@gardenman wrote:
We start out this week with the Jets at the Ravens. This should be a pretty easy win for the Ravens, but you never know. I'll take the Ravens in this one.
The Eagles (what's left of them anyway) go to Washington to take on the Redskins. Alshon Jeffery is done for the year and Nelson Agholor may also be out, so our wide receivers for this game could be a few guys we found playing catch in the parking lot before the game. The Eagles could use a blowout win to build some momentum heading into next week's game with Dallas, but blowout wins seem a thing of the past. I'm picking the Eagles for the win, but it won't be easy and likely won't be pretty.
The Texans take on the Titans. A few weeks back the Texans seemed to be cruising to the AFC South title, now they find themselves in a dogfight for it. The Titans are on a bit of a roll right now behind Tannehill and I suspect they'll eke out the win this week also. It should be a very good game though.
The Dolphins take on the Giants in a move to knock the Giants out of that second overall draft spot. I don't see it happening. I'll take the Dolphins in this one.
The Bears take on the Packers in a do-or-die game for the Bears. A loss pretty much knocks them out of the playoffs. Both teams are on a bit of a roll and playing well. It should be another good game, but I'm taking the Packers in this one.
The Patriots are at the Bengals. As you've probably heard by now, the Patriots were caught shooting video of the Bengals coaches giving signals and then the plays that resulted. Of course, the Patriots insist it was all just a big old misunderstanding and no harm was intended. Yeah, right. The league is likely to have a different view of the matter. The Patriots aren't playing especially well this year, but even without cheating, they should beat the Bengals. Expect to see the league punish the Patriots rather harshly for this latest video mishap.
The Seahawks take on the Panthers. The Seahawks should win fairly easily. It is an early, east coast game for them which isn't their strong suit, but the Panthers are more or less rolling over and playing dead now. I'll take the Seahawks.
The Buccaneers are at the Lions. The Bucs are playing reasonably well lately. Jameis Winston is throwing lots of touchdown passes. Of course, he's also throwing lots of interceptions. The Lions could have an interesting offseason. I'll take the Bucs.
The Broncos are at the Chiefs. The Broncos may have just found their QB at long last. Drew Lock, now that they've finally dusted him off and put him on the field, looks pretty good. It probably won't be enough to beat the Chiefs, but finding the QB is important. I'll take the Chiefs.
The Jaguars are at the Raiders. These are two franchises going in opposite directions right now. The Jags are in a bit of a freefall and likely to see wholesale changes this offseason while the Raiders are moving in the right direction. I'll take the Raiders. Expect to see Nick Foles dangled for whatever the Jags can get for him. Nick's a great guy, but a highly variable QB. He can be great, but he can also be awful. Catch him on a good cycle and he can stand toe-to-toe with any QB in the league. On a bad cycle, he can't beat a good pee wee team.
The Browns are at the Cardinals. The Browns aren't nearly as good as I thought they'd be this year and the Cardinals aren't as bad as I feared they'd be this year. Still, the Browns are better than the Cards right now. I'll take the Browns. The Browns have to figure out what to do with OBJ this offseason. He wants out of Cleveland and would seemingly prefer to land in Dallas or New Orleans. Dallas could let Amari Cooper leave and bring in OBJ to replace him, but we'll have to see. OBJ and Michael Thomas getting balls thrown to them by Drew Brees is pretty scary to the rest of the league. I'll take Cleveland in this game.
The Vikings take on the Chargers. The Chargers are not fully charged this year. I'll take the Vikings. Kirk Cousins is another high variable QB and he flipped the switch to the good Kirk Cousins for the Eagles game a while back and hasn't flipped it back to the bad Kirk Cousins since.
The Falcons are at the Niners. The Falcons are having two back to back bad seasons and that's generally bad news for a team. Expect some pretty big changes in Atlanta this offseason. The Niners should win this one in a romp.
The Rams are at Dallas. The Rams are playing good football now. They've unleashed Todd Gurley and are letting him run wild. They know they need to win out to make the playoffs, so no sense in holding anyone back and preserving them for the playoffs if you don't make the playoffs. The Cowboys, well, they seem to have issues. They've stayed relatively healthy all year, but haven't performed at a high level most of the year. They know they can lose to the Rams and still win the East by winning next week in Philly, but do they want to go into Philly on a four-game losing streak and needing to win? I've got the Rams winning this one. I've got a feeling it could be a very one-sided game also. That Ram defense is apt to take a few of Dak's bone-headed throws (he makes three or four a game) and turn them into defensive touchdowns. I'm taking the Rams.
The Bills are at the Steelers. The Steelers are starting quarterback number seven hundred or so now I believe, but still winning football games and staying in the playoff hunt somehow. I don't know how they're doing it, but kudos to them. They're pretty firmly in the wild card hunt as are the Bills. This should be a fun game to watch. I'm going to give the slightest possible edge to the Bills in this one even though the Steelers are favored.
And finally, we have the Colts at the Saints. The Colts are in a bit of a freefall right now and the Saints are just on cruise control and waiting for the playoffs to start. I'm going with the big upset here and picking the Colts. The Colts are by far the more desperate team. They're two games behind the leaders with three to play while the Saints are four games up with three to play. Desperation is a powerful motivator. The Colts are the more desperate team. The Colts can't fall three behind with two to play. That math just doesn't work for them. I'm taking the Colts in a big upset.
My beloved Chiefs won!!!!...what a game..it snowed the entired time...they were sliding all over the place..they definitely earned their money today! Mahomes is precious!!!!
