NFL 2017 Week 12 picks

It's Thanksgiving weekend, and we get plenty of divisional rivalry games.

Thanksgiving Day
It's rare for both Detroit and Dallas lose on the same Thanksgiving, but it's possible this year.  The Lions offense is confusingly inconsistent, and Dallas' offense seems listless without Zeke Elliott.

Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions:  The Vikings have the stiffest defense in a division known for its defense (it's the "black and blue" division, after all!).  That makes things hard for the Lions, whose offense hasn't been clicking against lesser defenses.  VIKINGS

Los Angeles Chargers at Dallas Cowboys:  The Cowboys offense has dried up without Zeke Elliott supporting Zak Prescott.  The Chargers are gaining momentum, and that will propel through the normally thorny Dallas home crowd.  CHARGERS

New York Giants at Washington Redskins:  The Giants won their second game last week, but winning two in a row will be a tough challenge.  Washington sees a chance to get into the playoff race with the Dallas collapse, so expect Kirk Cousins and the Redskins to take advantage of a weakened Giants secondary.  REDSKINS

Sunday early games
Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs:  The Chiefs have had a rough stretch of it recently, but they get a chance to reverse their fortunes against the Bills.  Buffalo's defense is struggling, so Alex Smith and company will stretch them to their limits.  CHIEFS

Carolina Panthers at New York Jets:  Carolina travels up to chilly New York, but their offense will quickly warm things up.  The Jets defense isn't fast enough to catch Cam Newton when he decides to take off, and the Panthers defense is strong enough to bring the Jets to a standstill.  PANTHERS

Chicago Bears at Philadelphia Eagles:  Well, this should be an easy day for the Eagles.  EAGLES

Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals:  Andy Dalton and the Bengals have been struggling this season, but struggles are the standard operating state for the Browns.  Cincy gets a strong win to help boost their confidence.  BENGALS

Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots:  The Patriots are flying, despite some injury problems.  Miami has injury problems of their own, and those are slowing them down.  The Patriots will plow through them.  PATRIOTS

Tampa Bay Bucs at Atlanta Falcons:  Atlanta has the better offense, the better defense, and better special teams.  This one isn't hard to pick.  FALCONS

Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts:  With the Colts porous defense, Marcus Mariota and company should have a field day.  TITANS

Sunday late games
Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders:  Denver's offense is anemic this season.  The return of Brock Osweiler has revived it a bit, but they would seem to be easy fodder for the Raiders defense.  However, the Broncos seem to play better against divisional opponents than other teams, so this may be a very close game.  RAIDERS

Jacksonville Jaguars at Arizona Cardinals:  Speaking of struggling offenses, we have the Cardinals.  In the opposite corner, we have one of the toughest defenses in the league.  This one will be pretty easy.  JAGUARS

New Orleans Saints at Los Angeles Rams:  This is another game that could go either way.  These two have nearly the best offenses in the league right now (behind Philly), and the Rams defense is as stiff as normal. The Saints defense has been good this year, too, although it was hard to notice that against Washington last week.  If that was the start of a collapse, the Rams will roll.  If it was a fluke, this game will be close.  RAMS

Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers:  Seattle has not been a great game this year, but beating the pathetic 49ers shouldn't be much of a challenge.  SEAHAWKS

Sunday night
Green Bay Packers at Pittsburgh Steelers:  With Aaron Rodgers out, the Packers offense is practically non-existent.  Pittsburgh won't even need their vaulted defense to win this one.  STEELERS

Monday Night Football
Houston Texans at Baltimore Ravens:  Houston has the offensive advantage, Baltimore has the defensive advantage.  Often this season I have been favoring the offensive side of things, but the Ravens defense is too good to discount.  RAVENS