Turkey Day Picks

The weekend starts early this week on one the best football weekends of the year short of New Years. Watch the pros on Thursday, College on Friday and Saturday and more Pros on Sunday. Thats a football sammich that this scribe will dig into quicker than the turkey leftovers! Last week was so-so, after a rocky start in the early games I swept all the late games (Sorry Cincy, I just had a feeling) the Sunday Night game (a gimme) and the Monday Night Game (So much for Favre's monday night magic) to finish over .500 for the week. The docket of games is a bit tougher this week. Enjoy the turkey and the holiday! Week 12 SCHEDULE Thursday, November 24 Atlanta (6-4) @ Detroit (4-6) -12:30 Fox Ford Field Detroit Both teams seem to be heading south, Detroit looks like it has given up while the Falcons can't catch a break in close games. The Lions usually play their turkey day game relatively tough, so this game will be close. But the ATL needs a win badly to stay in the NFC South race and the Lions have that "whens this gonna be over" look already Pick-Atlanta Denver (8-2) @ Dallas (7-3)-4:15 CBS Texas Stadium; Irving, TX This has all the makings of a Thanksgiving classic. Denver is a roll and Dallas has that swagger about them once again. This game will be a lot better than the last couple of Dallas turkey day snoozers. Jake Plummer went from a turnover machine to a model of efficency and the Pokes offense while unspectaclar is solid. The Broncs will use their better diversified offense to control the clock and force the Tuna to do what he loathes doing, airing it out to catch up. Pick-Denver Sunday, November 27 Baltimore (3-7) @ Cincinnati (7-3) Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati-1:00 CBS The Ravens are flying high after outslugging the Steelers in OT, but are catching the Bengals at the wrong time. The men in Stripes are looking for someone to take their frustrations out on after losing a shootout to the Colts. The Ravens won't be able to get away with offensive ineptitude against the Bengals, they have too many weapons and if the Bengals move the ball against the Ravens like they did against a good Colts defense, they won't have to worry if 37 will be enough to win. Pick-Cincinnati Carolina (7-3) @ Buffalo (4-6) Ralph Wilson Stadium; Orchard Park, NY-1:00 Fox Pity the poor Bills, they have to fly back cross-country after taking an awful beating at the hands of the Chargers and face an angry Panthers team that was humiliated by the Bears. You think JP Losman had a hard time against the Chargers defense, it'll be tougher in spades against a top flight Panthers defense. Pick-Carolina Chicago (7-3) @ Tampa Bay (7-3) Raymond James Stadium, Tampa-1:00 Fox At season's start, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that would've thought that this would be a matchup of the NFC's top teams. Da Bears aren't flashy and are sock you in the mouth type team that win games ugly. The Bucs have put up 30 or more points in their past two games and the Cadillac seems to running good again. The Bucs will try to jack up the score, they cannot try to play a slug it out game with Da Bears, the slower this game is the more it favors Chicago. Pick-Tampa Bay Cleveland (3-7) @ Minnesota (5-5) HHH Metrodome, Minneapolis-1:00 CBS Both teams are feeling good about themselves after wins. The Browns stunning shutout of the Dolphins raised some eyebrows, but they were facing a one-dimensional Dolphin team. They now face a Viking squad who are finding their sea legs and have won three in a row. The Vikings will remind no one of their offensive prowess of days gone by, but they will do enough to beat the Browns who still are trying to figure out to win away from Cleveland Pick-Minnesota New England (6-4) @ Kansas City (6-4) Arrowhead Stadium; Kansas City, MO-1:00 CBS At the beginning of the season, this looked like a matchup of playoff contenders of the first rank. Now its a matchup of playoff contenders trying to stay in the hunt.The Pats are dominating a weak AFC East, while Chiefs are struggling to stay afloat in the murderous AFC West. The Pats may have found a new running threat with the bullish while the Chiefs haven't lost a step with the redoubtable Larry Johnson filling in capably for the injured Priest Holmes. This game is a toss-up, but the Chiefs can pick on a weak Pats secondary and while Tom Brady is more than capable of holding his own in this matchup. The Pats defense is not what it used to be and the Chiefs will exploit that advantage Pick-Kansas City San Diego (6-4) @ Washington (5-5) FedEx Field; Landover, MD-1:00 CBS The Skins are reeling having had dropped 5 of their last 7 and are fading fast. The Chargers have to make another trip to the East Coast, but they have too