NFL Predictions Week 12: Picks Guide, Odds Advice and Schedule Info

Hours sit between bettors and the bulk of Week 12 NFL action.

It's been a trying week—or greatly lucrative—for bettors already. There was a time prior to Thanksgiving Day when the Philadelphia Eagles were the favorite going into a matchup with the Detroit Lions, only to take a 45-14 whipping. Ditto for the Green Bay Packers at home, an eventual 17-13 loss to the Chicago Bears.

Not that the results should encourage anyone to shy away or rest on their laurels. There's plenty of coin available on the rest of the slate if bettors look in the right places. Let's do so below after a look at the full schedule.

NFL Week 12 Odds

Game	Time (ET)	TV	Spread	O/U	Predicted Winner
Minnesota at Atlanta	1 p.m.	Fox	ATL -1.5	45	MIN 28-20
St. Louis at Cincinnati	1 p.m.	Fox	CIN -9	42	CIN 24-21
New Orleans at Houston	1 p.m.	Fox	HOU -3	48.5	NO 17-14
Tampa Bay at Indianapolis	1 p.m.	Fox	IND -3	46.5	IND 27-24
San Diego at Jacksonville	1 p.m.	CBS	JAC -4.5	47	JAC 21-20
Buffalo at Kansas City	1 p.m.	CBS	KC -5	41.5	BUF 33-28
Miami at New York Jets	1 p.m.	CBS	NYJ -4	42.5	NYJ 20-16
Oakland at Tennessee	1 p.m.	CBS	OAK -1.5	44.5	OAK 30-17
New York Giants at Washington	1 p.m.	Fox	NYG -3	47.5	NYG 24-23
Arizona at San Francisco	4:05 p.m.	Fox	ARI -10	45	ARI 38-14
Pittsburgh at Seattle	4:25 p.m.	CBS	SEA -3.5	46	PIT 30-20
New England at Denver	8:30 p.m.	NBC	NE -3	43	NE 28-24
Baltimore at Cleveland (Monday)	8:30 p.m.	ESPN	CLE -3.5	41	CLE 13-10

Odds courtesy of Odds Shark.    

Last-Minute Odds to Bet

Minnesota at Atlanta (-1.5)

There's evidence that says the Minnesota Vikings can upend the Atlanta Falcons on the road, yet this line is larger in favor of the home team than at the start of the week. 

Bettors would be wise to peruse the evidence. Minnesota might have lost to Green Bay in 30-13 fashion in Week 11, but it snapped a five-game tear. These Vikings are 7-3 behind a smooth 2,106 yards from quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, 1,006 from Adrian Peterson and a stingy defense.

It's not hard to see why coach Mike Zimmer remains confident in his surprising team.

"I'm disappointed in our performance, but I'm not discouraged about our future," Zimmer said, according to ESPN.com. "I still believe in this football team, and I believe in everything about us."

Then there's the Falcons, losers of three in a row, including whiffs at the hands of iffy teams such as Tampa Bay and San Francisco. The team's blown a spot atop the division, and Sunday won't have star back Devonta Freeman in the lineup.

Minnesota ranks seventh against the pass and allows just 18.4 points per game on average. Zimmer's unit, when Peterson and Co. aren't controlling possession, can shut down Matt Ryan, who for some reason has thrown eight interceptions at home this year.

Prediction: Vikings 28, Falcons 20

St. Louis at Cincinnati (-9)

Nobody would argue the Cincinnati Bengals aren't a great team, not after Andy Dalton and Co. got off to a franchise-best 8-0 start before close losses to game Houston and Arizona squads. 

But the fact that the Bengals look like a top-five team doesn't mean they're immune to a trap game against a solid opponent, which happens to be the St. Louis Rams this week.

The Rams might sit at 4-6, but a defense that ranks 10th against the pass and lets up just 19.9 points per game isn't one to underestimate, especially with defensive tackle Aaron Donald perhaps being the best in the league at what he does and helping the unit to already tout 30 sacks.

In fact, the biggest issue for St. Louis is offense, where coach Jeff Fisher must revert back to benched starter Nick Foles, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter:

Even so, Cincinnati has struggled with offensive execution in recent weeks.

Dalton's weapons have struggled with dropped passes, the running game—which averages less than four yards per carry on the season—is still missing in action and one of the league's better lines has suddenly coughed up 10 sacks of Dalton over the team's past three outings.

Cincinnati will win this game by outlasting the Rams. Though the last few weeks' results haven't shown it, these Bengals have a clutch gene. But to expect one of the league's best defenses to fold against a struggling offense and for rookie sensation Todd Gurley to not at least make things interesting would be silly, making the under the viable play.

Prediction: Bengals 24, Rams 21

Arizona (-10) at San Francisco

On the other end of the spectrum, go way, way over with the aforementioned Cardinals against the San Francisco 49ers.

At this point, this spread would make sense with pretty much any team lining up against the 49ers. San Francisco sits at 3-7 with Blaine Gabbert under center, rushing for less than four yards per carry and allowing the 23rd-most points per game.

Call it disaster stew. The team had the worst offseason in recent history, losing a coach and countless players before losing quarterback Colin Kaepernick this year to injury and throwing Gabbert to the wolves.

Over two games, the man with a 26-26 touchdowns-interception ratio on his career has thrown three scores to a pair of interceptions. The team just hasn't shown the firepower to compete this year, a point Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle drove home:

Carson Palmer has put on a show this year, having completed 64 percent of his passes with 27 touchdowns to nine interceptions. Behind him, running back Chris Johnson continues his career-revival tour with 797 yards and three scores, and the defense ranks ninth against the pass and seventh against the rush.

So yes, a double-digit spread here makes perfect sense. When these two met in Week 3, Arizona cruised to a 47-7 decision behind a pair of touchdowns from both Palmer and Johnson, while the defense forced four interceptions.

San Francisco may look like a different team this time around with new faces starting at spots, but this looks like the same old Cardinals—which means the obvious result.

Prediction: Cardinals 38, 49ers 14

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and accurate as of Nov. 29. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.