How do you spell overrated? D-A-U-N-T-E The Raiders lost again last week (big surprise!) to the Adrian Peterson-less Minnesota Vikings, 29-22. Quarterback Daunte Culpepper used to be MVP-caliber, but he ran one of the worst two-minute drills in NFL history on Sunday as the Raiders fought to stay alive in the fourth quarter.

He threw an interception with the game on the line that nearly ended the Raiders’ comeback hopes, marking the second time in five starts that he has thrown a pick with under two minutes to go in a game. Defensive lineman Warren Sapp slammed the team after the loss, calling both offense and defense “undisciplined.” I couldn’t agree more. The Raiders suffer far too many defensive breakdowns every Sunday and wouldn’t know discipline if it slapped them in the face. This season is already lost, so it’s about time that No. 1 overall pick JaMarcus Russell starts seeing some late-game action. It doesn’t matter if the Raiders are down three points with four minutes to go – any win at this point is just going to put Oakland in worse draft position. Let the kid play and let’s get ready for next year?again. They give incompetence a bad name

The hapless 49ers held a Rams team that had just beaten up on New Orleans to only 13 points, but still couldn’t find a way to beat St. Louis in a 13-9 loss Sunday. There are soccer and hockey teams that could put up more points on a weekly basis than the dismal Niner offense. San Francisco has not scored a touchdown in its last 12 quarters and is averaging 11.3 points per game. Quarterback Trent Dilfer started this game and put up Alex Smith-type numbers: A completion percentage under 50 percent and two picks. I don’t know who the Niners will start next week, but it doesn’t matter anyway. Arizona is going to beat them by at least 10 points, and the game will be over by the middle of the third quarter. I’d tell Niner fans that at least they could look forward to a high draft pick next year, but the brilliant San Francisco front office decided to trade it to New England, which is already the best team in football. While they’re at it, why don’t the Niners start a charity that gives money to the wealthy, too? Skipping Thanksgiving to go to prison? Maybe the turkey they serve there is really good? Michael Vick decided to surrender himself to authorities on Monday in order to start serving his prison time now, three weeks before he is scheduled to be sentenced.

Apparently Vick thinks that three weeks are going to make a huge difference in how soon he gets out of the joint. Maybe a judge will look favorably on this decision, but I don’t think it will be enough to impress NFL Commissioner Roger “Iron Fist” Goodell when he considers the suspension he will have waiting for Vick upon his release.

Although Vick set the standard for idiotic athletes, the way Goodell handles discipline in the league is ludicrous. Vick will have already paid his debt to society when he gets out of jail, so why should he have to endure a suspension on top of that? Does Goodell really think that being sent to prison isn’t tough enough? The commish has set a precedent for this sort of thing by suspending Cowboys defensive tackle Tank Johnson for eight games after he was convicted on weapons charges this year and served jail time. Everyone gets the hint now that Goodell is a humorless, narrow-minded and stern dictator as the commissioner, so I think it’s about time for him to ease off of the gas a little bit and show some leniency. So Roger, if you’re going to allow Vick back into the league at all, let it start as soon as he’s out of prison. After all, you’re just going to put his new team on Monday Night Football the first chance you get and make huge profits off of it. Cleveland Rocks The Cleveland Browns found a way to win again on Sunday, beating the Ravens 33-30 after a wild finish. The Browns surrendered 16 fourth-quarter points and lost the lead with only 26 seconds remaining. Luckily for Cleveland fans, my pick for NFL MVP, quarterback Derek Anderson, proceeded to lead Cleveland down the field for the tying field goal as time expired. Initially, the field goal was ruled “no-good,” but after some discussion the officials determined that the ball had hit the support bar behind the goal posts and bounced back onto the field of play. Replays showed that the ball had clearly hit the rear support bar, but the play was technically not reviewable.

Referee Pete Morelli discussed it with his fellow officials, spoke briefly to the replay official upstairs, then made the ruling that the ball had passed the cross bar and was “good.” Anderson proceeded to lead the game-winning drive in overtime to beat the team that originally drafted him two years ago. Cleveland improved to 6-4 with the victory and has a very favorable remaining schedule. The Browns will play Houston, Arizona, the Jets, Buffalo, Cincinnati and San Francisco to finish out the year and will win enough of those games to make the playoffs. That’s a remarkable turnaround for a team that went 4-12 last year. NFL Picks – Week 12 Week 11 Picks: 2-2; Season Overall: 25-15 In the spirit of Thanksgiving, the second-best holiday of the year, I’m throwing in picks for all three of the Turkey Day games. Two of them are easy, but the NFC North matchup between Green Bay and Detroit is a little tougher to call (Odds as posted on Yahoo! Sports Nov. 21) Thanksgiving Matchups: Green Bay at Detroit (+3.5) – The Lions have struggled a bit the last couple of weeks and didn’t look great in their loss to the Giants on Sunday. And even though they have scored fewer points overall than their opponents this season and cannot run the ball, the Lions are 6-4 and right in the middle of the NFC playoff race.

