Week 12 Picks...

Okay, so three weeks ago I struggled a little with my picks (2-3). But in my defense, I took some chances, and two of the three incorrect picks were very close games. After two weeks of rest, I'm ready to take some more chances. Here goes nothing.

New England 27 - Miami 20
Miami trounced New England 38-13 in week 3. However, I haven't seen too many teams fool Bill Belichick twice. Even with the Wildcat offense, I cannot see Ronnie Brown and the Dolphins running all over the Patriots defense again (even with Adalius Thomas out). With that being said, I still think Miami will pose problems for the Pats. Last week, Matt Cassel showed us he could respond to those types of problems. In the battle of the Bills (Belichick & Parcells), I'm taking the Pats in a close one.

New York Jets 19 - Tennessee 23
Two weeks ago, I started thinking the Jets were going to be the team to hand the Titans their first loss (if the Jags did not). Well, today isn't too weeks ago. Since then, the Titans have overcome a 14-3 deficit against the Jags, and Jeff Fisher has jumped out of a helicopter (arriving at practice, in an effort to motivate his team. I don't know what Jeff will have to do to get them past the Steelers and Colts, but at least he doesn't need to do anything extreme to get them past the Lions on Turkey Day. Oh, and just to comment on this weeks game: the Titans defense should slow down Thomas Jones and capitalize on some dumb throws by Brett Favre en route to victory.

Carolina 30 - Atlanta 17
Last week started what I anticipate to be the decline of this year's surprise story: the Falcons. Carolina's defense should take Michael Turner out of the game. Although Ryan has progressed since their last meeting, I think Carolina's defensive pressure should be too much for him as well. Throw in the one, two punch of DeAngelo Williams & Jonathan Stewart, and its easy to see why the Panthers should be a lock to win in Hot-Lanta.

New York Giants 31 - Arizona 27
This is a real tough call. The Giants are arguably the best team in the NFL right now. On the other side, the Cardinals are impressing all as of late. Kurt Warner has been the surprise player of the year, and Larry Fitz & Anquan Boldin are practically unstoppable. If the Giants defensive front can get pressure on Warner, and I think they will, Boldin & Fitz will have little time to get open. Boldin is such a threat receiving at the line of scrimmage that I do think the Cardinals will generate a lot of scoring, but with the Giants run game controlling the ball, and enough pressure to force a fumble or two out of Warner, the G-men should squeeze out a victory.

Indianapolis 31 - San Diego 20
It's been a surprisingly tough year for the Bolts, who at 4-6, need a victory if they want to preserve any hopes of winning the division. Unfortunately for them, the resurging Colts are coming into town. Look for the Bolts' struggles to continue, with a two-touchdown loss to Peyton and the Colts. I still wonder, was it really worth getting rid of Marty Schottenheimer after a 14-2 season, just because of one playoff loss to the Pats? I'd be worried if I was Norv Turner.

Green Bay 24 - New Orleans 34
New Orleans has had a disappointing season thus far, but there's still a small window of opportunity left for them to make a move. The return of Reggie Bush would help. After all, in his last appearance on Monday night, Bush dazzled spectators with two punt returns for TDs (three if he hadn't slipped on the turf). While Bush's return is still left uncertain (I think he'll give it one more week of rest), I think the Saints will pull it out either way. The Packers defense has been tough as of late, but Drew Brees has been something else thus far. The Saints love playing in front of that home crowd as well.

Image taken from Yahoo! Sports