Week 12: Football Feast

Redskins' tight end Fred Davis has officially dubbed
RG3 as "Black Jesus" for his miraculous rookie season.

I want to start this article by wishing everyone out there a Happy Thanksgiving. Despite making my job more difficult, I am thankful for such a great slate of NFL games this week. Being able to sit down and watch three solid NFL games in a row on a Thursday is a great luxury that almost never comes along. Remember how many years we all had to sit through the Lions getting massacred on Thanksgiving? I am by no means a Lions' fan, but thank RG3 the Lions are relevant again.

Speaking of "Black Jesus" (thank you fellow Trojan Fred Davis for giving RG3 such an epic nickname), watching the hottest rookie in the NFL go into Dallas to possibly spoil the Cowboys' playoff hopes is one of the more interesting matchups of the week (more on that later).

With so much on the line this week with tons of divisional matchups, and some great grudge matches from last year's playoffs, there should be some serious dog fights. Here are the teams that Stally and I believe will have something extra to be thankful for.

Austen's Eight-Point Pick - Denver over @Kansas City

Austen: Peyton Manning is MVP worthy once again. The Chiefs are starting Brady Quinn. I am still unsure how Quinn is in any way an improvement on Matt Cassel. Say what you want about Cassel, but he actually has talent and his teammates respect him. I cannot say either about Quinn. Home field advantage will not save the Chiefs this week.

Stally: With the rivalry college game this weekend, I'd be interested in further discussing why USC's Cassel is a better choice than Notre Dame's Quinn, but who cares?  The Chiefs suck regardless.

Week 11: A Quiet Excitement

If you need three reasons to watch Jacksonville, here
you go ... too bad they're on the road this weekend. (Getty)

It really doesn't look like a great slate of games, but there's reason to be intrigued this weekend.  Acclaimed veteran Tom Brady goes against the young stud that is Andrew Luck.  The Steelers and the Ravens have their classic grudge match.  And, the Bears and the 49ers will size up their respective abilities in what could end up as a playoff rematch in January.

It might not be the best week for the NFL, but it's certainly not a snoozer week.  We know enough about how each team is doing to understand which of these games will have playoff implications and which clunkers we can skip.

Stally's Seven-Point Pick - @Houston over Jacksonville

Stally: Houston is a 15.5-point favorite.  I believe that's the highest spread of the season and it makes sense as there's an 8-1 team hosting a 1-8 team.  This was a no brainer.

Austen: Nothing more that needs to be said.

2012 Season Draft

It's probably only a matter of time before
Tom Brady wins another Lombardi Trophy.

Austen and Stally conducted the draft in person when Stally visited New York City on the weekend the NFL opened the season.  The picks below are reflected from that original "Season Draft."

Of course, the two got busy with Stally managing to type up his thoughts two weeks later and Austen not getting to do his part until a return from Europe nearly a month after the draft.  Even at that, Stally didn't get to responding until a while later, but we've kept the thoughts to Week 4 or earlier to avoid any time lapse.

1. New England Patriots (Austen, Pick 1)

Austen: The Pats are the best team in the league. Not sure weather or not they will be in the Super Bowl this year, but I think they have the best shot to get there out of any team in the league. They made the SB last season with an awful defense and their D should be significantly better with the additions of two all star rookies. Their offense has even more weapons and two developing running backs to help add balance. This team is scary good. Sometimes I really hate being a Jets fan.

Stally: But, I love being a Patriots fan!  The team should be better than last year with a young defense that was greatly in need of experience last year.

Week 10: A Deciding Week

It's been a season of reflection for the Chiefs. (AP)

Week 10 presents several games that should help sculpt the remainder of the season.  Austen and Stally found several easy, lopsided games to pick, but about halfway through the slate of games, disagreement abounded quickly.

This week presents some very important games.  Who is better Chicago or Houston?  Will is be Dallas or Philadelphia that keeps its fading hopes alive in the NFC East?  The same conflict goes for NFC North rivals Detroit and Minnesota.

At such a crucial point in the season, it's time for the good teams to emerge and the others to fade, but there is debate over which teams fall into which categories.

Austen's Seven-Point Pick - @Pittsburgh over Kansas City

Week 9: Bye Week

As these two pretty boys enjoy their bye weeks, the SOB boys
allow themselves to agree with each other on this week's matchups.

Trash talking will be at a minimum this week as both Stally's Patriots and Austen's Jets are on bye this week.  In general the slate of games aren't overly enticing, so it's hard to expect either OXen will be glued to the TV all day, but it's getting to be that time of year where teams start to define their season.

Stally's Seven-Point Pick: @Houston over Buffalo

Stally: The Texas have been the cream of the AFC crop and that Bills are, well, the Bills.  I didn't have to think about this one for very long.

Austen: Right pick. I can't imagine the Bills staying in this one for long. Arian Foster could have a career day.

Austen's Seven-Point Pick: @Green Bay over Arizona


Austen: The Packers pass rush will win this game single handedly. Clay Matthews is second in the league in sacks and the Cardinals have no one (or no two) who ever have a chance of slowing this beast down. Aaron Rodgers could continue to struggle a bit and this could still be a blow out.


Stally: I have to disagree with the statement that Aaron Rodgers has struggled.  He enters the game with 21 TDs and four INTs and the Packers are back on track.  They should roll in this one.