Green Bay continues to play solid football and enters the home stretch this year with a great chance to earn home field advantage throughout the postseason. Brett Favre used to be horrendous in domes but torched the Vikings this year in his only dome game and has been exceptional indoors over the last two seasons (averages of 342.7 passing yards, 2.5 touchdowns and 0.25 interceptions per game). He’ll have another great afternoon against Detroit, and the Lions will lose their fourth straight Turkey Day game. My Pick: Green Bay 21-17 “Bet the Farm” Lock of the Week: New York Jets at Dallas (-14) – I’d like to say that the Jets actually have a chance to win this game. I’d also like to say that I’m a Pulitzer Prize winner, but neither one of those statements would be true. Even though the Jets managed to beat the Steelers last week, they must travel to Dallas to play a Cowboys team that is on a roll. The ‘Boys will win their second straight Thanksgiving game, and win it big. My Pick: Dallas 34-17 Indianapolis at Atlanta (+11.5) – Indy has been experiencing a lingering hangover after its loss to the Patriots a couple of weeks ago, and could easily be on a three-game losing streak.

After quarterback Peyton Manning and kicker Adam Vinatieri gave away a game to San Diego, the Colts barely beat mediocre Kansas City last week 13-10. The Colts will visit the Falcons on Thanksgiving in the first primetime NFL Network game of the year, and it’s sure to be one of the most boring games of the season. Indianapolis will cruise to victory because even if the offense plays poorly, the Falcons won’t be able to move the ball well against Indy’s defense. If the turkey doesn’t end putting you to sleep, this game definitely will. My Pick: Indianapolis 30-10 Other notable Week 12 games: Houston at Cleveland (-3.5) – The Texans got quarterback Matt Schaub and receiver Andre Johnson back from injury last week, and looked like the resurgent Texan ball club we saw at the beginning of the season. Expect plenty of points in this battle for Wild Card playoff spots, because both defenses are ranked in the bottom half of the league in yards allowed. The Texans will certainly put up quite a fight, but Cleveland simply plays too well at home. My Pick: Cleveland 27-23 Tennessee at Cincinnati (+1.5) – Cincinnati doesn’t make any sense to me. The Bengals have Pro Bowl-caliber players at quarterback (Carson Palmer), receiver (Chad Johnson and T.J. “who’s-your-momma” Houshmandzadeh) and running back (Rudi Johnson), and had a top 10 offense the previous two seasons.

This year, though, the Bengals have been awful and are wasting their extremely talented offense. The Titans have a winning record, but have been very erratic this year. Quarterback Vince Young cannot throw the ball effectively, so they only win if they can run the football well. Running back LenDale White will rack up some yardage against the Bengals, but I know Cincinnati is eventually going to have an offensive explosion. This game sounds like a good time for it. My Pick: Cincinnati 27-24 Washington at Tampa Bay (-3) – Washington gave a valiant effort against the NFC East-leading Cowboys last week, but lost 28-23 in Dallas. The Redskins aren’t ready to compete for a championship with young signal caller Jason Campbell at the helm, but at 5-5 they are definitely still in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Tampa Bay is the only team in the NFC South with a winning record thanks to a great passing defense and the gritty play of quarterback Jeff Garcia. These teams are evenly-matched, but I give Tampa Bay the edge because of the warm and muggy Florida weather. My Pick: Tampa Bay 20-16 Fantasy Game-Breaker: Pittsburgh Running Back Willie Parker vs. Miami – The winless Dolphins are in serious trouble this week because they go into Pittsburgh to face a team that was embarrassed by the Jets last Sunday. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin gained notoriety for running grueling practices during training camp and I’m sure his practices were especially tough this week.

The Steelers will dominate all phases of the game against Miami and build up a nice lead. They will then hand the ball off to Parker to eat up clock and punish the Dolphin defense. He’ll have 130+ all-purpose yards and at least one touchdown. Look for “No Huddle” every Thursday on www.statehornet.com

Fernando Gallo can be reached at [email protected]