Oakland Raiders @ Green Bay Packers Sun. Dec. 11, 2011 4:15 p.m. EST

After 13 weeks of the NFL regular season, the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers have been as advertised with 12 straight wins and a flawless record coming into Week 14’s matchup against the Oakland Raiders. With superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers the clear favorite for NFL MVP and the Packers offense firing on all cylinders right now, the perfect season has never been more realistic and plausible than it is right now.

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The Green Bay Packers defense might not be what it was last season with Clay Matthews and company dominating opposing offenses, but they are still good enough to maintain leads for this undefeated team and that is good enough to keep winning football games in the title defense. With only four games left in the regular season, the Packers will try to maintain this dominance over their opponents with a seemingly unstoppable offense led by arguably the best quarterback in the NFL.

Jermichael Finley

In Week 14, the Green Bay Packers will try to keep the perfect season alive as they will host the gritty Oakland Raiders at Lambeau Field. The fact that this game is being play at Lambeau in winter gives the Packers a big advantage, but the Raiders have been a scrappy team this season that could come into Green Bay and do the impossible by handing Aaron Rodgers and company their first loss of the season.

Unfortunately, the Oakland Raiders are coming off a disappointing loss to the lowly Miami Dolphins in Week 13 and may have suffered a big hit to the team’s overall confidence. The Raiders are definitely a team on the rise in the NFL right now as they seem to be coming together with Carson Palmer under center and a vastly improved defense, but this team is streaky and tends to go through many ups-and-downs in their attempt to get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2002.

With the red-hot Denver Broncos in a tie for AFC West division lead, the Oakland Raiders will have to get back to form as soon as possible in order to avoid falling to second place within the division standing. The Raiders are definitely capable of pulling off the upset this week over the Packers, but chances are that they go to Green Bay and suffer a second straight loss.

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The one thing that will be challenged constantly this Sunday at Lambeau Field will be the Raiders defense. Trying to contain Aaron Rodgers and this potent offense of the Packers. There is no doubt that the Packers will put up points, but whether or not Oakland can limit their production remains to be seen.

As of right now, the Green Bay Packers have been favored to come out on top in this one with a -12 point spread. Even though the Packers could pull this off, I believe the smart bet would be to take the Raiders.

Take the Raiders at +12.

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New York Giants @ Dallas Cowboys Sun. Dec. 11, 2011 8:20 p.m. EST

Every single season there is a tough battle being fought in the NFC East division as all four teams usually compete for the division title and shot to make it into the playoffs. This season is much different though as only two teams are in the running for the NFC East title coming into Week 14 despite all the hype surrounding the supposed “Dream Team” and the Washington Redskins thought to be turning things around for Mike Shanahan.

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With the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys being the only teams left in the running for the division title, Week 14’s showdown at Cowboys Stadium will be must-win situation for both storied NFL franchises. The Giants are coming off a very disappointing loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers in which they seriously threatened the perfect season by taking Aaron Rodgers and company the distance.

In Week 14, the Eli Manning and his boys will have a similar challenge in trying to score against a vastly improved Dallas Cowboys defense. Not only will Manning have a tough challenge ahead of him by get the best of Rob Ryan’s defense, but the Giants defense might have an even tougher challenge trying to contain Tony Romo and the potent Cowboys offense.

Even though the Dallas Cowboys have been playing much better since the emergence of running back DeMarco Murray, Jason Garrett’s squad suffered a setback last week with an overtime loss to the lowly Arizona Cardinals. Apparently, Garrett iced rookie kicker Dan Bailey in overtime by calling a timeout before he kicked a field goal that was good and would have won the game. Bailey’s second kick was no good and the Cowboys lost a game they should’ve dominated.

Coming into this game, the Dallas Cowboys are in first place in the NFC East and have the division title to lose, but the New York Giants are in a much different as their playoffs hopes are on the line. With the Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons and the Chicago Bears ahead of them in the hunt for the NFC Wild Card, the Giants need to get back on track and win over the arch division rival Cowboys would be a step in the right direction.

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Even though the New York Giants are more than capable of pulling off the upset at Cowboys Stadium over the arch division rival Dallas Cowboys, Tony Romo and company will get back to form this weekend with a big win at home. This game will almost certainly be a close game as it always is, but I believe the Cowboys get the win and inch closer to the NFC East division title.

As of right now, the Dallas Cowboys are favored to come out on top in this NFC East division battle with a -3 point spread. This sounds just about right to me as the Cowboys should get the win and cover.

