NFL Week 12 Picks: Predictions for Favorites and Underdogs

Following the conclusion of Thursday Night Football, bettors may become a little more hesitant to bet big on favorites. After all, not many predicted the Oakland Raiders to keep pace with the Kansas City Chiefs, let alone defeat them.

Due to the extremely unpredictable nature of the NFL, we can rest assured plenty more underdogs will fare just as well on Sunday; however, deciding which ones will beat the spread—and possibly their opponents—remains a tall order. After all, this is how Vegas makes its money.

In an effort to keep oddsmakers from winning this round, and lining bettors' pockets with some well-earned cash, let's take a look at all 14 remaining Week 12 contests, their updated game lines and corresponding picks against the spread.

Matchup	Spread	Pick ATS	Reason
Cleveland at Atlanta	ATL -3	Browns	See analysis below.
Tennessee at Philadelphia	PHI -11	Titans	The Titans offense is improving, and it should keep this game close.
Detroit at New England	NE -7.5	Patriots	The Patriots are lighting up scoreboards, and the Lions are struggling to get on them.
Cincinnati at Houston	HOU -1	Bengals	Houston's secondary is in for a long day against A.J. Green and Co.
Green Bay at Minnesota	GB -9.5	Packers	There are few teams capable of keeping up with Aaron Rodgers, and Minnesota isn't one of them.
Tampa Bay at Chicago	CHI -5.5	Buccaneers	Lovie Smith's knowledge of Bears players could be a great tactical advantage for the Bucs.
Jacksonville at Indianapolis	IND -14	Colts	The Colts aren't happy with their recent loss, and they'll take out frustrations on Jacksonville.
NY Jets at Buffalo*	BUF -2.5	Bills	Buffalo's stout defense will have the upper hand against a turnover-prone Michael Vick.
Arizona at Seattle	SEA -7	Cardinals	This will be a low-scoring fiasco that neither team will dominate.
St. Louis at San Diego	SD -4.5	Rams	The Rams are steadily improving as a team, and the Chargers are slumping.
Washington at San Francisco	SF -9	49ers	It's tough to trust RGIII against the 49ers after his Week 11 debacle.
Miami at Denver	DEN -7	Broncos	See analysis below.
Dallas at NY Giants	DAL -3.5	Cowboys	Tony Romo has been extremely efficient this season. Eli Manning is coming off a five-pick showing.
Baltimore at New Orleans	NO -3	Saints	The Saints will be geared up for this contest and won't be keen on dropping a third straight at home.

All game lines courtesy of Odds Shark and current as of November 21.

Notable Favorite: Miami Dolphins at Denver Broncos (-7)

It's rare to see the Broncos with a single-digit point spread at home these days and bettors should be taking full advantage.

In Week 11, Denver was the root cause of Vegas raking in tons of cash from unsuspecting wagerers. Huge favorites against the St. Louis Rams, the Broncos only managed to put up seven points in what seemed like an offensive meltdown.

Although, when looking back at the game, there are several takeaways to instill faith in this team going forward. Yes, Peyton Manning threw two picks, but he also accumulated 389 passing yards. It's not as if the offense couldn't get going. Injuries to Emmanuel Sanders and Julius Thomas were devastating to the team's red-zone efforts.

Luckily, Sanders is already listed as probable on the team's injury report, and Thomas looks promising considering he was on the field for practice Friday, via the Broncos' official Twitter account:

Even though Montee Ball has already been ruled out for Sunday's contest, C.J. Anderson has been a more-than-capable replacement. It sure looks as though all of the pieces are in place for Denver to get back on track in Week 12.

As for the Dolphins, they are dealing with a couple of key injuries of their own. Tight end Charles Clay is doubtful for the game, and according to Rotoworld's Adam Levitan, running back Lamar Miller is questionable with a knee issue:

That's not a good sign when facing Denver's second-ranked run defense.

If the Dolphins can't get a ground game going, things will get extremely difficult for quarterback Ryan Tannehill. He has yet to reach the 300-yard mark in any game this season and has only thrown for more than two touchdowns in one contest.

Miami's defense is very talented, but that won't be enough to keep this game close if the Dolphins are unable to generate some offense against the Broncos.

Prediction: Broncos 30, Dolphins 20

Notable Underdog: Cleveland Browns (+3) at Atlanta Falcons

The Browns are coming off a poor showing against the Houston Texans, dropping from first to worst in the AFC North. Conversely, the Falcons propelled themselves atop the NFC South despite just a 4-6 record on the heels of a two-game winning streak.

When looking at the matchups in this contest, things aren't exactly in favor of Atlanta continuing its winning ways.

Brian Hoyer was miserable in Week 11 against Houston, completing just 20 of his 50 passing attempts. It's been tough sledding for the quarterback with Andrew Hawkins as his No. 1 receiver; however, that's about to change in a big way. Here comes the return of Josh Gordon.

This receiver lit it up in 2013, hauling in 87 catches for an NFL-leading 1,646 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. Expect the Browns to force feed their star receiver early and often against Atlanta's league-worst pass defense. After all, Gordon is all business, via NFL:

While Gordon tears it up through the air, Cleveland can unleash Isaiah Crowell on the ground to maintain a balanced offensive attack. He should be looking to put up some gaudy numbers as well on Sunday due to the recent release of Ben Tate.

On the flip side, Atlanta's only chance to keep up with an aerial attack is by forcing a shootout. While Matt Ryan is one of the league's better quarterbacks, and he has wide receivers Julio Jones and Roddy White at his disposal, it would be foolish to count out the stellar play of Browns cornerbacks Joe Haden and Justin Gilbert.

While the Browns do have the league's 30th-ranked run defense, that may not matter all that much with a plodding Steven Jackson featured in Atlanta's backfield. He's only averaging 3.6 yards per carry this season and has reached the end zone just four times.

Bettors should be leaning heavily on the Browns here.

Prediction: Browns 27, Falcons 17