Well it’s the start of the best time of the year folks and we get it kicked off with 3 NFL games on this Thanksgiving Day. Now the last 2 weeks have been a bit of a struggle finishing two games below .500 and then 1 games below .500 last week. That officially puts me at 1 game below .500 on the year. That’s territory where I would be better off just fading myself, so need a good bounce back week

Chicago -4 vs At Detroit

We get the Thanksgiving festivities kicked off with the classic Detroit Lions game. Chicago -4 with Trubisky sounds like a no brainer, but with Trubisky listed as doubtful and Chase Daniel being the backup, I’m starting to like Detroit in this game. Fun fact, the Lions record on Thanksgiving is 37-39-2 which isn’t all that bad considering the franchise. Give me Detroit at +4.

At Dallas -7.5 vs Washington

Let’s just start by asking how in the hell Dallas are 7.5 pt favorites. To me this is just a big overreaction to Alex Smith getting injured. Yeah the Redskins are going to have to go with backup Colt McCoy who hasn’t started a game since 2014, but people forget that McCoy had a 6-15 record as a started with the Cleveland Browns, which is pretty damn good when you think about it. Dallas will probably get lucky and barely win this game but no chance they cover by more than a TD. Also it be a real shame if McCoy gets hurt for a few play and we get to see Mark Sanchez, real shame.

At New Orleans -13 vs Atlanta

Well New Orleans continues to hang 50 pts every week and Atlanta continues to disappoint every week so this seems pretty straightforward until my brain starts thinking too much about this game. 13 pts is a lot and it’s a divisional game. It usually seems like these 2 teams play a close game and that’s what I expect. New Orleans to win but Atlanta to cover.

Jacksonville -3 vs At Buffalo

Imagine telling yourself the after week 2 of this season when the Jags beat the Pats and were probably the AFC favorites that they would only be favored by 3 pts over the Buffalo Bills in week 12. The Buffalo freaking Bills who are 3-7 and have had a carousel of qbs this season. Granted I will give it to Matt Barkley last week for torching the Jets defense, but there is absolutely no way that the Jags don’t win and cover this game

At Baltimore -11 vs Oakland

What did I tell you last week? That the Oakland Raiders would screw around and probably lose their number 1 pick. They took the first step last week by driving down the field for a game winning field goal as time expires against the Cardinals. With that being said Oakland will probably lose this week but an 11 pt spread is wild for a 5-5 team that is starting Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson ran the ball 26 times last week so it’s only a matter till the Ravens will be turning to RG3. God I hope we get to see RG3 at some point this season.

At Tampa Bay -3.5 vs San Francisco

While I may have been a game under .500 last week I called a few things correctly and one of those being the Bucs switching back to Jameis. At least the Bills QB carousel has been 4 different qbs, the Bucs just keep switching back and forth between FitzMagic and Jameis. While on the other side you have Nick Mullens still starting, who came down to earth last week. I’ll take the Bucs eating a W this and covering this game because the Bucs should definitely be tanking and trying to rebuild.

At Philadelphia -6 vs NY Giants

Don’t let Eli get hot but the Giants have won 2 games in a row. Only 3 games behind in the shitty NFC East, could they have a chance? Probably not, but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised considering other things that have happened in Eli Manning’s career. Philly on the other hand are terrible and I continue to ask myself every week how this team beat the Pats in the Superbowl. Every damn week. Is it time to give Nick Foles a shot? And if you’re not going to give Foles a shot then why would you not trade him to one of the handful of team that need a QB. In the end, just a matchup of 2 pathetic teams and I’ll take the Eagles though I have zero confidence in them covering and neither should you.

At Cincinnati -3 vs Cleveland

Remember when the Bengals were 4-1 and everybody thought they were actually a contender?? Well the Bengals are now 5-5, I mean what else did you possibly expect from a Marvin Lewis team. The man is a career .500 coach, nothing worse, nothing better. But I will take the Bengals this week because it is the Browns, but also don’t discount the bump the Browns could receive from the Condoleezza Rice rumors. Could be huge.

New England -9.5 vs At NY Jets

As I’ve said before I don’t like taking the Pats when the spread is this large but coming off the ass kicking they received from the Titans 2 weeks ago and coming off a bye week, I expect a thrashing of the Jets. The Jets got smoked by the Bills last week and this team looks to have given up on Todd Bowles(also he’s gone by the end of the year). The Pats are usually good at bouncing back and I expect it this week.

At Carolina -3.5 vs Seattle

In all honesty I like the Seahawks and Russell Wilson in this game….mainly I like Russell Wilson. But I can’t take them in this game because I just can’t see the Panthers losing 3 straight. This should be a really good game as both teams are fighting for wildcard spots and a Russell vs Cam match-up should be entertaining.

At Indianapolis -9 vs Miami

Don’t look now but the Indianapolis Colts have done a complete 180 on this season. After starting 1-5 they now sit at 5-5 and are making a push for the playoffs. Not going to lie I had to look up the Dolphins record and was shocked when I saw it was 5-5 as well. Would have guessed 3-7 or 4-6 but never in my life would I have guessed the Dolphins were .500. I like Indy to win this game but not at -9. Also, Tannehill is back from injury. RIP Brocketship, it was fun while it lasted. For what it’s worth, Brocketship probably landed himself a spot in the league for the next few years with that win over the Bears.

At LA Chargers -12 vs Arizona

I don’t like to take teams with 12 pt spreads but I think you have to in this situation. The Chargers at home, everybody knows what a huge advantage that crowd of 27,000 can provide (Seriously what joke that took this team out of San Diego). But in all seriousness, Arizona is the worst team in the league, give me the Chargers and that home field advantage.

Pittsburgh -3 vs At Denver

How is this spread only 3 pts? What does Vegas know that we don’t? Maybe they’re calling on a foot of snow, yeah I’m going go with that. I’m obviously picking the Steelers at -3 in this game but I need to hurry up and move on to the next game before I talk myself out of it because the spread just seems too good to be true.

At Minnesota -3.5 Green Bay

Here we are again with Aaron Rodgers as an underdog for the 2nd week in a row. This is an absolute must win game for the Packers if they plan on making the playoffs, so that’s the only reason I’m rolling with them in this game. Otherwise I’d pick against them with their 0-5 road record.

At Houston -6 vs Tennessee

Are we buying into the Houston Texans or not? I’m mean 7 games in a row is 7 games in a row and that’s impressive at the NFL level. The wildest part of all of this is that Deshaun Watson hasn’t even been playing that great, when compared to what he did last year. Tennessee on the other hand is the ultimate flip flop team playing good one week and then playing bad the next. I’ll take Tennessee with the 6 pts. Not sure who’s going to win but the Texans run has to come to an end at some point, right?

Thanny's Thoughts: NFL Week 12