Yardbarker
x
5 outrageous predictions for Week 12 of the NFL season
Tom Brady and the New England Patriots face their toughest challenge so far this season with the Denver Broncos. Jim Rogash/Getty Images

5 outrageous predictions for Week 12 of the NFL season

There are more than a handful of teams around the NFL that could use a big win in order to remain viable in the playoff race heading into December.


One of those teams — a suddenly surging Kansas City Chiefs squad — will be taking on another .500 team with playoff implications galore. Can Alex Smith continue his stellar play en route to a win over the Buffalo Bills?

In a game between two teams pretty much guaranteed of playing in the second season, Brock Osweiler and the Denver Broncos will host an undefeated New England Patriots squad. Can the recently inserted starter pull off the upset here?

These are two of the games we look at in our weekly outrageous predictions article.

1. Denver Broncos will hand the New England Patriots first loss

This isn't all too crazy to think about. Denver boasts the best pass defense in the NFL and will be taking on an injury-plagued Patriots team that's without running back Dion Lewis and top receiver Julian Edelman.

Not only has Denver yielded the fewest passing yards in the league, it has allowed just eight touchdown passes in 10 games. Some might think that Tom Brady will then find a way to get Rob Gronkowski involved between the hashes.

While that's a tremendous strategy in theory, it's important to note that Denver will be able to throw double teams his way throughout the night.

Offensively, the Broncos found a completely different dimension with Brock Osweiler replacing Peyton Manning under center last week. Denver went for a season-high 170 rushing yards, mainly due to the fact that the Chicago Bears had to account for Osweiler's strong arm down the field.

If Osweiler is able to avoid the turnover bug and the Broncos defense plays up to its capabilities, Denver should be able to hand the Patriots their first loss of the season at home on Sunday night.

2. Alex Smith's streak without an interception will continue in win over the Buffalo Bills

After yet another stellar outing last week against the San Diego Chargers, Smith is playing some of the best football of his career. He has now gone seven consecutive games (238 passes) without an interception. The enigmatic veteran has also led Kansas City to an average of 32.5 points during its four-game winning streak.

With both the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills at 5-5 on the season, this becomes a near must-win for both team's playoff hopes. They are currently tied for the last wild card spot, meaning a win here would give either team the upper-hand moving forward.

Buffalo has relied on a plus-four turnover differential to keep its playoff hopes alive while the team continues to struggle with penalties on both sides of the ball. Meanwhile, Kansas City has not turned the ball over during its four-game winning streak, forcing a total of 12 turnovers during that span.

If Smith is able to continue playing mistake-free football here, the Chiefs will likely find a way to win their fifth consecutive and gain an upper-hand on the Bills in their race for one of two wild card spots in the AFC.

3. Pittsburgh Steelers will hand Seattle Seahawks third home loss of the season

Seattle may be coming off a 500-yard performance in a dominating win against the San Francisco 49ers, but we have to look at the opponent the two-time defending NFC champs were going up against there. San Francisco ran out a starting backfield that included Blaine Gabbert and Shaun Draughn. Enough said!

This upcoming week against a well-rested Pittsburgh Steelers team will be a completely different story. Prior to his team's Week 11 bye, Ben Roethlisberger put up his best performance of the season, tallying 379 passing yards and three scores.

In the five games that Big Ben has started and finished this season, Pittsburgh is averaging four touchdowns per outing. In the games that he has either missed completely or was knocked out of due to injury, Pittsburgh is putting up 19 points per. That's how much of a difference he makes to this offense.

Meanwhile, Seattle's defense has been vulnerable of late. Even in a 29-13 win over the hapless 49ers last week, the Legion of Boom still yielded over 300 yards of total offense, including 264 to Gabbert himself. Overall, Seattle has given up an average of 380 total yards and 26.3 points in its past three home games.

Look for Pittsburgh to have a tremendous amount of success on offense, especially with Heath Miller between the hashes. After all, Seattle's defense has been anything but stellar against tight ends this year, yielding 72 percent completion rating and 124.5 quarterback rating to that position on the season.

4. Todd Gurley will go for 200-plus yards against the Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati has been stout against the run of late, giving up an average of just 77.7 yards over the past three games. However, it must be noted that Marvin Lewis and Co. weren't necessarily going up against the best running backs in the NFL during that span. In fact, two of those three games came against offenses that rank in the bottom 10 of the NFL on the ground.

Sunday's outing against Gurley is going to be completely different. While the rookie has seen his numbers drop dramatically over the past three games (66.7 average), he's still averaging a ridiculous 110 rushing yards in games he's been the Rams primary ball carrier.

Remember, Cincinnati yielded 540-plus rushing yards in the four games immediately prior to this current three-game stretch. Those outings came against rushing offenses on par with what the Rams will be throwing Cincinnati's way on Sunday. Look for a huge performance from Gurley in this one.

5. Jacksonville Jaguars will win third straight, earn tie for first in AFC South

Beating the San Diego Chargers isn't necessarily a major accomplishment these days. San Diego has lost its past six games, including a whopping 30-point defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs last week.

Though, it must be noted that Jacksonville has not won three consecutive games since the latter part of the 2013 season. In fact that's the only win streak the Jaguars have of more than two games since Jack Del Rio was their coach back in 2009.

With a win here, Jacksonville will keep pace with the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts near the top of the AFC South.

Considering the skill-position talent this team has, it seems reasonable to expect that Jacksonville will be able to find a way to fend off a horrible Chargers team at home on Sunday. If so, fans in Duval will be thinking playoffs. 

Check out Vincent's other work on eDraft.com and follow him on Twitter @VincentFrankNFL

 

More must-reads:

Customize Your Newsletter

+

Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.