NFL Week 12 picks and predictions

Here are Sports Illustrated’s Don Banks’ picks for the 12th week of the NFL season.

Every week, Don Banks of Sports Illustrated and ScoreBig team up to make their picks for the NFL season. Banks has been pretty reliable in his picks over the season, going 101-59. Last week Banks was a less impressive 9-5, but let’s see if he can take a step forward.

Because of the slate of games on Thanksgiving, there are less games in this edition of picks. Let’s see how Banks sees the season unfolding.

The Atlanta Falcons are faltering and the Minnesota Vikings are rising, despite a fall to the Packers. This will rightly be a close game as Banks predicts, but he has the Vikings winning.

The Cincinnati Bengals are one of the best teams in the league while the St. Louis Rams are struggling to get it together, this is a safe and easy pick.

The Houston Texans are surging off of three wins and making some noise. The New Orleans Saints aren’t their former selves. This will be an intriguing matchup but Banks sees the Texans coming out on top.

The Indianapolis Colts have been horrendous without Andrew Luck and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have been all over the place in Jameis Winston’s first season. Banks is giving the Colts the edge citing their two-game win streak.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been better than expected this season, which isn’t saying a whole lot, while the Chargers have struggled. This seems like a close game between struggling teams but Banks is giving the Jaguars a huge edge in this one.

The Chiefs are turning things around and have strung together four wins. They’re looking to get a fifth against a hot and cold Bills team. Banks has the Chiefs beating the Bills in a game that might be closer than the score indicates.

The Miami Dolphins are a dumpster fire this season and the Jets are quietly winning. The Jets seem like a safe pick in this game.

Now this is an intriguing matchup. The Tennessee Titans are awful and the Oakland Raiders are insconsistent. Banks is picking the Titans to beat the Raiders who have cooled off as of late.

Man the NFC East is hard to watch, but someone is tuning in. Banks has the Giants beating the Redskins in a match up of two contenders for the weekend.

The Arizona Cardinals are one of the best teams in the league while the San Francisco 49ers are not. This is a no-brainer.

The Seattle Seahawks are a great team as are the Pittsburgh Steelers and this presents an incredible matchup. It’s a hard one to pick, but Banks is going with the Seahawks in a very narrow game.

Many might think that the Denver Broncos don’t have a chance against the New England Patriots with Brock Osweiler under center. Banks isn’t one of those people, and has the Broncos beating the Patriots in a close game citing their superior defense.

This is an ugly matchup that only the most hardcore of NFL fans have any desire to watch. Both teams are trying to find answers at quarterback and this is going to be an excercise in futility.