NFL Spreads Week 12: Favorites Who Are Locks To Cover

It’s been a crazy start to Week 12 of the NFL season due to some wild Thanksgiving matchups. The rest of the action this week seems like it will follow suit.

Amidst all of the chaos, however, there are still some games that carry a level of certainty with them. While I’d normally shy away from determining locks this late in the season, the following three matchups are as good as gold.

Take a look at three games I think you’d be safe taking the favorites on this weekend.

 

Denver Broncos (-10.5) at Kansas City Chiefs

Peyton Manning’s new-look Broncos are heavy favorites as they travel to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the inept Kansas City Chiefs. At first glance, the Chiefs have played some teams closely this season (Baltimore and Pittsburgh), but that shouldn’t steer you away from the big points on this one.

Manning and the Broncos could get one step closer to the playoffs with their fourth-straight AFC West win. In fact, a win here and loss by the San Diego Chargers against Baltimore and they can coast their way to the postseason. They’re also 6-4 on the season covering the spread and 3-2 on the road while the Chiefs are just 1-4 covering at home this season.

Seattle Seahawks (-3) at Miami Dolphins

Is there any team that’s hurting worse than the Miami Dolphins have been over the past few weeks? The Dolphins were sitting pretty at 4-3 after a Week 8 clobbering of the New York Jets. Since, they’ve dropped consecutive games to Indianapolis, Tennessee and Buffalo. That’s not exactly a star-studded lineup of competition.

To make things worse, the 6-4 Seahawks are coming to town boasting one of the toughest, hard-nosed defenses in the entire league. For an offense that’s struggled in recent weeks like the Dolphins, this game could get out of hand.

Seattle is 7-3 against the spread this season while the Dolphins are a mere 4-6.

Carolina Panthers (-2.5) at Philadelphia Eagles

There’s not much to say about this one. The Eagles are in complete free-fall mode and will be playing without quarterback Michael Vick and starting running back LeSean McCoy. It’s a chance for the struggling Carolina Panthers to get over their late-game meltdowns and back into the win column.

The Panthers haven’t been that bad this season. They’ve been moments away from wins over teams like Dallas, Tampa Bay and Atlanta and have only been really out of one or two games.

Carolina is 4-6 against the spread this season but has posted a 3-1 record on the road. The Eagles have not covered once this season while playing at home.

Follow @BigHoagowski