NFL Picks Week 12: Predicting Winners for Marquee Games

Because the Oakland Raiders actually won a game on Thursday night, I hesitate to pick any other underdog to prevail for the rest of the NFL's Week 12 schedule. The Raiders held on to hand the Kansas City Chiefs a 24-20 defeat on Thursday night and improved their record to a still abysmal 1-10.

It seems like that might actually be the equivalent of six unexpected victories. 

Honestly, a Raiders win was not one of my original predictions, though the team has been close over the last few weeks. A win for the Silver and Black isn't the most shocking thing.

Looking ahead to the rest of the games on tap, there are three that stand out as marquee matchups. Here's a look at the complete schedule with predictions for each game. Just below the chart is a closer look at the week's best battles.

Sunday, Nov. 23	Time (ET)	Prediction
Monday, Nov. 24	Time (ET)	Prediction
Cleveland at Atlanta	1 p.m	Atlanta
Tennessee at Philadelphia	1 p.m	Philadelphia
Detroit at New England	1 p.m.	New England
Green Bay at Minnesota	1 p.m.	Green Bay
Jacksonville at Indianapolis	1 p.m.	Indianapolis
Cincinnati at Houston	1 p.m.	Cincinnati
Tampa Bay at Chicago	1 p.m.	Chicago
Arizona at Seattle	1 p.m.	Arizona
St. Louis at San Diego	1 p.m	St. Louis
Miami at Denver	1 p.m.	Denver
Washington at San Francisco	1 p.m.	San Francisco
Dallas at NY Giants	8:30 p.m.	Dallas
NY Jets at Buffalo	7 p.m.	Buffalo
Baltimore at New Orleans	8:30 p.m	Baltimore

Detroit Lions at New England Patriots

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As winners of six games in a row, the Patriots are the NFL's hottest team. To make matters worse for the Lions, New England hasn't lost a regular-season home game since December 2012.

With players like Jonas Gray seemingly coming out of the woodwork with huge games, the Pats are the team to beat in the NFL.

The Lions defense is arguably the best in the NFL. The defensive line puts great pressure on the quarterback. That's precisely why the recent signing of LeGarrette Blount was so big for the Pats.

The Pats proved they could play smash-mouth football in Week 11 when Gray ran for 201 yards. New England is going to have to lean on its running game early to take some heat off of Tom Brady. Having depth at the running back position could be key.

While the Pats running game is gaining momentum, the Lions should also be concerned with the Brady-Rob Gronkowski duo. New England's plethora of weapons will be too much for Detroit on the road.

Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks

When the Arizona Cardinals came into Seattle and won in Week 16 of the 2013 season, it was a shock. The Seahawks were on their way to a Super Bowl title, and they looked almost unbeatable at CenturyLink Field.

This year, things have changed.

Seattle is ranked 30th in the NFL in passing yards and 20th in the league in red-zone efficiency. Those offensive struggles are putting a ton of pressure on a defense that isn't as good in the front seven. 

The team is ranked 29th in the NFL in sacks per game with 1.3; that's half the total it averaged in 2013.

Under Bruce Arians, the Cardinals have been masters at pinpointing weak areas of their opponents. Expect Arizona to dare Seattle to throw it deep and to force the team to execute long drives to score. On offense, quick hitters that force Seattle's linebackers to cover in space are a smart way to stay away from the Seahawks' still-formidable secondary.

I'm betting Seattle's offense stalls, and the Cards win a huge divisional matchup on the road.

Miami Dolphins at Denver Broncos

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The Broncos were humbled in Week 11 by a physical and motivated St. Louis Rams team. Penalties, injuries and two uncharacteristic interceptions by Peyton Manning helped a bend-but-don't-break Rams defense.

Manning still threw for 389 yards, but the Broncos couldn't finish drives.

The chances of that happening again are unlikely. The likelihood of it happening two weeks in a row is even less realistic, and an occurrence at home seems almost unimaginable.

Denver has scored less than 30 points in just one home game this season. After nearly laying an egg against the Rams, the Broncos offense should be functioning like a well-oiled machine.

Miami has won four of five behind a defense that ranks in the top 10 against the run and the pass, but none of those victories came over an offense as potent as Denver's.

The Broncos could get wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders back for the game. He suffered a concussion in the loss to the Rams, but per Troy Renck of The Denver Post, Sanders says he's better, and he returned to practice on Friday.

Sanders said, "I went through the protocol and passed all the tests. It's up to the Broncos and the medical staff to see if they want to go forward with it or not."

If he returns, the Broncos won't have to worry about readying little-used receiver Cody Latimer for duty. With or without Sanders, the Broncos make the adjustments and win at home.