Week 12 kicked off on Thanksgiving with three NFC divisional races crystallizing, as the Saints and Bears continued to roll in their respective divisions while the Cowboys took charge of the NFC East with a win over the Redskins. Now, it's time to turn our attention to the wild-card races, with matchups like Packers-Vikings, Seahawks-Panthers and Dolphins-Colts meaning a great deal to how each conference shakes out behind the top four seeds.
We'll take you game by game to reveal how our experts picked the lines earlier in the week while also sharing our thoughts on survivor pool picks for Week 12 and showing you all the great places you can find NFL picks talk throughout the week. Let's get to it.
Which teams should you back in Week 12 of the NFL season? And which Super Bowl contender gets a huge scare? Visit SportsLine now to see which teams are winning more than 50 percent of simulations, all from the model that has outperformed 98 percent of experts tracked by NFLPickWatch.com the past two seasons.
Jaguars at Bills
- Time: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS), stream on CBS All Access or fuboTV (Try for free)
- Open: Jaguars -3
- Current: Jaguars -3
"I'm riding with the Jaguars. The Jags blew it last week against the Steelers when they went too conservative in the second half, and that's always a concern with this team and Doug Marrone, but the difference is the Steelers have an offense that can make you pay for playing conservatively. The Bills don't. Sure, Buffalo put up 41 against the Jets in Week 10, but that's an outlier. I'm more inclined to think this Bills offense is still the same one that was scoring 10.7 points per game in the first nine games. Its defense will keep it from getting out of hand, but the Jaguars won't find themselves in any danger during this game." -- Tom Fornelli on his best bets
Fornelli went 2-1 in his best bets last week, and he's taking the total in a primetime game as part of his best bets this week. You'll have to head over to his Thursday column to find out which one.
Raiders at Ravens
- Time: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS), stream on CBS All Access or fuboTV (Try for free)
- Open: Ravens -10.5
- Current: Ravens -10.5
When it comes to survivor pool picks, you've probably used up most of the top teams in the league if you're still alive. And while the Ravens have been favored in all but one of their games, it's possible you still have them in your bank to whip out this week. Why? Because they've been favored by at least a touchdown just once, and that was all the way back in Week 1 when competitors had the entire board available to them. Now is the week to burn them, with a bad Oakland team coming to town and coming off a win, as the Raiders don't look like a team that can win two in a row on the road. If you don't use Baltimore now, they have to face the Falcons, Chiefs and Chargers on the road in three of the next four weeks, so the only time to use them would be in Week 15 against the Bucs at home, and I see several other solid mid-level teams at home that week worth using.
But Mike Tierney is 78-35 picking every NFL game straight-up over the last eight weeks, and he's passing on the Ravens for another option. Head over to SportsLine to see what he has to say about survivor pool play before locking in your pick.
49ers at Buccaneers
- Time: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (FOX), stream on fuboTV (Try for free)
- Open: Buccaneers -3
- Current: Buccaneers -2.5
"This is a West Coast team traveling east and playing early, but I'm not worried that too much, because the 49ers should be able to score on the Buccaneers pretty easily regardless of the time zone given just how terrible the Tampa defense is. The 49ers have actually been pretty darn competitive in the last seven weeks. They have a close loss to the Giants, a blowout win over the Raiders, two fairly tight losses to the Cardinals and narrow losses to the Packers and Chargers. The only bad game in that stretch was a beatdown at the hands of the Rams. They're playing competitive football and the Buccaneers are ... not. Tampa has no home-field advantage, no discernible defense and Kyle Shanahan holds a significant coaching advantage over Dirk Koetter, who is addicted to flip-flopping quarterbacks." -- Will Brinson on his best bets
Brinson might have whiffed on his Thursday best bets, but he has four more picks that he's confident will be winners. See who else he's taking along with the 49ers in his Friday column.
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| 49ers at Bucs (-3.5) |  | |  | | | | | |
Giants at Eagles
- Time: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (FOX), stream on fuboTV (Try for free)
- Open: Eagles -6
- Current: Eagles -5
""The Giants have won two in a row, and now they're facing another team that doesn't bring a lot of pressure on the QB. If Eli Manning doesn't get pressure, he can complete passes. Philly's secondary is beat up, and the Eagles don't have a running game. That's their basic problem. Take the points." -- Hammerin' Hank Goldberg on his best bets
Renowned NFL handicapper Hammerin' Hank Goldberg nailed all three of his best bets in Week 10, and anyone who parlayed those was rewarded with a 6-1 payout. This is the same legend who compiled 15 winning seasons during his 17-year ESPN run. Last year, Hammer competed against 10 top handicappers in the Las Vegas Review-Journal's NFL Challenge and beat them all, finishing 50-29-6 against the spread. You can check out all three of his best bets over at SportsLine.
Browns at Bengals
- Time: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS), stream on CBS All Access or fuboTV (Try for free)
- Open: Bengals -3
- Current: Bengals -2.5
"I've been backing the Browns it seems like for the last three years, but no Hue Jackson, they finally did get a win and they're up against the Cincinnati Bengals who are all beat up. They just got beat by Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. Cleveland with a week off, ready to win this football game straight up." -- Kenny White on why the Browns are his underdog to win outright.
White is joined by Vegas veteran Micah Roberts over at SportsLine to make their top underdog picks to win outright, so head on over to hear who Roberts is taking before you settle on your moneyline plays this week.
