NFL Week 12 Predictions: Road Teams Sure to Win in Hostile Environments

A road win is no easy feat in the NFL.

Look at Week 11—just three teams scored wins in hostile environments while a total of 15 had the opportunity.

Even worse, the three home teams to lose share a combined seven wins.

The NFL is full of professionals who are trained to weather such factors, but some weeks just turn out to be duds. Week 12 won't be one of those weeks thanks to a handful of favorable matchups for road teams. 

Here is a full look at the Week 12 schedule followed by a closer look at three games sure to swing in the road team's favor. 

Away	Home	Prediction
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Detroit Lions	Lions
Minnesota Vikings	Green Bay Packers	Packers
Jacksonville Jaguars	Houston Texans	Texans
San Diego Chargers	Kansas City Chiefs	Chiefs
Carolina Panthers	Miami Dolphins	Panthers
Pittsburgh Steelers	Cleveland Browns	Steelers
Chicago Bears	St. Louis Rams	Bears
New York Jets	Baltimore Ravens	Ravens
Tennessee Titans	Oakland Raiders	Titans
Indianapolis Colts	Arizona Cardinals	Colts
Dallas Cowboys	New York Giants	Giants
Denver Broncos	New England Patriots	Broncos
San Francisco 49ers	Washington Redskins	49ers

Carolina Panthers Stomp Miami Dolphins

The Carolina Panthers have only gone 3-2 away from home this season, but two of those losses came early in the first four weeks of the season.

Things are different now.

Carolina has rattled off six straight wins, has marquee victories over San Francisco and New England in the past two weeks and touts the NFL's No. 1 scoring defense at 13.5 points per game.

Sometimes it just writes itself.

Miami scores just over 21 points per game. Free-agent superstar receiver Mike Wallace has been a dud with just 534 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill has been sacked a league-leading 41 times.

We could go on, but the point is simple—Miami does nothing in particular very well while Carolina and Cam Newton tout a top defense and top-10 rushing attack that will simply smother the Dolphins regardless of locale.

Prediction: Panthers 27, Dolphins 17

Pittsburgh Steelers Throttle Cleveland Browns

Who would have thought a battle between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns in the second half of the season would mean anything?

Oh, and who would have thought both would be tied for second place in the AFC North? At 4-6?

The trends here are simple. Cleveland comes off a 41-20 beatdown at the hands of the Cincinnati Bengals. Quarterback Jason Campbell was held to 248 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions as Cincinnati eliminated the run and forced the ineffective Campbell to the air.

Now Pittsburgh has the blueprint to pick up an easy win. The Steelers are a bad road team at 1-4, but have turned things around as of late with two straight wins overall.

Better yet, the Steelers rank in the top 10 against the pass, and Cleveland running back Willis McGahee and his 2.6 yards-per-carry average are not exactly scaring anyone.

This one will boil down to a gritty defensive battle, but at some point Ben Roethlisberger will make one of his famous plays and Pittsburgh will steal the win.

Prediction: Steelers 17, Browns 14

San Francisco 49ers Smoke Washington Redskins

It's time for Colin Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers to start acting like contenders.

Luckily, a rather easy game is on the schedule in Week 12 with a trip to Washington on Monday Night Football.

The miserable Redskins sit at 3-7. Quarterback Robert Griffin III has done all he can after doing the ill-advised thing and rushing back from a serious knee injury suffered last postseason. Griffin has thrown 14 touchdowns to 10 interceptions and will have little room to work against a defense that ranks in the top 12 against both the run and pass and allows 17.8 points per game.

Kaepernick leads the NFL's worst pass attack, but he'll find plenty of room to operate against a defense that allows 31.1 points per game—a number only two other teams surpass.

The real star of the show will be running back Frank Gore and a top-five rushing attack that averages 141 yards per game. RGIII will have a hard time getting his hands on the ball, and when he does, he won't be able to do much to alter the outcome.

Prediction: 49ers 33, Redskins 14

Follow @Chris_Roling