1. Let’s not get caught up in whether or not any of these games will be played. As any regular readers know, predictions are not my game. So I know better than to try to predict how the legal battle between the greedy-no-good NFL owners and the NFLPA. Also the whole prospect of a work stoppage has me more depressed than the U.S.S. Stingray on a 500-foot dive. (Points to anyone that got that Down Periscope reference.)
2. I also promise to avoid badgering the greedy-no-good NFL owners. As my twitter followers are well aware, I have been there and done that.

Now, let’s talk some NFL for the 2011 season as I hand a few “Doctor’s orders” for the NFL scheduling committee…

The Jets and Giants should have played each other on 9-11

When the Giants and Jets have an opportunity to play on the 10th anniversary of 9-11, you put it on the NFL schedule. Not only that, the Giants-Jets game on 9-11 should be kicked off before all the other games at a special 12:30 pm start. Seriously, how great would it be to see both New York teams face off 10 years after one of the worst attacks on U.S. soil? Huge missed opportunity there by the NFL in my opinion.

We need to re-work the Thursday Night model

Good rule of thumb: No NFL team should have to travel out of their own timezone for a Thursday night game. Why create an obvious home field advantage to a team during a short week if we don’t have to?

Speaking of Thursday games, Detroit and Dallas should still host every Thanksgiving game. Traditions aside, there are several reasons why: For starters: it totally throws you off as a fan when your team plays on Turkey Day. When the Eagles played on Thanksgiving two years ago I had to make arrangements with people I had never met before to make sure that they had the NFL Network. Luckily they had it, but how embarrassing!

Another problem to consider: What if your Thanksgiving dinner host isn’t a football fan? Even if your host is a fan, you could be stuck at the dinner table with no TV during the second half of a thriller. No body wants that.

Schedule better teams for the primetime openers

On the other hand, Oakland should not get to play the second half of every MNF opener doubleheader. In fact, division winners should face off on the MNF openers, before their seasons are derailed by injury/off years. If a rematch of the conference title games is schedule permitting, the Thursday and Sunday night openers will do. If conference title rematches are out then schedule the highest seeds possible from the previous season for the Thursday night and Sunday night openers

Luckily, we’re not reinventing the wheel here. With just a few minor tweaks, the NFL schedule could have been much better. My guess is that more time was spent scheduling court appearances and working in make-up weeks than towards putting together an A-plus lineup. I mean, it’s not like the NFL TV contracts weren’t worked in with the lockout in mind, right?

Let’s end this before I go on another rant about those greedy-no-good NFL owners…

New England (-6.5) over DETROIT

You can’t pick against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick against the Detroit Lions (2-8) right? The return of the Death by a Thousand Paper Cuts Offense has the Patriots (8-2) playing like it’s 2004 again — winning games by with an efficient offense. Now if only that defense could find that same early 2000’s magic. Luckily for the Pats, the Shaun Hill magic appears to have run out in the Motor City, making Detroit no match for a team tied for the NFL’s best record.

Now there’s a lot of talk out there about possibly taking the Lions out of their annual Thanksgiving showcase game, all of it completely justifiable. When I was but a young lad, Thanksgiving morning and early afternoon afforded me the opportunity to watch Barry Sanders weave his magic wand on a new opponent every year. Since his retirement, however, Detroit has been pretty much a laughing stock, thus earning the coveted “Worst Team in Football” trophy for much of the last decade. Having to watch their sorry asses get crowned every year on Thanksgiving is really not entertainment.

With that said, I like the NFL’s Thanksgiving tradition of Detroit and Dallas. Call it the Double D tradition on Thanksgiving, and frankly, anyone that doesn’t like having Double D’s shoved in their face on Thanksgiving is not a person I’d like to know! But I’m not in favor of tradition trumping progress. (I mean, I’m a liberal for gosh sakes!) So I propose this: Detroit, you have one more Thanksgiving to turn around your franchise. If you get blown out this year against New England, then I’m sorry, but you’ve lost your right to host your annual Thanksgiving game. If you lose and make it a good game, then you’ve earned the right to try again next year — only next year, you need to win to keep it. In fact, I would love this new system. If you win at home on Thanksgiving, you get to host another Thanksgiving game the following year.

Anyway, the moral of the story: get your act together, Lions. Play a competitive game for once this year on Turkey Day. I just don’t think that will happen this year. Do you really think that the Patriots won’t beat the Lions by at least a touchdown?

DALLAS (+4) over New Orleans

This is a shaky pick. On the one hand, we have an underachieving Saints (7-3) team in second place in its division. On the other hand, there’s an underachieving Cowboys (3-7) team that is in last place in its division and saw its coach get fired. Based upon that logic, only a fool would take Dallas to upset the defending champs.

The fool that I am is picking the Cowboys to win based upon their 24-17 victory over the Saints last year. The Dallas defense dominated the line of scrimmage in that Saturday night affair and gave New Orleans their first loss of the season after starting out 13-0. Plus, Jason Garrett finally has this Cowboys team playing up to its talent level, despite the loss of Tony Romo. A lot of that credit show go to Jon Kitna, but more should go to Dez Bryant and Garrett’s move to get him more involved in the offense. The best praise I can give Bryant is that, as an Eagles fan, he scares the living crap out of me.

