NFL Week 12 Picks: Matchups Guide, Advice and Early Score Predictions

We’ve watched 11 weeks of the 2016 NFL season fly by, and the start of Week 12 is just around the corner.

The next round of NFL action will kick off on Thursday with three exciting Thanksgiving matchups. There will be 16 contests in all in Week 12, as no teams are on bye for the holiday slate.

Now we’re going to break down the upcoming week of games, along with some early Vegas lines—courtesy of Odds Shark—and our initial score projections. We’ll also examine some of the more intriguing matchups of the coming Week.

NFL Week 12 Schedule and Predictions

Notable Matchups

Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions

The Minnesota Vikings managed to halt their losing skid over the weekend with a big win over the Arizona Cardinals. Now the team must head into Detroit to face the Lions in a battle for NFC North supremacy.

This matchup is likely to be a good one. The Lions are a vastly underrated team that has won five of its last six games, including one over the Vikings. Minnesota, meanwhile, appeared to get things back on track and will ride momentum into the game.

The problem for Minnesota here is that the offense still seems to be struggling. Even though Minnesota managed to produce 30 points against the Cardinals, only two touchdowns and 217 net yards came via the offense.

The Vikings scored on a Xavier Rhodes interception return and a Cordarrelle Patterson kickoff return.

If the Vikings cannot get their offense rolling, they may have a difficult time matching scores with the Lions, who are averaging 23.1 points per game. The good news is that Detroit carries a defense that is rated just 31st overall by Pro Football Focus.

The last game between these two teams was close, and it took a late rally and an overtime touchdown for Detroit to secure the win. We don’t believe this one will go into overtime, but we do think …

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