Article:NFL Picks Week 13 (Thanksgiving Special)

None of Thursday’s games would make our best bets or money line pick, but here’s some bonus analysis on who we think will win and why.

 Tennessee Titans (-11) vs. Detroit Lions. The Lions road to imperfection is alive and well. And on Turkey Day, the streak will continue. I had thought that if the Titans had come in 11-0, they might be ripe for a letdown, but that happened last week. Look for Tennessee to come out tough on national TV and for its defense to play a statement game and put the clamps on Culpepper and the Lions offense. We like the final score to be 27-10 or 30-10.

 Seattle Seahawks (+12.5) vs. the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are beginning to play football at the high level we all thought they would when the 2008 season began, but giving away nearly two touchdowns is always a difficult proposition. Unless Holmgren’s crew has mailed in 2008, expect a solid effort on Thursday and for Hasselback and Co. to keep the game close well into the 4th quarter.

Philadelphia Eagles (-3) vs. Arizona Cardinals. This is probably a game you might want to stay away from, but if you plan on playing, go with the Eagles. They’re the more desperate team and Arizona has yet to prove it can beat a winning team on the road. And if there’s ever a defense to help McNabb break out of his funk, it’s the Arizona Cardinals. And on the other side of the ball, with no running game to contend with, the Eagles DC Jim Johnson can bring his blitz package at Warner and confuse him into a few costly mistakes.

We’ll have our normal set of picks on Friday and in the meantime, happy Thanksgiving.

www.profootball101.org