Photo: Chris Humphreys, USA Today Sports

WEEK 12 PICKS

* I pick four “best bets” and make one of those a “lock” each week. Those are listed at the end.

New Orleans (-8.5) at Atlanta
New Orleans on the road isn’t quite the powerhouse they are at home. Is that true? I don’t know, what am I an encyclopedia? Go look it up yourself. I’m just gonna base it on media speculation and assume that a sample size is the same thing as a guarantee. Anyway, this is probably the 80th time I’ve taken the Falcons this year and I know it’s not gonna work out. My only hope is that this is a Thursday night game so the Saints probably will be less explosive anyway…plus their two most dynamic playmakers are both hobbled…plus they are on the road…basically if Atlanta doesn’t cover this, they become an automatic “bet against” every week from now on.
Pick: Falcons

Baltimore (-3.5) vs. New York Jets
Wait, the defending Super Bowl champs are a measly field goal and change, favorite against a team that just had its doors blown off by the Bills? Something smells fishy.
Pick: Jets

Saint Louis (-1.5) vs. Chicago
Cubs beat the Cardinals here 7-3. Grand slam by Keith Moreland is the difference, and they hold off Saint Louis despite three triples from Willie McGee.
Pick: Bears

Kansas City (-5.5) vs. San Diego
This line is 2.5 points too high, this is a field goal game. Or not. Whatever, the Chargers are dumb okay?
Pick: Chargers

Cleveland (-2.5) vs. Pittsburgh
Did the Steelers find something last week? Those billions of yards would certainly suggest they did. By the way, I spent a good 45 minutes arguing with someone at work yesterday about which quarterback was “more elite”, Ben Roethlisberger or Peyton Manning. I had Manning, but I’m pretty sure I lost the argument because I spent 45 minutes arguing about it. Hey pal, 2+2 = 4. Some things are just facts.
Pick: Steelers

Green Bay (-3.5) vs. Minnesota
Remember a few years back when Matt Flynn threw for six touchdowns in Week 17, and all of a sudden some people started questioning whether Aaron Rodgers was overrated? Yeah that was fun.
Pick: Vikings

Detroit (-9.5) vs. Tampa Bay
Reggie Bush owes me for last week. BIG TIME. I don’t play FanDuel, but if I did I would copy everything David Dodds does. But if I couldn’t do that, I’d at least make sure I had Reggie Bush in my lineup this week.
Pick: Lions

Houston (-10.5) vs. Jacksonville
Jacksonville is the worst. One of the worst ever. That being said, how are we laying double digits with a team that just got smacked by the Raiders?!? A 2-8 Texans team that has done plenty of stinking, fights with themselves, and has shown zero signs of turning anything around? Please.
Pick: Jaguars

Carolina (-3.5) at Miami
The Dolphins are bad. I don’t care that they beat my Chargers. It was one of the stupidest games I’ve witnessed in a long time. If you don’t know what I mean by that, I don’t really care because it makes no sense. I just know this: the Dolphins aren’t any good. And that’s coming from a guy who picked them to make the playoffs this year!
Pick: Panthers

Oakland (-1.5) vs. Tennessee
A friend of mine is traveling to Tennessee this week. That comment is irrelevant, just like this game.
Pick: Titans

Arizona (-2.5) vs. Indianapolis
I think for one week at least, we can expect the Cardinals to hiccup a bit and Indy to come back with a complete game – finally.
Pick: Colts

New York Giants (-2.5) vs. Dallas
I’m not fully comfortable with it, but something tells me this is the week Giant fans have to face reality again.
Pick: Cowboys

Denver (-2.5) at New England
Manning. Brady. Prime time. Everyone will tell you, for whatever reason Brady seems to get it done in these big spots and Manning…not so much. Which is COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT FOR THIS GAME BECAUSE THE TEAMS ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!
Pick: Broncos

San Francisco (-5.5) at Washington
I don’t think I’ve picked Washington to cover a spread all season long, and I’m too lazy to go back and look it up. But this week they get off the hook, because this is too many points to lay for a team that can’t get out of its own way to score any points.
Pick: Washington

BEST BETS: Bears, Titans, Colts, Broncos
LOCK: Tennessee Titans (I had the Colts and changed it last minute…)

RECORD

LAST WEEK

Overall: 7-8 (46%)
Best Bets: 1-3 (25%)
Lock of the Week: 0-1

YEAR TO DATE

Overall: 82-76 (51%)
Best Bets: 17-27 (38%)
Lock of the Week: 4-7 (36%)

POWER RANKINGS

Team Name W/L (Prv)

1. Broncos 9-1 (1)
2. Seahawks 10-1 (2)
3. Patriots 7-3 (3)
4. Chiefs 9-1 (4)
5. Saints 8-2 (5)
6. Panthers 7-3 (6)
7. 49ers 6-4 (7)
8. Bengals 7-4 (8)
9. Colts 7-3 (10)
10. Lions 6-4 (9)
11. Bears 6-4 (11)
12. Packers 5-5 (12)
13. Cowboys 5-5 (15)
14. Eagles 6-5 (17)
15. Ravens 4-6 (14)
16. Jets 5-5 (13)
17. Browns 4-6 (16)
18. Titans 4-6 (18)
19. Dolphins 5-5 (20)
20. Giants 4-6 (21)
21. Cardinals 6-4 (22)
22. Chargers 4-6 (19)
23. Redskins 3-7 (23)
24. Rams 4-6 (24)
25. Steelers 4-6 (27)
26. Raiders 4-6 (28)
27. Bills 4-7 (29)
28. Texans 2-8 (25)
29. Vikings 2-8 (30)
30. Bucs 2-8 (31)
31. Falcons 2-8 (26)
32. Jaguars 1-9 (32)