much offense for the Skins to cope with. Joe Gibbs will look and see LaDainian Tomlinson and wistfully rememeber days gone by. Pick-San Diego San Francisco (2-8) @ Tennessee (2-8) The Coliseum; Nashville-1:00 Fox The Niners gave the Seahawks all they could handle but lost, the Titans gave the Jags all they could handle but lost. Why do I get the feeling that this will be a 13-3 game? Pick-Tennessee St. Louis (4-6) @ Houston (1-9) Reliant Stadium, Houston-1:00 Fox Finally, a team that the Rams can pick on. The Rams looked listless in a shocking loss to the Cards. The Texans??? Heh, Heh. You don't really think that they will give the Rams trouble do you? Pick-St. Louis Jacksonville (7-3) @ Arizona (3-7) Sun Devil Stadium; Tempe, AZ -4:05 CBS Arizona is feeling good about itself after thumping the Rams, but the degree of difficulty gets much steeper with a tough Jags team that is still trying to position itself for a playoff run. Good teams don't trip in games like this and the Jags won't stumble here. Pick-Jacksonville Miami (3-7) @ Oakland (4-6) Network Associates Coliseum, Oakland-4:05 CBS This used to pack a punch. Like I said used to. The Fins are looking punch drunk and the Raiders offense is punchy at best, and punchless at worst. The Dolphins look lost outside of Florida and the Raiders have just enough to keep it that way Pick-Oakland Green Bay (2-8) @ Philadelphia (4-6) Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia-4:15 Fox At seasons beginning this was a rematch of two elite teams. The Eagles whalloped the Pack 48-17 last year in much happier times. The Eagles are lost, but they should have more than enough to be able to slap around the Pack, who despite the heroic efforts of Brett Favre are looking like that they are done for the season. Pick-Philadelphia NY Giants (7-3) @ Seattle (8-2) Qwest Field, Seattle-4:15 Fox An unlikely top matchup at seasons beginning, the G-Men and Seahawks can put up points a plenty. But I'm still just not sold on the G-Men getting it done on the road against a tough Seattle team that seems to have found its stride and behind Shawn Alexander is rolling to the playoffs. Pick-Seattle New Orleans (2-8) @ NY Jets (2-8) The Meadowlands; East Rutherford, NJ-8:30 ESPN Yet another worthless Sunday night game between two worthless teams. Games like this make me want to start checking out Desperate Housewives... In any case the Jets packed it in a long time ago and are just looking for warm bodies to play QB. I don't know if they have called Jeff George or Kordell Stewart yet., The Saints have their own set of problem but will win just because they are at least playing harder and have more talent. Pick-New Orleans Monday, November 28 Pittsburgh (7-3) @ Indianapolis (10-0) RCA Dome, Indianapolis-9:00 ABC The week's best matchup by far. The Colts passed their first test, outgunning a game Bengals squad. The Steelers look confused and fell to a Ravens team that scares only itself. The Colts scored 45 against a good defense with a good offense. The Steelers have a good defense, but a pathetic offense. Not a good combo versus an Indy team in its own crib. Pick-Indy Last Week 9-7 Overall 99-61(blog) 96-64 (pick group) College Games to Check Out #2Texas @ Texas A&M Kyle Field; College Station, TX 12:00 Fri-ABC Vince Young will try to counteract the Reggie Bush hype by leading his Longhorns in a beatdown of their in-state rivals. The fabled 12th Man of Aggies lore will be of no help in this game. This might not be the close contest that one would hope for, but its a good chance to see the redoubtable Young do his thing. Arkansas @ #3 LSU Tiger Stadium; Baton Rouge, LA 3:00 Fri-CBS Lots at stake here, LSU wraps up a trip to the SEC Title game with a win here and Arkansas is relishing its role as potential spoiler. LSU hasn't lost since losing an OT heartbreaker vs Tennessee and has played with a vengence all season, not a good sign for a young Razorback squad. Florida (7-3) @ Florida State (7-3) Florida Field, Gainesville-Sat 3:30-CBS A late season non-conference game that has little national implications but loads of intrigue and team animosity. Urban Meyer can salvage some pride here by knocking off his in-state nemesis South Florida (6-3) @ Connecticut (4-5) Rentschler Field; Stoors, CT-3:30 ABC This ain't a misprint. A big Big East game between two squad looking to make a statement in their first network televised game. Both teams have flown under the radar but are solid squads. UConn can get into bowl contention with a win here and South Florida dares to dream of a BCS berth. Don't laugh, the Bulls have made the jump from non-existance to Div 1-A in a hurry and done it well. A win here sets up a showdown with West Virginia in a game that was postponed by Hurricane Wilma.