On the Saints side, their kicker is completely unreliable (never good), their defense isn’t forcing as many turnovers as last season (justifiable), and their running game is almost non-existent (injuries happen). Those things could all be brushed under the rug if Drew Brees was having the kind of season we’ve grown to expect out of him. Contrary to some of the MVP hype he’s received, Brees has not had an All-Pro season — though one could argue he’s at least played at a Pro Bowl level. His 14 interceptions are third worst in the NFL.

So I’m looking for the Cowboys to upset the Saints in their traditional Thanksgiving showcase.

JETS (-9) over Cincinnati

Last year, the Jets (8-2) laid a whoopin’ on the Bengals (2-8) in back-to-back week’s last year (37-0 in Week 17 and 24-14 in the first round of the playoffs). This year’s Jets team is much improved — thanks to the additions of Santonio Holmes and LaDainian Tomlinson as well as the continued maturity of one Mark “Sanchize” Sanchez — while the Bengals have regained their familiar Bungle stench. Why should Cincinnati avoid a third straight beatdown?

Check back tomorrow for the rest of my Week 12 picks.

The return of football generally makes men in America quiver with excitement like John Madden at an all-you-can eat Sizzler buffet, but the way the contest played out made the anticipation a little easier to curtail.

After a big ceremony at the Superdome with much fanfare, Brett Favre reminded us with his play (15 of 27 passes for 171 yards, just four passes completed to his receivers) that age is a factor in professional sports. Who is waiting on an NFC Championship Game repeat now?

The Saints, meanwhile, illustrated why repeating as Super Bowl champions will likely not be as easy as everyone in the Big Easy would have you believe. They scored just 14 points — the lowest output in a victory in the Sean Payton era — and practically handed away the game, giving Favre and the out-of-synch Vikings every chance to win the game.

But they didn’t give it away, and to New Orleans, 1-0 is beautiful, regardless of the unsightliness of the game itself.

The nature of this game combined with various off season NFL happenings signals that the door could be wide open for several up-and-coming teams to win it all in 2010.

Let’s start with the AFC, beginning with a look at HBO’s Hard Knocks case study, the New York Jets.

New York Jets

After upgrading with several key offseason veteran additions (Antonio Cromartie, LaDainian Tomlinson, Jason Taylor, Santonio Holmes), Gang Green is the sexy AFC pick to get to Super Bowl XLV. It, of course, remains to be seen whether these aging stars will help a team that made a surprise run to the AFC title game last year improve, or whether they will just be new faces in a familiar place for the Jets franchise: Disappointment. Coach Rex Ryan’s brash style is either the boldest, baddest thing to come from a Jet since Joe Namath’s guarantee, or it is another in a long line of Jets flops. With all the uncertainty in the league, it seems like the cards — for once — may be stacked in the Jets’ favor.

Prediction: 12-4, AFC East champ, loss in Super Bowl

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans, incidentally, may emerge to be one of the most exciting teams to watch this season. After finishing 9-7 last year behind the eventual AFC champion Colts, they have quarterback Matt Schaub returning, who led the league in passing yards last year. They also have one of the most explosive receivers in Andre Johnson. This could be the season where Houston really begins to contend within the division and beyond.

Prediction: 11-5, AFC South champ, loss in Divisional round

Cincinnati Bengals

The final AFC team to keep an eye on is the Cincinnati Bengals. They play a schedule as tough as anybody else in the league (out of division opponents: Jets, Patriots, Dolphins, Chargers, Saints) and feature two of the receivers with the biggest mouths in the league (Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens). Coming off a 10-6 season and an AFC North title, the Bengals will try to build upon their recent success, which includes putting the ball less in the hands of running back Cedric Benson and more in the hands of stud pocket-passing quarterback Carson Palmer, who will have the (un)enviable task of trying to satisfy both Owens’ and Ochocinco’s need for receptions. Their defense also should be around the same level as last year’s top-five unit: Premiere coverage at the corners, but a mediocre pass rush may not create turnovers, but should limit points.

Prediction: 10-6 Wildcard berth, loss in Divisional round

The NFL season promises to be a memorable and surprising one. In the words of T.O.: Get your popcorn ready.

Now it’s the title of Taking Back Sports Draft Guru for Jack of All Sports, and he didn’t even need to pick the entire first round.

With eight correct guesses despite ignoring the final 11 selections (including the game-winner: predicting the New York Jets to trade up for USC QB Mark Sanchez), Jack edged the hard-charging Commish’s seven draft selections.

Final NFL Mock Draft Standings

1. Jack of All Sports — an easy 8
2. The Commish — an honest 7
3. Dr. Sports Fan – a pathetic 2
4. Brady (Editor) — 1 thank you to Matthew Stafford

Winning the title of Taking Back Sports Draft Guru is one thing. Doing so while leaving over a third of his mock draft blank, that’s the stuff of legend.

As the undefeated master of the Taking Back Sports sports writers, he will be henceforth known as Jack Bauer of All Sports.

-Dr. Sports Fan