There's nothing quite like Thanksgiving weekend for football! Falling asleep on the couch watching the Lions get slaughtered year after year. You can't beat that!

• Atlanta 27 (-3), Detroit 7 (42 O/U) [P: $6.67, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $6.67]: A lot happened here. Detroit couldn't do anything. Someone should have told them to eat the turkey AFTER the game. I was traveling during this game, which was probably just as well. Everyone I talked to who watched the game said it wasn't even worth it. Then what does Detroit go and do after a poor on-field performance? They fire their coach. Yeah, the fact that they've lost more games than any NFL team since 2001 (which, by the way, is three years before Mariuchi took over) is completely the coach's fault. Matt Millen (who got a five year extension thsi year) had nothing to do with it. Oh, and it's all Mariuchi's fault that Harrington at times can't hit the side of a barn with a pass. Can you tell that I don't think he should have been fired? If the Ford family wants to start cleaning house, start at the top and get rid of the other M & M brother.?Still, now that the deed is done, the bigger question is will Mariucci land another head coaching job? No other former Lion coach has - ever. I think Steve will be the first, though.
• Denver 24 (-2.5), Dallas 21 (41.5 O/U) [P: $7.63, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.01, T: $26.64]: At least the other Thursday game was a little more exciting. This started a string of OT games from NFC East teams, and none of them ended the way the NFC East teams would have hoped for. This is going back a way, but how bad did Clarett have to be that Shanahan didn't think Clarett could run? He can take just about any back and turn him into a 1000 yard rusher. Need evidence? If it wasn't for Bell and Anderson, Ron Dayne, who was a bust in New York, would probably be a 1000 yard rusher this year. And this week, he got his chance - and made the msot of it, getting the big run that sealed the deal in OT.
• Baltimore 29, Cincinnati 42 (-9) (37 O/U) [P: $2.08, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.62, T: $21.70]: The stats look (oddly) similar between these two teams. Both teams had 3 passing TDs and a 100 yard rusher. But Cincy capitalized on their opportunities. They had 22 picks and an extra rushing TD. No defensive minded teams here!
• Carolina 13 (-4), Buffalo 9 (36.5 O/U) [P: $5.56, S: $0.00, O/U: $9.52, T: $15.08]: Buffalo was very close to getting this one! One drive for Carolina turned this one around, and got them the W.
• Chicago 13, Tampa Bay 10 (-3) (33 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($30.00)]: Despite playing in the NFC North and taking a lot of knocks for that, the Bears defense is stellar. They are playing better than the '85 Bears, which is what everyone in Chicago compares any good defense to. If they had a good offense (one not led by a rookie quarterback), they could be battling the Colts to be the last undefeated team.
• Cleveland 12, Minnesota 24 (-4) (39.5 O/U) [P: $5.10, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $5.10]: So, Culpepper's out for the season, you're stuck with your backup QB, and you get on?a winning streak. Does that mean that Culpepper won't be back next year, or that they'll be interested in trading him? I doubt it, but it's an interesting thought. Think about him going to reunite with Moss in Oakland. They both strive together, and Collins isn't exactly getting Moss the balls he needs. That would be a very good Oakland offense!
• New England 16, Kansas City 26 (-3) (51 O/U) [P: $6.85, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $6.85]: People talk about the NFC being weak, yet no one's really talking about the AFC East. New England, after losing, is 6-5. And leading the division. There are four wild card contenders with better records than that! Kansas City's one of them.
• San Diego 23 (-3), Washington 17 (43 O/U) [P: $6.29, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $6.29]: So is San Diego. And they beat another NFC East team in OT. I did see something that shocked me though - a semi-celebration from Tomlinson. Nothing over the top, but it was different to see him do that. Combine that with his slowing down on the OT touchdown, and it was a different L.T. Of course, his 180+ yards and three TDs was normal.
• San Francisco* 22, Tennessee 33 (-7) (42.5 O/U) [P: $3.08, S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($16.92)]: How do people watch games like this?
• St. Louis 33 (-3.5), Houston 27 (45 O/U) [P: $5.88, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.52, T: $25.41]: I couldn't believe this one was this close! The Texans were up 24-3 at half time and blew it. Oddly, the St. Louis comeback kept them in the running for the NFC West title - not that they really have a chance, but it's still technically possible. What a great performance from a quarterback with no experience!
• Jacksonville 24 (-3.5), Arizona 17 (41 O/U) [P: $6.02, S: $10.00, O/U: $0.00, T: $16.02]: Jacksonville has a fairly easy schedule from here on out (except Indy), but will that be enough to offset the loss of Leftwich for a few weeks? Probably. They should finish the season 4-1, but anything is possible, right?
• Miami* 33, Oakland 21 (-7) (42 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: $10.00, O/U: $9.26, T: $9.26]: Meaningless games in week 12. Both ways - neither team is a playoff team, and neither has a chance at the first pick in the draft. It must be hard to get up to play.
• Green Bay 14, Philadelphia 19 (-3.5) (42 O/U) [P: $5.10, S: $10.00, O/U: $9.52, T: $24.63]: Mike McMahon can lead the Eagles to victory without their best receiver, yet Detroit got rid of him and kept Joey Harrington. Hmm.
• New York Giants 21, Seattle 24 (-4.5) (47.5 O/U) [P: $5.24, S: ($10.00), O/U: ($10.00), T: ($14.76)]: The third and final NFC East team to lose in overtime, and they shouldn't have. Field goal kicking bites them - three misses late in the game. And people say that kickers aren't part of the team. I bet New York realizes they're part of the game, and not in a good way.
• New Orleans 21 (-2), New York Jets 19 (37 O/U) [P: ($10.00), S: $0.00, O/U: $9.26, T: ($0.74)]: Here's two teams heading in the wrong direction. At least one of them has some hope of getting their quarterback back next year. The other is?stuck with the one they have.
• Pittsburgh 7, Indianapolis 26 (-7) (47 O/U) [P: $3.08, S: $10.00, O/U: ($10.00), T: $3.08]: Indy set the tone early and never looked back. Does Indy have a weakness? I think Pittsburgh has one of the best, physical?defenses the Colts will see all season, and they dismantled them, showing they can not just play a physical game, but win a physical game. Not to mention, they are the first non-Patriot team to beat Roethlisberger, who looked just a little bit rusty coming back from injury.

