NFL 2011 Season Week 12 Picks

I'm reserving my right to change my pick for the Bears-Raiders game pending future news regarding Jay Cutler.

You think the Bears will be that bad without Cutler?
I thought Haine played well in the NFC Championship game despite the 2 ints

TEEEWWWWWBBBOOOWWWWW

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7265987/new-york-giants-even-nfc-last-team-espn-insider-nfl-playoffs-predictor

Green Bay's odds are at 100% (15-1), Chicago is 83.2% (although I'm guessing without the injury factor, but at 11-5 with the last 2 teams out being 9-7), Detroit is 75.09% (up 10%), and Minnesota is at 0.0%.

Rodgers, McCarthy and the Packers are geniuses. In 2007, the Patriots went undefeated in the regular season, but it seemed that everyone hated them. They had a coach that never looked like he was having fun, a QB that you envied and hated, they were caught spying on other teams, they were accused of running up the score. The 2011 Packers on the other hand? They are enjoying all the benefits of an undefeated season without the stigma of "we hate you" from the rest of the league. Yes, everyone wants to beat them, and they all wish they were in that spot. But the Packers are nice enough to make the games close, generally. They'll spot a team a few early touchdowns and then come back heroically to maintain the streak. They'll also get out to a big lead and then let the opposing team back into it by relaxing their defense a little bit. All in an effort to make fans want to watch without giving off the "we're a bunch of jerks" vibe. Pure genius.

Word Origin
Tidbit: from the English dialect word "tid," meaning "tender, soft, delicate," plus "bit," meaning "small piece".

Detroit Free Press writer Dave Birkett answers some questions about tomorrow's game. Namely, he predicts the Packers will win 31-24. In Bob Mcginn's weekly scouting report, he quotes an unnamed assistant coach of a recent Lions opponent, saying, "Green Bay...Because they're the better team. It's not even close...I'll bet you I end up being close with the score. 38-21, Green Bay." McGinn often quotes annonymous sources in this way, probably just to remove any bias regarding who the team was. But needless to say, for however worried I might be about this game, at least a few "experts" appear to think that the Packers should win, and possibly big.

edit: Just realized, also, that the "scouting report" link is for JSOnline insider subscribers, so you'll probably just have to take my word for it. I hope copying and pasting excerpts to non-paid readers isn't against the rules.

Sarah, I liked Jim Harbaugh too. But now, like Pete Carroll, I wonder what his deal is.

Enjoy the football, enjoy the food, enjoy the company of your friends and family! Happy Thanksgiving! Why don't we have a turkey emoticon?

Sarah hated Payton Manning for a year, then stopped.

I got a feeling the league is going to be throwing the book at Suh before next week. His reputation for being a dirty player certainly was bolstered by his own actions, and then rather ridiculous explanation following.

TEBOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Consider this the Chad Clifton/Warren Sapp incident for the Vikings. I can imagine Warren Sapp tweeting to Chris Kluwe (a punter) "put some real pads on. put a real jersey on. play a real position." Anyways, I generally agree with Kluwe's sentiment, as I did with Mike Sherman's anger towards Sapps hit against Clifton.

I forgot that Clifton was in a hospital bed for over a month. Sapp is a jackass. http://www.nfl.com/probowl/story/09000d5d80694626/article/cliftons-comeback-comes-full-circle-with-pro-bowl-nod

FYI, i was quoting scrubs, having just seen that episode a couple of days before I made my picks. :)

I remember that there was an initial fear that hey may never walk again.

Both examples are pretty chilling. Clifton's was bad because he was maybe 25 yards away from the play. The Loeffler was pretty bad too, espeically if you watch the video closely. I think Chris Kluwe's comments are pretty accurate. Kerry Meier looked as if he just looking for someone to light up simply for the sake of lighting someone up. He veered away from the guy that actually made the tackle, and after one of the slowest guys on the field who was 10+ yards behind the play. That's not football.

think the 'can will ever get rid of that tie stat from a few years ago? X-Y-1? bah. humbug.