NFL 2021: Ken Schott's Week 12 picks, TV listings

Ken Schott, The Daily Gazette, Schenectady, N.Y.
·3 min read

Nov. 24—Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoy the day with your family and friends. Lots of turkey to eat, and some NFL games to watch.

We have the traditional Thanksgiving Day NFL tripleheader. There are a couple of interesting matchups with the Las Vegas Raiders visiting the Dallas Cowboys, and the Buffalo Bills playing the New Orleans Saints.

One matchup that won't be very intriguing is the first game of the day, the Chicago Bears at the Detroit Lions. The Bears are 3-7 and have quarterback issues. They would be in last place in the NFC North if not for the inept Lions. Detroit is 0-9-1, and is looking like a team that will go 0-16-1.

Detroit has always hosted a Thanksgiving Day game. But how many of those times have the Lions been relevant, especially in the last decade? Why does the NFL continue to allow the Lions to play on Thanksgiving? Do we really want to watch bad football? If I want to watch bad football, I'll watch the New York Giants (which I will Sunday when they take on my suddenly hot Philadelphia Eagles).

It's time for the NFL to rethink the Lions hosting a Thanksgiving Day game. You want to have compelling matchups to watch while you're preparing or eating your Thanksgiving dinner. It's time for the NFL to move the Lions out of the Thanksgiving Day slot.

But for a league that's more concerned about enforcing taunting penalties than hits to the head, I doubt the NFL will consider it.

After going 4-9-1 in Week 10, I had a great Week 11. I was 11-4 to improve to 97-69-1.

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Here are my picks for Week 12.

THURSDAY

Chicago 6, Detroit 2

Dallas 30, Las Vegas 20

Buffalo 21, New Orleans 20

SUNDAY

Tampa Bay 28, Indianapolis 24

Houston 21, N.Y. Jets 10

Philadelphia 34, N.Y. Giants 13

Carolina 24, Miami 21

New England 28, Tennessee 21

Cincinnati 23, Pittsburgh 17

Atlanta 29, Jacksonville 15

L.A. Chargers 37, Denver 27

Green Bay 30, L.A. Rams 24

San Francisco 28, Minnesota 27

Baltimore 28, Cleveland 21

MONDAY

Washington 17, Seattle 14

WEEK 12 TV SCHEDULE

(Subject to change)

THURSDAY

FOX23 (WXXA) — Chicago at Detroit, 12:30 p.m. (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi).

CBS6 (WRGB) — Las Vegas at Dallas, 4:30 p.m. (Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, Tracy Wolfson)(Kevin Harlan, Trent Green, Melanie Collins).

NBC13 (WNYT) — Buffalo at New Orleans, 8:20 p.m. (Mike Tirico, Drew Brees, Michele Tafoya).

SUNDAY

FOX23 — Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants, 1 p.m. (Adam Amin, Mark Schlereth, Shannon Spake);

L.A. Rams at Green Bay, 4:25 p.m. (Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi).

CBS6 — Tennessee at New England, 1 p.m. (Ian Eagle, Charles Davis, Evan Washburn).

DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket — N.Y. Jets at Houston, 1 p.m. (Spero Dedes, Jay Feely, Amanda Balionis); Tampa Bay at Indianapolis, 1 p.m. (Kevin Burkhardt, Greg Olsen, Pam Oliver); Carolina at Miami, 1 p.m. (Chris Myers, Daryl Johnston, Jen Hale); Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 1 p.m. (Kevin Harlan, Trent Green, Melanie Collins); Atlanta at Jacksonville, 1 p.m. (Kevin Kugler, Mark Sanchez, Laura Okmin); L.A. Chargers at Denver, 4:05 p.m. (Greg Gumbel, Adam Archuleta, AJ Ross); Minnesota at San Francisco, 4:25 p.m. (Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilma, Sara Walsh).

NBC13 — Cleveland at Baltimore, 8:20 p.m. (Mike Tirico, Cris Collinsworth, Kathryn Tappen).

MONDAY

ESPN — Seattle at Washington, 8:15 p.m. (Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Louis Riddick, Lisa Salters).