NFL Week 12 Picks: Teams Primed for Blowout Wins

Thanksgiving provided some hard-fought games to open Week 12, but there are going to be plenty that aren’t so competitive on Sunday. These three teams are set up to cruise to easy wins:

Pittsburgh Steelers (at Kansas City)

The roller-coaster Chiefs look likely to spend the remainder of the season on a downhill slide after losing QB Matt Cassel for the year with a hand injury. With free agent pickup Kyle Orton not ready to take over yet, unimpressive youngster Tyler Palko gets the nod against one of football’s most intimidating defenses.

Kansas City’s own erratic D might pose a threat to Ben Roethlisberger’s offense, but it’s more likely to fold as it did in allowing 31 points to lowly Miami on this field. Regardless, the Steelers’ defense will lock down K.C.’s offense so easily that Roethlisberger can hardly help outscoring them.

New England Patriots (at Philadelphia)

Even with Michael Vick under center, the mercurial Eagles would be unlikely to keep pace with Tom Brady’s stellar offense. As Vick is looking likely to spend another week on the sidelines, the task goes from hard to insurmountable for Vince Young’s offense.

Brady will probably throw a pick or two against the risk-taking Eagle secondary, but he’ll put up far more points than he surrenders. Even if LeSean McCoy has a big game against the tough New England run defense—which probably won’t happen—Philly just can’t put enough points on the board to hang with the Pats.

New Orleans Saints (vs. NY Giants)

After getting smothered by a pair of talented defenses in losses to San Francisco and Philadelphia, the Giants get an opportunity to lose in a completely different way in Week 12. As good as New York’s pass rush is, the Saints have too many offensive weapons for the Giants to contain at the Superdome.

Eli Manning may well rebound from two subpar games, but he doesn’t have enough talent around him to match Drew Brees’ arsenal. With the struggling New York ground game unable to keep the ball out of Brees’ hands, look for the Saints to rack up a huge point total and an easy victory.