Results Summary

• Picks (this week): 13 - 3 (81.25%) - Winnings: $38.58: It's getting easier to pick the winners each week, but the oddsmakers agree - which is why the money lines are making it tough to be profitable. I picked over 80% right, and only got less than a 25% return.
• Picks (season): 110 - 66 (62.50%) - Winnings: ($88.89): I'm working my way back to the black. At this rate, I'll be back in black by week 17.
• Spread (this week): 11 - 3 (78.57%) - Winnings: $80.00: Another big spread week for me. I could be positive next week!
• Spread (season): 82 - 89 (47.95%) - Winnings: ($70.00): Only down by $70.00 Not bad, considering that at this point, I would have put down more than $1,700. That's a loss, but of only 4%. That's better than tech stocks in '02.
• Over/Under (this week): 7 - 8 (46.67%) - Winnings: ($14.29): I go back and forth on this. Some weeks are good, and some are bad. Usually, bad weeks happen when I pick the games correctly, and good weeks happen when I screw up my game picks. This week, I did great picking games, and therefore, my over/under picks are bad.
• Over/Under (season): 83 - 88 (48.54%) - Winnings: ($86.08): I don't think this one will go back in the positive this year.
• Total Weekly Winnings: $104.29: Another great week. Hopefully, I can keep it up.
• Total Overall Winnings: ($244.97): If I got three more weeks like this one, then I would be positive for the season. That would be huge!

Let's keep it going. I'll make more picks on Thursday.