NFL Picks Week 12: Teams Whose Playoff Aspirations Will Take a Hit on Sunday

This is the point in the season when the cream begins rising to the top.

The Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints have been good all season, but the later the season goes, the more they begin distancing themselves from the pack. Others, like the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots, are also starting to put a few games between themselves and the teams in second place.

For those hovering around .500, it's imperative to maintain a deficit of only a few games in order to keep any postseason hopes alive. Six games may seem like a lot, but it will be Week 17 before you know it.

Looking at the schedule for Week 12, you see a few teams that will likely put a halt to their playoff push.

Time (ET)	Home Team	Away Team	Pick
Sun., Nov. 24
1 p.m.	Detroit Lions	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	DET
1 p.m.	Green Bay Packers	Minnesota Vikings	GB
1 p.m.	Houston Texans	Jacksonville Jaguars	HOU
1 p.m.	Kansas City Chiefs	San Diego Chargers	KC
1 p.m.	Miami Dolphins	Carolina Panthers	CAR
1 p.m.	Cleveland Browns	Pittsburgh Steelers	PIT
1 p.m.	St. Louis Rams	Chicago Bears	CHI
1 p.m.	Baltimore Ravens	New York Jets	BAL
4:05 p.m.	Oakland Raiders	Tennessee Titans	OAK
4:05 p.m.	Arizona Cardinals	Indianapolis Colts	ARI
4:25 p.m.	New York Giants	Dallas Cowboys	DAL
8:30 p.m.	New England Patriots	Denver Broncos	NE
Mon., Nov. 25
8:40 p.m.	Washington Redskins	San Francisco 49ers	SF

New York Jets

The fact that we're in Week 12 and the New York Jets have a wild-card spot is crazy. How many people were arguing that Rex Ryan should be fired before the year started? He had that crazy press conference about Mark Sanchez back in August, and it looked like he was done right then and there.

Ryan's clearly getting the last laugh, as New York sits at 5-5, holding on to the AFC's final wild-card spot and two games off the New England Patriots in the AFC East.

It looks as though the clock is striking midnight for the Jets.

Geno Smith in particular has been poor over the last three games. He's combined to throw for 377 yards, five interceptions and zero touchdowns. And he has only completed 50 percent of his passes. Clearly Smith is a work in progress, and you have to wonder how much he's going to drag down the rest of the Jets until he gets through this learning phase.

Four of the Ravens' six losses have come by three points or less, so Baltimore is better than its 4-6 record would have you believe.

On the road, New York will have trouble moving the ball, and its streak of alternating wins and losses will come to an end.

The Jets may be able to hold on to a wild-card spot, but any hope of winning the division will likely evaporate.

Cleveland Browns

It may seem odd to consider the Cleveland Browns as a possible playoff team, but they have the same 4-6 record that the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens both hold. With a win, Cleveland can move to within two games of the Cincinnati Bengals.

With the performance of Andy Dalton, almost no lead is safe for the Bengals. He's reached new levels of stink this year, and it's resulted in Cincinnati having a shaky lead at the top.

Should the Browns lose, though, they'd have a hard time ever getting this close again. They'd drop to three games back of Cincinnati, and more importantly, Pittsburgh, and possibly Baltimore would've gone a game ahead.

Jason Campbell struggled mightily against the Cincinnati defense last week. It shouldn't have been a huge surprise, even after his previous two games. There's a reason Campbell has bounced around the league. He's not very good.

Although Pittsburgh's defense has dropped off from last year, it should be able to control Campbell and force him into costly turnovers.

Miami Dolphins

Although the Richie Incognito/Jonathan Martin saga has died down a bit, it's going to continue having an adverse effect on the Miami Dolphins.

As if that's bad enough, now they get to play the red-hot Carolina Panthers. The same Carolina Panthers that are on a six-game winning streak, beating the San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots in consecutive weeks.

Carolina has the fourth-best defense in the league, according to Football Outsiders, and has intercepted 14 passes, tied for third in the league.

The Miami run game continues to be one of the worst in the league, and Ryan Tannehill has only gone three games this season without a touchdown.

That doesn't sound like a formula for success.

Two games back of the Patriots heading into the week, the Dolphins could find themselves with too big a mountain to climb in the division should they lose on Sunday.

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