Handicapping NFL Week 12: Picks of the Week
By Bart
I’m upset with myself for not doing my Turkey Picks as I planned. I would’ve been able to up my pick 3 because I would’ve went 2-1. I felt like Miami would cover, Baltimore would win, and Detroit would cover, the Detroit pick obviously would’ve been my loss. They are an undisciplined mess. Suh is a fool who cost his team a possible win. If you make a big goal-line stop like that, against the Packers, you cannot give them another shot at it. The game would’ve only been 10-0 and who knows what would’ve happened. Instead, like 5 minutes later, you are down 21-0. Silly and undisciplined will take you home in January. On behalf of Chicago Bears fans, thank you Suh!
SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK:
I have to admit that picking games is getting more and more difficult. All of a sudden, Miami starts playing well. Buffalo has fallen off. Jacksonville has a great defense, but can’t score points. Some teams show up some weeks and then sleep in on others. Well, that is what makes it exciting I guess. Jaguars kept it close and low scoring as I anticipated, but ended up on the wrong end of the stick – losing 14-10. Buffalo got smoked by Miami, which surprised me quite a bit. However, Miami played well again on Thanksgiving, despite losing, so we’ll have to keep our eye on them in the future. Oakland held on to beat the Viking-less Peterson, which helped them cover. I had a good feeling about Tampa not allowing the Packers to cover the spread against them. With one more good Defensive Play, Tampa could’ve even upset the Packers. The Packers were up by 2 and had a third down, which they converted. If Tampa could’ve shut them down, they may have been able to march to kick a field goal to win by one. But -“If ifs and buts were candies and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas.” Lastly, our Beloved took care of business at home, which helped me fix my Bears picks record. Could I go over 500 this week? We’ll see, keep reading:
PICK 3
Atlanta 9.5 vs Minnesota – With Adrian Peterson being ruled out, I’m surprised this line didn’t jump over 10. Atlanta is at home and has a lot to play for. Minnesota is banged up and without their star, they are going to try to trudge to the finish line. Atlanta is going to be able to run and pass on Minnesota and the Viqueens are going to struggle to find the endzone.
Cincinnati -7 vs Cleveland – granted, Cincinnati is still not in the Baltimore/Pittsburgh echelon just yet, but they can take care of Cleveland at home. Their Defense can shut down the low scoring Browns and they can manage to pull off a 10-pt win.
San Diego -5.5 vs Denver – I’m not sold on the Denver Super Power Super Hero thing yet. San Diego is a good ball club despite their record and despite how the Bears made them look. The wheels are going to fall off the Denver bandwagon soon, and I’m thinking it is starting this week and will finish when they eventually get hammered by the Caleb-led Bears.
UPSET SPECIAL OF THE WEEK
Jacksonville Jaguars +6.5 vs Houston – this is a big spread for a home team playing against a team that has a 2nd string quarterback playing. I mean, for crying out loud, they made the Raiders favorite against the Bears because Cutler is out. So here, you have the Jaguars, playing at home, against Leinert and they’re getting 6.5? The only thing that bothers me about this is Jacksonville’s low-scoring Offense. But, I’m guessing it is going to be the Foster/Jones-Drew show and this will be a low-scoring affair – in which case, I’ll take 6.5 points.
THE BELOVED
Bears +3 @ Oakland –Oddsmakers are having a tough time with this one. The spread was at 5.5 at one point in time this week. I was not a ledge jumper with some fellow Bears fans this week. I still have confidence in the Bears with Hanie at the helm and I’ll gladly take them with points this week. Oakland is not an easy place to play, and I may even had this one be the one AFC West game the Bears were going to lose for that reason (when making predictions at beginning of year). But, I’m changing my mind and feel that the Bears keep the truck rolling and quell the anxieties of Chicagoans for another football week with a close win.
SEASON TOTALS: PICK 3 (12-15-1); UPSET SPECIAL (4-4); BELOVED (4-4); TOTAL: (17-21-1)