week of filling his pockets with picks. Patriots win. So there we have it. Another week of educated (sort of) guesses and hopefully another week of wins. I'm already 2-1 this week after Thursday Night Football, so fingers crossed for another big showing. And as always, if you're enjoying what you read, feel free to share the knowledge with as many people as you can. The more the merrier.