It’s Thanksgiving in the USA and that means demise of a considerable number of turkeys. I’m sure some of you with relatives and friends in the states have been there to help them celebrate by eating too much of that highly overrated bird and then vegging out on a surfeit of NFL games.

Take for instance last night’s roster of games, Lions at Packers, Dolphins at Cowboys, and 49ers at Ravens – for which I don’t have the scores because of when this piece was written. I will however, share my picks with you that, hopefully, were the correct ones: I picked the Packers to continue their winning ways towards the perfect season, I picked the Cowboys to beat Miami and in the “Harbaugh Bowl” which featured the first ever brother-vs-brother head coaching matchup in the history of the NFL, Jim (coach of the 49ers) vs John (coach of the Ravens) Harbaugh, I picked the ‘niners. Remember of course, that all our picks are against the point spread.

I suspect that at the end of the game between the 49ers and the Ravens last night, the brothers shared a brief moment to shake hands, exchange pleasantries and generally commiserate/congratulate on the outcome. I wonder who their parents were cheering for? Jim Harbaugh is the rookie head coach of the resurging San Francisco 49ers sitting atop the NFC West with an impressive 9-1 record. These guys who spent the last eight years at the bottom of the pile are destined to make the playoffs and are genuine contenders. Brother John of the Baltimore Ravens is a highly successful veteran head coach who has taken his team to 3 playoff appearances in recent times. The Ravens are currently 7-3 and share bragging rights with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fierce AFC North division. Both teams are coming off wins in week 11 and you can bet your booties that this will probably be the most watched game on Thanksgiving Day.

The Lions/Packers game is a holiday tradition which was under threat of being canned because of the poor performance of the Detroit team – that is until they started wining mid-season last year. As it now stands, Detroit is 7-3 and could possibly make the playoffs as a Wild Card team. Their defense is pretty good and their quarterback, Matthew Stafford, is second only to — you guessed right — Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers in touchdown passes. Rodgers has 31 in the season thus far and Stafford has 25. So in as much as we would like to see the Packers continue on their winning ways in pursuit of that perfect season, beating the Lions is not a foregone conclusion. I guess it all comes down to which Lions team turns up to play and how many points they can score against a suspect Packer defense. The thing is, it does not seem to matter how much you score against these guys, they seem somehow to manage to score more and win.

Quarterbacks are the most highly praised of the NFL species when they are winning. When they are losing, they are the most reviled. Just ask Mike Vick, Tony Romo and Jay Cutler. They are all very good quarterbacks who excel when they and the rest of their teams are on their game, but who often times fail miserably when the reverse is true. Then there is Tim Tebow, the QB for the Denver Broncos. In my time following this great game I have never seen a guy under more scrutiny than Tebow. So I decided to do a little research to find out more about this guy and why he attracts such wildly disparate emotions. I asked an American friend of mine who knows the NFL and the College games as well and his reaction was typical of Tebow haters. Largely unprintable comments which even made me blush – and that takes some doing. Tebow was a winning quarterback at Florida with a cult-like following of fans. The quintessential clean cut all American boy with very strong Christian beliefs which he maintains in the big leagues and is not afraid to show. Watch him get to his knees and pray after each touchdown. “So what ?” I asked He’s not the first guy in the NFL to openly display his beliefs. As a matter of fact there is a whole network of players in the NFL who adhere to strong Christian beliefs and show it too. But for some reason Tebow’s act seems to rub some people the wrong way. You know what I say, just keep on playing well and if you’re so inclined, praying hard too.

The rest of the week 12 schedule has some interesting match-ups to cap off one of the biggest weekends on the football calendar. I for one can’t wait to see the Giants take on the Saints on Monday night — a game which could go either way. Jaguars-Texans should be interesting as the injured QB Matt Schaub is replaced by the former Arizona Cardinal Matt Leinart at the quarterback position for the Texans. With the expected return of wide receiver Andre Johnson it could be a very good day for the Texans. The Eagles, with their slim playoff hopes, take on the vaunted Patriots, while Tebow and the Broncos take on the Chargers, who are DESPERATE for a win. It could be a very weekend for football fans all over as they recover from indulging in too much good food and drink, but never too much NFL.

