NFL Week 12 Predictions

Just when I think I have the NFL figured out I have my worst week of predictions in Week 11. Parity continues to reign in the league, making picking the winners a difficult proposition.

Here are my picks for Week 12. Remember, all picks are made without taking the spread into consideration.

Record Last Week: 9-7, .563
Overall Record: 102-58, .638

Thursday Night Game:

Bengals (1-8-1) @ Steelers (7-3) This post will go up during or after the Thursday night game, but trust me, there is only one team to pick in this game anyway. My pick: Steelers

Sunday Day Games:

Panthers (8-2) @ Falcons (6-4) This is the first of several tough games to predict, the Panthers are the slightly better team but the game is being played in Atlanta. My pick: The Panthers will slow down the Falcons runs game and will pull out the win, further solidifying their NFC South division lead

Texans (3-7) @ Browns (4-6) Brady Quinn might not actually be a terrible quarterback, he's at least better than Sage Rosenfels. My pick: I don't like either of these teams but I'll go with the Brownies at home.

Niners (3-7) @ Cowboys (6-4) Much to the Eagles chagrin, the Cowboys are going to find themselves right in the thick of the NFC playoff picture after another win. My pick: Cowboys

Bucs (7-3) @ Lions (0-10) I'm having a hard time finding a game the Lions will be able to win. My pick: Bucs won't lose in a possible trap game

Jets (7-3) @ Titans (10-0) The Titans quest for perfection will continue, it's funny how they aren't getting all the hype that last years "unbeatable" Patriots team got. My pick: Titans

Bills (5-5) @ Chiefs (1-9) Tyler Thigpen looks like the future in Kansas City and even at the present he's good enough to beat the slumping Bills. My pick: Chiefs

Bears (5-5) @ Rams (2-8) The Rams are truly terrible, how do you get wiped out by the crappy Niners? My pick: Bears

Patriots (6-4) @ Dolphins (6-4) Who would have thought these two teams would have identical records at this point in the season? My pick: I'm going with the Patriots because they have something to prove after Miami made them look silly with the Wildcat formation in Week 3.

Vikings (5-5) @ Jaguars (4-6) I can't believe I picked the Jaguars to be the Super Bowl Champs back in the beginning of the season, injuries have really ravaged this team and forced them to play a different style. My pick: Vikings

Eagles (5-4-1) @ Ravens (6-4) I'm so disgusted with the Birds after their showing last week. I'm a pretty patient fan and I have defended Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid on many occasions but what happened last week was just pathetic. The team doesn't need to change their quarterback and coach, they need to change their philosophy. If the fans and the writers can all see that its not working, why can't the coach? My pick: I still have to believe that the Eagles defense will rattle the rookie QB and the offense will put just enough points on the board to eek out a win. If they don't, whatever minute playoff hopes they have are lost.

Raiders (2-8) @ Broncos (6-4) The Broncos are the worst 6 win team in the league but the Raiders are just awful. My pick: Broncos

Giants (9-1) @ Cardinals (7-3) I'm tempted just like everyone else to go with the upset but I think the Giants will get to "MVP" Kurt Warner and knock him on his butt and take the Cards out of their game. My pick: Giants

Redskins (6-4) @ Seahawks (2-8) The Redskins offense gets the perfect matchup this week to get back on track, they looked bad against the Cowboys. My pick: Redskins

Sunday Night Game:

Colts (6-4) @ Chargers (4-6) One team bounced back after a slow start, the other one didn't. My pick: Colts in one of the better Sunday Night games of the year

Monday Night Game:

Packers (5-5) @ Saints (5-5) I expect this one to be a high-scoring affair between two teams with good offenses and mediocre defenses. My pick: The Packers will keep pace in the NFC Central with a win

Those are my picks for Week 12. Leave a comment if you have your own picks or if you agree/disagree with mine!

Phillies trade Golson, acquire Mayberry

The Phillies have finally given up on Greg "Toolsy" Golson, trading him to the Texas Rangers for outfielder John Mayberry Jr. Both players are former first round picks who are about the same age and have similar potential, so the trade essentially boils down to the Phillies trading Golson's speed for Mayberry's power.

Mayberry is 24 and spent last season in Double-A and Triple-A. Mayberry has never played a game in the majors but he is a lefty bat with some power. Baseball Prospectus isn't all that impressed with him, noting that he has a lot of "raw power" but he doesn't have much skill at the plate. His father, also named John Mayberry, played several years in the majors from the late 60's to the early 80's and hit 255 homers in 15 seasons. If the son ends up anything like the father, the Phils will love this deal.

