Sanders's Week 12 NFL Predictions

By Jacob Sanders

Sanders went 10-4 last week putting him to 88-58 on the season

I already picked my Thanksgiving games on my social media. I picked the Vikings, Chargers, and Redskins. All 3 picks were correct.

On to the rest of the week!

Atlanta Falcons VS Tamp Bay Buccaneers

It almost feels like the Falcons are starting to feel it again just in time for the stretch run of a wildcard and possibly the division if the Saints fail down the stretch. With that in mind, they are playing against a Fitzpatrick led offense. While that hasn’t been the worst thing for the Bucs, it’s not anything that can instill confidence into beating the Falcons. If the Falcons defense can just do their job and make life difficult for Fitzpatrick, would could see another disastrous performance by the journey-man quarterback.

Falcons 24 Bucs 13

Cleveland Browns VS Cincinnati Bengals

You know. At 0-10, it’s hard to have much confidence in picking yourself to win. In fact, this team was so close to being 0-16 last year. This year, they feel worse. Not sure how that happened after all of the optimism about them in the offseason. Hey, life comes at you fast. The Bengals on the other hand, are good enough to not give Cleveland their first win…yay?

Browns 14 Bengals 27

Tennessee Titans VS Indianapolis Colts

So. Uh. The Titans are gonna win it here. I have more or less been surprised by how competitive the Colts have been at times. The problem is that they can’t remain competitive for four quarters. A lot of this has to do with lack of talent but also a lack of an offensive line to keep the offense going. And it’s not something that’s going to be fixed this season unfortunately.

Titans 23 Colts 17

Buffalo Bills VS Kansas City Chiefs

Well. This one is hard. Both teams have been faltering for the last few games now. So. I’m going to take the cop out and take the home team. While neither team has showed anything lately to make you think they deserve to win, the Chiefs have the higher ceiling and potential to perform than the Bills do and that’s where this pick comes from. Then again, all Taylor has to do is make plays down the field and punish a secondary that hasn’t been performing well. If you want my honest opinion, we should just do a coin flip and call it a day.

Bills 20 Chiefs 24

Miami Dolphins VS New England Patriots

Patriots win. That’s it. The Dolphins have arguably looked like one of the worst teams in the league in the last 5 or so games. That’s not going to change against the best team in their division and possibly the best in the conference. The Patriots are just on another level and the Dolphins defense won’t be able to hand the diversity that Tom Brady and Co. can throw at them.

Dolphins 10  Patriots 30

Carolina Panthers VS New York Jets

It would be just like the 2017 Panthers to fall flat on this one. Well, I’m thinking they won’t. But you never know. The Panthers defense has become a bit stingy and the Cam Newton has been playing relatively well again. If they falter here against the Jets, it’ll leave a lot of heads scratching and a lot of the NFL wondering when the real Carolina Panthers will stand up.

Panthers 21 Jets 16

Chicago Bears VS Philadelphia Eagles

It’s possible I have been over-rating the Bears abilities to upset teams in this column. I always think they have the ability to win games but then they come out and show they really don’t have it. Well, against the best team in the NFL right now? Not at all. The Eagles will rack up another win here. Carson Wentz is playing some next level football and his defense is keeping off opponents from being able to respond. Super Bowl winning formula right there if they can keep it up.

Bears 9 Eagles 24

Seattle Seahawks VS San Francisco 49ers

So. The Seahawks aren’t really my favorite team with their secondary decimated by injuries. Then again, neither are the 49ers with, well, everything being a mess. So. While I wouldn’t be completely surprised if the Seahawks lost, I can’t pick against them. The 49ers signed Shanahan to a six year contract for a reason. They know it’s gonna take a while to get this team back into relevancy.

Seahawks 17 49ers 7

New Orleans Saints VS Los Angeles Rams

This one is a lot tougher to pick than you think. Both teams have the same winning formula. Ground and Pound the enemy defense to wear them down and play stingy defense to keep your offense back on the field. However, one has an elite quarterback who has proven to come back in games many times and one does not simply because he has not been in the league that long. With that in mind, I’m not ready to believe Goff will outduel Brees. It’s quite possible. But…we’re not there yet. At least I don’t think we are.

Saints 24 Rams 23

Jacksonville Jaguars VS Arizona Cardinals

Well. I think this is where the Cardinals get eliminated and the Jaguars say “Hey everybody. We are 8-3 now. Pay attention or you’ll regret it.” The Jaguars, for how good they’ve been, haven’t been receiving the attention they deserve in the media. If the Patriots or Steelers were 8-3 after this week, they would be talked about as Super Bowl contenders. Why not Jacksonville? I get it. They don’t have a Super Bowl quarterback. But when they have a championship-caliber defense and a punishing run game, that doesn’t really matter. As for the Cardinals, they just need to avoid injuries this season so they can come back and reload for next season.

Jaguars 24 Cardinals 13

UPSET OF THE WEEK!!!!

Denver Broncos VS Oakland Raiders

Okay. This was a hard one. But after much consideration, there isn’t much reason to believe Denver is going to win. That’s why they are my upset pick of the week. The Raiders have the better offense to win the game but Denver has the defense to hold them down. Even with the Broncos offense not being fantastic, they can still create something especially against a Raiders defense that hasn’t been very good at all. Especially the secondary.

Broncos 16 Raiders 13

Green Bay Packers VS Pittsburgh Steelers

After the awful showing by Green Bay against a top 5 defense, they have to play another top 5 defense in the Pittsburgh Steelers. The difference this time? The Steelers actually have an offense to punish mistakes. Welp. Guess we know who wins here.

Packers 16 Steelers 31

Houston Texans VS Baltimore Ravens

Fun little fact. This is the first Monday Night game in Baltimore in years. Unfortunately, this game probably won’t be worth primetime television. Neither offense is necessarily inspiring. However, one team has a defense that can just win the game for them. And that’s Baltimore. Each game Baltimore has won has been because their defense came out and never let the opposing offense do anything. With the Texans offense being led by Tom Savage, the same thing should happen again.

Texans 10 Ravens 16