Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! In the spirit of everybody stuffing their faces with delicious food today (and for the rest of the weekend), how about I stuff Ashton's face with a 12-2 record last week? Oh wait, he didn't even submit his picks ಠ_ಠ. In that light, hopefully he'll be able to post his Week 12 picks before games start- otherwise, I'm gonna need to teach that boy a lesson in blog (and sports-picking) etiquette haha. Anyway, without further ado, here are the games:

Green Bay @ Detroit: Should be an awesome start to Thanksgiving football, with the Packers looking to remain undefeated with a suspicious defense. If the Lions were a respectable team on offense- the Saints, the Texans, or the 49ers this season- it would be a much more difficult matchup. As it is, the Lions have been falling off the past couple of weeks, and that decline will continue against Green Bay.
GREEN BAY

Miami @ Dallas: Continuing the excellent lineup of Thursday games, the Cowboys are looking to gain some confidence back after almost blowing a lead at Washington while the Dolphins look to continue a mid-season hot streak. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, their win streak of 3 is against the Chiefs, the Redskins, and a home game against the Bills. They'll be facing a respectable team in Dallas; don't expect Jerry Jones to be shown up at home on Thanksgiving Day.
DALLAS

San Francisco @ Baltimore: Yeah, everybody's been hyping this game up as the "Harbaugh Bowl"; brother versus brother on Thanksgiving Night, when the whole family should be coming together around the table. Even without the subtext, however, this is the game of the week- SF is 9-1, destroying the rest of the NFC West, while BAL is 7-3 and 'tied' with Pittsburgh for the lead in the difficult AFC North. In reality, the division difference will be the deciding factor- Baltimore has more and better experience in high-profile games, while this game could very well be the 49ers' toughest game all year. With more practice against top teams, the Ravens will win a nail-biter.
BALTIMORE

Minnesota @ Atlanta: The Vikings are weak, and even worse on the road. Atlanta, with the exception of some bad play-calling, is a very formidable team.
ATLANTA

Cleveland @ Cincinnati: It's the Battle of Ohio! Too bad the Browns are so far in the gutter of the AFC; otherwise, this could be a potentially thrilling game.
CINCINNATI

Carolina @ Indianapolis: Miami & Minnesota both got their wins. Indianapolis is the furthest in the AFC gutter; consider them locks to take the first pick of the 2012 draft.
CAROLINA

Houston @ Jacksonville: The Jaguars annoy me. On paper, they're an awful team; in reality, they don't look that much better. Even so, they managed to beat Baltimore in prime-time football, and have figured out a way to stay in most games. Even with Schaub being out for the year, I like the Texans to continue their winning ways (because they'll still be a better team than Jacksonville).
HOUSTON

Buffalo @ NY Jets: Fred Jackson is out for the year. Buffalo is 1-4 the last 5 games even with Jackson; the Jets are much healthier & Rex Ryan needs a solid division win to regain their footing to try & challenge the Patriots.
NY JETS

Arizona @ St. Louis: The Rams failed me last week, getting blown out at home against the Seahawks. I have no more faith in any St. Louis sport other than baseball, and that's only because I have to respect how well the Cardinals played at the end of this season.
ARIZONA

Tampa Bay @ Tennessee: This is the biggest coin flip of any match-up this week. The Bucs gave the Packers a run for their money last week, but neither team has proven it can win those 50/50 games & Tennessee has a) home-field advantage and b) a better overall record. Considering this game is at 1 pm with so many other good matchups, plan on either watching another game or simply another sport.
TENNESSEE

Chicago @ Oakland: Cutler is out, and Forte has only been averaging 3.1 yards per carry this season. Palmer has been getting better each week (unfortunately, as a Bengals fan I was hoping karma would carry over for while). It's somewhat surprising Oakland is leading the AFC West; solely by leading their division this late, they have to be taken seriously.
OAKLAND

Washington @ Seattle: The Redskins are reeling, especially after blowing a tight game against the rival Cowboys. Seattle is scary at home, and has plenty of ability on the field (just ask Baltimore).
SEATTLE

New England @ Philadelphia: The Eagles got a huge win against the Giants last week, but at the cost of losing Michael Vick. Do you really expect Vince Young to succeed against the Patriots where Mark Sanchez (who has tons more experience) and so many other quarterbacks have failed?
NEW ENGLAND

Denver @ San Diego: I'm hoping, for his sake, that Tim Tebow really is the 'Mile High Messiah'. San Diego hasn't been up to their usual games of playing awfully in the first half of the season & finishing strong in the second; they've just been bad all year long. This is going out on a bit of a limb, given the history between the two teams, but there's a real chance Denver will earn this win fair & square.
DENVER

Pittsburgh @ Kansas City: We all know the Chiefs are pretty bad. We also know the Steelers are pretty good. It's a pity this is the Sunday Night game; I would have much preferred to see the Patriots & the Eagles.
PITTSBURGH

NY Giants @ New Orleans: Drew Brees, is, once again, for real. The Giants are a respectable team, in a decent division, but how many teams have walked into the Superdome and beaten the Saints on their home field? (Answer: 7/28 teams since the start of the 2008 season, 0 so far this year). I'll take the 75% odds.
NEW ORLEANS