Week 12 Review/Week 13 Preview:

For the Week/Season:
v. W/L: (10-6)/(102-74)
v. ATS: (6-10)/(83-89-4)
v. Aggregate:(9-7)/(101-75)

ATS v. The Loyal Opposition:
FOXSports Peter Schrager 100-77
ESPN Bill Simmons 96-75-5
CHFF: 95-77
CBS-Brinson 95-79-3
CBS-Judge 91-83-3
Walter Football 88-83-6
CSNNE Rich Levine 87-82-4
USA Pete O’Brien 84-86-6
Postcards From Nowhere: 83-89-4
CBS-Katzowitz 83-91-3
CBS-Richard 81-93-3
CBS-Prisco 73-101-3

W/L v. PFT, ESPN NFL Experts & USA Today Analysts:
PFT-Rosenthal 114-62
PFT-Florio 114-62
Nate Davis (USAT) 114-62
Accuscore (ESPN) 113-63
Gary Mihoces (USAT) 111-65
Mortensen (ESPN) 109-67
CHFF: 109-66
Jon Saraceno (USAT) 109-67
Pick 'em (ESPN) 109-67
Golic (ESPN) 109-67
Schlereth (ESPN) 108-68
Pete O'Brien (USAT) 108-68
Sean Leahy (USAT) 108-68
Jim Corbett (USAT) 107-69
Hoge (ESPN) 103-73
Postcards From Nowhere: 102-74
Wickersham (ESPN) 100-76
Jarrett Bell (USAT) 99-77
Tom Pedulla (USAT) 98-78
Allen (ESPN) 96-80
Schefter (ESPN) 95-81

Week 13 Preview:

Let’s hope that Week 13 proves to be luckier than last week, as we were croaked on the 4:00 games.

At Minnesota -5.5 Buffalo 44.5

Speaking of bad luck, is there a team who has gotten more bad breaks than Buffalo? Three overtime losses already, and Sunday’s loss was punctuated by Steve Johnson dropping a pass in the end zone that would’ve won the game. But this is a team that fights hard every week, and there close (ok, maybe not this year) to turning the corner. The Vikings gave Coach Frazier a memorable debut, and there may be a serious paradigm shift happening in Minnesota.

Projected Final Score: Minnesota 24, Buffalo 17

At Miami -4.5 Cleveland 42.5

To be fair, Jake Delhomme did not throw four picks as predicted last week; he threw two. Maybe the Dolphins still have a Wild Card shot after their overwhelming win in Oakland last week. This week’s game against the Browns ought to be a nice challenge, considering that the Browns were fortunate to escape with a win against the lowly Panthers, thanks in large part to a pick-six and other assorted turnovers. For the Browns to succeed on Sunday, Peyton Hillis needs to crank out more than three yards and a cloud of dust per carry. He needs to be dominant, but the Dolphins’ D will TCB.

Projected Final Score: Miami 24, Cleveland 17

At Tennessee -3 Jacksonville 41.5

The Jaguars gave the G-Men everything they could handle for about a half before inexplicably abandoning the run in the second half and falling apart. The Titans were embarrassed last week in their old hometown as they tried to compete with a quarterback who is not a big-leaguer. Kerry Collins may be ready to go this week and his veteran presence would put a different spin on things. The Titans have owned Jacksonville in the past few outings, why should things change now?

Projected Final Score: Tennessee 24, Jacksonville 20

At Kansas City -8.5 Denver 48.5

The whole “Spygate II” incident that surfaced last week simply underscored the fact that Josh McDaniels has a lot of growing up to do before being viewed as a credible leader of men. A credible leader does not publicly throw a low-level employee under the bus for political expediency. A credible leader does not dress down his entire coaching staff in front of the owner without engendering some serious ill will from his subordinates. As a result, there are fault lines in the organization that became apparent after last week’s home loss to a young Rams’ team that had yet to win on the road this year. Now they have to travel to Arrowhead, where the Chiefs are coming home on the heels of a big win in Seattle. Still, the 8 ½ may be too much to expect for a young defense going up against Kyle Orton.

Projected Final Score: Kansas City 27, Denver 21

At NY Giants -7 Washington 43.5

Who wouldn’t have wished to be a fly on the wall in the Giants’ locker room last week to hear Coach Coughlin’s halftime speech? Or, as reports have indicated, it was Justin Tuck whose voice was the loudest. The G-Men were dismal for two quarters before waking up in the second half to steal away the win from Jacksonville. Still, Eli Manning had to rely on a cast of unknown receivers to get the job done. They can’t expect yeoman’s service from replacement-level players every week. For the Redskins, it’s “wait ‘til next year” all over again. They gift-wrapped a win for the Vikings and their new coach last week and now have to deal with an opponent hungry for another trip to the postseason. Maybe they’ll play better this week, or maybe not.

