NFL 2024 Season - Week 12
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Articles published multiple times per week, offering insights and picks on upcoming games.
 
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Week 12
Hot to Trot
Try, Try, Try, Try, Try Again
Week 11
Mouse Trap
Must Game
Malfunction
Easy Does It
Old Foes
Falcons Fly into Mile High
Matter of Time
Improv
To the Brink
Week 10
Odd Man Out
Lions come Calling
Rookie versus Veteran
Call to Action
Full Reverse
When 8-0 is 4-4
Game of Contradictions
NFC West Bunch
Early Boarding
Week 9
Not Enough, Too Much
Real or Imposters
Groin Shot
Best Show
Saddle Up
Dull Edges
Telling Actions
Annihilation Formula
Week 8
No and No
Old Glory
Rookie Face Off
Adding it Up
Holding On
Jets Down
Unload and Reload
No Surprise
Career Paths
It Hurts
Week 7
Harbaugh Monday
Kids Camp
Barkley Back
Bird Battle
Mouse Time
Too Many?
Gone Shopping
Not Bad
40 for 3
Week 6
Try New
Night Vision
Trap Door
Looking Up
Wake Up Call
All Good Things
Bad Idea
Unexpected
Fire One
Week 5
Yes & Yes
Old Rivals
Rookie Sensation
So Close
Lunch in Seattle
Wake the Roosters
No Respect
Too Sweet
Turtle Flip
Week 4
Landmine
Bottoms Up
Winners and Losers
Call Me
Short Line
Reality Bites
Like Tonight
Uptick
Challenge Generates Performance
Week 3
Two Times
Reduced Value
Stars Down
The Other 21
Opportunity Knocks
Lots of Questions
Move Along People
Times Up
Week 2
Confidence Game
First and Second Picked QB's
Avoiding the Donut
Do or Die
One for the Road
Likewise
Adjustment Bureau
Down ... Not Out
Week 1
Time Marches On
Cashing the Trade
Start Here
Say What
Quick Up, Quick Down
Brazil Play Date
Top Two Open
Super Bowl Pick
Season Win Totals
Moving on Up
Breakout to Breakdown
Preseason 4
Preseason Wrap
Rookie Playoff Run
Preseason 3
Short Memory
Two In, One Up
Eagles Hunt
Winning Formula
Preseason 2
Quarterback Shuffle
One Two, or Two One
Starters Sit
Remote Control
Money be Damned
Preseason 1
One Season to the Next
Public Shift
Comets in the Night
Offseason
Mahomes Chasing History
All's Well that Ends Well
Ups and Downs
     
 
Rookie Sensation
by Dennis Ranahan

When the National Football League kicks off Week Five Sunday action today in London with the New York Jets meeting the Minnesota Vikings, weather conditions will be very cloudy. In the states, at two NFL game sites rain is in the forecast, at Jacksonville where the Jaguars host the Indianapolis Colts and for tonight’s game in Pittsburgh between the Steelers and Dallas Cowboys.

None of the current weather forecasts should present any conditions that would adversely affect action on the field.

After four weeks of regular season play there are two teams with four wins against no losses, the Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings. Following the Tennessee Titans Monday night victory over the Miami Dolphins only one NFL squad remains that has not won a game this year, the Jacksonville Jaguars. They will look to erase that stat today when they host the Indianapolis Colts.

No team has been more of a pleasant surprise this season than the Washington Commanders and their rookie quarterback, Jayden Daniels. The Commanders acquired Daniels with the second overall pick in this year’s NFL draft. That second slot appears to have some pretty good value. Last year, the Houston Texans got C.J. Stroud with the second overall pick. In 2018, Sam Darnold was the third overall selection.

Stroud led the Texans from the cellar to the playoffs in his rookie season. Darnold is currently leading the Vikings to their unblemished 4-0 mark. Still, it may be Daniels that is the most incredible story of recent drafts. Chosen by the Commanders after the Chicago Bears made Caleb Williams the first overall selection, through four games the Washingon rookie has strung together a completion percentage unmatched in NFL history.

Understand this, we are not just talking about a rookie or the first four weeks of a season, we are noting that Daniels has the highest completion percentage for a four-game stretch over any quarterback at any time in history. In his first four professional games, Daniels has hit on 82.1 percent of his passes and over the prior three weeks has guided Dan Quinn’s squad to wins over the New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals by scores of 21-18, 38-33 and 42-14 respectively.

Today, the Commanders are favored over the Cleveland Browns by three points in Washington.

Now, I won’t deliver the Browns today but that is really against my better judgment. Nobody wants the Browns, everybody is taken by Daniels success which means this, a seismic shift is likely in this game and an edge, no money, goes to the dog with the points.

The public has checked in with their three favorite plays of the week beginning with that contest, taking the Commanders (-3) over the Browns. The public’s top three picks each week through the first four weeks of the 2023 season are 1 and 11 against the point spread. In addition to the Commanders, the next two most popular plays by the betting public are the Seattle Seahawks (-7) over the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings (-2½) over the New York Jets in a game that has started 90 minutes before this column is posted.

The Qoxhi Week Five selections are now shown on this site along with their money management numbers, If a Bullet Play develops in the final hour before the 10:00 a.m. kickoffs, that game will be added to the list of recommendations by 9:45 a.m. Pacific Time.