Enjoy the games, and remember to place your bets with JustBet!

NFL WEEK 12 SCHEDULE

(Handicaps in bracket, Under/Over included)

Thur Nov 24 Sun Nov 27Mon Nov 28

Detroit Lions (+6.5) v Green Bay Packers, U/O 54.5

Dallas Cowboys v Miami Dolphins (+7.5), U/O 44.5

Baltimore Ravens v San Francisco 49ers (+3.5), U/O 38.5                                               

Atlanta Falcons v Minnesota Vikings (+9.5), U/O 44.5

Cincinnati Bengals v Cleveland Browns (+8.5), U/O 37.5

Indianapolis Colts (+3.5) v Carolina Panthers, U/O 45.5

Jacksonville Jaguars (+3.5) v Houston Texans, U/O 37.5

New York Jets v Buffalo Bills (+9.5), U/O 41.5

St. Louis Rams v Arizona Cardinals (+3.5), U/O 40.5

Tennessee Titans v Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+3.5), U/O 43.5

Oakland Raiders v Chicago Bears (+4.5), U/O 41.5

Seattle Seahawks v Washington Redskins (+3.5), U/O 37.5

Philadelphia Eagles (+3.5) v New England Patriots, U/O 49.5

San Diego Chargers v Denver Broncos (+6.5), U/O 41.5

Kansas City Chiefs (+10.5) v Pittsburgh Steelers, U/O 39.5

New Orleans Saints v New York Giants (+7.5), U/O 50.5                       

*Handicaps and Under/Over subject to change without notice, prior to kick-off

EXPERTS’ PICKS AGAINST THE SPREAD

Andre Hutchinson’s

Week 12 Picks (in

bold)

Lions v

Packers

Cowboys v

Dolphins

Ravens v

49ers                                               

Falcons v Vikings

Bengals v

Browns

Colts v

Panthers

Jaguars v Texans

Jets v Bills

Rams v Cardinals

Titans v Buccaneers

Raiders v

Bears

Seahawks v

Redskins

Eagles v Patriots

Chargers v

Broncos

Chiefs v

Steelers

Saints v

Giants           

Last week: 9-5

Season to date: 88-72

Tony Scott’s

Week 12 Picks (in bold)

Lions v

Packers

Cowboys v Dolphins

Ravens v

49ers                                               

Falcons v Vikings

Bengals v Browns

Colts v

Panthers

Jaguars v

Texans

Jets v

Bills

Rams v Cardinals

Titans v Buccaneers

Raiders v Bears

Seahawks v Redskins

Eagles v

Patriots

Chargers v

Broncos

Chiefs v

Steelers

Saints v Giants

Last week: 8-6

Season to date: 86-74

Peter Lindo’s

Week 12 Picks (in

bold)

Lions v

Packers

Cowboys v Dolphins

Ravens v

49ers                                               

Falcons v Vikings

Bengals v Browns

Colts v

Panthers

Jaguars v

Texans

Jets v Bills

Rams v

Cardinals

Titans v

Buccaneers

Raiders v Bears

Seahawks v Redskins

Eagles v

Patriots

Chargers v Broncos

Chiefs v

Steelers

Saints v Giants

Last week: 7-7

Season to date: 85-75

Andrei Roper’sWeek 12 Picks (in bold)PackersDolphins Ravens v 49ers                                                Falcons v Vikings Bengals v Browns PanthersTexansJets v Bills Cardinals Buccaneers Raiders v Bears Seahawks v Redskins PatriotsBroncosSteelersSaints v Giants

Andrei Roper’s

Week 12 Picks (in bold)

Lions v

Cowboys v

Colts v

Jaguars v

Rams v

Titans v

Eagles v

Chargers v

Chiefs v

Last week: 7-7

Season to date: 79-81