@gardenman wrote:
We start out this week with the Jets at the Ravens. This should be a pretty easy win for the Ravens, but you never know. I'll take the Ravens in this one.
The Eagles (what's left of them anyway) go to Washington to take on the Redskins. Alshon Jeffery is done for the year and Nelson Agholor may also be out, so our wide receivers for this game could be a few guys we found playing catch in the parking lot before the game. The Eagles could use a blowout win to build some momentum heading into next week's game with Dallas, but blowout wins seem a thing of the past. I'm picking the Eagles for the win, but it won't be easy and likely won't be pretty.
The Texans take on the Titans. A few weeks back the Texans seemed to be cruising to the AFC South title, now they find themselves in a dogfight for it. The Titans are on a bit of a roll right now behind Tannehill and I suspect they'll eke out the win this week also. It should be a very good game though.
The Dolphins take on the Giants in a move to knock the Giants out of that second overall draft spot. I don't see it happening. I'll take the Dolphins in this one.
The Bears take on the Packers in a do-or-die game for the Bears. A loss pretty much knocks them out of the playoffs. Both teams are on a bit of a roll and playing well. It should be another good game, but I'm taking the Packers in this one.
The Patriots are at the Bengals. As you've probably heard by now, the Patriots were caught shooting video of the Bengals coaches giving signals and then the plays that resulted. Of course, the Patriots insist it was all just a big old misunderstanding and no harm was intended. Yeah, right. The league is likely to have a different view of the matter. The Patriots aren't playing especially well this year, but even without cheating, they should beat the Bengals. Expect to see the league punish the Patriots rather harshly for this latest video mishap.
The Seahawks take on the Panthers. The Seahawks should win fairly easily. It is an early, east coast game for them which isn't their strong suit, but the Panthers are more or less rolling over and playing dead now. I'll take the Seahawks.
The Buccaneers are at the Lions. The Bucs are playing reasonably well lately. Jameis Winston is throwing lots of touchdown passes. Of course, he's also throwing lots of interceptions. The Lions could have an interesting offseason. I'll take the Bucs.
The Broncos are at the Chiefs. The Broncos may have just found their QB at long last. Drew Lock, now that they've finally dusted him off and put him on the field, looks pretty good. It probably won't be enough to beat the Chiefs, but finding the QB is important. I'll take the Chiefs.
The Jaguars are at the Raiders. These are two franchises going in opposite directions right now. The Jags are in a bit of a freefall and likely to see wholesale changes this offseason while the Raiders are moving in the right direction. I'll take the Raiders. Expect to see Nick Foles dangled for whatever the Jags can get for him. Nick's a great guy, but a highly variable QB. He can be great, but he can also be awful. Catch him on a good cycle and he can stand toe-to-toe with any QB in the league. On a bad cycle, he can't beat a good pee wee team.
The Browns are at the Cardinals. The Browns aren't nearly as good as I thought they'd be this year and the Cardinals aren't as bad as I feared they'd be this year. Still, the Browns are better than the Cards right now. I'll take the Browns. The Browns have to figure out what to do with OBJ this offseason. He wants out of Cleveland and would seemingly prefer to land in Dallas or New Orleans. Dallas could let Amari Cooper leave and bring in OBJ to replace him, but we'll have to see. OBJ and Michael Thomas getting balls thrown to them by Drew Brees is pretty scary to the rest of the league. I'll take Cleveland in this game.
The Vikings take on the Chargers. The Chargers are not fully charged this year. I'll take the Vikings. Kirk Cousins is another high variable QB and he flipped the switch to the good Kirk Cousins for the Eagles game a while back and hasn't flipped it back to the bad Kirk Cousins since.
The Falcons are at the Niners. The Falcons are having two back to back bad seasons and that's generally bad news for a team. Expect some pretty big changes in Atlanta this offseason. The Niners should win this one in a romp.
The Rams are at Dallas. The Rams are playing good football now. They've unleashed Todd Gurley and are letting him run wild. They know they need to win out to make the playoffs, so no sense in holding anyone back and preserving them for the playoffs if you don't make the playoffs. The Cowboys, well, they seem to have issues. They've stayed relatively healthy all year, but haven't performed at a high level most of the year. They know they can lose to the Rams and still win the East by winning next week in Philly, but do they want to go into Philly on a four-game losing streak and needing to win? I've got the Rams winning this one. I've got a feeling it could be a very one-sided game also. That Ram defense is apt to take a few of Dak's bone-headed throws (he makes three or four a game) and turn them into defensive touchdowns. I'm taking the Rams.
The Bills are at the Steelers. The Steelers are starting quarterback number seven hundred or so now I believe, but still winning football games and staying in the playoff hunt somehow. I don't know how they're doing it, but kudos to them. They're pretty firmly in the wild card hunt as are the Bills. This should be a fun game to watch. I'm going to give the slightest possible edge to the Bills in this one even though the Steelers are favored.
And finally, we have the Colts at the Saints. The Colts are in a bit of a freefall right now and the Saints are just on cruise control and waiting for the playoffs to start. I'm going with the big upset here and picking the Colts. The Colts are by far the more desperate team. They're two games behind the leaders with three to play while the Saints are four games up with three to play. Desperation is a powerful motivator. The Colts are the more desperate team. The Colts can't fall three behind with two to play. That math just doesn't work for them. I'm taking the Colts in a big upset.
Don't cry for a man who's left you--the next one may fall for your smile.
-- Mae West
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