Thanksgiving week is upon us! The NFL will have no byes and we get the annual turkey day tripleheader. The Lions host the Packers, the Cowboys host the Chiefs, and the Ravens host the Bengals on Thursday. The Eagles and Bears square off in Philadelphia on Black Friday, which means Sunday will be a bit of a lighter schedule.
We get a pair of double digit favorites this week, with the Seahawks hosting the Vikings as an 11.5-point favorite and the Rams on the road as a 10.5-point favorite against the Panthers. After that, we get three games with at least a touchdown favorite.
Last week was fairly light for upsets. The Texans beat the Bills, but given how Buffalo has been playing of late, it might not have been the most shocking result. The Chiefs beat the Colts at home, but KC was favored even with a worse record. The biggest surprise of the week might have been the Cowboys beating the Eagles.
A light week meant my Survivor pool picks did not go haywire. I didn’t come close on my trap picks, as the Rams and Packers both won with relative ease. Survivor pools likely didn’t see much change week-over-week, and so we move on to Week 13 picks.
Safest picks
Seahawks over Vikings
If you somehow haven’t used the Seahawks, this is the week to do it. This is a better matchup than Week 17 at the Panthers.
Best value picks
Dolphins over Saints
Rams over Panthers
Miami isn’t a good football team, but New Orleans is really bad. This could trap some folks, and many of you might have some quality options remaining. But if you’re looking to try and squeeze by this week, Miami could be the pick.
You could say LA for Week 18 if you think you’ll need it, but we also don’t know if they’ll have anything to play for by then. The Panthers can be difficult, but after their performance in Week 12, it’s easy to pick against them. And with a lot of people potentially going with the Chargers, it might be worth going with the other LA squad.
Trap picks
Chargers over Raiders
Patriots over Giants
I’m tempted by the Chargers, but they haven’t done a whole lot since they’re impressive start to the season. This is the last week to use them given their remaining opponents, but it’s a tough call.
Jaxson Dart should be back for this game, and if he does play, Patriots-Giants gets interesting. New England is playing well and should win, but Dart is a big-time wild card.
