We have reached that week where there are only NFL games to worry about. Bowl games start next weekend. Oh, wait, the Army-Navy game is this weekend. President Trump is going to attend, which makes him both America’s Greatest President Ever and The Most Evil Man That Ever Lived all at the same time. A blizzard is allegedly headed to the Carolinas this weekend. Milk, bread, eggs and toilet paper hoarders are everywhere.
NFL coaches love to divide the season into “quarters,” meaning each set of 4 games is a quarter. We had some extremely interesting reversals so far. My Panthers – 3-1, 3-1 and 0-4. Jacksonville – 3-1, 0-4 and 1-3 (with the 1 coming last week). Houston – 1-3, 4-0 and 4-0. Dallas went 3-5 in the first 2 and are 4-0 since. Indy went on a 6-game winning streak until last week. Crazy stuff. You will see the influence of these hot/cold spells in the predictions.
Jacksonville at Tennessee – The Jags finally remembered how to play defense last week. This week they get another so-so offense. But their own offense would probably pay millions to be so-so. Back to the “L” column. Titans 17, Jags 14
New England at Miami – Is New England less than what it was in its Super Bowl years? Yes. Is it less enough to actually lose to Miami? Uh……. No. Patriots 31, Fish 17
NY Jets at Buffalo – This should be the Who Cares Game of the Week, but I’ll spare the Jets that indignity for 2 weeks in a row. Buffalo, NC 23, J-E-T-S jets jets jets jets jets jets jets jets jets jets 14
NY Giants at Washington – What is it with the national media’s creepy obsession with New York City? Every time one of its terrible sports teams wins a single game, it’s, “ooooooooooooohhhh, NY is BAAAAAAAACK!” Whatever. And no, winning this week doesn’t mean they’re back. It means they beat a team on its 13th-string QB. Little People 19, Dead-skins 17
Baltimore at Kansas City – Alex Collins was the first of my 2 fantasy players to go IR this week. But he’s about 8th on the depth chart anyway. Lamar Jackson is the real deal. Compared to KC and the Rams, no one is the real deal. Chiefs 43, Ravens 30
New Orleans at Tampa Bay – The Bucs are better with Winston. New Orleans has probably had this game circled since the middle of their 10-game winning streak. The home team would be wise to put signs over the stadium gates that read, “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.” Aints 51, Yuck-aneers 27
Atlanta at Green Bay – The CBS guy, Jason California or whatever his name is, opined this week that if Carolina axes Rivera, it becomes a better job than Green Bay. It’s easy to see why. Cam Newton just works with whoever coaches him. He doesn’t openly campaign for a coach to get canned and then expect the GM to ask his permission to hire anyone. I never have, don’t, and never will like Erin Rodgers. So yeah, I’m openly picking with my heart here. Atlanta 31, Green “we’ll do whatever Erin tells us to do” Bay 28
Indianapolis at Houston – One winning streak went by the boards, leaving Captain Andrew Luck to pine away for some of Dearest Mother’s finest cat-head biscuits. He’ll beg for gravy this week. Texans 23, Colts 14
Denver at San Francisco – The Who Cares Game of the Week. Especially since Emmanuel Sanders went on IR to help kill my fantasy team. Donkeys 27, 49ers 13
Cincinnati at LA Chargers – Yikes. That’s about all I’ve got for the game. My father and brother are both Browns fans and also devoid of any religious affiliation. Yet they are both chanting supplications to whatever deity will listen for Hue Jackson to become coach in Cincy. I must admit, it would be comedy gold. Clippers 34, Bangles 10
Pittsburgh at Oakland – This is a WCGotW candidate, except the over/under is going to get completely obliterated. Steelers 48, Fakers 33
Philadelphia at Dallas – Remember when Dallas was in shambles and Troy Aikman was putting Jerry Jones on blast? Neither do I, but rumor has it that everyone was disgruntled around game 8 or so. They haven’t lost since, and die-hard fans that desperately want a new coach are going to get disappointed again. How ‘Bout Them Cowboys 27, Eagles 17
Detroit at Arizona – You have to give Arizona credit. With rumors flying that their coach had the best shot of being one-and-done, they’ve stepped up their play the last few weeks. No one suspects Patricia to be a one-and-done candidate, and I think that difference in motivation shows up on the scoreboard. Cards 26, lion cubs 16
LA Rams at Chicago – You would think that losing to a terrible NY team would set the Bears up to get waxed this week. But Beach Bum Jared Goff rarely has to deal with winter weather. It will be close, but there are too many options for the weather to eliminate all of them. Rams 24, Bears 20
Minnesota at Seattle – Here’s another one of those ‘back from the dead’ squads. I wonder if they and the fans are going to be all jacked up now that their city has been awarded a National Hockey League team? Seahawks 23, Norwegians 21
Carolina at Cleveland – I said several weeks ago that my guys were going to go winless the entire second half. Nothing in the last 4 weeks has changed my mind. And then the GM and the coach will be gone, which is a shame because they are both good men who have had great success, each playing the role of “Super Bowl team builder.” I just hope RR ends up in the AFC. Browns 23, panthers 17
And just for grins and giggles, Army 33, Navy 16. Stay safe in the Class III Kill Storm.😊
Last week’s record: 9-7
Season: 117-75
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