This year, Thanksgiving was spent with family and I didn’t even watch football. I did watch the Packers play on Monday night however, where the cheeseheads finally stopped their losing streak and put on a show in Philly. The defense definitely has holes. The running game is non-existent… but dammit if I’m not proud of what the team can do when it faces its toughest adversity. Give it up for Ripkowski, a full back (a dying position in the league) getting his first – and the teams first by a back (Rodgers has run in 3 himself) touchdown. Give it up for Adams, who’s head I was personally calling for earlier this season, who is finally turning into the player they said he could be. Give it up for Rodgers most of all, for putting the team on his shoulders once again, but this time willing them to victory. Let’s not focus on the shitty month of football they just had. Let’s focus on the fact that at 5-6, they’re still in the playoff hunt. And if this team gets hot like it did a few years back… look out!

This week’s opposition is the Texans at Lambeau, and I expect a victory. I expect the team to win week in and week out and we all know how hard that is to do. But they’re my team and I always feel like we will be victorious. It’s been hard to pick my team each week knowing that they would probably drop some, and a few weeks ago I would have thought the division would already be theirs and this game would be fairly meaningless (and an easy win). Knowing what I know now, it’s likely that this will still be a challenging game, particularly because the Texans are a game up on the Pack, but I’m fairly certain that we come out of the match 6-6. Time will tell. Here’s my picks for the week:

Cowboys 28, Vikings 13
Falcons 27, Chiefs 24
Saints 24, Lions 21
Patriots 30, Rams 10
Broncos 24, Jags 7
Packers 27, Texans 13
Bengals 23, Eagles 14
Ravens 21, Dolphins 17
Bears 20, 49ers 16
Raiders 31, Bills 19
Steelers 26, Giants 20
Redskins 30, Cardinals 21
Chargers 23, Buccs 20
Seahawks 33, Panthers 13
Colts 21, Jets 9