Week 12 NFL Projections (After Thanksgiving Games)

Last week: 9-4
Season: 101-39

Oakland Raiders 20, Chicago Bears 17

Caleb Hanie might surprise some people here, as he actually did look competent in the NFC Championship Game when Jay Cutler was hurt. But he will probably be overwhelmed by the amount of times he'll be knocked down as any new quarterback would. Expect him to have a hard time getting into a groove with his receivers, and Carson Palmer, Michael Bush and the Raiders to put just enough points on the board.

New Orleans Saints 31, New York Giants 24

Drew Brees and crew should be able to take care of a Giants defense surprisingly ranked in the bottom half of the league this year. New York has higher stakes on this game as they are battling Dallas for the division crown, but the extra fight should not be able to stop New Orleans.

New York Jets 20, Buffalo Bills 13

Both teams are in the midst of ugly stretches, and a loss for either effectively eliminates their playoff chances. Only the Eagles have failed expectations worse than the Jets. The Bills started off the season a feel-good story, but with Fred Jackson's injury and current incompetency of the offense, have all but fallen out of the playoff radar. Both teams need this win more than ever, and it should be the Jets who stay over .500.

New England Patriots 24, Philadelphia Eagles 23
Atlanta Falcons 24, Minnesota Vikings 10
Cincinnati Bengals 10, Cleveland Browns 6
Tennessee Titans 20, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14
Carolina Panthers 27, Indianapolis Colts 12
St. Louis Rams 21, Arizona Cardinals 20
Houston Texans 28, Jacksonville Jaguars 10
Seattle Seahawks 17, Washington Redskins 14
Pittsburgh Steelers 27, Kansas City Chiefs 16
Denver Broncos 17, San Diego Chargers 13

Give Jay Cutler Credit

NFL fans take shots at Jay Cutler's toughness all the time.

Last year's NFC Championship was what drew the most attention, when he came out of the game with apparent injury. TV cameras repeatedly showed Cutler on the sideline in a winter coat and hat with his hands in his pockets, motionless, expressionless. People doubted whether he had any injury at all, much less one he should be playing through.

Former NFL great and current NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders said he had "better see" Dr. James Andrews operate on Cutler in person for him to be satisfied with the QB leaving the game.

He took a lot of heat for coming out of that game, in which you know the Bears went on to fall to the Packers. But it turned out he had torn his MCL, an injury impossible to play through, but saw no reason to tell the media about it.

Cutler's indifferent personality has been his undoing concerning the general public's opinion of him. Yes, he did whine his way out of Denver, that is true. But had he cared enough about his reputation to just tell a sideline reporter details of the injury rather than leaving it unknown, the backlash could have been far less.

This same sort of situation came up this past Sunday after he broke his thumb in a win over San Diego.

Cutler played through the entire game hardly indicating his injury, much less letting anyone know about it. The 7-3 Bears won 31-20 and all seemed fine. But after the game reports surfaced that his thumb was broken and could be out for an extended period of time.

Immediately, the jeers came from the fans. It was too minor of an injury, Cutler is a baby, he's letting his team down, he should play through this, etc.

The play Cutler seemed to have gotten hurt on was this: he threw an interception that wasn't his fault, then ran hard to attempt to bring down the defender who had picked off the pass, a play you will almost never see from any other quarterback.

And for those of you wondering, you can't grip a football, much less throw it, with a broken thumb.

Let's put Cutler's season into perspective. All year he has been playing with probably the worst offensive line in the league. He's been getting hit after practically every throw and completely beaten up. After each ballgame he looks like he's been through a war zone. Yet he hasn't once complained about his offensive line, continues to get up. And on top of that, he's put up solid stats and led his team to a 7-3 record.

Hate Jay Cutler all you want, but if you are going to doubt his toughness, think again.

Week 10 NFL Projections

Last week: 8-6
Season: 80-33

New Orleans Saints 27, Atlanta Falcons 20

Atlanta has been vulnerable to the pass thus far, and the quarterback of the Saints is named Drew Brees. The Falcons are one of the better teams at stifling the run, but New Orleans doesn't run much anyway. At just 1-3 against winning teams so far, the Falcons haven't proven that they can beat elite teams in the league yet, so the Saints present a matchup that Ryan and crew will have a difficult time overcoming.

Pittsburgh Steelers 20, Cincinnati Bengals 13

The Bengals' 6-2 record looks pretty on paper, but it is really just a product of a relatively easy schedule. I'm not trying to take away from what they've done this year, but they only have one quality win, a 23-20 contest against the Bills. Other wins include Cleveland, Jacksonville, Indy, and Seattle. The Steelers should have a rude awakening in store for Cincy.

Dallas Cowboys 28, Buffalo Bills 24

Dallas needs this win to stay in the playoff hunt, and they draw a tough matchup against the 5-3 Bills. That being said, Buffalo's defense has kept them from being among the NFL's elite teams this year. DeMarco Murray should be able to run right through them, and Dez Bryant could break out against this spotty secondary. While Buffalo is capable of scoring with anyone, Dallas should have the better day.

Detroit Lions 23, Chicago Bears 20

Picking the Lions to win makes me second-guess myself, and this decision is probably influenced by the fact that Matthew Stafford is my fantasy QB. Chicago looked exceptional on offense last week; Jay Cutler marched his team down the field numerous times against the Eagles. While Philly's run D has been awful, they still showed indications of a complete offense, because Matt Forte has already proven himself. So why am I picking the Lions (who Matt Forte will run all over next week. He's also on my fantasy team)? Well, no one has seemed to notice that they have one of the worst passing defenses in the league. They'll rush the QB a lot, but Stafford could throw for 300 yards and a pair of scores en route to a big-time win.

