Will Brinson’s NFL Week 12 picks, best bets: Send Aaron Rodgers to the Vikings, sneaky Over in AFC East battle |Max Sporty|

The Jets’ season is over. It was probably never really going to start the way the organization is structured. And the regime brought in to fix things disappeared, with Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas fired midseason after presiding over a roster that owner Woody Johnson deemed “the most talented ever” for the Jets.

Oh! Where the Jets go from here will be fascinating, but not nearly as fascinating as where Aaron Rodgers goes. It is impossible to believe that he will retire at the absolute nadir of his career. If he wanted to leave, he should have done it before he joined the Jets. You can’t win multiple MVPs with the Packers, force them to draft your successor, throw a huge hiss about it, force a trade to the Jets, disappoint a long-suffering fan base and just call it quits when it comes to your career.

No sir. If you do that, you are a deleter. Instead, Rodgers must follow the predetermined path laid out by his predecessor. Brett Favre won multiple MVPs, saw Rodgers drafted, threw a hissy fit, forced a trade to the Jets, struggled, got hurt and then decided to sign with the Vikings. It was an all-time heel move that drove Packers fans crazy.

And now Rodgers has the chance to do the funniest thing ever.

The Vikings have only one quarterback under contract for the 2025 season and it’s rookie JJ McCarthy, who hasn’t taken a single regular season snap. NFL snapper and who recently underwent a second procedure to treat a season-ending knee injury he suffered in the preseason.

Sam Darnold has been a revelation this season, but he has also stumbled a few after a hot start to the year. Kevin O’Connell has shown he can get the most out of questionable quarterback talent. And Rodgers is a Hall of Fame talent. The Vikings have a decent offensive line and, if they can keep Brian Flores around, a pretty good defense.

Justin Jefferson, TJ Hockenson, Jordan Addison and Rodgers’ old teammate Aaron Jones are great skill positions.

Go get Rodgers, Vikings. Let McCarthy sit and learn behind him for a year, making sure he’ll be ready to go in 2026. The Rodgers drama is tired and played out at this point, but Rodgers in purple would be an incredible sight, proof that time is on the level. circle And it would be worth every sound bite we have to fight in 2025.

SCHOOL.

Week 12 best bets

David Njoku Over 4.5 receptions (-125)

There shouldn’t be much offense on Thursday night in this AFC North slugfest between two teams with questionable offenses. The Steelers defense, in particular, has been pretty stingy this season. I don’t expect a lot of completions from Jameis Winston (his 19.5 line is very juiced on the downside) but I think tight end David Njoku will end up catching at least five that come his way. There are a few reasons here. One, the Steelers are the 12th-most targeted team to tight ends in opposing offenses. The number should be higher but they played several teams that traded quarterbacks and several teams that did not have quality tight ends. Njoku is one of the better healthy tight ends in football right now. Winston also often looks his way — Njoku has 37 goals over the last four games (three of which were Winston starts, the one he didn’t start three of his 11 goals went Njoku’s way). Winston should be pressured and looking to check down early and often and coupled with a good chance for snow and rain overnight, should get Njoku a lot of looks in this one. Receptions and not yardage are the way to target any passing tackle in this matchup.

Bet on David Njoku props at BetMGM Sportsbook

First Team Total Over 27.5 (+105)

This is a nightmare spot for the Carolina Panthers. It shouldn’t be! They are coming off their bye, having won two previous games, with the entire fan base feeling like the team won three straight not playing last week. They are at home with the best lineups the team has had in literally years. So how is this a bad place? Well, the worst possible opponent is coming to town in the form of the Kansas City Chiefs. And not just the regular Chiefs either. It’s the Chiefs after a matchup against the Bills in which they suffered their first loss of the year and Patrick Mahomes couldn’t keep pace with Josh Allen and their primary AFC rival. Now the Chiefs need to keep their foot on the gas to try and get the #1 seed and they should be able to do just that against a Carolina defense that offers little resistance to a competent offense. Making matters worse, there should be an entire generation of Carolina-based kids in the stands who theoretically would have grown up as Panthers fans but became mobsters/Chief fans because of their success. Trust me, there will be plenty of local Premier jerseys. KC will hit 30 here for an upset. Be sure and shop around because this number is quite different at different sportsbooks.

Bet on the Chiefs-Panthers game at DraftKings Sportsbook

Patriots-Dolphins Over 46

Weather can be a factor around the NFL this time of year, but when we get a Dolphins home game, it’s usually not a problem. And it won’t be on Sunday when Drake Maye and the Patriots come to town. The Dolphins defense has been much better the last two weeks, surrendering less than 20 points to the Rams and Raiders. The Pats offense isn’t great, but the defense has been a bit of a leaky unit the last few weeks and we’ve seen totals go over. I expect a strong game from Tua Tagovailoa in this one, a nice effort from Tyreek Hill and the Patriots to be forced to throw the ball a lot as well. That should lead to a back and forth and these two teams capable of clearing 50 points. The Dolphins are still in must-win territory and we’ve seen the Pats engage in throwing the ball more when pushed by the other offense, resulting in some higher than expected points in recent weeks.

Bet on the Patriots-Dolphins game at Fanatics Sportsbook

Teaser: Cardinals (+7) / 49ers (+7.5)

Supporting two NFC West teams here on the road. Both are in tough spots, but I don’t care. The Cardinals are white hot, winners of four straight and coming off their bye with a good coaching staff that wants to go win the division and knows how important this game is. The Seahawks defense won’t be able to slow them down in this matchup and even if they lose by double digits, Kyler Murray can get us through the back door. The 49ers just lost to Seattle and should be extremely desperate in Green Bay, a team that Kyle Shanahan has dominated in his career. The line marked a full point in San Francisco’s favor, but it’s still in teaser range, which means the 49ers simply can’t be blown out, which I don’t think will happen, especially with George Kittle coming back and Jordan Love’s propensity to throw interceptions keeping the 49ers in the game.

Bet Cardinals/49ers teaser at DraftKings Sportsbook

Broncos-Raiders Under 41

The environment for this game is good and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Bo Nix go off and push Jayden Daniels in the OROY race here (although Daniels could also break out). However, I think the more likely situation is that the Broncos feed the run game here with Javonte Williams and Audric Estime and let the defense lock down a questionable Raiders offense. Brock Bowers has been incredible and maybe he gets his here anyway, but Vance Joseph’s defense should be able to put Patrick Surtain II on an island with Jakobi Meyers, double Bowers and severely limit what the Raiders can do on offense. Sean Payton might like to blow out division opponents, but he’s been far more focused on destroying the NFC South than anything else.

Bet on everything Broncos-Raiders at FanDuel Sportsbook