Projected Final Score: NY Giants 23, Washington 21

Chicago -4 At Detroit 44

The 8-3 Bears travel to Ford Field coming off a big win over Philly last week, looking to keep rolling atop the NFC North coming down the stretch. The Lions played well on Thanksgiving—for about a half. Then the bottom fell out and the Patriots ran away with the win. This week, third-stringer Drew Stanton reportedly gets the nod. If that’s the case, Julius Peppers is going to make Stanton long for those days of carrying a clipboard.

Projected Final Score: Chicago 24, Detroit 17

At Green Bay -10 San Francisco 41.5

There’s something about this line that really smells fishy. Last week’s Falcons-Packers matchup was a thriller that could’ve gone either way before Atlanta pulled it out with a field goal at the last second. After the ‘Niners’ big win on Monday night, it was clear that Troy Smith can’t throw a football, but as long as the running game works, what does it matter? Frank Gore is out for the season with a hip injury, but Brian Westbrook rediscovered the old mojo on Monday and will need to step up big time from here on out.

Projected Final Score: Green Bay 24, San Francisco 17

New Orleans -6.5 At Cincinnati 47

The Bungles were dreadful on Thanksgiving night against the Jets and Carson Palmer looks like he’s toast. The Saints played on Thanksgiving in Dallas and were fortunate to escape with a win. After breaking out of their early/mid season malaise, they went out to a big lead in Dallas only to fall apart in the second half. It’s getting late in the day for that sort of inconsistent play.

Projected Final Score: New Orleans 31, Cincinnati 17

Atlanta -3 At Tampa Bay 44.5

The Bucs gave the Ravens a real tough test before falling 17-10 last week. This week, they return home for another big challenge with the Falcons. Atlanta is practically unstoppable at home (though last week’s tilt with the Pack was a thriller) but they’re also really tough regardless of the venue.

Projected Final Score: Atlanta 27, Tampa Bay 20

At San Diego -13 Oakland 45.5

For a few weeks, it looked as if the Raiders turned the corner but after two straight ass-whippings, it’s now SOS for the silver & black. Gradkowski is finished for the year and it’s Campbell’s show until the end. Good luck with that, Al. The Chargers overwhelmed Indy on the road last week and made Peyton Manning look human. The Chargers are on their annual mid/late season roll and it’s just a matter of time before their sitting alone atop the AFC West.

Projected Final Score: San Diego 34, Oakland 13

At Seattle -6 Carolina 40

This game promises to be a real beaut. The Panthers are really, really bad and the Seahawks aren’t much better. Both teams lost last week, but it was actually the Panthers who had the better outing in Cleveland. The Chiefs simply flattened Seattle last week, but what was most disturbing is Seattle losing badly at home. In homage to Leslie Nielsen, surely the Seahawks can do better this week (and don’t call me Shirley).

Projected Final Score: Seattle 23, Carolina 16

At Indianapolis -5.5 Dallas 47.5

Sunday night’s loss to San Diego had to be one of the worst of the Manning Era. They lost by three touchdowns, at home. How often has that happened? Sure, Indy is banged up on both sides of the ball but there’s no excuse for losing 36-14 at home. Coach Garrett finally tasted defeat last week, but it wasn’t without a fight as the Cowboys gave the Saints a serious run at the end on Thanksgiving. But the very thought of Manning losing consecutive home games is practically unimaginable.

Projected Final Score: Indianapolis 27, Dallas 20

St. Louis -3.5 At Arizona 43

Perhaps there have been more dreadful outings on Monday night than what we saw from the Cardinals, but there have been none in recent memory. That was really bad but what was worse was Anderson’s media meltdown afterwards. Someone needs to school Anderson in the fine art of talking while saying nothing. It’s hard to believe that a team that was in the Super Bowl only two years ago has unraveled so quickly. The Rams are coming off their first road win of the year and have a great chance of seizing control of the NFC Worst with a win on Sunday.

Projected Final Score: St. Louis 24, Arizona 17

At Ravens -3 Pittsburgh 40

Kudos to the suits for picking another winner for SNF. Both of these teams are coming off of hard-fought wins in what promises to be a tough defensive struggle for supremacy of the AFC North. Harrison was fined another $25K for head-butting an opponent last week, that’s $125K in fines so far this year. The League could fine him $500K and it wouldn’t make any difference. The only way to curb this fool’s antics is to suspend him. If the NFL is serious about stopping this dangerous practice (and the jury’s still out on that), repeat offenders need to pay an increasingly higher price for their conduct. The Ravens are unbeaten at home and remain unafraid of the Big, Bad Steelers.

Projected Final Score: Ravens 24, Pittsburgh 20