Happy Halloween and whatnot, if you have kids or this holiday is still important to you. 😊

Baltimore at Tampa Bay (Thur) – NFC South Chaos, Part I – If Tampa loses, we’ll be on our way to all four NFC South teams being 3-5. I’m here for it. I’m picking with my heart, and I don’t care how stupid that is. Ravens 23, Bucs 17

Denver at Jacksonville (London) – It’s time for the annual Jacksonville home game in London. For the 5th time in 8 games, Denver is on national TV. Why did the NFL feel the need to promise so many national games to get Mr. Walmart to buy the team? He was going to buy it anyway. This will reek of the 12-point Thursday night games earlier in the year. Jags 16, Donkeys 12

Arizona at Minnesota – I’ve heard a few talking heads bloviate about Minnesota being in first place as an upset at least equal to Trevor Bayne winning the Daytona 500. It’s a solid team. This week they get a wildly inconsistent opponent and that dadgum horn. Norwegians 28, Cards 17

Chicago at Dallas – Lots of people excited about Chicago after the Monday night win. I say, take a pause. They had 7 scoring drives, but only 3 were touchdowns. They might get nothing but field goals against this defense. Cowboys 24, Bears 16

Las Vegas at New Orleans – NFC South Chaos, Part II – The home team needs to win, which would make 2 teams at 3-5. Stay tuned. Yes, I’m picking with my heart on this one also. Aints 28, Raiders 27

Miami at Detroit – Tua is back and looks fine. It appears the Matt Patricia-led Detroit team is back as well. Fish 27, lion cubs 20

New England at NY Jets – The biggest NFL question this week has been, “What was that QB nonsense in Foxboro on Monday?” No one knows. We’re certainly not going to find out from the coach, who is the Nick Saban of the NFL – and by that I mean, Coach Clinched Butt-Cheeks. Saban must have leaned that from being BB’s assistant in Cleveland. NY lost their running back, but they’re on a roll and this dysfunctional opponent isn’t going to stop it. J-E-T-S jets jets jets jets jets jets jets jets jets jets 26, Pats 13

Pittsburgh at Philadelphia – Pittsburgh has a lot of fight, but they lack the one big play or playmaker to finish games. Philly is undefeated. No reason to call for an upset here. Eagles 30, Steelers 17

Tennessee at Houston – Houston is another team with a lot of fight but a little low on playmakers. Tennessee makes some baffling errors at times, but they should come out on top. Old Oilers (TN) 23, New Oilers 17

NY Giants at Seattle – How do you explain either of these teams being in first place? No one thought Daniel Jones or Geno Smith would be anywhere near these teams in ’23. Now we’re wondering how big both of their contract extensions will be. Should be a good game, with a slight edge to the home crowd. Seahawks 23, Giants 21

San Francisco at LA Rams – One thing we loved about McCaffrey in Carolina was his work ethic. He put that on display by acquiring the 49ers playbook online as he was about to fly from Charlotte to San Francisco. He’s going to help them a lot. LA still has a few questions to answer. 49ers 27, Rams 20

Washington at Indianapolis – Only thing keeping the “Who Cares Game of the Week” label off of this one is the intrigue of Indy benching their QB. Washington is doing a lot better with its backup QB. Commanders 20, Colts 17

Green Bay at Buffalo – Scoring is down this year, although more games are close. Neither of these facts will apply to this stinker of a game. Buffalo, NY 41, Packers 17

Cincinnati at Cleveland (Mon) – As bad as Cleveland’s record is, how bad would fans be freaking out if they hadn’t won game 1 when they had no business winning? They’ll still be freaking out after losing to the suddenly red-hot Cincy squad. Bengals 33, Browns 21

Carolina at Atlanta – I’m 2-5 picking my team’s games. One would think, “then pick them to lose so you’ll get the win.” That’s tempting. It’s also tempting to go with the much more passionate, energetic team that won last week. Plus, who can resist the idea of an entire division being 3-5. I’m here for all of it. PANTHERS 20, Falcons 17

Last week’s record: 9-5

Season: 56-51-1

Bye: Kansas City, LA Chargers