Week Twelve, Thanksgiving Picks
OK, I’ve got this whole giant meal to cook. So I’m definitely not getting to games today that aren’t being played until Sunday and Monday.
Let’s just look at the magnificent slate of games the NFL has in store for us this Thanksgiving. I know that I for one am extremely thankful for the opportunity to make an early night of it while the Giants and Racists slog through the first round of the battle for the NFC East basement. (I rather suspect the second round will not get the call as the final prime time game of the regular season.)
Oh, right, results to date. Week 11 for me was a shrug straight up, 9-5, an ugh against the spread, 6-7-1. For the season, that lands me at 105-55 (.656) straight up and 77-76-7 (.503) with the points.
Here’s what you shouldn’t expect to see while you’re eating your turkey and miss while you’re sleeping off the feast.
Minnesota (-3) at Detroit
I’m willing to assume that the Vikings will do a better job holding on to the ball this time around (because, well, they could hardly do worse). And I think that should be enough to produce a win that will effectively (though not numerically) seal the NFC East title for Minnesota. Vikings by a field goal.
LA Chargers (-2) at Dallas
Here are two of the NFL’s most consistently inconsistent teams. You may buy into the notion that the Chargers have a legit chance of making a run at the AFC West title or a wild card spot, but I don’t. I think there are typically reasons for a team to head into the stretch with a record of 4-6. I do, on the other hand, believe the Cowboys have a legit chance of sinking into complete irrelevance over the final six weeks of the season (really, it will have been the final eight, but we’re two games, and two Dallas losses, into that stretch already). You beat the Chargers with ball security and a strong running game. And I don’t see either of those things happening for the Cowboys. So I’m thinking Los Angeles by seven.
NY Giants (+7.5) at Washington
Move it along, folks. Nothing to see here. Racists by nine.