San Francisco 49ers 24, New York Giants 20

It's up to Eli Manning in this one. While his big win against New England apparently made him "elite," I'm not buying it. San Fran won't give up anything on the ground, so Manning will need to play probably better than last week if he wants to get his team to 7-2. And Patrick Willis and crew won't let that happen.

New England Patriots 27, New York Jets 24

Patriots, three straight losses? Get outta here. I'd love to see it happen, but I'm not ready to buy the talk that they are no longer elite.

St. Louis Rams 17, Cleveland Browns 13
Philadelphia Eagles 27, Arizona Cardinals 20
Jacksonville Jaguars 13, Indianapolis Colts 10 (If Indy is ever going to win, though, this would be the week.)
Denver Broncos 20, Kansas City Chiefs 17
Miami Dolphins 23, Washington Redskins 17
Houston Texans 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 14
Tennessee Titans 24, Carolina Panthers 20
Baltimore Ravens 20, Seattle Seahawks 10
Green Bay Packers 24, Minnesota Vikings 12
Oakland Raiders vs. San Diego Chargers had already started when I wrote this post.

Week 7 NFL Projections

Game face.

Last week: 9-4
Season: 55-19

New York Jets 20, San Diego Chargers 17

Minnesota, Kansas City, Miami, and Denver. These are the teams San Diego has beaten en route to a sparkling 4-1 start. And none of them have been convincing.  Oh, by the way, these four teams have a combined 4-17 record. Either they are all shooting for Andrew Luck or should be playing in the Backyard Barbecue League. And San Diego has barely beaten these teams led by your uncle's brother-in law: a field goal win at home against Kansas City, a five point victory against the hapless Broncos. The Jets may have a pretty boy Peewee Leaguer at quarterback, but they are at least a legit NFL team, and the last time the Chargers played one (New England), they lost by two touchdowns.

Detroit Lions 27, Atlanta Falcons 24

Just because they lost last week doesn't mean Detroit is going to start to fall apart a la the 2011 Red Sox. The Falcons have not lived up to expectations and the only aspects of their game they have excelled at thus far is rush defense and losing winnable football games. While Jahvid Best might have a tough time going north-south tomorrow, Matt Stafford should have a field day against this 27th-ranked pass D. With a loss, the Falcons would fall below .500 after such high hopes to start the year.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23, Chicago Bears 17

The Bears' offensive lineman probably wear paper bags over their heads when they walk around the city. Yes, they've been that bad. Jay Cutler looks like he's been into a bar fight after his first series every Sunday, and came out on the wrong end of it. Lovie Smith also isn't helped by the fact that his intimidating defenses of three years ago, or last year even, have reduced themselves to a pile of rubble. Freeman isn't the prodigy we all made him out to be after last year, but if he isn't capable of putting up points on the Bears he too should cover his face in shame.

Normally I write about four games every weekend, but the NFL decided to give us a college schedule for tomorrow and only have a few good games on the slate. Well, if the Colts were more than just Peyton Manning, the Sunday night game against the Saints would be highly anticipated. Instead, the only people watching will be from New Orleans (definitely not Indy).

Denver Broncos 17 (Tebow: 2-12, 6 yards, 2 INT; 15 rush, 137 yards, 2 TD), Miami Dolphins -12
Houston Texans 24, Tennessee Titans 20
Oakland Raiders 10, Kansas City Chiefs 3 (The Chiefs DO have a chance though!)
Washington Redskins 17, Carolina Panthers 14
Pittsburgh Steelers 28, Arizona Cardinals 13
Dallas Cowboys 24, St. Louis Rams 9 (Dez Bryant breakout game, especially because he is going up against clay figurines in Rams jerseys)
Cleveland Browns 13, Seattle Seahawks 7
Green Bay Packers 41, Minnesota Vikings 3
Baltimore Ravens 30, Jacksonville Jaguars 0

Week 2 NFL Projections

 

Philadelphia Eagles 30, Atlanta Falcons 17

Atlanta won't be able to contain their former star Mike Vick in his determined return. If the Bears can put up 30 on the Falcons' D there is no reason the Eagles much greater attack can't. 2011 won't be as kind to the Falcons as many predict; the expectations are set too high.

Buffalo Bills 27, Oakland Raiders 13

This is the first time in years a game between these two would be considered relevant at all. Ryan Fitzpatrick impressed fans everywhere in a convincing 41-7 win last week, while the Raiders barely escaped with a win over the hapless Broncos.

New Orleans Saints 24, Chicago Bears 20

Defensive leader Brian Urlacher lost his mother this past week, but will be returning to play this Sunday. Even with Urlacher on the opposing side, you can't pick against the Saints to put up a decent amount of points, and the Saints D will stave off Jay Cutler's attack just enough to get the W.

New England Patriots 41, San Diego Chargers 31

No surprise if Tom Brady and Philip Rivers combine for over 800 yards in this matchup. While San Diego did allow the least yards in the NFL last week, facing Tom Brady and the gang is just a bit different than a declining Donovan McNabb.

Detroit Lions 48, Kansas City Chiefs 10

If the Buffalo Bills just put up 41 on this Kansas City D, they are going to have even more trouble with this Lions offense that has the looks of something special.

Baltimore Ravens 24, Tennessee Titans 10
Cleveland Browns 20, Indianapolis Colts 13
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20, Minnesota Vikings 17
New York Jets 24, Jacksonville Jaguars 7
Pittsburgh Steelers 17, Seattle Seahwawks 13
Washington Redskins 21, Arizona Cardinals 20
Green Bay Packers 38, Carolina Panthers 14
Dallas Cowboys 20, San Francisco 49ers 17
Cincinnati Bengals 14, Denver Broncos 10
Houston Texans 34, Miami Dolphins 20
New York Giants 23, St. Louis Rams 17