Sports Bytes - November 29, 2010

Week 12 NFL Predictions

• New England over Detroit (45-24) Win: Detroit deserves credit for staying in this game as long as they did, but their storybook win ended convincingly in the fourth quarter as the Pats rattled off 21 unanswered points to pull away . . .
• New Orleans over Dallas (30-27) Win: What's with wide receivers today not securing the football as they streak across the open field? Roy Williams gaffe ruins an impressive Cowboys' comeback . . . I almost felt sorry for the Cowboys--well, no, not really . . .
• NY Jets over Cincinnati (26-10) Win: The Jets weren't impressive, but Brad Smith was. Smith returned a kickoff 89 yards for a TD and then added a 53-yard TD run . . .
• Atlanta over Green Bay (20-17) Win: Atlanta is not as good a team on the road as they are at home, but if they keep winning at the Georgia Dome it may not make a difference. Matt Bryant's 47 yard field goal gave the Falcons their NFC-leading ninth win of the season. There's still more than a month left in the season, but it's not too early to begin thinking about home-field advantage throughout the payoffs . . .
• Pittsburgh over Buffalo (19-16) Win: Pittsburgh dodged a 44 Magnum-sized bullet thanks to Bills WR Stevie Johnson, who dropped what would have been a game-winning 40 yard TD pass in overtime. Following the miscue the Steelers drove to the Bills 22 yard line where Sean Suisham ended the shockingly close battle with a 41 yard field goal . . . Ben Roethlisberger apparently suffered a sprained foot in the game . . .
• Cleveland over Carolina (24-23) Win: Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. The Browns blew a 21-7 halftime lead and seemed assured of another heart-breaking loss when Panthers' kicker John Kasay blew a 42 yard field goal with time expiring to send Carolina to its 10th loss of the season . . .
• NY Giants over Jacksonville (24-20) Win: Giants outscore Jaguars 18-3 in the second half to salvage their season. Two fourth-quarter TDs by Eli Manning and a suddenly resurgent defense in the second-half lift NY . . .
• Minnesota over Washington (17-13) Loss: Brett Favre did not throw a TD pass and Adrian Peterson left the game in the 2nd quarter with a right ankle injury; yet, the Redskins still found a way to lose this one . . .
• Houston over Tennessee (20-0) Win: Embarrassing performance by the Titans, who were held to 162 total yards while turning the ball over three times and being penalized 10 times. Things got worse for Tennessee in the fourth quarter when DB Cortland Finnegan--antagonist par excellence--was ejected after getting into a fistfight with Texans WR Andre Johnson. The two tore each others helmets off before Johnson began punching the prone Finnegan in the head. Johnson was also ejected . . .
• Miami over Oakland (33-17) Loss: Chad Henne embarrasses the Raiders, throwing for over 300 yards and two TDs . . . Oakland is becoming one of those "which team will show-up this week" clubs . . .
• Kansas City over Seattle (42-24) Win: Matt Cassell bombs the Pop Warner-level Seattle Seahawks defense for four TDs . . .
• Chicago over Philadelphia (31-26) Win: Jay Cutler shreds the Eagles defense for four TDs . . . Philadelphia OT Jason Peters had an interesting take on the game: "As bad as we played, we lost by five and they know we're a better team." Uh, okay, Jason . . .
  
• St. Louis over Denver (36-33) Loss: I will not pick Denver for the rest of the season regardless of who they are playing. They are pathetic . . .
• Baltimore over Tampa Bay (17-10) Win: Another media darling bites the dust in a big game. Tampa Bay has still yet to defeat a team with a winning record . . .
• San Diego over Indianapolis (36-14) Win: Despite owning a mediocre 6-5 record, the Chargers are probably the best team in football right now. Last night they intercepted Peyton Manning four times and returned two of his INTs for TDs. Philip Rivers may have had only an average game (185 yards, O TDs) but FB Mike Tolbert rose to the occasion by rushing for 103 yards and a TD . . .

Prior to tonight's unwatchable San Francisco-Arizona matchup, my Week 12 picks are 12-3 . . .

Andre Johnson landed a good right uppercut in his brawl with Cortland Finnegan. Bob Arum and/or Oscar de la Hoya may want to speak with him about moonlighting as a boxer . . .

NY Giants DE Justin Tuck best summarized the Giants' defensive effort in the first half when he told reporters it was "pretty much crap" . . .

I guess now that Michael Vick had a less-than-Herculean performance against the Bears he is no longer the flavor of the month for NFL "experts" . . .

Here's one that can be filed under "Useless Stats." Yesterday after only the third play from scrimmage, CBS informed viewers that the Giants tallied over 10 yards in two of their first three plays . . .

I thought Eli was the only Manning who had INTs returned for TDs . . .

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