On paper, Week 12 of the NFL football season is one of the best of the season.
There are seven matchups involving teams with records of .500 or better, and those games will go a long way in clearing up the pecking order in the playoff races in both the AFC and NFC.
Two AFC North matchups come into focus. It’s the only division where every team has a winning record.
Pittsburgh travels to Cincinnati, and Cleveland travels to Baltimore. Will the Bengals sweep the Steelers and take the next step toward a playoff berth with second-year quarterback Joe Burrow? Will Lamar Jackson be back and help the Ravens try to gain more distance from the rest of the division?
There are other great matchups on the schedule, too. Tom Brady leads Tampa Bay into an all-too familiar big game at Indianapolis. The red-hot Patriots host the Titans. The Rams travel to face the Packers in a battle of NFC contenders, too.
Thursday Thanks Giving Football is ready and we have two games during the day, and another Thursday Night matchup in which Saints host the Bills. But first things first. Lets preview the games by its schedule.
Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions
This is a battle of the two worst teams in the NFC with Lions holding the last place with a score of 9 lost games and only one draw . On the other side, Bears has 3 wins and 7 lost games. One of the Bears wins was against the Lions, back in early October, when they beat the Lions with 24:14 at home.
Who will the quarterbacks be? Jared Goff could return for Detroit, but if not then Tim Boyle will get a second straight start. Bears coach Matt Nagy said Andy Dalton will get the start for the Bears with Justin Fields likely inactive with a rib injury.
Teams like to run and run and run some more on the Lions – no one has had more rushing attempts against them – and Chicago will be happy to keep that going.
It came up with a season-high on the ground the first time around, and it’ll overcome a shaky first half from the D by settling down to finally halt an ugly losing streak.
Firstly Jared Goff is returning to the lineup after missing Week 11 with an oblique injury and will be the better of the two quarterbacks between him and Andy Dalton, who is starting for the injured Justin Fields.
Secondly, underdogs have been the better bet in 2021, going 92-73 against the line.
Finally, if the rumours are to be believed, Chicago will be firing Matt Nagy after this game regardless of the result so the Bears may be wanting their soon to be former coach out the door.
Prediction: Lions +3
Las Vegas Raiders at Dallas Cowboys
Both the Cowboys and Raiders will be coming into Thanksgiving following a loss in Week 11. The Raiders where shelled by the Bengals at home 32-13, while Dallas managed only three field goals in a loss to the Chiefs at Arrowhead. The Cowboys could be shorthanded at the skill positions with Amari Cooper already ruled out due to COVID and fellow receiver CeeDee Lamb currently in concussion protocol. That would leave Michael Gallup as the club’s top wideout. With all that in mind, Dallas has been steady at AT&T Stadium, owning a 6-1 ATS record over their last seven home games. Meanwhile, the Raiders are 2-5 ATS in their last seven road contests. Coming out of Sunday’s action, this line did tick up over the touchdown threshold to Cowboys -7.5.
History repeats for the Raiders again obviously as the last season. They started good, but now after 5-2 they lost 3 games in a row. Cowboys also played good during this time of the season but they lost two games in their last 3 encounters.
he Raiders have lost their last three games to fall to 5-5 and out of the AFC playoff picture, having been outscored by their opponents 96-43 in that span.
Dallas has ruined many Thanksgivings with poor performances, especially over the last few years including being on the receiving end of a 41-16 drubbing from Washington last year and a 28-6 belting from the LA Chargers in 2017.
The potential of a flat performance from the Cowboys does linger over the markets for this game, especially considering the availability concerns hanging over their top two receivers, you just cannot have any faith in the Raiders.
Prediction: Raiders +7.5
Buffalo Bills at New Orleans Saints
The Saints are on a three-game losing streak, and Trevor Siemian is completing 57.3% of his passes in that losing streak. The Bills have averaged three turnovers lost per game the last three weeks, and if they don’t clean that up this could be a close one, too. We’re going to trust Josh Allen to right the ship in a tough game on the road. Buffalo is 2-3 ATS when favored by single digits, so this could be real close.
The Bills and Saints will put a bow on the Thanksgiving triple-header when they square off in New Orleans. Each of these teams are coming off blowout losses where they surrendered 40-plus points, so they’ll be looking to rebound on the holiday. Historically, both clubs have responded well to losses. The Saints are 4-1 ATS following a straight-up loss, while the Bills are 3-0-1 ATS. Buffalo is getting the edge coming into this matchup with the 4.5-point spread holding even throughout Sunday’s loss to Indianapolis. Over the last 10 road games, the Bills are 7-3 ATS.
At full health this would be a proper blockbuster however injuries for the Saints make this a much more one sided contest on paper.
Buffalo might be struggling for consistency, alternating wins and losses over their last six games but they need this game in the worst possible way.
Half a game behind New England in the AFC East and coming off an embarrassing loss at home to Indianapolis, the Bills should come out firing.
Five of the last seven offensive touchdowns given up by New Orleans have been from quarterbacks rushing into the end zone and Josh Allen can move with the best of them.
Prediction: Bills -4.5