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Sports Interaction betting analyst Frank Doyle makes his picks for Week 12 of the NFL season. He is 18-11-1, .621, for the season so far.
New England’s visit to New Orleans is the most eagerly awaited Monday Night game of the year. It’s got the highest total of the week, because everybody knows this is going to be shootout. And when the smoke clears, I think the Patriots will be the last men standing.
There are lots of reasons for thinking it, and lots of arguments to be made in favor of the Saints too, who could get to the Super Bowl this year and no-one would be a bit surprised. But I’m learning toward the Patriots on this one because they will want to win this. They shot themselves in the foot against the other undefeated team in the NFL and such is the level of pride in New England in the Belichick era that the Patriots really don’t want that kind of thing to happen again.
The level of need isn’t the same for the Saints. They need only look across the line of scrimmage at the Patriots themselves to find out what a perfect season is worth to you if you don’t win it all. If New Orleans loses Monday Night, the Saints are 10-1 for the year with some clearly winnable games down the line. That percolates through the psyche, and maybe fellas don’t have that extra burst for first downs they did back in September or October. Add it all up, factor in the fact you’re getting points, and there’s only one way to go. New England +3 at New Orleans with Sports Interaction is the pick.
Elsewhere, nine points seems a very big number to give Washington after the Redskins’ gutsy display against Dallas. Dallas was not good, admittedly, but the Redskins are showing a lot of heart these days, and you have to give them credit for that. Philadelphia has been maddeningly inconsistent, as ever. Too inconsistent to give more than a single score advantage. Seven or eight, maybe, but nine points seems just too big to me. Washington +9 at Philadelphia with Sports Interaction is the second pick of the week.
Finally, it’s not always a good idea to bet on the bottom tier of teams, but Seattle is a three point road favorite at St Louis on Sunday even though the Seahawks haven’t won a road game all year. Seattle is 0-5 on the road, but it’s a favorite at St Louis. Losing starting quarterback Marc Bulger is grief the hapless Rams could have done without certainly, but Kyle Boller is a veteran at this stage and, let’s be honest, the Rams’ offense is only about Steven Jackson anyway. Seattle doesn’t deserve the favoritism away from the north west and for that reason alone, I’m going with St Louis +3 with Sports Interaction at home against Seattle as the third and final pick of the week.
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