Todd: I think I’ll refrain from complaining about winter weather after witnessing how much snow fell in western New York this week.  I still remember years ago when the Boston Globe used a picture of 7-foot former Boston Celtic Robert Parish as a measuring device for the snowfall total Boston had received that winter.  The Buffalo area has gotten a Chief’s worth of the white stuff in just three days.

Maybe the Motor City board of tourism should come up with a new marketing slogan: ‘If your football stadium is covered with snow, Detroit is the place to go.’

For the second time in five seasons, Detroit’s Ford Field will host a game not involving the Lions when the Bills and Jets play there Monday night.  The game was originally scheduled for Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium, but not surprisingly was moved.  You might recall the Minnesota Vikings had to host a game in Detroit in 2010 when an abundance of snow caused the old Metrodome roof to collapse, leading to the Vikes building a new state-of-the-art football stadium.

Enough weather chat.  Let’s talk Patriots, while trying to come up with as many clever puns as possible for the former Notre Dame running back who came within a dozen yards of breaking Tony Collins’ 31-year old single game rushing yards record.

Seriously, Jonas Gray was immense on Sunday night, plowing through the sieve that is the Colts’ run defense.  Have to love the kid’s running style—north-south, fighting for extra yards and needing multiple tacklers to bring him to the ground.

How’s this for a stat?  The last time any NFL player ran for four touchdowns in a game without having never scored one previously was in 1921.  Halley’s Comet passes by Earth more frequently than what Gray did last week, and unlike that astronomical event, you could watch Jonas in HD without the need of a high-powered telescope.

The offensive line also deserves credit for creating the holes that Gray found and exploited.  Brilliant trap blocking from the likes of Solder/Connolly/Stork/Wendell/Vollmer, with support from tight ends Rob Gronkowski (yeah, he blocks pretty well) and the 6’6”, 317-pound house known as Cameron Fleming.

So Gray set a new regular season single-game franchise record with four rushing touchdowns, lands on this week’s cover of Sports Illustrated and then finds out the only other Patriot to run for four TDs—LeGarrette Blount, who did it in the playoffs last January against the same Colts—is signed this week after getting released by the Steelers.  The SI cover jinx continues, only this one feels a bit more personal.

What stood out most for me about this impressive Pats win was that Tom Brady played far from his best.  Keep in mind that that as Brady tries to win a fourth Lombardi trophy, the only two QBs older to win Super Bowls were Johnny Unitas and John Elway, who by the same point in their respective careers received considerable assistance from their surrounding cast to reach the top.

After Kansas City laid a ginormous egg last night against the previously winless Oakland Raiders, the Patriots appear to be in the driver’s seat to claim the top seed in the AFC, meaning they’ll have only two more road challenges ahead of them this season, both happening in the next three weeks.

But first, the 7-3 Lions visit Foxboro this weekend.  Detroit has allowed the fewest points in the league and haven’t allowed more than 24 points to any opponent this season.  They’ve beaten two QBs on the level of Brady (Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees), although both those wins were played at the cozy confines of Ford Field, home of the Lions (and teams that get snowed in).

While I can envision the Lions’ defense holding the Pats to fewer points than Brady and Company have averaged in their last three wins (45), it likely still won’t be enough for them to pull off the upset.  I say this because QB Matthew Stafford is 0-15 against winning teams on the road in his career, dating back to 2009).  Only one of those losses occurred this season, but it was last week in Arizona when the Cardinals kept Detroit out of the end zone.

Now time for my Week 12 picks (1-2 last week, 20-9-1 season): the Falcons over the Browns, Eagles over the Titans and the Colts over the Jaguars.  I’m staying away from Jets-Bills, especially since they’re still trying to dig out Ralph Wilson Stadium from close to seven feet of snow.

As is our norm, we’re off next week to give thanks and stuff our faces.  So I’ll offer a brief thought on what might be a potential SB preview next weekend (particularly according to Mike) when the Pats travel to Lambeau Field to play the Packers.  If the Pats are going to have a late-season hiccup, it’ll likely be on the road at a venue where many opponents struggle (plus it hurts less in the land of playoff tiebreakers if the Pats lose to an NFC team).  Let’s go with Packers 27, Patriots 21.

It’s also become the norm for all my Week 13 picks to involve the Thanksgiving Day games, so I’ll take the Lions over the Bears, Cowboys over the Eagles and the 49ers over the Seahawks in a huge game for the NFC West rivals.

Mike: I think Todd has said it all this week, and since I have a massive schedule of games to pick, I'm going to get right to it.

This week, I like the Patriots over Detroit. The Lions might be 7-3, but I'm just not that big of a believer in them. New England is hitting on all cylinders right now, and I don't see them losing at home. Pats win 35-17.

As for next week, I do see this as a potential Super Bowl preview. New England and Green Bay are the class of the NFL, and this will be a good test for the Patriots. As much as I want to predict this the other way, I have to go with my head, as I can't see New England winning in Green Bay this late in the season. Packers 25-Patriots 21.

For my picks (2-1 last week, 21-9 season): This week, unlike Todd, I am going to be bold and go there with Jets-Bills. Buffalo pulls together and wins this one. As for the other games, I'll take the Cowboys over the Giants and Denver over Miami.

For Turkey Day, I'll go with Detroit over Chicago, Dallas over Philly and Seattle over the Niners.

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