NFL Week 12 Predictions: Projections for the Early Lines, Spreads and Odds

The process of moving from one week to the next in the NFL season lasts no longer than 24 hours. Then, it's right back to work as we gear up for an enticing Week 12 slate.

Week 11 won't be in the books until the Tennessee Titans host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football, but the other 30 teams are already glancing forward to next week. With only four teams on bye, we'll be graced with 14 thrilling affairs.

Navigating the betting waters can prove treacherous, but attacking the lines early in the week can allow bettors to get more favorable spreads before they inevitably adjust in the middle of the week.

With that said, let's go ahead and take a look forward to Week 12.

Matchup	Spread	Pick Against Spread	Reason
Kansas City vs. Oakland (Thurs., Nov. 20)	KC -6	KC	Oakland is becoming more competent, but the Chiefs are rolling.
Tennessee at Philadelphia	PHI -10.5	PHI	Philly's offense will get it rolling again versus the Titans, who are on a short week.
Cleveland at Atlanta	ATL -3	CLE	The Falcons (4-6) are much worse than their record suggests; the Browns (6-4) are better.
Detroit at New England	NE -5.5	NE	New England's offense will be stymied, but not halted in another double-digit win.
Green Bay at Minnesota	GB -7.5	GB	If Aaron Rodgers isn't untouchable, his receivers are. Minnesota's corners will stand no chance.
Jacksonville at Indianapolis	IND -14	IND	Intent on bouncing back, Andrew Luck will take his anger out on the poor Jaguars secondary.
Cincinnati at Houston	Even	CIN	Andy Dalton has found the way, and dynamo J.J. Watt won't match him in touchdowns.
New York Jets at Buffalo	BUF -3.5	NYJ	The Jets seem to put it together when everyone thinks it's over, and the Bills are struggling.
Tampa Bay at Chicago	CHI -5	CHI	See below.
Arizona at Seattle	SEA -5.5	ARI	See below.
St. Louis at San Diego	SD -6	SD	The Rams defense will impress again, but Philip Rivers will find a way.
Miami at Denver	DEN -7.5	DEN	Peyton Manning can't be held down for long.
Washington at San Francisco	SF -7.5	SF	The Redskins are hapless right now, and the 49ers have all the winning ingredients.
Dallas at New York Giants	DAL -2.5	DAL	New York's defense is no match for a rejuvenated Tony Romo and DeMarco Murray.
Baltimore at New Orleans (Mon., Nov. 24)	NO -3	NO	Drew Brees will get his team over the hump early and hold on to a big lead.

Note: Odds courtesy of Odds Shark, last updated Nov. 17 at 12 a.m. ET

Best Bets for Week 12

Arizona Cardinals (+5.5) over Seattle Seahawks

The Arizona Cardinals come into Seattle with the NFL's best record of 9-1 but still aren't getting the love from oddsmakers.

Bruce Arians' Cardinals have now won six straight, but they remain more than five-point underdogs heading into Sunday's trip to face the Seahawks.

It's not hard to see how the Cardinals could keep things close enough to cover. They've been in every game they have played this season and in control of most of them. Meanwhile, the Seahawks are coming off a physical defeat on the road at Kansas City.

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

Arizona's defense is perfectly built to stifle Seattle. Its shortcomings have been in the secondary, but Seattle's 31st-ranked pass offense shouldn't pose a problem. The Cardinals' strength is in a dominant run defense, which will cause some Seattle struggles at home.

Will that be enough to get them the win? Well, it's not wise to bet against Seattle at home—especially as motivated as the Seahawks will be after Sunday's loss. 

But banking on this to be a close-knit affair seems like a safe bet.

Prediction: Cardinals cover with 20-17 loss to Seahawks

Chicago Bears (-5) over Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

One win can erase a lot of previous woes, and the Chicago Bears will hope their recent victory can loom larger than the Buccaneers' entering Week 12.

Both clubs broke losing streaks in Week 11, with Chicago ending a three-game skid and Tampa Bay stumping a five-loss streak. But the Bears are much better suited to continue their winning ways. 

For all of Jay Cutler's struggles lately, he has at least 225 yards in each of his last three outings and seven combined touchdowns. The Bucs have only six interceptions on the year, so Cutler should have more success holding on to the ball.

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Only four teams have allowed more passing yards on the year than the Bucs, who will have a tough time keeping Cutler—who has Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery firing on all cylinders—contained.

The Bucs offense doesn't have enough dimensions to run up the score on the Bears secondary, and that will allow Cutler and Matt Forte to pad the lead.

Prediction: Bears cover with 31-14 win over Bucs

All team stats courtesy of Pro-Football-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.