NFL 2020, Week 12

We've reached the annual point in the season where people complain about the Lions playing on Thanksgiving every year.  Because it's tradition, that's why!  Frankly, I have no issue with Detroit playing the Thanksgiving early game.  Every team gets at least one nationally-televised game a year.  The 12:30 game on Thanksgiving is theirs.  And, you know what?  People are gonna watch the game anyway, so clearly it doesn't make a difference who's playing!

Although, I will admit that this isn't exactly the strongest Thanksgiving schedule we've ever seen.  Losing Ravens-Steelers certainly didn't help, either.  Because the two afternoon games leave a lot to be desired.  The NFC East is so bad, though, that the Dallas-Washington winner will be in first place, so that game actually does have some relevance.

Texans (3-7) at Lions (4-6): Detroit-Believe it or not, the Lions actually have the best record of the four teams playing on Thanksgiving.  The Texans finally got their first win over a team other than Jacksonville on Sunday, upsetting the Patriots.  Detroit, meanwhile, got shut out in Carolina.  That result really surprised me since I think the Lions are a better team than the Panthers.  I also think the Texans are a better team than the Lions, but I'm taking Detroit anyway.

Washington (3-7) at Cowboys (3-7): Dallas-It's amazing what a difference an actual quarterback makes!  The Cowboys get Andy Dalton back and once again resemble an NFL football team!  And, frankly, you've gotta say they're the favorites in the NFC East again.  They've got the easiest remaining schedule in the division.  I don't think they'll win out, but I do think 8-8 is possible.  At the very least, going from 2-7 to 4-7 in five days is pretty good.

Raiders (6-4) at Falcons (3-7): Las Vegas-The Raiders are that team that nobody's gonna want to play in the postseason.  Just ask Kansas City how annoying an opponent Las Vegas is.  That loss to the Chiefs didn't do anything to clear up the wild card confusion, as the Raiders are now in a three-way tie for the final AFC spot.  Their four losses are all against pretty good teams, though, which means they beat the opponents they should.  Teams like Atlanta.

Chargers (3-7) at Bills (7-3): Buffalo-Pictures have been circulating on social media showing the Bills practicing in their beautiful standing buffalo helmets from the 60s.  So that will be a fun treat this week!  It's also an anniversary of sorts for the Bills.  Their real coming out party was last Thanksgiving, when they went into Dallas and dominated the Cowboys.  They rode that momentum into the playoffs.  One year later, they'll move one step closer to their first division title in 25 years with a home win over the Chargers.

Giants (3-7) at Bengals (2-7-1): Giants-Isn't it interesting that Colin Kaepernick suddenly started whining about "being denied employment" again the same day we found out Joe Burrow is out for the season?  I'm sure that timing is purely a coincidence!  I'm not going to waste anymore time talking about that Publicity Hound (who, by the way, has a pretty hefty endorsement deal with Nike).  Instead, I'll focus on the fact that the Giants have a real chance to both win their third straight game and tie the Dallas-Washington winner for first place.

Titans (7-3) at Colts (7-3): Indianapolis-They met two weeks ago in Nashville and the Colts won to move into the division lead.  Then they followed it up by beating the Packers.  Now Indianapolis can really put themselves in the driver's seat if they complete the season sweep of the Titans, who earned their own big overtime win last week.  Regardless of who wins, they're both in good shape for the playoffs.  A Colts victory will make it very tough on Tennessee to win the division, though.

Panthers (4-7) at Vikings (4-6): Carolina-Minnesota's on a roll after starting 1-5.  The Vikings even have people thinking that if anybody currently on the outside can jump in and steal one of the three wild cards, it's them.  Carolina's a potential sleeper, too.  The Panthers have looked incredibly bad against stronger opponents, but play well against teams of their own caliber.  Minnesota's in that group, which is why I like Carolina in this one.

