It’s almost Thanksgiving week and plenty of teams are looking to have something to be thankful for when they wrap up Week 12. The NFL Playoffs are still nearly two months away, but the race for playoff positioning is heating up.
We saw some key results in Week 11 with the Bills holding off the Chiefs, the Seahawks upsetting the 49ers, the Eagles beating the Commanders, the Steelers handling the Ravens, and the Broncos impressing in a romp over the Broncos. We’re still at least a couple weeks away from anybody clinching a playoff berth, but the Bills and Texans are fast approaching that point.
It was a relatively light week for upset, but the results sent a few more folks home in Survivor pools. I came close on my weekly trap pick with the Packers escaping Chicago with a win after blocking a late Bears field goal attempt.
It’s now on to Week 12. It’s the busiest bye week of the year, with six teams sidelined for the weekend. That group includes the Falcons, Bills, Bengals, Saints, Jets, and Jaguars. That leaves us with 26 teams to choose from for Week 12 Survivor. I’ve got my full picks below. There are plenty of options to consider and every week this season we’ll be breaking down the safest picks, the best value picks, and the potential trap picks.
Safest picks
Chiefs over Panthers
Commanders over Cowboys
The reasons to avoid these picks? The Chiefs are on the road and the Commanders are facing a divisional game. The reason these are safe picks in spite of that? The Panthers are a bad football team and right now the Cowboys might be even worse.
Best value picks
Dolphins over Patriots
Another divisional matchup, but the Dolphins are showing signs of life and the Patriots are not quite where they need to be. New England is dangerous, but a home game for Miami offers some value.
Trap picks
Steelers over Browns
Broncos over Raiders
I’ve leaned on divisional games above, but road divisional games are where I draw the line if at all possible. Pittsburgh and Denver both should win, but it’s a little too risky.
