Week 12 Turkey Day NFL Picks-Will It Be a Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood

Green Bay has pretty much wrapped up their division as they continue their quest for an undefeated season, unless they suffer an unexpected set back like the Idianapolis Colts. Detroit started the season off like gangbusters, but have faultered somewhat the past five games. Whether the Lions make it to the playoffs will be decided today against the Packers. Miami is gaining momentum each week they play and Dallas has shaken the early season cobb webs loose. Baltimore needs to stay a step ahead of Pittsburgh and San Fran is breezing along comfortably in their division.

Aaron Rodgers is on a record setting pace, but will be facing a tough on the quarterback Lion's defense. Rodgers rarely makes a mistake and that is what makes him unbeatable. The Lion's, if they are going to win this game, will need to score touchdown for touchdown. Rodgers has way more weapons in his arsonal than Matthew Stafford does, so the Detroit defense will have to come up with a game plan that will neutralize some of those weapons. The Packers task on defense is much simpler, take out Calvin Johnson and job won, but the Packers chink in their armor is the defensive secondary. If the Lions drive a wedge into that chink the Packers will become vulnerable to a possible fatal blow and bye, bye undefeated season.

Miami is a tale of two seasons. The turn around is due to Matt Moore and Reggie Bush. Bush will tear a defense up on screens and will burn the secondary once he gets into the open field. If Bush has an excellent day Miami will have a good chance of winning. The Dolphins front line will need to pay attention to where Demarcus Ware is at all times or Moore will be running for his life. Moore's use of play action and screens will be a plus in his favor at avoiding Ware. Tony Romo has been on fire as of late and avoiding "the wish I had a V8" moment that left one scratching their heads over what he was doing in the final moments of earlier games. The Cowboys are dealing with injuries in key offensive postions, so a win hinges on Romo's play. Avoiding the interception or fumble is paramount.

Baltimore has been floudering on offense since they took down Pittsburgh. They lost to what-will-they-do-this-week Seattle and barely escaped the newly revised Cincinnati Bengals, who are chomping at their heals. On top of it, the Ravens defense has been giving up points. Ray Lewis is questionable, which if he doesn't play, Baltimore will be weaker against the run, and against the 49ers that would be Frank Gore. Joe Flacco and Torrey Smith have been making connection since the Pittsburgh game. We will see if that continues. Baltimore thrives on the mistakes of their opponents and forced three interceptions out of the Bengal's Dalton last Sunday. This will be more difficult with Alex Smith. Smith has been making good decisions under center and his favorite target to score is Vernon Davis. San Fran has a defense that is equally as tough as Baltimore. So, this game may be decided by the field goal kickers.

THU, NOV 24                        TIME (ET)    TV     LOCATION
Green Bay at Detroit                12:30 PM    FOX    Ford Field
Miami at Dallas                        4:15 PM      CBS    Cowboys Stadium
San Francisco at Baltimore      8:20 PM      NFL    M&T Bank Stadium

Week 8 NFL Picks-Game Of The Week Patriots vs Steelers

The onetime "Kardiac Kids" are looking like the "Kouch Potato Kids." No touchdowns scored in their last game. Four quarters of zero, zip, zilch, and pass me the popcorn, nothing else is happening, and what other games are on. I have to admit, they did win. Only one other game looked worse and that was Jacksonville against Baltimore, and that was a Monday Nighter. Even embarrassed-off-the-charts Indianapolis scored a touchdown. New Orleans showed them no mercy. Green Bay found themselves in a bit of a tussle with Minnesota, but figured things out to win. Kansas City shut out a McFaddenless Oakland. Denver's whoop-tee-do Tebow led the Broncos to victory and Cam-not win a game finally won for Carolina. That's pretty much a wrap for last week in the NFL. My picks looked as bad as the Colts, 6-7. The worst I have ever done. Time to use the throw the dart at the schedule system.

Cleveland will be going to San Fran this Sunday at 4:15. I have said it over and over, the Browns need to get Joshua Cribbs involved in the offense and use him like Pittsburgh uses Wallace. They are waisting a wide receiver in a position where kickoffs have been taken out of the equation because of the new rule. Shurmur or whomever needs to get off the couch on this one. Defense will not be enough to win against a prolific 49er offense led by Frank Gore. Jim Harbaugh won't be getting too excited about beating Cleveland like he did Detroit.

New England will be facing the Steelers in Pittsburgh. This will be a good game to watch. Tom Brady will have to be at his best and he usually is against the Steelers. You can be sure the Steelers defense will be going after him in a big way. The Brady Bunch will score despite the Steelers efforts. Look for the Pittsburgh offense to make an attempt at establishing a running game from the start to keep the Brady Bunch off the field. If that should fail, Ben Roethlisberger has been on fire as of recent with a deep threat in Wallace, so the running game is of no consequence. Will Roethlisberger and Company be able to match the Patriots point for point? This question will be answered Sunday.

Arizona will be at Baltimore. Baltimore can't afford to lose another one like they did against Jacksonville. The Ravens are looking to rectify the embarrassment they suffered at the hands of the Jaguars. The Cardinals are the unfortunate ones to be next in line on their schedule. The Ravens defense is breathing fire and the Cardinal offense is going to get burned. Kevin Kolb won't have anywhere to hide and he better have his dancing shoes on. Joe Flacco and Ray Rice will definately have a better day in comparison to last week, and that is not saying much.

New Orleans will be at St Louis. Could be another 60+ outing for the Saints. Cincinnati faces Seattle. You never know what Seahawk team will show up, but you do know what Bengal team will be there. Denver will host Detroit. Detroit has to get back on track. Tim whoop-tee-do Tebow will be facing a Lion defense stronger against the pass, so he will have to think about running and that would be no surprise. Minnesota gave the Packers a scare last week and seeing it is Halloween, Carolina should be also, scared that is. That's a wrap for now. I held off using the darts. I anticipate doing better in my picks this week.

SUN, OCT 30                       TIME (ET) TV       LOCATION
Arizona at Baltimore W            1:00 PM  FOX      M&T Bank Stadium
Minnesota at Carolina W          1:00 PM  FOX      Bank of America Stadium
Jacksonville at Houston W       1:00 PM  CBS      Reliant Stadium
Miami at NY Giants W             1:00 PM  CBS      MetLife Stadium
New Orleans at St. Louis L       1:00 PM  FOX      Edward Jones Dome
Indianapolis at Tennessee W     1:00 PM  CBS      LP Field
Detroit at Denver W                  4:05 PM  FOX      Sports Authority Field at Mile High
Washington at Buffalo W         4:05 PM  FOX      Rogers Centre
Cincinnati at Seattle W             4:15 PM  CBS      CenturyLink Field
Cleveland at San Francisco W  4:15 PM  CBS      Candlestick Park
New England at Pittsburgh L   4:15 PM  CBS      Heinz Field
Dallas at Philadelphia L           8:20 PM  NBC      Lincoln Financial Field
MON, OCT 31                    TIME (ET)  TV      LOCATION
San Diego at Kansas City L    8:30 PM  ESPN     Arrowhead Stadium