WhatIfSports' NFL Week 12 Predictions

Week 12 NFL Predictions

Boxscores and stats from every upcoming game

By Paul Bessire, WhatIfSports.com

Nov. 18, 2008

Each Tuesday morning, we will preview every NFL game of the upcoming week. All of our NFL content, including our most recent power rankings and weekly fantasy projections, is located here. If you want to take WhatIfSports weekly college football and/or NFL picks with you (to your MySpace, Facebook or personal homepage), please see the widget below on the right or at this page.

The inputs to the 10,001 simulations of each upcoming game are based on a rigorous analysis of each team that considers strength-of-schedule-adjusted team and player ratings and then makes modifications for injuries and depth at each position.

Game of the Week: No. 5 Jets 16 @ No. 2 Titans 23

Looking to remain undefeated, the Tennessee Titans should get a strong challenge from a well-balanced New York Jets squad. In fact, had we projected this game a couple of weeks ago, the Jets may have been favored.

New York has one of the best rushing defenses in the NFL, allowing just 3.4 yards per carry, but the Jets are exploitable through the air. Until Kerry Collins proved he could still win games through the air over the last two weeks that would have meant good news for a Jets team that hopes neutralize Chris Johnson and LenDale White.

In those last two games, Collins has thrown five touchdowns to one interception and completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 8.1 yards-per-pass. It may not end up being the 400 yards that Matt Cassel had last week in a loss, but Collins can and will likely exploit the Jets en route to another victory.

The Titans are playing at home and just a little bit better than the Jets in most relevant facets of the game. Tennessee triumphs 64.7 percent of the time and by an average score of 23-16. And for those wondering, we are giving the Titans a 28.6 percent chance of finishing the regular season undefeated.

Overall, our projections are very interesting this week. Despite several marquee games like NYG @ Arizona, Indianapolis @ San Diego, Carolina @ Atlanta, Philadelphia @ Baltimore, Green Bay @ New Orleans, New England @ Miami and this game featuring two top five teams, we are also predicting our highest winning percentage—92.7 percent for Tampa Bay @ Detroit—and our lowest team output—nine points by the Cincinnati Bengals @ Pittsburgh—of the season.

The disparity between those seven spotlight games and the other nine is enormous. Enjoy the NFL weekend - or at least about half of it.

Click on the Boxscores below to see detailed team and player stat projections for every game.

Week 12 Scores for every NFL game

Matchup	Home Win%	Avg Score
San Francisco @ Dallas	82.1	15-29	Boxscore
Cincinnati @ Pittsburgh	78.6	9-20	Boxscore
Oakland @ Denver	76.6	19-30	Boxscore
New York Jets @ Tennessee	64.7	16-23	Boxscore
New England @ Miami	63.8	19-25	Boxscore
Philadelphia @ Baltimore	56.4	14-17	Boxscore
Houston @ Cleveland	54.7	23-27	Boxscore
Indianapolis @ San Diego	51.8	22-25	Boxscore
New York Giants @ Arizona	42.2	25-24	Boxscore
Green Bay @ New Orleans	34.3	26-22	Boxscore
Buffalo @ Kansas City	31	24-20	Boxscore
Carolina @ Atlanta	29.5	26-21	Boxscore
Minnesota @ Jacksonville	24.7	24-17	Boxscore
Washington @ Seattle	17	27-17	Boxscore
Chicago @ St. Louis	10.3	30-15	Boxscore
Tampa Bay @ Detroit	7.7	33-16	Boxscore

Paul Bessire is the Senior Quantitative Analyst and Content Manager for WhatIfSports.com and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America. With any comments, questions or topic suggestions, Paul can be reached at [e-mail]. Thanks!