NFL Picks Week 12: Favorites That Will Dominate Their Way to Big Victories

Three teams are ready to stomp on their opponent with a convincing victory. They will go above and beyond the spread and leave little doubt that they were the superior team.

49ers at Ravens

Spread: Ravens -3.5

The Ravens will prove they have the dominant defense in this smash-mouth low-scoring affair. The Harbowl is going to be big on hits and low in points.

The Ravens will be victorious because their offense is better equipped to handle the opposition's defense.

The Ravens are 12th in the NFL in passing yards this season. This is certainly not an elite passing offense, but it is enough in this one. San Francisco is 23rd in passing yards allowed.

Baltimore will not carve up the 49ers, but they will be able to do enough to win the field position battle. They will be able to pick up some easy yards with safe passes to Ray Rice.

Football Outsiders ranks the 49ers just 21st in guarding RBs in the passing game. And that is all it will take to find victory in this one because San Francisco's offense is going nowhere.

The 49ers need to run the ball to be successful. They are fifth in the NFL in rushing attempts per game.

This is no way to beat Baltimore. The Ravens are No. 1 in yards allowed per rush. This will force the 49ers into passing downs.

And once they are there, the Ravens will be able to focus on rushing the passer.

Baltimore is sixth in the NFL in sack percentage, and San Francisco ranks just 21st in sacks allowed percentage.

All of this leads to an easy, low scoring victory.

Prediction: Ravens 17, 49ers 6

Vikings at Falcons

Spread: Falcons -9.5

The Falcons will have this spread covered at halftime and not look back.

The Vikings will need Christian Ponder to lead this offense to success, and that is not something he is prepared to do.

Minnesota will be without Adrian Peterson, and will be facing a Falcons defense that is hard to run on. 

They are second in rushing yards allowed per game and seventh in yards allowed per rush.

This means lots of passing downs for the Vikings and lots of mistakes for Ponder. The rookie is coming off of a three-interception game, and now he has to play in the tough environment of the Georgia Dome against an improving pass defense.

Atlanta is a very meager 20th in the league in yards allowed per pass attempt. However, they are shoring up that weakness.

Their season average is 7.0 yards allowed per pass attempt, but In the last three games they are allowing just 5.7 yards per pass.

On offense, the Falcons bring balance and explosiveness. They are 10th in passing yards per game and 11th in rushing yards per game.

What is really making this offense dangerous is the fact that the passing game is starting to stretch the field.

On the season, Atlanta is averaging 6.9 yards per pass, but in their last three they are averaging 8.6 yards per pass.

Minnesota does not have the weapons to limit the Falcons' passing offense. They are 24th in the league in yards allowed per pass attempt.

The Falcons will win huge.

Prediction: Falcons 31, Vikings 13

Bears at Raiders

Spread: Raiders -4

Without Jay Cutler, the Bears are going to have a hard time scoring.

The Bears will undoubtedly lean on Matt Forte to take the pressure off of untested QB Caleb Hanie. Upon first glance this would appear to be the makings of success against the Raiders.

Forte has rushed for 926 yards this season at 5.0 yards per carry, and he will be going against a Raiders' rush defense that is 31st in yards allowed per carry.

However, the Raiders will be able to stack the box and key on the run. This is a situation where they have found success. Last week against rookie QB Christian Ponder the Raiders held the Vikings' RBs to just 3.4 yards per carry.

They had a similar situation in Week 5 when they took on an Andre Johnson-less Texans team. In that contest they held the Texans to just 2.8 yards per carry. The Raiders won both of those games.

They will have similar results against Forte.

The Bears will not have the same luxury of loading up to stop the run, and this will be the difference. Carson Palmer now has a good feel for this offense, and he has been making plays in the passing game the past two weeks.

This will open things up for the run game. And the Bears run defense really isn't the good.

While Chicago is 10th in rushing yards allowed per game, they are 29th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per carry. Oakland is sixth in yards per carry at 4.8.

This means lots of ball control for the Raiders and an easy win.

Prediction: Raiders 27, Bears 13

*Point spreads via Football Locks