Will it be another Sunday night disaster for Jay Cutler and the Bears?
Thanks to the end of bye weeks, we’ve got a full 16-game slate each week from here on out, and that means I’ve got plenty of chances to make myself look smart (or stupid, perhaps). I’ll have my pick on Denver-San Diego later on, but below are my picks on the other 15 games in Week 12.
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Carolina Panthers (-3) vs. Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins may be without Ronnie Brown tonight, but you can look for Ricky Williams to make the most of his chance to be a feature back again against one of the league’s worst run defenses.
Will that be enough to lead the Dolphins to the road win? The Panthers have been quite the up and down team this season, but
Prediction: CAROLINA 27, Miami 20
Detroit Lions (-3 ½) vs. Cleveland Browns
Well, someone has to win this one. The Lions have shown a little more life than the Browns, but if there’s ever a week to pick up Brady Quinn, this might be the week, as the Lions have an atrocious pass defense.
Cleveland’s defense also did a more than decent job against the Ravens last week, and provided Eric Mangini doesn’t go and get stupid during the game, there’s no reason why the Browns shouldn’t notch their second win of the season.
Prediction: DETROIT 20, Cleveland 13
Jacksonville Jaguars (-9) vs. Buffalo Bills
Unfortunately for the Bills, Mike Shanahan can’t be hired in time to coach the team in Jacksonville on Sunday. Then again, even Shanahan’s presence wouldn’t likely change the outcome here. The Bills have the worst run defense in the league, which means the offensive recipe for the Jaguars should be another 25+ carries for Maurice Jones-Drew. The end result will be another big day for MJD and those who own him, a tired Buffalo defense, and a comfortable win for the Jaguars.
Prediction: JACKSONVILLE 28, Buffalo 14
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (-10)
The Steelers may have been shut down at home by the Bengals last week, but the Chiefs shouldn’t use that or their win over lowly Oakland to get overly confident. Pittsburgh’s defense hasn’t gone anywhere, and Big Ben and the offense should rebound in K.C.
Prediction: PITTSBURGH 27, Kansas City 13
Baltimore Ravens vs. Indianapolis Colts (-1)
The Colts have been living on the edge in the last few weeks, needing fourth quarter scores to beat the 49ers, Texans, and Patriots (with help from ‘The Call’) to remain unbeaten, and if they get into that dangerous game once again this week, this could be where their unbeaten run comes to an end.
However, no environment or situation is daunting for this team, and I think they’ll find a way to win yet again.
Prediction: INDIANAPOLIS 31, Baltimore 28
New York Giants (-6 ½) vs. Atlanta Falcons
A bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for the Giants, and they’ll come out of it much better than they went into it.
Prediction: NEW YORK GIANTS 27, Atlanta 16
Green Bay Packers (-6 ½) vs. San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers have been good about playing tight games on the road this season, with each of their four road games being decided by four points or less.
Aaron Rodgers is still getting the stuffing knocked out of him, and he’ll likely get knocked on his backside at least a few times by 49ers defenders. But he’s hung in there week in, week out, and when he’s upright, he’ll be able to burn one of the league’s worst pass defenses for a big day in a Packers win.
Prediction: GREEN BAY 24, San Francisco 14
Minnesota Vikings (-10 ½) vs. Seattle Seahawks
Have you seen the Seahawks play on the road this season? The results haven’t been pretty, as Seattle has dropped all four of their road games by double digits, including last week’s 31-20 loss at Arizona.
The results won’t be any different this week.
Prediction: MINNESOTA 37, Seattle 20
Dallas Cowboys (-11) vs. Washington Redskins
Can the Redskins follow last week’s win over the flagging Broncos with a big win in Big D? Sure they can, but they won’t. Sunday’s loss in Green Bay was a step back for the Cowboys (am I a total jinx or what?), but it’ll be back to winning ways for Dallas.
Prediction: DALLAS 31, Washington 17
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. New Orleans Saints (-11)
With Josh Freeman under center, the Buccaneers are all of a sudden anything but a pushover, and the Saints best not make the mistake of marking this one down as an automatic W and look ahead to their Week 13 showdown with New England.
However, after the scare they got from the Rams, we should see the Saints bringing their A game in Tampa Bay and take a 10-0 mark into their meeting with the Patriots.
Prediction: NEW ORLEANS 38, Tampa Bay 24
St. Louis Rams vs. Arizona Cardinals (-9)
The Rams came oh so close to pulling off a momentous upset over the Saints last week, and they should go into this one confident about being able to hang with the Cardinals from start to finish. But the Cardinals have been at their best on the road, and that will be the case once again this week.
Kurt Warner comes in off the heels of back-to-back strong games, and he’s completing 71.5% of his passes for 1,011 yards, 10 touchdowns, and only two interceptions in four road games. Uh oh.
Prediction: ARIZONA 34, St. Louis 24
New England Patriots (-10 ½) vs. New York Jets
Perhaps Rex Ryan should’ve left the waterworks on the backburner for after this game, because New England is going to give him plenty of reason to be blue. The Patriots aren’t going to mess around this week after Sunday night’s heartbreaker, and there also might be a little added motivation after the Jets absolutely shut down and beat up Brady and the Pats in Week 2.
Prediction: NEW ENGLAND 38, New York Jets 17
Oakland Raiders vs. Cincinnati Bengals (-9 ½)
So in case we didn’t know already, the Bengals are for real. The Raiders’ legitimacy isn’t up for debate either - they’re legitimately terrible. The quarterback change was a necessity, given that JaMarcus Russell hasn’t gotten a grasp on how to do his job at least serviceably in the NFL, but Bruce Gradkowski won’t be leading the Raiders to the promised land of victory #3 this weekend.
Prediction: CINCINNATI 23, Oakland 13
Chicago Bears vs. Philadelphia Eagles (-2 ½)
Jay Cutler and the Bears have been on Sunday Night Football twice this season, and both times they’ve gone down to late touchdowns, first in Week 1 at Green Bay and then in Week 6 at Atlanta.
That doesn’t bode well for the Bears, and neither does the fact that Cutler has just four touchdowns and 11 interceptions in night games this season, and that the Bears are 0-3 in such games.
It also doesn’t bode well that the Eagles are third in the league in interceptions (15) and tied for second in sacks (29).
But, the Bears really, really need a win, and someway, somehow, I think they’ll get it.
Prediction: CHICAGO 24, Philadelphia 21
Monday
Houston Texans (-4 ½) vs. Tennessee Titans
When they met in Nashville in Week 2, it was a back and forth shootout that the Texans won 34-31, in spite of Chris Johnson’s monster day (197 yards rushing, 2 TD, 87 yards receiving, TD).
I see plenty of scoring in this one as well, and I also see Johnson having another huge day in his quest for 2,000 yards (only 909 more to go). This time though, the final result will be different. The Titans are a much better team now than they were in the first six weeks, and part of that can be attributed to the return and resurgence of Vince Young, who’ll have a winning homecoming come Monday night.
Prediction: TENNESSEE 31, Houston 26
