NFL Week 12 Best Bets: Thanksgiving Leftovers

We begin this week with something a bit different. Introducing the Thanksgiving dinner Daily Fantasy draft. This is a non-competitive exercise but one that will occupy far too much of your time.

The premise is simple: Construct a Thanksgiving dinner plate for no more than $50,000. You get one protein, a potato dish, two sides, a bread, and two desserts.

WARNING: You will make at least five different lineups before you decide on a final plate.

Our lineup:

Dark turkey $8,200

Baked potato $7,000

Bread stuffing $8,500

Mac & cheese $7,800

Dinner rolls $5,000

Pumpkin pie $8,000

Carrot Cake $5,000

TOTAL: $49,500

Put the leftover $500 on a parlay, sit back and enjoy the games. On to the NFL Week 12 best bets.

The Buffalo Bills fixed what ailed them Sunday night. Or so they will tell you.

They also benefitted from playing Zach Wilson, in what may be his final start as an NFL quarterback. Wilson was so bad that he was literally tripping over his own feet.

Thanksgiving is just a rough time for Jets quarterbacks, apparently.

This week, the Bills step up in weight class by traveling to Philadelphia. This line is relatively short, assuming the Eagles will have some sort of letdown after Monday’s big win in Kansas City. Buy the discounted price. The Bills are 1-4 away from Western New York, including losses to both Wilson and Mac Jones. Jalen Hurts will feast on the leftovers that is the Bills secondary.

Play: Eagles -3 (-120 on Caesars)

A pivotal scene in the final season of “Breaking Bad” is when Hank confronts Jesse at Walt’s house just before he sets it on fire. Jesse breaks down, ultimately agreeing to work with the DEA to take down his former mentor. Jesse’s tag line: “He can’t keep getting away with it.”

Mike Tomlin is Heisenberg. The Steelers are 6-4 and still hold on to a playoff spot despite being outgained in every game this season. They even went down to the wire in Cleveland, against a rookie backup quarterback, despite only making one play of note offensively.

Now Pittsburgh goes to Cincinnati, after they lost Joe Burrow for the season. That leaves the Bengals with Jake Browning under center, after losing out on the Joe Flacco Sweepstakes. The Steelers can still play defense and may try to fulfill their mission of winning a game without scoring a touchdown.

Play: Steelers ML (-108 on FanDuel)

The Patriots and Giants seem to always play classics. Two Super Bowls, the 16-0 game, and two others decided in the final seconds. All since 2007. This game will not be one of them.

But it is equally important for the future of both franchises. While neither is likely to be in position for the No. 1 pick in April’s draft, there is a chance the loser could land at No. 2, where North Carolina QB Drake Maye is expected by many to be available.

New England is being, to no one’s surprise, coy about who will start at quarterback. Mac Jones has not yet officially lost his job at time of writing, but he now appears to be broken. Meanwhile, Tommy DeVito was surprisingly good against Washington. The Giants still have much of the corps of last year’s playoff team and are playing hard for Brian Daboll. That will be enough to keep them competitive.

Play: Giants +3.5 (-115 on DraftKings)

Kyler Murray, you had my curiosity; now, you have my attention.

After some wizardry gave the Cardinals a win over Atlanta, Murray nearly pulled off an upset in Houston. The Cardinals are now watchable and will be a tough out the rest of the way. The Rams snuck by Seattle despite questionable coaching that gave the Seahawks a chance to win at the buzzer. Arizona is not here for your tanking talk.

Play: Cardinals +1 (-110 on BetRivers)

The Raiders’ 2-0 start under interim head coach Antonio Pierce met us with some skepticism, as it came against the Giants and Jets at home. Last week they went across the country, playing a Dolphins team that has been electric at home, and held them to 20 points in a one-possession loss.

Coming back home and getting to face a Chiefs team on a short week after a gut punch of a loss in a highly anticipated Super Bowl rematch is a good combination facing Las Veags. The Chiefs may be forgiven for looking past a lower-level opponent — even in their own division. They will likely win, but this is a big number on short rest.

Play: Raiders +9.5 (-110 on BetMGM)

WEEK 11: 1-4

SEASON (Including GOTW): 47-35