NFL Week 12 Previews and Predictions, Part 2

Last week’s total: 9-5
Overall total: 100-61

TheAOSN.com picks:

CLEVELAND

Josh Gordon makes his long-awaited season debut, Cleveland is bidding to get back in first place in late November, there’s finally some clarity in the running back situation, and Atlanta’s pass defense continues to stink. Atlanta is strong in the Georgia Dome, but Cleveland has an edge with Tashaun Gipson and Joe Haden patrolling the secondary, and with Roddy White and Harry Douglas continuing to battle nagging injuries that are not ruling them out but are slowing them down, Matt Ryan will lean heavily on Julio Jones.

CHICAGO

Chicago has faced home struggles this season, with last week’s win their only home victory thus far. The momentum should continue against Tampa, even after their resurgent performance last week behind the exploits of rookie WR Mike Evans. This may not be an ideal homecoming for Lovie Smith, and while they have been struggling to find consistency from their backfield this season, there will be plenty of RB envy as they cast eyes towards Matt Forte on the other sideline.

INDIANAPOLIS

After becoming the latest victim of New England’s rampage through the season, Andrew Luck and co. will look to get their season back on track in a divisional matchup that they will be heavily favored in. Ahmad Bradshaw has been lost for the year, so it’s time for Trent Richardson, who has been having a decent bounce-back season, to remind everyone of how good he can be.

GREEN BAY

Even if Adrian Peterson had been able to play, Minnesota has struggled to develop any sort of offensive rhythm all season long. Teddy Bridgewater is finding the learning curve a bit steeper than he expected, and the APB for Cordarrelle Patterson is still active. Aaron Rodgers, Eddie Lacy, Jordy Nelson………does much else need to be said? Yes? Ok, then there’s the 108 points in the last 2 weeks, with Rodgers throwing for over 650 yards whilst still finding time to sit out significant portions of the second halves of both those games.

NEW ENGLAND

Jonas Grey may not end up with 4 touchdowns again after introducing himself to the world last week, but he will still be a factor in drawing Detroit’s defense into the box, which in turn will help open things up for Tom Brady. Detroit’s defense is superb, but Brady has the savvy to find gaps. New England’s defense is average and vulnerable, which Matthew Stafford can exploit, especially with a healthy Calvin Johnson.

PHILADELPHIA

After getting pummeled by Green Bay on the road last weekend, Philadelphia looks to return the favor to visiting Tennessee this week. With a key division matchup against Dallas coming up on Thanksgiving Day, Chip Kelly will want Mark Sanchez to be at his best and to do it early to conserve the best efforts of LeSean McCoy and their receiving corps with a short week coming up. Rookie QB Zach Mettenberger looked good for Tennessee on Monday night, and in a year with little for rookie signal-callers to write home about, he will be eager to prove his worth in a tough road matchup.

HOUSTON

UPSET PICK OF THE WEEK: If Houston could somehow find a way to have 22 J.J. Watts to plug into all the starting positions, they would surely gladly accept that offer. To date this season, there doesn’t seem to be much that he isn’t capable of, and it has helped inspire this team to a massive improvement over last year’s 2-14 record. DeAndre Hopkins is quietly becoming a reliable set of hands, and Ryan Mallett surely learned how to be at least mistake-free during his time in New England. Cincinnati’s hopes will center on the 1-2 punch in the ground game of Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill.

SAN DIEGO

San Diego narrowly defeated Oakland last week in what was probably one of the least exciting games this season. Because of the win, it kept them well in the playoff race, especially with Kansas City losing this past Thursday against the Raiders. Philip Rivers has been injured the last few weeks and his throws have been a bit off. Luckily enough, he got to play the Raiders and it did not matter much. This time, he will face a much stiffer test against St. Louis, who are coming off of a home win over Denver. San Diego knows how much this game means and a win could possibly vault them into a 3-way tie for first with a Denver loss to Miami. It will be a very close game but the Chargers will continue their playoff hunt.

ARIZONA

Only one team was able to defeat Seattle at CenturyLink Field last season – yep, you guessed it. This will not be an upset win for Arizona this time around, as they have the best record in the conference and earned a hard-fought signature win in a battle of 7-2 teams against Detroit last week. Drew Stanton may be only a fill-in QB, but he raised some eyebrows with career passing marks against a tough Detroit defense in that win. Seattle has a top-notch running attack behind Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson‘s mobility, and Arizona has a top-notch run defense that very rarely gives up 100-yard rushing games. Something‘s got to give, surely.

DENVER

Miami, with the talent of DBs like Brent Grimes leading an underrated defensive unit, has emerged as an unlikely playoff contender. Whether or not they have enough to hold off the anticipated offensive fireworks from Peyton Manning and his teammates is another question, especially in the high altitude of Denver. Sputtering in a loss last week after the departures of Julius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders through injury, Manning will want to lead his team to restore some clarity to the AFC playoff race, and with Kansas City’s loss on Thursday, they will regain the upper hand in the division race as well.

SAN FRANCISCO

I put a lot of hope in Washington last week, only to be let down as they got pummeled 27-7 by Tampa Bay. San Francisco, a team that I had little faith in as the season began, has slowly become a more than formidable team. Now sitting at 6-4 and just outside of a wild card spot, they look to stay in the hunt and this game will boil down to what Colin Kaepernick is able to do. Washington has been struggling greatly on offense, so Kaepernick will need to take advantage of every drive.

DALLAS

The New York Giants are coming off of a close loss at home to San Francisco. Eli Manning managed to throw 5 INTs and Dallas isn’t an easier team. Coming off a bye, Tony Romo will come back refreshed from a total beating in the last few weeks.  DeMarco Murray has been incredible, rushing for a total of 1,233 yards. Look for both Romo and Murray to continue to thrive. If New York is able to spring an upset, look for Odell Beckham Jr., yet another stud rookie WR, to be a potential difference-maker, as he has quietly been developing into a dangerous offensive weapon for Manning.

BUFFALO

With loads of snow on top of Buffalo, this home game will be in Detroit. Following a huge loss to Miami, Kyle Orton and Sammy Watkins will be counted on to help Buffalo bounce back. New York comes off their bye week which followed a stunning win against Pittsburgh. Buffalo has a very slim chance at making the playoffs but they would basically need to win out and playing New York could get them off on the right step. Orton will need to step up his game if Buffalo wants a chance at salvaging a winning record.

NEW ORLEANS

After being let down by New Orleans last week, we’ve decided to go with them once again. Baltimore sits in 9th in the AFC but New Orleans, at 4-6, are tied for first in the division that nobody seems to want to win (AKA the NFC South), with Atlanta owning the tie-breaker. It is easy to say that this game could define both team’s fates. This will be a question of which QB performs better. It will come down to Drew Brees and Joe Flacco. As you can see above, we’re going with Brees at home.