NFL Week 12 picks

Irregular Thanksgiving edition. Boy, the NFL blew it with the scheduling for tomorrow, huh? The requisite Detroit and Dallas games are just terrible matchups and a network that is received by some 75% of the nation is carrying the Broncos/Chiefs. That's just poop.

Thanksgiving

Miami (-2.5) at Detroit - Oooh! The Joey Harrington Bowl! Ratings bonanza! *Sigh...* In all seriousness, though, something's gotten into Miami. Dolphins 27 Lions 10

Tampa Bay at Dallas (-11) - Okay, I'll admit it: The Colts are better than the Bucs who just lost Simeon Rice for the season, today. Cowboys 24 Buccaneers 7

Denver (-1.5) at Kansas City - My two most hated teams in what should be a great game. It's just too bad most of the nation won't see it. Broncos 16 Chiefs 14

Da Raiders...

Oakland at San Diego (-13) - In a stunning turn of events, Randy Moss wakes up on Sunday to find that he is, in fact, Marvin Harrison. Tom Walsh is replaced by Bill Walsh and LaDanian Tomlinson gets lost on his way to the stadium, just long enough to miss the game. Yeah... Chargers 35 Raiders 17

Chicago at New England (-3) - It's the game of the week and a possible Superbowl preview. Honestly, I'd like the Patriots better if they were on the road, here. The Pats and Chicago are the only two unbeaten teams on the road in the league. I'm feeling another crumby game from Grossman. Patriots 20 Bears 15

Houston at N.Y. Jets (-5.5) - Jets have been playing tough all season and they need to win the winnable games if they're serious about a playoff push. Jets 28 Texans 17

Carolina (-4.5) at Washington - The Panthers are apparently on one of their hot streaks, for now. Washington's gone into the tank. Jason Campbell to get his bell rung often on Sunday. Panthers 31 Redskins 13

Jacksonville (-3) at Buffalo - Is it safe to pick J'ville, now? After they beat up the Giants? Surely Lee Evans won't go for another 260 yards receiving, will he? Gambling! Jaguars 26 Bills 21

New Orleans (+3) at Atlanta - On what planet do these Atlanta Falcons get labeled as favorites? Saints have lost two in a row, but not like Atlanta has and I'm sure we all remember the blowout from when these two hooked up in week 3. Saints 45 Falcons 27

Cincinnati (-3) at Cleveland - I just picked the Bengals to win. Which means they'll probably lose. Browns are no gimmie. Bengals 28 Browns 22

Pittsburgh at Baltimore (-3) - Ravens put their foot down on the throat of the AFC North division race. Ravens 24 Steelers 14

Arizona (+6.5) at Minnesota - The Vikes don't deserve this much respect, even if it is the Cardinals. Still, nothing like a visit by the NFL's best losers to cure what ails you. Vikings 18 Cardinals 13

San Francisco (+6) at St. Louis - Mike Nolan has them playing with confidence in San Fran. Going on the road doesn't look like the impossible hurdle it used to be. Plus the Rams have lost their way. 49ers 27 Rams 15

N.Y. Giants (-3) at Tennessee - The Titans may have received a bit of a free pass last week with McNabb getting knocked out of the game and they were snaked by Steve McNair the Sunday before. Can Eli rebound off a poor Monday night showing and get this Giants team back on track? I'm thinking he's got the talent around him to pull it off. Giants 21 Titans 17

Philadelphia (+9) at Indianapolis - Let's forget that Jeff Garcia is starting at QB for the Eagles, Indy simply isn't good enough to cover! Colts 17 Eagles 13

Green Bay at Seattle (-10) - Another unattractive Monday Night game. Seahawks roll in a walk. Seahawks 41 Packers 17

Battle of Los Angeles: rd 1

Lakers 105 Clippers 101

You just had a feeling that Kobe was going to go off for a big night and, after his 20-point first quarter, thoughts of 60-70 points were dancing in people's heads. I was a little concerned about containing Elton Brand, seeing what a dominant power forward like Zach Randolph was able to do to the Lake Show earlier this season, but when Kobe plays like that and gets the rest of his teammates to attack the basket, draw fouls -- getting Maggette and Kaman (huge) to foul out, it doesn't matter.

Odom had a pretty lousing night shooting both from the field and from the line and yet still was invaluable. Kwame seems to be back into the swing of things, pulling down 14 boards. I'm a little concerned, though, that Cook had yet another DNP and Farmar didn't see any action (the latter is really putting a dent in my "Farmar will be starting ahead of Smush by New Year's" claim), but the nine-man rotation Phillip had working last night really gelled. To look at Vujacic's stat line, you'd think he didn't do anything out there, but he put in a quality 15 minutes.

I'm always confident every time we play the Clippers. Even last season, when it looked like the two might meet in the second round of the playoffs, I never had a doubt that the Lakers could win. Though the regular season series has levelled out the last couple years, the Lakers do still enjoy a mental edge over the Staples Center rivals. There's a belief that they're the only team in LA and these other guys are just squatters. The Clips also look terribly thin on the bench and I'm surprised foul trouble hasn't been more of a problem this year. Maybe it soon will.

Up next for the Lakers: Utah. That would be the team with the best record in the Association. Amazing things happen when Kirilenko and Boozer are healthy. And one of my nemesis, Deron Williams, has finally come around to the pro game. Friday night, let's hope the homecourt matters.