Patriots at Jets
- Time: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS), stream on CBS All Access or fuboTV (Try for free)
- Open: Patriots -9
- Current: Patriots -10
"I will take the Patriots to cover a big spread on the road against the Jets. The Patriots are coming off a loss and their bye. According to Will Brinson (check out his Week 12 picks here), the Patriots are 39-14 against the spread after a loss since 2003 and 7-1 against the spread as a field goal or more road favorite after a bye since Bill Belichick became their coach. In a matchup of Tom Brady vs. Josh McCown/Sam Darnold, give me the Patriots to roll." -- Sean Wagner-McGough on his best bets
Wagner-McGough is 33-21-1 on his best bets heading into Week 12, so you'll want to see who else he's taking on Sunday.
Seahawks at Panthers
- Time: Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (FOX), stream on fuboTV (Try for free)
- Open: Panthers -3.5
- Current: Panthers -3.5
CBS Sports HQ host Nick Kostos is locking in four favorites on Sunday as part of his best bets, including the Panthers to cover the spread of 3.5 points. Kostos thinks the Panthers are undervalued after two straight losses on the road, and he sees a huge game coming for D.J. Moore with Devin Funchess ruled doubtful for Week 12.
Kostos is rolling in the Las Vegas SuperContest with a 31-24 record as competitors chase a $1.4 million payout in the world's biggest NFL picks competition. He's joined by a cavalcade of NFL betting experts each Sunday at noon ET for SportsLine's NFL preview, where the team goes through the NFL slate each week and shares what you have to know before placing your bets. Be sure to join them at noon ET on Sunday over at CBS Sports HQ, your 24/7 home for news, analysis, Fantasy and gambling insight, and more.
Cardinals at Chargers
- Time: Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET (FOX), stream on fuboTV (Try for free)
- Open: Chargers -11.5
- Current: Chargers -13
"This should be a blowout. Josh Rosen against this defense. The Chargers got their bad game out of the way last week. Bounce-back time. I am going against overwhelmed QBs this week." -- Jason La Canfora on his best bets
La Cnafora missed on his Thursday best bet, but he has the Chargers this week and is fading one more rookie QB on Sunday. Which one? You can read about it in his Friday column.
Dolphins at Colts
- Time: Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS), stream on CBS All Access or fuboTV (Try for free)
- Open: Colts -7.5
- Current: Colts -7.5
Pete Prisco: "I think Miami is going to go up there, and [Ryan] Tannehill's back, I think they're going to play well--"
Will Brinson: [uncontrollable laughter]
R.J. White [dripping with disgust]: "'Tannehill's back...'"
Prisco: "Look, the Colts shouldn't be laying eight in this game. It should be more like six or five, if you're going to give me eight, I'll take it."
White: "Colts are playing their butts off--"
Prisco: "They are playing good!"
White: "I'm fine laying eight against a bad team."
Prisco: "Well you can lay eight!" [cross talk] "The Dolphins hung around with Green Bay for most of that game up in Green Bay with [Brock] Osweiler in the game. I think they're going to be better with Tannehill, and I think they're going to go up there and hang around in this game."
Brinson: "OK, one: the Colts are better than Green Bay right now. They are playing better than Green Bay, Andrew Luck is playing his tail off. You can't get any pressure on him, he hasn't been sacked in five games, he hasn't been hit in four games, they're running the ball really effectively, he's passing the ball, T.Y. Hilton's starting to get going, and that defense is playing pretty well too. The offensive line is just mauling people."
That's from the Friday edition of the Pick Six Podcast, hosted by Will Brinson five days a week. You can check it out below and get our thoughts on the entire NFL slate. Remember to click the button to subscribe!
Steelers at Broncos
- Time: Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET (CBS), stream on CBS All Access or fuboTV (Try for free)
- Open: Steelers -4.5
- Current: Steelers -3
"The Steelers are playing consecutive road games and didn't look great beating Jacksonville last week. I think the Broncos will have some steam after beating the Chargers on the road last week. The Broncos defense will limit Ben Roethlisberger and Phillip Lindsay will have a good day for the Broncos. Upset coming." -- Pete Prisco on his best bets
The Broncos were one of just two consensus picks on this week's Pick Six Podcast, and Pete likes them enough to put him as one of his five best bets this week. Check out who else he's rolling with in his Friday column.
Packers at Vikings
- Time: Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET (NBC), stream on fuboTV (Try for free)
- Open: Vikings -4.5
- Current: Vikings -3
"The Vikings have been the better team this year, and they're certainly the healthier team after Jimmy Graham and Mike Daniels joined the walking wounded of key Packers players last week. The Vikings also have a top-tier home-field advantage, which I have at four points. So I think this line needs to be closer to Vikings -6, making this incredible value for us. Yes, Kirk Cousins struggles in primetime, and Aaron Rodgers is unquestionably a better QB. But the Vikings have an elite, well-rounded defense that can carry them to the win in this matchup at home." -- R.J. White on his SuperContest picks
I expect the Packers to be a popular pick in the SuperContest this week, but I love taking the home team here. You can find all five of my SuperContest plays over at SportsLine, and promo code WHITE will get you the first month of access for just $1.
Titans at Texans
- Time: Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)
- Open: Texans -5.5
- Current: Texans -6
Here's another game I have in my SuperContest picks, and I'm working on a 16-7 ATS stretch in picking games that involve the Titans. That includes hitting each of my last three picks in Titans games.
I'm leaning Under in this game, but you can check out which side I love over at SportsLine.
Thanks for checking us out, and good luck with your picks in Week 12!