Giving up Golson isn't too big of a loss. He never proved that he could be anything more than a pinch-runner at the major league level and the Phillies already have a couple of guys that fit that bill. Golson never quite had his head on straight with the Phils, maybe a change of scenery will get him to put everything together.

Don't look for either player in this trade to take the league by storm anytime soon, both need more seasoning in the minors. Since both will be entering their peak years in the next few years, if they don't develop soon they might not develop at all. The Phillies like having power options in their corner outfield spots so Mayberry could be of some use to them down the road. He definitely seems more worthwhile than a "toolsy" centerfielder who has shown absolutely nothing at the plate.

Utley to have hip surgery, will likely miss start of 09 season

So, I guess this proves Chase Utley really was injured. Throughout the 2008 season, fans and writers speculated that Utley was dealing with a hip injury that slowed him down and made him less of a player. His early MVP charge slowed way down as the season wore on and most felt it was due to his bad hip.

Today, we learned that he indeed was having hip problems because the Phillies announced he will be undergoing hip surgery in the coming days. The surgery will put him out for 4 to 6 months, meaning he will will miss at least the first couple of games of the season and could be out up to two months.

Losing Utley for a short period of time won't be a big problem since Eric Bruntlett can easily fill in. If Utley ends up missing 2 months, the Phils should look to acquire another option to play second, possibly someone like Tadahito Iguchi.

Credit needs to be given to Chase Utley for playing through this injury and helping the team win the World Series. We all knew that the Utley we were watching wasn't the one we were used to but he was still an effective player at less than 100%.

The Phillies also announced that Pedro Feliz will undergo back surgery but he is expected to be ready at the start of the season.

Flyers officially unveil 3rd jersey

While I brought you this news a few weeks back, the Flyers officially announced that they will be bringing back their orange jerseys as their new 3rd jersey this season. They even put together a snazzy video that highlights the history and tradition behind the orange jersey:

The jersey will be worn for the first time this season on November 28th.

I don't think I'm alone in wanting the Flyers to have the orange jerseys as their home jerseys and switching the black to the 3rd jersey. The black jersey has run its course, it's time to bring back tradition.

Pujols wins NL MVP, Howard finishes 2nd

The Phillies once again have come up just short in the individual awards: Albert Pujols has been named the NL MVP.

As much as my heart said Ryan Howard should have been MVP, it's hard to argue with Albert Pujols being chosen instead. While Howard had more home runs and RBI's, Pujols had better numbers across the board. Howard was a huge part of the Phillies late push to the playoffs, but Pujols did the best he could to keep the Cardinals in contention even though their team was pretty weak overall.

Howard lost the vote by a score of 369-308. He received 12 first place votes while Pujols recieved 18.

Two other Phillies, Brad Lidge and Chase Utley, received votes. Lidge finished 8th in the voting and even got 2 first place votes. Utley finished 15th in the voting.

Oh well, it's hard to really care about these individual awards when the team has won the ultimate award!

McNabb didn't know game could end in a tie

This has to be a joke, right? Donovan McNabb didn't know that an NFL game could end in a tie? Seriously?

How does an NFL quarterback not know a game can end in a tie? As Donovan grew up playing football, high school and college games could end in ties, why not an NFL game?? Also, if he really didn't know the game could end in a tie, why didn't Andy Reid inform McNabb so he could get his butt in gear and try to win it before time ran out?

Pathetic: The Eagles TIE the 1-win Bengals

(AP Photo/Al Behrman)

One word describes the effort the Eagles put forth today in their tie with the lowly Cincinnati Bengals: pathetic.

Here is my list of everything pathetic from this game:

Donovan McNabb: 3 picks, a completion percentage below 50%, terrible over- and under-throws and a myriad of bad decisions. It's time for the Kevin Kolb era to begin.

McNabb's smile: Stop smiling when you play like crap! Don't you understand how frustrating that is for the fans?

The playcalling: It's time for Andy Reid to hand over the playcalls to someone else. Anyone else.

The running game: Wait, what running game?

Sav Rocca: The experiment has failed. It's time to get a real punter.

Discipline: Too many penalties, all seemingly at the wrong time.

Reggie Brown: 1 catch, 0 yards. Nice game, buddy. What a waste of a 2nd round pick.

The refs: Thank goodness the B.S. roughing the passer call against Sheldon Brown didn't cost the Eagles their precious tie.

The fact that the Eagles can't win a game when their defense has 8 sacks: None of the blame for this game goes to the defense. They held up their end and basically shut down the Bengals.

Got any more pathetic things to add to the list? I am sure there are more, I'm just too annoyed to bother to write about this team right now.