NFL Picks Week 11: Teams Sure to Emerge Victorious This Weekend

The NFL has been tough to predict this season.

After all, the league is pretty bad. That said, it deserves some credit—the bad teams at least remain competitive in games for the most part before the better teams emerge victorious.

Week 10 saw plenty of this, but some teams that had the look of favorites eventually would win big games. Think about Seattle over Atlanta, Denver over San Diego and even New Orleans over Dallas.

This week is the same. A minimum of three games have sure-fire winners regardless of the route they take to get there.

Here's a look at the full schedule, followed by a breakdown of the matchups already written in stone as locks.

Away Team	Home Team	Predicted Winner
Indianapolis Colts	Tennessee Titans	Indianapolis
New York Jets	Buffalo Bills	New York
Baltimore Ravens	Chicago Bears	Chicago
Cleveland Browns	Cincinnati Bengals	Cincinnati
Washington Redskins	Philadelphia Eagles	Philadelphia
Detroit Lions	Pittsburgh Steelers	Detroit
Atlanta Falcons	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Tampa Bay
Arizona Cardinals	Jacksonville Jaguars	Arizona
Oakland Raiders	Houston Texans	Houston
San Diego Chargers	Miami Dolphins	San Diego
San Francisco 49ers	New Orleans Saints	New Orleans
Green Bay Packers	New York Giants	Green Bay
Minnesota Vikings	Seattle Seahawks	Seattle
Kansas City Chiefs	Denver Broncos	Denver
New England Patriots	Carolina Panthers	Carolina

Arizona Silences Jacksonville

Jacksonville surely feels great right now after a two-point victory over Tennessee in Week 10 for its first of the season.

The celebratory mood will be short-lived.

Arizona is quietly a very good team this year with a strong run defense (No. 3 in the NFL at 86.9 yards per game) and a superstar in the making with back Andre Ellington.

Ellington has come on in recent weeks and now leads the team in rushing:

OPP	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	REC	YDS
vs. ATL	15	154	10.3	1	2	8
vs. HOU	11	55	5.0	0	2	18

While the Arizona offensive line has allowed Carson Palmer to be sacked 24 times and the Cardinals have won just a single game on the road in four tries, Jacksonville is plain bad.

The Jaguars still rank near the bottom of the NFL in both run defense and offense, meaning Arizona can keep things grounded and grind out a win to move to 6-4. Expect Ellington to have a huge day.

Prediction: Cardinals 23, Jaguars 14

Green Bay Upends New York Giants

Life after Aaron Rodgers for the time being has not been kind to the Green Bay Packers.

Last week the Packers managed just 13 points against a porous Philadelphia defense as the Green Bay defense had no way of slowing the Eagles to a point where the game could be competitive.

Meanwhile, New York was simply doing what New York does by winning its third straight on a run that has all the making of an epic playoff berth.

Except Green Bay comes to town in Week 11.

Look, Green Bay can truly be an awful team without Aaron Rodgers, but a sense of urgency with playoffs fading fast makes for a dangerous team.

Kevin Seifert of ESPN reports Scott Tolzien will be the starter against the Giants after a Seneca Wallace injury:

Despite short notice and a third-string designation, Tolzien managed 280 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions last week. We've seen what Rodgers' backups can do in the past, and it would be erroneous to simply write off the Packers.

The Giants have picked on miserable defenses for their positive streak, but with Eddie Lacy pounding away on the ground and Tolzien at least somewhat effective, Green Bay will escape with a close win.

Prediction: Packers 23, Giants 17

Seattle Destroys Minnesota

Oh boy.

Percy Harvin is set to make his debut in Week 11, per ESPN's Adam Schefter—against his former team:

Seattle does not need Harvin to move past Minnesota, but the added presence of a versatile weapon sure doesn't hurt.

Minnesota has Adrian Peterson in the backfield and a hodgepodge of names at quarterback, but Seattle allows 111 yards on the ground and just 178 through the air for the NFL's second-best pass defense.

Peterson will surely find room to operate, but to think Christian Ponder or Josh Freeman will find any room would be a mistake.

Even worse, the Vikings rank in the bottom half against both run and pass, but are especially bad against the latter.

Last week Russell Wilson threw for over 280 yards and two scores while Marshawn Lynch rumbled for 145 and a score—expect more of the same here.

Prediction: Seahawks 30, Vikings 14

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