NFL Picks Week 12: Lions Have No Shot in Taking Down Perfect Packers

The Detroit Lions' offense came alive last week and looked like a scoring machine once again. The Green Bay Packers can score too, and they can do it better. 

If you are asking me to pick a gunslinger in this duel, I would take Aaron Rodgers every single time and twice this Thursday. 

We are going to see the best kind of football game on Thanksgiving, one with only the scantest sign of defense. This is going to be a clash of aerial attacks, and it will be awesome. 

Let's consider the negatives before we get to the top-shelf positives these two teams possess. I love the Packers to stop the Lions run. They are strong up the middle and that is where the praise ends. 

Matt Stafford will no doubt have another field day on a team that couldn't stop a runny nose on the wings. This is just a soft secondary, but hardly the disaster that they have been claimed to have. 

It is hard to keep teams at bay when your quarterback continues to put up numbers that teams are trying to match. 

For the Lions defense, they have the pass rush and secondary that playoff contenders should. They strike fear in most quarterbacks and would be my pick seven times out of 10 in a game. 

Now, I said most because Rodgers is great at dealing with a strong pass rush. In fact, I would say he is the best at making split-second decisions since Peyton Manning's departure. 

That leaves this game really coming down to two quarterbacks that will amaze with their pinpoint accuracy. This is going to be a close one, but I have seen enough of the defending champs' season to side with them taking the game late. 

I simply can't bet against Aaron Rodgers no matter what defense is facing him. He is playing that well. When the game is all about which quarterback will deliver, you take Rodgers. He is the safest bet in sports right now.