Take the Cowboys at -3.

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Cleveland Browns @ Pittsburgh Steelers Thurs. Dec. 8, 2011 8:20 p.m. EST

The AFC North division title will almost certainly be won by the Baltimore Ravens this season as head coach John Harbaugh has gotten this team firing on all cylinders with some big wins over the arch division rival Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not only have the Ravens gotten the best of all the teams in the AFC North this season and are bound to wrap up the division title, but they also made a statement on Thanksgiving Day by beating the San Francisco 49ers in Baltimore.

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As if the win over his younger brother Jim Harbaugh wasn’t sweet enough, John Harbaugh was able to beat one of the best teams in the league with the 49ers having the second-best record in the NFL. This win turned a lot of heads around the league as many people started to consider the Ravens as a legitimate Super Bowl title contender and perhaps the favorites to come out of the AFC Conference this season.

Steelers runningback Rashard Mendenhall

Despite no longer being in the running for the AFC North division title, the Pittsburgh Steelers still have a great chance of getting back into the playoffs through the AFC Wild Card. With the two spots in the AFC Wild Card up grabs, Big Ben Roethlisberger and company will continue to have something to play for and an opportunity to get some revenge against the red-hot Baltimore Ravens in the playoffs.

In the meantime, the Pittsburgh Steelers will have a relatively easy task at hand in Week 14 as they will host the lowly division rival Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field on Thursday night. This may be a game being played on a short week for Mike Tomlin and his aging football team, but the Steelers won’t have much competition from the Browns who have struggled all season long.

Pro Bowl running back and Madden cover athlete Peyton Hillis may have finally gotten back on the football field for the Cleveland Browns for the last two weeks, but the results have been the same for the Browns as they still can’t figure out a way to win football games. There is a slight chance that the Browns will be able to challenge the Steelers’ defense on Thursday night with some hardnosed football in the ground game, but smart money says this will be just another easy win for the Pittsburgh Steelers who will almost certainly improve their record to 10-3.

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With a 10-3 record, the Pittsburgh Steelers will take one step closer to clinching a playoff spot and the Cleveland Browns will take one step closer to getting a higher draft pick in the 2011 NFL draft.

As of right now, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been heavily favored with a -14 point spread. This spread is fairly high and something that the Steelers will struggle to cover.

Take the Browns at +14.

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Over the past few years or so, the Houston Texans have made some big strides by transforming their struggling NFL franchise from a perennial bottom feeder in the AFC Conference into a team that will be playoff bound this season. With superstar quarterback Peyton Manning (Indianapolis Colts) going down for the season and the Jacksonville Jaguars cutting starting quarterback David Garrard before Week 1, the Texans have been able to take advantage and quickly become the best team in the AFC South division.

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The Tennessee Titans have been much better than anticipated this season as veteran quarterback Matt Hasselback and the new coaching staff has breathed new life in this football team, but they are still pale in comparison to the up-and-coming Houston Texans. With the Texans having one of the most dynamic offenses in the NFL with a potent passing game and one of the best running games in the league, Houston has come on strong and is finally a force to be reckoned with.

Houston Texans

Even though everything seems to be going right for the Houston Texans as they are on the verge of making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, injuries continue to ravage this promising young football team on seemingly a weekly basis. The first major blow to the Texans came when arguably their best defensive player went down for the season with Mario Williams suffering a season-ending knee injury. Shortly after that, the Texans best wide receiver in Andre Johnson went down with an injury that kept him on the sidelines for quite some time.

Two weeks though, the Texans suffered perhaps their biggest loss of the season as starting quarterback Matt Schaub went down with a broken foot that would also keep on the sidelines for the rest of the season. As if that weren’t bad enough, a week later backup quarterback Matt Leinart also was lost for the season with a broken collarbone.

With the team’s top two quarterbacks done for the year, the Texans had to turn to T.J. Yates to run the show under center. Yates struggled in place of Leinart last week and might not be able to keep this team winning football games, but there are rumors floating around Houston that the Texans might be able to get the recently released Donovan McNabb off of waivers.

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The only way the Houston Texans have a chance of winning this football game this week against the Atlanta Falcons is if they can somehow bring in McNabb and have him ready for Sunday. That is unlikely and for that reason I believe the Texans will be on the losing side of this Week 13 showdown with the Falcons.

As of right now, the Atlanta Falcons are favored to come out on top with a -3 point spread. Even though Matt Ryan and company will be on the road, I believe the Falcons get the win while covering the spread.

Take the Falcons at -3.

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