Cardinals (6-4) at Patriots (4-6): New England-I really don't get what's going on in New England this season.  We all knew this was going to be a different Patriots team, but I don't think anyone was expecting to be this confused.  They pull the upset over the Ravens to remind us not to count them out yet.  Then they go and lose in Houston to basically destroy their playoff chances.  Which Patriots team will show up against Arizona?  I'm not even sure Belichick knows!

Dolphins (6-4) at Jets (0-10): Miami-Jets fans really need to start worrying (more than they already do).  Because 0-16 is starting to look like a real possibility.  With the exception of the finale at New England, every team remaining on their schedule is in the playoff hunt.  Which means they're gonna have to pull off an upset at some point to avoid joining the 2008 Lions and 2017 Browns.  This week may actually be one of their better opportunities for that upset.  Don't count on it, though.

Browns (7-3) at Jaguars (1-9): Cleveland-Don't look now, but the Cleveland Browns are in second place.  This is what everybody thought Cleveland would do last year.  They've got a couple big ones coming up (at Tennessee, vs. Baltimore), which makes this one even more important.  You can't overlook the 1-9 team that's lost nine in a row...and just benched its quarterback.  Besides, a win guarantees the Browns of at least a .500 record.

Ravens (6-4) at Steelers (10-0): Pittsburgh-No team has had worse luck with COVID this season than the Steelers.  First they lost their bye week because their Titans game was rescheduled at the last minute.  Now they lose their Thanksgiving game for the same reason.  It obviously hasn't shown on the field, of course, as Pittsburgh is 10-0.  At first, I thought this might be the one where they finally lose, but now I just don't see it happening.  Not with the Steelers pissed off and not with the Ravens playing short-handed.

Saints (8-2) at Broncos (4-6): New Orleans-Maybe starting Taysom Hill wasn't such a bad call after all!  Of course, New Orleans was playing Atlanta at home, so that may have had something to do with it.  But it certainly gave people confidence that the Saints will be just fine without Drew Brees.  Now they go on the road to the altitude of Denver.  This will be a real test.  Especially since the Broncos are playing well and coming off a win over Miami.  New Orleans should have enough to hold them off, though.

49ers (4-6) at Rams (7-3): Rams-How big was the Rams' win on Monday night?  Right now, they're sitting on the No. 2 seed in the NFC.  If they'd lost, they would've been the 7.  So, yeah, it was important, especially when you consider how competitive the NFC West is.  The Rams will get to see that first hand over the final month of the season.  Four of their last six games are within the division.  Which means their playoff fate is in their own hands.

Chiefs (9-1) at Buccaneers (7-4): Tampa Bay-Tom Brady had a bad game against the Rams.  He rarely has two bad games in a row.  The Chiefs have been playing with fire for the past few weeks.  To me, that adds up to a bad combination for Kansas City.  Call me crazy, but I'm on upset alert in this one.  The Bucs get to 8-4 heading into their ridiculously late bye (why are there post-Thanksgiving byes this season?).

Bears (5-5) at Packers (7-3): Green Bay-You lose one game and you go from No. 1 to No. 3 in the conference!  Fortunately, the Packers' lead in the NFC North appears to be safe.  Also fortunate for Green Bay is the fact that they haven't played Chicago yet.  Remember when the Bears were 5-1 and everyone was saying their record was a mirage?  Turns out they were right!  Their offense is horrible.  It's certainly not good enough to hang with Green Bay's.

Seahawks (7-3) at Eagles (3-6-1): Seattle-On Monday night, one set of birds flies cross-country to play another.  And it's a big game for both of them.  The Seahawks know how big the difference between winning the division and being a wild card will be (although the 5-seed will be a road favorite against the NFC East champion, I'm sure).  The Eagles, meanwhile, have a brutal schedule remaining.  They could very easily steal one of their next four games against opponents currently in the playoff field, but saying they'll get any more than that is a stretch.  Philly's half-game lead in the division will be gone, as Seattle will maintain its position in the NFC West.

Last Week: 6-8
Overall: 102-58-1